Hello everyone, welcome to the latest installment of the Furious Five. We will cover a wide range of topics today, from the recent Ricky Hatton fight to the highly anticipated matches this summer. Let’s proceed…

1) When Ricky Hatton envisioned his return to the ring last year after the disappointing loss against Floyd Mayweather, I’m sure he pictured a dominating victory that would erase all questions about him being a world class fighter. Although Hatton emerged with a unanimous decision in his fight last Saturday, the unconvincing victory over Juan Lazcano did little to silence his critics. The relatively unknown Lazcano provided a serious challenge for Hatton, cutting him early during the fight and then stunning him on two separate occasions in the later rounds. Albeit all three judges had Hatton winning comfortably, his defence looked suspect throughout the fight and his conditioning was an obvious weakness during the final rounds. I’m sure Hatton is happy to emerge with the win, but this victory creates more questions than it does answers about the future of his career.

2) One thing we do know for certain is that the next fight for Hatton will take place against Paulie Malignaggi this November. There are many boxing experts who think that the fast paced style of Malignaggi will create problems for Hatton, but Paulie looked extremely underwhelming on the undercard this past weekend in his split decision victory over Lovemore N’Dou. There are rumors that Malignaggi fractured his right hand in the fight, but doctors expect the injury to be fully healed in time for the upcoming fight. Although the unimpressive performance by both fighters last Saturday will do little to create excitement for the fight, the different styles of these two fighters has the potential to make this one of the most exciting fights of the year. Plus, we can hope both fighters will have something to prove after how they performed last weekend.

3) It’s been almost two weeks since the comeback of Chris Byrd was derailed when he suffered a major upset at the hands of Shaun George (who?), as the underdog consistently got the better of the exchanges throughout the fight. This loss was the third for Byrd in his past four fights, and now makes his retirement all but a certainty. Although the two time former world champion hasn’t made anything official yet, speculation about his pending retirement is rampant around the boxing world. When you factor in that Byrd was rushed to the emergency ward at the conclusion of the fight after overdosing on the morphine and Valium he was given, there is no question that the time for his retirement is right. It’s a disappointing end to the career of one of the few true gentleman in the sport, but Byrd has nothing left to prove in boxing and shouldn’t risk his future for a couple more meaningless fights.

4) With numerous highly anticipated fights already scheduled for the upcoming summer months, the list continues to grow with the official announcement of two more this week. The match between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito has been officially been scheduled for July 26, 2008, with the location still yet to be determined. The handlers of Cotto would prefer to see the fight take place on the east coast, where the large Puerto Rican population would give Miguel a significant home crowd advantage. Meanwhile, for similar reasons, the handlers of Margarito would prefer to see the fight take place out west where an enormous Mexican population is situated. This is just one interesting dynamic of this match, which has been largely ignored by the mainstream North American media thus far. The reasons for the snub are beyond me, as this blockbuster fight has all the intangibles one could hope for in a boxing match. Make sure to stay tuned to future editions of the Furious Five, as we will be sure to provide in-depth analysis of this fight during the coming weeks.

5) With Antonio Margarito having to vacate the IBF welterweight title to accept the fight against Cotto, a fight has been scheduled for the vacant title on August 2nd between Zab Judah and Joshua Clottey. This fight should be interesting for a variety of reasons, as Judah is one of the most unpredictable fighters in the sport and will be hoping to re energize his stagnant career with a victory against the underrated Clottey. For Joshua Clottey, this fight presents him an opportunity at redemption after he broke his hand and lost a close unanimous decision in 2006 while fighting Margarito for the WBO welterweight championship. Since the defeat against Margarito, Clottey has won four consecutive fights and earned another title shot by defeating Shamone Alvarez this past December. We all know Judah is one of the most skilled natural athletes in the sport, with the ability to completely dominate a fight if he can maintain his focus. However, the career of Judah has recently been marred by numerous disappointing performances, as he has struggled to reestablish himself as one of the premiere fighters in the sport. Obviously this match will have significant meaning for both fighters, with the winner reestablishing themselves as a legitimate force in the welterweight division and the loser being relegated to boxing obscurity. The fight will be shown on HBO Boxing After Dark, which should provide a high quality fight for free to the boxing public.

Alright sportstalkbuzz nation, that’s it for today. I hope you enjoyed the latest edition of the Furious Five, and be sure to check back soon as we will preview more of the premiere fights scheduled for this summer.

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Tags: Antonio Margarito, Chris Byrd, Joshua Clottey, Juan Lazcano, Miguel Cotto, Paulie Malignaggi, Ricky Hatton, Zab Judah