ESPN Boxing

LAS VEGAS -- It was not exactly shaping up to be the most electrifying media conference of all time. Sponsors, promoters and broadcasters all took their turn at the podium, and the assembled media fidgeted and tweeted and waited for something interesting to happen.

And then Ruben Guerrero walked to the microphone.

"My son's blessed, I'm blessed," said the father and trainer of Robert Guerrero.

Fair enough, and all fairly uncontroversial so far.

"I'm the real deal, and I don't talk s---, baby, I back it up."

That, perhaps, suggested that the elder Guerrero had something more contentious in mind. Even so, the rapidity with which he accelerated the news conference from "Masterpiece Theatre" to "The Wire" took all in attendance by surprise.

"We're going to beat up that woman-beater -- the one that beat up his wife," Ruben suddenly proclaimed, a reference to last year's incarceration of Floyd Mayweather Jr., his son's opponent on Saturday, for domestic assault. "He beat up his wife in front of his kids. He must have learned that from his dad. We're going to beat that woman-beater."

That, unsurprisingly, prompted a retort from the aforementioned dad, Floyd Mayweather Sr., who began jawing at Guerrero from the audience, shouting at him to sit down and shut up, while the elder Guerrero continued to turn up the volume. After a period of stunned paralysis, promoter Oscar De La Hoya ushered Ruben away from the podium.

"It's OK, it's OK," he said.

Ah, but it wasn't.

After the news conference, Ruben Guerrero returned to his theme: "He's a woman-beater, man," he repeated to journalists. "He's talking s--- about my son, that he's a hypocrite. What about him? He's beating up women in front of his kids and then he's crying in jail? Be like a real man. Don't be crying."

And then Floyd Sr. emerged, as if from nowhere, flying toward Guerrero until he was tackled by promoter and light heavyweight champ Bernard Hopkins, who held him back as the two trainer/fathers yelled at each other.

"Hit me brother, hit me," shouted Guerrero. "Let's do it right now. You're scared, brother, you're shaking."

Robert Guerrero took it all in stride.

"He will throw down," the fighter said of his father, who was still taunting Floyd Sr., who in turn was yelling back at Ruben even as he was hustled away. "He's the real deal."

"Yeah, I can crack baby," exulted the elder Guerrero. "He ain't getting up if I hit him."

Amid the chaos, the two sons retained a detached calm.

"My thoughts are to think about the fight, not worry about what these guys are saying," Robert Guerrero said. "My job is to focus on what I got to do, to take care of my business in the ring."

"I don't have to sit here and bad-mouth his father," Floyd Jr. said. "Only God can judge me. I just say a prayer for him. I'm not upset at all."

The reason Mayweather's father was in the audience yelling at Ruben Guerrero and not up on the dais alongside his son was, said Mayweather, because he had asked him to sit down there expressly to avoid any possible conflict between the two men.

"I'm trying to avoid anyone getting hurt," Floyd Jr. said. "If I'm up here and my dad and his dad get to fighting, they fall on him or they fall on me, somebody's finger or something gets broke or something happens, somebody gets a cut, you're talking about millions of dollars going down the drain. You have to be smart."

LAS VEGAS -- There are elements of Floyd Mayweather's welterweight title fight with Robert Guerrero on Saturday that bring to mind his 2011 tilt against Victor Ortiz. Both Guerrero and Ortiz earned their shots on the back of impressive victories over Andre Berto, for one. Mayweather gives the impression of being as dismissive of Guerrero's chances as he was contemptuous of what Ortiz brought to the table, for another. (In contrast, the build-up to his contest with Miguel Cotto last year was marked by mutual respect from both sides.)

There's something else, too. Mayweather couldn't abide the constant prefight references to Ortiz's famously difficult childhood -- in which first his mother and then his father deserted he and his siblings. Mayweather hinted that there was less to the story than met the eye and even promised to invite Ortiz's father to the fight. He also fumed at the attention the Ortiz upbringing received on HBO's 24/7 series.

It appears he feels much the same way about the seminal element of the Robert Guerrero story -- in which he took time out from the ring to help care for his ailing wife Casey, as she battled and ultimately defeated leukemia.

