Sunday, December 26, 2010

How to Make Money Online by Writing Articles and Creating a Reliable Source of Passive Income with Stock Dividends

by Michael on September 22, 2010

The internet thrives on content. And if you have a knack for writing, then you could possibly make a good amount of money online by writing content for various websites. That’s because websites such as InfoBarrel, Squidoo, and eHow all share advertising revenue with their writers in exchange for well-written and unique content. All three of those websites display Google Adsense ads, Amazon.com ads, or other advertisements along side your articles, and then split the revenue that’s generated from them with you. Here’s how to create an excellent form of passive income online by writing articles:

Choose a Specific Niche – A lot of people write content for those websites. So, a lot of different topics are already being covered by other writers. However, my theory is that the more specific your article topics are, the more passive income you’ll make from them. For example, say you like to write about making money online. You could be more specific and write articles about making money online with email lists. And then switch it up a bit and write about making money online using product review videos.

Do Your Keyword Research – More than likely, most people will find your articles online by using a search engine such as Google or Bing. So it’s important that as you write your articles, you include the right “keywords” to ensure that your articles rank well in search engine results. To find the those keywords, use the Google Keyword Tool. Use the Google Keyword Tool to see what keywords people are searching for based on your article’s topic, and then write those keywords into your articles.

Keep Writing, and Writing, and Writing… - Depending on how popular the articles you write are, chances are they’ll only generate a few dollars a month in revenue. It may not be much, but it’s something and it’s a form of passive income. But if you keep writing, and write hundreds or even thousands of articles about different topics and get them published on InfoBarrel, Squidoo, an eHow, you could possibly make hundreds or even thousands of dollars a month. In general, the more articles you write, the more money you stand to make.

If you have a website, you can also use those websites to promote it. All three websites have an “about the author” section where you can post your website’s URL. So, not only can you make money from the articles themselves, but you can make money from the people who visit your website from the articles you write.

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Create a Reliable Source of Passive Income with Stock Dividends
by Michael on August 18, 2010

One of the easiest ways to create an asset is to buy stock in a publicly-traded company. There are literally thousands upon thousands of companies that allow you to buy stock in them. And thanks to today’s technology, if you already have an online brokerage account, you can buy stock in a company in as little as 10 seconds using your computer or even your cell phone.

Even if you’ve never bought stock in a company before, I’m sure you’ve still heard the phrase “Buy Low, Sell High” at least once in your life. “Buy Low, Sell High” means that when you buy a stock, you buy it at a low price with the hopes that in the future, the stock price goes up so you can sell it for more than you paid for it, making a nice profit. That’s just one way to make money with stocks. Another way is to buy stocks that pay dividends.

People who own shares of stock in a company are referred to as shareholders. Some companies distribute their earnings to their shareholders in the form of stock dividends. Companies like Verizon, McDonald’s, Walmart, AT&T, Boeing, and Kraft Foods all pay dividends to their shareholders. To put it simply, these companies pay you money just for owning shares of their stock. To show you how dividends work and how they can provide passive income, let’s take a look at Verizon.

Verizon trades under the ticker symbol VZ. At the time this article was written, Verizon’s stock price was $29.90 a share. If you go to the Yahoo Finance page for Verizon, you’ll see all kinds of important statistics and information such as Market Cap, P/E Ratio, EPS, Volume, and so on. But for the purpose of this article, we’re going to focus solely on the “Div & Yield” part. This is where you’ll see what Verizon’s current dividend is per share, and what the current dividend yield is based on the stock price.

As of this writing, the Yahoo Finance page for Verizon shows that the current dividend is $1.90. This means that over the course of a year, Verizon pays you $1.90 for every share that you own. So if you own 1000 shares in Verizon, then you’re total dividend payments over the course of a year would be about $1,900, which is $1.90 (the dividend Verizon pays shareholders) * 1000 (the number of shares you own). Just like a stock price though, dividend payments do fluctuate, they can go up or down. However, unless a company’s financial situation changes dramatically in a short period of time, dividend payment amounts don’t typically change much often.

If you take the $1.90 dividend that Verizon pays and divide it by the current stock price of $29.90, you get 0.0635. Multiply that by 100, and you get 6.35. That’s the current dividend yield for Verizon, 6.35%. The dividend yield is the magic number you want to look for when choosing a dividend-yielding stock to invest in. Compared to the average savings account rates of .50% to 1%, 6.35% is much more attractive. Dividend yields vary from stock to stock. There are a lot of stocks that pay no dividend, so they have no dividend yield. Then there are other stocks, like REIT’s, that have dividend yields of 12% to 18%. As attractive as those high yields are, make sure to research the financial health of the companies offering those dividend yields before making an investment.

So now you’ve learned a little bit about dividends. But, how exactly are those dividends paid to you? Well, most companies distribute their dividends quarterly. Let’s use Verizon as an example again. If you divide the $1.90 by 4, you get $0.48. So every 3 months Verizon sends you a dividend of 48 cents. That money is usually deposited directly into your brokerage account, which you can then withdrawal as cash. Or, you have the option of having your dividends automatically buy more stock in that company, resulting in more dividends. Buying more of the same stock with it’s dividends is called Dividend Reinvestment, and most brokerages offer this service for free.

8 Ways To Earn Passive Income Online

Wouldn't you like to take a vacation whenever you want, or
have your wife stop working so she can look after the kids
and still keep up the payment of your bills? Well, if you
wish to achieve this, you need to build a passive residual
income.

Definition of passive residual income:

The definition of traditional passive income is "Income
generated with minimal work from your investments such as
interest, dividends, or real estate rentals." However in
this article we are discussing creating a passive income
online. Investment of time and money is initially required
to build a passive income online, then possibly minimal
work thereafter.

The benefits of generating a passive income:

1. Make a strong initial effort to get your income started,
then do minimal work (or virtually none) thereafter,
resulting in earning more and doing less.

2. Freedom to choose when and where you wish to work.

3. Your passive residual income is not dependent on a 9-5
work week and can be generated 24 hours, 7 days a week.

4. Able to give yourself a pay raise whenever you want by
creating multiple income streams.

5. Create an unlimited amount of income - you are only
limited by your imagination.

6. Have more free time to spend time with your family,
friends or go on vacation.

7. Ability to give to charitable causes.

8. Create residual income for your future retirement.

Types of passive income streams to build online:

1. Affiliate Programs - passive income is derived from
setting up a web site that presells a companies’ products.
The parent company provides the products, tracks the sales
and gives you a commission for each sale. Find companies
that offer large commissions, and will track clients for
multiple sales over a long period of time (ie lifetime)
so you can get recurring commissions. Make sure they offer
multiple tiers (at least 2) for sales. ie you still get
paid if one of your affiliates makes a sale.

