Floyd Mayweather Jr. Returns to Boxing

Floyd Mayweather Jr. Returns to BoxingFloyd Mayweather Jr. insists it's not all about the money. Not totally, anyway.

"I guess I just missed boxing," Mayweather said Saturday. "Somebody's got to keep the sport up and running. Why not me?"

That was the question Mayweather asked himself as he took a break from the sport that has consumed his life from the time he learned to walk. He wasn't gone long, but his 11-month retirement was enough to make him realize that he wanted to fight -- and fight a lot more.

"I'm still the biggest draw in boxing," Mayweather said. "Everybody wants to fight me because they know I'm the cash cow."

Mayweather will return to the ring July 18 in a fight against lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, who will move up two weight classes to get his share of the riches a Mayweather fight can produce. It will be his first fight since he stopped Ricky Hatton in the 10th round of their December 2007 bout.

"I left on top, and I came back on top," Mayweather said. "I'm here to fight and reclaim what's mine."

Indeed, when Mayweather announced his retirement last June he was generally regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, an honour now mainly given Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather's decision to retire instead of fighting a rematch against Oscar De La Hoya led to Pacquiao getting the shot that he capitalized on.

Mayweather announced his comeback plans in a theatre at the MGM Grand hotel, just hours before Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton met in a 140-pound fight in the hotel's arena.

Mayweather, should he beat Marquez, could get the winner of Saturday's fight in the fall, but he wasn't planning to stick around and watch it.

"I'm taking my daughter bowling tonight," he said.

Mayweather, who is unbeaten in 39 fights, brushed off questions about the state of his finances, saying he made US$8 million last year without having a fight and that the rumours he was in financial difficulty were just that. But the lure of many more millions was in the back of his mind as he began sparring once again in recent weeks, the itch to fight returning.

Mayweather was always well known in boxing, but it was the HBO reality series "24/7" featuring his dysfunctional family before his fight with De La Hoya that really cemented his fame. He took advantage of it to appear as a contestant on "Dancing With The Stars," made an appearance as a wrestler in Wrestlemania and currently appears in an AT&T television commercial.

"I bring the most controversy to the sport," the 32-year-old said. "The others are too nice. This is a brutal sport."

Mayweather and his advisers were coy about the contract weight for the Marquez fight, saying it would be a welterweight bout. But De La Hoya, who will be promoting the fight, said it calls for a 143-pound limit instead of the 147-pound welterweight limit.

That was a concession to Marquez, who just last year weighed 129 pounds for a fight against Pacquiao and has only fought twice as a lightweight. Though moving up in weight, Marquez is still considered a dangerous opponent, and many thought he won both his fights against Pacquiao.

Jean Pascal vs. Adrian Diaconu

Local grudge matches have a long history in Montreal boxing, but next month's Jean Pascal-Adrian Diaconu bout has one big difference -- a world title is on the line.

The sturdy Diaconu will defend his WBC light heavyweight belt for the first time on June 19 when he takes on the slick and gifted Pascal at what should be a large crowd at the Bell Centre.

It will also be the first time that rival promoters InterBox, who handle Diaconu, and Groupe Yvon Michel, who manage Pascal, will pit their fighters against one another.

"We're hoping it will break all records," Michel said Tuesday. "We'd be satisfied with less, but that fight has all the ingredients to be the most salable fight ever here."

The Bell Centre was packed in the late 1990s as Dave Hilton Jr. fought three times with Stephane Ouellet, and the Hilton-Mario Cusson battles of the early 1980s at the Forum were also big draws. Donato Paduano, Eddie Melo and others had successful local bouts in the 1970s and 1980s.

But they were all for Canadian titles or other minor belts.

"Now we have a confrontation that is not only the best contrast we've ever seen here, but the winner will be world champion and might rule that division for a long time, especially if it's Jean Pascal who wins," said Michel.

Diaconu (26-0) is a stocky five-foot-nine bull of a fighter who likes to come out swinging and overpower opponents. The 30-year-old is from Romania, but has fought out of Montreal since 2001. He has had only one tune-up bout in the past year and inactivity may work against him.

The Haitian-born Pascal (22-1) suffered his first loss despite a valiant showing to WBC super-middleweight champion Carl Froch in England in December, but bounced back with a fifth-round knockout of Pablo Nievas on April 4. A quick-handed showman, Pascal will be moving up one weight class.

"Both guys are explosive, bellicose, aggressive people,"added Michel. "We have stylist who likes to put on a show, and we have a no-compromises guy who tries to kill no matter how much energy he spends every round.

"So is it going to last 12 rounds? I don't know. Both seem to have strong chins but with both, their offence is also their defence, so it might last three rounds like Tommy Hearns and Marvin Hagler. But people still say that was one of the best fights ever."

Both fighters and their entourages attended a news conference at the Montreal Casino, a sponsor they have in common.

It was unusual to see InterBox people like IBF super-middleweight champ Lucian Bute and super-featherweight Benoit Gaudet, just back from his failed bid for the WBC belt in Las Vegas on Saturday, in the same room with GYM's Herman Ngoudjo and Sebastien Demers.

When InterBox was formed in the 1990s, it was managed by Michel, who left to form his own company when it went bankrupt and was taken over by its top fighter, Eric Lucas, and Groupe Sportscene, which owns the La Cage aux Sports restaurant chain.

GYM keeps a large stable of fighters and puts on at least one show per month, while InterBox has only a handful of boxers and has four or five fight cards per year.

Both say they were never averse to having their fighters go against one another, it's just that the opportunity never arose.

It was New York-based agent Don Majesky, a matchmaker for both companies, who suggested the Diaconu-Pascal showdown when veteran Silvio Branco's promoter cancelled a scheduled title fight with Diaconu in Italy.

Both sides decided to try it.

"We're a small company and boxing is not our main business," said La Cage aux Sports and InterBox boss Jean Bedard. "We were very concentrated on Lucian Bute's career.

"The plan was to bring him to a world championship. We're there now. It's going well and now we have time to do other things."

He said the two promoters, 50-50 partners in the show, each will try to bring their regular customers and sponsors. Conflicts are solved by negotiation. GYM's Christian Gauthier will be ring announcer, for instance, while InterBox got preference for its beer sponsor Coors.

Bedard said he would be happy to draw as well as a regular Bute fight, or about 15,000, but they hope for more between Pascal's fans and Diaconu's following, which includes many from the city's large Romanian community.

