P4P Rankings: Welterweights gone wild

Anyone who has studied boxing history even a little bit can’t be surprised to learn that a welterweight sits atop Yahoo! Sports’ March rankings. Or that another welterweight is at No. 2. And that welterweights are also slotted at Nos. 3 and 4.

Throughout the history of the highly unofficial and extremely subjective pound-for-pound rankings, welterweights have dominated the list. Pound-for-pound rankings really began when Sugar Ray Robinson was so dominant. Media and boxing historians of the day struggled to find a way to explain how good Robinson was, so they created this type of ranking. The thought behind them – which remains to this day – was that if everyone weighed the same, who would be the best fighters?

In 1999, the Associated Press surveyed boxing experts and chose Robinson as the greatest fighter of the 20th century. It also tabbed him as the greatest welterweight and the greatest middleweight of the century.

Welterweights have dominated the pound-for-pound list over the past 20 or 25 years as well. Manny Pacquiao leads the Yahoo! Sports list now and was preceded by Floyd Mayweather Jr.; both are welterweights.

Roy Jones Jr. is the only non-welterweight to have topped the list since the mid-1990s. Welterweights Pernell Whitaker and Oscar De La Hoya briefly held the mantle, at least in some quarters, in the mid-to-late ’90s. At the start of the 21st century, welterweight Shane Mosley sat atop some lists.

Mayweather or Pacquiao has led most pound-for-pound polls since Jones was knocked out by Antonio Tarver in 2004. Pacquiao, Mayweather and Mosley are nearing the ends of their careers. Paul Williams, who says he still can fight at welterweight, may be able to ascend to the top of the list at some point, but if he does become No. 1, he’ll probably be a super welterweight or a middleweight.

There are two fighters in the relatively short term – say, the next two to three years – and one for the long term who may maintain the welterweight division’s stranglehold on the pound-for-pound list.

Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander each hold super-lightweight titles now, and each man has a number of significant upcoming fights in the 140-pound division – most notably against each other at some point. It’s not hard to envision one or both of them eventually making the move to 147 and being in a position to succeed Pacquiao and Mayweather at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings.

In the long term, a fighter to watch is a 17-year-old with just three professional fights: Jose Benavidez Jr.

Benavidez is 3-0 with three knockouts but hasn’t faced anyone more of a threat than a Shih Tzu puppy. Trained by the great Freddie Roach, Benavidez was a highly sought amateur with the kind of frame that would allow him to fight at welterweight and the kind of talent that makes promoters drool. He’s four or five years away from being ready for that kind of competition, but don’t be surprised if you see Benavidez in the No. 1 spot in the Yahoo! Sports rankings – as a welterweight, of course – in 2015 or 2016.

With that, let’s take a look at this month’s rankings:

Pacquiao

1. Manny Pacquiao
Points: 269 (26 of 27 first-place votes)
Record: 51-3-2 (38 KOs)
Title: WBO welterweight champion
Last outing:: W12 over Joshua Clottey on March 13
Previous ranking:: 1
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis:Bout with Mayweather would be richest ever

Mayweather

2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Points: 243 (1 of 27 first-place votes)
Record: 40-0 (25 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing:: W12 over No. 6 Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19
Previous ranking:: 2
Up next: May 1 fight vs. No. 3 Shane Mosley in Las Vegas
Analysis: The game’s best defensive fighter

Williams

3 (tie). Paul Williams
Points: 174
Record: 38-1 (27 KOs)
Title: WBO junior middleweight champion
Last outing:: W12 over Sergio Martinez on Dec. 5
Previous ranking:: 4
Up next: May 8 vs. TBA
Analysis:Can be a factor at 147, 154 and 160

Mosley

3 (tie). Shane Mosley
Points: 184
Record: 46-5 (39 KOs)
Title: WBA welterweight champion
Last outing:: TKO9 over Antonio Margarito on Jan. 24, 2009
Previous ranking:: 4
Up next: May 1 vs. No. 2 Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas
Analysis: Will fight on 17-month layoff

