Wednesday, June 6, 2012 at 2:09PM Can a young and hungry Timothy Bradley upset the legendary Manny Pacquiao? Watch Under the Lights, a video infographic that takes you inside their bout this Saturday.
Monday, June 4, 2012 at 7:55AM By Eric Raskin
November 12, 2011. Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley. In the same ring at the MGM Grand.
Seven months ago, Pacquiao and Bradley fought on the same blood-spattered canvas … just not at the same time.
Bradley fought Joel Casamayor in the final undercard bout leading up to Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez III last November, and victories for both prefight favorites on that evening set the stage for this Saturday’s high-stakes showdown.
Pacquiao’s triumph over Marquez that night was of the controversial variety, as the fight went the 12-round distance and opinions at ringside were mixed as to whether the Filipino superstar had done enough to prevail. In this way, it resembled the first two Pacquiao-Marquez fights, which were scored a draw and a split-decision win for Pacquiao, respectively. In the third go-round, Pacquiao came forward and initiated the action while Marquez stood his ground and counterpunched, with the action peaking in a thrilling ninth round. After 36 minutes of mentally and physically taxing pugilistic warfare, Marquez was certain he’d done enough to win, but the judges felt otherwise, awarding Pac-Man a majority decision win by scores of 114-114, 115-113, and 116-112.
Who deserved to win the fight? Relive the intense action and decide for yourself:
Fighting on Pacquiao’s undercard, Bradley had a much easier time of it against the faded Casamayor, ending a 10-month layoff with a dominant performance. Whether the match was specifically designed as a tune-up for a Pacquiao fight or not, it allowed Bradley to bank rounds against a veteran lefthander, and given Casamayor’s defensive approach and reputation for making fights ugly, “Desert Storm” produced as positive a result as could be expected. Bradley scored knockdowns in the fifth, sixth and eighth rounds. His steady effectiveness convinced the Cuban’s corner to halt the fight at the end of round eight, marking only the second stoppage defeat of Casamayor’s career.
Timothy Bradley, Joel Casamayor - Photo Credit: Will Hart
It goes without saying that Casamayor is no Pacquiao, but there are certainly strategic insights to be gleaned from Bradley’s overcoming one southpaw style as he prepares to square off against another.
Friday, May 11, 2012 at 2:46PM When Jim Lampley was searching for inspiration for his new show, “The Fight Game with Jim Lampley”, which debuts on HBO at midnight ET on Saturday, he found it in what might at first blush be considered an unusual place.
“The guy who will sit in the studio and produce the show as I tape it is Bill Wolff, whose other gig is to produce Rachel Maddow’s nightly show on MSNBC,” Lampley revealed during a recent conversation. “And I chose him specifically because I admire the culture of that show, I admire the way they deliver information, I admire her way of building up evidence after evidence to support a point without having to say, ‘This is what you should believe,’ and that’s the kind of thing that I’ll be trying to do with ‘The Fight Game’.”
Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 3:36PM 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.
Friday, May 4, 2012 at 11:05PM 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.
