ESPN Dan Rafael Blog

The eyes of the boxing world will be on Oakland, Calif., on Saturday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET/PT) when super middleweight titlist Mikkel Kessler defends his belt against hometown fighter Andre Ward.

It's the final bout of Group Stage 1 of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, the modified round-robin tournament featuring six of the top super middleweights in the world.

One person who will be paying particularly close attention to the fight is England's Carl Froch, who owns one of the super middleweight titles.

He won his opening round match on Oct. 17, taking a split decision from American Andre Dirrell to retain his title.

Regardless of what happens in Kessler-Ward, Froch is due to face Kessler in Europe in Group Stage 2 of the tournament, probably in March.

Froch is rooting for Kessler to defeat Ward.

"I'm looking forward to it because it's a fight that has major implications for me in the Super Six tournament," Froch said. "I'm hoping that Kessler wins because then he'll still have the WBA belt. I'm fighting him in my next fight in the Super Six, so if he beats Ward then it means that our fight becomes a massive WBC and WBA unification clash and I can get my hands on his belt."

Although Froch is rooting for Kessler to preserve a unification fight, he's giving Ward a good chance to win.

"Obviously, Andre Ward has that terrific amateur pedigree, winning the gold medal at the Athens Olympics [in 2004]," Froch said. "He's had some good wins in the pros but we will only find out how good he really is when he steps in there with Kessler. Ward will also have the benefit of home advantage as well, which I'm sure will play it's part. But Kessler is very experienced and has won on the road before so I'm sure he won't see it as an issue."

So who's Froch picking?

"In a fight like this you generally have to back the experienced and proven fighter," he said.

"Kessler has proven time and time again throughout his career that he is a great world champion and, for me, Ward is still very much untested at the highest level, so I think it could be difficult early on for Kessler, but his experience should see him through in the end."

Here is how the other participants see Saturday's Kessler-Ward showdown:

"I'm going with Ward. Ward has the ability to win. This is his biggest fight so he'll have to stick to his game plan but I'm going with him," Dirrell said.

Jermain Taylor, who was knocked out in the 12th round by Arthur Abraham on Oct. 17 in their opening-round fight, also likes Ward.

"I'm pulling for the U.S. guys," Taylor said. "I can't say why from a boxing standpoint, but we are all U.S. Olympians. It's a matter of those guys [European fighters] being cocky. Carl Froch has been very cocky and he knows his boxing skills are nowhere close to mine. Kessler is a pretty relaxed guy. He's not too cocky by any means. I like him a lot but I am still going for our guys."

Abraham is sticking with his European roots and picking Kessler.

"Because I have not ever seen an Andre Ward fight live or on tape, I cannot say much," Abraham said. "But Kessler is the favorite in this fight nevertheless. I have seen Kessler fight many times and he is very clever and very strong. I have to give the advantage to Kessler because of his strength, experience and cleverness.

"Andre Ward is not to be underestimated. He is very good. He is technically very sound and can also punch hard as he has shown in previous fights. But I hope that my new stablemate, Mikkel Kessler, wins. He is very versatile, very experienced and he has a great vision/anticipation in the ring. And most importantly, the 'Viking Warrior' is a true fighter. If you ask me for a prediction, I would go with a points victory for Mikkel."

When (and that's when, not if), Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. eventually fight, it's going to be gargantuan business. It really is the fight the world wants to see. In my time on the boxing beat, I can't think of another fight for which there was as much worldwide public demand -- not even the heavyweight championship fight between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson, which was years in the making but is a distant second to this one.

When their handlers finally settle on the business deal -- which should be a simple 50-50 split, and they can flip a coin on whether to call it Pacquiao-Mayweather or Mayweather-Pacquiao -- the bout will not only determine who is the best fighter in the world, pound for pound. It also will determine the fighter of the decade and give the winner a leg up in terms of where they will eventually fall on the all-time list of boxing's best fighters.

It truly will be a summit meeting of the sport's best. It's rare that the best two fighters in the world fight in the same weight class and have such polar-opposite personalities.

Please, when the fight happens (and again, that's when, not if), let's make sure there is no catch weight associated with the match.

Mayweather has been a welterweight since 2005, even if he hasn't been fighting the best welterweights. Although Pacquiao has had only two welterweight fights, it's clear that he can more than handle the division considering he didn't lose a second to Oscar De La Hoya before pounding him into retirement in just eight rounds, and he dominated Miguel Cotto for most of their fight before scoring an authoritative 12th-round TKO.

Pacquiao-Mayweather -- or Mayweather-Pacquiao, if you prefer -- should be at the traditional welterweight limit of 147 pounds.

By the way, for anyone who was in the arena Saturday night for Pacquiao-Cotto, the atmosphere was incredible, among the best I have ever been in. That was due, in large part, to the effort of Top Rank, particularly company president Todd duBoef, who spent good money (more than $150,000, he said) to erect a giant, 21-feet-high, 22-feet-across bank of LED screens above the ring that showed the action and replays in phenomenal quality. The MGM Grand Garden Arena has large screens in all four corners, but the cylinder of screens duBoef had designed for the fight -- which he got the idea for after seeing a recent U2 concert -- made it a much better experience for those in the arena. It looked pretty cool on the HBO PPV telecast as well.

DuBoef also redesigned the lighting for the arena, pumped up the sound system to levels worthy of a rock concert, and had an excellent DJ who kept the arena lively throughout the card -- not to mention the tremendous highlight packages Top Rank produced for the big screens between fights. DuBoef is a keen observer of the way entities such as UFC and WWE have enhanced the in-arena experience for fans, and he's bringing that to boxing. It's about time.

