By Thomas Hauser: Paulie Malignaggi sat on a folding chair in his dressing room one floor above The Theater at Madison Square Garden. He’d just been stopped in the eleventh round of his bid to wrest the WBA 140-pound title from Amir Khan. There had been no knockdowns. Paulie was on his feet when referee Steve Smoger intervened to save him from further punishment.

By Clive Bernath: As soon as Breidis Prescott rendered Amir Khan unconscious with a thunderous left hook in September 2008 it looked as though the Olympic silver medallist’s highly promising career was pretty much over before it had even started.

By Thomas Hauser: In today’s society, Patrick Kehoe observes, “hyperbole tends to replicate itself as an electronic echo, transmitting the desired information as truth logged into infinite memory. Just keep talking, and something aggrandizing will affix to the culture at large.” One might cite Floyd Mayweather Jr in support of that theory.

By Matthew Hurley: I was in Las Vegas last weekend for the Mayweather –Mosley fight and planned on being at the MGM Grand to take in the festivities. Circumstances found me at The Mirage Hotel, a ways down the strip, for the closed circuit telecast instead. In the end I was glad I watched the fight with a near sell out crowd of real fight fans in The Mirage Ballroom rather than the tepid crowd of high rollers that sauntered into the MGM Grand for the main event.

By Clive Bernath: The two main talking points being discussed by boxing fans the world over following Floyd Mayweather Jr’s win against Shane Mosley last weekend is should he now be ranked above Manny Pacquiao as the pound for pound No.1 boxer on the planet, and will he and Pacquiao face each other in the ring anytime soon?

By Thomas Hauser: Most professional fighters have struggled with demons. That’s one of the things that impelled them to become fighters. They’re faced with the constant reality of being punched by men trained in the art of hurting. And if a fighter becomes The Man, it seems as though everyone wants a piece of him.

By Jason Pribila: Boxing returned to the main room at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ on Saturday night for the first time since October 2008. On that evening 43 year-old Bernard Hopkins turned back to clock and dominated Kelly Pavlik over 12 one-sided rounds.

By Matthew Hurley: In his book Four Kings author George Kimball concludes his tale of Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran with a where are they now summary.

By Thomas Hauser: When a fighter is in the ring, he hits and gets hit. But when a fighter and writer interact, almost always, the fighter is on the receiving end of the questions. What would it be like if the tables were turned? In search of an answer, I asked seven fighters what questions they’d like to put to the men and women who write about them.

Once again, this time in Dallas, Thomas Hauser was in Manny Pacquaio’s dressing room as boxing’s pound-for-champion prepared for battle. Click on Pacquaio’s photo or the headline above for Hauser’s exclusive report on the world’s most exciting fighter.

By Jason Pribila: Boxing got off to a slow start in 2010 due in part to injuries, cancellations, and the fear of counter-programming against the Winter Olympics. March was supposed to signal the unofficial start of the season. The month was highlighted by two of the game’s most dominant figures facing off against stiff competition.

By James ‘Smitty’ Smith: Over 50,000 showed up at the new palatial Dallas Cowboys Stadium. We saw Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, of course, and former Cowboy Super Bowl winning coaches Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer. We saw Neon Deion Sanders along with a plethora of sporting super stars and other luminaries. They were all there to see one Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, boxing’s biggest star these days in action.

By Jason Pribila: Have the contracts been signed? Check. Has there been an official press conference to announce the fight to the public? Check. Have tickets gone on sale? Check. Does the Promotion have a name? Umm, next question.

By Dr. Margaret Goodman: When a past-his-prime Roy Jones Jr. faces Bernard Hopkins at Nevada’s Mandalay Bay on April 3rd, there will be lots of blame to go around. But, none bare as much responsibility as the Nevada State Athletic Commission, who will demonstrate they have become a shadow of their former self by licensing Jones to compete.

By Thomas Hauser: This is a column I’d rather not write. But I chronicle the contemporary boxing scene, and I’d be less than honest if I didn’t write it.

By Jason Pribila: When we last saw welterweight contender Joshua Clottey, he was on the short end of a split decision loss to Miguel Cotto in his bid to win the WBO welterweight title. It was a fight that could have gone either way, but while many felt Clottey deserved the decision, most agreed that his lack of aggression down the stretch cost him the bout and title.