One of the best examples is the 5 Pillar Affiliate Program
from Ken Envoy.

He offers a number of great products with high commissions
with excellent sales materials and content to help you
presell his products.

Read the free ebook: Affiliate Masters Course to become a
high-earning affiliate champion.

2. Information Products - the web is great place to create
an ebook that explains 'How to" information ie How to start
an online business, How to buy a car without getting ripped
off..anything that makes life easier for people. People are
hungry for information, therefore if there is a need, you
can create an ebook and sell it on the Net.

What are the benefits of creating an ebook?

Easy to create - you just need the ebook creation software.
Takes a short amount of time - you can create an info
report in a few hours or days. A large ebook may take
several weeks or months.

Low cost - costs will include ebook creation software, web
site design, web hosting and marketing. Once you this set
up, with good promotion in the search engines, you can make
sales from your ebook 24 hours a day for years to come.

Add an affiliate program - increase the number of ebook sales
sales by getting other people to sell it for a commission.
This enables you greatly increase your passive income.

Allow reprint rights - charge a fee for people that will
have the complete reprint rights. They are able to place
there own affiliate links in the ebook and sell it for the
same price to others.
3. Creating software products - if you have a good idea for
a software product that will help people do something
faster, easier or teach them something, then you may have a
winner.

A friend of mine created a course that educates
autism kids step by step. He then sells the course on
a CD to educational institutions and individuals all over
the world. He makes a nice passive income each month from
his initial investment of time, effort and money. The best
example is Bill Gates who created the Microsoft Corporation
selling the Windows Operating System. You could do the same
on a smaller scale.

4. Advertising commissions - if you have a web site that
attracts 1000s of visitors a day from the search engines,
you can offer to place a banner or link on your site for a
fee that you collect each month. You set it up once, then
collect the passive residual income.

Newsletters,or ezines - offer advertising space in your
ezine. The greater number of subscribers you have the more
you can charge every time you publish.

eBooks - offer advertising space in your ebook. Give the
ebook away for free or even place links in it from
affiliate programs you recommend.

Google AdSense - place Google Ads on your web site. When
someone clicks on the ad, you get a commission for every
click. If you have 100s or 1000s of pages on your site, you
can earn a substantial monthly income.

Read: "How to monetize your web site with Google AdSense"
5. Pay Per Click Campaigns - you can make money instantly
by setting up a Google AdWords campaign for your product or
affiliate program. If there are not too many competitors
promoting the same product and it is in high demand, you
can earn a good passive income. Creating several successful
campaigns will multiply the amount you can make.

Read: How to Set Up a Successful Google AdWords Campaign

6. Referrals - create a network of people that offer
services or products related to your business. Ask for a
commission every time you refer someone. For example as a
web designer, I sometimes refer clients to graphic designers,
search engine optimization experts, copywriters and database
designers especially when I don't have the time to do the
work myself or it is outside my area of expertise.

7. Create a membership site - if you are an expert in your
field and can provide the resources, knowledge and support,
you can charge a monthly fee to gain access to your
membership site. The more members you gain, the more money
you make. Because you are an expert in your field, you can
also recommend other products and services to your members,
from which you earn commissions.

8. Become a Reseller - by reselling other people's services
you can earn ongoing residual income.

One such example is web hosting or domain name
registration. You pay a monthly fee to the reseller and you
can charge whatever you like to your customers for your
service. Of course you must be thoroughly familiar with the
service to provide the necessary support to your clients.

Conclusion: Building multiple passive income streams is a
great way to secure yourself for the future. You never know
if you will be laid off from your regular job, get too ill
to work, experience a disaster or want to start saving for
your retirement.

Choose one of the above types of passive income streams and
take action now, to secure your financial future.

How to Build Passive Income with Article Sites

(from writingforyourwealth.com)
I’m not a big fan of the term passive income, because outside of stock dividends and interest bearing accounts, I don’t think the term is particularly accurate. Real estate needs to be managed, books require marketing to sell, businesses need work to grow, and websites that are never updated lose traffic as they’re surpassed by sites that are regularly updated.

That said, I do know that Tim Ferris’s controversial “4-Hour Work Week” is possible, and one way to get there is with article sites. You can build sites that require very little ongoing work and can bring in respectable XXX and even X,XXX earnings per month.

I’m not talking about blogs, which come with the expectation of frequent updates, but simple article-based sites that may never have more than 50 or 100 pages.

About half of my income is from blogs, and half is from straight html sites that run Adsense and sometimes link to affiliate products. There aren’t any comments to moderate, communities to build, advertisers to deal with, or customers to placate. These article sites simply provide information, get traffic from the search engines, and make money from people clicking ads.

Once they’re built, I may only work on a site a few hours in a whole year (though if they show a lot of potential, I’ll probably attend them a couple times a month). I’ll add an article or two and maybe submit an article to ezinearticles in order to get some natural links. This small amount of work keeps them ranking in the search engines and bringing me in money, day after day, month after month. It’s not entirely passive income, but it’s a pretty good deal!

For those of you who may be interested in adding some article sites to your online empire, I’m going to do a little series that covers my strategies. As with building a blog, it takes time to start earning money (content needs to be built up, domains need to “age,” links need to be acquired, etc.), but once you have the initial site built, the time demand is very little for ongoing maintenance.

You can get started with 10 or 20 articles, so you could get a site up in a fairly short order, if you were so motivated. You may even want to start several, so that you can build one, and move on to the next and the next without obsessing over when that first one will make its first dollar.

Here’s a list of what this series will cover:

How to Build (mostly!) Passive Income with Article Sites Series

1 — Introduction (You’re Reading It!)
2 — Choosing a Profitable Niche and Scoping out the Competition
3 — A Keyword Rich Domain Name and Other on-Site SEO Considerations
4 — Using Keyword Research to Write Pinpoint Articles
5 — Link Building Techniques
6 — Adding Google Adsense
7 — Should You Consider Affiliate Programs?
8 — The Technical Side: Getting Your Article Site Online

Passive Income Resources (from lifeoptimizer.org)

Passive income is our key to financial freedom. The more passive income we generate, the less dependent we are on our job. At one point, when our passive income exceeds our expenses, we can stop working anytime we want and still live the lifestyle we desire. That is financial freedom.