• One quick thought on HBO's "24/7" series that followed the Pacquiao-Cotto buildup. I thought the fourth (and final) episode was the strongest final episode of all the installments of the series. I really enjoyed the interviews with Las Vegas icons such as Wayne Newton and Lance Burton, as well as the profile of Top Rank's Bob Arum. It's about time "24/7" included the promoters in the series rather than ignore them, as it has for every other run of the show. One thing, however: I could have lived without the shot of Cotto's butt, although the women in the audience watching in the media center the night before the fight seemed to enjoy it.

Other than a brief interview with a British television outlet, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has been awfully quiet in the aftermath of pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao's impressive 12th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto to win a welterweight title on Saturday night.

But now Mayweather is talking, even if it is basically a lot of tired, old hot air.

The former pound-for-pound king, who returned from a 1½-year retirement in September to dominate the much smaller Juan Manuel Marquez, on Monday night issued a statement regarding a potential fight with Pacquiao.

Mayweather, of course, looms as the obvious next opponent for Pacquiao. No other fight in the sport is bigger, and a Pacquiao-Mayweather pairing figures to shatter pay-per-view records.

"Manny Pacquiao is the fighter, and every time someone asks him if he wants to fight me, he says it is up to his promoter, he's going to take a vacation, whatever the answer is," Mayweather said. "I have yet to hear him actually say, 'Yes, I want to fight Mayweather.' We are the fighters, and if one fighter is talking about fighting another fighter, then they should just come out and say it. Manny Pacquiao doesn't say anything directly about fighting me because he might just know it's not a fight he can win."

If you ask me, Mayweather is full of it, because he has never come out and said he wants to fight Pacquiao, either. He said after the Marquez fight he would also take a vacation, etc. -- the typical stuff most fighters say after a fight.

But Mayweather, forgetting that, I guess, went on.

"He said during an interview he did leading up to his fight that he didn't think I wanted to fight him and that boxing for me was just a business and I wasn't interested in a good fight," Mayweather said. "But again, he never said during that interview that he would fight me. Why is he talking about what I won't do instead of what he wants to do? Plain and simple, it's because he knows he can't beat me under any circumstances.

"Less than an hour after his fight Saturday night, the talk turns back to me. Their whole promotion was just a Mayweather sweepstakes. They know it and anyone could figure that out. Why, because my name kept coming up and I didn't even say anything? Even when he was interviewed on ESPN by Brian Kenny, he was asked about fighting me and what did he say? Not: 'Yes, I want to fight Mayweather' or 'Bring it on.' But no! He said, 'Hum, ahh, well, talk to my promoter.'

"The world is much more intrigued by the thought of someone fighting me who can beat me. That is what everyone wants to see, and the boxing world is trying to find that guy. Manny Pacquiao's people have done a good job of creating an image of him to be this unbelievable fighter and now the so-called guy to beat me. But like all the rest, he's not the one. There is boxing and then there is me. The rest are just falling in line behind me or are trying to get in line to fight me. And that includes Manny Pacquiao, too.

"Tell Manny Pacquiao to be his own man and stop letting everyone, including his loudmouth trainer [Freddie Roach], talk for him. I am my own boss, speak for myself and tell it like it is. If Manny Pacquiao wants to fight me, all he has to do is step up to the plate and say it himself."

Mayweather is hilarious. While Pacquiao tears through guys bigger than him with ferocity -- remember, Pacquiao was a junior lightweight until last year and has fought only four times at heavier than 130 pounds -- Mayweather has avoided the top challenges, for the most part, in recent years. That's why he never fought Cotto or Antonio Margarito or Paul Williams or Shane Mosley.

While Pacquiao has destroyed the bigger Cotto, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton (with a single punch in the second round) and David Diaz in his last four fights, Mayweather picked on the much smaller Marquez, needed 10 rounds to get rid of the smaller Hatton and escaped with a split decision against De La Hoya.

One guy (Mayweather) talks about fighting the best, but has yet to face a prime welterweight. The other guy (Pacquiao) takes on the best guys who are bigger than him and does it in an exciting fashion.

Does anyone actually believe Mayweather's nonsense that Pacquiao is afraid to fight him? Obviously, it's all posturing for the business deal that I believe will eventually be made to match them.

Why not save us all some time and just make it a 50-50 deal and be done with it? There is no other opponent who can make either guy close to the kind of payday Pacquiao and Mayweather can make with each other, so why quibble over a few points here or there when you're talking about tens of millions of dollars and maybe the most anticipated fight since the first Sugar Ray Leonard-Thomas Hearns showdown?

So, who do you like in the big Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao welterweight title bout on Saturday night (HBO PPV) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas? It's the question all boxing fans are talking about as we are just a few days away from the year's biggest, most anticipated fight.

You can read my official pick on our Fight Credential page, but how about some predictions from some famous fighters and former fighters?

• George Foreman (Hall of Famer and former two-time heavyweight champ): "I think there would have been a good opportunity for Pacquiao to win if he faced Cotto before he fought Clottey, but now Cotto is thinking defense. I think Cotto is going to pull out a decision, and now because of the terrible beating he took against Margarito, he knows he can't get into a knockdown, drag-out brawl. He's going to be smarter, and I think Cotto wins in a 12-round decision. Pacquiao has been riding high and has beaten some of the best in the world. And it leaves you kind of complacent when you're winning. And even if you don't want it to, sometimes you can't get up for a big fight. And that's a plus for Cotto."

• Mike Tyson (former two-time heavyweight champ): "I pick Manny Pacquiao by knockout. I think he will knock him out in [Rounds] 7 or 8. Manny just has too much for Cotto."

• Bernard Hopkins (former middleweight and light heavyweight champ): "Pacquiao is going to chop Cotto up. Out of respect, Cotto will get some rounds, but Manny is the Bruce Lee of boxing. His basketball and martial arts background give him that speed agility. You can't tell where his shots are coming from. Unlike Rocky, Bruce Lee was a real dude and so is Manny."

