Name	Home Box Office (HBO)
Logofile	HBO logo.svg
Logosize	210px
Launch	November 8, 1972
Picture format	480i (SDTV)1080i (HDTV)
Owner	Home Box Office Inc.Warner Bros. Entertainment(Time Warner)
Slogan	It's More Than You Imagined. It's HBO.
Country	United States
Broadcast area	Nationwide
Headquarters	New York, NY
Sister names	Cinemax
Web	HBO.comHBO LatinoHBO Family
Sat serv 1	DirecTV
Sat chan 1	501 HBO (east) (SD/HD)502 HBO2 (east) (SD/HD)503 HBO Signature504 HBO (west) (SD/HD) 505 HBO2 (west)507 HBO Family (east)508 HBO Family (west)509 HBO Zone (HD only)511 HBO Latino1501 HBO On Demand
Sat serv 2	Dish Network
Sat chan 2	300 HBO (east) HD 301 HBO2 (east) HD 302 HBO Signature HD 303 HBO (west) HD 304 HBO2 (west)305 HBO Family HD 307 HBO Comedy HD 308 HBO Zone HD309 HBO Latino HD
Cable serv 1	Available on all cable systems
Cable chan 1	Check local listings for channels
Cable serv 2	Verizon FIOS
Cable chan 2	See List of Verizon FiOS channels
Adsl serv 2	AT&T; U-verse
Adsl chan 2	See AT&T; U-verse channel lineup

HBO, the standard abbreviation of its full (legal) name "Home Box Office", is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. As of December 2010, HBO's programming reaches 28.6 million subscribers in the United States, making it the largest premium cable network in America (in terms of the number of subscribers). In addition to its U.S. subscriber base, HBO also broadcasts in over 150 countries worldwide.

HBO's programming consists primarily of theatrically-released motion pictures, along with original series, made-for-cable movies and documentaries, and occasional boxing matches.

History

Development and launch

In 1965 Charles Dolan, who had already done pioneering work in the commercial use of cables, won a franchise to build a cable system in Lower Manhattan in New York. The new system, which Dolan called "Sterling Manhattan Cable", became the first urban underground cable system in the United States of America. Rather than stringing cable on telephone poles or using microwave antennas to receive the signals, Sterling laid underground cable beneath the streets of Manhattan — because the multitude of tall buildings blocked television signals. In the same year Time Life, Inc. purchased 20 percent of Dolan's company.

Dolan presented his "Green Channel" idea to Time Life management, and though satellite distribution seemed only a distant possibility at the time, he persuaded Time Life to back him. Soon afterwards, on November 8, 1972, "The Green Channel" became "Home Box Office". HBO began using a network of microwave relay towers to distribute its programming. The first program and film broadcast on HBO, Sometimes a Great Notion, starred Paul Newman and Henry Fonda. It transmitted with a CATV system in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (a plaque commemorating this event is found in Wilkes-Barre's downtown Public Square).

National expansion and rise to prominence (1975–1991)

On September 30, 1975, HBO became the first TV network to continuously deliver signals via satellite when it showed the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing-match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. HBO switched its domestic satellite transmissions from Westar 1 to Satcom 1 in February 1976 and by 1977 was joined by Ted Turner's WTCG-TV (soon to become WTBS) and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network (later to become ABC Family), laying the foundation for satellite delivery in the modern cable television industry.

The network broadcast only nine hours a day for its first nine years on air, from 3PM to midnight ET. In September 1981, HBO began broadcasting a 24-hour schedule on weekends, until midnight ET on Sunday nights. On December 28, 1981, HBO expanded its programming schedule to 24 hours a day, seven days per week (Cinemax had a 24-hour schedule from its August 1980 sign-on, and Showtime and The Movie Channel went to a 24-hour schedule earlier).

In 1983, HBO's first original movie and the first made-for-pay-TV movie The Terry Fox Story premiered. That year also saw the premiere of the first kids' show broadcast on the channel: Fraggle Rock; HBO continued to air various original programs aimed at children until 2001, when such programs were almost completely moved over to HBO Family. HBO became involved in several legal suits during the 1980s; these involved cable systems and legal statutes imposed by state and city laws that would have censored some programming on HBO and other pay-TV networks.

In January 1986, HBO also became the first satellite network to encrypt its signal from unauthorized viewing by way of the Videocipher II System. Four months later, HBO became a victim of broadcast signal intrusion when a man calling himself "Captain Midnight" intercepted the network's signal during a movie presentation of The Falcon and the Snowman. The Federal Communications Commission subsequently prosecuted the man.

In 1987, HBO launched a short-lived channel, Festival. Festival featured classic movies and recent hit movies, along with specials and documentaries from HBO. Distinctively, Festival's programmers aimed to provide family-friendly fare. R-rated movies were edited for broadcast and no low-quality series, specials and/or movies were shown. Also, the pricing for subscribing to the channel was cheaper than HBO and Cinemax. Only a few cable systems carried Festival and the channel shut down in late 1988.

In 1988, HBO's userbase expanded greatly on account of the Writers Guild of America going on strike; HBO had new programming while standard television channels could only broadcast reruns. In 1989, HBO compared programming against pay-television network Showtime, with the slogan "Nobody Brings it Home Like HBO", using the Tina Turner single "The Best".

Further expansion and innovation (1991–1996)

In 1991, HBO and Cinemax became the first premium services to offer multiplexing to cable customers. Providing multiple options of HBO and Cinemax instead of just single channel services, these include HBO2 (renamed HBO Plus from 1998 to 2002) and Cinemax (Cinemax 2, from 1998: MoreMax) to three cable systems in Wisconsin, Kansas and Texas. The move proved successful, resulting in HBO and Cinemax launching additional multiplex channels of its service, HBO 3 (launched in 1995, renamed HBO Signature in 1998), HBO Family (launched in 1996), HBO Comedy & HBO Zone (launched in 1999) and HBO Latino, a Latin-themed channel of HBO (launched in 2000). Cinemax also launched the multiplex services Cinemax 3 (launched in 1996, ActionMax in 1998), ThrillerMax (launched in 1998) and WMax, @Max, OuterMax and 5StarMax (all launched in 2001).

In 1993 HBO became the world's first digitally transmitted television service. HBO.com, subsequently well-known for its online web shows, launched in 1995. In 1999, HBO became the first national cable-TV network to broadcast a high-definition version of its channel. In July 2001, HBO launched the first premium subscription video-on-demand enhancement in the United States of America, called HBO on Demand, to Time Warner Cable subscribers in Columbia, South Carolina.

, despite the existence of the V-chip, the primary HBO channel still does not run R-rated films or TV-MA rated programming before 8 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific feeds), continuing a long-held policy; however since 2010, a minimal amount of TV-MA rated programming, generally programs that contain some strong profanity and violence but are largely devoid of nudity, and graphic violent and/or sexual content (such as Real Time with Bill Maher), has aired on weekends during the daytime hours on the main HBO channel. HBO's multiplex channels (excluding HBO Family, which does not run R-rated films or programs with a TV-MA rating at all) will air TV-MA and R-rated programming during the daytime.

Rising prominence of original programming (1997-present)

HBO has developed many original programs since 1997, which has earned the channel numerous Emmy awards. As a subscription-only service, HBO does not carry "normal" commercials; this relieves HBO from some pressures to tone down controversial aspects in its programs, thus allowing for explicit themes, such as graphic violence, sex and profanity.

Beginning in 1997 with its first one-hour dramatic narrative series Oz, HBO started a trend that became commonplace with premium cable providers. But it wasn't until 1999, when their second one-hour narrative series The Sopranos premiered, that the network achieved both critical and Emmy success. In its seven-season run, The Sopranos received 111 Emmy nominations, resulting in 21 wins - two of them for the Emmy for Best Drama.

HBO subscribers generally pay for an extra "tier" of service even before paying for the channel itself (though HBO often prices all of its channels together in a single package). However, federal law requires that a cable system allow a person to get just basic cable (local broadcast channels and public, educational, and governmental (PEG) channels) and HBO, without subscribing to expanded service. Cable systems can require the use of a converter box (usually digital) to receive HBO.

Other networks and local syndication have re-aired several HBO programs (usually after some editing), and a number of HBO works have become available on DVD. Since HBO's more successful series, most notably Sex and the City, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and True Blood, go to air on non-cable networks in other countries, such as in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and much of Europe, HBO programming has the potential of exposure to a higher percentage of the population of those countries as compared to the U.S. Because of the high cost of HBO, many Americans only view HBO programs on DVDs or in basic cable or broadcast syndication, months or even years after the network has first broadcast the programs, and with editing for advertising time and content, although several series have filmed alternate 'clean' scenes meant for syndication runs.

Channels

The HBO pay service consists of seven multiplex channels and a video on demand service (HBO On Demand). HBO also packages the Eastern and Pacific feeds of the main channel together, allowing viewers a second chance to watch the same movie/program three hours later/earlier — depending on their geographic location. However, some cable systems only offer the main channel (and in some cases, HBO2) in this manner.

HBO: The flagship service; it airs popular feature films, first-run films, boxing events and sports specials, original movies, original series, comedy specials and documentaries; also typically debuts new movies on Saturday nights. The main HBO channel will only air R-rated films and TV-MA rated programming after 8 p.m. ET/PT, but does air PG-13 rated films during the daytime hours, and a minimal amount of TV-MA rated programming has aired during the daytime hours on weekends.

HBO 2: Secondary channel, which features more movies, series, specials and original movies. HBO 2 airs R-rated films during the day, unlike the main HBO channel; the channel was rebranded as "HBO Plus" from 1998 to 2001. In Brazil, a local version of HBO 2 repeats all the movies that original HBO channel plays, and HBO Plus functions as a separate channel.

HBO Comedy: Less-serious films and series, as well as rebroadcasts of HBO comedy series and specials; airs R-rated films during the day, but only broadcasts adult comedy specials at night.

HBO Family: Features movies and series aimed at a younger audience, as well as films for the whole family; airs series aimed at preschoolers during the morning hours; with specials and G, PG and PG-13 rated films starting at or after 12:30 p.m. ET/PT. Uniquely, it is one of only two HBO spin-offs with its own website, along with HBO Latino — all the others are integrated within the main HBO site. This channel will not show R-rated films or TV-MA rated programming.

HBO Latino: Spanish-language version of HBO for Spanish-speaking audiences, simulcasting much of the same programming seen on the main channel. Airs HBO productions, including original series dubbed in Spanish, as well as Hollywood blockbusters and Spanish-language films. Also airs boxing events, including the original boxing series Boxeo De Oro.

HBO Signature: Quality films, original HBO series and specials geared primarily at women, the channel's target audience; the channel was originally known as "HBO 3" from 1995 until 1998.

HBO Zone: Airs programming aimed at the 18 to 35 year old audience, as well as broadcasting adult-oriented programming at night. As such, HBO Zone, alone among HBO channels, offers softcore pornographic films, similar to those on Cinemax's Max After Dark block.

HBO HD

HBO provides 1080i high definition simulcast feeds of all seven of its multiplex channels. HBO HD is available on Cox Communications, DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, Dish Network, Xfinity (by Comcast), AT&T; U-verse, Verizon FiOS, and several other major cable providers.

The HBO family of networks

In 1991, HBO and Cinemax became the first premium services to offer multiplexed services to cable customers as companions to the main network, offering multiplex services of HBO and Cinemax to three cable-systems in Wisconsin, Kansas and Texas. A year later, research from A.C. Nielsen Co. showed that multiplex delivery of HBO and Cinemax had positive impact on subscriber usage and attitudes, including subscribers’ retention of pay cable subscriptions. HBO2 was launched as a multiplex channel in 1992, launching on these three systems.

In 1995, HBO3 launched, and a year later HBO Family launched, becoming the first family-oriented multiplex service of a premium channel (Showtime, Starz and Encore have similar family-oriented multiplex channels). In April 1998 the HBO multiplex channels became collectively known as "HBO The Works", and the Cinemax channels became known as "MultiMax". Also, HBO2 and HBO3 underwent major rebrands: HBO2 was renamed HBO Plus, and HBO3 became HBO Signature (a network aimed at women). In May of the following year, HBO Comedy & HBO Zone (a network aimed at young adults) were launched and in 2000, HBO Latino, a Latino-themed channel of HBO launched (HBO also offered a Spanish-language enhancement called HBO En Español, airing select HBO programs in Spanish via second audio programming (SAP), that launched in 1988). Finally in 2002, HBO Plus reverted back to its original HBO2 name.

The HBO Multiplex became collectively known under the name "HBO The Works" for several years starting in 1998, while the Cinemax channels became known as "MultiMax". the HBO multiplex, individually, has no "official" name. However, HBO and Cinemax's respective multiplex packages are referred collectively as the "HBO/MAX Pak". Subscribers of DirecTV, DISH Network and some cable providers can get the Cinemax networks without subscribing to HBO, though most cable providers offer the two services and their respective multiplexes as a package.

HBO Family

HBO Family launched in 1996 as a family-oriented multiplex channel of HBO. It was originally launched in 1990 as HBO For Kids and was rebranded under the "HBO Family" name six years later. HBO Family programming consists of educational and original programs for preschoolers from 6 a.m. to noon (Eastern and Pacific time). Programs during this time include Crashbox, , Harold and the Purple Crayon, A Little Curious, George and Martha, , I Spy, HBO Storybook Musicals and others. From 12 p.m. to 6 a.m. ET, G, PG and PG-13 rated movies, along with some original specials. No R-rated or TV-MA rated programs are broadcast on the channel. Times may vary depending on which feed (east or west) they are provided by their satellite or cable provider.

HBO Family's on-air look is different from HBO's other multiplexed channels. Between programs, HBO Family provides viewers with previews and previously added graphic text at the end of the spot with the date and time for the next airdate of that program. This was something that the original HBO had done, but now is no longer provided in this format, except for HBO Family which also ended providing the date and time graphic at the end of 2007 and now only references most programs as airing this month or the following month with typically no reference to a specific air date and time. Also during the interstitial programming, viewers of HBO Family are shown family-themed short programs and a "HBO Family Feature Presentation"-themed spot before a movie. HBO's primary channel and HBO Family are the only two HBO channels that feature voice-over descriptions during the "coming up next" and "tonight on.." segments. HBO Family is also the only HBO multiplex channel not to use HBO's current feature presentation bumper at the beginning of all movies, instead using a customized feature presentation bumper that HBO Family has used at least since the late 1990s.

HBO Latino

HBO Latino was originally launched on January 2, 1989 as Selecciones en Español de HBO y Cinemax (Spanish selections from HBO and Cinemax), as the Spanish-language service from HBO. The service was originally restricted to Spanish language broadcasts of live boxing matches which HBO has rights for (except for others, already broadcast in Spanish on Galavisión and others), first-run movies from HBO's movie suppliers dubbed into Spanish (then HBO was still owned by Time, Inc. soon to be merged with Warner Communications, to form Time Warner) and first-run Spanish-language movies (mostly from Mexico, Argentina and Spain). Selecciones en Español was renamed HBO en Español on September 27, 1993. It was eventually changed to its current name, HBO Latino on October 31, 2000. HBO Latino began to broadcast HBO original series dubbed into Spanish. Beginning in 2004, however, HBO Latino began to screen original Spanish-language programming (mostly from HBO Latin America). In 2006, it began to add Portuguese language programming to its schedule. The original boxing anthology series, Boxeo de Oro has been a staple of HBO Latino since its inception in 2000.

HBO Latino largely serves as a simulcast of the main HBO channel, albeit with the alternate Spanish-language audio track (that can also be accessed on the main HBO channel, via the Secondary Audio Program function on TVs and digital cable-ready converter boxes) dubbed over the program, but with limited program substitutions and differences in network promotions featured in-between programs. HBO Family, along with HBO Latino, have the distinction of being the only HBO spin-offs with their own websites; all the others are integrated within the main HBO site. The site includes schedules and more.

