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By Derek Bonnett: As we encounter another new year, the landscape of the boxing scene continues to evolve. With old champions acting out the final stages of their careers and new ones emerging to fill the void, boxing maintains a state of homeostasis and keeps fight fans intrigued even amid the dubious officiating and cries of scandal. 
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By Derek Bonnett: As another fruitful year of professional fisticuffs wraps up, SecondsOut will honor boxing’s greatest practitioners and non-participants with such accolades as Fighter of the Year, Fight of the Year, Trainer of the Year, Service to Boxing, etc. However, among the 170 ranked SecondsOut fighters and beyond, a multitude of fighters go unrecognized for their less obvious contributions to the sport.
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By Derek Bonnett: It’s December and 2011 is rapidly coming to a close. If the Mayan calendar holds true, there are precious few months left for mankind and there are going to be legions of professional prizefighters whose dreams of world title contention will remain unfulfilled as the world comes crashing down in 2012.
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By Derek Bonnett: It’s been since August that I last poked my nose into the business of bogus world title challengers and I regret to say it’s not because they haven’t been happening. No, the flow of manipulated match-ups runs strong.
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By Derek Bonnett: SecondsOut fans have taken a special interest in speaking out in defense of our "right to a fair title fight". Our voice may be small, but we are pure of heart and do not have to accept world class mockeries in place of world championship boxing.
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By Derek Bonnett: Prior to his clash with David Haye, universal heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko expressed that he would nullify his opponent’s speed advantage with anticipation. The fans’ anticipation for this heavyweight title fight rivaled any, surely, since Mike Tyson squared off with Lennox Lewis. Haye-Klitschko did not live up the expectation of the fans, nor did Tyson-Lewis to many.
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By Derek Bonnett: I guess I am just not speaking loud enough. This is my fourth criticism of the sanctioning bodies since February and boxing fans are still are not getting what they deserve from these organizations and their world champions. I am not asking for WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO to have a mandatory challenger in every title fight. Half the time, the mandatory challengers aren’t even that good. However, boxing fans need to demand better quality fights.
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By Derek Bonnett in Canastota: Any boxing fan who has been considering making the trip up to Canastota, NY, USA needs to stop thinking. Thinking just gets in the way of doing and the second weekend of June 2012 is already approaching.
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By Derek Bonnett: Kostya Tszyu reigned as junior welterweight champion for the better part of ten years. He captured his first world championship in his fourteenth bout. Tszyu reigned twice as the IBF champion and also held both the WBC and WBA belts. Between November 2001 and January 2003, he was the undisputed champion.
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By Derek Bonnett: Darnell Boone grew up following the careers of Marvin Hagler, John Mugabi, and Pernell Whitaker. Two of those men are arguably the best fighters of all time in their respective divisions. This super-trio finished with only 14 losses combined in over 160 bouts. If you think that’s impressive, Boone already has 17 losses in just thirty-eight bouts or, roughly, a quarter of that time. All-time greats? Bah!
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By Derek Bonnett: What did I tell you? Last month, when I grilled world champions Sammy Gutierrez, Jan Zaveck, Felix Sturm, and Gilberto Keb Baas, I was unhappy because honest boxing fans were being served up garbage non-title bouts under the facade of world championship match-ups.
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By Derek Bonnett: Whatever happened to fighters earning their way to a title shot? Sure, some fighters get there quicker than others, but usually, once they do, they seem worthy of it. Examine the featherweight division for instance. Right now, top prospects Miguel Angel Garcia and Matt Remillard do not deserve world title shots based off their emerging resumes and lofty rankings. So what are they doing?
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By Derek Bonnett: George Bernard Shaw conveyed to us that often youth is wasted on the young. At times when an individual is most replete with his youth, he is also lacking valuable experience or knowledge to put it to its best use. In turn, once the individual has acquired copious experience and knowledge, he is often left without the physical tools of youth to apply what he has learned.
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By Derek Bonnett: I have heard grumblings, but no one has come right out and asked. What the hell is Andre Berto doing?
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By Derek Bonnett: Boxing fans can put another year of professional prizefighting in the record books. 2010 was a good, not great year of boxing, but it rose to the occasion and put in a strong comeback during the championship rounds of the year. Most would prognosticate a stronger year in 2011 considering a slew of meaningful fights on the horizon.
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By Derek Bonnett: We have all daydreamed about doing it a hundred times. Sometimes it ends with our keys being forcefully slammed onto the boss’s desk. Other times, there is a barrage of witty banter punctuated by a salute and a hasty exit.