Hopkins

5. Bernard Hopkins
Points: 141
Record: 50-5-1 (32 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing:: W12 over Enrique Ornelas on Dec. 2
Previous ranking:: 5
Up next: vs. Roy Jones Jr. on April 3 in Las Vegas
Analysis:Fight with Jones to settle old score

J.M. Marquez

6. Juan Manuel Marquez
Points: 93
Record: 50-5-1 (37 KOs)
Title: WBA, WBO lightweight champion
Last outing:: L12 to No. 2 Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Sept. 19
Previous ranking:: 6
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Inexplicably declined super-lightweight title bout with Amir Khan

Abraham

7. Arthur Abraham
Points: 92
Record: 31-0 (25 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing:: TKO12 Jermain Taylor on Oct. 17
Previous ranking:: 8
Up next: March 27 vs. Andre Dirrell in Detroit
Analysis: Inspired to box by watching Mike Tyson fight

Dawson

8. Chad Dawson
Points: 82
Record: 28-0 (17 KOs)
Title: Interim WBC light heavyweight champion
Last outing:: W12 over Glen Johnson on Nov. 7
Previous ranking:: 8
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Hasn’t faced fighter younger than 39 in more than two years.

W. Klitschko

9. Wladimir Klitschko
Points: 59
Record: 53-3 (47 KOs)
Title: IBF, WBO heavyweight champion
Last outing:: TKO9 over Ruslan Chagaev on June 20
Previous ranking:: 9
Up next: March 20 vs. Eddie Chambers in Dusseldorf, Germany
Analysis: Extremely gifted big man

Bradley

10. Timothy Bradley
Points: 33
Record: 25-0 (11 KOs)
Title: WBO super lightweight champion
Last outing:: W12 Lamont Peterson on Dec. 12
Previous ranking:: NR
Up next: June 26 vs. Luis Carlos Abregu in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Analysis: Solid all-around fighter in a tough division

Others receiving votes: Juan Manuel Lopez, 28; Miguel Cotto, 17; Ivan Calderon, 14; Vitali Klitschko, 12; Sergio Martinez, 11; Yuriorkis Gamboa, 10; Israel Vazquez, 7; Chris John, 6; Hozumi Hasegawa, 5; Celestino Caballero, 3; Devon Alexander, 1; Andre Ward, 1.

Source: Kevin Iole  | Yahoo! Sports

The rebirth of Freddie Roach

The calendar will tell you that on Friday, Freddie Roach – boxing’s greatest trainer since Eddie Futch – will turn 50 years old.

Don’t believe it. The calendar lies.

In boxing terms, Roach is really only about 5.

For it was about five years ago, after a disappointing March night in Las Vegas, that Freddie Roach became the world’s greatest trainer.

Roach has become the John Wooden of boxing in the past five years. He’s developed Manny Pacquiao into the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. He’s sought out by every manager who has a pug with a dream. He turns ordinary fighters into good ones, and good ones become great after working with him.

It wasn’t always that way, even though it was apparent from his first days in the gym as a trainer 23 years ago that he had a fertile boxing mind. Roach didn’t have the magical ability then that he does now, coaxing his fighters to reach their peak, but his potential was enough to attract the notice of Futch, the greatest man to ever work a corner.

Futch believed deeply in Roach and spent years teaching him the nuances of the game. Despite Futch’s assistance, the young Roach could be stubborn as a trainer. Roach had his own way of doing things when he first started and he wasn’t going to change his routine to suit a fighter. He was, after all, the boss. If his way of doing things wasn’t good enough, well, he saw it as the student not being willing to learn.

More than that, Roach’s style of boxing was, to use his own words, brutal.

“I’m better now because I’ve learned the sport,” Roach said. “I have a lot more knowledge now than I did then. I see more. I know how to relay the information better.

“And, honestly, my philosophy of boxing has changed. Now, I teach guys to step to the side, to use angles, to be smart. Back then, man, it was crazy. You know the kind of fighter I was, and that’s what I was teaching my guys to do. I had the philosophy then that the best defense was a good offense – and my fighters were taking a lot of abuse because of that.”

Roach was a brawler whose courage far outlapped his talent. He was always content to take three to land one, which makes a lot of fans but isn’t conducive to a long career. There are a lot of tough guys in boxing, but few as brave as Roach once was. Not many guys are eager to stand in front of an opponent and get drilled for 12 rounds.