Other services

HBO on Broadband

In January 2008, HBO launched HBO on Broadband in limited markets. It features 400 hours of movies and original series that can be downloaded to computers. Viewers must be a digital cable customer who subscribes to HBO, and must use their cable company as their internet provider. There is no extra charge for these HBO subscribers for this service. Programming includes 130 movie titles that rotate monthly and top hits ranging from movies, series and specials. Initially, it is only available to Time Warner Cable customers in Green Bay and Milwaukee.

HBO GO

On February 18, 2010, HBO launched HBO GO to Verizon FIOS and AT&T; U-verse TV customers who subscribe to the HBO television service. HBO GO comprises a web site which features 600 hours of content available for streaming in standard or high definition. Content includes HBO original programming, movies, comedy specials, documentaries, sports, and late night adult programming (shows from Cinemax's Max After Dark block). HBO GO is also available on Google TV.

Programming

Original series

Since 1977, HBO has produced original programming, which includes dramas and comedies in addition to its slate of theatrical films. Most of these shows are rated TV-MA, and often feature suggestive themes and high amounts of profanity, violence, and nudity - content that would be much more difficult to get on basic cable or free to air channels, for fear of losing sponsors.

Movies

, HBO has exclusive deals with DreamWorks Animation, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Studios, Rogue Pictures, Focus Features, and network sister companies Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. HBO also held rights to live-action films from DreamWorks Pictures, but it relinquished those rights at the end of 2010, when the distribution rights shifted from Paramount Pictures to Touchstone Pictures (whose films are broadcast by Starz though a distribution agreement with Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group).

HBO also shows sub-runs (runs of films that have already received broadcast network/syndicated television releases) of theatrical films from Paramount Pictures (usually films released prior to 1997, films from that studio released after 1997 later moved to Showtime and The Movie Channel, and currently air on Epix), Universal Pictures, The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox (select films from all five studios are shared with Starz and Encore), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, DreamWorks Pictures, and Lionsgate. HBO also has exclusive pay-cable rights to its own in-house theatrical films made through HBO Films.

Usually films which HBO has pay-cable rights will also run on Cinemax during its time of license.

Sports

As previously mentioned, HBO's first sports broadcast was of a New York Rangers / Vancouver Canucks game, transmitted to a CATV system in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on November 8, 1972. HBO is known for its boxing match-ups including those shown on HBO World Championship Boxing. In 1975, the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier aired on HBO and was the first program on the pay-cable network to air via satellite. Also in 1975, HBO began airing coverage of Wimbledon and did so until 1999. Coverage has since moved to sister network TNT and later to NBC and ESPN2.

In 1973, HBO aired a World Wide Wrestling Federation event from Madison Square Garden, headlined by George Steele facing Pedro Morales. The event recently showed up as part of the WWE 24/7 on-demand service. During the mid-1970s, HBO aired several NBA and ABA basketball games (notably, the last ABA Final in 1976, between the New York Nets and Denver Nuggets) as well as some NHL hockey games. HBO Sports also aired PBA bowling events during the 1970s. Dick Stockton was the play-by-play announcer and Skee Foremsky was the color commentator.

In 1977, HBO launched Inside the NFL, the channel's longest-running program, but cancelled it in February 2008, with rival pay TV network Showtime picking up the series starting in September 2008. HBO launched Boxing After Dark in 1996, showcasing some of boxing's newest talents. HBO currently operates HBO PPV (formerly TVKO) to broadcast boxing matches to pay-per-view subscribers.

In 2001, HBO hired Bob Costas to host a 12-episode sports show called On the Record with Bob Costas. A revamped version of On the Record began in 2005, Costas Now, which ended its run in 2009. Both shows are very similar to another HBO sports show called Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel that currently runs on the network. The channel debuted another sports show Joe Buck Live, hosted by longtime baseball commentator Joe Buck in 2009. HBO and NFL Films have also jointly produced Hard Knocks, which follows a team in training camp and their preparations for the upcoming NFL season. The series, which first premiered in 2001, returned in August 2009 to document the Cincinnati Bengals.

HBO Sports has been headed by several well-known television executives over the years, including Steve Powell (later head of Programming at ESPN), Dave Meister (later head of The Tennis Channel), Seth Abraham (later head of Madison Square Garden Sports) and current President, Ross Greenburg.

Documentaries

Many of HBO's documentary series appear under the America Undercover brand. Among the regular AU features are Real Sex and Autopsy.

In 2004, guided by human rights activist Ansar Burney, an HBO team for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel used a hidden camera to document slavery and torture in secret desert camps where boys under the age of five were trained to race camels, a national sport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This half-hour investigative report exposed a carefully hidden child slavery ring that bought or kidnapped hundreds of young boys in Pakistan and Bangladesh. These boys were then forced to become camel jockeys in the UAE. The report also questioned the sincerity of U.S. diplomacy in pressuring an ally, the UAE, to comply with its own stated policy of banning the use of children under 15 from camel racing.

The documentary won a Sports Emmy Award in 2004 for "Outstanding Sports Journalism" and the 2006 Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for outstanding broadcast journalism. It also brought world attention to the plight of child camel jockeys in the Middle East and helped Ansar Burney Trust to convince the governments of Qatar and the UAE to end the use of children in this sport.

HBO is also noted for its "Sports of the 20th century" documentary brand. One of its most recent documentaries was "Dare to Dream" about the U.S. Women's Soccer Team and their effort to make a difference. This documentary featured Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Brandi Chastain, Joy Fawcett, and Julie Foudy.

In 2006, film director Spike Lee made a four-hour documentary on Hurricane Katrina called , which was broken up into two parts. Also in 2006, documentary artist Lauren Greenfield directed a feature length film about four young women struggling with eating disorders in the Renfrew Clinic in Florida, called Thin. 2008 saw the US television premiere of the documentary film Baghdad High, which depicted the lives of four boys attending a high school in Baghdad, Iraq, over the course of one year in the form of a video diary. The documentary was filmed by the boys themselves, who were given video cameras for the project.

In November 2008, HBO paid low seven figures for U.S. TV rights to Amy Rice and Alicia Sams's documentary, "By the People: The Election of Barack Obama". It covers Obama's 2006 trip to Africa, his presidential primary campaign, the 2008 general election and his inauguration. The documentary has been released to theatres in New York and Los Angeles and aired in November 2009.

Branding

When the network launched in 1972, HBO identified itself with a still image of the text "HOME BOX OFFICE". In 1975 it began using an uppercase 'HBO' with a circle inside the 'O'. However for the first few years, the logo featured the 'O' cutting into the 'B'. The logo was modified in 1980 (not completely replacing the original until 1981) when HBO started using the current version of the logo with the 'B' and the 'O' still attached to each other but with the 'O' no longer intercutting the 'B'. The simplicity of the logo makes it fairly easy to duplicate, something HBO has taken advantage of many times over the years.

The logo became iconic due to what is perhaps the network's most famous program opening sequence "HBO in Space," used from 1982 until 1999, and was produced by Liberty Studios of New York City in 1982 and debuted on the network later that year. The original full version begins with a look in a window at a family (sometimes only a husband and wife) sitting down to watch TV, with their cable box and/or TV tuned to HBO (that part was later replaced with a cloudscape). It then pans and flies through a cityscape and into the countryside and then moves up into outer space, where a starburst appears and the HBO logo (in starship form) appears and rotates toward the camera before multi-colored beams move around the "O" and take the camera inside it, where the type of program is revealed (generally the feature presentation). Several versions of the intro appear on YouTube, including one posted by HBO's official YouTube channel. The accompanying fanfare, originally composed by Ferdinand Jay Smith III for Score Productions, has become a musical logo for the network with numerous re-orchestrations of this fanfare being used, varying from the traditional horns to piano. The current feature presentation bumper uses a re-orchestrated (and slightly warped) version of this theme.

Another famous HBO ID, "Neon Lights", designated non-primetime movies airing from 7AM-8PM from 1987 to 1999. Unlike its "Space" counterpart, this ID was entirely CGI. The sequence, set to an electric guitar theme, begins with a purple HBO logo on a vertical filmstrip as light rays shoot through it, the camera then pans around several CG slots glowing in blue, green and pink until a light flash hits several spheres glowing in various rainbow colors. The spheres zoom out forming the HBO logo in light purple with "Movie" written in cursive in a raspberry-like color with the rainbow spheres on a black background behind the words.

The current HBO "Feature Presentation" bumper used since 1999 also uses CGI graphics. The version seen every day features the camera flying over ground as spotlights rapidly turn on, one by one. The camera suddenly slows, begins to face the "ground" and reveals a HBO logo-shaped lake, and the words "Feature Presentation" appear one by one, in 3D. The full version only seen during Saturday night movie premieres, begins on a city street, showing a movie theatre marquee which reads "HBO FEATURE PRESENTATION" in all caps. The camera zooms into a box office booth and then flashes, changes scenery and zooms through a country road passing under a "H"-shaped tower, then a snowy mountain road jumping over a drop-down cliff, and goes through a "B"-shaped tunnel on the other side, then rapidly coming upon a desert road catching up to a "O"-shaped tanker truck. It then appears in a urban neighborhood with skyscrapers visible in the background passing by houses and stores, and a city bus. The road becomes a bridge, coming upon the downtown of the city, bypassing the buildings seen eariler. The same animation that is seen in the more common shorter version then plays as usual.

HBO bucks the general trend in pay-TV networks (including the themed networks of sister channel Cinemax) and does not brand programming with digital on-screen graphic logos of the main network and each respective theme channel.

Slogans

Source:

November 1972–August 1975: "This is HBO, the Home Box Office. Premium Subscription Television from Time-Life."

August 1975–June 1976: "Different and First"

June 1976–May 1978: "The Great Entertainment Alternative"

May 1978–October 1979: "The Home Box"

October 1979–February 1982: "HBO People Don't Miss Out"

February 1982–March 1984: "Start with Us on HBO"/"America's Leading Premium Television Network"/"All the Day, Premium Television, HBO"

March 1984–June 1985: "There's No Place Like HBO"

June 1985-July 1988: "Let's All Get Together"

July 1988–February 1989: "Watch Us Here on HBO"

February 1989–July 1990: "Nobody Brings It Home Like HBO" (used alternatively between 1988 and 1989)

October 1989–November 1992: "Simply The Best"/"The Best Movies", used song "The Best" by Tina Turner as image theme

November 1992–October 1993: "We're HBO"

October 1993–September 1995: "We're Out of Town Today"

September 1995–October 1996: "Something Special's On"

October 1996–April 2009: "It's Not TV. It's HBO."

2006–2009: "Get More" (slogan for the HBO website)

April 2009–present: "It's More Than You Imagined. It's HBO."

2010–present: "This is HBO." (only used for ID's)

Other ventures

HBO has expanded considerably with its HBO and Cinemax family of networks as well as influencing television- and film-production.

In 1990, HBO launched HBO Independent Productions, a production company that produced mainly sitcoms for broadcast and basic cable television, including Martin and Everybody Loves Raymond. HBO Downtown Productions launched a year later, producing comedy specials for the network as well as content for Comedy Central (which HBO formerly co-owned).

HBO also operates HBO Films, established in 1999 as a reconfiguration and consolidation of its former movie divisions, HBO NYC Productions and HBO Pictures. HBO also operated another film-division called HBO Showcase, which ceased in 1996 to become HBO NYC Productions.

HBO has participated in a number of joint ventures: TriStar Pictures: In 1982, HBO joint-ventured with Columbia Pictures and CBS Theatrical Films to form a motion picture studio: Tri-Star (the hyphen disappeared later). HBO, CBS and Columbia decided to pool resources to split the ever-growing costs of making movies. Their first production, The Natural, was released in 1984. CBS sold its stake in the studio in 1985. In April 1987, Tri-Star entered into the television business as Tri-Star Television. In December 1987, HBO dropped out of the Tri-Star venture and Columbia Pictures bought their venture shares and merged Columbia and Tri-Star into Columbia Pictures Entertainment. Sony Pictures Entertainment continues to use the name "TriStar".

In 2005, HBO Films and New Line Cinema launched Picturehouse, a worldwide theatrical distribution company for high-quality independent films. The company shut down in 2008 as part of the consolidation of New Line with its sister studio Warner Bros.

Merchandising

Various products have used the HBO trademark. In 2005, HBO launched a deal with Cingular Wireless (now AT&T;) to establish HBO Mobile. HBO Mobile, a pay service feature much like the cable network itself, features information on HBO original series such as The Sopranos, Sex and the City and others, including episode guides, wallpapers and ringtones voiced by cast-members of HBO series.

In 2005, a version of the DVD interactive game Scene It was released by Mattel, tailored to the HBO network itself; it features trivia on various HBO series.

Festival

In 1987, HBO launched a short-lived channel called "Festival". But only a few cable systems carried Festival and the channel went dark in 1988. DirecTV finally launched HBO2 (east) HD, and HBO Zone HD on June 23, 2010; but the rest of the claim has yet to be completely fulfilled. DirecTV also does not carry HBO Comedy or most of the Cinemax channels.

DirecTV and HBO have reportedly been in negotiations for the rest of the channels for several months, with the main issue being DirecTV refusing to offer free previews and introductory discounts for the suite to attract potential subscribers.

On January 11, 2011, Digi TV, RCS&RDS; DTH platform dropped transmission of HBO's channels in the Czech Republic, and two days later in Croatia. This decision was made due to: "Unacceptable financial demands of the licensor, which would harm our company and especially you, our customers, through an unacceptable increase in retail prices." stated in a RCS&RDS; press release.

See also

HBO Boxing

HBO Films

List of past and present HBO shows

On Location

Standing Room Only

Captain Midnight (HBO), for a 1986 incident where HBO's signal was jammed to protest the scrambling of their signal for satellite dish users

List of HBO video releases

References

External links

HBO International

HBO Asia

HBO Brazil

HBO Family Brazil

HBO Bulgaria

HBO Canada

HBO Caribbean (for English speaking Americas)

HBO Central Europe

HBO Croatia

HBO Latin America

HBO Family Latin America

HBO Hungary

HBO Poland

HBO Macedonia

HBO România

HBO Serbia

HBO UK

Category:Companies established in 1972 Category:American television networks Category:Commercial-free television networks Category:Television channels and stations established in 1972 Category:Time Warner Category:Movie channels Category:Companies based in New York City Category:Cable television in the United States

Name	Manny Pacquiao
Caption	Pacquiao during the ceremonial first pitch at a baseball game
Nickname	Pac-Man,Fighting Pride of the Philippines,The Destroyer,The Mexicutioner,The People's Champ,Pambansang Kamao (National Fist),The Fighting Congressman
Weight	Light MiddleweightWelterweightLight WelterweightLightweightSuper FeatherweightFeatherweightSuper BantamweightFlyweight
Height
Reach
Nationality	Filipino
Birth date	December 17, 1978
Birth place	Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines
Style	Southpaw
Total	57
Wins	52
Ko	38
Losses	3
Draws	2

Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao (, ; born December 17, 1978), also known as Manny Pacquiao, is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is an eight-division world champion, the first boxer in history to win ten world titles in eight different weight divisions. He is also the first boxer in history to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000's by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). He is also a three-time BWAA and The Ring "Fighter of the Year" in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Currently, Pacquiao is the WBC Super Welterweight World Champion and WBO Welterweight World Champion (Super Champion). He is also currently rated as the "number one" pound-for-pound best boxer in the world by several sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NBC Sports, Yahoo! Sports, Sporting Life and About.com.

Aside from boxing, Pacquiao has participated in acting, music recording, and politics. In May 2010, Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of Sarangani. He is the only active boxer to become a congressman in the Philippines.