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By Derek Bonnett: Marco Antonio Rubio or "El Veneno", as he is known in Mexico, seemed disinterested in moving his career forward during his lackluster ninth round knockout loss to Kelly Pavlik in February 2009. He appeared to have stalled and to be without the "venom" his nickname suggests. He couldn’t let his hands go and he couldn’t compete with a champion, who himself was not in peak form.
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By Derek Bonnett: If professional boxing abided by the same rules as baseball, Giovanni Lorenzo would be staring down his last possible strike before the sport called him "out".
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By Derek Bonnett: ALA Boxing Promotions has assembled another sizzling showcase of world class boxing on August 28 at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel in Cebu, Philippines. The card will feature Florante Condes, Jimrex Jaca, Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista, and Milan Melindo in separate bouts.
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By Derek Bonnett: Professional prizefighters prepare for their opponents using myriad approaches. One might argue that each fighter or trainer brings something a little different to training camp, but, overall, the end objectives are quite similar. Thus, a great number of characteristics from each training regimen resemble one another.
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By Derek Bonnett: The junior welterweight class is rapidly becoming a fan favorite topic for online boxing message boards. Talks range from the legitimacy of Amir Khan as a world titlist to the validity of Marcos Rene Maidana’s recent injuries to who deserves to be considered number one between Devon Alexander and Timothy Bradley.
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By Derek Bonnett: In the first half of 2010, undefeated junior welterweight, Ruslan Provodnikov progressed from being an interesting young hopeful to one of boxing’s brightest prospects. Provodnikov, a 26 year old from Ekaterinburg, Russia, now stands at 16-0 (11) as a professional following a reported 170-10 amateur career. Given his recent performances, experts can easily surmise that Provodnikov is ably adapting to the professional game.
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By Derek Bonnett: On February 12, at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, California, USA, boxing fans will be treated to a possible dark horse candidate for fight of the year when Ji Hoon Kim and Tyrone Harris square off in a junior lightweight bout.
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By Derek Bonnett: Unbeaten featherweight Matt Remillard returns to the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, USA this Friday, January 29 to defend his NABF title against Rafael Lora. Remillard stopped Lora in four rounds in September of last year to capture the title, but the ending was marred by some minor controversy as Lora turned away from his opponent and was twice struck in the back of the head after the referee waved them on.
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By Derek Bonnett: Boxing fans that want to keep a clear perspective of the landscape supporting the sport’s smallest divisions had better not blink. If you did, you were surprised by the resurgence of Brian Viloria in his upset of Ulises Solis, Rodel Mayol’s “fourth times a charm” KO of Edgar Sosa, and, most recently, Carlos Tamara’s come from behind KO to end Viloria’s brief stint near the top.
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By Derek Bonnett: Anyone looking to add a little excitement and friendly competition to their boxing schedules for 2010 needs to venture over to www.championsleagueboxing.com and sign up for some fantasy boxing.
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By Derek Bonnett: The network rivalry between HBO and Showtime has taken a turn. For the last two decades each cable giant has produced memorable boxing cards and historical match-ups like Barrera-Morales, Gatti-Ward, Castillo-Corrales, and Marquez-Vazquez. The two premium cable boxing outlets have competed as evenly as the men in the four aforementioned boxing rivalries.
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By Derek Bonnett: Over the last few years, the last couple of weeks in particular, it has been hard not to get caught up in all of the speculation regarding Manny Pacquiao, his place among boxing legends, and the outcome of a super-fight, P4P showdown against Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- it’s been a hell of an experience.
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By Derek Bonnett: Philadelphia’s Danny "Swift" Garcia fights in front of a hometown crowd for the first time in his two year professional career on December 2 as the main preliminary bout for Bernard Hopkins’ light heavyweight tune-up fight against Enrique Ornelas.
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By Derek Bonnett:
About a year ago, I grossly offended Manny Pacquiao.
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By Derek Bonnett: Cruiserweight prospect Andres Taylor plans to get more treats than tricks this Halloween. On October 31, in Johnstown, PA, USA, Taylor will meet Leo Bercier in a rematch with the intention of avenging his lone career stumbling block. Taylor dropped an action packed six round decision to Bercier, 8-10-1 (4), this past June.
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By Derek Bonnett: Two of Panama’s top boxers stayed busy with TKO victories on October 9 at Arena Roberto Duran in their homeland.
