February 21st (Saturday), 2009 At The Chevrolet Center, Youngstown, OH
(PPV) Kelly Pavlik (34-1) vs. Marco Antonio Rubio (43-4-1)
(For The Ring Magazine World Middleweight Championship)
(WBC and WBO Middleweight belts)
World middleweight boxing champion Kelly Pavlik (34-1, 30 knockouts) is defending his title against Mexico’s Marco Antonio Rubio at Youngstown’s 7,000-seat Chevrolet Centre.
Pavlik will enter the ring four months removed from his lopsided non-title loss at 170 pounds to Bernard Hopkins, a masterful performance in boxing and defense by the 43-year-old Hopkins that diminished Pavlik’s star in the eyes of many fight fans.
Pavlik, however, said being from Youngstown has ingrained in him to “keep hope and work through it. You always struggle through things living in northeast Ohio, you gotta put it behind you. That’s the most important thing I’ve learned from [the Hopkins loss].”
The Pavlik-Rubio fight will be televised on pay-per-view as a doubleheader featuring former weltertweight champ Miguel Cotto’s fight against Michael Jennings — Cotto’s first bout since his July title loss to the now-disgraced Antonio Margarito.
Fight Pick: Pavlik to win by TKO in the fifth round. Pavlik is just too good. He will be out to show his home town fans that he’s back to his best.
Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY - Sat. Feb 21.
Miguel Cotto (32-1) vs. Michael Jennings (34-1)
(The Ring Magazine #2 Welterweight vs. Unranked)
(WBO Welterweight belt)
Michael Jennings has warned American boxing fans to be prepared for a surprise when he takes on Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
Their fight for the vacant WBO welterweight title has been written off as a mere launchpad for Puerto Rico’s former two-time champion Cotto (32-1, 26 KOs) to regain a belt after losing the WBA version in an epic 11th-round stoppage by Antonio Margarito last summer.
Little-known Englishman Jennings (34-1, 16 KOs) has never fought outside the United Kingdom, or at this level, before while Cotto, three years his junior at 28, will be entering his 14th straight world title bout.
Fight Pick: Cotto to win by KO in the third round. Jennings is not good enough to cause any concern to Cotto.
WBA welterweight world champion Antonio Margarito faces ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley on Saturday night at the Staples Center, L.A.
Odds Stacked Against Mosley
Margarito’s knockout win over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto last July has taken the Mexican to a new level of recognition amongst the boxing fans.
“Without a doubt,” agreed Margarito, “you know everywhere I go now it seems like I’m coming up to people, everybody wants my autograph, everybody wants to take a picture with me. I think it is more people coming up to me and I think you can see that reflection on my popularity with the way the tickets are selling. I think without a doubt I’ve taken another step in my career.”
Remaining tickets at the Staples Center are priced at $300, $150, $75, $50, and $25. They are on sale now at all TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 1-213-480-3232 and online at www.ticketmaster.com, and at Staples Center Box Office.
Margarito vs. Mosley is promoted by Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate. The 12-round world championship fight for Margarito’s World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight title takes place on Saturday, January 24 at Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be televised live on HBO’s World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00pm ET / 7:00pm PT.
This is going to be one hell of a fight. “Sugar” Shane Mosley challenges Antonio Margorito for 147lb dominace. This fight will not disappoint. Score one for HBO for keeping it off of PPV, every once in a while they remind us why we pay for these subscriptions. I pay my cable bill with joy when they put on these kind of fights. Mosley, a three-division world champion, now must adapt to a different kind of fighter when he faces WBA welterweight titleholder Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs) on Jan. 24, at Staples Center in Los Angeles.Knowing he will face a taller fighter once again, Mosley has employed an array of middleweights who tower over him and seem to have 20 pounds more girth. But in the 16 years of his pro boxing career, he has learned how to cope with being the smaller guy.
“What most people get fooled is that inside the ring I’m physically stronger than I look,” Mosley (45-5, 38 KOs) said. “I didn’t get 38 knockouts because I can’t hit.”
Facing Mosley is the feared “Tijuana Tornado” Margarito, who has decimated most of the competition with a style that some call the Wrath of Mexico. Mention of Margarito’s name makes Mosley merely shrug.
Fight Pick: Margarito to win by TKO in the fourth round. Mosley’s feet will be twitching on the kanvas when he gets knocked out. Some might mistake that for a shrug. Margarito is just that good.
