Stories related to: boxing

Undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. is hanging up his gloves, nixing a high-profile rematch against Oscar De La Hoya, ESPN.com reports. “This decision was not an easy one for me to make,” the welterweight champ said. “However, these past few years have been extremely difficult for me to find the desire and joy to continue.” More »

Joe Calzaghe didn't stop punching after a terrible start against Bernard Hopkins, and now the Pride of Wales is the best light heavyweight in the world. Calzaghe won a split decision last night, desperately rallying in the final rounds against his cagey 43-year-old opponent to remain unbeaten. Hopkins (48-5-1)  knocked down Calzaghe (45-0) with a sneaky right hand just 70 seconds in. More »

Shane Mosley was perfectly aware he had taken steroids before defeating Oscar de la Hoya in 2003, claims convicted steroid dealer Victor Conte. "He knew what he was taking and I told him that before he took it," BALCO founder Conte said. The prizefighter says he never knowingly took steroids and is suing for libel, the LA Times reports. More »

Wladimir Klitschko looked more like the older brother picking on his smaller sibling than someone trying to win a heavyweight title fight last night. The much taller and stronger Klitschko barely took a punch in beating Russian Sultan Ibragimov for the minor WBO belt in a unanimous decision, reports the Associated Press. More »

Janet Huckabee put on her least social conservative-friendly face last weekend, going to Las Vegas for a middleweight prizefight—and staying at the Hooters Casino Hotel. The spouse of GOP candidate Mike has fine excuses—boxer Jermain Taylor is an Arkansas favorite; the risqué lodging was an eleventh-hour booking—but the San Francisco Chronicle wonders if the wild weekend might shock her husband’s evangelical base. More »

Floyd Mayweather Jr. defended his welterweight crown against British challenger Ricky Hatton last night in 10 rounds. The 147-pound champion showed more punching than dancing, as Hatton kept on the offensive—contrary to the predictions that the bout would be a boring one. Before an overwhelmingly British crowd, Mayweather came through on his guarantee of a knockout. More »

Mike Tyson was scheduled today for a 1-night-only appearance—in the Phoenix slammer. The ex-heavyweight will serve 24 hours in jail and begin 3 years’ probation tomorrow after pleading guilty to cocaine possession and DUI charges stemming from a 2006 traffic stop, the AP reports. Tyson avoided a 4-plus-year sentence by "becoming a role model," the judge said. More »

Miguel Cotto came out triumphant over Shane Mosley in a well-matched fight last night at Madison Square Garden, ESPN reports. Cotto held on to his welterweight title by landing more powerful punches in the 115-113 decision, improving to 31-0 as the more experienced and well-known Mosley dropped to 44-5. More »

Jameel McCline will get into the ring tonight to challenge Samuel Peter for the WBC heavyweight championship, despite reports in the NY Daily News that the fighter received $12,000 worth of steroids and HGH between 2005 and 2006.  McCline is the first boxer to be connected to the Signature Pharmacy investigation. More »

The newsroom-meets-boxing-ring drama "Resurrecting the Champ" is slow on its feet, critics say, weighed down by its own sentimentality, despite a powerful performance by Samuel L. Jackson—"slumming again in a role miles beneath him," writes Stephen Hunter of the Washington Post —and a taste of the nuts and bolts of journalism.  More »

As a Dominican native, Fernando Guerrero had to fight for US citizenship. This week, the middleweight boxer is saving his jabs for the ring, where he hopes to earn a spot on the US Olympic squad headed for Beijing. The 20-year-old champ, whose career detoured because he wasn’t a naturalized citizen, is within striking distance of his dream. More »

Felix "Tito" Trinidad and Roy Jones Jr. will square off at Madison Square Garden next January in what promoter Don King is calling "a fight made in boxing heaven." The two future Hall of Famers had been slated for a highly publicized bout in 2001 before Trinidad was KO'd in the preceding weeks. More »

Forty-four-year-old Evander Holyfield will challenge for his fifth heavyweight crown on October 13 against WBO champ Sultan Ibragimov. The Moscow bout was slated to feature Ibragimov and WBA champ Ruslan Chagaev, who withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Holyfield, who downed Lou Savarese in June, says he's ready to unify the heavyweight division ttile. More »

A 42-year-old Bernard Hopkins successfully defended his light heavyweight title against Winky Wright last night, taking the Vegas bout in a unanimous decision. It was a grueling return for Hopkins, who'd retired last year after grabbing the crown from Antonio Tarver. Though warned for one too many accidental head butts, Hopkins was never docked a point, and won 117-111, 117-111, 116-112. More »

Diego "Chico" Corrales, a former boxing world champion, died last night in a Las Vegas motorcycle crash. Two years to the day before his death at 29, Corrales unified lightweight titles with a come-from-behind knockout of Jose Luis Castillo. "That fight with Jose Luis Castillo will be remembered by many forever," said Corrales' promoter, Gary Shaw. More »

Floyd Mayweather Jr. captured Oscar De La Hoya's WBC super welterweight title last night in Las Vegas, recording a 12-round split decision and running his record to 38-0.  Two of the three judges gave one of the richest fights in boxing history to the 3-2 underdog, who has won a belt in five different weight classes. More »

In the Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. title fight, the defending champion with the winning smile is the overwhelming people's favorite. And the bout is for more than just the WBC light middleweight crown. It's projected to shatter pay-per-view records and perhaps even rejuvenate boxing—a notion De La Hoya rejects. More »

A tonsorially tamed Don King took the stage Wednesday in front of an atypical audience–the Pope. The legendary boxing promoter, who spent four years in jail for manslaughter, was denied a personal audience with his Holiness, but did manage to hand the pontiff a handwritten set of prayer requests–and a green-and-gold boxing belt. More »