“I taught a more aggressive style then,” Roach said. “I had guys stand in the pocket and fight. But when you fight that way, you’re going to get hit. It’s really a numbers game. The more opportunities you give someone to hit you, the more you’ll get hit. And there are only so many punches you can take.”

There is nuance to Roach’s style now, and it will never be more evident than when Pacquiao climbs back into the ring on March 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Five years after the night that can be considered Roach’s birth as a world-class trainer, he’ll lead Pacquiao against Joshua Clottey – a big, strong man who seems impossible to hurt – in a pay-per-view bout before more than 40,000 adoring fans. The show is shaping up as a celebration of Pacquiao’s wondrous talents, and no one is more responsible for that than Roach.

Roach’s work with Pacquiao has led the Filipino to sanctioning body belts at 122, 130, 135 and 147 pounds and linear titles at 126 and 140. More importantly, he’s widely regarded as the finest fighting machine on Earth.

It was a very different Pacquiao and a much different Roach, however, who arrived in Las Vegas on March 19, 2005, to face Erik Morales. It was about a year-and-a-half since Pacquiao’s dynamic victory over Marco Antonio Barrera, but Pacquiao was not dynamic against Morales.

Pacquiao was hampered in the fight by a cut – he didn’t respond well to seeing his own blood – but the reason for Morales’ victory was that he found a way to neutralize Pacquiao’s powerful left.

Pacquiao had little else to offer offensively and, try as he might, with his left effectively taken away he was lost.

That night, after the news conference had ended, a reporter sidled up to Roach. He commented to Roach on Pacquiao’s inability to throw a meaningful right and said: “If he didn’t have that great power in his left, he’d be just another fighter.”

Roach wanted to be angry. But when he mulled it over privately, he realized he’d just been given a challenge that would change his life forever.

“After that conversation, I really woke up,” Roach said. “I knew Manny had the ability to be special. I’d been with him for a while at that point. That comment really made me think about what was going on with him. [The reporter] was right. Manny was pretty much a one-handed fighter. I knew there was a lot more there and I couldn’t be satisfied with him not taking advantage of that.

“I watched the tape of his [first] fight with [Juan Manuel] Marquez [in 2004] and he dropped Marquez three times in the first round. But he never threw a right hand the whole time. At the time, I was satisfied with what Manny had become, but I realized it was a mistake. He was capable of so much more – and I had to bring it out of him.”

Roach and Pacquiao spent hours in the gym over the next few months, working on the most minute details. And Roach found that Pacquiao had a very high aptitude for boxing and began demanding more and more.

Roach worked drills designed to make Pacquiao’s right hand a threat. He improved his footwork. He made subtle changes in how Pacquiao delivered his punches.

Pacquiao was vastly different when he stopped Morales in the 10th round on Jan. 21, 2006. But the finished product didn’t really appear until the rubber match, on Nov. 18, 2006, at the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus.

Pacquiao raked Morales with a hard right hook. He fired uppercuts, with his left and his right. He moved Morales effortlessly into his blows and slipped easily out of the way of Morales’ punches.

The transformation had taken place. Pacquiao went on to win Fighter of the Year in 2006. He won it again in 2008 and 2009. He’s now won it four times, or twice as many as any other man.

Roach will be 50 on Friday and is afflicted by Parkinson’s disease. It’s unlikely that he’ll be able to continue in the job he loves until he’s in his 80s, like Futch, his mentor.

He’s going to try, however. If his body will allow it, Lord knows, he’ll try. As long as he’s physically capable of withstanding the rigors, he’ll be in the ring teaching fighters the right way.

The reason is simple: There is nothing else in Freddie Roach’s life but boxing. He doesn’t read books. He’s not interested in computers. He isn’t a music buff. His idea of a good night in front of the television is watching the same fight tape five or six times.

He’s been a trainer for nearly half his life and he’ll do it for the rest of his life. And though some would call him a one-trick pony, he’s thrilled with where life has taken him.

“I still love it so much and I have so much fun in boxing and with the people in the boxing world,” Roach said. “Everyone I know is in boxing. Pretty much everything I do has to do with boxing. I don’t do nothing else.

