– Oscar De La Hoya will fight Floyd Mayweather Jr on May 5th but The Golden Boy has yet to secure a trainer. De La Hoya usually trains with Floyd Mayweather Sr but the elder Mayweather has put a $2 million price tag on his services against his son. Familiarity is nice and all, but for that price De La Hoya should see if the infallible Emanuel Steward is available.
– HBO has decided to stick with Jim Lampley for their Jan. 20 broadcast despite his arrest a few weeks earlier. Lampley is under investigation for felony domestic violence charges as well as misdemeanor charges for violating a restraining order and dissuading a witness. As smug as Lampley is, he’s also the voice of HBO Boxing. Hopefully this mess gets cleaned up without having to deal with too much of Fran Charles.
– Referee Laurence Cole was fined $500 and suspended for three months by the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation for his actions in the fight between Jimrex Jaca and Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez was cut by a Jaca headbutt in the 8th round and Cole informed Marquez that he was ahead on the cards. If a fight is stopped due to an accidental cut after four rounds, the fight goes to the scorecards. Cole basically told Marquez that if he didn’t want to continue then he would win. Marquez ignored Cole, because people don’t headbutt Juan Manuel Marquez and get away with it, and then went on to knock Jaca out in the following round. Cole is a bonehead and shouldn’t referee any major fights again.
– Miguel Cotto’s March 3rd fight against Oktay Urkal will be broadcast by HBO. Showtime, which aired Cotto’s last fight against Carlos Quintana, was also in the running but failed to match HBO’s offer. HBO did not want to let Cotto go in the first place and I’m sure they were willing to pay whatever price was necessary to bring the Puerto Rican back. Showtime never really had a chance.
– Zab Judah hopes to return to the ring in late April, according to promoter Prize Fight Boxing. Zab was suspended one year for being a sucker-punching moron in his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. No opponent has been named but Zab surely will take on any fighter, his trainer, and the ring announcer.
– Muhammad Ali turns 65 on Wednesday and is celebrating by putting his likeness on snack food. Peter Arnell, founder of the Arnell Group, which helped create the snacks, said Ali’s image give the snacks a “cool factor” other brands can’t match. Parkinson’s must be all the rage at college campuses these days. My favorite part of this are the names given to the snacks. Who wouldn’t want to snack on delicious treats such as Fruit Fight, Thrill-A-Dill-A and Slammin’ Salsa? Look for these treats at a college campus near you.
