Boxing Rumors (Maybe Hidden Truths) 7/10/08

1. Joe Cortez, who is in hot water about his last officiating job June 28, will be the ref for the Wladimir Klitschko-Tony Thompson fight this weekend.

2. The Contender is going to be televised on Versus beginning in December. This season the show will be focused on the Cruiserweight division. This season it will have American Cruiserweights against International Cruiserweights. Buddy McGirt is going to train the Americans and possibly Enzo Calzaghe will be training the International fighters. A few names in the mix to be on the show include former undisputed Cruiserweight Champ O'Neil Bell, BJ Flores, Darnell Wilson, Matt Godfrey, and Johnathon Banks.

3. It appears the Ricky Hatton-Paulie Malignaggi fight will be November 22 on HBO in Las Vegas.

4. Joe Calzaghe may be stripped of his WBO Super Middleweight Title soon since he is going to fight Roy Jones Jr. at Light Heavyweight. If that is the case, Jermain Taylor and Jeff Lacy may fight for the vacant belt this fall. Lacy, who has a fight July 23 against Epifanio Mendoza, has to win and be injury free in order to fight Taylor. There is a purse bid on July 25 for a fight between Jermain Taylor and Carl Froch for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight Title. However HBO is not offering very much money for that fight. They are offering a lot more money for a Taylor-Lacy fight. Time will tell who Taylor fights and for what title.

5. The Nate Campbell-Joan Guzman fight is almost complete. The fight will air on Showtime September 13 and may take place in Jacksonville Florida. On the undercard, WBC Junior Welterweight Champion Timothy Bradley may make his first defense against either Juan Urango or Randall Bailey.

6. Hot Junior Middleweight prospect James Kirkland, who recently split with Gary Shaw Productions, seems to be headed towards a deal with Golden Boy Promotions. If that happens, Deandre Latimore who upset Sechew Powell is more than ready to take Kirkland on. Latimore has called on anybody and everybody since he scored an upset TKO over former #1 IBF Junior Middleweight Contender Sechew Powell.