Rafael’s source said that not only is Floyd considering the Hatton-Pacquiao winner, but he is also interested and willing to fight Shane Mosley or Juan Manuel Marquez. The only fight he is not interested in is Oscar De La Hoya.

Mayweather’s return to the ring has been expected since the day he “retired,” but has been becoming more and more imminent in recent months. Sources have spied Mayweather training at his Las Vegas gym, and he recently canceled an appearance at a gala in Ohio for unknown reasons pending an “announcement,” fueling more speculation.

The July 11 date is also the date that HBO was working with for a proposed bout between Bernard Hopkins and Tomasz Adamek, putting HBO in a tough situation. They would obviously love to have the Hopkins fight on HBO, but at the same time, they don’t want to lose the opportunity to score a Mayweather fight.

While the source said that Mayweather is interested in fighting anyone, he knows that the fight he needs to make, the Godzilla, as it was written, is Manny Pacquiao.

If Pacquiao beats Hatton in May, boxing will settle for nothing less than Pacquiao vs. Mayweather. If Hatton beats Pacquiao, then Floyd’s options are greater, but fans will demand he fights one of the fighters mentioned before the end of the year.

With more and more big fights being made, and more and more fights moving from pay-per-view to cable, the timing couldn’t be better for a Mayweather return to the ring.

Klitschko could not have been more impressive in his win over Peter, making the Nigerian quit after eight one-sided rounds. It was better than anyone expected, and once again Klitschko made it look easy. Should we expect anything else from Gomez?

Based on Vitali’s career, there’s no reason to think things are about to change. So just how good is Vitali Klitschko?

At 36-2, Klitschko has only heard the scorecards read once in his professional career, knocking out all other opponents in his wins, with his only two losses coming by injury and cuts. In both of his losses, he was winning on all scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Lennox Lewis is the only fighter that ever looked like he belonged in the ring with Vitali.

Gomez, however, is no slouch. While Vitali has dominated virtually everyone he’s faced, his resume is not exactly a who’s who of heavyweight boxing. Gomez is a solid opponent that has sparred with Klitschko in the past, and poses a possible matchup dilemma.

While he’s four inches shorter than Klitschko, Gomez matches the Ukrainian in reach — and he’s a lefty. A southpaw that will be able to reach Klitschko could be just the kind of matchup that takes him off his game.

Gomez suffered his only defeat four and a half years ago, racking up 44 wins around it since going pro in 1995. Until 2001, Gomez was fighting as a cruiserweight, and was an impressive 34-0 with 29 knockouts before moving up. Now, he faces the toughest test of his career in Klitschko, and probably has to be damn near perfect to pull the upset.

Klitschko, on the other hand, probably just needs to not be injured to win the fight. That’s been the case in all of his other fights. He is a tremendously underrated boxer with devastating power, and a solid chin. In today’s world of heavyweights, about the only one with the package to defeat him is his brother, Wladimir, but that’s not going to happen.

I think Gomez will pose a slight threat for the first two rounds — and by threat I mean he won’t get dominated and could win a few rounds. I don’t see Gomez hurting Klitschko, so he will have to box very well and be very cautious to win a decision. He should give Klitschko some trouble in the early rounds, but once Vitali adjusts, he should take over and promptly put an end to the fight. If Gomez can get knocked out in the first round by Yanqui Diaz, then he may not take a right hand from a Klitschko that well.

Another dominant performance from Vitali and I won’t be surprised to see many boxing folks start putting him on top of the heavyweight rankings. His fights with Corrie Sanders and Peter showed that he is in fact the better fighter, so it is just a matter of giving him the nod over the brother with the better resume and more belts. But that’s a debate to be had after this fight.

An interesting side note in this fight is that it is the first heavyweight title fight ever to be shown live on ESPN. Kudos to the Worldwide Leader for picking up the fight, and even more kudos to them for having the sack to air it on The Uno — up against the March Madness. A solid performance from these two men is extremely important, as there may never be another stage so big for them again if it isn’t a great show.

