Larry Brown Sports

Denis Lebedev (25-2, 19 KOs) was defeated by Guillermo Jones (39-3-2, 31 KOs) by 11th-round KO in their WBA cruiserweight title fight in Crocus City Hall in Moscow on Friday, and it was apparently a pretty ugly show.

ESPN’s Dan Rafael was covering the fight and called it a fight of the year candidate. He says Lebedev suffered a cut above his right eye in the first round and that it became an absolute mess after that. Rafael continued to wonder how Lebedev was able to fight with his eye in such bad shape and why the fight wasn’t stopped.

After seeing the pictures, we’re wondering the same thing.

Despite the bad condition of his eye, Lebedev apparently was still able to hit Jones before going down for good in the 11th.

Here’s what the eye looked like before the 11th round began:

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Canelo Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs) vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KOs) is the fight fans want to see. Both boxers are undefeated and considered the best in their weight classes. Mayweather beat Robert Guerrero with ease in his fight two weeks ago, so fans want to see him step up the competition. So do his promoters and television partners.

Golden Boy Promotions said that arranging a fight between Mayweather and Alvarez is a No. 1 priority. Golden Boy promotes Alvarez and has promoted Mayweather’s last seven fights on a fight-by-fight basis. However, there was some speculation recently that a weight issue could serve as an impediment to the fight.

Canelo has fought at 154 pounds for his last six fights, while Mayweather has fought at 147 pounds for eight of his last 10 fights (he fought at the 154 limit for the Oscar De La Hoya fight in 2007 and the Miguel Cotto fight last year).

Alvarez’s trainer, Chepo Reynoso, told Boxing Scene that Mayweather wants the fight at 147. Reynoso says there is no way Alvarez drops down to that weight (he hasn’t fought at 147 since March 2010). They proposed a catch weight, but Floyd reportedly is refusing. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer reportedly says that is not true.

“Whoever is talking, discussing or stating that there is a weight issue regarding a potential Mayweather vs. Canelo fight does not know what they are talking about. This is all bulls—,” Schaefer told Boxing Scene.

Schaefer went on to say false reports like that can ruin fights.

I don’t know that a report like that would ruin the fight, but I don’t think the information is true. We have seen in the past that Floyd is open to moving up in weight for fights. The price has to be right like it was with Cotto and De La Hoya, and Floyd also has to feel like he can win. With Golden Boy and Showtime putting pressure on him, maybe Mayweather will finally agree to fight Canelo. We know they were close to an agreement in the past.

Freddie Roach reportedly said that he will tell Manny Pacquiao to retire if the fighter loses for a third straight time.

Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KOs) is scheduled to fight Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KOs) on Nov. 23 in Macau, China. Pac-Man is coming off back-to-back losses. He lost a controversial split decision to Timothy Bradley last June, and he suffered a devastating knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in December.

Roach, Pacquiao’s longtime trainer, says he will advise his fighter to hang up the gloves if he loses to Rios.

“If he loses, I will tell him to retire,” Roach told ESPN. “If you lose three in a row it’s your time.

“He’s up there in age. I’ve got to keep a close eye on him. It’s part of my job to protect him. I will do the right thing.”

Pacquiao is 34 and already has a career in politics in the Philippines. Not only does he have other interests in life to look out for, but Roach has long felt that Manny’s training suffered because of his multiple interests. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing for him to retire.

But this could also just be lip service from Roach.

If this story sounds familiar, it’s because Roach said the same thing last year before Pacquiao’s fight with Bradley. Manny didn’t look great, but he went back out to fight in December. And even though Pacquiao’s health has been in question since his knockout loss to Marquez, his camp is sending him back out there again. Roach may advise Pacquiao to retire, but I doubt he listens.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. outclassed Robert Guerrero last weekend, and now people are clamoring for him to finally face undefeated champion Canelo Alvarez.

Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs) is the top 154-pound fighter in the world and has been discussed as a potential Mayweather opponent. Though no fight has been finalized in the past, it looks like things are intensifying now.

Alvarez is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, which has also promoted each of Mayweather’s last seven fights. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer told ESPN’s Dan Rafael a Mayweather-Alvarez fight is his No. 1 priority.

“I am working on the fight,” Schaefer told Rafael. “I’m crunching the numbers. You should see my calculator — it’s red-hot. I am working on a lot of fights, but this is my No. 1 priority.

“This is something I am pursuing and I am having conversations with both sides,” Schaefer said. “Canelo wants the fight and Floyd has never turned down an opponent.”

Mayweather has a Sept. 14 fight date booked and says he intends to keep it. That weekend makes sense for an Alvarez fight because it coincides with the celebration of Mexican Independence Day.

There was initial speculation that Mayweather’s pay-per-view numbers for his fight with Guerrero would disappoint and come in below one million. Had Mayweather’s fight not sold well, it would have marked incentive for him to face more competitive and marketable opponents, such as Alvarez. However, SI’s Chris Mannix says Showtime executive Stephen Espinoza told him the PPV buys will exceed one million.

Espinoza also told Mannix that Showtime is pushing for a Mayweather-Alvarez fight.

“Everybody involved, from Mayweather, to Canelo, to Golden Boy, to Showtime want Canelo-Mayweather in September,” he told Mannix.