Personal life

Pacquiao was born on December 17, 1978, in Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines. He is the son of Rosalio Pacquiao and Dionesia Dapidran-Pacquiao. His parents separated when he was in sixth grade, after his mother discovered that his father was living with another woman. and they have four children: Emmanuel Jr. "Jimuel", Michael, Princess, and Queen Elizabeth "Queenie". He resides in his hometown General Santos City, South Cotabato, Philippines. However, as a congressman of lone district of Sarangani, he is officially residing in Kiamba, Sarangani, the hometown of his wife.

Pacquiao is a devout Roman Catholic. Within the ring, he frequently makes the sign of the cross and every time he comes back from a successful fight abroad, he attends a thanksgiving Mass in Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila to kneel and pray.

Pacquiao is also a military reservist with the rank of Sergeant Major for the 15th Ready Reserve Division of the Philippine Army. When younger he had considered becoming a soldier, and was enlisted in the military reserve force as an Army Private.

Education

Pacquiao completed his elementary education at Saavedra Saway Elementary School in General Santos City, but dropped out of high school due to extreme poverty. He left his home at age 14 because his mother, who had six children, was not making enough money to support her family. He was awarded with a high school diploma by the Department of Education. Pacquiao enrolled for a college degree in business management at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University (NDDU) in his hometown in General Santos City.

On February 18, 2009, Pacquiao was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) by Southwestern University (SWU) at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Lahug, Cebu City in recognition of his boxing achievements and humanitarian work.

In preparation for his career as a lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Pacquiao enrolled in the Certificate Course in Development, Legislation, and Governance at the Development Academy of the Philippines – Graduate School of Public and Development Management (DAP-GSPDM).

Amateur boxing career

At the age of 14, Pacquiao moved to Manila and lived, for a time, on the streets. He started boxing and made the Philippine national amateur boxing team where his room and board were paid for by the government. Pacquiao reportedly had an amateur record of 64 fights (60–4).

Professional boxing career

Early years at Light Flyweight division

In 1995, the death of a young aspiring boxer and close friend Eugene Barutag spurred the young Pacquiao to pursue a professional boxing career. Pacquiao started his professional boxing career when he was just 16 years of age, stood at 4'11, and weighed 98 pounds (7 pounds under the minimumweight division). He admitted before American media that he put weights in his pockets to make the 105 pound weight limit. His early light flyweight division fights took place in small local venues and were shown on Vintage Sports' Blow by Blow'', an evening boxing show. His professional debut was a four round bout against Edmund "Enting" Ignacio, on January 22, 1995, which Pacquiao won via decision, becoming an instant star of the program.

Pacquiao's weight increased from 106 to 113 pounds before losing in his 12th bout against Rustico Torrecampo via a third round knockout. Pacquiao failed to make the required weight, so he was forced to use heavier gloves than Torrecampo, thereby putting him at a disadvantage.

Flyweight division

Following the Torrecampo fight, Pacquiao continued undefeated for his next 15 fights. He went on another unbeaten run that saw him take on the vastly more experienced Chokchai Chockvivat in flyweight division. Pacquiao knocked out Chockvivat in the fifth round and took the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) Flyweight title. After one official defense and two non-title bouts, Pacquiao got his first opportunity to fight for a world title. Pacquiao captured the World Boxing Council (WBC) Flyweight World Title (his first major boxing world title as well as the flyweight lineal title) over Chatchai Sasakul by way of knockout in the eighth round. He defended the title successfully against Mexican Gabriel Mira via 4th round technical knockout. However, Pacquiao lost the title in his second defense against Medgoen Singsurat, also known as Medgoen 3K Battery, via a third round knockout. The bout was held in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Singsurat got Pacquiao on the ropes and landed a flush straight right to the body coiling Pacquiao over and keeping him there. Technically, Pacquiao lost the belt at the scales, as he surpassed the weight limit of 112 pounds.

Super Bantamweight division

Following his loss to Singsurat, Pacquiao gained weight anew and skipped the super flyweight and bantamweight divisions. This time, Pacquiao went to super bantamweight or junior featherweight division of 122 pounds, where he picked up the WBC Super Bantamweight International Title. He defended this title five times before his chance for a world title fight came. Pacquiao's big break came on June 23, 2001, against former IBF World Super Bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao stepped into the fight as a late replacement on two weeks' notice but won the fight by technical knockout and won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Junior Featherweight World Title belt, his second major boxing world title. The bout was held at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao went on to defend this title four times under head trainer Freddie Roach, owner of the famous Wild Card Gym in West Hollywood.

Featherweight division

On November 15, 2003, Pacquiao faced Marco Antonio Barrera at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, in a fight that many consider to have defined his career. Pacquiao, who was fighting at featherweight for the first time, brought his power with him and defeated Barrera via technical knockout in the eleventh round and won The Ring Featherweight World Title (as well as the lineal featherweight champion), making him the first Filipino and Asian to become a three-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in three different weight divisions. He defended the title twice before relinquishing it in 2005.

On November 24, 2003, the then Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo conferred on Pacquiao the Presidential Medal of Merit at the Ceremonial Hall of Malacañang Palace for his knockout victory over the best featherweight boxer of the world. The following day, the members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines presented the House Resolution No. 765, authored by the then House Speaker Jose De Venecia and Bukidnon Representative Juan Miguel Zubiri, which honored Pacquiao the Congressional Medal of Achievement for his exceptional achievements. Pacquiao is the first sportsman to receive such an honor from the House of Representatives.

Six months after the fight with Barrera, Pacquiao went on to challenge Juan Manuel Márquez, who at the time held both the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) Featherweight World Titles. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, on May 8, 2004, and after twelve rounds the bout was scored a draw, which proved to be a controversial decision that outraged both camps.

In the first round, Márquez was caught cold, as he was knocked down three times by Pacquiao. However, Márquez showed great heart to recover from the early knockdowns, and went on to win the majority of rounds thereafter. This was largely due to Márquez's counterpunch style, which he managed to effectively utilize against the aggressive style of Pacquiao. At the end of a very close fight, the final scores were 115–110 for Márquez, 115–110 for Pacquiao, and 113–113.

On September 10, 2005, Manny Pacquiao fought Héctor Velázquez at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. He knocked Velázquez out in six rounds to capture the WBC Super Featherweight International Title, which he went on to defend five times. On the same day, his rival, Érik Morales, fought Zahir Raheem and lost via unanimous decision.

Despite Morales's loss to Raheem. Pacquiao got matched up against Morales in a rematch which took place on January 21, 2006 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. During the fight, Morales escaped being knocked down twice, once in the second round by holding onto the ropes, and once in the sixth by falling on the referee. Pacquiao eventually knocked Morales out in the tenth, the first time Morales was knocked out in his boxing career.

On July 2, 2006, Pacquiao defended his WBC Super Featherweight International Title against Óscar Larios, a two-time super bantamweight champion, who had moved up two weight divisions to fight Pacquiao. Pacquiao won the fight via unanimous decision, knocking down Larios two times in the 12-round bout at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines. The three judges scored the fight 117–110, 118–108, and 120–106 all for Pacquiao.

On July 3, 2006, the day after winning the fight against Larios, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo personally bestowed the Order of Lakandula with the rank of "Champion for Life" (Kampeon Habambuhay) and the plaque of appreciation to Pacquiao in a simple ceremony at the Rizal Hall of Malacañang Palace.

Pacquiao and Morales fought a third time (with the series tied 1–1) on Nov. 18, 2006. Witnessed by a near record crowd of 18,276, the match saw Pacquiao defeat Morales via a third round knockout at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. After the Pacquiao–Morales rubber match, Bob Arum, Pacquiao's main promoter, announced that Manny had returned his signing bonus back to Golden Boy Promotions, signaling intentions to stay with Top Rank. This prompted Golden Boy Promotions to sue Pacquiao over breach of contract.

After a failed promotional negotiation with Marco Antonio Barrera's camp, Bob Arum chose Jorge Solís as Pacquiao's next opponent among several fighters Arum offered as replacements. The bout was held in San Antonio, Texas, on April 14, 2007. In the sixth round, an accidental headbutt occurred, giving Pacquiao a cut under his left eyebrow. The fight ended in the eighth when Pacquiao knocked Solis down twice. Solis barely beat the count after the second knockdown, causing the referee to stop the fight and award Pacquiao a knockout win. The victory raised Pacquiao's win–loss–draw record to 44–3–2 with 34 knockouts. This also marked the end of Solis's undefeated streak.

On June 29, 2007, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions announced that they agreed to settle their lawsuit, meaning the long-awaited rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera would occur despite Pacquiao being the top-ranked contender for the super featherweight title of Juan Manuel Márquez. On October 6, 2007, Pacquiao defeated Barrera in their rematch via an easy unanimous decision. In the 11th round, Pacquiao's punch caused a deep cut below Barrera's right eye. Barrera retaliated with an illegal punch on the break that dazed Pacquiao but also resulted in a point deduction for Barrera. Two judges scored the bout 118–109, whereas the third scored it 115–112.

In The Ring Magazine, Pacquiao (45–3–2) remained at the top of the super featherweight division (130 pounds). He had been in the ratings for 108 weeks. On November 13, 2007, he was honored by the World Boxing Council as Emeritus Champion during its 45th Annual World Convention held at the Manila Hotel.

On November 20, 2007, José Nuñez, manager of WBO Super Featherweight champion Joan Guzmán, accused Pacquiao's handler Bob Arum of evading a match between the two boxers to protect Pacquiao. Guzmán went as far as to directly call out Pacquiao at the postfight press conference of the Pacquiao–Barrera rematch in front of a stunned crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center's media room in Las Vegas.

On March 15, 2008, in a rematch against Juan Manuel Márquez called "Unfinished Business", Pacquiao won via split decision. The fight was held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. With the victory, Pacquiao won the WBC Super Featherweight and The Ring Junior Lightweight World Titles (as well as the lineal junior lightweight title), making him the first Filipino and Asian to become a four-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in four different weight divisions. The fight was a close hard fought battle, during which both fighters received cuts. Throughout the fight Márquez landed the most punches at a higher percentage; however, the decisive factor proved to be a third round knockdown, wherein Márquez was floored by a Pacquiao left hook. However, Pacquiao ruled out a third clash with Márquez, saying, "I don't think so. This business is over." and also became the first Filipino fighter to ever win a world title at lightweight. During the fight, which Pacquiao dominated, Díaz was cut badly on his right eye in the fourth round. After the bout, Díaz acknowledged Pacquiao's superior hand speed, stating "It was his speed. It was all his speed. I could see the punches perfectly, but he was just too fast."

Bob Arum reported that the fight had made 12.5 million dollars earning Díaz his best payday of 850,000 dollars, whilst Pacquiao earned at least 3 million dollars.

Holding both the WBC World Super Featherweight and World Lightweight titles following the win, Pacquiao decided to vacate his super featherweight title in July 2008.

On August 7, 2008, the members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines issued a House Resolution, sponsored by South Cotabato Congresswoman Darlene Antonino-Custodio, which recognized Pacquiao as a "People’s Champ" — "for his achievements and in appreciation of the honor and inspiration he has been bringing... to the Filipino people." He received a plaque from the then House Speaker Prospero Nograles.

Welterweight division

On December 6, 2008, Pacquiao moved up to the welterweight division, in order to face the six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight called "The Dream Match". Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, the bout was scheduled as a twelve round, non-title fight contested at the 147 pound welterweight limit. Although Pacquiao went into the fight widely recognized as the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world, some boxing pundits had speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya. However, due to rehydration after the weigh in, De la Hoya came into the fight actually weighing less than Pacquiao, and close to 20 pounds under his usual fighting weight. Pacquiao dominated the fight, and after eight rounds De La Hoya's corner was forced to throw in the towel, awarding Pacquiao the win via technical knockout.

Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight at 80–71 and one scoring it at 79–72. Moreover, Pacquiao landed 224 out of 585 punches, whilst De La Hoya landed only 83 out of 402 punches. The fight would be De La Hoya's last, as he announced his retirement from boxing shortly after.

Pacquiao received 15 to 30 million dollars (share of the pay-per-view), plus a guaranteed amount. Tickets reportedly sold out just hours after they went on sale. Moreover, the total gate revenue for the fight was said to be nearly 17 million dollars, making it the second largest gate revenue in boxing history.

On December 22, 2008, Pacquiao has been decorated with the Philippine Legion of Honor with the rank of "Officer" (Pinuno) in a ceremony marking the 73rd founding anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. As an army reservist, he was given recognition for bringing pride and honor to the country through his remarkable achievements in the ring.

Light Welterweight division

On May 2, 2009, Pacquiao fought at light welterweight or super lightweight division for the first time against Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as "The Battle of the East and West". Pacquiao won the bout via knockout to claim the International Boxing Organization (IBO) Junior Welterweight and The Ring Junior Welterweight World Titles (as well as the lineal light welterweight title). In doing so, Pacquiao became the second man in boxing history to become a six-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in six different weight divisions and the first man ever to win lineal world titles in four different weight classes.

The fight was originally placed in jeopardy due to disputes with both camps over the fight purse money. Eventually, the money issue was settled and the fight went on as scheduled. HBO aired the contest.

Pacquiao started the fight strong, knocking down Hatton twice in the first round. A somewhat shaken Hatton beat the count, only to be saved by the bell seconds later. In the second round Hatton seemed to have recovered, as he stalked Pacquiao for most of the round. However, with less than ten seconds remaining in the second round, Hatton was knocked out cold by a sharp left hook, prompting the referee to award Pacquiao the win by knockout (at 2:59 of the round). The knockout won him the The Ring Magazine "Knockout of the Year" for 2009.

Return to Welterweight division

On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao defeated Miguel Cotto via technical knockout in the twelfth round, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as "Firepower". Although the bout was sanctioned as a world title fight in the welterweight division, where the weight limit is 147 pounds, Cotto agreed to fight at a catchweight of 145 pounds.

Pacquiao dominated the fight, knocking Cotto down in round three and round four, before the referee stopped the fight at 0:55 of round twelve. With this victory, Pacquiao took the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Welterweight World Title and WBO Super Champion belts, to become the first seven-division world champion, the first fighter in boxing history to win world titles in seven different weight divisions. Pacquiao also won the first and special WBC Diamond Championship belt. This belt was created as an honorary championship exclusively to award the winner of a historic fight between two high-profile boxers. After the fight, promoter Bob Arum stated "Pacquiao is the greatest boxer I've ever seen, and I've seen them all, including Ali, Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard." Miguel Cotto said in a post fight interview: "Miguel Cotto comes to boxing to fight the biggest names, and Manny is one of the best boxers we have of all time." Cotto showed heart and fans regarded this as one of the year's best fights.

The fight generated 1.25 million buys and $70 million in domestic pay-per-view revenue, making it the most watched boxing event of 2009. Pacquiao earned around $22 million for his part in the fight, whilst Cotto earned around $12 million.

Following the victory against Cotto, there was much public demand for a fight between the seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao (the number 1 pound-for-pound boxer) and the five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (the number 2 and former number 1 pound-for-pound boxer). Pacquiao reportedly agreed to fight Mayweather on March 13, 2010, for a split of $50 million up front. And it was later agreed that the venue for the fight would be the MGM Grand Las Vegas. However, the bout was put in jeopardy due to disagreements about Olympic-style drug testing. The Mayweather camp wanted random blood testing by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, whereas Pacquiao refused to have any blood testing within 30 days from the fight, because he thought it would weaken him, but he was willing to have blood taken from him before the 30-day window as well as immediately after the fight. Freddie Roach, on the other hand, commented that he would not allow blood to be taken from Pacquiao one week before the fight. In an attempt to resolve their differences, the two camps went through a process of mediation before a retired judge. After the mediation process Mayweather agreed to a 14-day no blood testing window. However, Pacquiao refused and instead only agreed to a 24-day no blood testing window. Consequently, on January 7, 2010, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum declared that the fight was officially off.