I think we’ll get an entertaining fight, competitive for two or three rounds, then increasingly one-sided as Klitschko finds his distance, rhythm and timing. Once that happens, it’s just a matter of time before Gomez is on the canvas.

Prediction: Klitschko KO 5.

According to Michael Rosenthal at Ring Magazine, Golden Boy is planning a triple-header for June 27 that would feature three fights that could all be considered headliners in a different time and place (see: HBO, 2008).

The card would take place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, featuring a rematch between Chris John and Rocky Juarez, James Kirkland vs. WBO junior middleweight titlist Sergei Dzindziruk (assuming a Kirkland May 2 win), and Victor Ortiz against WBA junior welterweight titlist Andreas Kotelnik.

Kirkland and Ortiz shared a Boxing After Dark card in February, beating Joel Julio and Mike Arnauotis , respectively. John and Juarez fought to a close, but disputed draw on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz fight in Houston. Most observors felt that John won the fight, but it was close enough, especially the final three rounds, to merit a rematch.

For Kirkland and Ortiz, this would be their first title shots.

“I’m working on it like crazy,” Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told Ring. “If I pull it off, it’ll be huge.”

If this card comes together as planned, and airs on regular, non-PPV HBO, then this will be just another example of what boxing is doing right in the last year. HBO and Showtime have both stepped up with quality non-PPV cards recently, and for the past two years we have seen a drastic increase in quality fights being made by top fighters and promoters.

Here’s hoping for more of the same.

The High Court ruled that Warren’s Sports Network Limited must pay Calzaghe $2.8 million, the amount that Calzaghe claimed Warren owed him from his fight with Bernard Hopkins in 2008.

According to the Associated Press:

The undefeated former super middleweight champion claimed that Warren persuaded him to sign contracts under duress while he was suffering dehydration and hunger preparing for fights.

Warren argued he did not owe the boxer. He claimed Calzaghe owed him $1.4 million for breaking his contract over his last fight with Roy Jones Jr. in November.

The BBC , however, reported that the judge in the case rejected the claims from Calzaghe that he was made to sign contracts under duress.

Warren said in a statement that he never disputed the fact that he owed Calzaghe money from the Hopkins fight, he just says that they were in disagreement over the amount. He also said in the statement that they plan to appeal the ruling.

From Frank Warren:

Sports Network, throughout the litigation, has always said that it would pay Joe Calzaghe but we disputed the sum he claimed (paragraph 16 of the Judgment: “The Claimant [Sports Network Limited] does not dispute that a substantial sum of money is owed by the Claimant to the Defendant [Joe Calzaghe] in respect of the bout with Mr Hopkins although it does dispute that the sum owed is as large as alleged by the Defendant”). We were right to do so and feel vindicated in defending Joe’s claim which we have reduced by almost £1.5million. Our lawyers have advised Sports Network to appeal to reduce the sum even further, which it fully intends to do.

The case came to life when Warren and Calzaghe split in 2008. Calzaghe went on to self-promote his fight with Roy Jones in November, prompting Warren to sue him for money that he felt he was due. Calzaghe then counter-sued for his Hopkins money, leading us to this ruling.

Apparently, Warren and Calzaghe had every bit of their relationship in writing and detailed contracts, but the judge couldn’t accept that Warren could not produce a single bit of evidence that Calzaghe had agreed to continue his relationship through the Jones fight. Warren was claiming that a verbal agreement was in place, but with his history of solid bookkeeping and records, a lack of evidence was what cost him.

Calzaghe retired from boxing in February, with an undefeated record of 46-0.

Barrera suffered a bad cut from a headbutt in the first round, resulting in an inch-long gash at his hairline over his left eye. His corner was unable to control the cut, as blood poured down his face for the next four rounds. With the blood dripping into his eye, Barrera was hardly able to mount much of an attack, and had even less success stopping Khan from landing.