• Joe Calzaghe (former super middleweight and light heavyweight champ): "I think Manny Pacquiao is going to be too quick for Cotto. I was ringside when Cotto fought Clottey. He seemed to struggle a bit in that fight and it is hard to say what he will do against a faster, quicker Pacquiao. I know people say Cotto is the bigger guy but I still think Pacquiao beats him in a decision."

• Chad Dawson (interim light heavyweight titlist): "Manny Pacquiao, he's the best, he's on top right now."

• Sugar Shane Mosley (welterweight titlist, who has a decision loss to Cotto): "It's going to be an interesting fight, and I think Pacquiao better take it very seriously. I think Cotto will win because he's a little bit bigger and is a real welterweight. His power may be enough to overcome Pacquiao's speed. I think Cotto wins in a decision."

• Winky Wright (former junior middleweight champ): "If Cotto stays busy, he'll win a decision. I think that Cotto will win the fight, but I thinks it's gonna be a good fight."

• Felix Trinidad (former three-division champ): "Manny is a big puncher and a good boxer, but he has never faced a natural welterweight like Miguel. Cotto is the most dangerous fight of Pacquiao's career. On the night of the fight, Pacquiao will still not be a full welterweight. And Cotto is very strong. As the fight plays out, around Rounds 7, 8, 9, that's when Cotto starts taking over. I think Cotto will win by decision, but he might even get a knockout. With all of my heart I think Miguel Cotto will win."

• Hector Camacho (former lightweight champ): "I'm a Puerto Rican like Cotto, but I like Pacquiao because he has fought better guys, like Oscar De La Hoya. I see him having no problem against Cotto. Cotto is not a smart fighter."

• Carlos Ortiz (Hall of Famer and former two-division champ): "Pacquiao is a good boxer and Cotto is a fighter. I'm going to give the edge to Cotto, and not just because he's Puerto Rican, but because of the way he fights. He always comes to fight, he's always in shape. Cotto is going to have the edge. I see him winning by decision, but I do think he can knock Pacquiao out if the chance arrives."

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Let me preface this by saying I like Saturday night's Alfredo Angulo-Harry Joe Yorgey junior middleweight fight. I think it'll be a good scrap and a great way to open the HBO show headlined by the compelling Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson rematch.

Angulo is one of the most exciting fighters around, a guy who never takes a backward step. Yorgey is a good boxer now being trained by Kelly Pavlik trainer Jack Loew. Yorgey seemed very confident and excited for the fight when I chatted with him Friday night in the hotel lobby.

However -- and it's a big however -- I find it quite disgusting that the WBO sanctioned the fight for its interim 154-pound title. That's just wrong on so many levels.

Keep in mind that this is nothing against Angulo or Yorgey whatsoever. They're honest fighters who put on a good show and fight as hard as they can.

Forget about the fact that neither has truly earned a title opportunity at this point, although the winner of the fight will certainly be on the right track. This is more about the typical sanctioning-organization nonsense in which the WBO and its president, Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel, simply make up the rules as they go along.

There are two main issues here.

One, the WBO sanctioned it for an interim title (with the winner ostensibly mandated to eventually face the real titleholder, Sergei Dzindziruk) when it already had an interim titlist!

Paul Williams claimed the interim title last year when he stopped Verno Phillips. It was bad enough that the WBO sanctioned that bout for the interim belt when Dzindziruk was uninjured and up-to-date on his mandatory obligations. There was simply no reason to sanction it. But now, a year later, Williams was stripped without the WBO even having the decency to notify him or his team of the move.

Granted, Williams has never defended it and is scheduled for his second consecutive middleweight fight when he faces Sergio Martinez on Dec. 5. However, the WBO certainly should have given Williams a heads-up that if he didn't defend by a certain time, he'd be stripped. The WBO never even ordered the mandatory fight with Dzindziruk. According to Williams' promoter, Dan Goossen, their team was never notified that Williams was being stripped.

Instead, Goossen found out when a reporter asked him about it after Artie Pelullo (Yorgey's promoter) and Gary Shaw (Angulo's promoter) sent out press releases announcing the sanction and thanking the WBO. (I hope Pelullo/Yorgey and Shaw/Angulo understand they're now on the clock when it comes to being screwed next.)

As bad as it was for the WBO to not even have the common decency to formally notify Williams, the bigger issue was its horrific treatment of Kermit Cintron, whom the WBO ranks No. 1 at 154 pounds.

As the No. 1 contender, Cintron has certain rights, which were totally ignored by the WBO. It didn't order Dzindziruk to defend against Cintron and it didn't offer Cintron the ability to be involved in a fight sanctioned for an interim title. Just completely ignored him.

Instead it sanctioned the fight between No. 4 Angulo and No. 5 Yorgey. The sick part is that in May, Cintron straight-up beat Angulo via clear decision. So how is it that Angulo, with a loss to the No. 1 contender and ranked below him, gets to fight for the interim title?

Because the WBO is as crooked as a question mark.

The Cintron camp is rightly ticked off.

"Why were we overlooked? Make Cintron fight a rematch with Angulo for the interim title, if that's what they want, but not this," said an incredulous Lou DiBella, Cintron's promoter. "To not even offer us the opportunity is simply unfair and goes against their rules. I don't begrudge the two kids [Angulo and Yorgey]. Let them fight for the piece of jewelry. But they better order Kermit against the winner at a [purse] split that is appropriate.

"Listen, I expect to get f----- and on occasion I expect to be the f-----, so I can't say I'm totally surprised by this. Sometimes you can use the politics to your advantage. But when you look at some of this s--- you shake your head because it's so f------ ridiculous.

