LAS VEGAS(AP)—Floyd Mayweather Jr. is usually content to just win a fight. This time, though, Money Mayweather wanted to earn his cash.

Fighting more aggressively than usual, Mayweather overcame a near knockdown in the second round Saturday night to dominate the rest of the way and win a lopsided 12-round decision over Shane Mosley in their welterweight showdown.

“I wanted to give the fans what they wanted to see, a toe-to-toe battle,” Mayweather said. “It wasn’t the same style for me but I wanted to be aggressive and I knew I could do it.”

Boxing’s biggest box office draw remained undefeated in 41 fights, but not before giving his fans and his corner a scare when a right hand to the side of his head buckled his knees a minute into the second, and he had to grab Mosley to avoid going down. Mosley landed another right later in the round, but the rest of the night belonged to Mayweather.

If he didn’t please everyone, it was because he couldn’t knock out Mosley. But Mayweather won every minute of every round after the second and the normally defensive-minded fighter kept after Mosley until the final bell in a masterful performance that earned him every dollar of his guaranteed $22.5 million payday.

“I think we could have pressed the attack a lot earlier, and then we could have got the knockout,” Mayweather said.

Fighting before a star-studded crowd that included Muhammad Ali, Mayweather never came close to dropping Mosley, but landed so many more punches that the outcome wasn’t in doubt past the middle rounds. He had an answer for everything Mosley tried to do, landing right hands to the head seemingly at will as the fight progressed.

By the end of the night, Mayweather had put so many rounds in the bank that the only question was whether he would stop Mosley or be content to win a lopsided decision. Mayweather kept moving forward and continued to press the issue in a fight that wasn’t in doubt.

Two ringside judges scored it 119-109 for Mayweather, while the third had it 118-110. All had him winning every round past the second.

The Associated Press had Mayweather winning 117-110.

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Source:  http://sports.yahoo.com; Author: TIM DAHLBERG AP Boxing Writer

CARACAS, Venezuela – Former boxing champion Edwin Valero, who had a spectacular career with 27 straight knockouts and flouted a tattoo of President Hugo Chavez on his chest, hanged himself in his jail cell Monday after being arrested for stabbing his wife to death, police said.

The former lightweight champion used the sweat pants he was wearing to hang himself from a bar in the cell, said his lawyer, Milda Mora.

Valero, 28, had problems with alcohol and cocaine addiction and struggled with depression. He had previously been suspected of assaulting his wife and was charged last month with harassing her and threatening personnel at a hospital where she was treated for injuries.

Valero’s 24-year-old wife, Jennifer Carolina Viera, was found dead in a hotel room on Sunday, and police said the fighter emerged telling hotel security he had killed her.

Valero was found hanging in his cell early Monday by another inmate, who alerted authorities in the police lockup in north-central Carabobo state, Federal Police Chief Wilmer Flores told reporters. He said Valero still showed signs of life when they took him down, but they were unable to save him.

The former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion was a household name in Venezuela and had a huge image of Venezuela’s president tattooed on his chest along with the country’s yellow, blue and red flag.

A man whose fists carried him from poverty in a small town to fame, Valero’s all-action style soon earned him a reputation as a tough, explosive crowd-pleaser, and his last victory in Mexico in February over Antonio DeMarco brought his record to 27-0 — all knockouts. Venezuelans called him “Inca,” alluding to an Indian warrior, while elsewhere he was called “Dinamita,” or dynamite.

Valero had a turbulent disposition and had been in trouble with the law before, for violent incidents and problems with alcohol and drugs.

Last month, he was charged with harassing his wife and threatening medical personnel who treated her at a hospital in the western city of Merida. Police arrested Valero following an argument with a doctor and nurse at the hospital, where his wife was being treated for injuries including a punctured lung and broken ribs.

The Attorney General’s Office said in a statement that Valero was detained March 25 on suspicion of assaulting his wife, but his wife told a police officer her injuries were due to a fall. When the boxer arrived moments later, he forbade Viera from speaking to the police officer and spoke threateningly to the officer, prosecutors said in a statement.

A prosecutor had asked a court to keep Valero in jail, the Attorney General’s Office said. But a judge instead allowed him to remain free under certain conditions including that he appear in court every 90 days, said Mora, his lawyer.

Mora told The Associated Press that after the incident Valero was held for nine days in a psychiatric hospital in Merida, where he underwent police-supervised rehabilitation. She said people close to the fighter posted bail on April 7 and he was allowed to go free.

Valero’s manager, Jose Castillo, criticized authorities for failing to act more forcefully to prevent the killing.

“I asked the authorities not to let him out. He needed a lot of help. He was very bad in the head,” Castillo told reporters. “But they let him out. They were very permissive with him and because of that, we’re now in the middle of this tragedy.”

Mora, however, said of Valero: “He was the only one responsible.”

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Source: http://news.yahoo.com

As he always does, Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao delivered the goods in the first title defense of his WBO welterweight belt against the gritty and durable Joshua Clottey from Ghana.

From the opening round, Pacquiao went on and floored the gas on Clottey, concoting relentless combinations to the midsection and to the head. While Clottey had his moments in the fight, it was a complete shutout from Pacquiao from the opening bell to the last.

Clottey’s vaunted defense proved to be tough and hard to penetrate. But Roach’s game plan worked perfectly as Pacquiao moved to bang both sides of Clottey’s body, softening up the Ghanaian’s high guard and allowing Pacquiao to sneak in some powerful punches to the head. But Clottey’s durable chin endured the punishment.

That said, defense also proved to be the cause of Clottey’s defeat. The challenger was so concerned on defending himself that he was getting outworked by the smaller Pacquiao. As Clottey’s head trainer Lenny de Jesus pointed out to his ward in between rounds 11 and 12, “you are going to lose if you don’t take chances.”

Again, Pacquiao proved a lot of boxing aficionados wrong. While majority predcited a Pacquiao victory, they did not expect it would be an easy fight for the Filipino champion. Pacquiao, in reality, coasted throughout the fight, giving the face of Ghana’s boxing too much of his speed and angles. For every blow Clottey landed, he was getting mushed with five rapid punches.

If there is one thing that Clottey proved true, it is that whenever he connects, he causes damage. Pacquiao was clearly hurt in certain ocassions when Clottey’s punches were able to find their target. But he failed almsot everytime to follow up on his attacks.

The main event of “The Event” was a good fight. But not one destined to be a classic like so many have hoped. A possible showdown versus the winner of the Mayweather-Mosley match on May 1st looms. However, the depends on how Pacquiao will fare in his second attempt to enter the Philippine political landscape.

With the win, Pacquiao extends his win streak to 12 and elevates to a 51-3-2 (38 KOs) record.Clottey drops to 39-4, with 20 KOs.

“The Event” now holds the largest audience in attendance in boxing history as 50,994 people filled the Cowboys Stadium.

Source: http://8countnews.com; Author: Kenneth Ragpala