Because of Pacquiao's reluctance to submit to random blood testing to the extent requested by Mayweather, and despite lack of evidence, the Mayweather camp repeated their suggestion that Pacquiao was using banned substances, which resulted in Pacquiao filing a lawsuit for defamation, seeking damages in excess of 75,000 dollars. The lawsuit cited accusations made by Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer.

After negotiations for the Mayweather fight fell through, other boxers were considered to replace Mayweather as Pacquiao's next opponent, including former light welterweight champion Paul Malignaggi, and WBA World Super Welterweight champion Yuri Foreman. However, Pacquiao chose to fight former IBF Welterweight World Champion Joshua Clottey instead.

On March 13, 2010, at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Pacquiao defeated Clottey via unanimous decision to retain his WBO Welterweight World Title belt. The judges scored the fight 120–108, 119–109 and 119–109, all in favor of Pacquiao. During the fight, Pacquiao threw a total of 1231 punches (a career high), but landed just 246, as most were blocked by Clottey's tight defense. On the other hand, Clottey threw a total of 399 punches, landing 108.

The fight was rewarded with a paid crowd of 36,371 and a gate of $6,359,985, according to post-fight tax reports filed with Texas boxing regulators. Counting complimentary tickets delivered to sponsors, media outlets and others, the Dallas fight attracted 41,843, but still an epic number for boxing. In addition, the bout drew 700,000 pay-per-view buys and earned $35.3 million in domestic revenue.

Manny Pacquiao was named as the Fighter of the Decade for years 2000–2009 by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). This award was presented by legendary boxer Joe Frazier, who was also a recipient of the award himself back in 1978 for defeating Muhammad Ali. Aside from this prestigious recognition, he was also named as the Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year for 2009, having received the same honor in 2006 and 2008. The awards ceremony was held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on June 4, 2010.

On June 12, 2010, the President of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, stated during an interview with a Spanish network that the deal for the fight was very close and the negotiation process has been very difficult. On June 30, 2010, Arum announced that the management of both sides had agreed to terms, that all points had been settled (including Pacquiao agreeing to submit to both blood and urine testing) and only the signature of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was needed to seal the deal that could have earned both fighters at least $40 million each. Mayweather was then given a two-week deadline for the fight contract to be signed. Arum also announced that Pacquiao accepted the terms of the random drug testing, blood and urine, leading up to the fight.

On July 15, 2010, Bob Arum announced that Pacquiao's camp would give Mayweather until Friday midnight to sign the fight. The next day the Top Rank website embedded a countdown clock on their website with the heading "Money" Time: Mayweather's Decision. On July 17, 2010, Arum announced that there was no word from Mayweather's camp and the deal for a November 13, 2010 fight with Mayweather Jr. was not reached.

On July 19, 2010, Leonard Ellerbe, one of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s closest advisers, denied that negotiations for a super fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao had ever taken place. Ellerbe stated that Bob Arum was not telling the truth. Bob Arum responded, questioning that if there was no negotiation, then who imposed the gag order (referring to a gag order about the negotiation allegedly imposed on both camps) and who could there be a gag order from if there were no negotiations. He also criticized Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer for denying that negotiations took place, when De La Hoya himself had previously stated that they were "very, very close in finalizing the contracts". Arum revealed that HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg acted as the mediator between Mayweather’s handlers and those of Pacquiao’s from Top Rank Promotions. On July 26, 2010, Ross Greenburg said in a statement that he has been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2, 2010, carefully trying to put the fight together and he did in fact act as a go-between in negotiations with the two sides, but they were unable to come to an agreement. Floyd Mayweather Jr., after the second negotiation had been officially declared off, told the Associated Press that he had fought sixty days ago and that he was not interested in rushing into anything and was not really thinking about boxing at the moment.

Light Middleweight division

On July 23, 2010, Bob Arum announced that Pacquiao would fight Antonio Margarito on November 13, 2010. The fight for the vacant WBC Super Welterweight World Title gave Pacquiao the chance to win a world title in his eighth weight class, the light middleweight or super welterweight division. A catchweight of 150 pounds was established for the fight although the weight limit for the light middleweight division is 154 pounds. During the pre-fight, Pacquiao weighed in at a low 144.6 pounds, while Margarito weighed in at the limit of 150 pounds. Pacquiao said he was pleased with his weight because he loses too much speed when he gains pounds. During the fight itself, Pacquiao weighed 148 lbs, 17 pounds lighter than Margarito's 165.

Prior to the fight, Pacquiao's team demanded to the Texas officials to test Margarito for banned substances after a weight loss supplement, reportedly Hydroxycut, was found in his locker. It was stated that the officials would undergo testing for both boxers after the fight. In the fight, Pacquiao defeated Margarito via unanimous decision, using his superior handspeed and movement to win his 8th world title in as many divisions. In the penultimate round, Pacquiao implored referee Laurence Cole several times to stop the fight as Margarito had a swollen face and a large cut beneath the right eye, but the referee let the fight continue. Margarito had to be taken directly to the hospital after the fight, where it was discovered his orbital bone had been fractured; he had to undergo surgery.

Professional boxing record

|align="center" colspan=8|52 Wins (38 knockouts, 14 decisions), 3 Losses (2 by knockout, 1 by decision), 2 Draws |- | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res. | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center | || align=left| Shane Mosley | || - || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Antonio Margarito | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Joshua Clottey | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Miguel Ángel Cotto | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Ricky Hatton | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Oscar De La Hoya | || 8 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| David Díaz | || 9 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Juan Manuel Márquez | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Marco Antonio Barrera | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Jorge Solís | || 8 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Érik Morales | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Óscar Larios | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Érik Morales | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Héctor Velázquez | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Érik Morales | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Fahsan Por Thawatchai | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |style="background: #dae2f1"| || align=left| Juan Manuel Márquez | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Marco Antonio Barrera | || 11 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Emmanuel Lucero | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov | || 5 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Jorge Eliecer Julio | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |style="background: #dae2f1"| || align=left| Agapito Sánchez | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Lehlohonolo Ledwaba | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Wethya Sakmuangklang | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Tetsutora Senrima | || 5 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Nedal Hussein | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Seung-Kon Chae | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Arnel Barotillo | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Reynante Jamili | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Medgoen Singsurat | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Gabriel Mira | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Todd Makelim | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Chatchai Sasakul | || 8 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Shin Terao | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Panomdej Ohyuthanakorn | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Melvin Magramo | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Chokchai Chockvivat | || 5 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Ariel Austria | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Wook-Ki Lee | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Mike Luna | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Sung-Yul Lee | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Ippo Gala | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Bert Batiller | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| John Medina | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Marlon Carillo | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Rustico Torrecampo | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Lito Torrejos | || 5 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Rolando Toyogon | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Rudolfo Fernandez | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Renato Mendones | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Lolito Laroa | || 8 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Armando Rocil | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Acasio Simbajon | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Dele Decierto | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Rocky Palma | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Pinoy Montejo | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Edmund Enting Ignacio | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left|

Titles in boxing

Major World Titles:

WBC Flyweight World Champion (112 lbs)

IBF Junior Featherweight World Champion (122 lbs)

The Ring Featherweight World Champion (126 lbs)

WBC Super Featherweight World Champion (130 lbs)

The Ring Junior Lightweight World Champion (130 lbs)

WBC Lightweight World Champion (135 lbs)

The Ring Junior Welterweight World Champion (140 lbs)

WBO Welterweight World Champion (147 lbs)

WBC Super Welterweight World Champion (154 lbs)

Minor World Title:

IBO Junior Welterweight World Champion (140 lbs)

Lineal Championship Titles:

Lineal Flyweight World Champion (112 lbs)

Lineal Featherweight World Champion (126 lbs)

Lineal Super Featherweight World Champion (130 lbs)

Lineal Light Welterweight World Champion (140 lbs)

Regional/International Titles:

OPBF Flyweight Champion (112 lbs)

WBC Super Bantamweight International Champion (122 lbs)

WBC Super Featherweight International Champion (130 lbs)

Special Titles:

WBC Emeritus Champion

WBC Diamond Champion

WBO Super Champion

Acting career

Name	Manny Pacquiao
Birthname	Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao
Othername	Manny, Pacman
Occupation	Professional Boxer, Actor, Politician
Yearsactive	2000 – Present

Pacquiao started his acting career as an extra in some local films and guest appearances on ABS-CBN shows.

In December 2005 Pacquiao took his first lead role in Violett Films' Lisensyadong Kamao (Licensed Fist). The movie is titled so because (according to director Tony Bernal), being a Boxer, Pacquiao is licensed to use his hands.

In 2008, Pacquiao starred with Ara Mina and Valerie Concepcion in Anak ng Kumander (Son of Commander). The movie was not a commercial success and was panned by critics.

Pacquiao starred in the superhero/comedy film entitled Wapakman, which was released on December 25, 2009 as an entry to the 2009 Metro Manila Film Festival. Like his previous films Wapakman was not commercially successful.

Upon the expiration of his contract with ABS-CBN, Pacquiao signed with GMA Network as an actor in September 2007. On December 17, 2007, he taped his first episode of the networks infotainment show Pinoy Records. His other projects with the network included Totoy Bato and the sitcom Show Me Da Manny in which his mother, Dionesia, also appeared.

American actor Sylvester Stallone is reportedly in talks with Pacquiao over co-starring in one of Stallone's future films, which is in the planning stages. The film would be Pacquiao's Hollywood debut.

Filmography

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year !! Film !! Role !! Other Notes |- | 2000 || Di Ko Kayang Tanggapin || Dong|| |- | 2001 || Mahal Kita... Kahit Sino Ka Pa! || || |- | 2001 || Basagan ng Mukha || Dodong || |- | 2005 || Lisensyadong Kamao || Ambrosio "Bruce" Lerio || |- | 2008 || Anak ng Kumander || Kumander Idel || Writer/Producer |- | 2008 || Brown Soup Thing || Cousin Manny || |- | 2008 || Pangarap Kong Jackpot || Abel ||segment "Sa Ngalan ng Busabos" |- | 2009 || Wapakman || Magno Meneses/Wapakman || |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year !! Television Shows !! Role !! Other Notes |- | 2004 || Walang Bakas || Himself (uncredited) || |- | 2004 || No Fear: The Manny Pacquiao Story || Himself || Video documentary |- | 2004 || The People's Champion || Himself || Video documentary |- | 2005 || Kamao: Matira Ang Matibay || Himself – Host || |- | 2005 || Ok Fine Whatever || Himself – Guest || |- | 2006 || Ako ang Simula || Himself || TV documentary |- | 2007 || The Battle of Cebu: Moment of Truth || Himself – Crowd || |- | 2009 || Kababayan LA: Manny Pacquiao Specials || Himself || |- | 2009 || Pinoy Records || Himself – Host || |- | 2009 || Totoy Bato || Emmanuel || |- | 2009 || Show Me Da Manny || Manny Santos || |- | 2009 || Rome is Burning || Himself – Correspondent || Episode dated May 1 |- | 2009 || Jimmy Kimmel Live || Himself – Guest || Episode dated November 3 |- | 2009 || MMA H.E.A.T. || Himself || Episode dated November 12 |- | 2010 || Jimmy Kimmel Live || Himself – Guest || Episode dated March 3 |- | 2010 || HBO Boxing After Dark || Himself – Audience Member || Episode dated June 18 |- | 2010 || ESPN Friday Night Fights || Himself || Episode dated July 2 |- | 2010 || Jimmy Kimmel Live || Himself – Guest || Episode dated November 1 |- | 2010 || 60 Minutes || Himself - Guest |}

Discography

Name	Manny Pacquiao
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Emmanuel D. Pacquiao
Origin	General Santos City
Occupation	Boxer, Actor, Singer, Politician
Years active	2006–present
Label	Star RecordsMCA RecordsGMA Records
Associated acts	Lito CamoFrancis Magalona

Artist	Manny Pacquiao
Studio	2
Singles	3
Music videos	4
Option name	Other charted songs
Option link	Other charted songs}}

Most of the Tagalog songs of Pacquiao were composed by Lito Camo. The following are the songs from Manny Pacquiao's albums:

Laban Nating Lahat Ito (2006) – under Star Records

*"Bilog"

*"Para Sa'Yo Ang Laban Na 'To"

*"Pagsubok Lamang Yan"

*"Byaheng Pag-asa"

*"Ipakita Mo"

*"Ikaw at Ako"

*"Hindi Ko Kaya"

*"Kanta Tayo"

*"Champion Sa Kantahan"

*"Laban Nating Lahat Ito" (feat Francis M.)

Pac-Man Punch (2007) – under MCA Records

*"Pac-Man Punch" – Willie Wilcox feat. Nemesis Yankee and Manny Pacquiao

*"Pac-Man Punch (R U Ready?)" – Willie Wilcox feat. Nemesis Yankee

*"Pac-Man Punch (Knockout Remix)" – Willie Wilcox feat. Nemesis Yankee and Manny Pacquiao

*"Pac-Man Punch (Minus One)"

Under GMA Records

*"Lahing Pinoy"

Political career

Name	Emmanuel D. Pacquiao
Office	Member of the House of Representatives from Sarangani
Term start	June 30, 2010
Predecessor	Erwin L. Chiongbian
Party	Liberal Party (2007, 2010)Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (2008)Nacionalista Party (2009–2010) People's Champ Movement (2010)
Residence	Kiamba, Sarangani
Alma mater	Notre Dame of Dadiangas University
Profession	Professional Boxer, Actor
Religion	Roman Catholic
Website	www.congress.gov.ph

On February 12, 2007, Pacquiao officially announced that he would be running for a seat in the House of Representatives in the May 2007 legislative election as a candidate of the Liberal Party, aiming to represent the 1st District of South Cotabato. Pacquiao, who has been known to be supportive of the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said that he was persuaded to run by local officials of General Santos City, who hoped he would act as a bridge between their interests and the national government.

In September 2008, Pacquiao was sworn in as member of Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), a pro-administration political party.

On November 21, 2009, Pacquiao confirmed that he would run again for the congressional seat but this time in Sarangani province, the hometown of his wife Jinkee. He originally planned to run for congress under his own party, the People's Champ Movement, but has since joined the Nacionalista Party headed by Manny Villar. Villar said arrangements were made to accommodate Pacquiao’s People’s Champ Movement in a coalition with the Nacionalista Party for the May 2010 elections in Sarangani.

On May 13, 2010, Pacquiao was officially proclaimed congressman of the lone district of Sarangani. He scored a landslide victory over a wealthy and politically well-entrenched clan of the province. His triumph ended the reign of Chiongbian clan that has been in power for more than thirty years. Pacquiao got 120,052 votes while his political rival, Roy Chiongbian, got 60,899 votes.

On June 28, 2010, Pacquiao took his oath of office as congressman before Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio in the Provincial Capitol of Sarangani in Municipality of Alabel. He announced that he will transfer to President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III's Liberal Party from Nacionalista Party as he wants to ensure the entry of more projects to his province.

In popular culture

A film based on Pacquiao's life, , was released on June 21, 2006, featuring Filipino actor Jericho Rosales as Manny Pacquiao and was directed by Joel Lamangan. The film flopped at the box office, grossing a total of only P4,812,191 (approximately US$99,322), as confirmed by Lamangan.

Pacquiao is featured in the boxing video games Fight Night Round 2, Fight Night Round 3, Fight Night Round 4 and Fight Night Champion. EA Sports released a limited edition demo of Fight Night Round 4, featuring Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton prior to their May 2 fight.

Pacquiao became the first Filipino athlete to appear on a postage stamp.

Pacquiao became the first Filipino Olympic non-participant to be Team Philippines’ flag-bearer during the August 8 opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium. Swimmer Miguel Molina, 2005 Southeast Asian Games’ Best Male Athlete, yielded the honor to Pacquiao, upon the request of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the national sports officials on the Philippines at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Pacquiao plays basketball as a cross-training to keep himself in shape. He is playing in the semi-professional basketball league, Liga Pilipinas, with the team he owns, the MP-Gensan Warriors. He made his debut in the Smart-Liga Pilipinas Conference II in January 16, 2009. He wears jersey number 17.

