Boxing

(credit: Tom Casino, Showtime) So it looks like we have a new superstar -- a new Manny Pacquiao, if you choose to believe the CEO of the company that promotes him. Lucas Matthysse, the taciturn, mysterious Argentinian who for so long lurked on the fringes of the fans’ consciousness at 140, popping up here and there to blow away an unfortunate opponent with unstoppable barrages of ambidextrous power, only to come up short in his two biggest fights against Devon Alexander and Zab Judah, seems to have finally arrived. Blasting out Lamont Peterson in three rounds over the weekend was an outcome very few outside of Matthysse’s camp predicted beforehand. We all knew he had power, sure. But Peterson had never come close to being stopped in any his previous fights, with his most recent outing, against a big, albeit limited puncher in Kendall Holt, arguably being his finest performance to date. Matthysse’s declaration of war has not only served to rip open the light welterweight division and make Danny Garcia a very nervous man, it’s also forced a lot of marketeers to go back to the drawing board behind the scenes and contemplate how exactly they are to make the most of this thrilling new "artista de knockout." Comparisons with Pacquiao are all well and good, but they overlook the key factor in Manny’s rise to superstardom: a little known Mexican-American named Oscar De La Hoya. Pacquiao made his name off the beating he dished out to the Golden Boy back in 2008. He was known to boxing fans beforehand, of course, but that megafight made headlines around the world, and immediately gained the Pacman a legion of followers with a taste for the Vegas lights and ever-steeper pay-per-view pricetags. The same goes for Floyd Mayweather, even if he’d be loathe to admit it. A cursory glance at Pretty Boy’s PPV buy figures before and after the De La Hoya fight is all that’s needed to spell out the boost it gave him. In short, both guys used victories over De La Hoya, at the time the most marketable name in the sport, to catapult themselves into its uppermost strata. Matthysse has no such luxury, unless Oscar fancies coming out of retirement and foregoing the life of private jets and corporate lunches he currently enjoys for the task of slimming down to super lightweight and pounding the slopes of Big Bear once last time. I suppose you could argue that Floyd’s the current Golden Boy, and he certainly isn’t one to shy away from the role of “payday provider." But there’s no way he’s going to step in with Matthysse any time soon, whether at 140 or 147. It would be a hell of a fight -- and I’d favour Floyd being able to frustrate his stocky, relatively short-armed opponent with potshots en route to a decision win -- but it’s just far too big a risk considering the stage of his career and the relatively low profile Matthysse currently holds. Therefore, with the megafight off the table, the PR teams of Golden Boy and Showtime are left to consider other options. It’s highly unlikely that Matthysse -- a man who I’ve never heard speak (or even appear to comprehend) a single word of English, and by all accounts enjoys a solitary life with his daughter and collection of dogs in a remote corner of Patagonia -- is going to develop into a trash-talking, supermodel-dating circus act overnight. While it would be great to see him sign up to Instagram and start posting heavily filtered snaps of $10,000 bundles scattered around his hotel room, or possibly befriend a famous New York hip hop artist and then fall out with them spectacularly, it’s not likely to happen. The whole “learning English” thing is out, too. We’re forever being told that middleweight champion Sergio Martinez is learning English, but the only two words he says are “good luck” when he touches gloves with his opponent. I suppose he might just

On this week’s edition of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, former junior middleweight champion Delvin Rodriguez (27-6-3, 15 KO will meet Freddy “El Riel” Hernandez (30-4, 20 KO) in a 10-round contest as both fighters are looking to crack the top …

Steve Kim: If you’re a sports fan, you’ve most likely heard about the wide-ranging layoffs that have taken place at ESPN. I don’t have all the gory details of this corporate bloodletting...

By Gabriel Montoya: In any rematch of a close fight, the central question is “Who can adjust and improve from the first fight?” For the past three months of training camp, Carl “The Cobra” Froch and Mikkel Kessler, each preparing for his first career rematch this Saturday at the O2 Arena in London, have attempted to find those answers. Ultimately, however, the outcome may simply come down to desire and a meshing of styles. At Wednesday’s final press conference, the men’s opposing styles could

Isaac Chilemba has revealed how illness almost made him quit during his draw with Tony Bellew, but he plans to win the return bout in dominant fashion.