The Bell Centre holds about 22,000 for boxing, and a full house would bring revenue of about $1.8 million, which would make it one of the most financially successful shows ever in the city. The fight will also be sold on pay-per-view in Canada.

There will be no secrets between the fighters, who have watched each other for years. In 2004, Diaconu briefly served as a sparring partner while Pascal was preparing to compete for Canada at the 2004 Olympics.

"After a couple of sessions of sparring, he just disappeared," Pascal recalled. "He knows why and I know why, so if I can do the same thing that I did in 2004, it's going to be an explosive fight and I should win."

Pascal also fired the first jab, pointing out that he represented Canada, while Diaconu boxed for Romania at the 2000 Games.

Diaconu, who had two title defences cancelled in the past year, once because he broke a hand during training, wasn't ready for trash talk just yet.

"I need a strong guy to fight," he said. "With a strong guy, I make money, I make history, I make glory.

"And no matter what happens, the belt stays here."

Paul Williams Defeats Winky Wright

If Paul Williams thought the world's top boxers were scared of him before, just wait until they see the holes he punched in Winky Wright's once-impenetrable defence.

Williams worked Wright like a heavy bag with hundreds of relentless blows, earning an emphatic victory by unanimous decision Saturday night in a meeting of two much-avoided middleweights.

In his first main-event bout in boxing's capital city, Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) pounded at Wright's famed defensive posture from the opening bell. The Augusta, Ga., native was simply masterful, systematically breaking down the former champion in Wright's return from a 21-month ring absence.

With so many punches to block, Wright (51-5-1) simply didn't have time to land enough scoring blows against his much taller, longer opponent. Williams barely appeared tired by the closing bell, chasing Wright around the ring up to the final seconds while anticipating what his biggest win yet will do for his blossoming career.

"I felt like I did in the first round in the 12th," Williams said. "That was because of my hard training, and running seven miles a day. It helped my breathing."

His dominant performance should leave any future opponents a bit short of breath. Although Williams considers himself a 147-pound welterweight, he had no problem moving up to 160 -- and he'll fight anywhere in between.

The Mandalay Bay Events Center was half-full, but those fans now understand why Williams might be the sport's most intriguing talent. Williams threw 104 punches in the first round and 106 in the 12th, rarely taking a break in between.

Judges Jerry Roth and Robert Hoyle favoured Williams 119-109, while Adalaide Byrd gave every round to Williams, 120-108. The Associated Press had Williams winning 118-111.

Williams threw an astonishing 1,086 punches, connecting with 23 per cent, while Wright managed just 511. Nearly two-thirds of Williams' punches were power shots, gradually taking an inexorable toll on Wright.

Just in case any fight fans wondered why none of the world's top welterweights or middleweights are interested in fighting Williams, the biggest reason loomed large against Wright: Williams' six-foot-one frame -- which appears much rangier in the ring -- gives him automatic leverage on nearly anybody in his weight classes, putting him in an elevated position for every exchange.

"I just couldn't get my punches off," Wright said. "He was very tall and awkward with really long arms. He would throw a lot of punches, and they were coming from all different directions, and I didn't know how to dodge them. I had a long layoff, but I felt this was a great fight."

In his first fight since losing a decision to Bernard Hopkins in the same ring in July 2007, Wright still had the strong defences that made him one of the sport's least pleasant opponents for a decade -- but they weren't enough. For every counterpunching shot landed by Wright, Williams constantly replied with elaborate combinations, forcing Wright to retreat again.

Wright's left eye swelled nearly shut by the 11th round, making his corner's pleas for a knockout pretty much pointless.

Wright hadn't been in the ring since his disappointing 170-pound loss to Hopkins, whose technical wizardry was more than Wright could handle. While Wright spent the next year welcoming his son's birth and hitting the casinos on fight nights, he didn't seem particularly eager to fight again -- an opinion underscored by rumours he had rejected several possible bouts on financial terms.

Wright insists he never considered quitting, but couldn't get a significant fight from Kelly Pavlik, Jermain Taylor or the other big names around his weight. He finally agreed to take on Williams in an HBO fight that should pay both men more than US$1 million.

"This is definitely not my last fight," Wright said. "I'm definitely coming back. I had a long layoff, and I'm definitely not going to wait that long again. He threw a lot of punches, but it was a great fight."

Williams hasn't had the luxury of being choosy: His almost freakish ability to move among classes without losing power makes him an unpleasant matchup at 147, 154 and 160 pounds. That's why he's been relegated to second-tier showcases at Indian casinos and undercard fights until Wright accepted this bout.

Williams has lost just once, in a decision to Carlos Quintana in February 2008, and he avenged it with a first-round knockout of Quintana four months later.

"This has to put him right up there with the pound-for-pound best today," said Williams' promoter, Dan Goossen, who has been frustrated by the top welterweights' unwillingness to take on his prize prospect. "I mean, he's a (welterweight), and there was no ring rust on Winky. Winky looked tremendous and took some great shots, and came back with some of his own."

Since both fighters are used to rejection, each praised the other for accepting the bout in the weeks leading up to it. They embraced at Friday's weigh-in, both spoke reverently of each other afterward.

"I expected Winky to throw big shots, and he did," Williams said. "We went 12 hard rounds. I anticipated that it was going to be a tough fight."

Oscar De La Hoya Retires from Boxing

Oscar De La Hoya called it quits in the ring Tuesday, ending a career in which he won 10 world titles in six divisions and became boxing's most popular fighter.

He announced his decision at an outdoor plaza across the street from Staples Center, where a statue of the 36-year-old Golden Boy stands.

"I've come to the conclusion that it's over," the East Los Angeles native said before hundreds of fans, including comedian George Lopez and Oscar-nominated actor and former fighter Mickey Rourke. "It's over inside the ring for me."

De La Hoya retires four months after he was thoroughly beaten by Manny Pacquiao, his fourth loss in his last seven fights. He has not defeated a formidable opponent since Fernando Vargas in 2002. Age and diminished skills led to losses in recent years to Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley, Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

He won his last title in May 2006, beating Ricardo Mayorga in six rounds for the WBC 154-pound belt. He finished with a record of 39-6 and 30 knockouts.

"This is the love of my life, boxing is my passion, boxing is what I was born to do," De La Hoya said. "When I can't do it anymore, when I can't compete at the highest level, it's not fair. It's not fair to me, it's not fair to the fans, it's not fair to nobody."