Pacquiao became an honorary member of Boston Celtics. The honorary membership was bestowed on him in a brief ceremony and he was presented with a replica of a green and white Celtics jersey bearing his name and number 1. As a measure of gratitude, Pacquiao delivered a stockpile of red autographed boxing gloves to TD Garden. On March 10, 2010, prior to the night's game with Memphis Grizzlies, many of the Celtics had a special motivational gift waiting for them in their lockers.

With his popularity, various business sectors have solicited Manny Pacquiao's help in endorsing their products through commercial advertisements in print and in broadcast media. These include detergents, medicines, foods, beverage, garments, telecommunications, and even a political ad for politicians during the 2007 and 2010 Philippine elections. His most acclaimed commercials yet were for Nike's "Fast Forward" campaign (alongside Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Liu Xiang) and San Miguel Beer with Jet Li and Érik Morales.

Pacquiao has been included by Time Magazine as one of the world's most influential people for the year 2009, for his exploits in boxing and his influence among the Filipino people. Pacquiao was also included by Forbes Magazine in its annual Celebrity 100 list for the year 2009, joining Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie and fellow athletes Tiger Woods and Bryant. Forbes also listed Pacquiao as the World's 6th Highest Paid Athlete, with a total of 40 Million Dollars ($40,000,000.00) or 2 Billion Pesos (₱2,000,000,000.00) from the second half of 2008 to the first half of 2009. Tied with him on the sixth spot was the NBA player LeBron James and golfer Phil Mickelson. Pacquiao was again included in Forbes' list of Highest Paid Athletes from the second half of 2009 to the first half of 2010; he was ranked 8th with an income of $42 million. Pacquiao had also won the 2009 ESPY Awards for the Best Fighter category, beating fellow boxer Shane Mosley and Brazilian mixed martial arts fighters Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva.

Pacquiao has also graced the cover of Time Magazine Asia for their November 16, 2009 issue. According to their five-page feature story, "(Pacquiao is) a fighter with enough charisma, intelligence and backstory to help rescue a sport lost in the labyrinth of pay-per-view. Global brands like Nike want him in their ads." They also added, "Pacquiao has a myth of origin equal to that of any Greek or Roman hero. He leaves the Philippines to make it even bigger, conquering the world again and again to bring back riches to his family and friends." He became the eighth Filipino to grace the cover of the prestigious magazine, after former Philippine presidents Manuel L. Quezon, Ramon Magsaysay, Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III and Filipino actress and environmentalist Chin Chin Gutierrez. Pacquiao was also featured on the cover of Reader’s Digest Asia, where a seven-page story was written about the Filipino boxing superstar. The issue came out before Pacquiao’s epic match against De La Hoya on November 2008.

Recognitions

2000–09 Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Decade 2000–09 Philippine Sportswriters Association Athlete of the Decade 2000–09 HBO Fighter of the Decade 2000–09 TheSweetScience.com Fighter of the Decade 2001–2010 World Boxing Council Boxer of the Decade

2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008 PSA Sportsman of the Year

2003 Presidential Medal of Merit

2003 and 2010 Congressional Medal of Achievement/Honor

2006 Order of Lakandula with the rank of "Champion for Life" (Kampeon Habambuhay) 2006, 2008 and 2009 ESPN Fighter of the Year

2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010 The Ring Fighter of the Year

2008 Philippine Legion of Honor with the rank of "Officer" (Pinuno) 2008 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Honorary Award for Sports Excellence 2008 Sports Illustrated Boxer of the Year 2008 Yahoo! Sports Fighter of the Year

2008 and 2009 The Ring No.1 Pound-for-Pound (year-end)

2008 and 2009 TheSweetScience.com Boxer of the Year 2008 and 2009 ESPN Star's Champion of Champions 2008 and 2009 World Boxing Council Boxer of the Year 2009 Ask Men Most Influential Men (ranked 24th) 2009 ESPN Knockout of the Year (in Round 2 against Ricky Hatton) 2009 ESPY Awards Best Fighter 2009 Forbes Magazine World's Highest-Paid Athletes (ranked 6th) 2009 Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Datu (Grand Cross with Gold Distinction)

2009 The Ring Knockout of the Year (in Round 2 against Ricky Hatton)

2009 TIME 100 Most Influential People (Heroes and Icons Category) 2009 TIME Asia Magazine cover for November 16, 2009 Issue 2009 and 2010 Forbes Magazine Celebrity 100 (ranked 57th and 55th) 2010 Bleacher Report Most Exciting Athletes of All Time (ranked 85th) 2010 World Boxing Organization Fighter of the Year 2010 Yahoo! Sports Boxing's Most Influential (ranked 25th)

See also

List of current world boxing champions

List of The Ring world champions

List of WBC world champions

List of IBF world champions

List of WBO world champions

List of IBO world champions

List of flyweight boxing champions

List of super bantamweight boxing champions

List of super featherweight boxing champions

List of lightweight boxing champions

List of welterweight boxing champions

List of super welterweight boxing champions

List of boxing triple champions

List of boxing quadruple champions

List of boxing quintuple champions

List of boxing sextuple champions

List of boxing septuple champions

List of boxing octuple champions

The Ring pound for pound

References

External links

Manny Pacquiao's Official Site

PACLAND – Official Fan Site

MPBoxing.com

Rep. Emmanuel D. Pacquiao Official Profile

HBO Boxing: Manny Pacquiao: Bio

Fight Videos

Manny Pacquiao's Fight-by-Fight Career Record

GQ Magazine Profile

Nike – Inside Pacquiao

PacMan: Behind the Scenes with Manny Pacquiao: A Biography of Pacquiao, published by Da Capo Press

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Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:Featherweights Category:Filipino basketball players Category:Filipino boxers Category:Filipino actor-politicians Category:Filipino Roman Catholics Category:Flyweights Category:IBF Champions Category:Junior-lightweights Category:Junior-welterweights Category:Lightweights Category:Light-welterweights Category:Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Category:Notre Dame Educational Association Philippines Category:People from Bukidnon Category:People from South Cotabato Category:Southpaw boxers Category:Super-bantamweights Category:Super-featherweights Category:WBC Champions Category:WBO Champions Category:Welterweights Category:World boxing champions Category:World Flyweight Champions Category:World Junior Lightweight Champions Category:World Lightweight Champions Category:Recipients of the Order of Sikatuna Category:Athlete-politicians Category:Partner of the Free Filipino politicians Category:Nacionalista Party politicians Category:Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Category:People's Champ Movement politicians

Name	Stephen Moyer
Caption	Moyer at ComicCon, July 25, 2009
Birthname	Stephen John Emery
Birthdate	October 11, 1969
Birthplace	Brentwood, Essex, England
Occupation	Actor
Yearsactive	1980s–present
Spouse	Anna Paquin (2010–present)

Stephen Moyer (born Stephen John Emery; 11 October 1969) is an English actor who has starred as vampire Bill Compton in the HBO series True Blood since 2008.

Early life and career

Moyer was born in Brentwood, Essex. He attended St Martin's School, a comprehensive school in Hutton, Essex, and graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

He became Brentwood Theatre's first patron in October 2007, especially supporting their "Reaching Out, Building On" campaign to help fund the 2008 completion of backstage facilities.

After graduating from LAMDA, Stephen Moyer worked in theatre for five years. He worked with the National Theatre of Wales, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Oxford Stage Company, work which included going on tour and playing Romeo in productions of Romeo and Juliet. He then made the transition to television and film.

Personal life

On 5 August 2009, it was confirmed that Moyer had become engaged to Anna Paquin, who plays his character's love interest in the HBO series True Blood. They had been dating since filming the series pilot in 2007. On 21 August 2010, Moyer and Paquin married at a private residence in Malibu, California. They reside in Venice, Los Angeles.

Moyer has a son, Billy, born in 2000, and a daughter, Lilac, born in 2002, from previous relationships.

Filmography

Film

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! Film ! Role ! Notes |- |- | 1997 | Prince Valiant | Prince Valiant | |- | 1998 | Comic Act | Danny | |- | 2000 | Quills | Prouix, the Architect | |- | 2001 | Trinity | Brach | |- | 2004 | Deadlines | Alex Randal | |- || 2005 | Undiscovered | Mick Benson | |- | rowspan="2"| 2007 | 88 Minutes | Guy LaForge | |- | Alternate Endings | Editor | |- | 2008 | Restraint | Andrew | |- | rowspan="3"| 2010 | Open House | Josh | |- | The Caller | John Guidi | Post-production |- | Master Class | Manny | Filming |- | rowspan="2"| 2011 | Priest | Aaron | Post-production |- | The Double | | |}

Television

{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- bgcolor="#B0C4DE" align="center" ! Year ! Series ! Role ! Notes |- | 1993–1994 | Conjugal Rites | Philip Masefield | 13 episodes |- | 1995 | Castles | Martin Franks | 16 episodes |- | rowspan="2"| 1996 | Lord of Misrule | Olly | TV movie |- | Cadfael | Godwin | Episode: "A Morbid Taste for Bones" |- | rowspan="2"| 1997 | A Touch of Frost | D.C. Burton | Episode: "Penny for the Guy" |- | The Grand | Stephen Bannerman | 8 Episodes |- | 1998 | Ultraviolet | Jack Beresford | Episode: "Habeas Corpus" Episode: "Persona Non Grata" |- | rowspan="4"| 1999 | | Jeremy Dexter | Episode: "Thick as Thieves" |- | Midsomer Murders | Christopher Wainwright | Episode: "Death in Disguise" |- | Life Support | Dr. Tom Scott | Unknow episodes |- | Cold Feet | Nick Marsden | Episode: #2.5 |- | rowspan="3"| 2000 | The Secret | Marcel Birkstead | TV movie |- | Sunburn | Trevor Watts | Episode: #2.1 |- | Peak Practice | Chris Rhodes | Episode: "Hit and Run" |- | rowspan="3"| 2001 | Princess of Thieves | Prince Philip | TV movie |- | Men Only | Jason | TV movie |- | Uprising | Simcha Rotem (nom de guerre: Kazik) | TV movie |- | 2002 | Menace | Mark | TV movie |- | rowspan="2"| 2003 | Perfect | Mark | TV movie |- | Entrusted | David Quatermain | TV movie |- | rowspan="2"| 2004 | NY-LON | Michael Antonioni | 7 Episodes |- | The Final Quest | Young Danny Duke | TV movie |- | 2005 | Waking the Dead | Steven Hunt | Episode: "Undertow: Part 1" |- | 2006 | Casualty | Dr. Mark Ellis | Episode: "Waste of Space" |- | rowspan="3"| 2007 | Lillies | Mr. Brazendale | 8 Episodes |- | The Starter Wife | Sam | 6 Episodes |- | Empathy | Jimmy Collins | TV movie |- | rowspan="1"| 2008–present | True Blood | Bill Compton | Regular |- | rowspan="1"| 2010 | Ice | Peterson | 4 episodes |}

Awards

2009 - Won, Satellite Award for Best TV Ensemble for True Blood.

2009 - Won, Scream Award for "Best Actor in a Horror Movie or TV Show," for True Blood. 2009 - Nominated, Teen Choice Award for "Choice Summer TV Star: Male," for True Blood.

2010 - Nominated, Saturn Award for "Best Actor in Television" for True Blood.

2010 - Nominated, Teen Choice Award for "Choice Summer TV Star: Male," for True Blood.

2010 - Nominated, Scream Award for "Best Horror Actor" for True Blood.

2010 - Won, Scream Award for "Holy Sh*t! Scene of the Year" for True Blood.

2010 - Nominated, Satellite Award for "Best Actor in a TV Drama Series" for True Blood.

References

External links

Category:1969 births Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Category:English film actors Category:English stage actors Category:English television actors Category:Living people Category:People from Brentwood, Essex

Name	Miguel Cotto
Nationality
Realname	Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez
Nickname	Junito
Weight	Light middleweight
Height
Birth date	October 29, 1980
Birth place	Caguas, Puerto Rico
Hometown	Caguas, Puerto Rico
Style	Orthodox
Total	37
Wins	35
Ko	28
Losses	2
Draws	0
No contests	0

Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez (born October 29, 1980) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur, Cotto represented Puerto Rico in the lightweight and light welterweight divisions at various international events including the 1999 Pan American Games, the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 1998 Junior World Championships where he won a silver medal. Cotto began his professional career in 2001, and on September 11, 2004, he defeated Kelson Pinto for the WBO junior welterweight championship. He defended the title successfully a total of six times, before vacating it when he ascended to the welterweight division.

On his first match on this division he defeated Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA welterweight championship. Cotto successfully defended this title against Oktay Urkal, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley and Alfonso Gómez, before losing it to Antonio Margarito. On February 21, 2009, he defeated Michael Jennings to win the vacant WBO welterweight championship. Defending the title against Joshua Clottey before losing it to Manny Pacquiao on November 14, 2009. On June 5, 2010, Cotto competed in his first fight at the light middleweight division, defeating Yuri Foreman for the WBA super welterweight championship.

Personal life

Cotto was born in Long Island, New York and raised in Caguas, Puerto Rico, with several figures linked to boxing in his family, including his late father Miguel Cotto Sr., his brother José Miguel Cotto, his second cousin Abner Cotto and his uncle and former boxing trainer Evangelista Cotto. He is married to Melissa Guzmán with whom he has two children, Alondra and Miguel Cotto III. Cotto has a daughter outside of this marriage with another woman, who was born in November 2006. On May 29, 2007, Cotto solicited a Protection Order against the mother of his child. The order was granted and it prevented her from gaining access to Cotto's house in the "Valle del Turabo" sector of Caguas, Puerto Rico and the Bairoa Gym, where he usually trains. The case was dropped on June 14, 2007, when Cotto attended a citation and asked judge Bernardo Solá to lift the Protection Order.

Outside of his involvement as an active boxer, Cotto also owns and presides a boxing promotion named "Promociónes Miguel Cotto", which organizes fight cards in Puerto Rico. Similarly he founded "El Ángel", a non-profit organization that promotes physical activity and measures against infant obesity. Marc Ecko, fashion designer and owner of Eckō, selected Cotto when promoting the brand within the sport, citing the boxer's "fearless" demeanor as one of the main reasons behind this agreement. Product of this partnership, Eckō produced boxing gear for him as well as mainstream clothing accessories for the general public.

Early years and amateur career

As a child, Cotto was taken to the Bairoa Gym in Caguas. There, he was able to develop into a top amateur fighter who won several international competitions and represented Puerto Rico at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

In 2001, Cotto suffered a dangerous injury that threatened his boxing career. As he was driving to the gymnasium at 5 a.m. in the morning, he apparently fell asleep and crashed, breaking his arm and requiring hospitalization.

On September 13, 2003, Cotto defeated Demetrio Ceballos by knockout in the seventh round at Las Vegas. In a fight where Cotto injured Ceballos with numerous combinations in the sixth round, switching between the orthodox and southpaw stances. In the seventh round Cotto displayed an aggressive style that led to the referee stopping the fight with 0:32 remaining in the round. With this, he was ranked number one in his division by the World Boxing Association.

Cotto's first fight of 2004, was a fourth round knockout victory over the former world title contender Victoriano Sosa. This was after an eventful week prior to the fight, which included Cotto having to wait four hours for his luggage to arrive (after a 2 a.m. local time arrival) at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, and almost being removed from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where the fight was held, by a security guard who thought he was an unaccompanied minor.

On April 8, 2004, he defeated the former world title challenger, Lovemore N'dou, by unanimous decision in Las Vegas. The first three rounds of the fight had a slow pace with neither of the boxers establishing control of the fight.