"Paco owed Williams notification. That being said, why wasn't I notified the interim title would be available? Cintron would have jumped at an interim title fight against a guy he already beat and another guy he thinks he can beat. I don't have an issue with Artie or Gary. They did the best they could for their fighters. But there was reckless disregard for Kermit by the WBO and I hope that's rectified in the future."

Cintron obviously is upset.

"What sense does it make that I beat Angulo and now he gets to fight for the interim title, when I am the top contender?" he asked. "I have done nothing but bide my time waiting for Dzindziruk, and now I'm on the outside looking in."

Cintron's attorney and adviser, Josh Dubin, was understandably talking about it with his lawyer's hat on.

"I am advising the WBO that we will take any appropriate action to ensure that Kermit Cintron is treated in accordance with his ranking," Dubin said. "Two fighters below Kermit in the ratings have been elevated into greater financial opportunities and a better standing with the WBO. We will not tolerate Kermit being financially damaged by arbitrary and capricious decision making."

Go get 'em.

WBC is also a joke

The hypocrisy of the WBC is just sick. Here's an organization that does as it pleases with no regard for common sense or fairness trying to punish a fighter for nothing more than dropping a couple of four-letter words.

After Cristobal Arreola was stopped in the 10th round by Vitali Klitschko on Sept. 26, he was upset and disappointed with his performance. Still, Arreola was man enough to do a postfight interview on HBO in the ring in the immediate aftermath of very tough loss. During that interview, Arreola dropped a few F-bombs. Mind you, he wasn't aiming them at anyone, and was certainly not doing it in a threatening manner.

Still, the WBC and its sanctimonious president for life, Jose Sulaiman, saw fit to ridiculously "suspend" Arreola for six months during its annual convention this week in South Korea.

According to the WBC news release, Sulaiman said there was no way he could allow a boxer associated with his organization "to express himself in such a vulgar way without getting a penalty."

I almost passed out when I read that garbage. Sulaiman should be suspended for life for all the detriment he has caused boxing.

The suspension can't prevent Arreola from fighting. He'll be back on HBO on Dec. 5. What it means is that the WBC will keep him out of its rankings for six months. But it was still a moronic move by the WBC, which regularly has ranked convicted felons and had fighters facing serious criminal charges fight for its titles.

I don't recall the WBC doing anything when in a television interview after a fight Mike Tyson threatened to rip out Lennox Lewis' heart and eat his children. Instead, the WBC made Tyson the mandatory challenger for Lewis.

And at this week's convention, the WBC announced that it made a deal with Tyson -- a convicted rapist -- to use a reproduction of his fist and forearm on the trophies given to recipients of the WBC's annual awards.

But Arreola swears and is punished? What a joke. This is boxing, not a convent.

Hartford happenings

Here are a couple of things I heard in the lobby of the Hilton Hotel:

• As an update to my Friday notebook, HBO closed its deal with the Klitschko camp for U.S. TV rights to Klitschko's Dec. 12 heavyweight title defense against Kevin Johnson in Switzerland. It will air on same-day tape delay along with the live card from Chicago featuring the Juan Diaz-Paulie Malignaggi rematch and Victor Ortiz-Antonio Diaz. That's a helluva show. Props to HBO for picking up the heavyweight fight.

• A press conference is being organized for next Saturday morning in Las Vegas to formally announce the welterweight title fight between Shane Mosley and Andre Berto. The bout will be Jan. 30 at Mandalay Bay on HBO. It makes sense for the press conference to be next Saturday, as the world boxing media will be in Las Vegas covering Miguel Cotto-Manny Pacquiao.

No, you weren't seeing or hearing things. Yes, that was Mike Tyson standing next to Don King on Saturday night answering questions about a possible comeback. And yes, that was indeed Fernando Vargas saying Friday night that he planned to return to the ring.

If it weren't so depressing, it would almost be funny.

That these two once-outstanding fighters, who are so clearly diminished, would even entertain the notion of another fight is just sad.

At least in Tyson's case, it didn't sound too serious -- although he did leave the door open. Vargas sounded far more serious, assuming you could understand his slurred speech.

Tyson is now 43. His troubles have been well-chronicled. One thing he doesn't need in his life is another fight. But there he was in the ring at the Treasure Island resort in Las Vegas being interviewed on that topic, and others, by Showtime's Jim Gray between title fights that King was promoting. Next to Tyson was King, the promoter Tyson once accused of stealing millions from him.

Their terrible falling-out years ago resulted in Tyson's filing a $100 million lawsuit against King. It was eventually settled in 2004, with King paying Tyson $14 million, which went toward his bankruptcy reorganization.

"Oh, what a glorious day," King said. "My prodigal son has returned."

You'd never have known about all the bad blood by the way the two were almost swooning over each other.

"I never said anything bad about Mike for all these years because I knew we would get back together someday. Reunited, and it feels so good," King chortled.

In his recent documentary "Tyson," the former heavyweight champ disparaged King, as he has done for years. But Saturday night there were no such harsh words.

"All things pass, and I just felt it was time to mend fences with Don," said Tyson, who provided color commentary for King's Web cast of the undercard fights.

When the subject turned to a possible Tyson comeback, he turned toward King and said: "If this guy is going to pay for my training -- my training team costs a lot of money. I need a lot of minerals and vitamins. Anything is possible. I don't see it happening, but anything is possible. This guy is capable of making a lot of things happen. I don't see it happening, but you never know with this guy."

That's what I'm afraid of.

Tyson, clearly nowhere remotely in fighting condition, added, "I would need to work really hard and take a lot of vitamins, because I'm fat."

Tyson (50-6, 44 KOs) announced his retirement after journeyman Kevin McBride knocked him out in 2005. It was the third time in his final four bouts that Tyson was knocked out. He also was stopped by journeyman Danny Williams in 2004 and was hammered by then-champion Lennox Lewis in a 2002 title fight.