De La Hoya transcended his sport, generating crossover appeal among Latinos and whites. He was especially popular among women, who filled his news conferences and fights while screaming their approval of the boxer blessed with a magnetic smile and movie-star looks.

De La Hoya said he based his decision on not wanting to let down his fans or himself. But he admitted he struggled to end things.

"Now I understand why athletes have such a tough time retiring from something that you feel so passionate about, from your sport that you're always thinking you can try one more time," he said.

"I can still train hard and I can still compete, but when you're an athlete that has competed on the highest level for a lot of years, it's not fair. It's not fair to step inside the ring and not give my best."

Although the second half of his career wasn't as successful, De La Hoya was a champ at the ticket window. His bouts were guaranteed pay-per-view successes, and he was a cash cow for HBO, which broadcast 32 of his fights -- most of any boxer -- and generated millions in profits for the cable network.

De La Hoya's last title bout was in May 2007, when he lost to Mayweather for the WBC 154-pound title in Las Vegas, the site of most of his bouts.

De La Hoya kept a stern expression during his announcement, his voice breaking only when he thanked his father, Joel, who sat on the stage with the boxer's wife, Millie Corretjer, a Puerto Rican singer.

"I remember the times when he would take me to the gym and never gave up on me," De La Hoya said. "We've lived some tough moments inside the ring, we've been through everything, but my father was always there for me. Thank you for pushing me as hard as you can."

De La Hoya began boxing at age five, following in the path of his grandfather and father. He won an Olympic gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Games, delivering on a promise to his late mother, Cecilia, who died of breast cancer two years earlier. It was that performance that launched his pro career.

De La Hoya will stay involved in the sport as a promoter with his successful Golden Boy Promotions company. He had been juggling the roles of boxer and promoter in the last few years, preparing for his eventual retirement.

He began his pro career against Lamar Williams on Nov. 23, 1992, in nearby Inglewood, winning with a first-round knockout while fighting at 133 pounds. When he lost to Pacquiao in Las Vegas on Dec. 6, De La Hoya fought at 147.

His last victory came against Steve Forbes on May 3, 2008, in Los Angeles, where he won in 12 rounds at 150.

"I am very happy for Oscar and his family," Pacquiao said in a statement. "I think he made the correct decision. Fighters of my generation owe him a great debt.

"I wish him nothing but the best."

In keeping with his Mexican roots, De La Hoya followed his announcement with comments in Spanish.

De La Hoya has donated money to fund a hospital wing named for his late mother and a charter high school downtown that bears his name.

"It hurts me that he's not going to fight no more," said Dian Romero, a 16-year-old student who heard about the boxer's retirement on the school's campus. "I really appreciate him in my life. Because of him, I'm hopefully going to college."

Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye

Wladimir Klitschko's defence of his heavyweight title against David Haye on June 20 will be staged at Schalke's soccer stadium.

The arena in Gelsenkirchen, where Schalke plays its Bundesliga matches, seats 61,673 for football and has a retractable roof that can be closed in 20 minutes. It will be the fist fight to be staged there.

"I've always wanted to fight in a football stadium before such a large audience," said Wladimir Klitschko, who holds the IBF and WBO heavyweight titles.

Bernd Boente, managing director of Klitschko's management group, called it one of the "most attractive and modern" stadiums in Europe, a "gigantic arena."

Haye is a British former cruiserweight world champion who could win the heavyweight title in only his second fight at that division.

Klitschko stopped Hasim Rahman in seven rounds in his last defence in December and hasn't lost in more than four years to build a 52-3 record to Haye's 22-1.

Haye moved up a division more than a year ago after unifying the cruiserweight titles by knocking out Enzo Maccarinelli in two rounds. He knocked out Monte Barrett in five rounds in November in his first heavyweight outing.

Confident that he will beat Wladimir, Haye has pledged to then go after his older brother Vitali Klitschko, the WBC champion.

Timothy Bradley Defeats Kendall Holt

Timothy Bradley got up from a first-round knockdown to score a unanimous decision over Kendall Holt to unify two titles in the light welterweight division in a fast-paced boxing battle before 7,530 early Sunday morning at the Bell Centre.

Bradley (24-0) added Holt's WBO title to his own WBC belt in the unification bout between two Americans. Holt dropped to 25-3.

Two judges had it 115-11 and other 114-112 for Bradley. The Canadian Press scored it 115-112 for the stocky Bradley, who was the aggressor throughout the 12-round fight.

The bout, televised on U.S. premium channel Showtime, did not begin until after midnight ET. Those who stayed saw Holt catch Bradley with a right during a first-round flurry and send him to the canvas.

But the Palm Springs, Calif., fighter shook it off and won the next two rounds, attacking the body at every chance. By the seventh he had taken control.

"My game plan was to break him down by going to the body," said Bradley. "He keeps his hands high. I wanted to keep the pressure on him and not let him think. If you let him think, he'll give you trouble."

Holt rallied in the 12th and had Bradley in enough trouble that referee Mike Griffin gave him an eight-count for a knockdown, but he got back up and it didn't affect the outcome.

"In the first round, he got me with a left hook and he stung me," said Bradley. "I was a little numb, but I just listened to my corner, got up and said 'Hey, we got to get it going.' I got up at the count of eight and I was fine."

Despite the close result, Holt blamed himself for the defeat.

"I had a minor setback. I didn't do some things my trainers wanted. It was a great strategy. But if I got outworked, I'm to blame. Kendall Holt will be back."

The main event had two of the top Americans in the 140-pound division, each hoping a win will bring a big-money bout against a star like Ricky Hatton or Manny Pacquiao.

Bradley, 25, won his belt the hard way - going to England to earn a split decision over the talented Junior Witter last May. He defended it in September with a 12-round decision over Edner Cherry.

The 27-year-old Holt lost his first bid for the WBO title when he was stopped in the 11th round in Comombia by Riccardo Torres in 2007, but he won it less than a year later when he floored Torres in only 61 seconds in Las Vegas. Holt also had made one defence, a decision in December over Demetrius Hopkins in Atlantic City.

In the co-feature, crowd favourite Librade Andrade knocked down Vitali Tsypko of Ukraine twice en route to a thorough 12-round unanimous decision victory in an IBF super-middleweight elimination bout.

With the win, the Mexican-born Andrade (28-2) for the second time becomes mandatory challenger to IBF champion Lucian Bute of Montreal, a bout expected to be held in the fall. Tsypko (22-3) went down in the second and seventh rounds, but got up right away each time.

