Amir Khan Suffers Troubling Loss

Amir Khan did some strange things in his loss to Danny Garcia.  He demonstrated he could out box Garcia easily and then started to let loose and take chances.  It eventually cost him the fight.  It's strange to see such a talented fighter not actually try to win.  Strategy, coaching, advice are all things Khan needs most at this time.  He needs a Floyd Mayweather like take no chances attitude towards boxing.  Khan is not a brawler.  He never was.  He needs to go back to the sweet science that got him to where he is.  He can out box just about anyone in the game and should put laser like focus on that and only that from now on.  With absolutely no exceptions, he needs to rely on his speed, timing and unmatched boxing skills if he expects to become a star like he always wanted to.

Anderson Silva running out of challengers

Anderson Silva has proven that he has an uncanny almost magical way of pulling out wins even when he is not able to dominate every aspect of a fight.  That is what he did against Chael Sonnen.  Anderson is good everywhere in a fight - even though he may not be the best.  He is great standing and keeping distance, solid in the clinch and very good on the ground.  It's hard to beat someone like that because eventually you will have to spend some time standing with him and he will beat you if you do that.  If you are great standing up he has enough to beat you in the clinch or on the ground.  There aren't too many challengers left at middleweight since Anderson defeated Sonnen.  The only way Anderson loses now is if he beats himself by not being prepared or losing motivation which is possible given how long he has been winning.  More importantly, how easily he has been winning.  The second Sonnen fight was easy - make no mistake that Silva was never in trouble.  The first fight may have woke him up.  Let's see how long that lasts.

UFC 148 Preview

Tonight is UFC 148 including the much anticipated rematch between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.  Chael Sonnen was banned after the first fight due to steroids, however, he has been granted an exemption to use steroids in this fight against Anderson Silva.  I think, for me, the steroids make this an interesting fight.  Anderson is big, strong, extremely quick and talented.  I really do think the only way to make an interesting fight with him is to get a very strong wrestler on steroids - enter Chael Sonnen.  I see this fight being competitive early and Anderson doing better in utilizing his vast skill set.  Chael knows only to do one thing and he will do it just like the last fight.  I anticipate Anderson's take down defence to be much stronger to counter Chael's aggression as well.  Expect a close fight with either a close controversial decision (think Bisping-Sonnen) or Silva winning via TKO or submission in the middle to late rounds.

UFC 147 Shows Quality of Product Slipping

The UFC used to be about top notch fights top to bottom.  I never thought I'd see the day but now we have a card with not a single good fight.  Even worse it is on PPV.  UFC 147 features two well past their prime fighters going at it in the main event with Wanderlei Silva against Rich Franklin.  In my opinion, this card is a big miss.  We need a card with JDS, Anderson Silva and Jon Jones fighting on it.  We need top notch product quality but what we have seen lately shows that the product is diluting.  This is a shame.

What did Bob Arum have to do with the Bradley Pacquiao decision?

Based on recent comments by world renowned boxing trainer Teddy Atlas on ESPN recently, there was a suggestion that Manny Pacquiao's contract with Bob Arum may have been ending and having Bradley win a decision would guarantee having Manny sign on again with Arum to get the rematch.  Was a coincidence that Bradley was heavily promoting the rematch even before the first fight?  Did Teddy mean that Arum somehow could have paid off the judges?  This is clearly the shadier side of boxing if anything at all.  It's scary to think about these types of scenarios but really the only thing that went wrong in this supposed plan is that Manny utterly destroyed Bradley.  Even a novice could see that - really there's no way the judges could have screwed this up.  Unless they were rewarded to I suppose.  Too bad that we'll probably never know the truth.

Manny Didn't Show His Killer Instinct Against Tim Bradley

Manny Pacquiao demonstrated that he has lost his killer instinct against Bradley.  Although he completely outclassed and destroyed Bradley proving he was by far the superior fighter, he lost the decision and did seem to get a bit bored at the end of the fight.  Instead of going all out for the kill and knock out which was easily possible, Pacquiao went soft and let Bradley survive.  Pacquiao was fighting a child - it was literally man against child in some ways but he let up a bit thinking it was too easy and he had it in the bag.  Assuming other factors weren't at play this could have cost him the decision.