Tyson probably won't fight again, but if anyone could sell him to the public once more, it's King, who no doubt sees dollar signs 24/7 when he thinks about a Tyson ring return.

King, however, played it cool about a Tyson comeback.

"I think Mike's one of the greatest fighters that ever lived," King said. "I think he can still be a fighter if he wants to be a fighter. Listen, whatever it is between me and Mike, it ain't about the bankroll. We gonna do what has to be done. He needs a lot of vitamins. He needs a lot of TLC, tender loving care, dedication and discipline. So whatever we have to do, we'll do. If you can't hear me, I'll say it a little louder."

The previous night in El Paso, Texas, Vargas showed up at ringside to watch the horrific Hector Camacho Jr.-Yory Boy Campas middleweight fight.

Vargas' reason for being there was to check out Camacho, who has been trying to goad him into a fight for several months. Never mind that Vargas, who was interviewed on the pay-per-view telecast, slurred his speech. Never mind that he had to be more than 200 pounds, which wouldn't be bad for a heavyweight but isn't so good for a guy who fought virtually his entire career at 154 pounds. Even for what he called his farewell fight, Vargas weighed 164 pounds in a loss to Ricardo Mayorga in November 2007.

Vargas (26-5, 22 KOs), a two-time junior middleweight titlist and the youngest man ever to win the 154-pound crown (with a 1998 knockout of Campas), bowed out after three consecutive losses: the decision to Mayorga and two knockouts to Shane Mosley in 2006. In all of his losses, Vargas took punishment. Felix Trinidad brutalized him, and Vargas was never the same. Oscar De La Hoya punished him late in their fight before the nasty stoppage. Mosley crushed him twice.

Vargas, who turns 32 next month but is going to be an old, old 32 in boxing years, knew it was time to go after the Mayorga fight. Now, he's having second thoughts.

"I was very much happily retired, and I was in Ohio for some business, and Camacho Jr. was going to fight, so I went," Vargas said in the interview. "Camacho Jr. said at the weigh-in, 'After this fight, I want to fight Vargas.' Did he say Vargas? Did he say me? Me being Mexican, my blood got boiled up."

Vargas appeared in the ring with Camacho after he outpointed Campas in a god-awful fight. Camacho taunted Vargas by telling him to get in shape and lose some weight before they would fight.

Asked again about fighting Camacho, Vargas answered: "We're going to see this fight. I feel bad for him. If he wants it, I'm gonna give it to him."

Even if Camacho does want it, let's hope Vargas doesn't give it to him -- or at least that nobody allows this sham to happen.

The same goes for Tyson if King starts to exert the pressure as nobody else can.

Simply three words for Tyson and Vargas, and for any bloodsucker out there who would consider putting them back in the ring: Just say no.

Although Jermain Taylor's status in Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament remains up in the air after he suffered a crushing 12th-round knockout loss to Arthur Abraham on Oct. 17, most insiders believe the former middleweight champion will drop out of the six-man field. Taylor has been brutally knocked out in three of his last five fights and, if he does exit, former two-time light heavyweight titlist Chad Dawson (28-0, 17 KOs) would love to join the party.

Just don't count on it. More on that in a minute.

Of course, for the remote possibility to become reality Dawson first must take care of business in his rematch against former champ Glen Johnson on Nov. 7 (HBO) at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Dawson won a highly competitive decision in their all-action first fight last year. Now, they're meeting again for a vacant interim 175-pound title. However, Dawson spent much of his career in the 168-pound super middleweight division and said he'd have no problem getting back down to the weight.

"[Making] 168 is no problem," he said. "I never had any problem making 175. Sometimes I came in at 172 or 173. Making 168 is not that difficult for me."

Obviously, Dawson's credentials are far superior to those of Allan Green, who is the likely first alternate.

At light heavyweight, Dawson has little to look forward to in the way of a marquee match. Jean Pascal, the exciting titleholder from Canada would be an excellent fight, but Pascal is not known in the United States. Titleholder Tavoris Cloud remains a virtual unknown. The winner of a rematch between Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins would obviously be a big deal, but couldn't happen until at least next summer.

At cruiserweight, there's not much for Dawson either, especially considering he already owns a clear victory against champion Tomasz Adamek at light heavyweight.

The point is, Dawson is stuck without a notable dance partner in his own division or the next one up. So what about moving down for the tournament?

"I think it's a great idea," Dawson said. "If Jermain Taylor does happen to drop out, I'd love to take his spot. (But) I'm not really thinking about the tournament. I gotta worry about Glen Johnson."

This is all fun speculation but the reality is that even if Showtime wanted Dawson to fill a potential opening, it's not that simple.

HBO, which will televise the Dawson-Johnson rematch, has Dawson under contract for the fight and has a first/last option on his next fight.

"He is on HBO right now and Super Six is on Showtime," said Gary Shaw, Dawson's promoter. "HBO has a first and last on Chad Dawson. I know he would be welcomed into the tournament and I believe he would win it convincingly, even though I also have Andre Dirrell [in the six-man field], who is a young fighter. We have to wait until this fight is over. Then we'll sit down with HBO and hear their offer for 2010."

You can be sure HBO will come up with something for Dawson, which it signed with much fanfare. I would be stunned if HBO allowed him to walk away to go to rival Showtime, especially to join a tournament that has received so praise from fans and media while leaving HBO, which has much deeper pockets, with egg on its face for not being the network to come up with the exciting and innovative Super Six.

Usually, when a top heavyweight loses, especially in a major fight, he goes many months before fighting again. But that's not going to be the case with Cristobal Arreola, who was soundly beaten by titleholder Vitali Klitschko in a 10th-round TKO loss on Sept. 26.

