| Bradley wins HBO debut on decision |
| RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. -- Timothy Bradley could tell from the opening bell that Luis Carlos Abregu might be much more trouble than he had imagined.
Bradley spent the next 12 rounds staying out of trouble so he could stay in the conversations around the biggest fights in boxing.
Bradley kept his unbeaten record intact with a bruising unanimous decision over Abregu on Saturday night, surviving a tough move up to welterweight with his usual superb technical fighting.
Although Bradley (26-0, 11 KOs) was tested and tagged by his relatively unknown Argentine opponent, the WBO 140-pound champion did enough work to win comfortably on all three scorecards against the previously unbeaten Abregu at the Agua Caliente Casino in Bradley's native Palm Springs area.
"He boxed a little different than what I had seen on TV," said Bradley, who sometimes claims he doesn't watch tape. "He kept his composure out there. He fought a great fight plan. I dare to lose, and that's what I'm trying to tell everybody. If it happens, it happens, but I'm going to learn from it, and I'll become stronger."
Bradley's perfect six-year career has included titles and money, but relatively little fame -- and his HBO debut really was an infomercial for his next bout. After fighting through an early cut and holding on when Abregu (29-1) surged in the middle rounds, he took advantage of his national platform to challenge the elite fighters who won't return his calls.
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| Mayweather adviser: No talks took place |
| Leonard Ellerbe, one of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s closest advisers, denied Monday that negotiations for a super fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao had ever taken place.
That is contrary to what Top Rank's Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, has been saying for the past three weeks, and he's sticking by his story.
Arum said June 30 that he had concluded talks and was waiting for a decision from the Mayweather camp on whether he wanted to fight this year. Then, Arum gave Mayweather until 3 a.m. ET Saturday to accept the terms of an agreement, or he would move on and look to make a deal for Pacquiao to either fight Antonio Margarito or have a rematch with Miguel Cotto on Nov. 13.
There was even a clock on Top Rank's website counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the deadline, a deadline Arum said was the window in which he would exclusively negotiate the Mayweather fight.
Arum set a teleconference with boxing reporters at the deadline's expiration. On the teleconference, Arum said he had worked out the agreement with Al Haymon, Mayweather's top adviser, using Ross Greenburg, the president of HBO Sports, as a go-between without ever speaking directly to Haymon.
Now, Ellerbe denies any of that ever happened.
"Here are the facts," Ellerbe said in Monday's statement. "Al Haymon, [Golden Boy Promotions CEO] Richard Schaefer and myself speak to each other on a regular basis, and the truth is no negotiations have ever taken place, nor was there ever a deal agreed upon by Team Mayweather or Floyd Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 13. Either Ross Greenburg or Bob Arum is not telling the truth, but history tells us who is lying."
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| Boxing champ Valero commits suicide |
| (CNN) -- Venezuelan world lightweight boxing champion Edwin Valero committed suicide in his prison cell after being arrested for the murder of his wife, according to the World Boxing Council (WBC).
The 28-year-old had confessed to stabbing his wife Jennifer Carolina Viera de Valero in a hotel in the city of Valencia on Sunday before taking his own life, police confirmed.
Valero was found in his cell hanged by his own clothes and though he showed some signs of life he later died, police chief Wilmer Flores Trosel told state television.
"A prisoner nearby heard noises inside the cell and told officials, who immediately went and found the boxer Valero hanging with his own clothes," he said.
The WBC said Valero is the only fighter in 300 years of the sport who can boast a 100 percent knock out rate from his 27 fights.
Valero, nicknamed "The Inca," had recently gone into alcohol rehabilitation and was detained in March for mistreating his wife, according to media reports.
He had a distinctive tattoo on his chest of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, and defeated Mexican Antonio DeMarco in his most recent fight, in February this year.
A statement on the WBC's official Web site read: "Jose Sulaiman, World Boxing Council President, and all the members of the organization, are deeply saddened, moved and in sorrow due to the tragedy that took place regarding the case of WBC Lightweight world champion, Edwin Valero, who committed suicide in his cell after having killed his wife.
"Valero was very close to the World Boxing Council President and many of its members, who witnessed the happy years of the fighter when he won his Lightweight world title on April 4th, 2009, and when he defended such title last February 6th, in Monterrey, where he was joined by his wife and two little children for two weeks, showing a behavior and a humanitarian sense that were very far from what happened.
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| Lorraine Chargin earned her place in boxing world |
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A rival promoter once called her "the toughest lady in boxing."
It would be difficult to dispute that.
Lorraine Chargin could be equally charming and pugnacious, depending on the circumstance, yet remained respectful of the sport as the wife and indispensable behind-the-scenes partner of Hall of Fame boxing promoter Don Chargin.
She died of cancer Tuesday night in a hospital near the Chargins' seaside home in Cambria. Her death at age 79 leaves a void in the boxing world.
Television networks, major promoters and fighters past and present, including Oscar De La Hoya, Carmen Basilio and Gene Fullmer, were among those offering condolences Wednesday.
Sacramento, in particular, lost a valued contributor to its ring history. For many years, the Chargins and the late Sid Tenner worked to host some of the area's biggest fights and develop its major boxers.
Said Roy Englebrecht, head of a California promoters organization: "I am a better promoter because of her. Don was in charge of the fighters and Lorraine handled the finances and logistics. She always reminded me that the devil was in the details of the boxing business and you had better address it to be successful."
"Don and Lorraine have been a unique team during their 49 years of marriage," added longtime boxing publicist and close friend Bill Caplan.
Growing up in a family of 13 children in New Haven, Conn., Lorraine Chargin had a versatile background, ranging from modeling to real estate agent to boxing.
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