The Neutral Corner

Interesting comments from WBC president Jose Sulaiman, who has called the Dec. 6 fight between Oscar De La Hoya and Manny Pacquiao ".. a fraud to the public...”

The pairing is not exactly what boxing fans were hoping for. Most wanted to see Oscar take on Antonio Margarito in his farewell fight. It seems that the WBC boss summed up a lot of people's feelings on the bout when he said, "Manny Pacquiao has only recently won the lightweight title. It's been 13 years since Oscar De La Hoya last made that weight and in that thirteen years he has gone up four weight divisions.”

Sulaiman's comments were made to James Blears.

It is amazing that Ricky Hatton has hired Floyd Mayweather Sr. to help train him for the upcoming challenge of IBF junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi from Brooklyn. That fight takes place in Las Vegas on Nov. 22.

Could this be a way to lure Floyd Mayweather Jr. out of retirement. Would Hatton really want to lure him out of retirement?

Amir Khan, the young British sensation, lost for the first time as a pro when he was stopped in just 54 seconds by Colombian Breidis Prescott. Khan was knocked down 30 seconds into the fight and never really recovered.

Andy Murray, the tennis star, was touting Khan's enormous talents earlier at the U.S. Open. Murray, a huge fight fan, said he saw Khan fight several times and thought the kid had a world of talent. He did mention, though, that people were wondering about his chin. Hey, anyone can get caught. We'll see if this pattern continues.

As for Murray, he upset Rafael Nadal in the U.S. Open semis and will meet Roger Federer in the finals. Federer is basically the Sugar Ray Robinson of tennis. But Murray has beaten him once already this year.

Hall-of-Famer Joey Giardello has passed away at the age of 79. The former middleweight champion won the title in 1963 from Dick Tiger and lost it to Tiger a year later.

Giardello had a long distinguished career with over 100 victories. He beat the likes of Sugar Ray Robinson (late in Robinson's career), Henry Hank, Chico Vejar, Ralph "Tiger" Jones, Harold Green, Billy Graham and many more solid contenders.

In recent years Giardello may be best remembered for the depiction of him in the movie "Hurricane," the story of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Giardello defended the crown via unanimous decision over Carter. But in the movie, in which Denzel Washington played Carter, it was portrayed that Carter was robbed and really deserved the decision. Not true. Most boxing historians agree that Giardello deserved the decision. He sued and settled out of court. On the DVD, there is commentary that liberties were taken during the Giardello-Carter fight.

(One personal note, my father, Bobby Cassidy, fought the semfinal on the Giardello-Tiger II card at Madison Square Garden, winning by knockout that night.)

Juan Diaz won a split decision over Michael Katsidis on HBO. The scoring was 116-112, 115-113 for Diaz and 115-113 for Katsidis.

-- CASSIDY