No Holds Barred: Lopez-Marquez, Johnson-Green, More on the Real State of Boxing

Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman reviews some of the latest thrilling and galling developments in boxing.

We discuss the TKO victory by featherweight Juan Manuel Lopez over Rafael Marquez and the knockout by now-super middleweight Glen Johnson over Allan Green on Saturday, November 6, and what they mean for boxing. We analyze the rejuvenation of the Super Six World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament on Showtime, and the implications of unbeaten IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute signing to fight on Showtime. We also expose the dangers that promoting the Lopez-Marquez fight as one which featured "the Puerto Rico-Mexico boxing rivalry" poses to both boxing and society in general. And we explain how more of the recent actions of the promoters, networks, and boxing media have only hastened boxing's doom, especially in the U.S.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

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No Holds Barred: Juan Manuel Marquez, Juan Diaz, Jorge Linares, Rocky Juarez, Robert Guerrero, Joel Casamayor

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the main card featuring the rematch of the 2009 fight of the year in boxing, when WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez faces Juan Diaz Saturday, July 31, in Las Vegas.

When they first fought on February 28, 2009, Marquez won by a ninth-round TKO. The non-stop, see-saw action from both boxers in that fight earned it fight of the year honors for 2009.

After a losing performance at welterweight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September 2009, the 36-year-old Mexican legend Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs) returns to a more natural weight for him to defend his lightweight belts in this fight.

Following the first Marquez-Diaz fight, the 26-year-old Diaz (35-3, 17 KOs), from Houston, Texas, a former world lightweight champion himself, also had an unsuccessful try at a higher weight. He won a controversial decision against Paulie Malignaggi at junior welterweight, and then, in an immediate rematch, dropped a clear-cut decision to Malignaggi, both in 2009.

Now the rematch of their universally-acclaimed first battle is set, and at lightweight. It will headline a stacked card which will be shown on HBO pay-per-view in the U.S., and take place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While most major boxing pay-per-views feature one top-level fight preceded by a series of purposeful mismatches or just plain bad fights, the rest of this televised card should provide interesting, important, and competitive fights.

Only recently, many considered Venezuelan fighter Jorge Linares to be the future of boxing. But a shocking first-round knockout loss to little-known Juan Carlos Salgado in October 2009, followed by a less-than-stellar majority decision win over journeyman Francisco Lorenzo in March 2010, have raised questions about the potential of the 24-year-old Linares.

Now with a record of 28-1 with 18 KOs, Linares will face 2000 Olympic silver medalist Rocky Juarez (28-6-1, 20 KOs) in a 10-round lightweight bout on this card.

The 30-year-old Juarez, from Houston, Texas, also has something to prove, as he has come up short in several shots at a world title. He is also coming off a technical decision loss to Jason Litzau in April 2010 and a unanimous decision loss to unbeaten titleholder Chris John in September 2009.

This card also features a ten-round junior welterweight fight between 27-year-old Robert Guerrero (26-1-1, 18 KOs) of Gilroy, California, and the ageless Joel Casamayor (37-4-1, 22 KOs), an Olympic gold medalist representing Cuba in 1992.

Guerrero, who had taken some time off from boxing to care for his wife, who has leukemia, last scored an eighth-round TKO over journeyman Roberto Arrieta in April 2010. A former titleholder at featherweight and super featherweight, he hopes to campaign regularly at lightweight or junior welterweight now.

Casamayor has already held world titles at super featherweight and lightweight. While he won a tune-up fight in November 2009, his last major fight was a loss by TKO in the eleventh round to Juan Manuel Marquez in September 2008. That was a very close fight up until the time of the stoppage, which some questioned, and the veteran Casamayor should certainly be well-rested for this fight with the younger Guerrero.

Also on this card will be a fight which should be the toughest test yet for 23-year-old Danny Jacobs (20-0, 17 KOs), of the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York. Many have criticized his opposition thus far as being too soft, but that should not be the case here, when he faces the unbeaten 30-year-old Russian fighter Dmitry Pirog (16-0, 13 KOs). Jacobs and Pirog will meet for the vacant WBO middleweight belt.

To preview this card, we spoke with Juan Manuel Marquez, Juan Diaz, Jorge Linares, Rocky Juarez, Robert Guerrero, and Joel Casamayor on a series of media conference calls. We also analyze the historical context of these fights, and offer thoughts on their significance.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Bragging Rights Corner, for news and always independent opinion about the sport and business of boxing. Check out their web site at http://www.braggingrightscorner.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

No Holds Barred: Charles Farrell on Marquez-Vazquez, Decline of Boxing and Boxing Writers, Craigslist, and More

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman has a wild and lengthy discussion with our correspondent Charles Farrell about the Rafael Marquez-Israel Vazquez and Yonnhy Perez- Abner Mares fights from Saturday, May 22, the decline of boxing and boxing writing, and much more.

The fourth fight between Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez ended in the third round when the referee ruled that the bloodied and blinded Vazquez could not continue. We discuss their historic trilogy of fights, where each fighter can go from here, and why there must not be a fifth fight. We also discuss the majority draw between Yonnhy Perez and Abner Mares, and how this could be the start of a series of fights between these two. We also discuss the obstacles facing fighters at lower weights such as Marquez and Vazquez, whose first fights were at super bantamweight and now at featherweight, and Perez and Mares, who are bantamweights. We also examine the long practice of boxing promoters and television networks of using nationalism and jingoism to promote fights.

Related to these problems are the general decline of boxing in America and the concurrent decline of boxing writing. We discuss this in relation to the offer by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) to reinstate Eddie, and the history of that dispute. We also analyze in depth whether the BWAA dues of $40 might be better spent answering a personal ad on Craigslist. And we discuss issues like who is better, Vitali Klitschko or Nina Simone, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Bragging Rights Corner, for news and always independent opinion about the sport and business of boxing. Check out their web site at http://www.braggingrightscorner.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

No Holds Barred: Charles Farrell on Boxing in Asia, Europe, and America

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with our colleague and correspondent, the award-winning boxing writer and musician Charles Farrell.

We began our lengthy discussion by focusing on the curious case of matchmaking in the title fight taking place May 26 in Shanghai, China, between the veteran WBC flyweight champion Daisuke Naito (34-2-3, 22 KOs) of Japan and the inexperienced Xiong Zhao Zhong (12-1-1, 8 KOs) of China. This is reported to be the first time a boxer from China will fight for a world belt from a major sanctioning body. Xiong, however, has only one win against a fighter with a winning record, who was just 1-0, and lost a regional light flyweight title fight in November to a 13-6 fighter. Nonetheless, once Naito agreed to fight in China, Xiong was given this world flyweight title shot. Welcome to the world of professional boxing, People's Republic of China!

We also discussed fights in Europe and America including the July 18 fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas and their media tour this week, the June 13 welterweight fight in New York between Miguel Cotto and Joshua Clottey, the June 20 heavyweight fight in Germany between David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko, the little-anticipated May 30 heavyweight fight in Finland between Nikolai Valuev and Ruslan Chagaev, the May 16 fight in California between super middleweights Andre Ward and Edison Miranda, and more.

We also read an e-mail about the "One World Champion" video sent by none other than former heavyweight champion of the world, George Foreman. And we comment on the recent writing awards announced by the Boxing Writers Association of America, and how the woeful state of boxing journalism hurts the sport.

This will be the last edition of No Holds Barred until after the May 23 Art of War Fighting Championship mixed martial arts card in Beijing, China, which we will be attending, so now is a good time also to catch up on those episodes of the show where we discussed this important event.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

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