Boxing Scoop

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Diaz critical after fight

Thursday, July 17 2008


Welterweight Oscar Diaz reportly is undergoing emergency surgery early Thursday morning for bleeding on the brain. The brave fighter, who has been in so many wars during his career, was rushed to University Hospital in San Antonio, a level one trauma center, after collapsing between rounds late in the fight against Delvin Rodriguez during a nationally-televised fight. We hope and pray for his recovery.

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Roach says Manny can KO Oscar!

July 17, 2008

With all the hullabaloo surrounding the saleability of Manny Pacquiao‘s next foe, trainer Freddie Roach now earnestly wants the most marketable fight for the Filipino icon. Oscar De La Hoya.

In an interview with Sports Radio’s “Sports Chat” Thursday morning (Manila time) not only did Roach believes a fight with Dela Hoya will be huge, promotional wise. The hall-of-fame American trainer even daringly said Pacquiao is capable of knocking De La Hoya out.

“When I trained Oscar he was just having trouble pulling the trigger and he’s a little bit slow. If Stevie Forbes can hit him as easily as he did, I know Pacquiao will knock him out,“ said Roach in the daily morning Philippine radio show. “I know my guy. The thing is I would never take a fight that I didn’t know my guy could win. I would never do that.”

De La Hoya publicly stated he will be fighting for the last time this December although he is still searching for an opponent. The 35-year-old superstar fought last May in Carson, California where he scored a 12-round decision win over longtime welterweight campaigner Steve Forbes. The non-title bout was set at 154.

De La Hoya’s negotiations with one-time tormentor Felix Trinidad fell through according to Roach, a development the American trainer believes opens up a possible De La Hoya-Pacquiao showdown.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum recently said he will stage Pacquiao’s world lightweight title defense against Mexican Humberto Soto who dealt Pacquiao’s kid brother Bobby a painful 7th round knockout about a year ago in New York.

Venezuelan knockout artist Edwin Valero was also considered but his medical issue with every state in the United States except for Texas shot down the match.

“I think Bob is a real smart guy and he’ll come up with something. December is a better date than November because Manny’s right hand is a little sore and I’d like to let that heal completely,” said Roach “We need a long training camp just to work on the styles of how to beat him because he is a bigger guy but he does have trouble pulling the trigger now. He is not the same Oscar 10 years ago.”

Roach said he’s be asking around and learned that De La Hoya can fight at 147-lbs if a real worthy opponent is available at that weight.

“I want Manny to weigh-in 140 pounds and then at fight time he’ll be at 145 he’ll have his power and speed. I just don’t see Oscar handling Manny at this point of their careers,“ revealed Roach “Manny told me he’d love to fight Oscar and Oscar has made it public he’d love to fight Manny and I think it’s a big, big fight.”

Pacquiao, who will turn 30 this December, crowned himself four-division champion when he stopped Mexican-American David Diaz inside eight rounds last month to capture the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight crown. In that fight Roach stated his delight in seeing his prized ward use his right hand in spectacular fashion.

“That performance is really what sets me to make that decision (to challenge De La Hoya). Because I’ve been working on Manny’s right hand for a long time. Sometimes it was there a little bit, against (Juan Manuel) Marquez it wasn’t there too much,” added Roach.

Another issue which according to Roach will create more interest about a De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight was the fact that the Filipino fighter, after signing a promotional deal with Dela Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, eventually hooked up with Arum’s Top Rank, Inc.

“Oscar is probably upset because Manny’s controversy about who he signed with, Golden Boy or Top Rank and the court settlement that happened so Oscar seems to be a little bitter about that,” said Roach.

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Diaz hurt in bout with Rodriguez!

