Closing the Year with Boxing’s Best

by Kieran Mulvaney

What to do when HBO’s live boxing broadcasts have wrapped for the year? Revisit the very best bouts from an action-packed 2012, of course. The last 12 months have provided some jaw-dropping action, and for five days, beginning December 25, HBO will be showcasing seven of the year’s best examples of boxing brilliance. All times are ET/PT.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto
Tuesday, December 25 at 11 PM

In May, Puerto Rican superstar Cotto put his junior middleweight belt on the line against pound-for-pound king Mayweather. In one of the finest performances of his likely Hall-of-Fame career, Cotto pushed Money May to the edge, forcing Mayweather to dig deeper than he has had to in at least 10 years.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez
Wednesday, December 26 at 11 PM

Martinez was regarded as the true middleweight champion. But Chavez had the belt he coveted, and Martinez agitated for over a year for an opportunity to take it from him. When the chance came, the Argentine appeared well on his way to doing what he had sought to do, until a dramatic finale that was one of the most explosive rounds of the year.

Robert Guerrero vs. Andre Berto
Thursday, December 27 at 11 PM

Three years ago, Guerrero was campaigning as a junior lightweight, having begun his professional career as a featherweight. One month ago, he appeared on HBO World Championship Boxing in just his second bout as a welterweight, taking on a hard-hitting former 147-pound-title-holder whose own professional debut had been at 162 pounds – almost 37 pounds heavier than Guerrero’s. But Guerrero was the aggressor, dragging Berto into an old-fashioned down-and-dirty street fight that was one of the roughest, toughest and best of 2012.

Antonio DeMarco vs. Adrien Broner
Friday, December 28 at 11 PM

Flashy Adrien “The Problem” Broner inspires a gamut of emotions – and it’s safe to say that few if any of them are ‘indifference.’ Love him or hate him, it is hard not to respect him; increasingly tipped as the sport’s next big star, Broner went a long way to establishing his bona fides with a devastating and dominant performance against Mexican DeMarco.

Andre Ward vs. Chad Dawson
Friday, December 28 at 11:45 PM

Light-heavyweight titlist Dawson took the unusual step of dropping down in weight to take on super middleweight kingpin Ward. He may still be regretting it, after Ward – in many pundits’ eyes, second only to Mayweather on the pound-for-pound list – opened his full bag of tricks and cemented his place among boxing’s elite.

Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado
Saturday, December 29 at 11 PM

The moment this junior welterweight clash was signed, boxing fans everywhere had the date circled on their calendars. Both Rios and Alvarado entered the contest unbeaten and with reputations for possessing that rare combination of immovable object and irresistible force. There seemed no way this could fail to be a serious Fight of the Year candidate, and so it proved. Each man dished out and received hellacious punishment, and the contest swayed back and forth, with first one man and the other seizing advantage and momentum, until an ending that seemed to come almost out of the blue.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez 4
Saturday, Dec. 29 at 11:40 PM

Pacquiao and Marquez had pursued each other like Ahab and the whale, across eight years and 36 rounds, before meeting for a fourth time on December 8. Each man insisted beforehand that this would be their final battle, but after six rounds that exceeded even the dizzying heights of their previous encounters, and a conclusive, concussive ending that was among the most shocking and emphatic in years, who would bet against a fifth?

The Perfect Plan, Perfectly Defeated

By Kieran Mulvaney

Floyd Mayweather - Photo Credit: Will Hart

The blueprint for how to defeat Floyd Mayweather was laid down by Jose Luis Castillo 10 years ago:

Back Floyd Mayweather to the ropes, and keep him pinned there as much as possible. Work to the body. Hit him anywhere you can, just keep hitting him, without winding up and over-committing. Keep him pinned, keep him pressured. Make him uncomfortable.

For the best part of eight rounds on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Miguel Cotto did just that. He tucked his chin, pumped his jab, and used his left hook to keep Mayweather in front of him. And when he had him where he wanted him, he threw combinations, digging to the body and not showing concern when the punches that were aimed for the head glanced off the shoulders of his defensively sublime opponent.

