NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman continues chronicling the decline of American boxing by reviewing the fights of this past weekend and previewing the major fights coming up this week.

We discuss the biggest fight of this past weekend, where Koki Kameda captured the IBF flyweight title from Daisuke Naito with a clear-cut unanimous decision in Saitama, Japan. We also discuss the knockout victory by IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute of Librado Andrade and the controversial draw between Joan Guzman and Ali Funeka in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. This coming week will see fights this Wednesday involving Bernard Hopkins against Enrique Ornelas in Philadelphia and Roy Jones Jr. against Danny Green in Sydney, Australia, which is supposed to build up for a decade-late Hopkins-Jones rematch next year. We bemoan the fact that the December 4 fight between noted women fighters Holly Holm and Melissa Hernandez in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has not received much attention. And we discuss the fight Saturday, December 5, between WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck and challenger Ola Afolabi in Germany.

We move on to preview the biggest fight scheduled for next weekend, which will again take place outside the U.S. It will involve WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan of England (21-1, 15 KOs), now trained by Freddie Roach, defending his belt against Dmitriy Salita (30-0-1, 16 KOs), originally from Ukraine and now living in Brooklyn. This fight, which takes place at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, UK, will be on UK pay-per-view, but will not be televised in the U.S.

At a recent New York news conference, we spoke with Dmitriy Salita and his longtime trainer, Jimmy O'Pharrow, who first taught him how to box at the Starrett City Gym in Brooklyn. A confident but respectful Dmitriy Salita predicted victory in this fight. Just as Amir Khan, who is a Muslim, is doing, Dmitriy Salita, who is a Jew, refrained from making this fight into anything other than a sporting contest.

And we close with what HBO is showing instead in the U.S. this Saturday, December 5, a middleweight fight in Atlantic City between Paul Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) and WBC super welterweight champion Sergio Martinez (44-1-2, 24 KOs), who is moving up in weight for this fight.

That is a snapshot of the sorry state of American boxing, along with a preview of the biggest fight in the world this weekend, all on No Holds Barred.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Amir Khan, boxing, Dmitriy Salita, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews some of the fights taking place around the world this weekend, and addresses continuing controversies in boxing and mixed martial arts.

We comment on the recent report by the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 about the bankruptcy of Station Casinos, in which they charge that "the company could have averted bankruptcy if not for the substantial debt it took on largely to enrich a small group of company insiders," in particular the Fertitta family, who also own UFC.

After discussing a recent interview with Fedor Emelianenko on Russian television, where he advocates that "sport should make the world a better place to live in", we preview the Art of War 15 mixed martial arts card, which takes place Saturday, November 29, in Beijing, China. We mention the boxing cards which will be on American television this Saturday night, including the rematch between IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute and Librado Andrade. We also preview what is likely to be the biggest boxing event of the weekend, when WBC flyweight champion Daisuke Naito takes on the controversial Koki Kameda in Saitama, Japan. We comment on another story from Japan, where the two biggest mixed martial arts organizations, Dream and Sengoku, will be working together on a joint show for New Year's Eve. And we close with a topic that is necessary to address although almost no one cares about the organization involved, my dispute with the archaic Boxing Writers Association of America.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: boxing, Dream, Eddie Goldman, Fertitta, MMA, No Holds Barred, Sen

Press Release from Culinary Workers Union Local 226:

Report Shows Station Casinos Insiders, Not the Recession, Drove the Company into Bankruptcy: Labor Union Calls on Company Creditors to Demand Significant Equity Investment from Insiders

Las Vegas—In light of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Station Casinos, Inc., the Culinary Workers Union Local 226 is calling on creditors to demand a significant equity investment by insiders, who have amassed over $1 billion from the company. According to an analysis released by the union, the company could have averted bankruptcy if not for the substantial debt it took on largely to enrich a small group of company insiders. The report examines how this debt enabled insiders to extract over a $1 billion from the company in recent years and that these insiders, not the global recession, drove the company into bankruptcy.

Station Casinos is a major employer in the Las Vegas Valley, many of whose over 13,000 employees are family members or friends of Culinary Union workers. The union’s members, as well as the larger community, are rightly concerned about the continuing uncertainty over the future of the company and its impact on Las Vegas.