By Matthew Hurley: It took nearly 16 months but Sugar Shane Mosley finally got the big fight he had been pining for since destroying Antonio Margarito way back in January of 2009. The fact that his bout against Floyd Mayweather on May 1st comes as something of a consolation prize for jaded fight fans in the aftermath of the disintegration of the proposed Mayweather – Manny Pacquiao fight should really be a non-issue.

By Thomas Hauser: Don Elbaum telephoned last week to spread a message: Boxing fans should no longer be depressed about the demise of Pacquiao-Mayweather. A new mega-fight is on the horizon.

By John Lumpkin: The other day there was an article published by Allan Scotto entitled “Boxing Sucks” where the author concluded that we should blame Bob Arum. The article attributed a quote to Arum that plainly stated Arum’s lack of interest in serving the boxing consumer as perfect evidence of why the young consumer is turning to MMA instead of boxing. Whether Arum said it or not, the premise is correct. If one does not serve the customers, the business will die.

By Paul Upham: Now that the contracts for the May 1 Floyd Mayweather Jr-Shane Mosley welterweight boxing match have been signed, SecondsOut can reveal a stunning component of their agreement. In signing off on the deal, Mosley has given Mayweather complete control over the drug testing to be implemented, apart from any testing that is required by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

By Thomas Hauser: Two days before Manny Pacquiao fought Miguel Cotto, I talked with Alex Ariza, who has been Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach since early 2008. When I asked what it was like to work with an athlete of Manny’s caliber, Ariza shook his head in wonder.

By Matthew Hurley: Jermain Taylor’s announcement that he would bow out of Showtime’s Super Six Word Boxing Classic in the wake of his vicious knockout loss to Arthur Abraham came as a relief.

By Thomas Hauser: Late last year, the Secret Service was embarrassed by the revelation that an uninvited couple had worked their way past security checkpoints and been photographed with Barack Obama at a White House state dinner honoring the Prime Minister of India. Been there, done that. Sort of.

By Thomas Hauser: A tip of the hat to two men who deserve it. Whenever there’s a big fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nathan Lee and La Mont Starks can be found sitting at a desk outside the media center.

By Clive Bernath: Art Hafey is one of life’s nice people. In fact being such a nice down to earth humble guy may have cost him a shot at the world featherweight title.

By Thomas Hauser: Each year during the holiday season, I publish a “top forty” list of what I consider to be the best books on boxing. That list, updated to accommodate recently published titles, follows. Some of these books are now out of print. But with the proliferation of online services like Abebooks.com and Amazon.com, all of them can be found.

By Thomas Hauser: Thanksgiving and Christmas came early for boxing this year. The November 14th mega-match between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto was the biggest and most important fight of 2009. Think of it as a holiday festival with Pacquiao in the role of Santa Claus. Or maybe Manny is better characterized as a non-stop Energizer Easter Bunny, whose fists exploded like Fourth of July fireworks and turned Cotto’s face into a gruesome Halloween mask.

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.

Jerry Glick reporting: HBO had a great show on Saturday night that was marred by yet another bad decision. This time it was a draw between unbeaten former two division champion Joan Guzman and Ali Funeka at the Pepsi Coliseum in Québec City, Québec, Canada.

By Jason Pribila: The story of Manny Pacquiao – Miguel Cotto did not end when the bout was waved off 55 seconds into the final round. The aftermath has created a buzz that has spread well beyond the sport of boxing and has captured the imagination of even casual sports fans.

By Matthew Hurley: After dismantling Miguel Cotto in customary exciting fashion the buzzing sellout crowd of over 16,000 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas began to chant, “We want Floyd! We want Floyd! We want Floyd!” And it wasn’t simply the delirious Filipino fans that had just witnessed their hero reach yet another plateau in his remarkable career; it was boxing fans in general.

By John Lumpkin: Manny Pacquiao’s victory over Miguel Cotto was not only entertaining, but hugely significant. As most fight fans are aware, Pacquiao began his career at 106 lbs and has captured world titles at 112,122, 130,135, 140 and now 147.

By Andy Rivera: Can you imagine some of the greatest fights in boxing history not being made if we had to deal with the catch weight issues we seem to have to deal with these days to make fights?

