Weekly Report: News, Results and What to Watch

  This is just a weekly recap of what's going on in the boxing world. It also includes results from the past week as well as note worthy fights coming up in the following week. This is something that has been done on B/R before but I haven't seen it around for awhile so I figured it was worth while to start up again.

News: 

 * WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao wins Congressional seat by a landslide in the Sarangani province of the Philippines. Pacquiao received 90,000 out of a possible 125,000 votes.

  *  WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan received his work visa for his May 15 bout against Paulie Malignaggi. Khan had been training with Freddie Roach in Los Angeles on a tourist permit but was having issues receiving his work visa.

  *  Betting odds released for a potential bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather is a favorite at -140, while odds on Pacquiao are +110.

  *  Former heavyweight champion and HBO analyst Lennox Lewis has been released from the network. It was said to be a mutual agreement, but rumors have circulated that Lewis’ contract was up and HBO didn’t want to re-sign him.

  *  Kelly Pavlik has decided not to exercise his rematch clause against Sergio Martinez. Pavlik plans on moving up to the super middleweight limit of 168 lbs. Pavlik says he can longer make the 160 lb weight comfotably.

  *  Since the breakdown in the Darchinyan-Donaire rematch negotiations, there are reports of a possible matchup between Nonito Donaire (23-1) and WBO/WBC bantamweight titlist Fernando Montiel (41-2). Vic Darchinyan(34-2-1) has stated he would want to fight the winner between Israel Vazquez (44-4) and Rafael Marquez (38-5), after his fight with Eric Barcelona (51-17-4)

Results:

  *  Yordanis Despaigne (6-0) Unan. Decision over Richard Hall (29-8). Despaigne, member of the 2004 Cuban Olympic team, turned in an unimpressive decision win over veteran Richard Hall. It’s hard to judge Despaigne, because due to his amateur background it’s difficult to match him up with up and comers but he’s not yet on a championship level. We’ll see what the future holds him.

  *  Paul Williams (39-1) Technical Decision over Kermit Cintron (32-3-1). The fight was just starting to pick up as the two fighters got tangled up and Cintron ended up going through the ropes about 30 second into the fourth round. The doctor prevented Cintron from returning  to the ring, causing the fight to go to the scorecards due to California rules.

  *  Antonio Margarito (38-6) Unan. Decision over Roberto Garcia(28-3). In his first fight back after being supended by the California State Athletic Commission for using illegal hand wraps Margarito easily outpointed Garcia, knocking him down in the first round.

This Week:

Friday 5/14:

  *  ESPN Friday Night Fights is headlined by Julio Diaz (36-6) against Herman Ngoudjo (18-3) in a junior welterweight match.

  *  Showtime’s Shobox series has Daniel Dawson (34-1) challenging undefeated WBO light middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk (36-0).

Saturday 5/15:

  *  Fox Sports Net shows newly crowned WBC lightweight titlist Humberto Soto (51-7-2) defending his title for the first time against Ricardo Dominguez (31-5-2).

  *  HBO double-header first showcasing ESPN 2008 prospect of the year Victor Ortiz (26-2-1) in a 12 round junior welterweight bout with veteran and former light weight champion Nate Campbell (33-5-1).

  *  Headlining the HBO card will be former light welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi (27-3) having a shot at another title against Amir Khan (22-1) for his WBA light welterweight championship. This will be Khan’s first fight in the U.S.

 - Not being televised are bouts between Kevin Mitchell (31-0) against Michael Katsidis (26-2) for the Katsidis’ interim WBO lightweight title.

 - Also untelevised, IBF featherweight champion Cristobal Cruz (39-11) will be defending his title in a rematch against Orlando Salido (33-10-2).