“Station Casinos is a uniquely Las Vegas company that owes it success to Las Vegas locals like our members,” said D. Taylor, Culinary Workers Union Local 226 Secretary-Treasurer. “The company has a special obligation to our community. Its owner-managers have a responsibility not just to their Wall Street lenders and investors, but to their employees, customers, suppliers, and vendors right here in this community. The livelihoods of a lot of people and their families are closely tied to this company’s financial well-being. Clearly, the owner-managers and other insiders were more interested in extracting wealth from the company for themselves than ensuring its and its employees’ future. Now it’s time for them to give back.”

The report shows:

· Company insiders, led by members of the Fertitta family, nearly tripled the company’s long-term debt load between 2005 and the end of 2007 from $1.9 billion to $5.2 billion.

· Of the new debt incurred during this period, more than two-thirds was used to buy back shares and to complete a management-led buyout, both of which significantly benefited a small group of insiders.

· In 2006 and 2007, the company borrowed $990 million to buy back 14 million in outstanding shares. This was the true cost of the company’s stock compensation program over the previous years, which had been described by an independent proxy advisory firm as “the most expensive and liberal we have reviewed” and an “excessive transfer of wealth” to insiders.

· In 2007, the company took on $1.6 billion of new debt to complete a management-lead buyout. More than $660 million – or 40% – of the proceeds went to company insiders. The Fertitta family received $495 million alone as a result of the buyout.

· If the company had forgone these two non-productive transactions – the share buybacks and the buyout – it would have $2.6 billion less debt, significantly less interest expense, and could have averted bankruptcy.

· Since 2001, company insiders received more than $1 billion in executive compensation and from the buyout even as they led the company down the path toward bankruptcy. In contrast, other stakeholders in the company have had to suffer the consequences of their financial mismanagement. Not only is the company in Chapter 11 reorganization under the bankruptcy code, the company stopped matching employees’ 401(k) contributions, more than doubled PPO health care premiums for rank-and-file workers, slashed shifts and cut hours for workers, and terminated hundreds of long-time employees by replacing coffee shops with subcontracted restaurants.

The Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, an affiliate of UNITE HERE, is the largest local labor union in the gaming industry. The Culinary represents approximately 55,000 casino and resort workers on the Las Vegas Strip, in downtown Las Vegas, and in downtown Reno.

For a copy of the report please contact Ken Liu at 702-387-7001 or kliu@culinaryunion226.org.

http://www.culinaryunion226.org/

Labels: Culinary Workers Union Local 226, Fertitta, Las Vegas, Station Casinos

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with one of the most interesting mixed martial arts fighters in the world, Roxanne Modafferi.

Born in Delaware and a graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with a major in Japanese language and literature and a minor in linguistics, Roxanne Modafferi now lives in Japan where she teaches English. She is also an active professional mixed martial arts fighter, competing in many events both in Japan and the U.S. Fighting primarily at 135 pounds, she has an impressive record of 13-5. She recently signed to fight with Strikeforce in the U.S., and made her debut November 7. Affable and articulate, she is sometimes called "the happy warrior".

In a lengthy phone interview, we spoke with Roxanne Modafferi about a wide variety of topics. We discussed her educational background and work in Japan as a translator and teacher. We reviewed her two fights with Marloes Coenen, against whom she is 1-1, including her loss on November 7 by submission, where she went up in weight. We discussed why she became a martial artist and fighter, why she is living and working in Japan, her love of Japan, her entire fighting career, her difficulty in getting fights, her writings on many subjects, what life is like both for her and in general in Japan, how women are treated in Japan, the role of women fighters in mixed martial arts, why she boiled a turkey for the Japanese Labor Thanksgiving Day on November 23, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Eddie Goldman, Japan, MMA, No Holds Barred, Roxanne Modafferi, Strikeforce

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman begins with a discussion of just why the sport of roller derby means happiness. The sport itself, its humor and culture, and the atmosphere around it, provide a unique sense of joy to those who watch and participate in it.

We then demonstrate this further by reviewing the 2009 league championship game of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby.