He kept trying, kept plugging away, and round by round, he seemed to be steadily making progress. He bloodied Mayweather’s nose, and in the eighth he launched a sustained assault that had the Puerto Rican crowd roaring. Mayweather was smiling and shaking his head, to indicate that the punches weren’t landing cleanly, but for the first time in a decade, Floyd Mayweather was in a fight.

Read more at HBO.com.

Fight Day Now

24/7 Mayweather-Cotto: Four Double-Take Moments

By Eric Raskin

Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto - Photo Credit: Will Hart

The 24/7 franchise celebrated its fifth birthday this spring, and by now, you would think we’d have seen it all. But the show, and its protagonists, continue to find ways to surprise us. With 24/7 Mayweather-Cotto now complete, here’s a look back at the most double-take-worthy moment from each episode, four scenes that caught us a bit off guard:

Episode 4: Secret ’Stache (4:20)

As Cotto and his team got ready to board a plane from Orlando to Vegas, they amused themselves by drawing moustaches on one another. That, in and of itself, wasn’t necessarily worthy of a double-take. But the particular style of ’stache that Cotto drew on his buddy Bryan Perez’s upper lip was. Let’s just say it called to mind a certain unpopular German dictator. Then again, maybe we should give Cotto the benefit of the doubt and presume he was painting Perez with “The Michael Jordan.”

Watch 24/7 Episode 4 on HBO.com

Episode 3: Driving While Dilated (18:42)

First off, props to the 24/7 post-production team for their musical selection here, as Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called To Say I Love You” provided the perfect backdrop for Mayweather’s vision-impaired drive down the Vegas Strip. His eye doctor told him to take it easy and stay off the road until his pupils return to normal size, but Mayweather risked life, limb, and a fairly sizable payday (for himself and everyone else involved in the promotion) by ignoring the doctor’s orders. They say the hardest punch is always the one you don’t see coming. Thankfully for everyone, Floyd proved elusive in the face of danger once again.

Watch 24/7 Episode 3 on HBO.com

Episode 2: Strange Bedfellows (19:45)

To paraphrase Principal Rooney: “So thaaaat’s the way it is in their training camp.” We learned that when Cotto is in camp and doesn’t have his wife to keep the other side of his bed warm, his best friend Perez takes her place. As Perez explained, “Nothing weird. Sharing the bed with Miguel is like sleeping with your brother.” As long as we’re referencing John Hughes movies, how great would it have been if Cotto woke up exclaiming, “Those aren’t pillows!”?

Watch 24/7 Episode 2 on HBO.com

Episode 1: Functional Family? (20:22)

Admit it: When Floyd Mayweather Sr. rolled into the Mayweather Boxing Club with a few minutes left in the episode—right around the same point in the broadcast at which he and his son went at it in an all-time classic scene last fall—you sat up straight and braced for some NSFW language. But in perhaps the most shocking twist of this 24/7 run, the two Floyds acted with civility toward one another. No cursing. No histrionics. Not even a subtle snide remark. Maybe it wasn’t as memorable as Floyd Sr.’s last appearance on 24/7. But it was, in its own way, every bit as unpredictable.

Watch 24/7 Episode 1 on HBO.com

Full Fight Day Schedule for Mayweather-Cotto

This weekend’s boxing mega-event, Floyd Mayweather vs. Miguel Cotto, airs live from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT. But before the opening bell rings on HBO PPV, InsideHBOBoxing.com has a full day’s worth of fight news and events to get you fired up for the big bout:

- Catch up on all the action of Fight Week, all day long -

InsideHBOBoxing.com has reported every angle of Mayweather-Cotto straight from the ground in Vegas.

- Watch the full run of ‘Mayweather-Cotto 24/7’ -

The full episodes are playing now on HBO.com and YouTube.

- Show up early for the untelevised undercards LIVE on HBO.com -

At 4 pm ET / 7 pm PT, live streaming of the initial bouts of the evening will be available free.

- Kick off your night with ‘Fight Day Now’ -

At 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT, catch HBO’s prefight show right before the televised matches begin.

- Join the Twitter conversation right here -

When the PPV broadcast starts at 9 pm ET / 6 pm PT, stay online for live updates, round-by-round scoring and more.