Solomon Wilcots isn't necessarily a fan of this site, but if he ends up boxing Chad Johnson, I'll certainly be a fan of his. Wilcox recently wrote a blog post detailing how he would help Johnson out this season, and Ocho Cinco didn't take kindly to the suggestions and Twittered that he wanted to fight him. Wilcox, of course, fired back....

Johnson: "They always find a way to say something negative no matter how focused i am, damn Solomon Wilcox, i want to fight him now, somebody set itup"

Wilcox: "Chad has dropped more balls than Jay-Z has dropped albums. But we certainly can get in the ring. I'm lovin' this. I'm lovin' it. ... You can get in a training ring for, what, two months, and now he think he's the heavyweight champ. Let's do it, brah! Let's do it. Ya better ask somebody, Chad."

Floyd Mayweather made the rounds on ESPN the other day, and after taking on an anchor over at ESPN News, the fighter decided to take on Sports Center's Brian Kenny. Kenny, as we know, rarely backs down from a debate, and here was the very contentious exchange...

I've grown tired of Mike & Mike's stunts in an attempt to get viewers, but this one actually caught my attention. Mike Greenberg is bringing in longtime trainer and ESPN Boxing analyst, Teddy Atlas, for a one-day crash course on the Sport. This of course will televised on the M&M simulcast, and will certainly be good for some few laughs. Via ESPN PR....

ESPN's Mike Greenberg has incorporated boxing into his work-out regime, and Teddy Atlas has made boxing his life. The two will meet at ESPN’s Bristol, Conn., “Wellness Center,” and the co-host of ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike in the Morning will find out what the sport is all about from the renowned trainer and ESPN boxing analyst.

On Friday, March 6, at 7:40 a.m., Atlas will join Greenberg and co-host Mike Golic in studio to appraise “Greeny’s” pugilistic propensity, with fans able to see for themselves on the ESPN2 simulcast and ESPNRadio.com. Video of Greenberg's gym session (taped today, Wed., March 4) will also run during ESPN2 Friday Night Fights (8:30 p.m.).

After Antonio Margarito took it to Miguel Cotto late last year, many of us who had watched that fight thought that the Tijuana Toronado would step up to be the man to beat in the welterweight division, and considering the thought of a Margarito/Floyd Mayweather, Jr. match. Sugar Shane Mosley was an afterthought, more or less.

But starting with Mosely's trainer catching an illegal substance being used in Margarito's tape wrapping, the whole night did not bode well for Margarito. Mosley owned all 8 full rounds of the fight, and it was probably an ill-advised decision by Margarito's corner to send him out for the 9th round -- he was promptly KO'd.

We'll be interested in finding out what that "plaster-like substance" was in the wraps, and now, there's a landscape at the division littered with great possibilities for Mosley next as he hopes for another shot at Cotto (whom he lost to two fights ago) and may be seeing a date with a "retired" Mayweather (I hope, I hope, I hope).

Very odd video found over at Sports Crackle Pop this afternoon, and I really don't have words to describe it. Mike Tyson is at the Sundance Film Festival promoting a self-titled documentary, and during a speech he decided to use the perfect language to describe how he feels about the movie....

I know that announcers like getting as much work in as possible, but Gus Johnson is taking it to a whole new level. On the heels of his foray into the world of MMA for CBS, GuJo has been hired by Showtime Boxing to work the cable network's monthly "Showtime Championship Boxing". Via John Ourand at SBD....

Showtime has hired Gus Johnson as the lead announcer on its "Showtime Championship Boxing" series. Johnson will continue to work as an announcer on CBS' college basketball and NFL games, as well as Big Ten Network basketball games. Johnson will work with Al Bernstein on the monthly series, and he will make his debut February 7 for the Vic Darchinyan-Jorge Arce fight. He replaces Steve Albert, who is staying with the series in a reduced role. Albert, who has announced boxing on Showtime since '87, will call bouts when Johnson is unavailable.

Boxing fans are well aware of the wonder that is Manny Pacquiao, but it's likely that more of the sporting world will have a better idea of the Filipino's mix of speed, power, and tactics inside the ring after he absolutely deconstructed and demolished Oscar De La Hoya last night with an 8th round TKO. Sadly, I was not able to watch the fight, but after watching Oscar's last bout with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and taking in several Pacquiao fights when they were re-aired, I sense De La Hoya's reach and height advantages would mean nothing.

