KNOCKOUT NATION: NEWS AND NOTES 05/31/08

- As boxing fans wait in anticipation, we still have no idea if the proposed match up between Joel Cassamayor and Nate Campbell will actually take place. Promoter Don King won the purse bid to stage the fight offering $1,220,000.00. King beat out Golden Boy Promotions who only bid $571,000.00 . So at this point the ball is in Cassamayor’s corner to decide if he will take the fight with Campbell or take on Golden Boy’s Juan Diaz who was just beaten by Campbell. It is reported that Cassamayor, who holds the Ring lightweight belt, will make more money fighting Diaz, however most fans and media are calling for him to face Cassamayor to truly prove who the best lightweight in the division is. Many are of the opinion that Golden Boy Promotions is attempting to keep the Ring Belt in their stable as proposed fights for Cassamayor have included Juan Manuel Marquez, Juan Diaz, and Michael Katsidis – All Golden Boy promoted fighters. Nate Campbell has come on record saying that Cassamayor is avoiding him and regardless if it’s Cassamayor he is fighting, he looks to return to the ring sometime in July. KO Nation will keep you updated on the status of this potential fight.


- A deal has been finalized for former WBC champion, Hasim Rahman to face James Toney in a rematch of their 2006 fight. The fight will take place on July 16th in Temecula, California. Dan Goosen is currently working on a deal to televise the fight with obvious choices being Fox Sports, ESPN, or Versus.


- The Showtime Network has lined up a series of great fights for the months of June and July. On June 7 the network will be airing the double header of Vernon Forrest vs., Sergio Mora and Carlos Quintana vs. Paul Williams II. On June 20, Shobox will present Super Middleweight Andre Ward vs. Jerson Ravelo and the following night, Showtime Championship Boxing will present the highly anticipated rematch between Arthur Abraham vs. Edison Miranda. Two weeks later, Shobox will present the WBO Jr. Welterweight rematch between Ricardo Torres and Kendall Holt.


- This past week, Espn writer Dan Rafael posted a story indicating that Zab Judah may not have injured himself in the manner that Team Judah said he did in their initial story to the media. It was initially stated that Zab Judah slipped in the shower, and while trying to break his fall, put his arm through a glass shower door. He subsequently, had to cancel his fight with Shane Mosley as he had to receive 50 stitches in his arm. At the time, Judah even published pictures on the internet which displayed his injury. However, Dan Rafael indicated that several sources on the inside informed him that Zab Judah actually had a heated beef with his father and trainer, Yoel Judah. In a fit of rage, Zab Judah allegedly put his fist through the door resulting in his injury. Team Judah has since come out and refuted those claims in an interview with Gabriel Montoya of doghouseboxing.com.

Zab Judah stated “That’s a joke…That’s a lie. Me and pops have no problems. We’re leaving the gym right now, training hard every day. Whatever. Speaking in terms of why the fight was cancelled, Judah stated “We went to try to get the fight rescheduled. He’s the one that backed out. Let the world know that. It wasn’t Shane. Jin Mosley stopped the fight. We went to Golden Boy to figure out what our handlers wanted to do and then we went to the media. Once we saw that there was nowhere to go, the fight was done. But we gave them the opportunity to figure it out like a businessman. You’re a fighter or you’re a fighter. Push it back and let’s do it. With backing out, I think Mosley and them are the ones that didn’t want to fight.”

Yoel Judah also took the time to refute the claims in the interview stating “Why would Dan write something like that?” asked Yoel. “What’s his problem? He wants props or something? If it isn’t fact, why would he put it out? He going to have a problem with me now. When I see him, he got a problem with me. All that stuff about me and Zab having problems is nonsense. I have nine sons. All my sons respect me. They listen to me. I don’t have to tell them anything twice. Anyone that know the Judah family or know me as a father, they know if I say something once, it’s done. I don’t go through none of this father and son fighting.” Although the Mosley fight is cancelled, Zab has already put it behind him and looks forward to facing Joshua Clottey for the vacant IBF Welterweight Belt this summer.

- As previously reported, Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion David Haye has signed a promotional deal with Golden Boy Promotions. Haye has one goal in mind: To move up to the heavyweight division and take on Wladimir Klitschko. The charismatic fighter does not hold his tongue when discussing his dislike of the state of the current heavyweight. Haye states, “I’m what this division needs. I’m a breath of fresh air. “It’s disgraceful the state of the heavyweights. I don’t see anyone to be worried about. Can I take their punch? Maybe the question is can they take my punch? I’ll make some noise. I’ll fight two top 10 heavyweights and obliterate them. If I didn’t believe I could meet my own expectations I wouldn’t be doing this. I’ll show the world what heavyweight boxing can be. The division is a disgrace. I’ll bring the excitement.’’ Haye has even sat down with Wladimir Klischko to discuss a potential fight with him down the road. Klitschko does have a mandatory defense to get out of the way but reportedly told Haye to make some noise in the division and the fight can happen. Golden Boy Promotions will most likely want Haye to test the waters against a ranked contender familiar with the American Public in his first outing. Hopefully Haye will find success at heavyweight as the division sure could use a shot of adrenaline.


By: Brown