"Do I feel bad about the situation his wife went through? Absolutely," Mayweather said on Tuesday. "But trying to gain fans by having the sympathy story every week, I don't think that's a good thing. I'm glad that his wife was able to beat the leukemia. I don't feel anyone should have to go through a situation like that. But we all go through certain things. But I think just to gain fans, you're using your wife's story, you're using a sympathy story. I'm glad she was able to beat leukemia, that's a great thing. And I'm glad those two have such a great bond. But I don't like every week they keep selling the same story."

And then, in typical Mayweather style, he took the opportunity to take one more dig, a riposte to Guerrero's arrest after he declared and attempted to check a handgun at New York's JFK Airport -- an arrest that came after Guerrero had pointedly referred to Mayweather's incarceration for assault last year. It is possible, although unlikely, that Guerrero may himself face jail time for the firearm charge.

"The main thing that he really needs to focus on at this time is that he's going away to do time after the fight," smiled Mayweather with apparent satisfaction. "He was pointing the finger and talking trash about me, and now you have to go and do time."

Mauricio Herrera and Ji-Hoon Kim will meet in a 10-round junior welterweight fight on Thursday at the Omega Products International in Corona, Calif., in a special edition of ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" (10 p.m. ET).

Despite dropping his past two bouts, Herrera (18-3, 7 KOs), of Lake Elsinore, Calif., has a respectable record with resounding victories over Mike Dallas Jr., Ruslan Provodnikov, Efren Hinojosa, Cleotis Pendarvis and Jason Davis. His first defeat came in 2009 against Mike Anchondo; the others were in 2012, against Mike Alvarado and Karim Mayfield.

Meanwhile, South Korea's Kim (24-8, 18 KOs) is coming off a defeat in December against Raymundo Beltran. He lost a decision for a vacant lightweight belt against Miguel "Titere" Vazquez in August 2010, and in order to face Herrera, he is going up in weight to the 140-pound division.

On paper, this fight can be an all-out war. Herrera and Kim bring styles that complement each other thanks to their clear commitment to exchange, but with different nuances. Herrera is a hard, tough and aggressive fighter with a penchant for making fans rise from their seats. His loss against Alvarado -- the reigning junior welterweight titleholder -- in April 2012 was a fight of the year candidate. Herrera has good defense and is technically superior.

Despite being equally as overwhelming on offense, Kim's defense still needs work. Most of the time his power makes up for his defensive deficiencies. He has managed to throw more than a thousand punches in a fight. With his all-action style, Kim has earned many followers. He has won more than 56 percent of his bouts by way of knockout.

Kim tends to harass his opponents until he manages to land, using the idea that the more he throws, the better his chances become to get a stoppage. If he manages to overwhelm Herrera and land his punches, he'll win by knockout. On the other hand, the risk of him being exposed due to his defensive deficiencies grows as the fight wears on. In an elimination bout against Australia's Leonardo Zappavigna in 2010, a mistake cost him the fight in the first round.

In the co-feature, former lightweight titlist Miguel "Aguacerito" Acosta (29-6-2, 23 KOs) faces Miguel Gonzalez (20-3, 15 KOs) in a 10-round bout. Acosta won an interim lightweight title by stopping Mexican Urbano Antillon in the ninth round in 2009. Then he traveled to Namibia and finished Paulus Moses in the sixth round. He was later stopped by Brandon Rios in the third round, before easily beating Luis Cardozo in Colombia.

Acosta sought to regain his title against Cuban Richard Abril in 2011, but lost the decision. He also failed to win his previous bout, on July 20. It was a close battle that ended in a split decision against Armenian Art Hoyhannisyan. On Thursday, Acosta will go for a much-needed win that enables him to get another title opportunity.

Gonzalez, 27, of Cleveland, is a rising prospect who had a 14-bout winning streak before falling on the scorecards in his previous fight against Mike Dallas Jr. For Gonzalez, defeating Acosta also would mean an open door to a possible title fight in the near future.

LAS VEGAS -- Robert Guerrero says the gun charges stemming from a recent incident in New York are "taken care of," and haven't been a distraction as he prepares to face Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday.

Guerrero, 30, was arrested March 28 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York when he attempted to check an unloaded gun onto a flight bound for Las Vegas. He is scheduled to appear in Queens Criminal Court on May 14.