The beauty of the clips I've seen of Pacquiao is that he makes it look absolutely effortless, it is in his economy of motion. He makes every punch count, there are very few wasted movements. De La Hoya is still a legend in the ring, but he is clearly well beyond his prime and probably knows it's time to step out, after winning only one of eight rounds on the scorecard (and according to some accounts of the fight I've read on the wires, that was generous.)

It's amazing how a lightweight like Pacquiao is good enough to jump two weight classes and dominate. Could we see Ricky Hatton or even a Pretty Boy Floyd fight in Pac-Man's future? Sounds likely, but right now, from the highlights, I can see why Pacquiao is a folk hero in his home country. It's clear even to someone like me, who doesn't follow boxing a whole lot.

ESPN's Bob Ley sat down with John McCain on Sunday during a NASCAR race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and here is the full interview that aired on Sports Center this morning....

Now far be it from me to poke fun at a Tournament that is trying its hardest to let people know it's right around the corner, but when you employ Don King and the WWE to do so....I have to comment. The U.S. Open is getting underway today, but the past few weeks have been rather interesting in the way of PR for the matches in Flushing, New York.

First up was Nike's campaign hyping the potential final matchup of Nadal v. Federer. The Swoosh decided to turn the potential meeting into a pseudo-weigh in for the two Tennis stars and even brought in Don King to do what Don King does. Hype. Via the Telegraph....

King, speaking exclusively to The Daily Telegraph, revealed his “delight” at being called up to promote one of the greatest sporting rivalries on the planet. “You had the 'Thrilla in Manila’, you had the 'Rumble in the Jungle’ now we have the 'Grapple in the Apple’. We gonna take it to the moon. They try to pretend to be friends. But they’re no kin and they’re gonna bend. They got to be competitive.”

King, getting into character, insisted in his idiolect that the US Open would be “free of trickeration”. Tennis may never be the same. But nor would boxing have had some of its most memorable nights without the genius of King.

Okay, Nike has done it again and whoever came up with this idea is a freaking genius. The new campaign is called "Train Like LT" and features LaDanian Tomlinson heading over to Kimbo Slice's house to train the "old school way". Via Yardbarker....

Scary moment last night as Oscar Diaz was fighting Delvin Rodriguez on ESPN2 last night. Diaz had taken a good number of shots throughout the fight and collapsed in his corner after the 10th round....

Welterweight Oscar Diaz, who collapsed in his corner after the 10th round of a TKO loss to Delvin Rodriguez on Wednesday night and was rushed to University Medical Center in San Antonio in critical condition, was being taken into surgery to relieve swelling on his brain early Thursday.

"He's got swelling and bleeding on the brain, he's unconscious and on a ventilator," Ron Katz of Rodriguez promoter Star Boxing told ESPN.com.

Katz said Donna Duva Brooks of Hall of Fame Promotions, Diaz's promoter, was at the hospital with Diaz. Katz said she told him that Diaz was being taken into surgery.

"It's not good. Obviously, he's in all of our prayers," Katz said.

Floyd Mayweather decided to take time out of his busy WWE schedule to lay into HBO's coverage of him over the weekend. The recently retired fighter had some choice words for the cable channel's analysts and more specifically Jim Lampley....

Mayweather criticized the network's announcers for a bias against black fighters, and for not treating their own indiscretions as seriously as those committed by people they cover, during an exclusive interview with The Press.

"Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, Emanuel Steward, they're always talking about the negative things in my life," Mayweather said. "But I've seen Jim Lampley in the same strip club as me before. They always want to talk about me going to strip clubs, but they don't want to talk about that.

Mayweather, the Grand Rapids native who returned home this weekend to host a holiday carnival and entertainment festival, was convicted on four counts of misdemeanor assault, and pleaded no contest to another, earlier in his career.

"He caught a court case himself, too. But when they catch a case, all they do is take them off the air a couple weeks, then it's over."

The last great hurdle for UFC was to get some larger sponsors on board in an effort to achieve the credibility that they've been so desperately looking for to compete with Boxing. Well that big sponsor has been signed and it should be very familiar to Boxing fans.....Budweiser. Here are the details via Sports Biz....

In January, UFC signed Harley Davidson Harley-Davidson Inc to put its name in the Octagon and today, UFC announced a deal with Anheuser Busch, as Bud Light will become the new exclusive sponsor for the UFC. The brand will be featured on the Octagon center mat and on the vertical bumpers beginning with UFC 84 in Las Vegas on May 24.

Now that is huge. First of all, they are the biggest advertiser in sports, spending 80 percent of their total national TV spending dollars ($141 million of $171 million) on sports from January to Sept. 2007, according to Nielsen. And some go as far as to call them the greatest advertiser in all of sports.