By Paul Upham: It is the biggest boxing match of the year and has the most intensive advertising and marketing plan. As hard as Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto are working in the gym to be ready for their Firepower battle on Saturday night November 14, behind the scenes at HBO a dedicated team has been working day and night with promoter Top Rank to sell the super-fight to the masses.

By Thomas Hauser: Another big fight week is here. All eyes are about to focus on Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto. Through it all, a soft-spoken man with a round face and neatly-groomed walrus mustache will be in the background, quietly doing his job.

By Zhenyu Li: "Western boxing in China is now revived!" More than two decades ago when Menghua Li, the Director of National Sports Committee declared in a resonant voice filling up the sky, it turned a whole new chapter in the story of Chinese western boxing.

By Thomas Hauser: Mike Tyson has always been a compelling presence. Many observers of the boxing scene think that, early in his career, he was a great fighter. Others (such as Dave Anderson, who called Tyson “a thug who got lucky”) take a contrary view. What’s beyond debate is that Tyson, like Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis before him, entered the national psyche. Everyone knew who he was and everyone had an opinion about him.

By Matthew Hurley : When the fight was announced the two combatants were coming off markedly different performances. One frighteningly dominant, the other a test of wills that came down to a scant few points on the judges scorecards. One fighter seemed to be leap-frogging the perilous climb to pound-for-pound supremacy while the other seemed to be finding slippery wet patches as he struggled onward and upward.

By Gerry Hand: It was one of those random questions you often get down the pub, especially when people know you like boxing. "Who was Ireland’s greatest ever boxer"? Straightforward enough until you actually have to decide upon it, but for me the answer came automatically.Steve Collins.

By Thomas Hauser: There was a time when big fights were chronicled in the New York Times with banner headlines in large type that stretched across the front page. Those days are long gone. Newspapers across the country are abandoning the sweet science. Like the sport itself, writing about boxing is fading from view. But the Times is America’s newspaper of record. Being slighted by the fabled “gray lady of journalism” cuts particularly deep.

Jerry Glick reporting: One of the hottest fights that is in danger of not happening is between two of the finest young fighters in the business today; Paul Malignaggi and Juan Diaz.

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.

By Thomas Hauser: HBO and boxing are at a crossroads. The first draft of the network’s overall budget for 2010 was presented in July. It called for a US$15,000,000 reduction for HBO Sports; a cut in excess of twenty percent. Then, during the first week of September, Michael Lombardo (president of HBO’s programming group and West Coast operations) further signaled senior management’s displeasure with the status quo.

By Jason Pribila: Floyd Mayweather Jr. returned to the ring following a 21-month hiatus in an attempt to reclaim his crown as boxing’s best fighter pound for pound. He chose Juan Manuel Marquez, a natural junior lightweight, as his opponent.

By John Lumpkin: After watching the Mayweather Marquez contest, HBO questioned the wisdom of jumping weight classes and began to rethink Pacquiao’s chances against Cotto. It is valid question and one that probably should have been asked a long time ago, but there are critical differences which make Pacquiao far more likely to succeed at a higher weight class than Marquez.

By Thomas Hauser: When the bell rings, Manny Pacquiao’s eyes turn to burning coals. His ring skills have made him what Steve Kim calls “the Filipino version of Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, and the Beatles.” Pacquiao carried the Filipino flag at the opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He’s the only Filipino boxer to appear on a postage stamp. Earlier this year, Time Magazine listed him among its “100 most influential people” in the world.

By Matthew Hurley: You are universally acknowledged as a great fighter. A certain first ballot hall-of-famer. Yet you remain, somehow, under appreciated.

By Thomas Hauser: On November 14th, on the pay-per-view undercard of the mega-fight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, 29-year-old Yuri Foreman will challenge Daniel Santos for the World Boxing Association 154-pound crown.

By Zhenyu Li in Beijing, China: China has a centuries-old boxing history, yet it’s rather different from boxing today.The history of Chinese boxing dates back to 3.7 thousand years ago when China was in the Late Shang Dynasty. It’s one of the subjects for military training conducted by aristocrats.

By Paul Upham: While they have other important fights in front of them before the end of the year, one of the matches boxing fans would most like to see in 2010 is Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Hall of Fame legend Sugar Ray Leonard says that is the sort of fight which can help lift boxing back to where it once stood at the top of mainstream sport.