"It's all taken care of," Guerrero said. "It was a misunderstanding. [Showtime] wanted to film me doing a thing here in Las Vegas. I'm an active fisherman, hunter. Unfortunately, they didn't make it here. I was just unaware of New York City law."

It's the most Guerrero has said about the incident since it occurred. He is charged with one count of criminal possession of a firearm and three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon. The maximum penalty is four years in prison.

The May 14 court date is 11 days after he's scheduled to face Mayweather for a welterweight title in Las Vegas.

Guerrero (31-1, 18 KOs) appeared comfortable talking about the issue on Tuesday, but the fighter's manager, Luis DeCubas Jr., quickly redirected questions.

"I ain't got nothing to hide," Guerrero said. "Everything is all taken care of already. My main focus is getting ready for the fight. The bottom line is taking care of business."

Guerrero, who says he is a licensed weapons carrier in Gilroy, Calif., where he lives, flew to New York from Virginia on May 25 for a media tour. He admitted that the unloaded weapon was in his possession when he arrived.

Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs), who served two months in a Las Vegas jail last year for a misdemeanor domestic battery case, hasn't passed up the opportunity to speak out on his opponent's legal matters, calling the declared Christian a "hypocrite."

"He's going to the '700 Club' and talking to kids, but then he's carrying a gun," Mayweather said. "If God's got your back, why are you carrying a gun?"

Guerrero laughed off Mayweather's comments.

"No, that's not my belief," answered Guerrero when asked if he thinks he'll have to serve time following the fight. "My belief is I'm going to go in there and beat him down on [Saturday]. He needs to be worried about that and not about what's going on with me after the fight."

LAS VEGAS -- Robert Guerrero earned his shot at Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday partly because he is the mandatory challenger to Mayweather's welterweight belt, and partly because, after calling him out for what seemed like years on end, the former featherweight proved he could compete at a high level at 147 pounds in a gritty win over Andre Berto last November.

Most observers were impressed by Guerrero's in-the-trenches, brawling win over Berto. Mayweather affects not to be one of them.

"Any time you close both a guy's eyes, you're supposed to be able to finish him. But Berto was still able to close his eye," Mayweather sniffed during a conversation with reporters on Tuesday. "So I look at certain things like that, absolutely. Then I look at certain things like [Joel] Casamayor going the distance with him at age 40 [actually 39 when they fought in July 2010]. Is this guy on the same level as a Floyd Mayweather? Or having a dogfight with [Michael] Katsidis, and then you've got guys like [Juan Manuel] Marquez knocking Katsidis out.

"He was grappling when he fought Berto. I think Berto's a good fighter, but I don't think he has the movement of a Floyd Mayweather. He don't have the angles I move. I don't think his résumé is like mine. Is Andre Berto a better fighter than Miguel Cotto [whom Mayweather defeated last May 5]? Ask yourself that question. Do you think Andre Berto can go the distance with Miguel Cotto? Absolutely not. I'm not saying he's not a good fighter, but he won't be able to go the distance with a Miguel Cotto that's in top shape like he was when he fought me."

It's one of the best months on the sports calendar: May is home to several iconic sporting events, including the Kentucky Derby (on Saturday), the start of the French Open and the Indianapolis 500 (both on May 26).

The month also marks the return of boxing's best pound-for-pound fighter, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KOs). The five-division champ will put his welterweight title on the line against Roberto Guerrero (31-1-1, 2 NC, 18 KO) on Saturday in Las Vegas. Mayweather's career has become synonymous with the fifth month on the calendar. Seven of his career wins have come in May -- more victories than he has in any other month.

Among Mayweather's seven May victories are a split decision over Oscar De La Hoya and his most recent win, a unanimous decision against Miguel Cotto. Those fights are the two highest-grossing non-heavyweight bouts in pay-per-view history. Mayweather-De La Hoya, in particular, generated 2.46 million buys and $137 million in pay-per-view revenue. Both are all-time records in any weight class.

That's good news for Showtime, which inked Mayweather to a six-fight, 30-month deal in February. Saturday's fight will mark Mayweather's debut on the network.

Mayweather's opponent, Robert Guerrero -- a former titleholder at 126 and 130 pounds -- has never lost in May (2-0, both knockouts).