Carl Froch believes Mikkel Kessler will feel the force of his army of fans for the first time at Friday's weigh-in.

With Carl Froch looking to add another significant victory to his already impressive ledger on Saturday, it's a good time to take a look at where the Nottingham fighter ranks among Britain's greatest Super-Middleweights. 10. Murray Sutherland 48-14-1 (KO 40) The Scottish born banger was based in Michigan for his entire career and never fought in Britain. Having fought at light-heavyweight giving size away, and then at middleweight struggling to make weight, he fitted the super-middleweight division perfectly when it was introduced in 1984. Having fought and lost against the likes of Matthew Saad Muhammed, Tommy Hearns and Michael Spinks twice, Sutherland finally had his night of triumph against Ernie Singletary. Fighting for the IBF title in the newly created division, he outmanned Singletary over fifteen hard fought rounds to win via a unanimous decision. He lost the title in his first defence, being knocked out by Chong-Pal Park in the eleventh round of their battle in South Korea. Sutherland fought on for another couple of years, producing more highlight reel knockouts before defeats to Bobby Czyz and Lindell Holmes brought his career to an end. Sutherland is often forgotten by British fans, mainly due to him never fighting there, but he is well worth checking out on youtube or via other means. He wasn’t what you’d call dull; he was a come-forward fighter who had pulverising power in both hands. Whilst he only held the IBF belt for a short period, his willingness to trade blows and his never quit attitude means he makes this top ten with ease. 9. Brian Magee 36-5-1 (KO 25) The Belfast southpaw has had many ups and downs in his career, he’s well skilled, hits hard enough to gain an opponents respect but doesn’t possess the best of chins. He went unbeaten in his first twenty-two fights, beating decent second tier fighters like Andre Thysse and Miguel Jimenez. The first signs of a weakness around the whiskers came when he was dropped by Jerry Elliot in his twenty-second bout. Confirmation came in his next bout when he was dropped four times by Robin Reid on his way to a points defeat. Magee got to his feet every time he hit the canvas and has tried to do so all the way through his career, showing he’s never been short of heart. He lost in a European title tilt in 2005, being on the wrong side of a highly debateable split-decision against Vitaliy Tsypko. Magee seemed to have won the fight comfortably but the decision went to the hometown fighter. A year later he faced Carl Froch for the British and Commonwealth titles. Magee was down early but rallied to have some success in the middle rounds. The pressure Froch was putting Magee under started to have an affect as the fight wore on and the Irishman went down again in the ninth. Froch battered Magee all over the ring in the tenth before finding a tremendous right uppercut in the eleventh that left Magee face first on the canvas and on the end of the first knockout defeat of his career. A year later he drew with Tony Oakey in his first shot at the British title, before stopping Steve McGuire in the eighth round in his second attempt at the title in 2008. He won the European title just over twelve months later, stopping Mads Larsen in the seventh round. His performance against Larsen is probably the best of his career; he was near enough punch perfect, repeatedly dropping Larsen with some vicious body punching. After making one defence of the European belt, Magee travelled to Canada to take on Lucien Bute for the IBF title. Bute was in control from the start, dropping Magee three times, the final knockdown in the tenth prompting the referee to intervene. It was the fourth defeat Magee had suffered yet he wasn’t to be deterred and returned to the ring four months later to claim the interim WBA title, beating Jaime Barboza on points in Cost Rica. He defeated Rudy Markussen in five

Noe Gonzalez Alcoba believes he will expose George Groves' 'weak chin' in an explosive clash on Saturday night.

Frank Warren has had to put back his big Wembley show on June 15 in order to secure an opponent for Dereck Chisora.

Carl Froch raised the stakes on Wednesday evening by vowing to do whatever it takes to beat Mikkel Kessler on Saturday.