Quick Jabs: Nobuo Nashiro – Hugo Cazares Video; Super Six Tournament Art Photos; Head-Scratching Victor Ortiz Interview; The Big Mac Excuse; More [UPDATED]

Dunno if you saw, but we settled things in the open thread on the whole book/movie club, if you care to participate. The book this month is “Irish Thunder,” the Micky Ward bio. It’s not hard to find. Just type the words “Irish Thunder” and “Micky Ward” into Google. Buy it now. We’ll talk about that book, and movie club, at the next open thread around Nov. 1…

Also duno if you saw that I updated my Thomas Hauser/HBO blog entry to reflect new information. Short of it is: Another, reputable reporter has cast doubt on the piece…

I don’t even really know where to start with this bizarre Victor Ortiz interview. I’d think the junior welterweight prospect had cracked under the pressure. A shattered wrist? Huh? Marcos Maidana doesn’t want a rematch? Really? I root for the kid to be OK, but it’s just kind of strange…

I’ve lost track of who’s winning the fight to promote junior lightweight Robert Guerrero — I’ve read endless stories and received tons of news releases. The short of it is that Guerrero seems to want to stick with his new promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, and wants to stay away from his old promoter, Goossen Tutor, but the courts may have a different idea of whether he can. I don’t even care enough to try to referee it; the only reason I bring it up is because it could have an effect on whether Guerrero fights again this year as scheduled. More on that in a moment…

Beleagured lightweight Edwin Valero — and his mommy — have denied any domestic abuse occured, as opposed to the police reportedly charging him with assaulting his mother. As with all law and order issues, I pass no judgment of guilt or innocence here. Others, not so much. As is Jorge Barrios’ wont, he took the occasion to trash talk Valero and say he would put up more of a fight than Valero’s mum…

The fallout continues from a scandal at the California State Athletic Commission involving friends of commissioners getting free tickets and stuff. Another member of the state boxing panel has resigned. The CSAC just seems to be permanently dysfunctional. I’m not sure I can remember the last time some CSAC scandal wasn’t in the news…

Two pieces of Vitali Klitschko news: His fight with heavyweight Chris Arreola generated the top ratings on HBO this year, according to a news release from promoter K2, although I strongly suspect a big part of the reason was because there was a replay of the welterweight bout between Floyd Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez. Also, Klitschko might want to fight in Mexico. Given that one of Klitschko’s possible future opponents is Oleg Maskaev, that idea of two Soviet Union products going at it south of the border is so surreal I absolutely want it to happen…

If you were skeptical of tonight’s ShoBox main event featuring super middleweight Allan Green, you might want to get more skeptical still when you learn (as you are about to now if you haven’t sooner) that opponent Tarvis Simms had trouble making weight. And maybe this picture will make you a bit skeptical, too. Maybe…

Round And Round

I’d been going back and forth about the fallout over Diaz-Malignaggi II, but I’m siding more with Malignaggi these days. One of the main reasons I’d backed Diaz is because I didn’t think the lightweight should have to compromise on weight, as the victor of the first bout. His side wan
ts it to be 138.5 pounds, same as before. But then Golden Boy put out a news release mentioning junior welterweight Ricky Hatton as a potential future opponent, along with a Marquez rematch, a Joan Guzman fight, an Ali Funeka fight and a Guerrero fight. Hatton ain’t coming down to 138.5. So, setting aside the rather impassioned rhetoric from Malignaggi — a neutral site is all he deserves as far as compromising, as far as I’m concerned, not ring size or purse split or any of it — and I have to say that if anyone’s at fault for not making this fight happen, it’s Diaz.

Clottey’s opponent hunt just keeps stretching on and on. It turns out Kermit Cintron turned him down for Dec. 5, which if you ask me was a bad idea from Mr. Cintron, who was concerned about how close it would be to an easy fight in Puerto Rico in late October. Lame. Even lamer is that Carlos Quintana, on that same card with Cintron (which will be on pay-per-view in the U.S.), is said to be willing to take the Clottey fight. Good for Quintana. On the side, Cintron is targeting Daniel Santos in an all-PR fight, while Quintana also has spoken of wanting to fight Sergio Martinez and Antonio Margarito. All of those are fine with me, except Margarito, whom the sport ought to ban permanently for his cheating scandal earlier this year. Other potential Clottey opponents, in descending order of interestingness, include Kendall Holt (a junior welterweight who’s not so interested because he wants a title shot against Juan Urango); Luis Abregu; and Jesus Soto Karass.

[UPDATED: Per WF in the comments below, Cintron said in the interview in question, which I only read a summary of rather than the interview itself, that Top Rank wanted him to drop his PR fight in order to take the Clottey fight. If that’s true, then his decision is more defensible.]

YURIORKIS GAMBOA!, one of my favorites, wants to fight fellow featherweights Chris John or Rafael Marquez. One of those fights should happen. Both are excellent. Do it, boxing.

You remember that “spectacular” Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto (145 pounds, Nov. 14) undercard we were promised? It just got so much more spectacular! I’m lying. It’ll feature Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fighting Troy Rowland, who is about as good or worse than anyone Chavez has fought of late, which shows how silly anybody was to think that talk of stepping Chavez up against better opposition was imminent.

So if Guerrero gets his promotional situation worked out, he’ll fight in in December in what promises to be a very good bout with Rocky Martinez. I told you I’d return to this.

Middleweight prospect Fernando Guerrero is taking on Ossie Duran Oct. 10 in what looks to be his toughest fight so far. It’s in Salisbury, Md., which isn’t as close to me as I’d like it to be, otherwise I’d probably go watch it in person.

I’m so sick of talking about Shane Mosley-Andre Berto (welterweight), that I don’t even care that much that it looks like a go Jan. 30 on HBO.

What a “special eliminator” is or how the WBC came to think a fight between heavyweight also-rans Ray Austin and Davrryl Williamson was worthy of fighting anyone, I cannot dream up in my wildest imagination. Unicorns existing: I can kind of see it. Austin-Williamson in a special eliminator?: I don’t get it.

(Round And Round sourcing: BoxingTalk; ESPN; Maxboxing; BoxingScene; news releases)