EYE ON THE RING

YOU SCORE THE FIGHTS

Directly transcribed from Oscar's Twitter. I'm guessing one of the first steps in the recovery program at the facility Oscar is at--for alleged cocaine and alcohol abuse--is apologizing to anyone that your addiction has negatively affected.

Dear Bob Arum:
First, I would like to humbly apologize for any pain I have caused to you and your family. I also want to apologize to Manny Pacquiao for any wrongdoing on my part. You are a great champion. I have realized that by accepting my mistakes everyone around me will hopefully forgive me. With great humility, I ask that we work together for the good of the sport we dearly love. It is not fair to the fans and to the fighters. So today, let's move forward and put on the best fights possible and show the world what we are capable of doing.

Thank you, Bob.

Your friend,
Oscar

Recent news:

• The Showtime Bantamweight Tournament Final featuring Joseph Agebko vs. Abner Mares is back on, for August 13.
• Paul Williams' opponent for their July 9 fight has been selected, and it's Erislandy Lara, who should be a very, very tough out for Williams. I really like Lara in this matchup.
• Juan Manuel Marquez is still taking a tune-up in July, but it will be on July 16 and the opponent won't be David Diaz. Is anyone else wondering why Marquez is risking his guaranteed minimum of $5,000,000 to take a tune-up, when he hasn't needed one since at least the last time he faced Manny?

Dan Rafael is reporting that HBO has changed their mind on the Paul Williams-Nobuhiro Ishida match-up scheduled for July 9. Williams' return was originally supposed to be the main event on HBO World Championship Boxing, then was downgraded to HBO Boxing After Dark, and now the fight with Ishida has been cancelled altogether, after criticism that it was not deserving of being a main event. I'm guessing HBO will want Williams to fight one of the other two proposed names, Sergiy Dzinziruk or Deandre Latimore.

Denis Lebedev is not amused at all by Roy's rapping at their Moscow presser. I'm taking the Under 7.5 rounds in this fight at -115. Unfortunately, Roy is getting KO'ed again, but I get the feeling he's not going to try very hard, so hopefully it won't be as brutal as some of his past KO's.

Check out Andre Ward at the press conference following his defeat of Arthur Abraham. Is he going to be the next big American star? He sounds better on the mic every time we hear him. Two interesting things about his future:

• When asked where he wanted the Super Six Finals, he immediately plead Dan Goossen for the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Being at the Pacquiao fight the week before may have made a strong impression.
• He wants the WBC belt that Froch holds because of its history. Then he wants Bute afterwards, so there will be one undisputed champion in the division.

Dan Rafael of ESPN has tweeted that Paul Williams' next fight will be against James Kirkland conqueror Nobuhiro Ishida, as the main event on HBO for July 9. Putting aside the question of whether this fight is HBO main event-worthy or not, it's nice to see Ishida parlay his few minutes of fame into a big spot on TV. Maybe he can make some hay against Williams--Ishida seems just as long and angular--and the question remains whether Williams has taken too much of a beating in his fights against Sergio Martinez.

Check out the size difference between Andre Ward and Arthur Abraham during their staredown --another reason why Ward is such a huge favorite in their fight for Ward's WBA Super Middleweight title. The big news at the weigh-in, though, was Chris Arreola coming in at 234--his lightest weight in almost four years. EOTR Picks: Ward by decision, Arreola by KO