Twenty minutes til boxing on HBO...I'm ready and excited..No Showtime here, not sure what's happening with Glencoffe and Dawson or Woods and Tarver...Glencoffe's from here, Miami...Denouement for him, kind of feel bad...The battle outside the ring is intense, can't do it without the connections...

Was at a track meet at the University of Miami today..Thought this high school freak Jeffrey Demps from Orlando would be there..He ran 10.17 last week, legal wind..Sadly the superfreak didn't show up..Wasn't a beach day anyway, so it's all good..Thankfully spring has arrived here..Laugh if you must, but it was an unforgiving winter..Cold every second day......

Big story in Miami (Miami Beach actually..) the past week took place at a nightclub called Mansion..most popular/frequented spot..three spring breakers from Delaware (wasn't spring break 4 weeks ago?) decided to sit in the VIP section..After a while they were told to pay up and beat it, make way for more important customers.. and pay $700..They wanted to see it in writing..For obvious reasons it's a cash-only spot..After a bit they were taken to a back room and punished by 8 or 10 bouncers..Bad news for the house, one of their own had gotten concerned and tipped off the cops..Even worse there was a security camera recording the whole thing..The cops went charging in and arrested them..Only thing surprising is that it became public record, since it happens on the regular..Guess once it becomes public though they have to act....

9.52..
Ok, movie is over....Jim Lampley is next!

I think it's going to be the Rocky 6 crew..Lampley, Larry Merchant, and Max Kellerman..What can you say about them..As good as they come, pure entertainment.. HBO quality, no question..Lampley frames it unlike anyone else..Is there another company man as committed as Jim Lampley, a man who never veers from the script?..He was outstanding in Blades of Glory and Baseketball; his play by play of Chaz Michael Michaels and Detroit's underground sewer skating scene.. Lines like " surfing a tsunami of swagger"...Larry Merchant..what can you say about him..legend..back by popular demand..his ruminations after interviews, always hilarious...and Max Kellerman...a real star...polished, articulate, insightful, thoughtful, encyclopedic base of knowledge, entertaining..signing him, no question the right move by HBO..great, great long article in Sports Illustrated about him two years ago..he's just a super cool dude, affirms the greatness of the game...Mixing and matching crews is always the way to go...I think Max is at his best at the real premium events..More suited to the high class in the same way Joe Tessitore and his partner (I don't say really like saying his name) are suited to the non prize fights....Can't say manny won't be doing color until i don't see him there...Never know with manny..He's working cintron's corner but he might just wear his mic to the corner and provide analysis from there..Cleverest man in boxing...His work of talyor/pavlik was epic..No conflict of interest or anything like that..Not as if he tried desperately recruiting pavlik out of the amateurs or just got done working for Taylor..Seriously, no one at HBO cared? Did Kellerman say no?... if Lennox sits this out he's probably in Miami..a few blocks from where i'm at now...He's a regular on the scene...Saw him at the grocery store a while back

10.01
Ok, here comes the music...

Real quick, i think it's time to commission a new World Championship Boxing song...Great song, but it's run it's course...And bring back the old B.A.D. song...

10.03
Jim Lampley just said "Puerto Rican sensation" for the first time...I will be counting..9 is the over/ under

Boardwalk Hall...We all have our favorite fights from here...Tyson/Spinks..Jones/Pazienza, Pavlik/Taylor..and my personal favorite, Gatti/Mayweather.....Too many good memories from that fight..The whole event...The funniest was at the end of the sixth round, the one gatti quit after, when floyd went back to his corner and his uncle Roger said to him earnestly, "quit going to the body," as if there was any way to improve on his work...

10.06
Larry Merchant is here...Nothing remarkable yet..He looks healthy, that's good..Ok here comes the comedy...Just called Floyd Mayweather a "banker and a showman"...

10.07
Jim's taken us to Cintron/Margarito.....This is going to be a brawl..vicious, vicious brawl...Trash talk at the weigh-in was great..Throat slashing by Cintron, mock tears by Margarito, making fun of Cintron crying in the ring after getting ko'd in the first fight...Trash talking is the best, vitally necessary..(no one does it like Hopkins; just waiting for next week..been waiting since that encounter last december..and it's on free HBO!!!)...Merchant is telling us it's personal for Cintron...Larry says Cintron has "a scarlett letter" to live down..Bad, bad thing in my book...Do re-matches where one guy got flattened ever go the other way the second time?...Rahman/Lewis?....Other than that...That was a one punch knockout anyway...Cintron/Margarito was a down home Mississippi ass-whooping...Long list where the same thing happens exactly as it did the first time....When dude that got KO'd gets hit again the demons manifest themselves in a hurry...Cintron's got a title, no clue who arranged this fight for him...Manny is a trainer/manager, so i'm guessing it was him...Article on HBO.com said manny has three fighters who live at his house-- Cintron, Andy Lee, and Jonathan Banks-- and he has dumped everyone else (except Klitschko) in favor know training young guys...we saw what just happened to Lee......