At the news conference after the loss, Arreola (27-1, 24 KOs) said he hoped to get back into the ring in December, although that looked like a long shot because finding a spot for him on such a jammed scheduled was going to be tough.

However, things often have a way of working out and that's what happened.

Although Arreola doesn't have an opponent yet, he is penciled in to open a reshaped HBO card on Dec. 5, which will be headlined by Paul Williams from a site to be determined.

Williams, who will face an opponent to be named, was supposed to challenge middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, but he withdrew because of his chronic left hand problem. Arreola was added to the undercard when the Joshua Clottey-Carlos Quintana co-feature was scrapped after Pavlik's pullout eliminated his promoter Top Rank from the promotion.

The move was good news for Arreola, but a real shame for Clottey and Quintana, neither of whom did anything other than get caught in the middle of promoter and HBO politics.

Henry Ramirez, Arreola's trainer, couldn't be happier about the fast return.

"The best way to get over a loss is to get your ass back in the ring as soon as possible," Ramirez said. "We'll start sparring next week, but we don't have an opponent yet."

Ramirez said he liked the idea of a fight with David Tua, whose name was initially brought up, but the short notice and a small budget made the fight impossible for Dec. 5.

"But we'd be open to fighting Tua, absolutely," Ramirez said. "Right now, we're planning to fight Dec. 5 and hopefully next week he'll have a name. But we're back in the gym and that is what is important. Cris was over [the loss] by the time we hit the dressing room. He let the emotions get the best of him for a minute there [when he cried in the ring after the stoppage], but Cris is Cris. He's doing great. He's back at it. He said he wanted to fight in December and he'll get his wish."

Ramirez likes the fast return because it means Arreola will be back in the gym quickly. After Arreola stopped Jameel McCline in April, he didn't see Arreola in the gym for three months. Obviously, that won't be the case this time.

"From April, he didn't see the inside of a gym until July," Ramirez said. "So this is going to be far less time off and far less time for him to gain weight. He's 265 now, so it's not too bad considering we started the last camp 294. Our target weight is still 240 though."

Your weekly random thoughts …

• With Kelly Pavlik withdrawing from his Dec. 5 middleweight title defense against Paul Williams because of his chronically injured left hand, it has left Williams & Co. scrambling. The fight is 38 days away, and promoter Dan Goossen still has no opponent, no site and no co-feature for the HBO "World Championship Boxing" card. It's a tall order to get all that done, put tickets on sale and mount even a modest promotion.

A week has passed since Pavlik pulled out, and little progress has been made. The two leading names mentioned as potential Williams opponents when the scramble started were junior middleweight titleholders Sergio Martinez and Sergei Dzindziruk. I'm told that HBO isn't all that interested in Dzindziruk, who is knee-deep in problems with promoter Universum anyway. Martinez didn't even receive an offer until Wednesday, one that undoubtedly will need some major tweaking, especially since the Williams side wants a rematch clause with whomever Williams fights.

Instead of going right away to Martinez, who was supposed to be the insurance policy for Pavlik all along -- at least that's what Martinez promoter Lou DiBella and HBO thought -- Goossen wasted a valuable few days trying to make a deal with welterweight Joshua Clottey.

The first offer to Clottey promoter Top Rank was a laughable $250,000. Such a lowball offer only starts negotiations off on the wrong foot. It was eventually increased to more than $500,000, which would have been split in some fashion between Clottey and Top Rank. However, Clottey wasn't interested in moving out of his weight class, especially for such an obviously difficult fight for a purse that wasn't overwhelming.

Now it seems like a fight with Martinez might eventually get made, but I hear the money isn't enough that Martinez wants to risk his belt. So even if the fight happens, it could be a nontitle fight above 154 pounds.

Whomever Williams fights, the bout still needs a site. The folks at Caesars Atlantic City, who were going to host Pavlik-Williams at Boardwalk Hall, aren't interested in Williams against somebody else because Williams means nothing there. That leaves Goossen to find a new venue on short notice. Heavyweight Cristobal Arreola is penciled in for the televised undercard, but he also has no opponent.

When the main event was Pavlik-Williams, Clottey was supposed to fight Carlos Quintana on the undercard. But when Top Rank, which promotes Pavlik and Clottey, fell out of the promotion, HBO turned the card entirely over to Goossen, which meant Clottey-Quintana was killed with HBO's blessing.

There is a scenario under discussion that would give Goossen a little more time to work things out: HBO would flip the Dec. 5 Williams date with the Dec. 12 date, which will be headlined by the rematch between Juan Diaz and Paulie Malignaggi.

It could work because Caesars Atlantic City is interested in hosting Diaz-Malignaggi II on Dec. 5 at Boardwalk Hall's smaller upstairs arena as a replacement for Pavlik-Williams. Diaz-Malignaggi II was talked about for Chicago, but no site deal has been finalized and there were no financial guarantees for going there. Going to Atlantic City would be worth more with backing from Caesars.

I'm told that Diaz manager Willie Savannah, who had been so adamant about not bringing Houston's Diaz to the East Coast for the fight, is now willing to bend and go to Atlantic City because it means more money. He's just not willing to go to Malignaggi's hometown of New York.

This should all play out in the next couple of days.

• Here it is, the height of boxing insanity: Promoter Artie Pelullo, who handles Harry Joe Yorgey, has petitioned the WBO to sanction his Nov. 7 HBO bout against Alfredo "Perro" Angulo for the organization's interim junior middleweight title. Just one problem: The WBO already has a junior middleweight titlist (Dzindziruk) and an interim titlist (Williams). As horrific as sanctioning bodies have become, even they haven't lowered themselves yet -- yet -- to the point of having two interim titleholders in one division. Let's hope this isn't a start. The nerve of Pelullo for even having the stones to ask. Here's hoping the WBO just says no.