“The day I can’t do the mitts, when I can’t be physical, I’ll quit. I have to be in there and working with them to be effective. I can’t sit on the sidelines and do it. But I’ll tell you: I’m going to do it until the last day I can. Because you know what? I’m scared to think what life would be like if there weren’t boxing anymore.”

Source: Kevin Iole  | Yahoo! Sports

P4P Rankings: Floyd’s mouth roars

Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. continue to hold the top two spots in the Yahoo! Sports boxing rankings. And it continues to seem as if they’ll never meet each other.

The two men agreed on virtually every aspect of a bout, including a date, a site, a name (Mayweather-Pacquiao in the U.S., Pacquiao-Mayweather internationally) and, most importantly, money.

Mayweather even agreed to a Pacquiao demand of a $10 million per pound penalty for any weight over 147 pounds. But they couldn’t agree on random, Olympic-style drug testing and the bout fell apart.

Mayweather gave a revealing interview with his hometown newspaper, The Grand Rapids Press, in which he suggested that he’ll no longer agree to a 50-50 money split.

Instead of meeting each other, as sports fans were demanding, Mayweather is fighting Shane Mosley on May 1 in Las Vegas, while Pacquiao faces Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Arlington, Texas.

Both fights are on pay-per-view, but the Mayweather-Mosley fight is expected to far outdo it in sales. The Pacquiao-Clottey fight, which is at Cowboys Stadium, will draw perhaps as many as three times as many fans, though the Mayweather-Mosley gate will be larger due to substantially higher ticket prices.

But if Mayweather-Mosley, which has stronger name value between both fighters, does better on pay-per-view than Pacquiao-Clottey, the likelihood of a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight ever occurring diminishes greatly. The sides had quickly agreed on terms before, with each man guaranteed $25 million plus a share of the pay-per-view proceeds.

Mayweather, though, will be watching the numbers intently. And if Mayweather and Pacquiao each win, agreeing to financial terms won’t be as easy as it was the first time. “Instead of 20 or 25 (million dollars), he may have to drop to 15, or 17,” Mayweather told Mayo. “And you know me, they may have to throw that extra five or 10 on mine, and we can rock and roll. Take it or leave it.”

And Mayweather also told Mayo that he won’t compromise any longer on the drug testing issue. He agreed to halt testing 14 days out from the fight as they were attempting to reach a deal, but Pacquiao wanted 24 days.

Now, Mayweather says, there will be no cutoff or there will be no fight. “I gave him a chance, up to 14 days out,” Mayweather said. “But my new terms are all the way up to the fight. They can come get us whenever, all the way up to the fight, random drug test. That’s what it is.”

And so it seems that the question of deciding who is best between Pacquiao and Mayweather will be decided by words and polls, and not by punches in the ring. With that, let’s take a look at this month’s rankings:

Pacquiao

1. Manny Pacquiao
Points: 279 (27 of 28 first-place votes)
Record: 50-3-2 (38 KOs)
Title: WBO welterweight champion
Last outing:: TKO12 over Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14
Previous ranking:: 1
Up next: vs. Joshua Clottey on March 13 in Arlington, Texas
Analysis:Fans still eager for bout with Mayweather

Mayweather

2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Points: 252 (1 of 28 first-place votes)
Record: 40-0 (25 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing:: W12 over No. 6 Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19
Previous ranking:: 2
Up next: May 1 fight vs. No. 4 Shane Mosley in Las Vegas
Analysis: The game’s best defensive fighter

Williams

3. Paul Williams

Points: 186
Record: 38-1 (27 KOs)
Title: WBO junior middleweight champion
Last outing:: W12 over Sergio Martinez on Dec. 5
Previous ranking:: 4
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis:Can be a factor at 147, 154 and 160

Mosley

4. Shane Mosley

Points: 184
Record: 46-5 (39 KOs)
Title: WBA welterweight champion
Last outing:: TKO9 over Antonio Margarito on Jan. 24, 2009
Previous ranking:: 3
Up next: May 1 vs. No. 2 Floyd Mayweather Jr. in Las Vegas
Analysis: Will fight on 17-month layoff.