10.15
Jim just mentioned they look huge, Margarito and Cintron...Cintron used to wrestle in high school at 160..Wrestling they dehyrate too, imagine how big he really is...Indeed, these two are enormous--and devastating--fighters...Kermit got into the game late, only had like 20 amateur fights..It is going to be a brawl, no doubt about it..Skills not too much of a factor tonight..Will be over within 6 rounds..No clue how they do it, getting to that weight..welterweights today are just massive..

10.18
No Michael Buffer...Had surgery to remove cancer from his throat, but says he will be back for Calzaghe/Hopkins next week.

10.21
Margarito's been introduced..first..Not a champ anymore, lost his belt to Williams..He's wearing an Affliction shirt..they're trying to make inroads..Judah and Mosely wear them too...Hopkins too..

Cintron's getting the cheers....

Dammit, there's no third announcer....HBO, ARE YOU SERIOUS?!...MAX?!...WHERE HAVE YOU GONE MAX?...

10.23
I'm predicting Margarito in the fifth by the way..It's on...1.54 of the round and they're trading..It's going to be a brawl..Could break out any second..Kermit is really on his guard, you can tell..Offensively and defensively...39 seconds to go in the round..Big shots by Cintron on the ropes..two of them..Margarito doesn't seem too fazed..

End of Round 1
Great action round..Manny is telling Cintron not to waste any shots..Margarito looks better in his corner..very composed...

We really do need a third man commentating...

Round 2
Cintron is trying hard..harder than margarito who's pacing himself..1.47 to go, Margarito is really hitting him now...It's amost over..Told you..He just hit him with a massive uppercut and bullied him around...He's too strong, is margarito...He's a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, man...24 seconds left, Larry just said Margarito looks relxed... Indeed..

End of Round 2
Another round like this and the demons are going to kick in to Cintron...Margarito is just massive and he hits very, very hard..him and Cotto is going to be good..

Round 3
2.29 to go in round, Kermit is trying hard...1.40 left in the 3rd...Jim telling us some tales how Manny supposedly wasn't excited about training Cintron but then saw his outstanding athletic ability..Larry just put this tale in context: fighting is not a sport or a game..Nice work Larry...41 seonds left in round...This is a war..They keep talking about the pace..It's almost over, I'm telling you...Cintron is complaining to the ref..Dropped his hands to complain and Margarito charged at him and continued pummelling him..He's creating sharp angles to attack him on..Keeps going to one side...

Round 4
It's just a war...How many times can i say it...Larry says "quintessential mexican warrior" of Margarito..Jim says "brawler with skill"..."Margarito an ultimate truth machine"..Larry...Larry is really bringing it now...Can't say i disagree with anything he is saying...Cintron deserves a lot of credit....But wait a minute, Larry with another outstanding point...."Whoever the winner is has already been softened up for Cotto"...As if Lonely Bob didn't know that when he made this match....

Round 5
2.12 to go in round..Big overhand right by Cintron, but nothing happens to Margarito..He's like a piece of iron...Is that what Drago told his cornerman?...Same thing here..It's almost over...He's about to go down..Ref saved him, ref just felt bad for Cintron.....Larry is on his A game tonight..Cintron keeps sticking his head down and Larry is saying it's his own fault for getting hit behind the head and the ref should not intervene...Debate by Jim, but Larry is really bringing it...

End of Round 5
They're asking Cintron if he wants to continue...Manny is telling him to box this round..not gonna happen Manny...

Round 6
1.50 to go....Larry is disgusted by Cintron...saying "when it gets too roungh for him he starts lobbying to the referee"...this is what Larry is famous for, his brutal and cold bluntness that makes you wonder about his ring accomplishments.......1.16 to go...Cintron's gone down...IT'S OVER...Body shot knockout....Margarito making fun of him, telling him to get up..He just mauled him against the ropes to close it...He's a bad bad bad bad man..Might have said it already, but worth saying again...It was a battle of attrition, nothing more..No skills here...This man is just accustomed to this..It's what he does...How does he make this weight is my question...

10.48
Here comes the interview...Larry wants to know what Margarito said to Cintron after the fight, but Margarito doesn't answer...The second question either..Here comes a good question finally, 'What will happen with Cotto?'...Again, no answer...What a crappy interview...The language barrier is always an issue..That sucks..No post-fight callouts or anything of that nature..
 
10.52
Jim is setting up Alfonzo Gomez and Miguel Cotto.......Wait a minute...Manny's here!! He's pulled a Don King in Kingston, Jamaica and dumped his fighter...Imagine if he was doing the next fight....