I give Bradley credit for not throwing in the towel despite being bludgeoned.  There was a moment in the fight when Bradley's coach asked him if he wanted to continue and Bradley didn't respond very clearly but must of said "yes" since they didn't stop the fight.  I give Bradley huge credit for taking a beating and surviving until the end.  He was still standing and got huge gift for it.  This should be a lesson for those fighters who ever question toughing it out until the end.

Pacquiao and Bradley Ready to Go!

This time around Manny Pacquiao seems to be ready for his fight.  Last time before the Juan Manuel Marquez fight Manny was going through marital issues and partying too much with the drinking, smoking and womanizing that comes with that.  Now that Pacquiao has fully devoted himself to religion he is not doing any of that partying and focused on his family and training.  As a result, this camp was one of the best he's had.  Whether he's losing a step or religion has made him soft - it's clear that he is now as ready as he is going to be.  Bradley is a strong and slick boxer and very dangerous.  Manny needs to be very ready to counter Bradley and his approach.  Manny is also finally fighting someone his size.  It will be interesting to see it go down.  I would definitely order this one!

Heavyweights Fight at UFC 146

UFC 146 is a card full of heavyweights, however, the card is missing the biggest heavyweight stars in the world.  It was a shame that Alistair Overeem is no longer on the card because he was the big draw.  The JDS-Overeem fight was the reason most people wanted to watch this card.  It will be tough pay money for this card now that Overeem is not on it and Lesnar has retired.  Also, no Fedor in the UFC makes it difficult to put money out for this card.  I suspect people will be saving up for the Anderson Silva and Manny Pacquiao fights coming up.

Floyd Mayweather getting ready for Manny Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather has an 87 day jail term coming up but his biggest challenge will be the fight afterwards in the ring against Manny Pacquiao.  Pacman is going to take on a stiff test in Timothy Bradley on June 9th but after that the only fight that makes sense for either guy is to fight each other.  It's difficult to predict whether it will happen but the fact that Floyd looked less than stellar against Cotto may make Bob Arum a little more motivated to seriously make the fight.  Manny will do the full drug testing so no issues there.  Now, it's all about money and trust me this fight is still MASSIVE.  With the Tim Bradley PPV expected to do less than the Mayweather / Cotto / Canelo / Mosley blockbuster it could be a bit of a problem but if Manny's PPV does really well then it is an easier negotiation to close out.  I've got to imagine that Floyd is thinking now is as good a time as any to take on Manny given that he is now past 35 and his "prime" is closing fast.  I don't see Manny taking a major dip in the next couple of years.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Amir Khan and Saul Canelo Alvarez get new fighting partners

It looks like Canelo will be taking a BIG step forward in his next fight against Paul Williams in September.  Williams is a veteran star who has wins against some of the best guys in the business including a prime Antonio Margarito and Sergio Martinez.  Some people feel Williams has faded and become susceptible to the left hook (which is certainly true if you look at the Lara fight).  However, this is still a stud and solid step up for Canelo Alvarez.  Good on you Canelo for taking this fight.

Same goes for Amir Khan who will be fighting Danny Garcia in July.  Garcia is a young up and comer who just soundly defeated Erik Morales.  After having fought Lamont Peterson who admitted to being on sterroids before the fight, Khan is ready for another young gun.  Khan soundly handled Peterson despite the 'roids and big time home court advantage for Peterson.

Sonnen allowed to use Steroids for Anderson Silva fight

The NSAC has allowed Chael Sonnen to use steroids in advance of the Anderson Silva fight.  This is based on what doctors are saying is a condition of low testosterone.  It's too bad they're allowing him to get to a level of 6:1 testosterone to epitestosterone!!!!  The normal male is 1:1.  Is this ABSOLUTELY INSANE TO ANYONE ELSE BUT ME?  Why the heck would you not let the guy get to a normal level only versus 6 times normal???  If I was Anderson Silva I would object to this and not risk taking on a fight under these circumstances.  Let me know your thoughts.

Jon Jones caught for drunk driving

Jon Jones was just arrested for drunk driving according to ESPN.  Hopefully, this is just a one off and no big deal.  Stay tuned.  I expect the fight with Dan Henderson to continue as expected and this to just be a hiccup for Jones.  He's got to stay focused though and not have any more of these types of slip ups if the reports are true.