Khan was certainly the busier and faster fighter, throwing flurry after flurry of punches. He never hurt Barrera, but was scoring at will. As for Khan’s questionable chin — he was able to keep it untested for one more fight.

Barrera landed two solid punches on Khan during the fight, both of which drew gasps of worry from the home crowd, but Khan took them pretty well.

All in all, it was a tough fight to gauge Khan on, since Barrera was fighting the blood as well as Khan from the first round on. Nevertheless, Khan showed great hand speed and improved boxing skill, but was still able to be hit on multiple occasions.

Barrera has now suffered two terrible cuts in as many fights, and will likely be inactive for a while as this cut heals.

The fight looked eerily reminiscent of Oscar De La Hoya’s first defeat of Julio Cesar Chavez, as the young superstar bloodied the aging future Hall of Famer. With blood streaming from his hairline all over his face, you couldn’t help but see De La Hoya landing punches the same way Khan was, with both Chavez and Barrera helpless and blinded. Of course, this was a cut from a headbutt, but looking at the scene from the outside, it looked like Oscar and Chavez.

Khan improves to 20-1 with 15 knockouts, while Barrera falls to 65-7, with 42 wins by knockout.

WBO junior lightweight titlist Nicky Cook was knocked out in the fourth round by Roman Martinez, while local favorite Enzo Maccarinelli was suddenly stopped by Ola Afolabi in the ninth round.

Cook was actually a slight underdog against Martinez, and had his hands full from the start. Martinez landed two solid uppercuts in the fourth round to drop the champion, but Cook would beat the count and continue. Not for long though, as Martinez continued his assault, eventually getting dropped again by a left hand. He again beat the count, but the referee waived off the fight at the 2:20 mark of round number two.

As for Enzo, he came out and was in control throughout almost the entire fight. Afolabi hurt him in the third, but Macca came back strong in the fourth. Maccarinelli would take control of the fight at that point, controlling the fight into the ninth round.

In the ninth, however, Afolabi landed a perfect counter right hand to Enzo’s jaw, dropping the Welsh fighter instantly. Enzo was in complete control of the fight, but was suddenly knocked out with a perfect punch, bringing the fight to a shocking conclusion.

Maccarinelli was a -1300 favorite, making this a very sizable upset.

Bad start to the night for the British fans.

Clarke is the eye and ears of the Las Vegas nightlife scene, documenting who’s where in the City of Sin on a nightly basis. If you’re famous and in Las Vegas, Norm knows what you’re up to.

Rumors of Mayweather’s return to the ring have been going full speed since the day he announced his retirement. Since Floyd left boxing, Manny Pacquiao has turned into a legitimate potential opponent, as has Juan Manuel Marquez possibly. There is also an option of a rematch with Ricky Hatton, should Hatton beat Pacquiao in May, and of course, Shane Mosley, if Mayweather really wants to claim boxing supremacy.

Finding an opponent is the easy part. Getting Floyd to fight said oppenent would be the hard part. More than likely, any return to the ring by Mayweather would be to find the perfect marriage between big-money and low-risk. That puts Pacquiao, Hatton and Marquez far ahead of real welterweights like Mosley or Miguel Cotto.

TheSweetScience.com reported this week that Mayweather was spotted sparring in his Las Vegas gym, another sign of Mayweather’s impending return.

There has been no official word from Mayweather’s camp about a possible return, but following Pacquiao’s destruction of Oscar De La Hoya in December, it was said that Mayweather instructed his team to size up potential fights.

Promoters said as recently as late February that Mayweather was asking for $20 million to get back in the ring, an unrealistic expectation in today’s economy.

Most insiders believe that it is only a matter of time before Mayweather returns to boxing, so the only real question will be against whom?

Pacquiao is the logical opponent, should he beat Ricky Hatton. If Pacquiao doesn’t beat Hatton, then a rematch with Hatton is possible, but there wouldn’t be any huge money fights. Fights with Marquez or Mosley would be huge in the boxing world, but likely do mediocre business in the mainstream. A rematch with Hatton will make money thanks to the British fans, but would likely not be a big seller in the U.S., and a fight with Cotto could be big, but would be very tough to make, based on what we know of the fighters (New York vs. Las Vegas, glove size, promoters, money, etc.)