Two judges scored it 117-109 while the third gave Andrade a clean sweep at 120-106. The Canadian Press saw it much closer at 115-111.

"He countered well, but I timed him," said Andrade "It was good that I dropped him a couple of times. I don't think he's been dropped before."

The lefthanded Tsypko counter-punched against the relentlessly advancing Andrade, but his stiff lefts didn't faze his stocky opponent, who trains in Montreal under Howard Grant and who was greeted with a long ovation from the crowd.

The small Ukrainian contingent were chanting his name when Andrade caught him moving forward with a right that sent him to the floor in the second.

A couple of stiff blows had Tsypko down again in the seventh, although he recovered enough to get back to jabbing and sneaking in surprise lefts for the next two rounds.

Andrade dominated the last two rounds and looked to be about to floor him again, but Tsypko managed to clinch and stop the onslaught.

In the crowd was Bute, who won a controversial unanimous decision over Andrade at the Bell Centre on Oct. 24 despite being flattened in the dying seconds of the 12th and final round. Some felt Bute benefited from a long count by referee Marlon Wright, although he got up easily inside 10 seconds to secure the win.

"Andrade fought a good fight - very spectacular," said Bute "He took a lot of shots but he resisted them. It was the same sort of fight he gave me."

Another feature bout saw WBC light heavyweight champion Adrian Diaconu (26-0) of Montreal struggle to an eight-round unanimous decision over David Whittom (10-8-1) of Quebec City in an eight-round non-title bout.

Diaconu, fighting at more than 10 pounds over his usual weight, has not fought in nearly a year since winning his belt and the ring rust was evident as he outboxed Whittom but lacked the speed and crispness in his shots to put him down.

Talks are underway to have Diaconu defend his title in June against Jean Pascal of Montreal, who won the WBO Intercontinental super-middleweight title on Saturday afternoon with a fifth-round knockout of Pablo Nievas of Argentina at the Montreal Casino.

Diaconu was to have faced Silvio Branco in Rome next week, but the fight card was cancelled by its European promoter.

A weak undercard saw bantamweight Sebastien Gauthier ( 17-1) of St. Jerome, Que, stop hapless Martin Huppe (1-11) in the fourth round and featherweight Pier-Olivier Cote win in four over Luis Acevedo (7-7) of Mexico. Middleweight Paul Clavette (15-2-1) of Longuieuil, Que. also stopped Jacques Lemaire (6-8) on Montreal in four rounds.

The show was originally to include Benoit Gaudet (20-1) of Drummondville, Que. but he withdrew when talks began toward a first world title attempt on May 2 in Las Vegas against Humberto Soto for the WBC super featherweight (130-pound) title.

Vitali Klitschko Defeats Juan Carlos Gomez

Ukraine's Vitali Klitschko stopped Cuban defector Juan Carlos Gomez in the ninth round to retain his WBC heavyweight title Saturday.

The 37-year-old Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs), whose younger brother Wladimir holds the WBO and IBF heavyweight belts, scored three knockdowns in the fight, the last one coming at 1:49 of the ninth round when the bout was stopped for the final time by referee Daniel Van de Wiele.

This marked Klitschko's first title defense of the belt he captured in October over Samuel Peter. Klitschko had been out of boxing for the previous four years, but decided to come out of retirement.

Gomez (44-2), a 35-year-old southpaw and former WBC cruiserweight champion, was coming off a 12-round unanimous decision over Vladimir Virchis in a WBC heavyweight title eliminator bout last September.

By the fifth round it was apparent the 6-foot-7 Klitschko was wearing down his opponent, as the Gomez's right eye was swollen with blood trickling from the side.

The only real trouble for Klitschko was a cut above his hairline that drew blood in the sixth round.

In the seventh round, Klitschko landed a solid right to the face to stun Gomez, who went to one knee, but got up to continue the bout. Klitschko then pounded away with more shots, almost landing at will to a wilted Gomez, but the Cuban continued to battle and barely made it through the round.

Gomez was hurt again late in round eight, and then there was a bad cut to his left eye in the ninth. Klitschko was deducted a point for a head butt that apparently opened that cut, but later in the round Gomez was stunned by a right hand and went to the canvas. Klitschko kept coming and Gomez crashed to the floor again and was clearly dazed before the bout came to a final halt.

Amir Khan Defeats Marco Antonio Barrera

Amir Khan's speedy punches saw off Marco Antonio Barrera in the fifth round of Saturday's lightweight bout, marking a turning point in his career six months after a major setback in the same arena.

The 22-year-old Brit won on a technical decision after a disciplined battering of the outclassed Mexican, who was covered in blood after a cut to his forehead in a clash of heads in the first round.

The tide of blood pouring down Barrera's head was never stemmed, and the ringside doctor eventually called a halt to the bout.

Khan's gamble to fight a seven-time world champion 13 years his senior paid off, with the 2004 Olympic silver medallist banishing memories of being humiliated by Breidis Prescott in 54 seconds last September in style in his 21st professional bout.

"This fight was make or break for me, but I felt so comfortable it seemed liked easy work catching him with the jabs," Khan said. "I'm happy with the performance. I mustn't have done much wrong in that fight."

Khan has been transformed by trainer Freddie Roach and sparring with pound-for-pound great Manny Pacquiao - sessions he felt were tougher in the end than the fight itself at MEN Arena.

"The jabbing and patience - I felt so strong. You could see the difference," Khan said. "I had to take some shots in that match. I made some mistakes in the past and I'm not going to make them again."

Now Khan wants a shot at a title by the end of the year, and promoter Frank Warren said he hopes to set it up.

"I proved to a lot of people how good I am and ended the criticism I've been getting," Khan added.

On the undercard, Ola Afolabi claimed a cruiserweight title by knocking out Enzo Maccarinelli, while Roman Martinez knocked out Nicky Cook to win a super-featherweight belt.

Afolabi's decisive right hook in the ninth round knocked out Maccarinelli (29-3), the Welshman who lost the WBO title to David Haye last March.

"I trained hard, was nice and fresh but I think my lack of sparring told," Maccarinelli said. "Take nothing away from Afolabi, I took him too lightly and I got beat."

Afolabi (14-1-3, 6 KOs), who was born in London of Nigerian parents but now lives near Los Angeles, won the belt Haye vacated when he moved up to heavyweight.

Earlier in the night, Martinez knocked out Cook in the fourth round to capture the WBO super-featherweight belt that Cook had held since September.