July 17, 2008

It was a highly anticipated bout. Two up and coming fighters were competing for that one win that would get them that opportunity that could catapult their careers into stardom. Hometown boy Oscar Diaz(26-2-1 12 KOs) was set to take on Delvin Rodriguez (22-2-1 13KOS) of Danbury, CT. The fight was for the USBA Welterweight Championship and was broadcast on ESPN2 from San Antonio as a part of their Wednesday Night Fight series. It was a night the crowd of 1,200 wanted to remember for a long time. As it turned out, that crowd will remember what happened for a long time, there's no doubt, however never in a way they could have imagined.

Both fighters are young, well-spoken, nice looking, and very talented. There was no doubt it had the makings for something boxing fans love, drama. Oddsmakers had it a toss up heading into the fight. ESPN2's Teddy Atlas said that he saw both fighters having a 50-50 chance of winning. Rumor on the street had it that whoever won, would get a world title shot in his next fight.

Delvin Rodriguez took a big risk by coming into Oscar Diaz's backyard. As to no one's surprise, Rodriguez came out to a wide array of boos. Diaz of course got the hometown greeting. The fight may not have been for a world title, but boxing fans at different levels were really excited.

Rodriguez and his team were dead set on not being intimidated. Even though Diaz had his hometown crowd, Lou Duva, Tommy Brooks, and Shaun George in his corner. Before the fight, both classy fighters showed proper respect to one another, but they both knew it was time to take care of business.

The fight started out pretty even as both fighters were in the feeling out stage. Diaz finished the second round with a strong right hook to the head of Rodriguez at the bell. Rodriguez looked at Oscar and gave a smile as to say 'let's get this war started.'

In the third round Oscar continually tried to get on the inside of his opponent. Rodriguez kept his shorter opponent away using his stiff jab. In the third Rodriguez was able to create a red mouse under the San Antonion's right eye.

In the fourth round Oscar connected with a powerful right cross to his opponents head knocking him off balance and backing him into a corner. Rodriguez responded with a solid left hook to the head of Diaz, showing he was not hurt as bad as the crowd thought.

In the fifth round Rodriguez connected with a solid one two combination to the face of Diaz. Both fighters continued to show aggression and will.

Rodriguez used his long jab to keep Diaz at bay. An occasional right hand would land that would soften up Diaz's charge. In the eighth round Oscar was cut due to an accidental head butt. Diaz's face began to show the wear and tear of the fight.

Rodriguez's corner encouraged him saying "this fight is over, look at him." In the tenth round, it became obvious that Oscar was beginning to slow down. At one point Diaz and Rodriguez wrestled each other to the ground.

After the bell sounded, referee Bobby Gonzales went to Diaz's corner. After reviewing what he saw, he turned around to wave off the fight. Diaz stood up to protest his decision. It was then trainer Tommy Brooks tried to calm Oscar down. As Brooks tried to calm his fighter down, Diaz then began to lose his feet from under him and fell to the arms of his cornermen. At first Diaz was put on a stool, and then was put flat on his back.

The crowd's disappointment of the loss was soon overcome by the concern for their fighter. As the auditorium grew more silent, the severity of Diaz's condition grew to be more obvious. Soon fans were standing all over the arena in hopes to see Oscar rise to his feet, unfortunately for them that never happened.

Fans in the crowd began to openly weep as they did not know Oscar's condition.

Through the silence you could hear fans yell "we love you Oscar!" Or "you have the heart of a lion." The crowd even tried a "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar" chant, in hopes it would bring their hometown hero to his feet, but it never did.

Oscar's opponent then got on the microphone and started out by thanking everyone that came out, and then went on to say "let's pray for Oscar." Afterwards Rodriguez didn't know what to think of the situation. "one second Delvin is smiling, the next he is tearing up and praying for Oscar's health," said Starboxing's Director of Media Relations Kevin Rooney Jr.

Rodriguez had a belt around his waste and a pain in his heart.

After Oscar was carried off into the ambulance, a slew of fans, managers, promoters, trainers, fighters, and members of the media immediately got on their cell phones.

