[Boxing] 2008 Year of Superfights

By Rappy
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Grand Master

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"If you thought 2007 was great, wait until you see 2008," fighter-promoter Oscar de la Hoya said.

"You can't rule anything out. All doors are open."

De la Hoya wants a May stadium fight and spoke longingly of Hatton and the thousands of British supporters who cheered him in Las Vegas.

The Mancunian also fought well enough to entice de la Hoya's Hispanic fans to such a fight.

"If you have two of the most popular fighters in the world fight each other, it could be a great event. So I wouldn't rule it out," Golden Boy Promotions chief executive Richard Schaefer said.

Unbeaten Welshman Joe Calzaghe and US veteran Bernard Hopkins have already called each other out for a likely April meeting.

"Talks are ongoing and progressing pretty nicely," Schaefer said.

"Both fighters want it. Both fighters agreed to a 50-50 split. I hope (Calzaghe promoter) Frank Warren can live with that as well."

But the most sizzling possibility - a meeting of unbeaten rival welterweight champions Mayweather and Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico - appears also be the least likely to happen.

"Cotto is a hell of a champion, but I've done all I can do in this sport, so I'm not thinking about fighting anybody else," Mayweather said.

A unification showdown between World Boxing Association champion Cotto, 31-0 with 25 knockouts, and Mayweather, 39-0 with 25 early stoppages, would be a clash of champions and pay better than Mayweather's unlikely retirement talk.

Cotto won a unanimous decision over Shane Mosley last month and while Mosley is a partner of de la Hoya and Hopkins at Golden Boy and wants his own chance at Mayweather, his loss made it clear that Cotto deserves one first.

"I let the promoters decide who I fight," Cotto said. "I know what style Mayweather likes to fight and I'll be happy to fight him. But it seems like whenever anyone mentions it, Mayweather always has an excuse."

One issue could be that Cotto, at ringside on Saturday, is promoted by Bob Arum, Mayweather's former promoter before he began handling his own fights.

"Mayweather isn't going to fight anybody that he thinks he'll have trouble with," Arum said.

De la Hoya gave Mayweather plenty of trouble last May, losing a split decision in the biggest moneymaking fight of all time. Now de la Hoya already has a marketing pitch for a fight with Hatton.

"The reason why it works with Hatton is because of his style. It would be a 'Clash of the Titans,'" de la Hoya said.

"Hatton gave it his all. He came to fight. It was a tremendous showing. I'm still in awe from his fans and how they support him. It was amazing."

So is that a yes to fighting Hatton next year?

"I don't want to say any plans," de la Hoya said. "I'm going to absorb this wonderful event, keep training and enjoy the holidays. There are many options out there."

Hopkins is pushing a US-British clash with Calzaghe, 44-0 with 32 knockouts. Hopkins has already vowed, "I'll never lose to a white boy" and Hatton supporters booing the US national anthem on Saturday added fuel to his fire.

"They already gave me something to work with. They booed the national anthem," Hopkins said. "Once they booed the national anthem I knew I had to get them back. I'll take care of that come April of next year."

Cotto vs Mayweather is very enticing!!!

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Grand Master

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Mayweather will beat Cotto easier than Hatton. Cotto don't pressure enough. I personally like the idea of Hatton vs DLH for the fun of it.

And just for the record, 2007 was a good year in boxing too... Think about it.

Yeah 2007 was good I was just quoting the writers post, I think 2008 will just be as big as Hopkins vs Calzaghe is near confirmed which could be good and Mayweather vs Cotto may happen and if it does I can see Mayweather winning and then retiring.

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digipoi

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Hopkins and Cal would be tactical. I like Cal but I'm also a huge Hopkins fan. Before he even blew up big, I watched that dude walk out with an executioner mask with two large mofos walking next to him. Cool memories even though Bhop could be just a memory at this point.

Mayweather retiring I'm not sure of. Would anyone really care though? Theres more boxers out there and I don't particularly like the strategy of acting like retiring. Fans get thrown around.

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Zoom7000

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I'd love to see a Mayweather/Hatton or Mayweather/De la Hoya rematch. I'd be more interested in the latter because in their last match I think De la Hoya stood up very well to the Mayweather attack and frankly put, the split decision victory just cried out for a rematch!

I agree with the "retirement act" I'm getting sick of it. If you retire, it should be goodbye, and you never enter a boxing ring again unless it is for charity or just for fun, or a special "legends" event or something like that. Not because you think you are too good and think you have nothing left to prove. Yet you come back and fight the next up and coming star. Sure, Mayweather is a great fighter, but all this talk about retiring after every fight is just getting boring. It's worse than the WWE! :p

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I'd love to see Calzaghe vs Hopkins, I think it would be a great match. I'd especially like to see calzaghe knock Hopkins the **** out for saying "I'll never lose to a white boy" just to prove him wrong. Also because if any white boxer had said that about a black person, they'd most likely have their license stripped and never box again.

Grand Master

Rappy Veteran

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I'd love to see Calzaghe vs Hopkins, I think it would be a great match. I'd especially like to see calzaghe knock Hopkins the **** out for saying "I'll never lose to a white boy" just to prove him wrong. Also because if any white boxer had said that about a black person, they'd most likely have their license stripped and never box again.

Yeah I found that really wrong what Hopkins said.

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