Cook was in control of his first defence until the Brit was floored by a left uppercut from Martinez (21-0-1, 13 KOs) in the fourth round.

Shortly after Cook got up from the canvas, the Puerto Rican mandatory challenger landed a powerful left hook. As Cook (29-2) struggled to get up again, referee Dave Parris called a halt.

Kelly Pavlik Defeats Marco Antonio Rubio

Kelly Pavlik successfully defended his WBC and WBO middleweight titles with a stoppage of Mexico's Marco Antonio Rubio.

The bout, staged in Pavlik's (35-1, 31 KOs) hometown, was stopped after nine rounds when Rubio (43-5-1) was no longer able to continue.

Pavlik's technical knockout win came nearly four months after he lost a 12- round unanimous decision to Bernard Hopkins in a non-title bout.

Rubio was clearly at a disadvantage as chants of "Kelly, Kelly!" revved up the hometown crowd, and Pavlik capitalized with good connections through the first five rounds.

The only highlight for Rubio came just before the bell at the conclusion of the sixth round, but Pavlik rocked his opponent throughout the eighth. In the last minute, a solid right landed by Pavlik put Rubio against the ropes and then the champion used the challenger as a punching bag.

The ninth brought more punishment for Rubio, whose corner then decided the fight couldn't go on.

Pavlik threw 695 punches, connecting on 146 of them, while Rubio threw 351 and hit on just 82 for the bout.

Juan Manuel Marquez Defeats Juan Diaz

Juan Manuel Marquez took care of Juan Diaz. Now he wants Floyd Mayweather Jr. Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) won the vacant WBA and WBO lightweight belts, plus Diaz's minor IBO title, by knocking out the Houston native with a right uppercut at 2:40 of the ninth round Saturday night.

The 35-year-old Marquez, a former featherweight and super-featherweight champion, was fighting at 135 pounds for only the second time in his 15-year professional career.

Moments after the victory, Marquez said he didn't want to stay in the lightweight division for long and wanted to challenge Mayweather, who was considered the pound-for-pound king when he retired last summer.

The unbeaten five-division champion said he no longer had the desire to fight, but every major contender anywhere near the welterweight division has been a rumoured opponent for him. And now Marquez thinks he's earned a shot.

"Who wouldn't want to see that fight?" Marquez said through an interpreter. "I'll fight him at 140, maybe a little above that. I want to fight the best, the very best."

Marquez has been trying for months to land one more fight with Manny Pacquiao, who will face Ricky Hatton on May 2. Marquez fought Pacquiao to a draw in May 2004, then lost a close decision in the rematch last March.

But Marquez says he's given up on Pacquiao, and now wants to focus on luring Mayweather out of retirement.

"I've been trying to get a third fight with Manny Pacquiao, but he doesn't want to fight me," Marquez said. "So I'm calling out the best, and that's Floyd Mayweather."

Marquez and Diaz both fight for Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions. De La Hoya backed Marquez's challenge, and believes Mayweather will fight again.

"Marquez wants to go for the best," De La Hoya said. "That's the fight he wants. We feel that, with Marquez, he is always going for that pound-for-pound title. If Mayweather comes back, then he would be fighting the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in Mayweather."

Diaz (34-2), meanwhile, collapsed in what he called the most important fight of his life. His other defeat was to Nate Campbell, whose WBA and WBO titles were stripped after he failed to make weight for his own defence two weeks ago.

Marquez opened a cut over Diaz's eye in the eighth round, then knocked him down twice in the ninth. He landed a hard right in the middle of the ring, the first of a four-punch combination that dropped the 25-year-old in his tracks.

Referee Rafael Ramos allowed the fight to continue, and Marquez moved in and connected with another right uppercut. When Diaz went down, Marquez ran to his corner and hopped onto the ropes, exhorting the thousands of Mexican fans in attendance.

"I was ready to leave my heart and my soul in that ring," Marquez said. "It was a great victory for me. It is one of the most important victories of my career."

Diaz won the early rounds, repeatedly backing Marquez into the ropes before hammering him with quick combinations. He snapped back Marquez's head with a hard left in the third, but Marquez fought out of the corner and connected with a right uppercut in the middle of the ring.

Diaz continued to force Marquez into the ropes and the Mexican fighter was constantly trying to punch out of trouble.

Marquez turned the momentum when he cut Diaz in the eighth, a similar situation to Diaz's bout against Campbell, when a cut seemed to change the entire fight.

Diaz acknowledged that the cut bothered him. "I got caught with a good punch. There was nothing I could do," he said. "I couldn't see out of my right eye."

Headlining the undercard, Chris John retained his WBA featherweight title by battling hometown hero Rocky Juarez to an entertaining draw.

An Indonesian making his North American debut, John (42-0-2) successfully defended his belt for the 11th time. He wanted to put on a good show in Houston to catapult himself into more fights - and bigger paydays - in the United States, and certainly didn't hurt his chances.

John seemed to take control of the fight in the middle rounds, but Juarez rallied to take the final two. All three judges scored the fight 114-114.

Juarez (28-4-1) failed to win a title fight for the fifth time. He lost to Marquez - who, incidentally, lost to John almost exactly three years ago - for the featherweight title in November 2007, then knocked out Jorge Barrios last September to set up another title shot.

Both fighters claimed victory afterward, and De La Hoya said he'd like set up an immediate rematch. John certainly seemed less bruised in the post-fight news conference. Juarez wore sunglasses to hide two swollen eyes.

"Look at my face - it's all right," John said with a smile. "Look at my opponent's face. You can judge."

Joe Calzaghe Retires from Boxing

Former super-middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe retired from boxing Thursday after winning all his 46 professional fights.

"I've got no other goals to go for," he said. "That's why I am calling it a day."

The 36-year-old Welshman outpointed Roy Jones Jr. in November in his last fight of a 16-year professional career.

Calzaghe held the WBO super middleweight world title for more than 10 years. He unified the title against Mikkel Kessler in April 2007, before moving up to light heavyweight to fight Bernard Hopkins and Jones.

"It was a difficult decision to make but I have achieved everything I wanted to achieve in boxing," he said. "I've been world champion for 11 years, unifying the super middleweight division, going to America and winning light heavyweight titles against great fighters like Hopkins and Roy Jones.

"I had a long think with my family. My children wanted me to give up, plus my mum. That's why I decided to call it a day and will go on to do something else."