But passive income takes time to build. You can’t expect to start working on it now and be financially freedom next year unless you are very lucky. So the best time to start is now. The earlier you start working to build your passive income, the sooner you will reap the results.

That’s why I put together this list of free passive income resources. There are a lot free passive income resources out there, but I put only the useful ones here. I hope this list can be a starting point and a companion in your journey toward financial freedom. The list starts with the definitions followed by the e-books, articles, and audio resources.



Definitions

■Passive Income (Wikipedia)
■Passive Income (Investopedia)
■Financial Freedom (Wikipedia)
E-Books

■A Guide to Making Passive Income
■Blog Profits Blueprint
■The Cycle of Wealth
Articles – General

■Automate Your Income to Simplify Your Life
■Two Simple But Powerful Rules to Achieve Financial Freedom
■The Simple Dollar on Passive Income
■Five Ways to Create Passive Income With Little or No Money
■Passive Income Strategies
■How Should I Create Passive Income?
■Building, Diversifying, and Shifting Your Income Streams
Articles – Internet Marketing

■5 Ways To Make Passive Income On Your Website
■How to Make Money From Your Blog
■Building an Online Empire: 16 Types of Websites You Can Create for Profit
■Top 10 Internet Home Business Ideas You Can Start and Run in Your Underwear
Articles – Miscellanous

■Building a Foundation: Ten Things To Do First If You’re Looking At Starting Your Own Business
■Real Estate :: The Ultimate Passive Income
Audio

■How to Make Money Without a Job
■Kick-start Your Own Business
Bonus – Recommended Books

While collecting these resources, I noticed that there are several books which are often mentioned regarding passive income. These books are not free, but I add them here in case you want to learn more about the subject. I have read all of them except the last one. Here they are:

■Your Money or Your Life
■Rich Dad Poor Dad
■The 4-Hour Workweek
■Multiple Streams of Income

Top Ten Boxers for 2010

As boxing prepares to move into 2011 with a number of big fights already on the books, it’s a good time to tell the movers and the shakers in the industry what we expect from them.

I’m not going to give out holiday gifts or make New Year’s resolutions for any of them, but let these men know what it will take to keep and/or earn our trust and our business.

Floyd Mayweather – Mayweather is one of the greatest boxers of recent times. Recently, though, he’s doing more of his fighting outside of the ring than in it. So, Floyd, we want a clarification: Are you a boxer any longer? If you plan to fight, say so and don’t let the fans who have made you rich twist in the wind. Quit acting like a pompous jerk when it comes to your money. Yeah, we know you’re rich. We get that. But guess what? A lot of people are hurting and it would be nice if you showed some sensitivity toward that. I know you do a lot of charity work, but flaunting your wealth does nothing but make you look small. And finally, stay out of trouble, please. The Las Vegas police have enough to do.

More From Kevin IoleMartinez finishes on top of impressive group Dec 23, 2010 Sarmiento weaves his magic with Martinez Dec 22, 2010 AdChoices
Richard Schaefer – The Golden Boy CEO is actually a good guy, but he’s clearly not a good loser. When one of his fighters loses, Schaefer rants and raves like he’s a 2-year-old. Tone it down, Richard. It’s very unbecoming. More importantly, extend an olive branch to other promoters, including Top Rank. Make an honest effort to make the best fights. Don’t always look for the edge. Remember, a healthier industry benefits you in the long run.

Ross Greenburg and Kery Davis – The two men who are primarily responsible for the fights you see on HBO need to do a better job, frankly. We don’t need to see fights like Berto against Freddy Hernandez any more. I love the start to 2011: Timothy Bradley against Devon Alexander and Fernando Montiel against Nonito Donaire. That should be the rule, not the exception. Open your doors to all promoters with the proviso you’re interested only in great fights. Period.

Manny Pacquiao – The pound-for-pound best fighter in the world has to develop a mind of his own. He’s fighting Shane Mosley on May 7 in a match hand-picked by promoter Bob Arum. Had Pacquiao spoken up instead of quietly going along with whatever Arum wants, we might be getting a third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez now.

Alfredo Angulo – Angulo is an entertaining fighter, but he’s delusional. He turned down $750,000 earlier this year to fight middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. I’m all for boxers making as much as they can, given the risks they take, but Angulo and a number of other fighters like them (I’m thinking of you, Timothy Bradley and Andre Berto) seem to have lost sight of the value of a dollar. They scoff at purses like $750,000 like it’s minimum wage when they barely sell any tickets. Promoter Gary Shaw had to buy tickets himself at a July card in Palm Springs in order to get 1,800 tickets sold when both Angulo and Bradley were on the card. If you can’t sell tickets, you’re not worth $1 million (or $750,000, for that matter). We need to get back to the day when boxers are required to sell tickets as part of their contracts.

Ken Hershman – The general manager of Showtime Sports has done many good things in creating four- and six-man tournaments. I want to see more of them. But frankly, the six-man tournament doesn’t work. Showtime’s four-man bantamweight tournament, in which there were two fights on one night with the winners facing each other is perfect. But take it up a notch: Give fighters who win by knockout a $100,000 bonus in the first round and a $250,000 bonus in the finals. Put a little of the prize back into prize fighting.

David Haye – Fight one of the Klitschko brothers. Period. Or we don’t take you or your WBA heavyweight title belt at all seriously. OK? OK. Bye.

Al Haymon – Haymon is the adviser to many star boxers, including Mayweather. Yet, he’s neither a promoter nor a manager, so he’s not regulated by any athletic commissions. He’s also notoriously media shy. He’s made a lot of money off the sport and owes it to the fans who have put that money into his pocket to explain a few of his decisions. He doesn’t have to be Lou DiBella, for instance, but it would be nice to hear from him and his thinking more than, well, never.

Antonio Tarver – You have much promise as an announcer; you have zero promise as a heavyweight. Give up this goofy notion you can become a factor at heavyweight and stick to a career in which you can quickly become a star: Broadcasting.

Shane Mosley – There has been outrage on the Internet since Mosley agreed to terms to face Manny Pacquiao on Tuesday. Mosley is going to be nearly 40 by the time the fight takes place and public sentiment is decidedly against him getting the fight. But don’t take the criticism personally; rather, train and fight your best and shut everyone up. That’s always the best response, to do your talking with your performance.

