XTRA Sports Radio

How did you like that exhibition of boxing Joe Calzaghe gave us last Saturday night in England? Calzaghe completely dominated Jeff Lacy on the way to a unanimous 12-round decision. Let's face it, it was a wipeout of the highest magnitude. It was as one-sided Mayweather-Gatti and Wright-Trinidad. In fact, it was downright painful at times. I know it was painful for Lacy because he took a beating. I don't think Jeff won a single minute in the fight, let alone a round. I had predicted a long, gruelling fight that would go the distance with Lacy getting a close decision. I knew Calzaghe was good, but not that good. He deserves all the kudos he gets. On my pound-for-pound list, Calzaghe jumps from #14 to #6...Enjoyed having Shane Mosley on the radio show last week. Looks like he's heading toward a rematch with Fernando Vargas rather than going elsewhere...I don't expect Oscar de la Hoya to have as easy a time with Ricardo Mayorga as I hear other people saying...I am totally disgusted at how Nacho Beristain has butchered the career of Juan Manuel Marquez. Beristain is one of the greatest trainers around, but I can't imagine a worse manager. Seeing Marquez lose a decision to Chris John last week in Indonesia for $30 thousand breaks my heart. Beristain in the past, out of his misguided machismo, has turned $500 thousand to fight Naseem Hamed and $750 thousand for Juan Manuel to fight Manny Pacquaio in a rematch. That my friends, is just insane, in addition to being poor management...WBC Super-Featherweight champ Marco Antonio Barrera has informed the WBC he is ready to defend his crown against Manny Pacquaio. However, Bob Arum has previously stated Erik Morales will fight Pac-Man in September at an outdoor stadium in Las Vegas...I continue to be unexcited about Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Zab Judah. Mosley-Vargas had 410,000 pay-per-view buys. I bet Mayweather-Judah doesn't do half of that...On the other hand, I am excited about seeing Rahman-Toney on March 18. My pick is Toney by decision, although if it is true that James is going to weigh about 250 for the fight, he is not giving himself the best chance to win...It was fun calling Sam Soliman's 6th round TKO win over Raul Munoz March 3rd on FOX Sports Net. Soliman is like a windup toy. He never stops throwing punches and comes at his opponent from all angles. No wonder Winky Wright had such a tough fight with him...Make plans to be in Las Vegas May 5 for the Boxing Writers Asociation of America annual awards dinner at Mandalay Bay. Last year's event was a fabulous gala, and this year should be just as good. Everyone in boxing will be there because Mayorga-De la Hoya is the following night! The BWAA dinner is a fight fans dream for pictures, autographs and meeting your favorites from the fight game.

RICH'S TERRIFIC TWENTY POUND-FOR-POUND RANKINGS