Calzaghe said he was tempted to fight three more times to match Rocky Marciano's record of 49 wins from 49 fights, but said he lacked the hunger.

And there will be no comeback, he pledged.

"My decision is to retire," he said. "I've been boxing for 25 years and, like I said, I've achieved everything I want to achieve.

"You can never say never in this game, but I can't see myself boxing again. There's loads of things I want to do. I'm proud to be one of only a few fighters in history to retire undefeated."

Ruslan Chagaev Defeats Carl Davis Drumond

Ruslan Chagaev won a technical decision over Carl Davis Drumond on Saturday night in the Uzbekistan-born heavyweight's first fight in more than a year.

The WBA's "champion in recess," Chagaev was ahead of Drumond on points when referee Gustavo Padilla stopped the bout after the sixth round. An accidental headbutt had opened a nasty cut over Chagaev's swollen left eye, marring his vision.

Chagaev (25-0-1, 17 KOs) was taken to a hospital to treat the gash, and it was unclear how it would affect his upcoming schedule.

"It was a sad end to the fight," Chagaev said.

Drumond, from Costa Rica, kept trying to worsen the cut over Chagaev's eye but could not find a knockout opportunity. Drumond lost for the first time in 27 fights in front of 4,000 fans at Stadthalle in this northern German port city.

Judges Hector Afu and Paul Thomas had Chagaev ahead 58-56, while Jean-Louis Legland had him ahead 60-54.

Chagaev was the WBA champion when he bowed out of a rematch with Nikolai Valuev because of a ruptured Achilles' tendon. Valuev won the vacant title last August by beating John Ruiz, then defended it in December against former champion Evander Holyfield.

The 30-year-old Chagaev, because of his "champion in recess" status, must face Valuev by the end of June for the belt.

Chagaev won the WBA version of the title by beating Valuev in Stuttgart on April 14, 2007.

On the undercard, Andreas Kotelnik (31-2-1) of Ukraine defended his WBA junior welterweight title with a hard-fought split decision over Marcos Rene Maidana. It was Kotelnik's second defense of the title and the hard-hitting Argentine's first loss in 26 fights.

Two of the judges ruled in favor of Kotelnik 115-114 and 115-113, while the third called the fight for Maidana, 115-113.

"I had a very strong opponent," Kotelnik said. "He's a good, young prospect."

Also, Russian heavyweight Denis Boytsov improved to 24-0 with a second-round knockout of Israel Carlos Garcia.

Timothy Bradley vs. Kendall Holt

Undefeated WBC champion Timothy Bradley, Jr. will face WBO titleholder Kendall Holt in a light welterweight unification bout at the Bell Centre on April 4.

The fight between the two Americans will be the most significant boxing match held in the predominantly French-speaking city since Roberto Duran defeated Sugar Ray Leonard on June 20, 1980, to claim the welterweight title in the "Brawl in Montreal" at Olympic Stadium.

Bradley wore a Montreal Canadiens jersey with his name on the back when he was introduced at a press conference at the downtown arena Wednesday. Holt also had a personalized jersey from the city's famed NHL team slung over his shoulder.

Bradley (23-0, 11 knockouts) has already defended his title once since claiming the WBC belt with a surprising win over Junior Witter in Nottingham, England, last May 10.

"I really don't know too much about Montreal," Bradley said. "I'm just starting to get into hockey.

"I actually went out and bought the NHL '09 (video) game. I just know that the food here is great, the people are very multicultural, friendly and humble, and I like that spirit they have. They're very passionate about what they do and they're very passionate about their athletes."

Whereas the first Duran-Leonard fight was staged in Montreal because it was the site of Leonard's gold medal victory in the 1976 Olympics, there is no obvious local tie-in for holding the bout at the Bell Centre.

"Yeah, it's a big surprise, but one of my favourite fighters ever, Sugar Ray Leonard, fought here, so I'm happy to be fighting here," said Holt (25-2, 13 knockouts), who retained his WBO belt with a split decision over Demetrius Hopkins in Atlantic City, N.J., on Dec. 13.

The Paterson, N.J., native was originally scheduled to fight a rematch against Colombian Ricardo Torres in that bout.

Holt instead faced Hopkins - the nephew of former middleweight and light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins - when Torres decided he was too sick to make the 140-pound weight limit.

Even though Bradley remains undefeated, Holt said during a lively press conference that the WBC champ is "a little bit inexperienced for a champion."

"I'm coming forward. I'm coming to get him and he knows it," Bradley said. "He says he has more experience than I do - I honestly doubt that.

"I had over 140 amateur fights. I've been in the ring with some of the best fighters from around the world. He's never seen that. He's never faced that, ever."

Vic Darchinyan Defeats Jorge Arce

Vic Darchinyan predicted he eventually would put Jorge Arce away. It just went a little differently than he thought it would.

Undisputed super flyweight champion Darchinyan punished Arce with powerful lefts from the opening bell on his way to an 11th-round knockout Saturday night.

Darchinyan said before the title fight he didn't expect to put Arce away early, but that he would suddenly connect with a big left and that would end it.

That wasn't exactly how it played out, with Darchinyan constantly landing solid punches but Arce not only refusing to go down, but wading in and trying to land blows of his own. He usually didn't, but the champion was impressed.

''He surprised me. I didn't expect him to fight like he did,'' said Darchinyan, who lost only one round on each of the three judges' cards. ''He proved to me that he was tough and a good fighter. I hit him with some good shots and he kept fighting back.''

Darchinyan retained his WBA, WBC and IBF belts.

Arce's face was covered with blood and his knees were buckling as he took shots on the ropes in the closing seconds of the 11th round. The ring physician examined a gash near the fighter's right eye and determined he should not come out for the 12th.

''I don't know why the doctor stopped it,'' Arce said through a translator. ''Going into the last round, a fighter always has a chance to win.''

Darchinyan more likely would have finished him if he had answered the bell for the 12th.

''I would have liked to have knocked him out cold,'' Darchinyan said. ''If the fight goes on, maybe I knock him out. But it's OK the way it ended.''

Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 knockouts) began jolting Arce with both hooks and straight punches with his left hand in the first round, and continued hitting him squarely in the face the rest of the fight, mixing in a few straight rights that also found their target.

Although he was absorbing a stream of blows, Arce (51-5-1) was the aggressor most of the fight. But Darchinyan usually blocked his punches, then countered.