There may not be a more respectful term that can be used to label a boxer than to call him an honest fighter.

Typically the term has dual meanings, addressing either a fighter's proclivity to speak a refreshing level of truth when hit with piercing questions or referring to his in-ring style of coming straight ahead and making exciting fights.

Unbeaten British middleweight Martin Murray (25-0-1, 11 KOs) happens to be both. And although there is no doubt that he believes he can pull the upset against middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KOs) on Saturday in the Argentine's homecoming bout in Buenos Aires, he is realistic about the challenge he's up against.

Not only will Murray be walking into enemy territory inside the 50,000-seat soccer stadium that will house the fight -- filled to the rafters with Martinez's adoring fans -- he also will have to deal with a dynamic champion who has a difficult, awkward style.

"Well, you can't really prepare for punches that you don't see coming, can you?" Murray told ESPN.com. "I know that's going to be the case, because when he unleashes that combination of punches with how fast he is, it's one of his great qualities. You can't prepare for that. I know he's going to be awkward. We've had all kinds of southpaws in camp, and that's the only way I can do my best to prepare. We just have to wait and see on fight night truly how difficult and awkward he really can be."

But despite any factors that might suggest Martinez, 38, could be vulnerable -- everything from his age, recent knee surgery and the late knockdown he suffered against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. -- Murray isn't necessarily buying that.

"I don't see him as [vulnerable], to be honest with you," Murray said. "I've said this many times: He is a great fighter. Everything he does, he does well. But if you want to say one tiny little thing -- and it's not a negative, it's just really the fact that he's shown it in a couple of his fights -- it's the fact that he's not unbeatable. He can be beat. It's not mission impossible by any means, and I can overcome it."

Murray's take is atypical considering the normal bravado that dominates the buildup to most fights. Murray, 30, is unbeaten, but still relatively untested despite a split draw with then-middleweight titlist Felix Sturm in 2011. He looks at the underdog role as something to motivate him entering Saturday's fight.

"Have I been undersold? A little bit, to be honest with you," Murray said. "But it's a good thing. There's not a lot of people giving me a chance, and it's a very motivating thing in the end. It was a great learning experience being in the Sturm fight on that level. I did myself justice. People were writing me off and didn't think that I deserved a chance. But I shocked them just the same way I am going to shock them on Saturday."

Even more than the prospect of upsetting a fighter as talented as Martinez and snatching away the lineal crown in the 160-pound division, Murray thinks it's important to make a splash given his platform on Saturday.

"I am fighting someone like Martinez, who is a big star in America, and the fight is going to be seen by a big American audience," Murray said. "It gives me the chance to show what I am about. I want to be fighting in America. I know if everything goes well on Saturday, I won't captivate the American audience -- I will captivate the world, because I will shock them when I beat him."

Danny Jacobs, the middleweight prospect from Brownsville who will fight Saturday night at Brooklyn's Barclays Center against 36-year-old Keenan Collins (15-7-3, 10 KOs), of York, Pa., felt a lump in his back a few weeks ago and an alarm bell went off. A tumor on his spine nearly killed the 26-year-old Park Slope resident two years ago.

So about a week ago he went to see a doctor, who did tests and came back with the immensely gratifying news: no cancer. The lump arose just from the stress of training, Jacobs (24-1, 21 KOs) told NYFightblog on Tuesday at the Judah Brothers Gym in East New York, during a press event to hype Saturday's Showtime card topped by Danny Garcia-Zab Judah.

"I'm glad I got it checked out; now I can go into the fight with a clean mind," said Jacobs, who has been working hard to get his Get in the Ring Foundation -- which targets cancer, childhood obesity and bullying -- off the ground.

I asked Jacobs, does the possibility of a recurrence stick in your head? "Every day," said the man who was diagnosed in May 2011, with admirable and appreciated candor. "Every day."

NEW YORK -- Heavyweight Tyson Fury promised to call it quits if he failed to look impressive Saturday against Steve Cunningham in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Fury can continue fighting. He knocked out a game, but much smaller, Cunningham in the seventh round to improve to 21-0 as a professional.

But Fury might want to tone down the volume on his trash talk. Though the win will look impressive on paper, there were several moments during the fight when he was anything but.