Hopkins

5. Bernard Hopkins

Points: 127
Record: 50-5-1 (32 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing:: W12 over Enrique Ornelas on Dec. 2
Previous ranking:: 5
Up next: vs. Roy Jones Jr. on April 3 in Las Vegas
Analysis:Fight with Jones to settle old score.

J.M. Marquez

6. Juan Manuel Marquez

Points: 115
Record: 50-5-1 (37 KOs)
Title: WBA, WBO lightweight champion
Last outing:: L12 to No. 2 Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Sept. 19
Previous ranking:: 6
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Inexplicably declined super lightweight title bout with Amir Khan.

Dawson

7. Chad Dawson

Points: 89
Record: 28-0 (17 KOs)
Title: Interim WBC light heavyweight champion
Last outing:: W12 over Glen Johnson on Nov. 7
Previous ranking:: 8
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Hasn’t faced fighter younger than 39 in more than two years

Abraham

8. Arthur Abraham

Points: 81
Record: 31-0 (25 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing:: TKO12 Jermain Taylor on Oct. 17
Previous ranking:: 7
Up next: March 6 vs. Andre Dirrell in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
Analysis: Co-favorite in Super Six tournament.

W. Klitschko

9. Wladimir Klitschko
Points: 45
Record: 53-3 (47 KOs)
Title: IBF, WBO heavyweight champion
Last outing:: TKO9 over Ruslan Chagaev on June 20
Previous ranking:: 9
Up next: March 20 vs. Eddie Chambers in Dusseldorf, Germany
Analysis: Extremely gifted big man

Lopez

10. Juan Manuel Lopez

Points: 26
Record: 28-0 (25 KOs)
Title: WBO featherweight champion
Last outing:: TKO7 over Steven Luevano on Jan. 23
Previous ranking:: 10
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Eyeing showdown with Yuriorkis Gamboa for featherweight supremacy.

Others receiving votes: Ivan Calderon, 30; Timothy Bradley, 24; Miguel Cotto, 18; Vitali Klitschko, 15; Israel Vazquez, 12; Nonito Donaire, 10; Sergio Martinez, 10; Celestino Caballero, 9; Yuriorkis Gamboa, 9; Chris John, 7; Hozumi Hasegawa, 3; Andre Ward, 1.

Source: Kevin Iole  | Yahoo! Sports

Donaire is the latest Filipino contender

LAS VEGAS – It’s not lost on Nonito Donaire, the World Boxing Association interim super flyweight champion, what it means to be a headline act at the Las Vegas Hilton.

This is where Elvis Presley used to star and where Donaire’s name now adorns the hotel/casino’s oversized marquee.

Seated upon the ring apron at the Top Rank Gym in the shadow of the Las Vegas Strip, Donaire beams when the connection between with Presley is mentioned. Donaire was born in 1982, more than five years after Presley died in Memphis, Tenn., but he’s a devoted fan.

“Thank you,” he said in a mock Elvis voice. “Thank you very much.”

Donaire, 27, dreams of one day fighting World Boxing Organization featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez and will have much to be thankful for if he gets the chance.

He’s in many ways following the path blazed by his countryman, Manny Pacquiao, who began his boxing career at 106 pounds in the Philippines and is now the pound-for-pound king while competing at welterweight.

Donaire (22-1, 14 KOs) hopes to eventually make his mark as a three- four- or even five-division champion. He’s got two under his belt – he was the International Boxing Federation flyweight champion before taking the WBA super flyweight crown – and he longs to take on the biggest stars at bantamweight, super bantamweight and, most of all, at featherweight.

Donaire, though, has a title defense to concern himself with Saturday in the main event of a Top Rank pay-per-view card at the Las Vegas Hilton. He was slated to meet hard-punching Gerson Guerrero, but will now face Manuel Vargas because Guerrero has a detached retina and failed the ophthalmologic examination administered by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

For many young fighters, a change in opponents at such a late date could be disastrous. But Donaire’s manager, Cameron Dunkin, insists that the change will have no impact.