With that, let’s present the Top 10 in the December ratings:

1. Manny Pacquiao
Points: 329 (32 of 33 first-place votes)
Record: 52-3-2 (38 KOs)
Title: WBC super welterweight champion & WBO welterweight champion
Last outing: W12 over Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13
Previous ranking: 1
Up next: May 7 vs. Shane Mosley in Las Vegas
Analysis:Fans up in arm over choice of Mosley as opponent



2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Points: 282 (1 of 33 first-place votes)
Record: 41-0 (25 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing: W12 over No. 10 Shane Mosley on May 1
Previous ranking: 2
Up next:Nothing scheduled
Analysis:Legal woes put fight career in jeopardy.



3. Sergio Martinez
Points: 257
Record: 46-2-2 (25 KOs)
Title: WBC middleweight champion
Last outing: KO2 Paul Williams on Nov. 20
Previous ranking: 3
Up next: March 12 against TBA
Analysis: Never has an elite boxer had such trouble finding an opponent


4. Juan Manuel Marquez
Points: 205
Record: 52-5-1 (35 KOs)
Title: WBA, WBO lightweight champion
Last outing: TKO9 over Michael Katsidis on Nov. 27
Previous ranking: 4
Up next: April 16 in Las Vegas vs. TBA
Analysis: Deserved shot to fight Pacquiao



5. Wladimir Klitschko
Points: 115
Record: 55-3 (49 KOs)
Title: IBF, WBO heavyweight champion
Last outing: TKO10 over Samuel Peter on Sept. 11
Previous ranking: 5
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Injury forced cancelation of fight with Dereck Chisora


6. Andre Ward
Points: 110
Record: 23-0 (13 KOs)
Title: WBA super middleweight champion
Last outing: W12 over Sakio Bika on Nov. 27
Previous ranking: 7
Up next: Vs. Arthur Abraham, date TBA
Analysis:Now the clear favorite to win the Super Six.


7. Juan Manuel Lopez
Points: 104
Record: 30-0 (27 KOs)
Title: WBO featherweight champion
Last outing: TKO8 Rafael Marquez on Nov. 6
Previous ranking: 6
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Powerful puncher, entertaining style



8. Nonito Donaire Jr.
Points: 83
Record: 25-1 (17 KOs)
Title: Interim WBA super flyweight champion
Last outing: TKO4 over Volodymyr Sydorenko on Dec. 4
Previous ranking: 9
Up next:Vs. No. 10 Fernando Montiel on Feb. 19 in Las Vegas
Analysis: Dynamic puncher developing all-around game.



9. Timothy Bradley
Points: 82
Record: 26-0 (11 KOs)
Title: WBO super lightweight champion
Last outing: W12 over Luis Carlos Abregu on July 17
Previous ranking: 8
Up next:Jan. 29 vs. Devon Alexander in Pontiac, Mich.
Analysis:Win over Alexander would make him prime candidate for Pacquiao fight.


10. Fernando Montiel
Points: 43
Record: 44-2 (34 KOs)
Title: WBC-WBO bantamweight champion
Last outing: KO2 Jovanny Soto on Dec. 10
Previous ranking: NR
Up next: Vs. No. 8 Nonito Donaire Jr. on Feb. 19 in Las Vegas
Analysis:Showdown with Donaire will establish world’s best bantamweight.

Others receiving votes: Lucian Bute, 41; Bernard Hopkins, 35; Vitali Klitschko, 33; Paul Williams, 30; Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 24; Yuriorkis Gamboa, 15; Miguel Cotto, 7; Israel Vazquez, 6; Devon Alexander, 5; Chris John, 5; Tomasz Adamek, 3; Anselmo Moreno, 1; Shane Mosley, 1.

Voting panel:Raul Alzaga, Primera Hora; Ron Borges, Boston Herald; Damian Calhoun, Orange County Register; Steve Cofield, Yahoo! Sports; Dave Cokin, ESPN Radio, Las Vegas; Gareth A. Davies, London Telegraph; Andrew Eisele, About.com; Steve Farhood, Showtime; Scott Fyfe, Sunday Post, Scotland; Thomas Gerbasi, BoxingScene.com; Nick Giongco, Manila Bulletin; Lee Groves, BoxingScene.com; Thomas Hauser, Seconds Out; Keith Idec, Herald News, New Jersey; Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Michael Katz, Gaming Today, Las Vegas; Max Kellerman, HBO; Scott Mallon, Boxing Digest; Rich Marotta, Fox Sports; David Mayo, Grand Rapids Press; Franklin McNeil, ESPN; Gunnar Meinhardt, Die Welt; Robert Morales, Los Angeles Daily News; Marty Mulcahey, MaxBoxing.com; Peter Owen Nelson, freelance; Santos Perez, Miami Herald; Martin Rogers, Yahoo! Sports; Cliff Rold, Boxingscene.com; Michael Rosenthal, RingTV.com; Lem Satterfield, Fanhouse.com; T.K. Stewart, Boxingscene.com; Paul Upham, Seconds Out; Dave Weinberg, Press of Atlantic City.

2010 Ring fan polls: Event of the Year

RingTV.com, in association with Yahoo! Sports, is offering boxing fans the opportunity to vote for their favorites from 2010 and determine a winner in eight categories.



What was the Event of the Year? Results to be revealed at www.ringtv.com.Pacquiao-Floyd breakdown Pacquiao-Margarito Mayweather-Mosley Pacquiao-Clottey Death of Valero

One category will appear each day on Yahoo! Sports and the result will be announced the following day at http://www.ringtv.com/.


Note: These are not the official Ring awards. Those will be announced in the magazine itself.


The following are the candidates for Event of the Year.


1. Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. failed negotiations No boxing event was talked or written about as much as the failure of the potentially richest fight in history to take place in 2010.


2. Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito Nobody believed the disgraced Mexican brawler deserved a shot at Pacquiao but their high-profile showdown proved that controversy sells.

3. Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Shane Mosley Mayweather silenced his critics by facing the most respected and formidable opponent he’d fought since Oscar De La Hoya.

4. Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey What was thought to be a mediocre substitute to Pacquiao-Mayweather drew more than 50,000 fans to Cowboys Stadium in the first boxing event held in the billion-dollar venue.