Cunningham exposed a flaw in Fury’s game during the second round: His chin is suspect. A right hand to the jaw did the damage. That punch did more than just put the 6-foot-9, 250-pound slugger on the seat of his pants; it momentarily halted his swagger.

Gone was the smirk that Fury wore on his face throughout the buildup to this title eliminator. He was extremely confident going into this fight, even suggesting that it was disrespectful to put Cunningham in the same ring with him.

But for a brief period, Fury probably wished he could take back that promise of retirement.

After returning to his feet, Fury remained a bit woozy. His balance was a little off, his punches lacked the sharpness of the first round, and he was holding on tightly for his professional boxing life.

Fury regained his confidence after a solid fifth, even attempting to entertain the fans in attendance with a dance before the start of the sixth round. Most in the crowd, however, did not approve of his dancing skills, booing loudly.

Though his confidence was back in full force, and his punches were again finding their intended target, the damage to Fury’s reputation had been done. That didn’t prevent Fury from still regarding himself as the best fighter worldwide.

“Absolutely, 100 percent,” Fury told ESPN.com when asked if he is still the best fighter. “Nothing went according to the game plan. My entire game plan went out the window.

“And I turned it into a dogfight. The fighter in me came out tonight.”

But Fury isn’t nearly the fighter he thinks he is. And it’s time he put that silliness to rest.

While on the subject of best fighter in the world, Fury might consider putting an end to the talk of taking on UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez.

That fight isn’t going to happen, and it no longer deserves media attention each time Fury mentions it. For now, Fury needs to focus on becoming the best boxer in the heavyweight division.

As far as Cunningham (25-6) is concerned, Fury isn’t close to being the best heavyweight boxer at this time.

“He’s a good fighter,” Cunningham told ESPN.com. “His size is his advantage. He did what he is supposed to do, which is be the big man.

“But he is not the best man in the world. That’s my opinion. I mean, I’m 6-foot-3, 208 pounds. If he didn’t do a little damage to me, then he should do like he said and retire.”

There is no need for Fury to retire. He won this fight by knockout, though not nearly as impressively as he promised.

But based on the holes exposed in his game by Cunningham, a former cruiserweight champion who isn’t a power puncher, Fury might want to tighten his defense and never utter the word "retirement" before a fight again.

Fury is a good talker, but that won’t earn him best-fighter accolades. He has to accomplish that feat in the ring.

Welterweight titlist Paulie Malignaggi has been all over the fight week buildup for Saturday's Canelo Alvarez-Austin Trout clash, hosting the public workout in front of the Alamo on Wednesday and talking with fans and media at Friday's sun-drenched weigh-in in downtown Market Square. He's in San Antonio, of course, in his capacity as expert analyst for the Showtime broadcast, and accordingly he has been giving some thought to the possible ebbs and flows of tomorrow's bout.

"Well, I think for Canelo it's important to try and work his way inside, so he's able to throw hooks inside to the body," Malignaggi told ESPN.com. "I think Canelo has faster hands, but Trout is a tricky guy -- very slick, very slippery, he's very crafty. The trick will be, will Trout's craftiness disallow Canelo from getting inside to work? Because if Canelo can get close enough, his fast hands could cause problems for Trout. But Trout is very shifty, and if Trout doesn't let Canelo get in punching range, it could be a long night for Canelo."

If the key to real estate is location, location, location, Malignaggi offers that Saturday's contest is all about distance, distance, distance.

"So it's one way or the other, depending on who had the best preparation and who can match up that distance better," he said. "Because if Trout can be the master of the distance, it's Trout's fight. If Canelo starts to get close to him, it's Canelo's night. It goes down to who's mastering their game plan better. It seems Trout has the better feet, but Canelo has the faster hands. It's tricky to predict."

"The Magic Man" doesn't think Saturday's fight will necessarily be the sort that offers an immediately apparent outcome. Even if one man begins in the ascendant, he argues, fans shouldn't be surprised if the advantage changes hands frequently over the course of the contest.

"I think it's back-and-forth," he said. "I think we're going to see a lot of momentum changes. I think it's going to be a good fight. I think it's going to be an entertaining fight."

