News from Dan Rafael’s Notebook at ESPN.com:
– Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward will continue to be an item. The pair put on one of the most exciting trilogies in boxing and became good friends when the series ended. Ward retired after their third and final fight and now will be the lead trainer for Arturo Gatti in his July 14th bout with Alfonso Gomez. It’s a pretty cool story and there’s no reason why Micky Ward wouldn’t be a good trainer.
– Manny Pacquiao is getting a lot of interest from Showtime even though Pacquiao has been a staple of HBO Boxing for the past five years. Pacquiao is currently running for political office in the Philippines and has no intention of fighting immediately, but that’s just Manny being Manny.
– Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez fought what could be the Fight of the Year last March and a rematch is being set up for August on Showtime. The first fight was awesome and saw Marquez get the win as Vazquez couldn’t breathe properly through his broken nose.
– Ricardo Mayorga and Fernando Vargas have agreed to fight each other but are having problems getting HBO to carry it. HBO seems like the only network they are considering but I’m sure Showtime would be willing to broadcast the fight. Both fighters are past their prime which means they are evenly matched. It should be a good fight.
It’s a light month but there are some very good fights coming up in May:
May Fight Schedule
May 5 – Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr WBC Light Middleweight Title (HBO PPV)
May 16 – Glen Johnson vs. Montell Griffin (ESPN2)
May 19 – Jermain Taylor vs. Cory Spinks WBC/WBO Middleweight Title (HBO)
May 19 – Edison Miranda vs. Kelly Pavlik (HBO)
May 24 – James Toney vs. Dan Batchelder
May 26 – Joan Guzman vs. Michael Katsidis WBO Lightweight Title (HBO)
May 26 – Oscar Larios vs. Jorge Linares WBC Featherweight Title (HBO)