“Before he was with me, his Dad [Nonito Sr.] was making his fights for him and he never knew until the last minute who he was fighting,” Dunkin said. “He was called in as an opponent. He’s totally comfortable with this. He’s very adaptable and he’s the kind of a kid who can pretty much fight any style. The change won’t bother him a bit.”

Promoter Bob Arum said that if Donaire wins, he’d like to rematch him with Vic Darchinyan, whom Donaire stopped in the fifth round of an IBF flyweight title fight in 2007.

Though there has been talk of a bout with bantamweight title-holder Jorge Arce after the Vargas fight, Arum said he’s open to a Donaire-Darchinyan rematch as Donaire’s next outing if he’s successful Saturday. He mentioned super bantamweight star Israel Vazquez as another high-profile potential opponent down the road.

But while Donaire has a title defense in front of him and is eager to again get his hands on Darchinyan, his main goal lies far in the distance. He wants to move up to featherweight and take on Lopez, who has become one of the big stars in the lighter weight divisions.

If Donaire can make that move and is successful at featherweight, he will have a chance not only to duplicate the path Pacquiao has blazed, but to potentially match his stardom.

Pacquiao built an exceptional fan base in the Philippines and expanded it worldwide as he began moving up in weight, defying the odds and beating naturally much bigger men.

Donaire has a solid following in the Philippines, but Arum said he still has a long way to go to get into Pacquiao’s neighborhood.

“He’s well-liked over there and he’s the most popular fighter there other than Manny, but there’s Manny up here and then there’s everyone else,” Arum said. “If Pacquiao is a 10, Donaire is maybe a three and a guy like [Gerry] Penalosa is a two and everyone else goes down from there.”

The average American fan is largely unaware of Donaire, simply because few other than the hardcore fans pay attention to fights below featherweight.

Donaire, though, is a big super flyweight and Dunkin, one of the game’s most astute minds, insists he’ll have no problem eventually fighting at featherweight. He weighs in the mid-to-high 130s between fights and often spars with larger men.

Kenny Adams, one of the world’s elite trainers, raves about Donaire’s physical gifts. It’s that speed, quickness and power that allows him to compete on more or less even terms with the much bigger men with whom he trains.

“I watch him in the gym and he spars lightweights and junior lightweights and he competes them with no problem,” Dunkin said. “When he’s at 130, 128, 132 [in training camp], those kinds of weights, he hits so much harder and he’s just as fast.”

Donaire is something of a boxing historian. He’s read about greats such as Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard and admires their willingness to take on challenges many thought were out of their reach.

He wants to emulate them and meet the biggest and the best opponents he can.

“People really get excited and get talking about boxing when you put the best guys in with the best,” Donaire said. “I don’t want to sound overconfident when I say I want to take on JuanMa Lopez. I get a fire when I see him and when I hear people talking about him. It’s a great challenge to me. There’s no one out there that gets that fire burning inside of me … like it does when I hear people talking about JuanMa.”

A fight with – and a win over – Lopez would clearly make Donaire a star in the U.S. That Donaire can even be considered for stardom in the U.S., though, is a tribute to Pacquiao.

“Before Manny came along, people would look at the Filipino fighters like they were cannon fodder,” Arum said. “It was like the Koreans. You’d bring them over to get your guy a big victory. But because of what Manny has accomplished, there’s more money coming in and these [Filipino] kids are being given a chance to develop and become successful.

“Nonito is a wonderful kid and he’s obviously a terrific fighter. If, and if is the operative word here, because I’m not sure, but if he can make it up to featherweight and fight these monsters like Lopez and [Yuriorkis] Gamboa, he has a great opportunity to become a star here. But he’s got a lot of work ahead of him before he gets to that point.”

Donaire concedes that, but working hard is not an issue for him. He is a boxing guy to the core and wants to keep the sport on its current upward spiral.

“If you give the people the kind of fights they want, put the best against the best, and then the guys come to fight hard, boxing is going to be the best sport out there,” Donaire said. “We’re starting to see that happen more and more and I am going to do what I can to help build on that momentum.”

If he gets those fights, he won’t be the only one rocking to Elvis’ standard, “Viva, Las Vegas!”

Source: Kevin Iole  | Yahoo! Sports