"In the five hundred fights that I have done, I have never seen anything like this," said a saddened Lestor Bedford. Bedford has been a part of putting on boxing events all over Texas for the past twenty-five years.

Saying the mood in the auditorium was somber would be putting it mildly.

As the arena cleared out, ESPN's color commentator Teddy Atlas sat all alone in his chair just staring at the floor in total silence. When he eventually spoke he said "Right now the only thing that matters is that Oscar Diaz comes out healthy, I really don't care about anything up until this point." Atlas then went on to say he was amazed at the amount of heart that Diaz showed throughout the fight. "We pray that the outcome of what we saw is not what it is, I'm praying that it's dehydration."

One of Diaz's corner men then informed the media that Oscar did complain of pain in his head right before his legs wobbled.

Both fans and media alike had to leave the event not knowing what Oscar's condition was.

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There are serious talks to match WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik against former light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins on October 18 in Atlantic City. The fight would land on HBO pay-per-view.

[realjwann]

No BHop.....no more boring fights please...

[wp2003]

i agree, bhop has to give it up already. he's in very good shape, but his fights just aren't what they used to be

[wp2003]

ibp, what happened with diaz?

[ibleedpurple]

dude was getting beat in the ring, and he collapsed in his corner.

[wp2003]

i read that.......what happened afterward?? any news on how he's doing?

[wp2003]

i know a lot of boxers, and most of them will not complain because of a little dizziness and stuff like that because they're used to it, but when a boxer tells you his head is hurting, that's serious......

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Oscar Diaz Update!

Thursday, July 17 2008

The surgery performed on Oscar Diaz "went well" and "he is stabilized but still in critical condition." Reportedly Diaz is under heavy sedation, but was not in a medically induced coma.

[wp2003]

well that's good news, sort of....sounds like his boxing days are done......

[realjwann]

Dude was done three fights ago....he got clobbered up pretty bad by Golden Johnson....

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Diaz was at one time was considered the best welterweight of Texas. La Amenaza wanted to get a shot at him to claim that statement but the fight never happened.

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Arum ready to stage
De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao!

July 18, 2008

What was once thought to be a video game fantasy now has the potentials of becoming a reality.

Hall-of-Fame promoter Bob Arum disclosed in a Philippine radio interview Friday morning that initial talks have begun to stage an Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao before the end of the year.

Arum was the main guest of the daily morning radio show “Sports Chat” aired over DZSR 918kHz hosted by this writer where the astute promoter openly talked about the intriguing match-up.

Arum revealed he had discussions with Golden Boy Promotions people and that De La Hoya is looking at four names to choose from for his farewell fight and these are Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Felix Tito Trinidad, Miguel Cotto and Manny Pacquiao.

Arum said Mayweather, Jr., because of his recent retirement and Trinidad, because of his huge weight, are so far out of the picture.

“That leaves two fighters for Oscar to fight on December 6, Miguel Cotto who is fighting next week against Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao,” said Arum “Let’s be very practical about it. At this particular point, Oscar De La Hoya has one more fight left in his illustrious career and that‘s December the 6th.

Arum said he will discuss everything with Pacquiao as soon as the Filipino four-division world champion arrives in Las Vegas next weekend to watch the Cotto-Margarito fight.

“The decision that has to be made by Manny Pacquiao is, number one, if Oscar decides he would like to fight, whether Manny feels that is a winnable fight because Oscar is bigger and secondly whether the financial remunerations are appropriate,” said Arum.

“Until I sit with Manny and find out Manny’s financial demands and find out what percentage the revenue we can get from a De La Hoya-Pacquiao fight everything is really premature. The point is that we are not discarding our other options as this whole process goes on.”

Arum agrees with Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach that the fight must be done in the welterweight limit of 147. The well-known promoter added that the weight will not be an issue for De La Hoya, his one-time prized fighter.