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By Derek Bonnett: It’s hard not to pick on the heavyweight division these days, but in their defense Vitali Klitschko put together a pretty inspiring effort in disposing of unbeaten Cristobal Arreola on September 26 and is now rumored to be considering a meeting with unbeaten Kevin Johnson on December 12 to close out 2009.
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By Derek Bonnett: There are many different categories of fighters out there in the professional ranks. You have your world champions, your top contenders, guys on the fringe, and your opponents, just to name a few.
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By Derek Bonnett: Prior to dropping an uncomfortable twelve round unanimous decision to Rudolf Kraj in Germany, Matt "Too Smooth" Godfrey ranked among the more promising young prospects in the sport and his scintillating work as an ESPN regular served to substantiate this opinion.
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By Derek Bonnett: Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada will play host to a fine night of professional boxing on September 4 as Steve Molitor will keep busy in the super bantamweight division in an eight round bout against Feliciano Dario Azuago Lesdema, while Jose "Carita" Lopez makes the first defense of his WBO 115 pound title against the latest Filipino phenom, Marvin Sonsona.
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By Derek Bonnett: Lowell, Massachusetts pugilist "Irish" Joe McCreedy will be looking to get his career back on track Friday, September 4 as he takes on Eddie "Thunder" Caminero at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, RI.
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By Derek Bonnett: Thirty-four year old boxers are supposed to be transitioning their way out of title contention, not preparing for world championship bouts.
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By Derek Bonnett: The super bantamweight division has been well known for fighters like Israel Vazquez, Rafael Marquez, and Juan Manuel Lopez the last couple of years due to the stellar performances each man has consistently put forth.
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By Derek Bonnett: When Michael Brodie makes his return to the ring on August 21, the Manchester, England native will be expecting to use Mark "The Flash" Alexander as a steppingstone to shed some rust.
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By Derek Bonnett: Due to their diminutive stature and seemingly forced exile from televised boxing cards after the retirement of Ricardo Lopez, the strawweight division (105 pounds) is boxing’s most overlooked weight category now more than ever.
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By Derek Bonnett: American flyweights are about as common as Mexican heavyweights. They pop up every now and then, but overall there is a long pause between blips on the radar. The last American-born flyweight to really capture the attention of the boxing world was Mark "Too Sharp" Johnson, whose name described him perfectly in his prime.
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By Derek Bonnett: William Shakespeare once wrote, "Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends." Over the past year, I have spent considerable time pondering this very idea, particularly when speculating about the futures of Rafael Marquez and Israel Vazquez: two of boxing’s greatest contemporary warriors.
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By Derek Bonnett: For anyone who saw Matt Godfrey’s come from behind KO of Emmanuel Nwodo last August, it’s easy to forget that the highly rated cruiserweight contender actually returned to the ring three months later to outpoint Edward Gutierrez.
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By Derek Bonnett: The Battle of St. Louis, won by Cory Spinks, had more to do with the defeated fighter doing less than the victor doing more. Spinks walked away with his second IBF junior middleweight championship after the split decision was announced at the Scottrade Center, but in the long run, the experience gained by Deandre Latimore could prove to be far more valuable than the alphabet trinket.
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By Derek Bonnett: Ray Alcorta manages streaking lightweight contender Urbano Antillon and is confident his charge will find victory this Friday night at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Antillon’s opponent will be Tyrone Harris, who is a seasoned.
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By Derek Bonnett: At thirty years old, unbeaten cruiserweight contender, BJ Flores, 23-0-1 (14), is on the verge of a world championship bout. Since outpointing the hard-hitting Darnell Wilson on ESPN to claim the USBA cruiserweight title in 2008, Flores has annexed the WBO-NABO crown with a comprehensive victory over the dangerous Jose Luis Herrera.
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By Derek Bonnett: The Espinoza Boxing Club has been working very hard over the last couple of years to build a stable of fighters to carry their name into the next decade
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By Derek Bonnett: The house came tumbling down on Steve Molitor in November 2008. After successfully defending his IBF super bantamweight title five times and running his record to 28-0 (11), Molitor did something out of the ordinary. He lost. And he lost badly.
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By Derek Bonnett: Whether it’s Johnny Tapia and Danny Romero dividing the fans of Albuquerque or the two local high school football teams squaring off on Thanksgiving day, a cross-town rivalry adds a whole new dimension to the build up and excitement before a big match-up.
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