Southpaw former world champion Zab Judah (pictured) scored a second-round knockout over Ubaldo Hernandez on Friday night at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas to improve to 38-6 with his 26th career KO.
The victory was the fourth in the past five fights for the 32-year-old Judah since June 2007, when he was knocked out in the 11th round by Miguel Cotto.
A former three-time titlist, Judah scored three knockdowns while ending a nearly 12-month layoff against Hernandez (22-20-2, 10 KOs), who, like him, weighed 145 pounds for their welterweight matchup.
Champion Miguel Cotto has a message for challenger Manny Pacquiao as well as those who believe he can be successful during his quest to win a world title in a record seventh different weight class: "They picked the wrong guy."
"If he thinks he's going to reach a seventh title in a seventh different division, he picked the wrong moment, the wrong fighter and the wrong opponent," said Cotto, all but bristling during Thursday's conference call with the national media.
"If he thinks he's going to beat Miguel Cotto," said Cotto, "he's pretty much all wrong with that kind of thinking."
During the buildup of WBO welterweight champ Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao, the challenger's trainer, Freddie Roach, says he's having fun at the expense of Cotto and his chief cornermen, Joe Santiago.
Cotto "is slower," and "gets hit so much more" since his 11th-round knockout loss to Antonio Margarito, and "his defense sucks, because he's training himself," said Roach.
Southpaw former world champions, Zab Judah, and Joel Casamayor will return to the ring on Friday night at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas.
Judah, a 32-year-old welterweight (147 pounds), will be ending a nearly 12-month layoff. The 38-year-old Casamayor will be ending a nearly 14-month ring absence when he enters the ring as a light weight (135).
Judah (37-6, 25 knockouts) will face 31-year-old Adailton De Jesus (23-4, 18 KOs) of Brazil, who has won four of his last five fights.
For the past few weeks, Angelo Dundee, has busily provided on-site expertise to media members at Tampa's Fight Factory Gym, where WBO champ Miguel Cotto has been in training for his Nov. 14, welterweight clash with Manny Pacquiao.
So it is no surprise that the 88-year-old Hall of Fame trainer wasn't aware that today is the 35th anniversary of Muhammad Ali's eighth-round knockout of George Foreman in "The Rumble In The Jungle" in Kinshasa, Zaire.
In fact, Dundee said that none of the many reporters clamoring for his opinion on Cotto-Pacquiao "has even mentioned it."
See what Dundee had to say about the historic bout during his Q&A after the jump.
Manny Pacquiao will be honored for his humanitarianism on Nov. 24 in Manila, when the world boxing champion will be named a 2009, Gusi Peace Prize laureate.
"I am truly humbled by this incredible honor and I would like to thank the Gusi family and the foundation," said Pacquiao, 30, whose immense popularity in his country has reached Muhammad Ali-like proportions, in a press release. "To be included in such a group of accomplished humanitarians is beyond anything I ever dreamed of. They are inspirational."
Former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres will never train the same thanks to another famous fighter sharing his given name, WBO welterweight boxing champion Miguel Cotto.
Torres was a special guest last week at the Fight Factory in Tampa, Fla., the site of Cotto's training camp for his Nov. 14 fight against Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.
"I'm picking up a lot of details, a lot of little things he does different than what I would in one of my training camps," Torres told FanHouse. "And I got to see how a professional boxer at the top of his game conducts his training camp and how his trainers cater to his needs and make him a better fighter."
Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.
Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao is one of the most popular athletes on the planet. In this FanHouse exclusive, watch fans greet Pacquiao at LAX as he lands in Los Angeles to prepare for his big fight against Miguel Cotto.
We also hear from trainer Freddie Roach and sparring partner Shawn Porter.
For Andre Berto, the visions of glory are ever present in his thoughts and in his dreams, so much so, that he often finds himself throwing punches at imaginary opponents.
"The faces change from time to time. With the left hand, I see Shane Mosley. With the right hand, I see Manny Pacquiao. Left hook, I see Miguel Cotto. It's just that I have all of their spirits just haunting me in the gym," said Berto, the 26-year-old WBC welterweight (147 pounds) champion.
"They pop up from time to time in my sleep, too," said Berto, who is 25-0 with 19 knockouts. "I've already envisioned myself fighting all of those guys, and seeing the outcomes, seeing how the fight will end up."
Former IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron will face Juliano Ramos on Saturday night in a junior middleweight bout in Roberto Clemente Stadium in Carolina, P.R.
Now a resident of Houston, the 30-year-old Cintron (31-2-1, 27 KOs) returns to the city of his birth to face Ramos (15-2, 12 KOs), a Brazilian who has not fought since losing by sixth-round stoppage to Mike Jones in August 2008.
It will be Cintron's first fight on his native soil.