If Golden Boy wants the fight, Showtime wants the fight, and Alvarez wants the fight, then all we need is Mayweather to agree to it. Knowing him, there’s a possibility he elects to face an easier opponent unless he feels confident he can win. I’m not getting my hopes up yet.

Jon Jones and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are among the best pound-for-pound fighters in their respective sports. Jones might be the best MMA fighter in the world — Anderson Silva and Georges St-Pierre could also make arguments for the top pound-for-pound spot. In boxing, the Klitschko brothers and Canelo Alvarez are top pound-for-pound fighters, but few would dispute the undefeated Mayweather being listed at No. 1.

While boxing is one of the elements of mixed martial arts, it is not exactly Jones’ specialty. He is a wrestler who crushes his opponents with Muay Thai techniques such as vicious knees and elbow. Still, Jones, who is 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, thinks he could compete with Mayweather in a boxing ring.

“It would probably be a pretty competitive match,” Jones told Power 105.1 recently.

But Jones doesn’t think such a fight would feel right because boxing restricts so much of what is allowed in MMA competition.

“Fighting Floyd Mayweather wouldn’t even be right. Nobody would want to see that.”

Jones also explained why he prefers MMA to one single discipline.

“It’s the true art of fighting to do everything.”

I know that Jones is an awesome MMA fighter and that he has a significant size advantage over the 5-foot-8, 147-pound Mayweather, but let’s be real: Mayweather is one of the best boxers in the planet. If we’re talking strictly boxing, Jones is probably considered below average. Regardless of size, Floyd would win that fight. And don’t even get me started with how it would go in MMA. As we saw with James Toney, the UFC is no place for a boxer. Not unless you’re also competent as a wrestler and schooled in practices like Jiu-Jitsu.

Glove touch to Black Sports Online

Manny Pacquiao will face Brandon Rios on Nov. 24 (Nov. 23 in the US) in Macau, China, his adviser announced on Monday.

The fight will take place on Sunday morning in China so that it will also be on during primetime Saturday night in the US.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum said last month that he was deciding between Rios or Mike Alvarado as Pacquiao’s next opponent. Alvarado and Rios have fought each other in their most recent bouts. Rios won the first match in October, while Alvarado won the rematch in March.

Pacquiao’s team says they chose Rios because they believe his slugging style will lead to more of an exciting fight.

“We felt with Rios, based on his past of being an [active] competitor would make this a great fight against Manny,” Arum said, via The Los Angeles Times. “It’s a fight people want to see. Most boxing fans want to see guys mix it up.

“There’s a school of fan who want to see artistic fights with fighters like Floyd Mayweather and Guillermo Rigondeaux, but we felt they also want to see a knock-down, drag-out action fight, and that’s what we’re going to give them.”

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, was also happy about the decision to choose Rios. He told The Times that one reason is because Pacquiao beat up Alvarado badly in a sparring session.

Roach also told Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole that he’d like to see Pacquiao get “sweet revenge” on Rios. Rios, along with Antonio Margarito, mocked Roach’s speech and movements two years ago. Roach suffers from Parkinson’s Disease.

Iole has a number of great details about the fight and how it came to be, so I suggest his article for more reading. One interesting note is that the fight will be sold in pay-per-view form online and distributed by MLB Advanced Media.

Pacquiao, who is from the Philippines, will train for the fight in General Santos City. His big reason for fighting in China is to avoid the tax hit he would have from fighting in the US.

Pacquiao (54-5-2) is coming off consecutive losses. Rios (31-1-1) is coming off his first career loss.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. thoroughly dominated Robert Guerrero on Saturday in Las Vegas to improve to 44-0.

Mayweather was hit a bit in the early rounds, but Guerrero hardly touched him after that. Guerrero landed 113 total punches. The lack of hits Floyd took was a big change from his previous fight when he was belted pretty badly by Miguel Cotto, who landed 75 power shots.

Though I and others believe the difference between the amount of punishment Mayweather took in this fight compared to his last is due to the skill level of his opponents, his father, trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., believes he is the reason for the change.

Mayweather Sr. has had a tempestuous relationship with his son, but the two reunited for this fight. Mayweather Sr. believes that was the reason his son hardly got hit.

“If you’ve been getting hit all the time, then I come along and now you ain’t getting hit … what’s that telling you? It’s so plain to see Ray Charles can see it!” Mayweather Sr. said at the post-fight news conference.

Mayweather Sr. also expressed regret over his past problems with his son and said he was happy to be working with him again.

“I feel good about me and my son getting back together.”

Mayweather Jr. agreed that his father made a big difference. He also said he was the one who reached out to bring in his father.

“[In] the Miguel Cotto fight, I felt like I got hit with shots I shouldn’t have been hit with. So I had to bring the defense master back — my father,” Mayweather Jr. explained.

Floyd Jr. also credited his father for developing an excellent gameplan.

“My dad said, ‘I’m going to tell you what’s going to get him — the right hand,’ ” Mayweather Jr. explained. “He said, ‘Yes, you can use the jab, but I’ll tell you what’s going to get him — right hands all day.’ So I went out there and executed the gameplan that was given to me.”

Sure enough, Guerrero couldn’t stop Mayweather’s right hand.

Mayweather Jr. says things went really well in his training camp and that he, his father, and his uncle, Roger, all worked well together. The result, no surprise, was an easy win for Floyd Jr.