A native of Armenia who lives in Sydney, Australia, Darchinyan rocked his foe from Los Mochis, Mexico, several times.

Two judges had Arce winning only the third round, the other had him winning the fourth.

In a lightweight prelim, Antonio DeMarco of Tijuana, Mexico, stopped Almazbek Raiymkulov of Las Vegas. DeMarco (21-1-1, 15 KOs) was battering a bloodied and defenceless Raiymkulov (27-2-1, 15) on the ropes at the bell ending the ninth round, and Raiymkulov's corner said he could not continue.

Juan Urango Claims IBF Title

Hard-hitting Juan Urango scored two knockdowns in the second round and went on to claim the vacant IBF light welterweight boxing title on Friday night with a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Herman Ngoudjo of Montreal.

Urango (21-1-1) won the title for the second time in his career, taking the fight decisively on all three judges cards. Richard Green had it 118-108, Robert Doyle had it 120-106 and Pasquale Procopio 116-110. The Canadian Press scored it 115-111 for Urango.

The Colombian southpaw dropped Ngoudjo (17-3) twice in the third round, once with a left uppercut and again with a straight left to the jaw, but Ngoudjo gathered himself and was able to finish the bout.

The match may have been controversial had the scores been tighter, because the ringside timer inexplicably allowed the 10th round to drag on for five minutes 10 seconds.

Urango brought a straight-ahead style, not bothering to jab but to lead with hard left hands, while Ngoudjo tried to stay on the outside.

Ngoudjo has been knocking at the door of a world title for two years. He lost a split decision to veteran Jose Luis Castillo in 2007 and fell short on a close decision to Paul Malignaggi in his first bid for the IBF title on Jan. 5, 2008.

Urango won the title in 2006 with a 12-round decision over Naoufel Ben Rabah, but lost it on his first defence seven months later to Briton Ricky Hatton, who is still considered the world's top 140-pound fighter.

In the co-feature, Antonin Decarie (21-0) of Montreal dominated but couldn't put away American veteran Dorin Spivey (35-6) to hold his minor NABO welterweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision. Judges had it 119-105, 118-106 and 118-108, all for Decarie. Spivey was deducted two points for holding.

Light welterweight Ali Chebah decided to spice up his bout with a little physical comedy.

He skipped across the ring at one point, pretended to wobble when caught by punches at other times, and generally had the Bell Centre crowd on his side in his eight-round win by unanimous decision on Friday night.

''I think people pay to see a good show,'' said Chebah (29-1), a Rouen, France native now living in Montreal. ''To box like everyone else would be boring. I like to box in my own way.''

The bout was on the undercard of the IBF light welterweight title bout between Herman Ngoudjo of Montreal and Juan Urango of Colombia later Friday night.

Two judges scored it 78-74 for Chebah while a third had it 79-73.

Soriano (19-22) was a late replacement for Sakary Bako of Montreal, who withdrew last week. The 30-year-old landed some smart right hands early and looked to win the second and third rounds before Chebah's speed and accuracy took over and made it a one-sided encounter from then on.

In another bout, cruiserweight Lukasz Janik (12-0) of Poland stopped Martin Hudon (2-2-1) of Plessisville, Que., 40 seconds into the fourth and final round.

In preliminary bouts, 20-year-old middleweight David Lemieux (13-0) of Montreal faced his most experienced opponent to date in 39-year-old Rogelio Sanchez (17-20-4). Lemieux won when Sanchez did not answer the bell for the fourth round.

American light welterweight prospect Danny O'Connor improved to 3-0 as he was taken the four-round distance in a gritty effort by Greg Jiminez (0-1) of Toronto, who made his pro debut. O'Connor earned the unanimous decision.

Humberto Soto Wins WBC Featherweight Title

Humberto Soto captured the vacant WBC super featherweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Francisco Lorenzo. It was a measure of revenge for Soto (46-7-2), who was disqualified against Lorenzo (33-5) in a June fight this year. Soto was disqualified in the fourth round of that bout for landing a blow ruled to be at the back of the head of Lorenzo, although replays showed the punch was more on the top of the head and not the back.

The WBC chose not to award Lorenzo the title due to the controversial ending of that fight. As far as Saturday's outcome, Soto won by scores of 117-109 from two of the judges and 118-108 on the other card.

Joseph Agbeko Defeats William Gonzalez

Joseph Agbeko earned a 12-round majority decision over William Gonzalez to retain his International Boxing Federation world bantamweight title Thursday night. The victory enabled Agbeko, a native of Ghana now fighting out of New York City, to improve his career record to 26-1 with 22 knockouts. Gonzalez, from Managua, Nicaragua, fell to 21-3 overall.

Agbeko took command of the fight from the opening seconds, landing a straight right that stunned and briefly buckled the challenger. Judge Tom Kaczmarek scored the fight even at 114-114, while Lawrence Layton and Larry Doggette both scored it 116-112 in favour of the champion.

''I thought I deserved a unanimous decision,'' Agbeko said. ''He gave me good competition, but I clearly beat him. He was a tough fighter, but I was better tonight.''

Gonzalez scored in the fifth round with a left that stunned Agbeko. The champion responded in the sixth with a series of right hands that cut the nose and right eye of Gonzalez. Gonzalez rallied in the 10th round with a series of short lefts, but Agbeko won the last two rounds on all three cards.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar De la Hoya

Boxing and the economy may both be struggling, but Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao proved the biggest fights can still create a buzz.

Pacquiao's complete domination of De La Hoya last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas generated about 1.25 million pay-per-view buys, according to numbers released Wednesday by HBO. It's only the fourth time a non-heavyweight bout reached at least one million, and De La Hoya has been involved in all of them.

The pay-per-view take generated about US$70 million in revenue, HBO said, making it the most successful pay-per-view event in 2008. It was helped by a four-part "24-7" reality show that gave viewers behind-the-scenes access to both fighters leading up to the bout.

"Boxing fans across America showed tremendous support for this event and we're pleased that they tuned in," Mark Taffet of HBO Pay-Per-View said.

The MGM Grand Garden was packed, with an announced attendance of just over 15,000.

Considered the top pound-for-pound boxer and a hero in his native Philippines, Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) moved up two weight divisions to fight at welterweight. The one-sided bout was stopped after the eighth round when, with the fighter bruised and swollen, De La Hoya's corner threw in the towel.