Malignaggi will be ringside again next week, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn for Danny Garcia's junior welterweight title defense against Zab Judah. But he'll be there not only as an analyst but also as a participant in a media conference to officially announce his June 22 matchup, at the same venue, with lightweight titleholder and fellow pound-for-pound trash-talker Adrien Broner.

"Yes, yes," he confirmed. "It's signed, sealed and delivered. It's going to be cool. Absolutely, man, it's my house, so we'll give him a big welcome."

Jose "Chepo" Reynoso, the manager of Canelo Alvarez, is under no illusions about the difficulties posed by Canelo's opponent, Austin Trout, at the Alamodome on Saturday night.

"He's a lefty, but besides being a lefty, he's a fighter who has a lot of talent and experience," Reynoso told ESPN.com. "That makes him a very respected fighter, someone we have to be careful of." But, he said, at the same time, "we're ready for that."

Naturally, Team Alvarez fully expects Trout to use as much of the ring as possible, to stick and move behind his southpaw jab and keep Alvarez at a distance. "Of course he's going to try and do that for 12 rounds," smiled Reynoso, before asking rhetorically, "but will he be successful?"

That, of course, is the multi-million-dollar question and what makes this such an intriguing fight: the clash of styles between Trout's slick combination boxing and movement, and Canelo's steady, relentless jabs, hooks and power punches.

"It's going to be very intense, because neither of them has lost and neither of them wants to lose," said Reynoso, before offering a prediction that is, well, predictable -- if understandable: "We're going to win by knockout. We're very confident."

From 1981 to 1984, junior lightweight Louie Burke ran up a professional record of 18-0, including a couple of victories over a popular TV fighter named Freddie Roach -- the second of which appeared on the undercard of a bout between two decent fighters called Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran. Then Burke dropped a close and controversial decision to Charlie Brown, was stopped by Hector Camacho and, after collapsing from dehydration in his next bout, decided he was done.

But although he left the ring, he didn't leave the sport. Boxing was in his blood -- his father and brother boxed, too -- and after hanging up the gloves, he trained fighters out of the PAL Gym in Las Cruces, N.M. Had he won his final fight, the one in which he collapsed, Burke would have been in line for a title tilt against Julio Cesar Chavez. But while his own shot at world title success didn't come as a fighter, it has arrived as a trainer, courtesy of junior middleweight Austin Trout, who has looked to Burke for training and guidance from the day that he walked into the gym with his mother as a 10-year-old boy.

The soft-spoken Trout keeps a small, tight circle of people around him, and it's clear that the equally soft-spoken Burke thinks the world of his charge.

"Austin's a one-in-a-million guy," he told ESPN.com. "He's very humble, he's a great athlete, he has a great work ethic. He trains hard. He has a very strong mental ability. His nickname fits him perfectly: No Doubt. When he puts his mind to something, he strives as hard as he can to achieve that goal."

The goal that matters more than any other right now, of course, is defeating Canelo Alvarez in San Antonio's Alamodome on Saturday. It's a big-time matchup that Trout earned by defeating Miguel Cotto in December, but for all the talk of similarity in styles between Trout's last opponent and his next one, Burke says he is focusing as much on the differences between the two.

"Canelo's a little bit more explosive, he's more of a counterpuncher; I think maybe he's going to try and box a little bit," he said after Thursday's final prefight press conference. "He's got better boxing skills than people give him credit for. Miguel was shorter, he had to get inside, he had to be a little bit more aggressive. I think with Canelo we're going to have to bait him a little bit more into running in to Austin's punches."

None of which is to say that Team Trout isn't prepared for the possibility that Alvarez will look to impose himself early, exerting pressure and testing Trout's resolve. Burke is happy to acknowledge that Canelo has more arrows in his quiver than is normally recognized; it's just that he figures his man has still more.

"We have prepared for several different scenarios, because we don't know what he's going to do exactly," he said. "So we've prepared as best we can, and we'll make our adjustments as we need to. But Austin's the more versatile guy, absolutely."

Burke gives credit to Alvarez for forcing the issue and insisting that his promoters make the fight with Trout. As an old-school guy who fought underneath two of the greatest fighters of arguably boxing's greatest era, he naturally hopes it's a harbinger of things to come.