On December 11, 2004, he successfully defended his title, beating former world champion Randall Bailey by knockout in the sixth round, as part of the Vitali Klitschko-Danny Williams undercard in Las Vegas. Cotto's performance was described as a result of hand speed and accuracy. Cotto's second title defense took place on February 26, 2005 in the Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico against Demarcus Corley. During the fight Cotto practiced a boxing style that was more aggressive than usual, trading hits with Corley over the course of the first round. During the first round Miguel went on the offensive scoring hits on Abdullaev's head and body while he was in a defensive stance. In the first round Cotto had an offensive advantage and scored a knockdown on Torres. Cotto's next scheduled match was against the then-undefeated Paul Malignaggi in a fight that took place on June 10, 2006 in Madison Square Garden. Cotto opened a cut over Malignaggi's right eye in the first round, Cotto's Welterweight reign began successfully on March 3, 2007 when he retained his belt with a technical knock out victory in the eleventh round over Oktay Urkal. Urkal's corner threw in the towel because he was apparently down in the fight, and had just had a second point deducted for a head butt, leading to his corner's belief that the referee was unfair. On June 9, 2007, Cotto defended the WBA Welterweight Title against Zab Judah in New York City, performing before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden. The bout included a knockdown and a point deduction registered for Cotto, who established dominance on the offensive following a close start. At the moment of the stoppage,the judges had Cotto leading 97-91. Cotto won by technical knockout in the eleventh round when the referee stopped the fight.

Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley fought on November 10, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in a card made possible by a legal settlement between Top Rank Boxing, Cotto's promoter, and Mosley's promoter, Golden Boy Promotions. The fight was broadcast on HBO Pay-Per-View and was won by Cotto via unanimous decision. During the course of the fight Cotto pursued Mosley who was reacting in a slow fashion. On April 12, 2008, Cotto successfully defended the championship against Alfonso Gómez. Throughout the fight Cotto scored three knockdowns before the fight was stopped following the fifth round, when the doctor indicated to the referee that Gómez couldn't continue. Cotto was selected the World Boxing Association's "Boxer of the Year", during the organization's annual award celebration, which took place in Buenos Aires.

On July 26, 2008, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Cotto suffered his first loss as a professional to Antonio Margarito in an unsuccessful title defense. Cotto had taken the early initiative, frequently landing a series of punches on Margarito during the early rounds while using his footwork to avoid danger. However, Margarito presented constant offensive pressure of Cotto and eventually began to wear down Cotto's resistance by trapping him against the ropes. Cotto was hurt in the seventh round after a pair of Margarito uppercuts caused his nose to bleed. Margarito continued to chase his opponent down and inflicted further damage towards the end of the tenth round. Margarito then threw a series of punches at the start of the eleventh round, with Cotto against the ropes and bleeding profusely. A combination from Margarito finally forced Cotto to his knee. He got up, but Margarito continued landing combinations. Evangelista Cotto threw in the towel after Cotto again fell to the canvas in the corner of the ring. Two judges had Margarito ahead by a score of 96–94 at the time of the stoppage, while the third scored the fight even. HBO analyst Harold Lederman had also scored the fight even. Cotto's loss to Margarito has since come under suspicion due to Margarito's subsequent attempted use of illegal hand-wraps in a fight against Shane Mosley.

Later career and light middleweight division

Cotto returned to action on February 21, 2009, in a card held at the Madison Square Garden. This time competing against Michael Jennings for the vacant WBO welterweight title. After both pugilists used the first round to study their opponent's style, the tempo accelerated during the second. In the third, Cotto pursued the offensive more fluidly, connecting with jabs and hooks. With this action, Cotto was awarded a technical knockout victory, in the process winning his second championship in the welterweight division. On April 8, 2009, Cotto fired his uncle from the team's staff, following a violent discussion where his property was damaged. However, neither side expressed interest in pursuing any sort of legal action. Consequently, Cotto named Joe Santiago, who had served as the team's nutritionist as his new trainer.

On June 13, 2009, Cotto defended this championship against Joshua Clottey, in a fight that was originally intended to be an unification that also included the International Boxing Federation's title. In the first round he scored a knockdown after connecting a jab. In the third round an accidental head clash opened a severe laceration over Cotto's left eye. The injury bled profusely during the fourth round, but he was able to control the pace. In the fifth round, Clottey was pushed to the floor during an exchange and was injured in his left knee, receiving time to recover before the contest resumed. In the sixth, Cotto trapped Clottey in a corner and gained offensive advantage. During the next two rounds, Clottey controlled the offensive, noticing that Cotto was unable to see right punches. During the last rounds, Cotto decided to employ his technique from outside, while the fight's tempo remained close. The judges decided the fight's outcome by split decision, awarding scores of 115-112 and 116-111 for Cotto and 114-113 for Clottey.

Immediately after this fight, negotiations began to pursue a contest against Manny Pacquiao. Even before Pacquiao defeated Ricky Hatton, Bob Arum, who represents both Cotto and Pacquiao, stated that he was interested in this matchup. Subsequently, Pacquiao expressed interest in fighting Cotto. The fight was sanctioned as a world title fight in the welterweight division, where the weight limit is 147 pounds, however Cotto's camp agreed to fight at a catchweight of 145 pounds to accommodate Pacquiao's smaller physique. Cotto's camp also conceded the larger share of the purse to Pacquiao, who received a 65% share of pay-per-view buys, compared to Cotto's 35% share.

On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao defeated Cotto by TKO 55 seconds into the 12th round, dethroning Cotto as a WBO welterweight champion. The fight generated 1.25 million buys and 70 million dollars in domestic pay-per-view revenue, making it the most watched boxing event of 2009. Pacquiao earned around 22 million dollars for his part in the fight, whilst Cotto earned around 12 million dollars.

Cotto ended up knocking Foreman down with a signature left hook to the body in the ninth round claiming the WBA light middleweight title, his fourth overall in three different weight divisions.

Professional boxing record

| style="text-align:center;" colspan="8"|35 Wins (28 Knockouts), 2 Losses, 0 Draws |- | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res. | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center |||||align=left| Ricardo Mayorga ||||| |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||35-2||align=left| Yuri Foreman ||||| |align=left| Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Lost||34-2||align=left| Manny Pacquiao ||||| |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||34-1||align=left| Joshua Clottey ||||| |align=left| Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||33-1||align=left| Michael Jennings ||||| |align=left| Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Lost||32-1||align=left| Antonio Margarito ||||| |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||32-0||align=left| Alfonso Gómez ||||| |align=left| Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||31-0||align=left| Shane Mosley ||||| |align=left| Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||30-0||align=left| Zab Judah ||||| |align=left| Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||29-0||align=left| Oktay Urkal ||||| |align=left| Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||28-0||align=left| Carlos Quintana ||||| |align=left| Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||27-0||align=left| Paul Malignaggi ||||| |align=left| Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||26-0||align=left| Gianluca Branco ||||| |align=left| Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||25-0||align=left| Ricardo Torres ||||| |align=left| Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||24-0||align=left| Mohammad Abdullaev ||||| |align=left| Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||23-0||align=left| DeMarcus Corley ||||| |align=left| Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||22-0||align=left| Randall Bailey ||||| |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||21-0||align=left| Kelson Pinto ||||| |align=left| José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum, Hato Rey, San Juan}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||20-0||align=left| Lovemore N'dou ||||| |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||19-0||align=left| Victoriano Sosa ||||| |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||18-0||align=left| Carlos Maussa ||||| |align=left| Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||17-0||align=left| Demetrio Ceballos ||||| |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||16-0||align=left| Rocky Martinez ||||| |align=left| Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Bayamón}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||15-0||align=left| Joel Perez ||||| |align=left| Selland Arena, Fresno, California}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||14-0||align=left| Cesar Bazan ||||| |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||13-0||align=left| Ubaldo Hernandez ||||| |align=left| Coliseo Héctor Solá Bezares, Caguas}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||12-0||align=left| John Brown ||||| |align=left| Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||11-0||align=left| Carlos Alberto Ramirez ||||| |align=left| Lucky Star Casino, Concho, Oklahoma}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||10-0||align=left| Justin Juuko ||||| |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||9-0||align=left| Juan Angel Macias ||||| |align=left| Orleans Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||8-0||align=left| Sammy Sparkman ||||| |align=left| Coliseo Guillermo Angulo, Carolina}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||7-0||align=left| Joshua Smith ||||| |align=left| Coliseo Héctor Solá Bezares, Caguas}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||6-0||align=left| Arturo Rodriguez ||||| |align=left| Staples Center, Los Angeles, California}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||5-0||align=left| Rudolfo Lunsford ||||| |align=left| Pier 10 Arena, San Juan}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||4-0||align=left| Martin Ramirez ||||| |align=left| San Juan}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||3-0||align=left| Waklimi Young ||||| |align=left| Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, New York}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||2-0||align=left| Jacob Godinez ||||| |align=left| Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||1-0||align=left| Jason Doucet ||||| |align=left| Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas}} |align=left|

Professional championships

|- |- |- |-

See also

List of current world boxing champions

List of famous Puerto Ricans

Boxing at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Ring Magazine pound for pound top 10 rankings

List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions

The Battle (boxing)

Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto

Miguel Cotto vs. Yuri Foreman

References

External links

Miguel Cotto Official Website

Category:1980 births Category:Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Junior-welterweights Category:Living people Category:Olympic boxers of Puerto Rico Category:People from Caguas, Puerto Rico Category:Puerto Rican boxers Category:WBA Champions Category:WBO Champions

Name	Michael Katsidis
Realname	Michael Alan Katsidis
Nickname	The GreatRocky
Weight	Lightweight
Height
Nationality	Australian
Birth date	August 15, 1980
Birth place	Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
Style	Orthodox
Total	30
Wins	27
Losses	3
Draws	0
No contests	0
Ko	22

Michael Alan Katsidis () (born August 15, 1980) is an Australian professional boxer of Greek descent. His crowd-pleasing, all-action fighting style has drawn comparisons with late IBF super featherweight and WBC light welterweight champion, Arturo Gatti.

Amateur career

In his amateur career, Katsidis compiled a record of 75 wins from 81 fights. During this time he represented the Australian Olympic team in the lightweight division for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

2000 Olympic results

First round: defeated Agnaldo Nunes (Brazil), 15:6

Second round: lost to Nurzhan Karimzhanov (Kazakhstan), 7:9

Professional career

Katsidis made his professional debut on December 1, 2001 by knocking out Danny Wilson in the third round for the Queensland State lightweight title. In his second fight on March 9, 2002, he won a twelve-round unanimous decision over James Swan for the Australian lightweight title. He would go on to score another nineteen wins (nearly all by knockout), whilst amassing a further three lower-level titles: the Australian light welterweight, WBO Asia Pacific lightweight and IBF Pan Pacific lightweight championships, respectively.

Battle with Earl

At the Wembley Arena in London, England, a title bout for the new and vacant WBO interim lightweight title was made between Katsidis and Graham Earl on February 17, 2007. In an action-filled and fast-paced match, Katsidis and Earl went toe-to-toe and traded many heavy blows with hardly any clinching, during which Earl was knocked down twice in the opening round, and again in the second. However, soon after getting back to his feet and having the towel being thrown in seconds later (only to be thrown back out again by referee Mickey Vann), Earl managed to floor Katsidis momentarily with a heavy right hand. However, this was to be insufficient in turning things around during the following three rounds, as Katsidis recovered swiftly and went on to deliver more largely unanswered punches to Earl until the decision was made by Vann to stop the fight after the fifth round.

War against Amonsot

On May 26, 2007, Katsidis was scheduled to fight then-WBO super featherweight champion Joan Guzmán, but the latter withdrew from the fight having sustained a hand injury. Shortly afterwards, a defence of Katsidis' interim title was made against Czar Amonsot on July 21, 2007, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was Katsidis' first appearance in the United States and on HBO, as part of the pay-per-view undercard to Bernard Hopkins vs Ronald "Winky" Wright.

Following the intense and hard-hitting fight, which ended in a twelve-round unanimous decision in favour of Katsidis (with Amonsot suffering a knockdown in rounds two and ten), the latter was found to have a subdural hematoma, putting his career in serious doubt at the time. Katsidis was also seriously cut around both eyes, which had begun to bleed heavily from the third round onwards. Both men were subsequently hospitalised at the local Valley Hospital Medical Center, with Amonsot requiring an overnight stay and Katsidis multiple stitches.

First loss against Casamayor

A bout with then-undisputed lightweight champion Juan Díaz was to take place after the fight with Amonsot, but problems with HBO and Díaz's promoter, Don King, prevented this fight from occurring. On March 22, 2008 at the Morongo Casino in Cabazon, California, Katsidis fought the reigning Ring Magazine lightweight and former WBA super featherweight and WBC lightweight champion Joel Casamayor in defence of his title, which saw him caught early on with two sharp left hands from the Cuban southpaw, dropping him twice in the first round.

As the fight continued, Katsidis' heavy punches and constant pressure began to find their way through Casamayor's defence; at one point sending him tumbling through the ring ropes towards the end of round six, after successive left and right hands. In the ninth round, Casamayor was deducted a point due to a low blow. All of this enabled Katsidis to gradually build up a lead on two of the judges' scorecards, until a well-placed counter left hand from Casamayor caught him on the chin and floored him in the tenth round. Katsidis was able to carry on, but shortly afterwards a further flurry of unanswered shots from Casamayor forced referee Jon Schorle to stop the fight. This handed Katsidis his first defeat, and cost him the WBO interim lightweight title. Again, cuts and bruises were noticeable around his eyes during the fight.

Second loss to Díaz

Following the defeat, a rescheduled fight with Juan Díaz was set for September 6, 2008 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas for the vacant IBO lightweight championship. During the event billed as No Retreat, No Surrender, Katsidis underperformed over the course of twelve rounds, enabling a determined Díaz (who had also suffered a career first loss in his previous fight against Nate Campbell) to counterpunch and time his attacks with regularity. With his face bloodied and bruised once again, Katsidis suffered his second consecutive defeat, with Díaz emerging victorious after a split decision; the judges having scored the fight 116–112 and 115–113 in Díaz's favour, with a somewhat controversial 115–113 for Katsidis.

Return against Ramirez

An opportunity for Katsidis to reclaim the vacant WBO Asia Pacific lightweight title was scheduled for January 31, 2009 at the Cebu Coliseum in Cebu City, Philippines, with Angel Hugo Ramirez as his opponent. The ten-round contest was won convincingly by Katsidis, despite appearing to be somewhat gunshy at times, coupled with Ramirez's unwillingness to engage. Nonetheless, Ramirez was knocked down four times (once in the second round and three times in the fourth); a point, however, was taken away from Katsidis for hitting Ramirez whilst he was floored from a slip later in the second round. At the end of the fight, the judges scored 96–89, 96–89 and 98–87 all in favour of Katsidis.

Eliminator bout with Chávez

On April 10, 2009, Katsidis was said to be scheduled for a return to California's Morongo Casino to fight former two-time IBF lightweight champion Julio Díaz, but this match-up was soon changed; instead, Katsidis faced former WBC super featherweight and IBF lightweight champion Jesús Chávez on April 4, 2009, at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas, as part of a lightweight elimator tournament—entitled Lightweight Lightning—organised by Golden Boy Promotions. After an initially tentative start on the part of Katsidis, he was soon able to pull ahead on the scorecards due to his characteristic onslaught of attack, which ultimately forced Chávez (who had sustained a very bad cut on his forehead towards the end of round four) to quit in his corner before the start of the eighth round.

Interim title shot against Escobedo

Katsidis' next opponent was Vicente Escobedo, whom he fought on September 19, 2009 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, as part of the undercard to the Number One/Numero Uno event featuring the returning Floyd Mayweather, Jr. against Juan Manuel Márquez. The bout was for the WBO interim lightweight title (which had since been vacated by Joel Casamayor, some time following his victorious bout with Katsidis), with the winner receiving a guaranteed opportunity to face the WBO world lightweight champion.