Nikolai Valuev Defeats Evander Holyfield

Nikolai Valuev likely ended Evander Holyfield's last chance at winning a fifth heavyweight title, narrowly defending his WBA title by majority decision on Saturday night. The 46-year-old American, attempting to become the oldest heavyweight to win a major belt, started the fight by moving around the ring to neutralize Valuev's long reach advantage.

The 7'0" Russian, the tallest and heaviest champion ever, struggled to close down Holyfield early but began asserting his jab as Holyfield tired. One judged scored the bout a draw, while the others had Valuev winning 116-112 and 115-114.

Holyfield (42-10-2) had not fought since losing a one-sided decision to then-WBO champion Sultan Ibragimov over a year ago, and was much criticized for this latest comeback attempt. Some critics suggested he was putting his health at risk by fighting at such an advanced age.

Still, the "Real Deal" appeared in great shape for the fight and was never seriously hurt by Valuev (51-1), who has avoided the top heavyweights and did little to improve his standing in the division. He was vulnerable to Holyfield's right hooks, many of which landed, even if the Russian also was never stunned.

Later rounds were largely uneventful, with the Atlanta native dancing and looking for the rare opportunity to attack in combinations. The Russian, who carried a weight advantage of almost 100 pounds, planted himself in the centre of the ring and rarely unleashed power punches.

For Valuev, it was the biggest win on a weak resume. He has so far refused to fight either of the Klitschko brothers, who hold the other major belts and are considered the top two heavyweights in the world.

Holyfield has refused to say if he would retire should he lose or draw against Valuev, who was the overwhelming favourite. Struggling with financial problems, Holyfield may try to use the better-than-expected result to score a big payday against another champion or Riddick Bowe, who has recently made a similarly worrisome comeback.

Holyfield won 1 of 3 epic battles against Bowe in the 1990s, when he beat Buster Douglas, George Foreman and Mike Tyson twice to become a dominating figure in the sport.

This fight was put on in front of 12,500 largely pro-Holyfield fans in Zurich's Hallenstadion. Holyfield entered to a standing ovation, wearing a red robe fit for a king.

Valuev was booed, and there were even scattered whistles while the Russian national anthem played. The fans similarly showed their displeasure when the judges' scorecards were read.

Wladimir Klitschko Defeats Hasim Rahman

Wladimir Klitschko retained three heavyweight title belts by scoring a dominant seventh-round technical knockout of Hasim Rahman Saturday night. The 32-year-old Klitschko (52-3, 46 KOs) won his 10th consecutive bout by flooring Rahman (45-7-2) once before referee Tony Weeks stopped the fight 44 seconds into the seventh round.

In a fight that was one-sided from the start, Klitschko retained his IBF, WBO and IBO versions of the heavyweight crown. Klitschko, who was coming off an 11th-round knockout of Tony Thompson in July, landed 178 punches to just 30 for Rahman.

Klitschko used his jab to his advantage, scoring consistently, and by the sixth round the 36-year-old Rahman, a former heavyweight champion, looked tired and clearly beaten.

In the 6th Klitschko landed a pair of left hooks to floor an off-balanced Rahman, who spent most of his time during the round on the ropes. In fact, Klitschko landed 28 of his 68 punches thrown during the round, while Rahman connected on just 1-of-16 over those three minutes.

With Rahman getting pounded in the corner early in the seventh, Weeks called a halt to the fight. Klitschko's Ukrainian brother, Vitali, is the current WBC heavyweight champion, but the siblings have ruled out fighting each other.

Wladimir Klitschko has held at least 1 major heavyweight belt since beating Chris Byrd for the IBF version in April 2006.

On the undercard, former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe (43-1) scored an eighth-round unanimous decision over Gene Pukall (14-13-2). The 41-year-old Bowe was fighting for the first time since 2005 and stepped into the ring for a professional bout for only the third time since 1996.

Bowe is most remembered for his three fights with Evander Holyfield and two tough bouts with Andrew Golota.

Steve Molitor Taking a Break from Boxing

The Sarnia, Onario native's 2-year reign as IBF super-bantamweight champion ended with a lopsided loss to Celestino Caballero last weekend at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario. Now he needs time off to regroup.

Promoter Allan Tremblay said Thursday that Molitor will fight again, but not until next summer. "He's fine physically," said Tremblay. "He didn't get hit as much as people perceived. "It's the psychological side. You're shocked, surprised, devastated."

Molitor (28-1) won the title from Michael Hunter in England on Nov. 10, 2006. He defended it 5 times before trying to add Caballero's WBA belt to his collection. The lanky Panamanian dominated the bout, stopping the southpaw Molitor with an uppercut 52 seconds into the 4th.

The Mississauga, Ont., resident was the attraction in 6 cards held over the past 2 years at Casino Rama in a bid to revive pro boxing in Ontario.

Tremblay said boxing shows will continue, with a chance that fighters may be brought in from outside Canada for feature fights while prospects like welterweight Phil Boudreault (5-0) of Sudbury, Ont., and Polish heavyweight Grzegorz (Greg) Kielsa (8-0) are nursed along.

David Haye Defeats Monte Barrett

David Haye floored Monte Barrett five times and launched his heavyweight career with a 5th-round stoppage victory on Saturday. Watched from ringside by WBC champion Vitaly Klitschko, former undisputed world cruiserweight champion Haye showed his full range of shots at O2 Arena, although the Ukrainian saw he could also be an easy target.

Haye had Barrett down twice in the 3rd round, once in the 4th and produced a right-left combination that had Barrett down again in the 5th of the non-title bout. Barrett, who has lost to Nikolai Valuev and Hasim Rahman in world title fights and was also knocked down five times by Klitschko's younger brother Wladimir, showed no sign of getting up this time and referee Richie Davies, having started the count, called an end to the contest. It was Haye's 22nd victory against 1 loss, and Barrett's 7th defeat against 34 victories.

Barrett's arrival in the ring was a disaster. The American decided to leap over the top rope, caught it with his leg and wound up hitting the canvas before his opponent got into the ring. Barrett sent Haye sprawling to the canvas in the middle of the 2nd round but it was clearly a push. But he cornered the British fighter with an overhand right followed by a short left flush to the chin.

Haye came up with a big left hook that put Barrett down with half a minute to go of round 3, and caught him with a right uppercut that brought a 2nd count. Haye landed a left and right for a third knockdown and was renewing the attack when the bell sounded to end the fourth.

Barrett had Haye down again in the 5th but the referee ruled it a slip and warned the American, who had clipped the British fighter's head with a punch while he was down.