Boxing News - Cotto, Golota, Morrison, and More!

There’s always something happening in the wacky world of boxing, and we here at Dare to Gamble like to occasionally take a look back at the important events of the week. Ready? Here goes nothing.

INTERNATIONAL BOXING HALL OF FAME

Sunday saw a new class inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Chief among the inductees were Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran and Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker, both of whom were elected to the Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility. The other modern fighter chosen was Mexican straw weight champ Ricardo “Finito” Lopez, who retired undefeated and successfully defended his title 21 times.

Other inductees included Argentine trainer Amilcar Brusa, WBC president and Don King puppet Jose Sulaiman, and artist and fight enthusiast Leroy Neiman. Honored posthumously were lightweight Pedro Montanez, light heavyweight Kid Norfolk, heavyweight George Godfrey, manager/matchmaker Cuco Conde, cartoonist TAD Dorgan, and 19th century boxers Dick Curtis and Young Barney Aaron.

COTTO VERSUS JUDAH

On Saturday night, Miguel Cotto successfully defended his belt against Zab Judah, eventually stopping him in the 11th round. A brutal and action-packed contest, many are already referring to it as the fight of the year. You can read our article on the bout by clicking here.

TOMMY GUNN TRIES MMA

Former heavyweight champion Tommy “The Duke” Morrison made his mixed martial arts debut on Friday night by knocking out John Stover, a 36-year-old sheet rock hanger, at 2:08 of the first round.

Held outside of Cliff Castle Casino, Morrison was panting after the match and being booed heavily by the crowd of around 2,500. He was whisked into a minivan and taken from the scene.

The 340 pound Stover took the bout despite a stipulation against grappling. Then, just an hour before the fight, he claims to have been informed that he would not be allowed to strike Morrison with his feet or knees. Essentially, this went from a MMA match to a glorified boxing match. No wonder Morrison broke his nose.

The day before the fight, the 38-year-old Morrison’s former agent, Randy Lang, told ESPN that the fighter was still HIV positive. As you might remember, Morrison had to stop fighting after being diagnosed as HIV positive, but claims to have later learned that the results were not accurate.

To clear all this up, Morrison and his camp are planning to have a very public blood test done later this month to end the debate once and for all. Oh, and he still wants to be heavyweight champ.

TARVER WINS TITLE

Antonio Tarver aka Mason “The Line” Dixon, reclaimed the IBO light heavyweight title on Saturday night by winning a majority decision over the outclassed Elvir Muriqi. This was Tarver’s first fight since losing the title to Bernard Hopkins and co-starring in Rocky Balboa. “The Executioner” has since vacated the title and moved down in weight to fight Winky Wright.

Tarver improved to 25-4, while Muriqi dropped to 34-4. Many believe that Tarver’s next opponent could be undefeated Chad Dawson, who successfully defended his WBC light heavyweight title on the same card by knocking out Jesus “Chuy” Ruiz in the 6th round.

POLISH POWER

Poland’s Tomasz Adamek got a 7th-round TKO victory over Luis Pineda on Saturday to win the vacant IBO cruiserweight title. Adamek improved to 32-1, while Pineda dropped to 21-6.

On the undercard of that fight, Polish heavyweight and walking foul, Andrew Golota, returned from a two-year absence to get a TKO win over Jeremy Bates. While he looked rusty, Golota dominated his opponent and cut him over the eye in the second round.

Golota improved to 39-6-1, while Bates dropped to 21-14-1. If he can string together a few more wins, don’t be surprised to see Golota get a title shot down the road. And considering the quality of the current heavyweight champs, he would certainly have as good a chance as anyone.

SPADAFORA BEHIND BARS…AGAIN

Paul Spadafora, the former IBF lightweight champ, is back in prison for a parole violation. He was arrested on May 30th after ignoring the protection-from-abuse order given to Spadafora’s ex-girlfriend, whom he shot in 2003. Sounds like a healthy relationship, doesn’t it?

LARRY MERCHANT IS THE MAN

I love Larry Merchant. Whether he’s grilling a fighter in a post-fight interview, laughing at his own insane jokes, or acting like Harold Lederman doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about, HBO’s longtime analyst Larry Merchant has always been one of my favorite boxing personalities.

That’s why I was thrilled to see that he and HBO had agreed to a new contract. Reportedly, it’s a two-year deal with a mutual two-year option.

The 76-year-old Merchant will, however, be cutting back on his workload. Max Kellerman, who has functioned as the lead analyst on Boxing After Dark, will share the load and be groomed as Merchant’s eventual successor.

Too bad that the heavyweight division doesn’t have half the quality of HBO’s announce team.

Well, that’s all for now, but be sure and check back with Dare to Gamble for all your boxing and MMA news. In addition, we cover poker, craps, roulette, blackjack, and anything else that involves people losing their life savings. Until next time, keep your chin down and your hands up.

Boxing News - Cotto, Golota, Morrison, and More!