In a fight similar to the one with Amonsot two years prior, Katsidis and Escobedo exchanged hard punches for the full twelve-round distance, with the former surging forward aggressively and putting constant pressure on the retreating and accurately counterpunching American. In what has seemingly become routine for Katsidis, cuts opened up around his face early on, together with a visibly swollen jaw in the closing rounds. At the end of the contest, the judges scored 118–110 and 115–113 for Katsidis, with one judge scoring 116–112 for Escobedo; the latter score regarded by some observers as questionable.

The waiting game

Having reclaimed the interim title he lost only year and a half prior, Katsidis was made to wait several months to see if a mandatory title bout with the aforementioned Márquez would materialise. This was dependent on whether the latter was willing return to the lightweight division to defend his WBO world championship, or if he would have voluntarily reliquished it to Katsidis. However, by the time of January 2010, Márquez had expressed no desire to defend against him.

A March 27 date against then-reigning IBF super featherweight champion Robert Guerrero was at one point confirmed for a Golden Boy Promotions event, but the latter withdrew from the fight in early February due to family matters. One day prior to Guerrero's withdrawal, Katsidis had turned his attention towards his old nemesis Juan Díaz, with both expressing an interest in a potential rematch (Díaz having himself suffered his third career loss at the hands of light welterweight Paulie Malignaggi in December 2009.

Back to London

On December 5 2009, then-undefeated lightweight Kevin Mitchell had earned himself a mandatory fight against Katsidis by defeating Breidis Prescott. On March 2, a purse bid which took place in Puerto Rico was won by promoter Frank Warren and the fight between Katsidis and Mitchell was officially confirmed. It was contested on May 15 at Boleyn Ground stadium (home of West Ham United) in east London, England, with the WBO interim lightweight championship on the line.

At the opening bell, Mitchell looked to establish his jab and keep Katsidis at bay. In the first two evenly split rounds, the occasional flurry of hooks from a highly aggressive Katsidis was enough to make Mitchell fight consistently on the back foot in an attempt to keep out of range. However, in the closing seconds of both rounds, Katsidis was able to launch a charging attack and finish strongly at the bell. In the third round, Katsidis continued to charge at Mitchell and was soon able to land a combination of hooks which made the latter stumble backwards on unsteady legs. From thereon, Mitchell was unable to fully regain his composure, and less than two minutes later he was buckled by a hard left hook and a further succession of unanswered punches, at which point referee Dave Parris stopped the fight.

World title shot: Márquez

Both immediately and some months after the Mitchell bout, the WBO mandated that Juan Manuel Márquez (who went on to win his rematch against Juan Díaz on July 31), must face Katsidis for the 'full' version of the world lightweight title, or risk being stripped. Katsidis was in attendance for the aforementioned Márquez–Díaz event in order to scout out the winner, and primarily to assert his claim to be next in line against Márquez. Meanwhile, the names of other potential opponents for Katsidis included undefeated EBU and British lightweight champion John Murray, as well as WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (who himself was, at one point, potentially in line to face Márquez in December).

On August 25, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, Richard Schaefer, announced that Márquez had decided to stay at lightweight and defend his WBA, WBO and The Ring world titles against Katsidis on November 27, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Golden Boy Promotions founder Oscar De La Hoya labelled the event as Warriors, and it was Katsidis' first time headlining an HBO World Championship Boxing broadcast (having twice previously headlined Boxing After Dark, against Casamayor and Díaz, respectively). In the fight, Márquez (having suffered a knockdown in round three) went on to stop Katsidis in the ninth round, after referee Kenny Bayless decided that the latter was unable to continue fighting. The bout has since won HBO's fight of the year award.

Personal life

In February 2009, Katsidis married Japanese native Kumiko Hosako during a ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand. They had met in Los Angeles several years prior, but now reside in Las Vegas. On December 8, 2009, Katsidis became a father for the first time, to newborn daughter Kalia Rose.

When entering the ring, Katsidis wears a Greek Spartan helmet and in bouts his trunks often resemble a warrior's skirt; both serving as a homage to his Greek heritage.

His brother, Stathi Katsidis, was one of Australia's most prominent jockeys. On October 19, 2010, Stathi was found dead at his home in Brisbane.

Professional record

{| class=wikitable style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:85%;" |- !style="background: #e3e3e3"|Result !style="background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent !style="background: #e3e3e3"|Type !style="background: #e3e3e3"|Round !style="background: #e3e3e3"|Date !style="background: #e3e3e3"|Location !style="background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |- align=center |Loss || align=left| Juan Manuel Márquez |TKO || 9 || 2010-11-27 |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Kevin Mitchell |TKO || 3 || 2010-05-15 |align=left| Boleyn Ground, London, England |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Vicente Escobedo |SD || 12 || 2009-09-19 |align=left| MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Jesús Chávez |TKO || 8 || 2009-04-04 |align=left| Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas, USA |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Angel Hugo Ramirez |UD || 10 || 2009-01-31 |align=left| Cebu Coliseum, Cebu City, Philippines |align=left| |- align=center |Loss || align=left| Juan Díaz |SD || 12 || 2008-09-06 |align=left| Toyota Center, Houston, Texas, USA |align=left| |- align=center |Loss || align=left| Joel Casamayor |TKO || 10 || 2008-03-22 |align=left| Morongo Casino, Cabazon, California, USA |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Czar Amonsot |UD || 12 || 2007-07-21 |align=left| Mandalay Bay Events Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Graham Earl |TKO || 5 || 2007-02-17 |align=left| Wembley Arena, London, England |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Jakkirt Suwunnalirt |KO || 2 || 2006-06-02 |align=left| Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Nonoy Gonzales |TKO || 5 || 2006-03-03 |align=left| Royal Pines Resort, Ashmore, Queensland, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Guillermo Mosquera |TKO || 1 || 2006-02-11 |align=left| Rumours International, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Ranee Ganoy |TKO || 5 || 2005-08-19 |align=left| Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Addisu Tebebu |KO || 2 || 2005-06-08 |align=left| Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Pratet Sor Thanikul |KO || 2 || 2005-05-20 |align=left| Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, Sydney, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Eduardo Enrique Alvarez |KO || 1 || 2005-02-23 |align=left| Hisense Arena, Melbourne, Australia |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Sergio Rafael Liendo |TKO || 8 || 2004-11-06 |align=left| University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Ivan Orlando Bustos |TKO || 4 || 2004-09-24 |align=left| Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, Sydney, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Singsiam Eausampan |KO || 1 || 2004-07-16 |align=left| Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, Sydney, Australia |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Singsamut Eausampan |KO || 2 || 2004-05-05 |align=left| Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Kongthawat Sorkitti |TKO || 9 || 2004-04-08 |align=left| Cathedral Centre, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Fred Kinuthia |UD || 10 || 2004-02-20 |align=left| Brisbane Broncos Leagues Club, Red Hill, Queensland, Australia |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Fred Kinuthia |TKO || 5 || 2003-12-05 |align=left| Panthers World of Entertainment, Penrith, Sydney, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Daniel Hoskins |TKO || 1 || 2003-09-19 |align=left| Runaway Bay Seagulls Rugby League Club, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Mohammed Jamal Khan |KO || 1 || 2003-08-22 |align=left| Southport RSL Club, Southport, Queensland, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Kevin O'Neill |TKO || 4 || 2002-09-28 |align=left| Saint Patricks Centre, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Jay Washington |TKO || 1 || 2002-07-19 |align=left| Southport RSL Club, Southport, Queensland, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| Johnny Sheferaw |TKO || 7 || 2002-06-03 |align=left| E.G. Whitlam Recreation Centre, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia |- align=center |Win || align=left| James Swan |UD || 12 || 2002-03-09 |align=left| Toowoomba Cathedral, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia |align=left| |- align=center |Win || align=left| Danny Wilson |KO || 3 || 2001-12-01 |align=left| Saint Patricks Centre, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia |align=left| |}

References

External links

Official website

Official Facebook profile

Official Facebook fan profile

Official MySpace profile

Official Twitter profile

|- |- |- |- |- |- |-

Category:1980 births Category:Australian boxers Category:Australian people of Greek descent Category:Boxers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Category:Living people Category:Olympic boxers of Australia Category:World Lightweight Champions

Name	Max Kellerman
Birth date	August 06, 1974
Birth place	New York, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Radio host, sports journalist
Spouse	Erin
Website	HBO Boxing bio

Max Kellerman (born August 6, 1974) is an American boxing commentator and sports talk radio host based in Los Angeles. He currently appears as a color commentator on HBO World Championship Boxing and HBO Boxing After Dark and as of January 3, 2011, is hosting a midday talk show on 710 ESPN radio in Los Angeles.

Prior to his current duties, Kellerman was best known for his work at ESPN, where he was a studio commentator with Brian Kenny on Friday Night Fights and the original host of Around the Horn.

Broadcasting history

His first broadcasting experience was on a New York City public access television program on professional boxing (Max on Boxing). In the late 1990s after graduating from Columbia University with a degree in history, Kellerman became an analyst on ESPN's boxing series Friday Night Fights and beginning in November 2002 hosted ESPN's Around the Horn. However, Kellerman and ESPN could not reach an agreement for him to remain with the network, and Kellerman left the network in early 2004. He was promptly hired by Fox Sports Net and went on to host a new show with FSN called I, Max that first aired on May 10, 2004. He would discuss sports news with Michael Holley, former Around the Horn panelist, and Bill Wolff. Max took time off from the show after his brother's death (see below). He later returned, but despite his show garnering the network's highest ratings for a period of time, it was cancelled by Fox. There are disputes as to why this occurred, with some citing the show's low ratings, while Kellerman has attributed it to conflicts with network executives. The last I, Max show aired on February 18, 2005. Max also was the co-host of Spike TV's 2006 series, King of Vegas.

In 2005, Tucker Carlson announced that Kellerman would be a permanent contributor on his MSNBC show Tucker. On a segment of the show called "The Outsider", Kellerman generally took the position selected by Carlson. Frequently, Carlson introduced Kellerman with a bio containing a humorously enthusiastic compliment. The show was cancelled in March 2008.

Starting in the week of August 21, 2006, Kellerman did at least two nights of audition shows at 7 PM for WEPN (1050) 1050 ESPN Radio in New York City, hosting one night with Sid Rosenberg. On August 28, 2006 it was announced that Brandon Tierney would be taking over at 7 PM, which temporarily left Kellerman without a timeslot. On October 23, 2006, Max began hosting the 10 AM to noon program on WEPN, replacing ESPN's nationally broadcast Colin Cowherd program. In September 2007, Kellerman began hosting a third hour, extending the show to 1 pm. Two months later, ESPNEWS and SportsCenter host Brian Kenny joined the show as co-host. On February 4, 2008, the show was added to XM Radio on ESPN Xtra. In the fall of 2008, Kenny left the radio program to attend to his SportsCenter duties and the program was again named The Max Kellerman Show.

Kellerman and ESPN radio mutually ended their relationship on March 9, 2009. Evening host Brandon Tierney temporarily filled in Kellerman, and Colin Cowherd has taken his timeslot.

Kellerman continues his boxing broadcast work, now working at HBO. He was originally hired for the network's Boxing After Dark telecasts, working alongside Fran Charles and Lennox Lewis. In 2007, Kellerman moved up to the HBO World Championship Boxing main team alongside Jim Lampley, Harold Lederman, and a rotating guest analyst, usually Emmanuel Steward).

On May 12, 2010, it was announced Kellerman had been hired by CNN: "Kellerman will weigh in on sports and pop culture issues on CNN American Morning and other programs. He has previously served as a contributor to MSNBC."

Kellerman was announced in December 2010 as the new midday host at 710 ESPN, replacing LA Sports Live with Andrew Siciliano and former NBA player Mychal Thompson. Program director Mike Thompson (no relation to Mychal Thompson), who hired Kellerman, had worked with Kellerman at WEPN.

Acting career

Kellerman made a brief appearance in Rocky Balboa alongside Lampley and Merchant, who served as the broadcast team for the fight between Rocky and Mason Dixon.

You can see Max playing himself in the short film "The Wedding Bout."

Sports opinions

Kellerman is a proponent of Sabermetrics and has hosted many practicing sabermetricians on his radio show. He also believes that Roger Maris should still be considered the single-season home run record holder at 61 because of steroid accusations towards players such as Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa.

Among his all-time favorite fighters are Pernell Whitaker, Willie Pep and Harry Greb. Max is also a strong proponent of only using the Ring Magazine championship rankings as opposed to those of the major boxing sanctioning organizations which he has often described as corrupt. However, Kellerman does not mention the Ring Magazine championship by name while broadcasting for HBO, preferring euphemisms (e.g. a fighter who holds the Ring Magazine championship may be referred to by Kellerman as "the true world champion").

Personal life

Kellerman graduated from New York City's Hunter College High School and, later, Columbia College in 1998. He attended P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village. He is married to a woman he has referred to as "Trixie" on his ESPN radio show. Her real name is Erin, maiden name Manning, as he pointed out in episode 1 of his webcast Max Kellerman Soldiers., and, according to Max, she is a lawyer. He has pointed out on numerous occasions on Tucker that "Max" is not short for anything, and that he does not have a middle name. Also on that show, Kellerman described himself as atheist. Despite this, he is active in Jewish cultural activities and, according to The Forward, is fluent in Yiddish. Max is an avid hip-hop fan, evidenced by his intro music on his ESPN Radio show. Max's favorite artists include the Wu Tang Clan, having stated on his radio show that Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx… album is one of his favorite albums. Max was also a member of a hip hop group with his brother Sam and under the name "Max and Sam". They were signed under Columbia records in 1994 and they recorded at least one video entitled "Young Man Rumble", which can be found on Youtube. On June 18, 2008, Max announced on Kellerman and Kenny that his wife Erin is pregnant with their first child, Esther.

Kellerman has a small permanent scar on the left side of his mouth from a childhood accident. An article in Sports Illustrated said it resulted from his fooling around near an electrical outlet as a child. He has confirmed this on his radio show.

Kellerman's off-topic tangents often involve food: He frequently extols the "bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll" from a local delicatessen near his Washington Square neighborhood in New York City.

Kellerman while appearing on The Rachel Maddow Show proclaimed it to be his favorite show on television.

Murder of brother

On October 17, 2004, the body of Max's brother Sam was found near a hammer in his Hollywood apartment. As a result of the ensuing investigation, former boxer James Butler was arrested and charged with Sam's murder. He later confessed to the murder and was given a 29 year sentence.

References

Muhammad Ali, Andrews McNeel Publishers, 1998.

External links

1050 ESPN Radio bio

HBO bio

Sugar Ray Robinson wins split decision from Ali

Category:American sports radio personalities Category:American television talk show hosts Category:Boxing commentators Category:Columbia University alumni Category:American Jews Category:People from New York City Category:Jewish atheists Category:Jewish American sportspeople Category:Radio programs on XM Radio Category:1973 births Category:Living people

Name	Antonio Margarito
Realname	Antonio Margarito Montiel
Nickname	Tijuana Tornado, Tony
Weight	Light MiddleweightWelterweightLight WelterweightLightweight
Height
Reach
Birth date	March 18, 1978
Birth place	Torrance, California
Nationality	American
Ancestry	Mexican
Home	Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Style	Orthodox
Total	46
Wins	38
Losses	7
Draws	0
No contests	1
Ko	27

Antonio Margarito Montiel (born on March 18, 1978 in Torrance, California) is a Mexican-American professional boxer. He is a former World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation, and World Boxing Organization Welterweight champion. Margarito's reputation was tarnished by an incident in which his corner is alleged to have tampered with his hand wraps prior to his bout with Shane Mosley, which were found by the CSAC to contain sulfur and calcium which, when combined with oxygen, forms "Plaster of Paris". He's trained by former IBF Super Featherweight Champion Roberto García. Antonio also manages IBF Lightweight Champion Miguel Vazquez. Margarito resides in Tijuana, Mexico with his wife Michelle Margarito.