Held Saturday night, November 21, before a standing room-only crowd at the Hunter College Sportsplex in New York, the Bronx Gridlock captured the league title with a 116-105 come-from-behind win in a wild game with numerous lead changes. Bronx was trailing 81-39 at the end of the first half, but had a spectacular second half to win the title and close the 2009 season.

Right after the game, we spoke with skater Dainty Inferno of the Bronx Gridlock. We discussed how Bronx adjusted after falling so far behind in the first half, what we might expect in the 2010 season which starts in the spring, the growth of roller derby as a sport, the loss at the 2009 national championship tournament the previous week of the Gotham Girls to the upstart Oly Rollers, and much more.

If you want to learn more about roller derby, the fastest-growing sport in America, No Holds Barred is the place to be.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Dainty Inferno, Eddie Goldman, Gotham, No Holds Barred, roller derby

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host and producer Eddie Goldman presents the first in a series of shows on the growing number of injuries in combat sports.

About six years ago, when John Perretti, the legendary lifelong martial artist and former UFC and Extreme Fighting matchmaker, broke his back for the second time, he knew he had to seek out the best person to help with his rehab. That person was the noted fitness expert and personal trainer Karl List.

Karl List is a fitness expert with over 20 years of experience as a personal trainer, and was a natural (drug-free) bodybuilding champion. He and his wife and business partner, Jodi Friedman List, are the co-owners of List Integrated Systematic Training. Their clients are trained at the world-famous Gold's Gym in Venice, California, where Karl is the only trainer who maintains a client base of personal trainers.

To address the issue of the growing number of injuries in the combat sports, John Perretti recently spoke with Karl List. In this first interview, they discussed a wide range of topics including rehab from injuries, the need for athletes to train their entire body, bad training methods used by many boxers, the high injury rate in mixed martial arts, how the improper punching techniques common in mixed martial arts lead to injuries for the punchers, the proper use of machines in training, and more.

If you are or have ever been an athlete, or even if you are just a fan of the athletes, this series of discussions is indispensible since they will provide candid and cutting-edge information and analysis which few media outlets dare to address.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Eddie Goldman, injuries, John Perretti, Karl List, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the big weekend of mixed martial arts and boxing to be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime.

We once again spoke with the unbeaten mixed martial arts fighter and two-time All-American wrestler and Big 12 wrestling champion from the University of Missouri, Tyron Woodley. He fights veteran Rudy Bears this Friday night, November 20, on a Strikeforce Challengers mixed martial arts card from Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas. We discussed what he expects in this fight, why he feels his striking is now even better than his grappling, and more. We also discussed the Strikeforce debut on the undercard of his former teammate at the University of Missouri and current training partner, All-American Michael Chandler.

We also preview the much-anticipated fight between WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler of Denmark (42-1, 32 KOs) and the undefeated Andre Ward of Oakland, California (20-0, 13 KOs). This fight takes place this Saturday, November 21, at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. This is their first fight in the first stage of bouts in the historic Super Six World Boxing Classic super middleweight tournament. We spoke with both Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward on two media conference calls. They told us what to expect in their fights, how their styles match up, what effect this unique tournament format will or will not have on how they approach this fight, and more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Andre Ward, Eddie Goldman, Kessler, No Holds Barred, Tyron Woodley

It was another segment of non-stop humor mixed with serious discussion on politics and sports on the nationally-syndicated "Joey Reynolds Show" late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, November 16/17.

The guests during this hour were Eddie Goldman of No Holds Barred; Stefan M. Bradley, an assistant professor of history and African American studies at Saint Louis University, and author of "Harlem vs. Columbia University, Black Student Power in the Late 1960s"; comedian and radio and TV personality Karith Foster; actor and comedian Steve White; and comedian and actor Steven Scott.

Despite the varied backgrounds and professions of this quintet, we all blended together along with host Joey Reynolds in yet another memorable discussion on this popular, live, late-night talk show.

You can play or download this here or download it here.

The "Joey Reynolds Show" is a national radio broadcast in New York on WOR 710 AM and on 100 other stations via the WOR Network. The show airs live beginning at 1 AM ET and runs to 5 AM ET. For more information on the "Joey Reynolds Show", go here.

