Mayweather Coming to Knockout NationOne of the most polarizing figures in boxing today is coming to Knockout Nation. Floyd Mayweather is ready to sit down and discuss his upcoming fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, his alleged “hit list” of future opponents, and how long we can expect to see him back in the ring.
Floyd retired undefeated (39-0) atop the pound for pound heap in 2007. In his mainstream breakout year, he scored back to back wins over Oscar De La Hoya at a dangerous weight of 154 pounds (SD12), and an undefeated Ricky Hatton at 147 (TKO10). Now nearly two years later, Mayweather has returned to prove that he is still the best fighter in the world.Is it really just all about money for Mayweather? What does “legacy” mean to him? Does he really believe he’s greater and better than Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali? All these questions and more will be covered when I sit down with Floyd Mayweather for a special multi-part interview series leading up to his September return bout. Stay tuned for the exclusive first interview later this week.
Bradley Wins TKO’s Campbell in 3Before the fight (August 1), Nate “The Galaxxy Warrior” Campbell (33-6-1,25 KOs) had dedicated his WBO title match against Tim Bradley (25-0, 12 KOs) to the memories of Arturo Gatti and Vernon Forrest. But the result has many questioning Campbell’s own warrior spirit, as Bradley was awarded a 3rd round TKO stoppage after vehement proclamations from Campbell that he couldn’t continue.
The younger, faster Bradley took control from the beginning; constantly beating Campbell to the punch with jabs and hooks to the body. Bradley was able to dictate the action by fighting off the backfoot. Campbell was made to look slow in ring center and found that Bradley was strong enough to not be bullied on the inside.
Ever the veteran, Campbell sought to get in the head of the 25 year old champion. After each punch in the opening rounds, Campbell would smile and hurl insults at Bradley in hopes that the champion would become unfocused. Bradley didn’t bite, and by the end of round two Campbell’s mouth was now directed at the ref as he complained of borderline low blows, mauling, and headbutts.
In the 3rd, an accidental headbutt immediately opened a jagged cut above Campbell’s left eye. The veteran immediately began to complain as Bradley strafed him with hooks against the ropes. Clearly rattled, Campbell found it difficult to defend himself and was staggered by the fusillade of shots coming at him. The challenger looked close to going down, and barely made it out of the round.
In the corner, Campbell loudly protested that he could not see, even pushing away his cutman as he tried to work on the injury.
“Jimmy, stop it now!” Campbell stated. After a brief discussion with the ringside doctor, the fight was stopped with Campbell believing he had secured a no contest since the injury occurred before the 4th round.
However, referee David Mendoza incorrectly ruled the cut was caused by a punch, and awarded Tim Bradley a TKO victory.
Campbell was furious and yelled “This is wrong!” repeatedly before leaving the ring to receive medical attention.
Since Saturday, Campbell has been labeled a quitter and a hypocrite by some fans, who argue the hard-nosed vet refused to live up to his old-school mantra of fighting through any adversity. Additionally, some point out the harsh criticism he had for Juan Diaz, who he said was full of excuses after fighting through a horrible, headbutt-induced cut in their fight.
Yesterday, Campbell released his medical report that confirmed he suffered a vitreous hemorrhage. The condition results in bleeding into the eye and caused the spots Campbell saw in his vision.
“The ophthalmologist that treated me at the hospital advised me that the impairment to the vision in my left eye should clear up completely within a few days to a week at most,” Campbell explained in a prepared statement. “Never in my career have I had an injury like this where I simply couldn’t see out of an eye. I’ve had cuts 100 times worse than this that I fought through, and would have done the same in this instance, however this was something different. This was not something my cutman could have dealt with.”
Of course, champion Tim Bradley feels the writing was already on the wall, and that he was on his way to a decisive victory.
“Absolutely, it didn’t matter, head-butt or no head-butt, because as the rounds kept going on, I get stronger and stronger,” Bradley stated. “I threw more punches as the rounds go on and I just kept feeling him getting older and older each round.”
At press time, Campbell has filed an appeal with the California State Athletic Commission. A decision is expected at their next hearing on August 24.
Witter Gives UpOn the undercard, Junior Witter (37-3-2, 22 KOs) suffered a TKO to upstart Devon Alexander (19-0, 12 KOs) after failing to answer the bell for round nine.
Witter at 35 years old had no answer for the stalking Alexander, who relentlessly walked him down round after round. Witter could maintain no offense with his switch-hitting style, and was forced to relay on wild haymakers from the outside.
Alexander looked to be the stronger man, and rocked Witter several times with counter shots. The UK fighter found himself cut in the third, and nearly dropped in the fifth.The referee warned Witter about his constant holding, and by the ninth the former Ricky Hatton nemesis had decided he’d had enough.
The fans showed no mercy, taunting him with the title “Quitter Witter” as he made his way back to the dressing room.
“My elbow went in round four and basically I couldn’t keep him off with my left hand,” a dejected Witter explained afterward, fighting back tears. “I battled through a few rounds but the pressure kept coming on and it was like ‘I cant keep doing it.’…As much as I wanted to do it, I just wasn’t able to do it.”
While Junior Witter has stated he won’t retire, his career as a top fighter at 140 is possibly over. With two emphatic losses to young American fighters in Tim Bradley and Devon Alexander, any hopes he had of lucrative UK showdowns with Ricky Hatton or Amir Khan are out the window.
Throwback Fight of the Week: Joe Frazier vs. Bob Foster (November 18, 1970)Newly crowned heavyweight champion Joe Frazier was very confused before this bout. Having just brutally disposed of Jimmy Ellis in February, “Smokin’” Joe couldn’t understand why light-heavyweight champ Bob Foster would even consider getting in the ring with him. Up until that point, Foster had not fared well against top heavyweights (Zora Folley, Ernie Terrell). When asked by Muhammad Ali how the fight would go, Frazier promised to “wreck” Foster in quick fashion.
Foster, who hadn’t lost in 5 years, sought to keep distance by pumping his jab. Usually, the snappy punch would keep smaller fighters in their place and set up his powerful fight hand. But the stronger, bigger Frazier swatted the shots away and dug in with hard hooks on the inside. Towards the end of the 1st, Foster got too bold throwing the right hand, and received several jarring left hooks in return.
Frazier immediately pounced in the second with a left hook that rolled Foster off the canvas. Unable to hold, Foster tried to slug his way out of trouble and was dropped emphatically with short, double left hooks against the ropes. Bob Foster could not beat the count, giving Frazier the clean KO win.
Frazier would go on to make 3 more successful defenses (most notably against Muhammad Ali) before losing the title to George Foreman in 1973. His final record stands at 32-4-1, 27 KOs.
Bob Foster would return to light-heavyweight, and make 7 more defenses of his crown before again moving up to heavyweight, this time losing by KO to Muhammad Ali. He would finally retire in 1978 with a record of 56-8-1, 46 KOs.