“I don’t think that would be a problem, as far as Oscar coming down to 147. That is based on my preliminary discussions, that won’t be a problem. In other words if he fought Cotto, if he fought Pacquiao we would do it at welterweight,” added Arum.

Arum at the same time dismissed reports of bitterness between him and De La Hoya in the same show which also included broadcaster Ronnie Nathanielsz as guest co-host.

“That is not true, Oscar is a businessman there is no truth to as far as making the fight or not making the fight. If it makes sense in making the fight, if it can be done on good economic terms that won’t stop Oscar at all. Trust me,” said Arum “When the contracts are drawn up for the fight, if you are a professional you lose that animosity and maximize the revenue with the promotions.”

Thursday morning in the same show Roach revealed his eagerness of seeing his prized ward go up against De La Hoya.

“When I trained Oscar he was just having trouble pulling the trigger and he’s a little bit slow. If Stevie Forbes can hit him as easily as he did, I know Pacquiao will knock him out,“ said Roach.

Roach said he’s been asking around and learned that De La Hoya can fight at 147-lbs if a real worthy opponent is available at that weight.

“I want Manny to weigh-in 140 pounds and then at fight time he’ll be at 145 he’ll have his power and speed. I just don’t see Oscar handling Manny at this point of their careers,“ revealed Roach “Manny told me he’d love to fight Oscar and Oscar has made it public he’d love to fight Manny and I think it’s a big, big fight.”

Pacquiao, who will turn 30 this December, crowned himself four-division champion when he stopped Mexican-American David Diaz inside eight rounds last month to capture the World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight crown. In that fight Roach stated his delight in seeing his prized ward use his right hand in spectacular fashion.

“That performance is really what sets me to make that decision (to challenge De La Hoya). Because I’ve been working on Manny’s right hand for a long time. Sometimes it was there a little bit, against (Juan Manuel) Marquez it wasn’t there too much,” added Roach.

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[wp2003]

.......that sux.....

[falcon03]

Doctor says San Antonio boxer likely to survive brain injury


Updated: July 18, 2008, 6:15 PM ET

SAN ANTONIO -- A doctor who performed brain surgery on a boxer who collapsed during a fight this week says he expects the young man to survive.

Doctor David Jimenez says 25-year-old welterweight boxer Oscar Diaz remains in critical but stable condition.

The physician says Diaz is still in a coma, but that's to be expected due to the severe brain injury.

Diaz on Wednesday collapsed before the 11th round of the televised USBA welterweight championship fight against Delvin Rodriguez.

Referees stopped the fight, declaring Rodriguez the winner by technical knockout.

Diaz was rushed to the hospital, where Jimenez did surgery to remove a piece of the boxer's skull to relieve brain swelling.

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Cotto in Vegas!



Monday, July 21 2008

WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto touched down in Las Vegas on Sunday night and took a special 16-wheel "The Battle/La Battala" promotional bus straight to the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino. He faces Antonio Margarito next Saturday in a major pay-per-view showdown. "I'm completely prepared," said Cotto. "I know I'm fighting a warrior in Margarito. I am right on weight. I know how important this fight is for both of us." Margarito will arrive in Vegas tomorrow after first working out in Los Angeles.

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Collazo wants title shot!

Monday, July 21 2008

The camp of WBC #1 welterweight Luis Collazo is protesting against the proposed WBC welterweight title eliminator request by Promoter Rodney Berman between Isaac Hlatshwayo and Jackson Osei Bonsu. "We are formally requesting that WBC #1 ranked Luis Collazo be named as the mandatory challenger to fight Andre Berto for the WBC welterweight title," wrote Collazo's manager Nirmal Lorick to WBC President Jose Sulaiman and the WBC Board of Governors. "If for any reason the board does not mandate Collazo as the mandatory challenger we should, at the least, be the first considered in any discussions in reference to any upcoming eliminator bouts. Luis is able and available to fight anyone in an eliminator for the mandatory position."