• After a failed negotiation last year and then a postponement over the summer, followed by last week's cancellation, does anyone actually think that Pavlik and Williams will ever fight each other?

• Something I found pretty interesting: Former light heavyweight champ Glen Johnson, who is getting ready for his rematch against Chad Dawson on Nov. 7, and super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute, who is getting ready for his Nov. 28 rematch with Librado Andrade, have sparred quite a bit with each other in preparation for their respective bouts. Bute, from Montreal, went to Miami to train, which is where Johnson is based. From what I was told by someone who watched at least one eight-round session, the sparring was quite spirited.

• The numbers are in: Polsat, the biggest over-the-air network in Poland, estimated that 8.2 million households and 13 million-plus people -- in a nation of approximately 40 million people -- watched Saturday's Tomasz Adamek-Andrew Golota heavyweight fight. That's amazing, and it tells you that while boxing has slipped on the pecking order in the United States over the years, it remains a significant sport in a lot of places around the world. Poland is obviously one of them.

• Speaking of Adamek, wouldn't you love to see him square off with David Haye? I'm not sure who Adamek will face next, but I heard there is interest on the Adamek side in bringing former heavyweight champ Hasim Rahman to Poland for a fight next year.

• Tim Bradley's junior welterweight title defense against interim titlist Lamont Peterson, which takes place Dec. 12 on Showtime, is about as close to being a 50-50 fight as there is on the schedule right now. They're both young and undefeated. They both had good amateur careers. They both have good teams behind them. They are both fast and have good defense. And although neither is a big puncher, they can bang enough to keep opponents honest. It should be a highly competitive fight.

• Do yourself a favor and hit up YouTube to watch last week's sensational Ryan Rhodes-Jamie Moore slugfest from England. In an upset, Rhodes lifted the European junior middleweight title from Moore via seventh-round knockout. They traded with abandon for the entire fight until Moore could take no more. Great stuff.

• Good for Bernard Hopkins for giving back to his community. He's pledging $3 bucks for each ticket sold for his Dec. 2 fight against Enrique Ornelas to a trio of Philadelphia-area charities. Throughout Hopkins' career, he's always been about the money and how much he could make for himself. I don't blame him at all for that. But now that he has made tens of millions, it's great to see him spreading the wealth to those in need.

• Contrary to rumors out there in cyberspace, Showtime and promoter Gary Shaw both told me that the Arthur Abraham-Andre Dirrell Super Six tournament fight slated for early next year will be in the United States, not Germany.

• It's ridiculous that Devon Alexander, who put on such a good performance to win a junior welterweight title against Junior Witter on Aug. 1, is probably going to sit the rest of the year. It's not right for an engaging and talented 22-year-old (who made only about $35,000 for his title fight) to be put on ice like that. Shame on promoter Don King, who continues to do nothing whatsoever to advance Alexander's career. The same goes for Elio Rojas, another King-promoted young fighter (and I use the term "promoted" loosely). Rojas went to Japan and claimed a featherweight title with a strong performance against Takahiro Aoh in July, and hasn't been heard from since.

• From the "As If Boxing Needed Any More Belts" Department: The WBC has introduced four- and six-round championships for young fighters to contend in Mexico. Why doesn't WBC president-for-life Jose Sulaiman just give every single fighter who laces on gloves a belt and be done with it already? I'm sure if he brought the idea to a vote in one of his puppet committees, it would be approved unanimously.

• It actually has been a couple of weeks since the WBA did something reprehensible. Therefore, I expect some new bit of nonsense from the organization any day now.

• Let's hope President Barack Obama does the right thing and grants Jack Johnson the posthumous pardon many in Washington have been working for when it comes across his desk.

• Happy birthday to Golden Boy's David "The Itsk" Itskowitch.

• DVD pick of the week: It certainly wasn't the most memorable heavyweight championship fight ever, but it has special meaning to me, so I decided to watch it again as we approach its nine-year anniversary. I delved deep into the archive for Lennox Lewis' defense against David Tua on Nov. 11, 2000, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Lewis, a far superior boxer with big advantages in height and reach, pitched the near shutout against Tua in a brilliant tactical performance. No, Lewis didn't get the knockout, but he did as he pleased against a big puncher whose only chance to win was to land a bomb. It's amazing that for all the quality opponents Tua ran through during his heyday, it was the only time he challenged for a title (although it's conceivable he still could get another chance). Anyway, why did I pick this one, you might ask? It was the first Las Vegas fight I ever covered, and I'll always remember it.

Top Rank's Bob Arum has promoted dozens of boxing stars, and he has never been afraid to match his guys against each other. He'll do just that Nov. 14, when Top Rank's two biggest stars -- pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and welterweight titlist Miguel Cotto -- collide on HBO PPV at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in the year's most anticipated fight.

Obviously, Arum has a vested interest in the outcome, but he knows there will be big fights for whichever man emerges with the victory. The winner against Floyd Mayweather Jr. looms as the biggest fight in boxing -- by far. But even the Cotto-Pacquiao loser figures to have more big fights in the future.

Arum has visited the training camps of both fighters. He spent time recently in the Philippines watching Pacquiao, and joined him this week in Los Angeles, where Pacquiao has shifted his camp to trainer Freddie Roach's Wild Card gym in Hollywood.

Arum also went to Tampa, Fla., for three days to check in on the Cotto camp.

While we can get a taste of both training camps on HBO's excellent "24/7 Pacquiao/Cotto" series, I wanted to hear Arum's take on what he had seen in his visits, so he gave it to me.

"I think, in general, both guys looked very, very good," Arum said. "Cotto looked strong. He's Cotto. He works hard for two hours. He does all his sparring. He's in tremendous shape. I know Cotto works hard, but in contrast to the other guy [Pacquiao], it looks like he's taking a vacation. Pacquiao goes for, like, four or five hours. It's amazing. They train differently. Pacquiao is so work-intensive. It's like nothing I've ever seen.