5. Death of Edwin Valero Controversial KO artist seemed poised to become a star but killed his wife in a tragic drug-induced meltdown and then shockingly took his own life in jail.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Thanks and farewell Jim Rohn


Jim Rohn is one of my favorite motivators of all time. He has changed my life and the lives of countless millions.

Jim Rohn, our friend, mentor and inspiration to millions, graduated
from this life on Saturday.

Here is very special video with Jim that I'd like to share
with you.

Nothing to buy. Just some of the incredible wisdom of this great
teacher.
http://bit.ly/jim-rohn-video

From Vic and Lisa Johnson (As a Man Thinketh)(asamanthinketh.net)

Pacquiao, Mayweather close to deal

Dec 4, 11:43 pm EST

NEW YORK(AP)—Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have signed off on the major issues in the negotiation for a megafight on March 13, and contracts could be signed in the next few days, a person with knowledge of the discussions told The Associated Press.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum met with Pacquiao in his native Philippines on Friday and the charismatic champion agreed to terms with only minor changes, said the person, who requested anonymity because the sides agreed not to speak publicly during negotiations.

Arum planned to return to the United States on Sunday and present the amended terms to Golden Boy chief executive Richard Schaefer, the person said. Schaefer is negotiating on behalf of Mayweather and his promotional company.

An announcement could come Tuesday, which would coincide with Arum’s 78th birthday.

No site has been determined, but Top Rank plans to send a survey team to Dallas next week to examine the new, $1.2 billion Cowboys Stadium, the person said. Team owner Jerry Jones said Wednesday that the Cowboys “are still desirous of looking at what we can do.”

The other possibilities are the New Orleans Superdome and venues in Las Vegas, including the MGM Grand and a temporary outdoor stadium on the Strip.

The fight would be at 147 pounds for Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title, which he won in November with an impressive 12th-round stoppage of Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas.

Michael Koncz, who is advising Pacquiao, said Friday that the contracts need “fine tuning” but declined to elaborate. Koncz added that Pacquiao is “very comfortable” with March 13, even though it is only four months after his last fight.

“Manny has some additional requirements, requests, which Arum didn’t think was a problem,” Koncz said. “The requests of Manny were so realistic that Arum doesn’t feel it’s a problem and it’s pretty much a done deal.”

The bout could be the richest ever, assuming projections are accurate. Pacquiao’s fight against Cotto sold 1.25 million pay-per-views, while Mayweather’s comeback victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in September did 1.05 million.

The richest fight ever was in May 2007, when Mayweather’s split-decision win over Oscar De La Hoya generated 2.4 million buys for $120 million in pay-per-view revenue.

The potential Pacquiao-Mayweather fight certainly would generate widespread international appeal, pitting the flamboyant Mayweather against the man who most believe replaced him on the mythical mantle as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Pacquiao has won an unprecedented seven titles in seven weight divisions, although his popularity has grown far beyond the sport. He was featured on the cover of the Asian version of Time magazine, is wrapping up filming of an action movie called “Wapakman,” and submitted his candidacy for the 2010 elections on Tuesday.

“The difference between Floyd and others I have fought is that Floyd makes a lot of trash talk that should not be imitated by young people,” Pacquiao told GMA television, when asked about the potential matchup.

Pacquiao’s political ambitions are the reason the fight was moved up to mid-March. He plans to start campaigning in April in his second attempt at a congressional seat.

“March 13 is OK,” Pacquiao told GMA.

“Nobody knows his body better than Manny,” Koncz said. “If Manny feels that that’s plenty of time to rest and recover, then you know, he has to do what he feels is right.”

Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach would again hold the start of camp in the Philippines, even though Pacquiao is such a national hero that hundreds of people trail him on morning runs and crowd around gym windows to watch him spar. Roach expressed concern about the distraction before Pacquiao demolished Cotto in the most impressive display of his career.

The Filipino champion has said he would spend about 12 weeks in camp, rather than the eight weeks he normally takes to prepare for a fight. That would mean Pacquiao would begin working out in about three weeks

Monday, November 30, 2009

Stories of the decade by Martin Rogers- from Yahoo Sports

Yahoo! Sports' decade in review takes to the ring for a series of boxing-related top-fives. Last up is the top five stories of the 2000s. Whatever your opinion on the issues which engulfed the sport, these are the storylines that generated the greatest controversy and speculation over the past decade.

5. Margarito's illegal hand-wraps

Antonio Margarito headed into his Staples Center matchup with Shane Mosley as one of boxing's favorite sons; an iron-chinned superstar beloved for his bravery and competitive fire.

But the events of January 24, 2009, and their aftermath have turned Margarito into a boxing pariah. Margarito's hand wraps were found to have on them calcium and sulfur, which would have hardened into a Plaster of Paris-like substance.

Eagle-eyed Mosley corner man Nazim Richardson spotted the unusual nature of Margarito's wraps in the locker room prefight and immediately alerted officials. With new wraps, Margarito was smashed up by Mosley before being stopped in the ninth round.

The California State Athletic Commission handed down bans a month later - a ludicrously brief one-year suspension for both Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo.

4. Diego Corrales dies in a motorcycle crash

Corrales was one of boxing's most colorful characters, a man who lived and fought at full speed.

His spectacular wars with Jose Luis Castillo cemented his popularity, but he was unable to handle the resulting fame and battled constantly with personal problems.

Many friends said afterward it had been inevitable that Corrales' tumultuous life - he had served 14-months in prison for abusing his pregnant girlfriend - would end in tragedy.

Despite limited motorcycle experience, Corrales insisted on riding down a busy residential street in Las Vegas on the second anniversary of his classic victory over Castillo. His blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit, Corrales collided with the back of a vehicle and was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.

3. The continued fall of Mike Tyson

Tyson's life and career had already plummeted downhill in the 1990s, but a new decade didn't bring any better fortune for the former undisputed heavyweight champ.

Iron Mike has become an increasingly forlorn figure, with most of the millions he earned during his career having been squandered away.

The early part of the decade offered an opportunity for him to scale the heights of the heavyweight division once more, but he was demolished by Lennox Lewis in eight rounds and followed up with shocking defeats to Danny Williams and Kevin McBride before, mercifully, hanging up his gloves.

2. The FBI raids Top Rank's offices

Has boxing ever seemed sicker than when federal agents stormed into Top Rank's Las Vegas HQ in the first week of January 2004 and seized computers, contracts and financial documents?