If there is in fact an announcement this week about boxing from Mayweather, I expect it to be no more than announcing his future return to the ring against an opponent to be named after that Hatton-Pacquiao fight. Exciting for the fans who want to see Floyd return, but nothing in the actual announcement to get excited about.

It’s all speculation for now, but there may be more to this as it develops.

It was just six months ago that Khan was considered by many to be the hottest prospect in all of boxing, but every time the insiders spoke of him, they all whispered the same thing — “he may be chinny.” For his entire pro career, there were rumors that Khan had some chin issues, but as of yet, no one had challenged it. But in September, Khan was put in the ring with a Colombian knockout artist and all of the rumors proved to be true.

Khan was knocked down by Breidis Prescott and subsequently knocked out, and he never made it to the second minute of the fight.

Now, with just one more fight of experience on his resume, Khan will step into the ring against the most accomplished fighter he’s ever shared a ring with, a man who may be dealing with his own issues.

Marco Antonio Barrera may be 35-years old, but he’s spent over half of those years in a professional boxing ring. He turned pro at 15, and by the time he was Khan’s age, he was making his sixth title defense. But with a pair of losses in 2007 to Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, Barrera appears to be near the end of the road. He’s managed back-to-back wins in the last four months, but they were of the meaningless variety. For Barrera, Khan will be the best fighter he’s been in the ring with since his last loss.

So the two major questions in this fight are: how much does Barrera have left, and can Khan compete at the top level in the sport of boxing?

Really, it can be narrowed down even more. You could simply ask if Khan has the chin to withstand the punch of an aged Barrera, and at his age, can Barrera land that punch just one time?

Barrera is certainly not what he used to be, but his demise isn’t quite as pronounced as some would have you believe. Yes, he was pushed to his limits against Rocky Juarez in 2006, but he did rebound from that and beat him handily in a rematch. Then, he was beaten by Manny Pacquiao for the second time in 2007, but realistically, he was defeated before he even stepped into the ring.

In his fight with Marquez later that year, Barrera actually did far better than the scores indicated. He lost by a wide margin, but you must remember that referee Jay Nady incorrectly ruled a clean Barrera knockdown of Marquez illegal, and deducted a point from Barrera. So a round that should have been 10-8 Barrera was called 10-8 Marquez. Factor in that the judging was a bit wide to begin with and Barrera’s loss to Marquez is not nearly as bad as the scorecards indicate.

His two meaningless wins since that fight don’t affect the case for or againt Barrera’s remaining skills. But we do know that the last time he was in with an elite fighter (Marquez), he not only held his own, but he put him on the canvas.

Khan has been in the ring with a handful of average fighters, but no one that even compares to Barrera in his prime. So the question becomes: how far is Barrera 2009 from Barrera 2002. He’s shown flashes of greatness in the last few years and he’s also shown some signs of aging.

Khan will either expose Barrera’s age, or Barrera will expose Khan’s limitations and inexperience.

It’s a tough fight to predict, since you can never truly judge just how much a fighter has left until they are in the ring. But I’ll say this — if Barrera has anything left in the tank, he beats Amir Khan.

The way I see it, an aging fighter can still possess the skills that made him great, just to a lesser extent. Even that version of Barrera is better than everyone that Khan has fought.

The other thing I see is that you just don’t learn to have a good chin. Khan was chinny before the Prescott fight, and exposed in the first minute of the Prescott fight. He has no better chin now than he did in September. The first big punch that Barrera lands will tell you everything you need to know about how this fight will play out.

Of course Khan and his people will have you believe that he is a changed man. He’s been training with Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao in the United States, and his sparring with Pacquiao has apparently done wonders for his confidence.

