Last Week In Boxing, 12/9/07: The Big Fight Delivers, Some Up And Comers Come Up, Another Ill-Considered Comeback Possibility And More

Let's do this one old school gossip column-style. The news is in the first sentence of each item, and my commentary comes after.

Item!: Floyd Mayweather, Jr. knocks out Ricky Hatton in a superfight at welterweight (147 lbs.). And it was actually good. And Mayweather was exciting, too. Here's hoping Mayweather doesn't retire as threatened; we need to see him in against Miguel Cotto. Oscar De La Hoya looms for Hatton, but De La Hoya's too big for Hatton, if Mayweather was. My complete coverage of Saturday night is at Ring Report.

Item!: Jeff Lacy (super middleweight, 168 lbs.) beats Peter Manfredo by unanimous decision, Daniel Ponce De Leon (junior featherweight, 122 lbs.) does the same to Eduardo Escobedo and Edner Cherry (lightweight, 135 lbs.) KOs Wes Ferguson in the boringest undercard ever. Lacy looked rusty. I'll give him one more chance at it before abandoning all hope, even if it's against old, rusty Antonio Tarver. De Leon looked awful, too. He lacks skill to accompany his power, and while Escobedo looks like a talent, he lacked the seasoning to take advantage. Cherry, a favorite of mine, crushed Ferguson, a talented Mayweather protege who didn't deserve a rematch of his loss to "The Cherry Bomb."

Item!: Amir Khan (lightweight) and John Duddy (middleweight, 160 lbs.) get career-best wins over Graham Earl and Howard Eastman. I'm a Khan fan, but I'm worried he's moving too fast at just 21. Duddy's 28, so stepping up makes sense. Still, nice wins for both sensations.

Item!: Marco Antonio Barrera may have a farewell fight, he revealed on ESPN's Mayweather/Hatton blog. It got overshadowed by Hatton/Mayweather, but Barrera talked about wanting to get his hand raised one more time. Don't do it, Marco. Go into the Hall of Fame the same time as rival Erik Morales, who also retired in 2007, when everyone will talk about how you were better than him. Wouldn't that be the ultimate win?

Item!: I update my pound-for-pound list, and explain it. See it along the right side rail, and read the "whys" here.

Item!: Impressive youngsters Edwin Valero and Jorge Linares will go pay-per-view this week against nobodies. Valero (junior lightweight, 130 lbs.) and Linares (featherweight, 126 lbs.) are both entertaining -- Valero for his shocking power and Linares for his well-rounded skills -- but how's this a pay-per-view?

Item!: Tickets for the 170-pound clash in January between Roy Jones, Jr. and Felix Trinidad go on sale Monday. People will talk about this one, but... ugh.

Item!: Sechew Powell (154 lbs.) takes out Terrance Cauthen. Powell wants to fight Cory Spinks. Wow, I didn't think anyone wanted to scrap with the most boring boxer there is. But that would be a good win if Powell could pull it off, since Spinks is a good fighter, and he's got a title belt, so maybe that's the motive.

Item!: Nonito Donaire (flyweight 112 lbs.) is feuding with promoter Gary Shaw. It's ugly stuff. I wish it wasn't happening, because I think Donaire is a rising star, and a promotional feud is not something he needs.

Item!: Seven Punch Combo nitpicks at The Ring again. Every time I buy "The Bible of Boxing," I argue with it. I love it, don't get me wrong. But I've stayed silent too long on this -- who the hell is Jackson Bonsu, and why is he a top-10 welterweight according to Ring Magazine? I can't recognize a single soul Bonsu's fought. Why couldn't Andre Berto take his slot at #10? Or Carlos Quintana? Or Alfonso Gomez? Or even Shamone Alvarez, Richard Guttierez, David Estrada, Jesse Feliciano, Mark Suarez or...

Item!: 2K is going to put out a boxing video game. Good! There needs to be some competition for Fight Night, because as amazing as it is, EA has a tendency to get lazy; the Wii boxing game is fun, but I don't have a Wii. Only downside? Don King's name is on the game under development. Expect lawsuits against the game designers.