"I think that's something that boxing's lacked for a long time," he said. "You get these promoters who want to protect their fighters, and it does nothing but hurt boxing. Austin wants to take it back to the years when people recognized one champion in each weight division. Right now, it's gotten so watered down that nobody knows who the champions are, even people involved with boxing. This is going to help clarify that and help bring boxing back to the popularity it enjoyed in the golden era."

The latest edition of "Friday Night Fights" (ESPN2, 10:30 pm ET), from the Tropicana Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., features a tripleheader headlined by unbeaten interim featherweight titlist Javier Fortuna against Mexico's Miguel Zamudio.

The promising Fortuna (22-0, 15 KOs), a 23-year-old southpaw from La Romana, Dominican Republic, is quick and aggressive with an exciting style and lethal left hand. He looks to finish his fights early, and often times achieves that, with 10 of his 15 knockouts coming in the first round.

Fortuna, however, was taken the distance in December when he captured his interim title from unbeaten Irish contender Patrick Hyland and didn't look as good as he did in previous fights, in spite of the limitations of his opponent.

This opens a question mark heading into his bout with Zamudio (25-1-1, 13 KOs), an aggressive brawler just like Hyland with a clear strategy to defeat the Dominican fighter.

"It is true that I am a puncher, but I can handle any style, and against Fortuna there will be no mystery," Zamudio told ESPN.com. "I will chase him throughout the ring until I find him. I've seen his videos, he runs a lot, but I will cut the ring on him. I am prepared for everything."

Zamudio (25-1-1, 13 KOs) brings an attractive record and has suffered just one loss, coming at the beginning of his career. But even though Zamudio has won five of his last seven fights by knockout, they have come against soft competition. In his last fight, he barely defeated Gilberto Bolanos, a 35-year-old veteran with 20 defeats, in an eight-round split decision.

"I fight for my people, I come to take [this fight] and then challenge [Indonesian super featherweight champion] Chris John," Zamudio said. "He will be my next victim."

Whatever intentions Zamudio may have, Fortuna is clearly the favorite heading into Friday's bout thanks to his devastating power.

"I have prepared to fight 12 rounds, but I am confident I could knock him out before the eighth," Fortuna said. "I've seen Zamudio fight, I know him quite well. I've worked with similar sparring partners and for every style I have the right strategy. He is a difficult opponent, but I am the champion and no one will make that situation change."

The fight also comes on the two-month anniversay of the death of his father, Santiago Fortuna, who died after suffering cardiac arrest on Feb. 19 in the Dominican Republic.

"I will fight with him in my mind, and in tribute to him," Fortuna said.

Whether or not his emotional state is affected by the impact of his father's death remains to be seen, but Fortuna is confident he will secure the victory and said he would like to face Nicholas Walters of Jamaica, who is the WBA's "regular" featherweight champion.

"I don't care where they make the fight, if it's necessary I will fight him in his own home in Jamaica," Fortuna said.

Fortuna trains in Oxnard, Calif., under Argentina's Pablo Sarmiento, who also works with middleweight champion Sergio Martinez.

Friday's undercard features the son of legendary three-time world champion Julian Jackson when John "Dah Rock" Jackson (15-1, 14 KOs) of the Virgin Islands faces Minnestoa's Cerresso Fort (16-0-1) in a junior middleweight bout. Completing the televised tripleheader is an eight-round fight between unbeaten welterweight contenders when Ghana's Emmanuel Lartei Lartey (14-0-1, 7 KOs) takes on Jonathan Batista (13-0, 6 KOs), of the Dominican Republic.

Austin Trout's arrival as A Fighter To Be Taken Seriously followed his impressive decision win over Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden last December. That earned him Saturday's Showtime-televised shot against Canelo Alvarez, and the fact that he is considered to have something close to a 50-50 shot to score another upset win says a lot about both his style and that of his opponent.

Like Cotto, Alvarez is known for the deliberate but forceful pressure he applies during the course of a fight. Neither man is renowned for his pace, for fancy footwork or flashy combinations. Instead, they generally walk their foes down, in the process slowing them with heavy-handed punches, and looking to soften them up for a late stoppage.