Unfortunately, it seems that Roach is looking at Khan through some special glasses. He tried to compare Khan’s early loss to Pacquiao’s early losses, saying that Khan should have no trouble overcoming a tough opponent like Barrera since Manny did.

Problem is: a) Khan is no Pacquiao; and b) Pacquiao took two years and six fights between his second loss and his first major fight. Khan is trying to take that step in six months and one fight in between. Big difference.

Khan is a limited fighter. He’s got a good skill set, but when you are working with a below-average chin, you must compensate for it in other areas. He doesn’t have Roy Jones’ defense or Mike Tyson’s power, which means his chin is going to get tested by every good fighter he faces. Barrera is a huge step up for Khan, even at the age of 35.

Barrera is also limited, though by the power of nature more than a lack of ring skills. He’s not as quick as he once was and doesn’t take every punch like he did fighting at 122 pounds. He’s not a veteran at lightweight, having only two meaningless fights at that weight. How Barrera handles the weight is an important aspect of this fight, but based on his history, the weight by itself shouldn’t be a major factor.

So what happens when old meets young on Saturday night?

A good rule of thumb is: when in doubt, err on the side of experience. In my opinion, Khan is still a project, and at this point, as long as Barrera doesn’t show up looking like Oscar De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao, he will catch Khan on that fragile chin and win his way back to slight relevancy.

Khan will have an edge in speed and maybe even power, but Barrera can take a punch and he can still throw one. I have no confidence that Khan can avoid getting clipped for 12 rounds. I expect Khan to win rounds as long as the fight is going on, but once Barrera catches him, it’s goodnight Amir.

Prediction: Barrera KO 4.

Thanks to HBO and YouTube for this reel.

Pavlik will fight the former “Contender” reality television winner in June or July, marking the third defense for Pavlik and the second title shot for Mora. The fight will reportedly take place on June 20, July 18 or July 25.

Mora upset Vernon Forrest last year to win a title at 154 pounds, but was soundly beaten in a rematch, Mora’s only career loss. Now he will climb back up to middleweight to take on the lineal champion, in a fight that is being rightly criticized by many boxing fans.

Pavlik won the middleweight titles from Jermain Taylor with a knockout win in late 2007. He beat Taylor by decision in a rematch above the middleweight limit, meaning his only defenses of the title so far at middleweight have been against Gary Lockett and Marco Antonio Rubio. Pavlik moved up in weight between those two defenses and was beaten by Bernard Hopkins in a light heavyweight bout in 2008.

Making Mora the third defense is not the fight that fans want to see. Boxing fans around the world all want to see Pavlik fight Germany’s Arthur Abraham, a fight that shouldn’t be this difficult to make.

Both Pavlik and Abraham have repeatedly said that they want to make the fight happen, and Abraham came to America for his rematch with Edison Miranda as a sign of good-faith, that he would return to fight Pavlik.

The two sides have talked over the course of the last year, but it seems to be becoming more and more clear that Pavlik has no interest in fighting Abraham. Whatever the reason may be, Abraham’s people are more convincing of their desire to fight Pavlik than Pavlik’s team is of their willingness to entertain the offer.

Pavlik made it clear after the loss to Hopkins that he was done chasing paychecks and taking the wrong fight, but once again, he has chosen the wrong opponent. If it weren’t about the money, a fight with Abraham could be made.

Abraham consistently talks of fighting Pavlik, while Pavlik’s team talk up fighters like Mora and John Duddy. Fighting marketable opponents who are not talented enough to compete will only get you so far. Perhaps Duddy or Mora could upset Pavlik, but that’s not the point. The point is there is one fighter that a fight needs to be made with and Pavlik has repeatedly shown no interest in getting in the ring with him. I’m sure Pavlik doesn’t fear Abraham, but he sure is starting to make people believe that.

Abraham is already considered a king where he fights. He really doesn’t need Pavlik. But for Pavlik to be the star that people are expecting him to be, he needs Abraham.

Sergio Mora is no Arthur Abraham.