For more information on show producer Myra Chanin, go to http://motherwonderful.com/.

Labels: Eddie Goldman, Joey Reynolds, Karith Foster, Stefan Bradley, Steve White

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with the noted boxing writer and historian and former fighter, Frank Lotierzo, about the dominant 12th-round TKO victory by Manny Pacquiao over Miguel Cotto November 14 in Las Vegas.

In an in-depth discussion, we analyze the fight itself, the brilliant use of boxing technique by Manny Pacquiao, the place of Pacquiao in boxing history, the potential for a fight between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year, how the careers of Pacquiao and Mayweather compare, and much more. This is another meaty discussion for fight fans and aficionados, and you do not want to miss it, right here on No Holds Barred.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Eddie Goldman, Frank Lotierzo, Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Jacqui Snow, our correspondent and the technical consultant for No Holds Barred, and a moderator of the very popular MySpace Boxing Forum.

In our discussion, we explain how to watch the November 14 Pacquiao-Cotto fight online if you do not want to pay the outrageous pay-per-view fee. We discuss the free, peer-to-peer media player from SopCast. We explain where to get information about which sites are showing this and other sporting events for free, such as the MyP2P Forum. We note why we have no problem using these so-called pirate services, which are all free, since the television networks and fight promoters, who get fat and rich from having fighters hit one another until they are too old to do so and are replaced by younger fighters, are the real pirates. And we do so with a No Holds Barred attitude.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: Cotto, Eddie Goldman, Jacqui Snow, No Holds Barred, Pacquiao, SopCast

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman presents a preview of the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto welterweight title fight, which takes place Saturday, November 14, in Las Vegas, and will be televised around the world, including on HBO pay-per-view in the U.S.

This is a different kind of preview, however, from that offered almost everywhere else, in that we do not limit ourselves to the question of which fighter stands the best chance of winning this fight in the ring.

We open by noting the damage suffered by the sport of boxing as a whole by placing such major fights on pay-per-view. We play an excerpt of a media conference call held prior to the November 7 Fedor Emelianenko-Brett Rogers mixed martial arts fight, which was telecast live in the U.S. on CBS and was viewed in 5.46 million households, with Kelly Kahl, Senior Executive Vice President, CBS Primetime. He opined why boxing is no longer on network television in the U.S., and why MMA is.

We next play an excerpt from the November 8 edition of The Boxing Truth Radio, hosted by Ricardo Lois and John Chavez, where Eddie Goldman explained the global economic, political, and social factors which work in Pacquiao's favor. This type of analysis is essential to understanding the historical context in which this fight is taking place, and also what factors other than who deserves to win might play a role in the outcome of the fight.

In the longest segment on this edition of No Holds Barred, we discuss this fight with our correspondent, the award-winning boxing writer Charles Farrell. He is of the opinion that Cotto has the best chance of legitimately winning this fight. Cotto, he argues, unlike Pacquiao, is a true welterweight whose power and size should have him prevail. He also dismisses Pacquiao's dominant wins over Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya as victories over shot fighters, which the 28-year-old Cotto is far from being.

We discuss these views, as well as the opposing arguments which favor Pacquiao, regarding both his skills and power as a fighter and the advantages he has with the boxing establishment. While Charles is fairly certain that Cotto will win, Eddie is not, so various possible scenarios for this fight are outlined.

We also discuss what possible fights lie ahead for both men, including the likelihood of the winner facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and these next fights taking place in a major league baseball stadium. And we explain why we have no problem with people watching this fight for free online, even on so-called pirate streams. But we all agree that whichever fighter wins Saturday night, the real winner will be promoter Bob Arum, who promotes both men.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

Make sure to visit the official boxing forum for No Holds Barred, the MySpace Boxing Forum.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

GRACIEMAG, the most reliable source of information on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. GRACIEMAG represents Jiu-Jitsu philosophy and features news, profiles, history, photos, videos, and tips and secrets of the mother of all martial arts. Published since 1996 in Brazil, GRACIEMAG: The Jiu-Jitsu Lifestyle, is in both English and Portuguese, and is also online at GRACIEMAG.com.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Labels: boxing, Eddie Goldman, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, No Holds Barred