Except for a couple of rounds when Cotto's pressure appeared as if it might tell, Trout was able to neutralize him by utilizing his superior reach, lateral movement and footwork. Cotto was never able to get set to throw his punches, and by the time he closed the distance between himself and Trout, the American had long since slid sideways to launch his own blows from a different position.

So does Trout think that facing and beating Cotto gives him an advantage going into Saturday's contest?

"It was good practice," he said with a smile, speaking to ESPN.com following a public workout on Wednesday. "I've fought [Canelo's] style of fight my whole life, being from Las Cruces, N.M., and fighting in this area. I'm not sure he's fought my style."

Although there are similarities between Cotto and Alvarez, Trout acknowledges that Canelo is a younger, bigger, fresher fighter than the Puerto Rican icon.

"The formula is the same. But we know they're not the same," he said. "Canelo's in his prime, he's undefeated, he's not battle-worn, he's still got a lot of pop and life left him. Although the formula is the same, we had to up the intensity. We're not treating it as the same fight."

NEW YORK -- It's not a debatable issue: heavyweight contender Tyson Fury is extremely confident. He's also arrogant, saying whatever comes to mind at any given moment, not caring whom it offends.

When it involves fighting, Fury has a lot to say.

Though he is undefeated in 20 professional bouts, with 14 knockouts, Fury doesn't hold a major title belt. So what? That hasn't prevented him from proclaiming to be the world's best fighter.

"The belts don't mean [anything] to me," Fury told ESPN.com on Wednesday. "I'm the best fighter in the world."

This statement is far-reaching. When Fury speaks of being the best fighter alive, his remarks aren't limited to boxers. Fury directs his comments to all combatants. And yes, mixed martial artists are in the equation.

UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez has been squarely in Fury's crosshairs for a while. He has been targeting Velasquez for several months, but Fury's taunts have yet to ruffle the champion's feathers.

A bout agreement has yet to materialize, but that hasn't stopped Fury from continuing his verbal assault.

"Absolutely, one hundred-million percent," the 24-year-old Fury said of his desire to fight Velasquez. "I've challenged Cain Velasquez to a fight three times. He's a little boy who doesn't want to fight. He said no, live on TV."

Fury participates in a title eliminator bout Saturday (NBC, 4 p.m. ET) in The Theater at Madison Square Garden against former cruiserweight titlist Steve Cunningham. The victor fills one sanctioning body's vacant No. 2-contender spot.

If Fury continues winning (he's favored in Saturday's fight), it will be good for boxing in the short term, and possibly the entire fight game down the road. You see, Fury will never be satisfied until he is universally recognized as the best fighter on this planet -- including mixed martial artists.

When Fury talks of being the best fighter today, he wants it made clear that Velasquez is part of that mix. There is no merit to proclaiming yourself the best fighter when you haven't fought all the best fighters.

Fury is well aware of this fact. It's why just the mention of Velasquez raises his blood pressure.

There is no doubt in Fury's mind that he would destroy Velasquez in a fight -- whether it's under boxing or mixed martial arts rules doesn't matter to him. The 6-foot-9, 250-pound Fury simply wants a chance to prove his point.

"I would take Cain Velasquez out," Fury said. "MMA, to me, is bulls---. It's for people who can't box and like wrestling on the floor. It's rubbish.

"I'm going to show on Saturday what I'm all about, why I'm this confident and why I'm here to fight."

Fury never minces words, and he isn't one to take shortcuts. Calling out Velasquez, or any MMA heavyweight, will keep him on the hot seat for a long time.
But he couldn't care less. Fury always raises the ante.

"I'm going to finish this here and now," he said. "If this man gives me a good fight, I swear on Jesus' name I'm going to retire after the fight. Because I ain't going to be nothing like I say I'm going to be if I can't do a job on this man. I'll retire if I don't stop him.

"If I don't impress with a good performance against this man, I will retire. I'm not going to fight. Game over. I will retire on live TV.

"I mean it. I'm not here to play games."

That last line isn't directed solely to Cunningham or professional boxers. It's also intended for mixed martial artists, especially Velasquez.

Fury is always willing to put up, because he won't shut up until he's considered the best, bar none.

Hopefully Fury will get his chance to face Velasquez. If he continues beating the best boxers, maybe his opportunity to compete in UFC will come sooner rather than later.