The most salacious part of the investigation was that Oscar De La Hoya's rematch with Shane Mosley had been "fixed," and the fight game winced from this latest controversy as Bob Arum's company came under scrutiny.

More ugly details filtered out, that the investigation was part of an ongoing probe into organized crime, rumors of fixing, tampered medical records and deep-rooted corruption.

The investigation eventually was dropped in 2006 with no charges filed, but it was an episode that took boxing to the top of the news bulletins for all the wrong reasons.

1. Top Rank/Golden Boy lawsuit over Manny Pacquiao

Pacquiao was on his way to becoming the world's most exciting fighter in 2006, and promotional giants Top Rank and Golden Boy both wanted a slice of the action.

Bob Arum claimed he had Pacquiao signed to a contract, but Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy also insisted he had him tied to a deal after handing over a satchel of cash during an airport meeting.

The two parties went head-to-head in an acrimonious courtroom battle that was eventually settled when the judge warned Arum and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer that neither may like the final judgment.

The upshot is that Arum continues to promote Pacquiao, while Golden Boy also receives a sizeable cut every time he fights.

Honorable mentions: Despite lacking a definitive incident like these other stories, there were a couple of issues that were a constant theme during the 2000s.

• What happened to the heavyweights? The decline of the heavyweight division has been lamented for much of the decade. Lennox Lewis' retirement left a void, while Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson both faded from the world scene. Instead, a generation of big Russian and Ukrainian fighters came to the fore, led by the Klitschkos, Vitali and Waldimir, but none were really able to capture the public imagination.

• Boxing v MMA The emergence of mixed martial arts and the UFC has presented boxing with some significant challenges. MMA's deep undercards for pay-per-view events and the relative lack of bluster surrounding its fighters won over some supporters who had previously gravitated towards boxing. However, the huge PPV numbers generated in recent times by fighters such as Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather suggests boxing is not ready to roll over just yet.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Rankings: PACQUIAO back on top

By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
Oct 23, 3:32 pm EDT

The Yahoo! Sports monthly rankings underwent big changes in October despite the fact that none of the top-ranked fighters were in action.

Manny Pacquiao, who faces Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas in what is expected to be a high-paced bout, supplanted Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the top spot. Mayweather had a one-point edge over Pacquiao in September, but Pacquiao climbed past him by five points in October.

Three fewer voters participated in the voting in October than did in September and that appeared to help Pacquiao. Pacquiao received 13 of the 25 first-place votes from the elite panel of boxing writers, with Mayweather picking up the other first-place 12 votes.

More From Kevin IolePacman does it again on pay-per-view Nov 20, 2009 Ward's Super chance at breakthrough Nov 19, 2009 The difference turned out to be that all of those who did not vote for Pacquiao as No. 1 had him as No. 2. However, Mayweather had nine second-place votes, two third-place votes and one fourth.

That dropped him from the top spot and into second place.

Bernard Hopkins, who last fought on Oct. 18, 2008, when he routed Kelly Pavlik in Atlantic City, N.J., also tumbled. Though Hopkins hasn’t fought in more than a year, he was ruled eligible to be voted upon since he has a Dec. 2 fight scheduled against Enrique Ornelas.

But some voters expressed disappointment with Hopkins’ choice of a tune-up opponent as well as his planned 2010 fight against Roy Jones Jr. and either dropped him totally from their top 10 or dropped him in the list.

Hopkins, who was in a tie with Shane Mosley for fourth in September, is now seventh. The other change in the rankings saw Juan Manuel Lopez, who had been No. 9, falling out of the top 10 despite a decision victory over Rogers Mtgawa on Oct. 10. Lopez struggled down the stretch and had to hang on in the final round to win.

Voters opted to dump him because of that and put in former middleweight champion Arthur Abraham in ninth place. Abraham knocked out Jermain Taylor in the 12th round of their opening round match in the Super Six tournament on Oct. 17.

1. Manny Pacquiao


Points: 238 (13 of 25 first-place votes)
Record: 49-3-2 (37 KOs)
Title: Ring Magazine super lightweight champion
Last outing: TKO2 over Ricky Hatton on May 2
Previous ranking: 2
Up next: vs. No. 6 Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14
Analysis: A Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in 2010 could be the richest bout ever

2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Points: 233 (15 of 28 first-place votes)
Record: 40-0 (25 KOs)
Title: No title
Last outing: W12 over No. 6 Juan Manuel Marquez on Sept. 19
Previous ranking: 1
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Was brilliant in one-sided beatdown

3. Paul Williams

Points: 165
Record: 37-1 (27 KOs)
Title: Interim WBO junior middleweight champion
Last outing: W12 over Winky Wright on April 11
Previous ranking: 3
Up next: Dec. 5 vs. TBA
Analysis: Can he fight and compete in three divisions simultaneously?

4. Shane Mosley

Points: 148
Record: 46-5 (39 KOs)
Title: WBA welterweight champion
Last outing: TKO9 over Antonio Margarito on Jan. 24
Previous ranking: T4
Up next: Welterweight unification fight with Andre Berto in January
Analysis: On outside looking in on Pacquiao, Mayweather sweepstakes

5. Juan Manuel Marquez

Points: 131
Record: 50-5-1 (37 KOs)
Title: WBA, WBO, Ring lightweight champion
Last outing: L12 to No. 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Sept. 19
Previous ranking: 6
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Had nothing to offer against Mayweather

6. Miguel Cotto

Points: 129
Record: 34-1 (27 KOs)
Title: WBO welterweight champion
Last outing: W12 over Joshua Clottey on June 13
Previous ranking: 7
Up next: vs. No. 1 Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 14 in Las Vegas
Analysis: Showed much moxie fighting for 10 rounds with deep gash above eye

7. Bernard Hopkins

Points: 115
Record: 49-5-1 (32 KOs)
Title: Ring light heavyweight champion
Last outing: W12 over Kelly Pavlik on Oct. 18
Previous ranking: T4
Up next: vs. Enrique Ornelas on Dec. 2 in Philadelphia
Analysis: Needs a win to set up pay-per-view bout in 2009 with Roy Jones Jr.