Read Nat Gotlieb's preview on hbo.com yeasterday...Comedy...Says Gomez is naturally bigger cause he fought at middleweight on The Contender, and some of those guys moved up to 168..Gives Gomez credit cause he never got knocked out by them, and says if they couldn't then Cotto won't either...In reality, Miguel Cotto is the biggest welterweight in the game..plus he's 5'7", so he's compact..Not that fast, but explosive as hell..no clue how he makes this weight, let alone how he ever made 140...The size of the head is a huge issue, and though it's close, Cotto's is bigger..and looks harder...Most ridiculous argument Gotlieb made was that it takes a long time for Cotto to KO his opponents...He systematically, comprehensively destroys his opponents..And his punches to the arms--even moreso than to the body-- are his most devastating punches...Cotto's a a lefty who fights orthodox...It will be over within 9 rounds for Cotto...Most underrated and understated thing of Cotto is how clever he is..We all learned that in the Judah fight with those timely shots low..Especially the one in the first round when he was still reeling from the uppercut..He knew Judah was handcuffed by the commission and had no recourse as far as retaliation/legitimate self-defense..

11.04pm
Round 1
Cotto comes out jabbing..Demonstrating very good hand speed...Very impressive..2.18 to go in Round 1...It's all Manny..Why be tacit? He might as well mix in "Cintron Go to Hell"...
Jim is mentioning that beating Mosely took Cotto to another level mentally...Cotto is massive...Look at the density of that back..Only knock on him was his speed..But he seems pretty fast tonight...Larry tells us the difference at this level is slight, but in speed...
22 seconds to go and Cotto has switched to southpaw...2 seconds to go and Cotto wobbles him with a left hook to the body...It's not even going 8 rounds...It'll be over within 5..

Round 2
Cotto is really coming forward..2.17 to go...Cotto just wobbled him with a jab...Manny talking about balance..1.34 to go in round..Cotto is turning southpaw again...Manny telling us cotto is having fun...et tu manny?....39 seconds to go...Gomez has gone down..5 seconds to go and he's wobbled again...Cotto has never fought like this before...His confidence is very high...Margarito/Cotto is going to be good...

Round 3
This guy cotto is just a beast..A physical beast..Gomez is trying to fight back, but it's looking bad for him...1.25 to go..Jim says Cotto is "slowly, inexorably, re-aranging his face"...Those combinations are devastating..uppercuts, hooks...OOOOHHHHH, GOMEZ HAS GONE DOWN!!...Only five seconds to go in the round..They're counting, but he made it back to his corner...Doctor is asking gomez if he wants to keep fighting...Asking embarassing questions..

Round 4
Look how tight that defense is by Cotto..Look at that torso..He's like Mike in that respect..It's like a regular guy against a beast..There's really no spot to even hit him..And even if you do he doesn't seem to care..You get no indication he's affected by Gomez...1.35 to go in round..He's beating the crap out him to put it simply...It's almost over...Jim asking Manny if the corner is going to have to stop it...Jim saying "he doesn't just beat you, he beats you up"...

End of Round 4
Gomez's dad is telling him to throw everything he has...ya..as if ...ridiculous advice..Nothing worse than bad a cornerman..His dad is just making the situation worse..

Round 5
Just watching here...Cotto is taking a round off...Hit him in the back though.....Just decked him again..with a jab...Manny just said Gomez has no power, and there's no point in continuing..Cotto is toying with him...Can't say enough good things about cotto..No need to, Jim's already doing it...

End of Round 5
Doctor just ended it...Goodnight...Or was that a threat by the doctor with a hope for acquiescence?...No, it's over...Gomez has no complaints..

Cotto looked incredible...Wow...This division is just overwhelming...Sammy Sosa is there, congratulated Cotto...

Here comes the interview....Long question by Larry..Too long...Interview is in English...Language barrier is in full effect....Larry is asking him about floyd...Cotto says he is willing...Totally lacks in the trash-talking/ability-to-self-promote department...

Interview is over...Back to Jim..and Manny..look at him wearing his cornerman's outfit..Are you serious?..Desicable.......
It's all Cotto/Mayweather promotion now....These people are hilarious...just hilarious...They're trying to suggest Floyd's dodging Cotto...hahahahaha...They showed a clip where Floyd says he won't let boxing retire him and are trying to infer he is afraid...Seriously, he fought and beat Oscar de la Hoya...Oscar who is bigger, taller, faster than Cotto, and hits at least as hard...Speed is the  #1 thing in boxing...Anyone who knows anything will tell you that..And Floyd's got the speed..Him and Judah are pretty much equals in speed and we all saw how Judah was timing everything Cotto threw..He hurt him several times to the point Cotto resorted to low blows...Floyd can go long stretches without getting touched if he so chooses..Means he is in control..Cotto allows opponents to hit him..he's very willing to engage..that could easily mean floyd dispensing the Gatti ointment...Obviously Cotto has his strengths, but let the fight make itself..It's prizefighting, when the money's right it will happen..Right now there's only 1 million pay-per-views in it..Wait another year and there will be closer to 2..Hopefully it will happen at Madison Square Garden..It would be Floyd's MSG debut...In the meantime welterweight has tons of great fighters and fights including Margarito/Cotto and Mayweather/de la Hoya II (maybe one division up)...obviously Mosely/Judah next month too..

Calzaghe/Hopkins preview show coming up....This fight is going to be a thriller..I'd pay $100 to watch it.. Miraculously it's free...