Body Blows 12.09.08

Columns, News

With 48 hours to digest the De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight, the outcome is still hard to believe. Not the part where Pacquiao wins, although that was a surprise, but the way in which he did it. There aren’t any new developments here as the pay-per-view figures will come out later. To read my initial reaction to the fight click here. Corey Willinger also posted his post-fight reactions. It’s an excellent post and you can check it out here.

Calzaghe Leaning Towards Retirement

From Fightnews.com, Joe Calzaghe won’t make an official decision on retirement until the new year but he did confess that he is probably going to retire. I touched on this after Calzaghe beat Roy Jones Jr. He has nothing left to prove and the best fight out there for him is Chad Dawson. That fight does nothing for Calzaghe. The only reason to take the fight would be to either showoff that he is a total badass with no regard for his own legacy, or because he has a horrendous home-life.

Hopkins Subs For Torres

Not that Hopkins. Bernard’s nephew, Demetrius Hopkins, is replacing Ricardo Torres in his light welterweight rubber match with Kendall Holt this Saturday on Showtime. Torres and Holt were to face for the third time but Torres pulled out due to an illness. Hopkins is undefeated and is taking his first shot at a world title. Holt and Torres will be rescheduled for next year.

Wladimir Klitschko vs. Hasim Rahman

Trent: It’s a slow news week for boxing in the aftermath of De La Hoya-Pacquiao. There are, however, two big title fights this weekend. In addition to the Holt-Hopkins bout on Showtime, HBO will be showing Wladimir Klitschko as he defends his heavyweight titles against Hasim Rahman.

I like Rahman but he lost what little credibility he had years ago. Wladimir Klitschko is the best heavyweight boxer in the world. Rahman always has a puncher’s chance. He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for his knockout blow of Lennox Lewis in 2001. But that was 2001. Klitschko will pepper Rahman with jabs and wear him down in the late rounds for a TKO. I lost my prognosticating confidence last week but I fully expect to get back on track with this fight.

Corey: I was pleasantly surprised to hear Hasim Rahman was Alexander Povetkin’s replacement, although Rahman hasn’t officially won a meaningful fight since, well, knocking out Lennox Lewis in 2001. He’s a quality opponent and actually very good when on his A game. This is also Rahman’s chance for a bit of revenge after Vitali Klitschko pulled out of a fight with him as many as three or four times with two or three different injury claims in 2005. Beating Wladimir would, of course, force a fight with Vitali as the brothers are obsessed with avenging each other’s losses. But that would require Wladimir losing this fight, which I don’t see happening. Rahman’s best chance in this fight is his jab. If he can jab on even terms with Wladimir, he can get in his right hand money punch and possibly score a knockout. Neither of these guys have very good chins, so it’s probably not going to the cards. I still see Wladimir controlling and eventually winning this fight by a late round knockout, probably round 10, after Rahman gives him a good fight for three or four rounds.

That’s all this week. Come back to Inside Fights for continuing MMA and boxing coverage.