You always love to see producers and the talent argue or fight at a.....umm fight, but you hate to see that confrontation almost come to blows. Via the boxing site Boxing Scene...

As the story goes, Atlas confronted Loughrey over allegedly showing favoritism to certain promoters and matchmakers, who were abusing their ESPN connections by taking fighters from other promoters with promises of potential ESPN dates. The verbal exchange was aggressive and heard by many who were present at the event.

This past Friday, Atlas was suspended by ESPN for a period of one-week. Several sources have indicated to BoxingScene.com that an internal inquiry is taking place to find out exactly what transpired between Loughrey and Atlas, and the basic facts of the subject matter involved in the argument.

I had to pass this amazing article that Unsilent Majority penned for No Mas this morning. It's a perfect account of why boxing is not getting the same respect it has in years past and how that's directly related to coverage on ESPN and SportsCenter.

Boxing Isn't Dead, But ESPN Is Burying It (No Mas)

How boxing is considered a failing sport when they set a record for PPV views with the De La Hoya-Mayweather fight just doesn't make sense, and I think UM sheds a lot of light on the situation. Here are some of UM's points....

The lone "boxing" stories that I've seen crack SportsCenter's rotation this week have involved Pretty Boy Floyd dancing like a fool and the downward spiral that is Mike Tyson's life. The last time SportsCenter featured any real boxing coverage the commentators were debating whether or not two fading stars could "save" the sport.

Ever since ESPN bought up the Arena Football League, Tony Graziani's name has been on the lips of SportsCenter anchors more than Kelly Pavlik or Andre Berto or any of the other emerging marketable stars. It makes sense for any major corporation to "keep things in the family" but Disney goes off the deep end.

The primary component of the company's boxing coverage is Friday Night Fights which offers compelling live cards and analysis of the larger boxing scene. So what do they have planned for this week's episode? Uh...well nothing really, apparently the season is over. I didn't even know boxing had seasons... well played ESPN.

When you're a new analyst ESPN has to trot you out on as many programs as possible. Like for example, Sean Salisbury. How many different ESPN shows have you seen him on since he joined the network...15 or so? Well the Leader is now taking it to an even bigger level.

They're asking their analysts to cover different sports. First up in the queue....Mr. William Parcells.

Bill Parcells will be ringside for ESPN's Friday Night Fights broadcast with host Joe Tessitore and analyst Teddy Atlas. The release states that Parcells plans to discuss his three passions in life Boxing (that's good because it's a boxing telecast), Football (understandable), and Horse Racing (Huh?).

So if you want to hear about Football and Horse Racing during a fight....tune in this Friday!

(posted by OMDQ)

Boxing lost one of the toughest fighters in recent memory on Saturday when Arturo Gatti dropped a seven-round decision to Alfonso Gomez and announced his retirement from the sport. Though boxing retirements rarely stick - I believe it was Rocky Balboa who said that fighters can't just turn "it" off and on as they please; they HAVE to fight - I hope for Gatti's sake that this is it. He is 35 years old, has absorbed a tremendous amount of punishment throughout his career, and should make an effort to get out while he still has his health.

Follow along after the jump to view some of Gatti's work. It's not his best, in my opinion - that honor goes to the epic trilogy against Mickey Ward in 2002-03. Three of those rounds are available below (last video), but the clip I wanted, the one I posted on One More Dying Quail a couple of months back, has been pulled from YouTube. We'll just have to make do with Floyd Mayweather (2005) and Oscar de la Hoya (2001).

Ten years ago, Mike Tyson celebrated his 31st birthday two days early and in the most unusual of ways: by actually biting off a chunk of Evander Holyfield's right ear during a fight.

Nine ears earlier, almost to the day, he had followed a more exciting plan, beating Michael Spinks in a 91 second dismantling that solidified Tyson's standing as the world's undisputed heavyweight champion.

You may remember Jim Lampley being in a bunch of "hot water" after a roughing up his ex-fiancee. Well now his boss is in that same boat following an argument after the Mayweather- De La Hoya fight...

HBO chairman and chief executive Chris Albrecht was arrested early Sunday on suspicion of assaulting his girlfriend outside the MGM Grand after a boxing match aired by his company, authorities said.

Officers assigned to the bout reported seeing Albrecht fighting with a woman identified only as his girlfriend in the MGM Grand's valet parking lot shortly after 3 a.m., said Las Vegas Police spokesman Officer Bill Cassell.