8. Chad Dawson

Points: 57
Record: 28-0 (17 KOs)
Title: IBF light heavyweight champion
Last outing: W12 over Antonio Tarver on May 9
Previous ranking: 8
Up next: Rematch with Glen Johnson on Nov. 7 in Hartford, Conn.
Analysis: Hopes to make statement with clear win over veteran Johnson

9. Arthur Abraham

Points: 43
Record: 31-0 (25 KOs)
Title: None
Last outing: TKO12 Jermain Taylor on Oct. 17
Previous ranking: NR
Up next: vs. Andre Dirrell on Jan. 23 at TBA
Analysis: Could become star in Super Six tournament

10. Wladimir Klitschko

Points: 33
Record: 53-3 (47 KOs)
Titles: IBF, WBO heavyweight champion
Last outing: TKO9 over Ruslan Chagaev on June 20
Previous ranking: 10
Up next: Nothing scheduled
Analysis: Recovering from surgery and won’t fight until early 2010

Also receiving votes: Ivan Calderon 27; Juan Manuel Lopez 19; Israel Vazquez 16; Rafael Marquez 9; Vitali Klitschko 6; Nonito Donaire 4; Chris John 4; Celestino Caballero 3; Timothy Bradley 2; Hozumi Hasegawa 1.

Voting panel: Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports; Robert Morales, Los Angeles Daily News; Paul Upham, Seconds Out; Michael Katz, Gaming Today; Keith Idec, Herald News, New Jersey; Santos Perez, Miami Herald; Kieran Mulvaney, Reuters; Scott Fyfe, Sunday Post, Scotland; Gunnar Meinhardt, Die Welt; Michael Rosenthal, RingTV; Scott Mallon, Asian Boxing News; Marty Mulcahey, MaxBoxing; Dougie Fisher, RingTV; Martin Rogers, Yahoo! Sports; Raul Alzaga, Primera Hora; T.K. Stewart, BoxingScene; Andrew Eisele, About.com; Tim Smith, New York Daily News; David Mayo, Grand Rapids Press; Dave Cokin, ESPN Radio 1100, Las Vegas; Thomas Hauser, Seconds Out; Lee Groves, MaxBoxing; Ron Borges, Boston Herald; Thomas Gerbasi, BoxingScene; Steve Cofield, Yahoo! Sports.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Oscar De La Hoya Blog: Mayweather-Pacquiao

By Oscar De La Hoya

Oscar De La Hoya, whose promotional firm represents Floyd Mayweather Jr., was impressed with Manny Pacquiao's performance against Miguel Cotto on Saturday and is as excited as the rest of us about the prospect of a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown. Here are his thoughts on the Filipino marvel and that potential fight.


Manny Pacquiao was incredible against Miguel Cotto on Saturday. I thought he was very patient. He wanted to be sure to execute his game plan, which is the result of a lot of dedication and hard work during training. As the fight went on, Cotto just realized that he couldn’t hurt Pacquiao or beat him to the punch. It was one of those performances. Pacquiao put on a great show.

I was very impressed. To move up all those weight classes and beat the guys he’s beating is really something. I tip my hat to him. Not too many fighters can move up in weight and do what he’s doing. And he has a lot of fans. That fight probably did a million pay-per-view buys, which would make it back-to-back million-home fights. The Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Juan Manuel Marquez fight also did a million. That’s very rare in boxing.

And that leads us to what everyone is talking about: A Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. I think it would be the biggest fight in boxing, which already is on such a great roll. The ball is in Mayweather’s court; he calls his own shots. But that’s the fight I believe Mayweather wants, Pacquiao wants and the fans want. It’s a fight that should be done. It could break the all-time pay-per-view record, 2.45 million, which was set in my fight against Mayweather in 2007.

In one corner, you have Mayweather, who many still believe is the best pure boxer on the planet today. When it comes to talent, when it comes to skill, he’s by far the most-talented of the bunch. People recognize that. And in the other corner, you have Pacquiao, a fighter who is explosive and always puts on a good fight.

They are both crossover stars now. They reach not only boxing fans but also non-boxing fans. So this isn’t a case of one fighter carrying the show; you have two fighters who will carry the promotion and make it a blockbuster. When I fought Mayweather, he was extremely talented but not quite the crossover star he is now. If he was, we probably would’ve done 4 million homes.

There is so much money on the table that I don’t see why Mayweather-Pacquiao shouldn’t happen. It could hit 3 million pay-per-view buys. And if two fighters can do it, it’s Mayweather and Pacquiao. It’s going to be up to the fighters, though, up to Mayweather. And then we’ll take it from there.

I believe it will happen. Mayweather wants to make history, he wants to fight the best. He’s out to prove he’s the best. He’s a competitor, a person who is ego driven. He wants to prove he can beat a fighter like Pacquiao. I think we’re coming to a new era in boxing, where fighters realize it’s not good enough to put on just an OK show. Fighters are realizing their careers are short and they want to make the most of them. Mayweather-Pacquiao is an opportunity to show the best side of boxing.

I’ve been through many negotiations for big fights. It takes a lot of work, a lot of back and forth, everything from who enters the ring first to what corner each fighter will be in. It’s a process. But when you have people like Leonard Ellerbe, Richard Schaefer and Bob Arum, people who understand the game and how to promote a fight, it makes it that much easier.

I’ll speak generally about money. We at Golden Boy look at market value (when discussing how the purse will be divided). In this case, Mayweather has not only the skill but also the power to call his own shots. He’s in charge, he’s in control.

My general advice to anyone going into negotiations would be not to let the little points ruin the negotiations. Go in with an open mind and be patient and everything will work itself out. I think that will be the case with Mayweather-Pacquiao. It definitely would be wonderful to be a part of another historic fight.

Pacman does it again on pay-per-view

By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports
Nov 20, 1:19 pm EST


Pound- for-pound kingpin Manny Pacquiao scored his second big knockout victory in a week on Friday, when HBO Sports announced that his Nov. 14 victory over Miguel Cotto sold 1.25 million pay-per-views and generated $70 million in pay-per-view revenue.

Pacquiao, who knocked Cotto out in the 12th round to capture the World Boxing Organization welterweight title, has averaged 1.1 million in PPV sales in his past three outings – knockout victories over Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Cotto.

The win could set up a 2010 match with unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr., the other man with a claim to the throne as the top fighter in the sport. That bout would likely shatter all pay-per-view records.

More From Kevin IoleWard's Super chance at breakthrough Nov 19, 2009 Arum won't stand in way of dream fight Nov 18, 2009 Mayweather holds the record for most pay-per-view units sold in an individual bout, with 2.45 million when he won a split decision over De La Hoya in 2007. Mayweather has averaged 1.48 million on pay-per-view in his past three outings, following up the De La Hoya fight with 940,000 in sales against Ricky Hatton and 1.05 million on Sept. 19 in his comeback bout with Juan Manuel Marquez.

HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg said the performance of Pacquiao-Cotto is yet another indication of the sport’s upward mobility. This is the first time since 1999 that there have been two pay-per-view cards in one year that have reached 1 million or more buys. He said sports fans, not just boxing fans, are talking about a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.

“Boxing is back in the mainstream and this is what we’ve been working for for so long,” Greenburg said. “I am feeling (the excitement for a Mayweather-Pacquiao match) and people are walking around the streets talking about it. These are two guys who are recognized around the world as the best pound-for-pound fighters. They’re in the same class and they’re in their primes.

“It harkens back to the Sugar Ray Leonard-Tommy Hearns fight in 1981. Those are very few and far between. People are so excited. That’s why it feels bigger than most. It’s exciting for the sport, it’s exciting for the fighters, it’s exciting for the trainers and everyone involved.”

Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum was thrilled with the result and expects the 1.25 million figure to grow as more results trickle in. Arum said the figure released Friday is “very preliminary” and could get larger. It is not unusual for cable companies to report additional sales many months after the fight.

Arum knew he had a winner from the moment he signed Pacquiao-Cotto, but didn’t expect such a large figure until the week of the fight. Not only was the bout receiving wall-to-wall coverage from traditional boxing media, it also drew unprecedented attention from mainstream outlets such as The New York Times and Time Magazine.

“The New York Times covered the fight so well – and when’s the last time they did anything on boxing like that?” Arum asked. “Time put Manny on the cover [of its Asian edition]. Basically, we were expanding our base [of media coverage] and when I saw that, I knew this fight was going into another realm. And what happened then didn’t surprise me. This is a very preliminary number and it could grow considerably.”

Mayweather manager Leonard Ellerbe congratulated Pacquiao on the sales performance, but said it would not have an impact on negotiations for a bout with his fighter. “That’s good for boxing and good for the sport,” Ellerbe said.

Ellerbe said Team Mayweather is meeting internally to determine its stance. Ellerbe said Mayweather is more than willing to fight Pacquiao if an equitable deal can be struck.

Arum, too, insisted he wants to see the fight made because of the public demand for it. But because of the animosity between Mayweather and Arum, reaching a deal could be problematic. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer will deliver Mayweather’s position to Arum, Ellerbe said.

“We feel as though this is the biggest fight by far in the history of the sport,” Ellerbe said. “We will approach it accordingly. Mayweather Promotions/Team Mayweather is sitting down and going over all of our options to come up with our position. Once we come up with our position, we will let Richard know and he’ll deliver it to Bob.”

The biggest pay-per-view draws to this point have all been American fighters: Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, De La Hoya and Mayweather. Arum said he is amazed that a Filipino fighter who speaks English as a second language has been able to cross over and become a legitimate star.

Now, a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao fight would match not only the men widely regarded as the two best in the sport but also pair its two best draws. It may turn out to be the most anticipated bout since Muhammad Ali met Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 8, 1971.

“What this kid has done is astounding,” Arum said. “You don’t see these kinds of numbers with foreign fighters. With the De La Hoya fight, yeah, you could say it was De La Hoya [who drove the sales]. Manny was the ‘B’ side, no question. But for Hatton, Manny was the ‘A’ side and, without a doubt, he was the ‘A’ side against Cotto.

“He’s become a legitimate, genuine attraction. People are fascinated with the kid. They absolutely love him. I was in New York and everywhere I went, literally, people who wouldn’t know a left hook from a right cross were talking about him. He’s got the great story that appeals to the non-boxing fans, and the boxing guys love him because of how he fights and how fearless he is.”

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

All Hail King Manny; Let's Pray for Z Gorres

Manny Pacquaio once again proved he is the number one pound for pound boxer in the world. He was too fast, too strong, and much braver than Miguel Cotto. With the kind of punishment Cotto received, you would think that there is not anything that this kid from General Santos cannot achieve. If he only grew more in height, he can probable still bring his power to the much heavier weight classes.

One troubling turn of event is what transpired with Z Gorres' recent fight where he won by decision but had to be rushed to the hospital after he collapsed after the fight. It was a brutal 12 round fight where Z was knocked down on the 12th round but still had the energy to stand up and finish the fight.

Let's pray for the recover of the magnificent Z Gorres. He is a remarkable ring tactician, counter puncher and brawler who is not afraid to mix it up with any opponent.

We are awaiting your comeback Z! Get well soon.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Analysis of Pacquiao - Cotto Fight

Listen to the Podcast analysis by Quinito Henson of the upcoming fight by following this link

http://www.philstar.com/microsite/firepower/podcast.html

Monday, November 2, 2009

Pacquiao VS Cotto



Manny Pacquiao is set to fight Miguel Cotto on November 14, 2009 (November 15 in the Philippines).

If Pacquaio had not fought Oscar dela Hoya or Ricky Hatton in the past, I would say that this is a terrible mismatch in favor of Cotto. I would say that Cotto is bigger and stronger and that Pacquiao would not be able to last the whole 12 rounds. I would say that Pacquiao's speed would be neutralized by the body shots of Cotto and that the latter would win by knockout.

But Pacquiao did fight Oscar de la Hoya and won by TKO. Pacquiao also fought Ricky Hatton and won by a second round knock out. Everyone, even the greatest of trainers from Angelo Dundee to Nacho Beristein underestimated the speed of Pacquiao and bet their horses against the opponents.

They all forgot that with speed comes power. With Pacquiao, comes the greatest fight that the world will ever see. And I think that with Manny, we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. More is yet to come.

Cotto did not fair well during his last fight which he won by decision but I believe that we will see a better Cotto fight on November 14. Every boxer, after fighting Pacquiao has become a different boxer afterwards. Either they become better, or they slid back to the limelight and sometimes retire. Either way, they walk away a different fighter. Looking at the brighter side, training to fight Manny would have to make boxers better because they know they have to train harder, run faster, work longer, punch the mitts squarely and more precise, and be more alert than before. This is the reason many boxers would have to be better fighters after fighting Manny.

Everyone is saying Miguel Cotto is a different fighter after he fought the Tijuana Tornado. But that match is still mired in controversy as Margarito is said to have used illegal plaster before he put on gloves.

I think this is still a good fight. Compared to Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto is much stronger and a bigger body puncher.

So I you are ready, I am ready, let's get it on!