"Cotto does the workouts like a Marvin Hagler or Sugar Ray Leonard, two guys I promoted. They were all business. They'd come in, do their workout, spar hard and be done. When I was with Cotto, I saw him do 10 rounds one day and six rounds another day. He looked good. He'd do his two hours and be done. After two hours, Manny's just getting started. I'm glad Manny pays Freddie a lot of money, because he earns it."

Arum also noticed some other differences between the camps.

"In Pacquiao's camp, there is no question who the boss is and that's Freddie," Arum said. "In Miguel's camp there's no question who the boss is either, and that's Miguel. They're different guys, different fighters, but whatever works, man.

"Cotto, when you talk to him and he talks to the press about the fight, he's extremely confident and you know that he's not saying he's confident without really being confident. He is sincerely confident. Some guys say it, but they aren't. Some guys have doubts. I've been around so long that I can tell. Manny's confidence goes without saying."

On one of the days Arum was at Cotto's camp, famed trainer Angelo Dundee, who has moved from Miami to Tampa, paid a visit. Arum and Dundee go way back. Dundee worked with Muhammad Ali for years and later with George Foreman. Arum, of course, promoted numerous Ali and Foreman fights.

"Angelo is a delight to have around and he said something to me that was interesting," Arum said. "He said, 'If I had to pick anybody in the world to fight Pacquiao, it would be Cotto because Cotto has the best chance of anybody to beat him because of his physical power and that strong left hook.'"

Sure, Tomasz Adamek was only fighting a faded 41-year-old Andrew Golota, but he looked terrific in his move up to heavyweight Saturday. The cruiserweight champ, outweighed by 42 pounds, took it to Golota from the outset and laid a beating on him in Lodz, Poland, en route to a fifth-round TKO in the most heavily hyped fight in Polish history.

Adamek scored two knockdowns -- in the first round and in the fifth round -- before unloading on the helpless Golota to force the stoppage later in the fifth round.

While Golota (41-8-1, 33 KOs) is surely finished at this point with yet another nonperformance in a big fight, Adamek is fighting very well right now. The best thing for him is that he has options. He can stay at heavyweight or return to cruiserweight to defend the lineal title. Is there a future fight with Wladimir Klitschko or Vitali Klitschko in his future? Both Klitschkos were willing to give former cruiserweight champ David Haye a shot until he punked out against both of them. Why not Adamek? Perhaps a fight with the winner of the Roy Jones-Bernard Hopkins rematch at cruiserweight?

Adamek (39-1, 27 KOs) and his promoter, Kathy Duva of Main Events, will weigh the options. They won't make any rash decisions; rather, they'll see where they can make the biggest fight for the most money.

Adamek likely will return to fight in his adopted home base of Newark, N.J., in early February, but in which division he'll box hasn't been determined. Here's some of what Adamek and his team had to say after the victory:

• On the magnitude of the fight: "I will never forget this moment, fighting in front of almost 17,000 Polish fans against a Polish legend that went through many great battles. It was a meaningful night for me. By beating Andrew Golota I made a statement about my power. I wanted to show how good I can be as a heavyweight. I got hit couple of times pretty hard, but I was never in danger. Looks like my iron chin will work for me in a higher weight class also."

• On scoring the knockout: "I never treat any fight as something personal and it was the same this time. I did not plan to knock Golota out. It was not my intention. After the first knockdown, I knew I could hit him at will. I paced myself in Round 2 and 3, waiting for the right moment to up my tempo. [Trainer] Andrew Gmitruk was telling me to not get too cocky. I remembered this every minute I was in the ring. It was not easy win, regardless of the outcome. I had to be careful not to get hit by this powerful 260-pound man. It worked."

• On fighting as a heavyweight: "I hope I proved to everybody that I can be 215 pounds and be effective as a heavyweight. But my foes in the cruiserweight division should not be too happy yet. If the major television outlets will offer great fights, I will be back and knock out those guys too."

• On his future: "I will go back to the U.S. in couple of days, maybe enjoy myself for couple of weeks and then eagerly await the next challenge. It's in my nature not to be lazy for too long. I love my home, wife and two daughters, but after a while I miss the ring. I want to thank everybody who believed in my skills and determination. I never had a doubt about the outcome of this fight. I want also to thank Andrew for accepting this fight. He helped me realize my dream of becoming a heavyweight."

• Here's some of what Gmitruk had to say about his pupil after the victory:

"I knew this fight would look this way. To be honest, after the first knockdown this fight was over. It was just question of time. Adamek will use every weakness of his opponent so mercilessly. It was painful to watch. Tomasz used Golota's slowness to do exactly what we were talking about in training. Tomasz hit Golota with a lot of body shots and just peppered him with combinations when Golota was getting tired. Adamek was very calm and composed. I think this is the biggest change in his style of fighting. He picks when to attack in the best possible moments, never leaving his rival a chance to react. He is not going into unnecessary brawls. We were working on this, but I'm not sure this is something you can teach. He just has it. Golota wanted to tear Adamek's head off and was not pacing himself. He fought exactly like we thought he would."

• Here's what Duva thought of her company's franchise fighter:

"It wasn't just that Tomasz Adamek knocked out Andrew Golota; it was the way he did it. Watch the highlights. He showed power and speed. He showed he has a heavyweight punch and incredible combinations. Adamek made a statement. And from the texts I started getting directly after the fight, the boxing world is taking notice."

"We are going to assess all of our options in the coming weeks. Basically we are interested in the most money we can make. We have cruiserweight options and we now have heavyweight options. I couldn't be happier for Tomasz."