Amateur career

Margarito compiled a record of 18-3 in his relatively brief amateur career, indicating that he may have turned pro quickly due to financial concerns.

Professional career

Welterweight

Margarito made his debut at the age of 15, beating Jose Trujillo in Tijuana by decision. On April 25, he achieved his first knockout, defeating Victor Angulo in the second round. On October 17 he suffered his first defeat, a six round decision to Victor Lozoya. Over the next six bouts he went 4-2. Following that he went 28-2-1, with notable wins over Alfred Ankamah, Juan Soberanes, future world Middleweight Champion Sergio Gabriel Martinez, Buck Smith, David Kamau and Frankie Randall, a former World Jr. welterweight champion who became the first man to beat Julio César Chávez in 91 fights.

WBO Welterweight Championship

On July 21, 2001, he got his first world title try against southpaw Daniel Santos for the WBO World Welterweight crown, at Bayamón, Puerto Rico's Rubén Rodríguez Coliseum. The fight had to be stopped in the first round as a consequence of a clash of heads that opened deep gashes on both fighters and sent them both to a nearby hospital. Because the fight had not gone four rounds or more for a technical decision to be awarded, it was declared a no contest, and Santos retained the belt.

Capturing the title

Santos then vacated the WBO World Welterweight title to go up in weight and pursue the WBO's world Jr. Middleweight championship, and Margarito was assigned to fight Antonio Díaz for the vacant world crown, in front of an HBO Boxing audience. On March 16, 2002, Margarito crowned himself world champion, beating Diaz by knockout in round ten. He defended that crown with a decision in twelve over Danny Perez Ramírez and a knockout in two over former WBA world champion Andrew Lewis. Lewis was a southpaw and a hard puncher, but had been exposed as having a weak chin. Margarito proved that he has a world class chin. He publicly asked for a unification bout with then WBC and WBA world champion Ricardo Mayorga.

At this point Margarito considered going up in weight, to try to lure Fernando Vargas, Oscar De La Hoya or Shane Mosley into a lucrative fight, or Santos into a rematch at the Jr. Middleweight division. On October 17, 2003, Margarito made his Jr. Middleweight division debut with a two round knockout win over Maurice Brantley in Phoenix, Arizona.

On January 31, 2004, and back in the Welterweight division, he retained his title with a second round knockout of Canada's previously undefeated Hercules Kyvelos.

WBO Light Middleweight Championship

Margarito did face Daniel Santos in a rematch on September 11 of the same year, at the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, for Santos' WBO world Jr. Middleweight title. The rematch also ended because of a headbutt, but this time, as the fight had already reached the four rounds mark needed for fights like these to be decided by judges, Margarito lost by a split ten round technical decision. He was down on two scorecards when the fight was stopped.

On April 23, 2005, Margarito retained his WBO world Welterweight title against another Puerto Rican, undefeated world class puncher Kermit Cintron, dropping him four times on his way to a fifth round knockout. This was regarded as one of his best wins.

After almost a ten month layoff, Margarito returned to the boxing ring on February 18, 2006, retaining his title with a first round knockout of Jaime Manuel Gomez, who had lasted eleven rounds with Mosley for the IBF world Lightweight title eight and a half years before.

On December 2, 2006, Margarito defeated future champion Joshua Clottey by a twelve round unanimous decision. Margarito set a Compubox all-time record of 1675 total punches thrown in a twelve round bout.

Losing the title and regaining it

On July 14, 2007, Margarito lost a unanimous 12 round decision to undefeated challenger Paul Williams, losing his WBO belt. After the bout Margarito heavily disputed the decision, claiming that he had landed the most meaningful punches. Williams, however, landed the most punches (outhitting Margarito by almost a 2-1 ratio, and throwing an average of over 100 punches per round) according to compubox.

On April 12, 2008, Margarito engaged in a rematch with Cintron, who had won the IBF welterweight title belt following his loss to Margarito in 2005. In the early rounds, Cintron struck Margarito with several flush power shots to the head, but Margarito remained unhurt and continued to execute a game plan of continuously moving forward and pressuring Cintron. In the sixth round, Margarito landed a liver shot, knocking Cintron out and taking the IBF title. As the referee counted Cintron out, HBO cameras captured Margarito, from a neutral corner, gesturing upward with his arms and urging Cintron to get up so that the two men could continue fighting for a longer period of time.

Margarito vs. Cotto

Following his successful rematch with Cintron, the IBF ordered him to fight a mandatory defense against the organization's number-one contender, Joshua Clottey, whom Margarito had previously defeated in 2006. Rather than agreeing to a rematch with Clottey, Margarito vacated the IBF title and agreed to a fight with undefeated WBA titlist Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico. The Cotto-Margarito match took place on July 26, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Margarito won in the 11th round via TKO. Margarito had lost almost all the early rounds, but he came back with relentless pace, eventually winning in the 11th round in which was one of the fights of the year. At the time of the TKO Margarito was ahead by two rounds on two judges' scorecards, with one judge having it even. Prior to his fight with Shane Mosley, Margarito had a record of 37 wins, 5 losses and 1 no contest, with 27 wins by knockout.

Shane Mosley

Margarito fought Shane Mosley on January 24, 2009 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. He was battered and outclassed by Mosley and lost the fight and his WBA title by 9th round TKO to Shane Mosley.

Tampered handwraps controversy

Controversy erupted before the fight when Mosley's trainer, Naazim Richardson, observed that Margarito had a pasty white substance in his handwraps prior to the fight. One doctor described this material as plaster hidden in the wrapped hands of Margarito, leading to accusations that Margarito may have been trying to cheat. At Richardson's insistence, California State Inspector Dean Lohuis called for Margarito's hands to be rewrapped. According to Judd Burstein, the attorney for Mosley, Margarito had wet pads in the wrapping. Mosley's doctor, Robert Olvera, likened the material to the type of plaster used to make casts. Burstein said he seized the pad removed from the wrapping and another pad found in Margarito's dressing room. Both were placed in a sealed box that was given to Lohuis for further study. The California Department of Justice laboratory later confirmed the substance to be similar in nature to plaster of Paris.

In late January, the California State Athletic Commission suspended Margarito and his trainer, Javier Capetillo, pending investigation. At the hearing, Margarito claimed he didn't know what was in the wraps, while Capetillo admitted to making "a big mistake" by placing the wrong inserts into Margarito's hand wraps. The commission voted unanimously to revoke Margarito and Capetillo's licenses for at least one year. While it found Margarito didn't know about the gloves, it took the line that as head of the team, he was responsible for Capetillo's actions. Since state boxing commissions generally honor suspensions imposed in other states, this action effectively banned Margarito from boxing in the United States.

In November 2009, it emerged that red stains on the hand wraps Margarito used in the Cotto fight were similar to the stains on the inserts seized before the Mosley fight. This has raised suspicions that Margarito's gloves were loaded for that fight, and possibly others as well.

Latin Fury 14

Margarito was scheduled to return to the ring on March 13, 2010 against Carson Jones, pending his relicense on the Pacquiao vs. Clottey undercard, but for reasons unspecified promoter Top Rank announced he would not return. His comeback fight thus was postponed till May 8, 2010 and was held at Aguascalientes, Mexico where he faced light middleweight contender Roberto García (21-2) for the WBC International light middleweight title in a 10 round bout.

Before the bout, Margarito expressed his interest in fighting Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao; if the latter's bout with Floyd Mayweather doesn't materialize, Top Rank might put him as Pacquiao's next opponent or even a possible rematch with newly crowned middleweight king Sergio Martinez.

On May 8, 2010, Antonio Margarito won a ten round unanimous decision over contender Roberto Garcia to capture the vacant WBC International Light Middleweight title. The judges’ score cards were 99-89, 100-88 and 99-90, all in favor of Margarito.

Pacquiao vs. Margarito

On July 23, 2010, Bob Arum announced that Margarito would face Manny Pacquiao for the WBC Super Welterweight Championship, the belt that was vacated by current undisputed Middleweight Champion Sergio Gabriel Martinez. The fight took place on Saturday, November 13, 2010 in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas as Margarito got a license in Texas, United States. In his Camp for this fight, Margarito had four southpaw sparring partners who are the undefeated; Karim Martínez‎, Cleotis Pendarvis, number one mandatory for the WBA World Light Middleweight Championship Austin Trout‎, and U.S. Olympic Silver Medalist Ricardo Williams. Despite having a 17 pound weight advantage, a 4.5 inch height advantage, and a six inch reach advantage, Margarito was dominated by Pacquiao and took a heavy beating. The fight wound up being a unanimous decision loss for Margarito, with the judges' scorecards being 120-108, 119-109, and 118-108. Margarito was taken to the hospital directly after the fight where it was discovered that his right orbital bone had been fractured. Surgery had to be postponed to three days later as his face was too swollen to operate on.

Five weeks before the fight Margarito and boxer Brandon Rios were interviewed by Elie Seckbach and the video taken showed the group mocking Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach, Roach has Parkinson's disease. On the Thursday before the fight, Margarito publicly apologized to Roach and to everyone suffering from Parkinson's. |- |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res. |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Record |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponnent |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd., Time |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location |align=center style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center |Loss||38-7||align=left| Manny Pacquiao |UD||12 ||||align=left| Cowboys Stadium, Arlington, United States}} |align=left|For the WBC World Super Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||38-6||align=left| Roberto García |UD||10 (10)||||align=left| Plaza de Toros, Aguascalientes, Mexico}} |align=left|Won the WBC International Light Middleweight title |-align=center |Loss||37-6||align=left| Shane Mosley |TKO||9 (0:43)||||align=left| Staples Center, Los Angeles, United States}} |align=left|Lost the WBA World Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||37-5||align=left| Miguel Cotto |TKO||11 (2:05)||||align=left| MGM Grand, Las Vegas, United States}} |align=left|Won the WBA World Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||36-5||align=left| Kermit Cintrón |KO||6 (1:57)||||align=left| Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, United States}} |align=left|Won the IBF Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||35-5||align=left| Golden Johnson |TKO||1 (2:28)||||align=left| Madison Square Garden, New York, United States}} |align=left|Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental Welterweight title |-align=center |Loss||34-5||align=left| Paul Williams |UD||12 (12)||||align=left| Home Depot Center, Carson, United States}} |align=left|Lost the WBO Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||34-4||align=left| Joshua Clottey |UD||12 (12)||||align=left| Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, United States}} |align=left|Retained his WBO Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||33-4||align=left| Manuel Gomez |TKO||1 (1:14)||||align=left| The Aladdin, Las Vegas, United States}} |align=left|Retained his WBO Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||32-4||align=left| Kermit Cintrón |TKO||5 (2:12)||||align=left| Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, United States}} |align=left|Retained his WBO Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||31-4||align=left| Sebastian Lujan |TKO||10 (2:57)||||align=left| Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, United States}} |align=left|Retained his WBO Welterweight title |-align=center |Loss||30-4||align=left| Ricky Reyes |TD||10 (3:00)||||align=left| Plaza de Toros, Aguascalientes, Mexico}} |align=left|For the WBO Light Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||30-3||align=left| Hercules Kyvelos |TD||2 (0:54)||||align=left| Dodge Theater, Phoenix, United States}} |align=left|Retained his WBO Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||29-3||align=left| Maurice Brantley |TKO||2 (2:47)||||align=left| Celebrity Theater, Phoenix, United States}} |align=left|The fight was at Light Middleweight |-align=center |Win||28-3||align=left| Andrew Lewis |TD||2 (2:31)||||align=left| Mandalay Bay Las Vegas, United States}} |align=left|Retained his WBO Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||27-3||align=left| Danny Perez |UD||12 (12)||||align=left| Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, Anaheim, United States}} |align=left|Retained his WBO Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||26-3||align=left| Antonio Díaz |TKO||10 (2:17)||||align=left| Bally, Las Vegas, United States}} |align=left|Won the vacant WBO Welterweight title |-align=center |style="background: #DDDDDD"|NC ||26-3||align=left| Daniel Santos |NC||1 (2:11)||||align=left| Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico}} |align=left|For the WBO Welterweight title. |-align=center |Win||25-3||align=left| Robert West |KO||1 (2:19)||||align=left| Convention Center, Fort Worth, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||24-3||align=left| Frankie Randall |RTD||4 (10)||||align=left| Memphis, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||23-3||align=left| José Luis Benítez‎ |TKO||1 (1:06)||||align=left| El Gran Mercado, Phoenix, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||22-3||align=left| David Kamau |TKO||2 (10)||||align=left| Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, United States}} |align=left|Won the WBO NABO Welterweight title |-align=center |Win||21-3||align=left| Sergio Martinez |TKO||7 (2:57)||||align=left| Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, United States}} |align=left|Martinez was undefeated going in |-align=center |Win||20-3||align=left| Efrain Munoz |KO||2 (10)||||align=left| Quiet Cannon, Montebello, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||19-3||align=left| Buck Smith |TKO||5 (8)||||align=left| Will Rogers Coliseum, Fort Worth, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||18-3||align=left| Danny Perez |SD||8 (8)||||align=left| Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||17-3||align=left| Daniel Mendez |KO||3 (?)||||align=left| Auditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||16-3||align=left| Reyes Estrada |KO||2 (?)||||align=left| Auditorio Municipal Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||15-3||align=left| Francisco Méndez |KO||10 (?)||||align=left| Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||14-3||align=left| Miguel González |UD||8 (8)||||align=left| Scottish Rite Center, San Diego, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||13-3||align=left| César Valdez |TKO||5 (10)||||align=left| Orleans Hotel, Las Vegas, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||12-3||align=left| Horatio García |UD||10 (10)||||align=left| Country Club, Reseda, United States}} |align=left|Garcia was undefeated going in |-align=center |Win||11-3||align=left|Juan Soberanes |UD||10 (10)||||align=left|The Pond, Anaheim, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||10-3||align=left| Alfred Ankamah |TKO||4 (10)||||align=left| Honda Center, Anaheim, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Loss||9-3||align=left| Rodney Jones |UD||10 (10)||||align=left| Culver City, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||9-2||align=left| Yoani Cervantes |KO||4 (10)||||align=left| Los Angeles, United States}} |align=left| |-align=center |Loss||8-2||align=left| Larry Dixon |UD||10 (10)||||align=left| Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||8-1||align=left| Antonio Ojeda |KO||4 (?)||||align=left| Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||7-1||align=left| Carlos Palafox |PTS||4 (4)||||align=left| Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||6-1||align=left| Efrain Muñoz |PTS||4 (4)||||align=left|Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Loss||5-1||align=left| Victor Lozoya |PTS||6 (6)||||align=left| Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||5-0||align=left| Francisco López |TKO||3 (4)||||align=left| Ensenada, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||4-0||align=left| Cesar Roland |KO||1 (4)||||align=left| Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||3-0||align=left| Victor Angulo |TKO||4 (4)||||align=left| Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||2-0||align=left| Gilberto Plata |UD||4 (4)||||align=left| Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left| |-align=center |Win||1-0||align=left| Jose Trujillo |UD||4 (4)||||align=left| Tijuana, Mexico}} |align=left|Margarito's pro debut, he was only 15 years old |-align=center

See also

List of Welterweight World boxing champions

List of IBF World Champions

List of WBO World Champions

List of WBA World Champions

The Battle (Margarito's battle against WBA Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto)

References

External links

Antonio Margarito Fight-by-Fight Career Record

Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito

Personal Website

bio - file interview with Antonio Margarito

Official Clothing Line

Michelle Margarito Biography

Category:People from Tijuana Category:IBF Champions Category:WBA Champions Category:WBO Champions Category:Boxers from California Category:Welterweights Category:Light-middleweights Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:American boxers of Mexican descent