For the most part, the Taylor VS Ouma fight played out exactly as I thought it would. Jermain Taylor would use his dominant strength, speed, and experience advantage to accurately batter the slower, smaller, fight in Ouma. Ouma's style was made for Taylor. He didn't use his footwork to move away or circle around Taylor. Instead, he relentlessly moved forward trying to pressure Taylor and hoping he would tire out. Taylor took advantage of the openings and got the upper hand during every exchange. Jermain Taylor threw knockout bombs from the first round and the tone stayed the same throughout the fight. To Ouma's credit, he kept coming forward throughout the whole fight. However, and just about as many times as he slipped and ducked Taylor's punches, Taylor also ducked Ouma's punches. Ouma showed no real advantage in the fight except that he was constantly moving forward and SEEMED unaffected by the punches. Of course Ouma was affected by the punches because he was visibly stunned and even stopped his pressure momentarily. More proof of Taylor's effect on Ouma is that Taylor threw more punches throughout some of the rounds and Ouma threw less punches because he had to be cautious of Taylor's quick hard hands. Kassim Ouma showed a lot of determination, courage, chin, and will power by constantly coming forward and trying to pressure Taylor but Taylor hit him easily and cleanly. This was an easy fight for Taylor and I give a lot of credit to Ouma's chin for staying solid and keeping him upright. Taylor won the majority decision of 118-110, 117-111, and 115-113.

News on the 130lb division

Everyone wants Pacquiao nowadays. Of course we all know why. He's a big favorite, he's a big draw, he sells tickets, he's a big name PPV star and best of all, he's BEATABLE. By beatable, I don't mean that Manny Pacquiao is an easy to fighter to beat. By "beatable", I mean that ON PAPER, he is an easy fighter to beat. He doesn't have a text-book jab, hasn't mastered the right hook, doesn't through solid combinations. He's got plenty of speed but doesn't move his head too much when he comes in, he's got horrible balance and often punches off one foot when he's throwing combinations. He doesn't have great defensive skills, he just runs backwards into the ropes. So why hasn't Manny Pacquiao been beat? Well...he's got so much fight in him. He is a TRUE warrior. He is willing to trade anytime and to prove himself as the bigger puncher. He has yet to face a bigger puncher and more consistent than himself. He has unbelievable endurance that allows him to put out non-stop pressure. He employs faints here and there and throws many punches downstairs and upstairs to keep his opponents wondering. His big left hand is a real hammer and almost everyone falls when it lands. Pacquiao has other advantages like being a southpaw and having a weird style. His bad balance sometimes helps him when he's losing a dogfight because it allows him to bend at weird angles where his opponents don't expect him to be. He's use to fighting off balance and it helps him throw quick counters when he finally rocks his body back on balance.

There has been much talk about Joan Guzman and his chances of upsetting Pacquiao. Who is Joan Guzman? Well, he's a very good boxer with great speed, chin, and stamina. He's a big guy but he lacks the punching power to go along with it. He's very durable and can take many punches. He's also skillful, he can duck and weave and return fast counters. If you watch his earlier fights, you can see him slipping to the outside of an opponent's jab and returning a right hand counter over it. I LOVE seeing that. Guzman can throw leads rights, uppercuts, and multiple left hooks in a row. His defense is not so much about blocking and is more about ducking, slipping and pulling his head out of the way Roy Jones style. He relies heavily on his speed to win his fights by slipping and countering. His main weakness is the punching power. I also think another weakness is experience. I have yet to see Guzman in with anybody that can be a serious threat. He did beat Jorge Barrios but I don't think Barrios is the same fighter that gave Acelino Freitas hell in 2003. Barrios is missing sharpness and stamina. He is tired and doesn't punch with the same pop anymore but he is a very big 130-er. Nonetheless Barrios was a great test for Guzman because he hasn't really lost except the SUPER CLOSE knockout loss against Freitas, and then he was disqualified earlier in his career. I'd like to see Guzman against one more name fighter before trying to take on Pacquiao. Pacquiao is a fighter that isn't going to reel against Guzman. He's also a faster puncher than Guzman and uses speed as pure punching power instead of trying to be flashy. Guzman's got angles in his punching and body movement which is a great combination to beat Pacquiao. I'm just not so sure he's strong enough to make Pacquiao respect and to keep him away for a full 12 rounds.

James Toney VS Samuel Peter REMATCH

I imagine this one to entertaining. James Toney is one of the best fat fighters I've seen in a long time. His round body when slipping and ducking makes him look like his head is rotating around a stationary body. Like a clock hand. In this upcoming fight, Toney is teamed up with Billy Blanks and says he's going to come into the ring this January in good shape. Samuel Peter says Toney will be the same fighter and will be beat again. I'm happy to see such a fast rematch setup and I'd like to see Toney actually walk in at a lower body weight. If James Toney can keep his weight down, he should be able to easily win the fight. I Had him winning the last fight and would like to see him do it again. Peter is not much more than "ANOTHER KNOCKOUT PUNCHER", and isn't that suppose to be everyone in the heavyweight division? I mean when you're that big, there isn't really very much you have to do except make contact.

Ricky Hatton VS Juan Urango

To be honest, I've never seen Juan Urango fight. The only thing I know about him are from the records at BoxRec and those show that he's fought AND won at higher weight classes. He also has a draw with the younger Mike Arnaoutis who recently showed good boxing potential in a loss against Ricardo Torres. I still see Ricky Hatton winning a comfortable decision against a less experienced opposition.

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