Yes, it was billed as the best night of boxing... ever... and in Part I of our recap we had already covered Judah vs what's his name? Jaime Rangel, yes, that's it, that "fight" ending in a Judah authoritative 1st round KO.

Travis Simms becomes the WBA light middleweight champion when Alex "Terra" Garcia forgets the paramount rule of boxing, and gets clocked with a vicious left hook to the head. John Ruiz and Hasim Rahman ended in a unanimous decision for Ruiz, and the least said about this one the better.

The next bout in the line up had all the makings of an exciting, dramatic, action packed affair. Prior to fight night, two belts champion Ricardo Mayorga had already delivered some serious low blows to IBF champ Cory Spinks. For those who may not be aware, this is a brief recap of the pre-fight situation between the two champions.

Ricardo "El Matador" Mayorga had been on a pugilistic tear, having disposed of then WBA champion Andrews "Six Heads" Lewis, as well as then WBC champion Vernon "The Viper" Forrest twice. The ride to the top was a fun one for Mayorga, and for most boxing fans, who were becoming familiar -and comfortable- with a guy who at his best spent one hundred thousand dollars setting up electrical power to a whole town back home in Nicaragua, and who at his worst admitted to a couple of suds and a cigarette habit even while training. So far, so good; boxing aficionados were jumping on Mayorga's bandwagon big time, and it was beginning to look like Don King had landed another major draw, a pugilistic star.

Enter certain "advisors" and well intended -maybe not so well intended- hangeroners, and Mayorga's tone commences to change. Where he once said harmless -and funny- things to his opponents, as he did with Forrest, he now crosses the line with the young Cory Spinks, by disrespecting Spinks' recently deceased mother and overall making a total ass out of himself.

The media, other fighters, the general public did not take lightly to the affronts, and even before the fight started Mayorga had already lost a lot of respect. I remember reading a comment made by Mayorga's translator, Miami based attorney Tony Gonzalez, words to the effect that Mayorga was going to be another bad boy, another Mike Tyson. I couldn't even begin to understand why Mayorga would want to be like Mike Tyson, after all, there is only Mike Tyson, and I doubt very seriously that anyone else will ever be able to pull off his antics and remain popular and out of jail... Thoughts of a defiant Muhammad Ali came to mind, and again I thought, who else could have pulled off the things Ali said and did and live on to become the most recognized face in the world, and one of the sport's most admired figures. No, no, Mayorga had definitely crossed the line, and now, by most reports, Cory Spinks was going to make it personal.

So, we are ready to rumble here, and Spinks enters the venue undulating his body to an odd beat, the walk lasted forever, and I'll be damned if I didn't get a Forrest flashback. Mayorga follows, certain unsavory character in his entourage, long time trainer Hector Perez conspicuously absent, replacement trainer Emanuel Steward nowhere to be found but still, the Nicaraguan seems focused, in shape and ready to go.

Mayorga tries to set the tone in the opener by adjusting his trunks and almost turning his back to Spinks, showing total disregard for his opponent, a slick southpaw with good boxing skills. Elusive as Spinks can be, he still gets the worst of the round.

Mayorga begins to get frustrated at his inability to land flush against Spinks, lots of hits and misses by both men in the second round and Mayorga throws leather after the bell. I thought that in the third stanza Ricardo establishes he is the stronger and more willful fighter, only to have Spinks come back with a very good round in the fourth.

Mayorga loses a point in the fifth for punching after the bell, something he has been doing in every round since the second round. Referee Tony Orlando makes the correct call here.

"El Matador" does good work in the sixth, forcing Spinks to trade with him, a proposition that sends Spinks back to his corner with a bloody lip. I thought Mayorga won the next two rounds as well, forcing the action, while Spinks did a good job to move, but unloaded little artillery.

In the eighth round Spinks goes down, the referee rules it a slip. Cory continues to box and move, but there is little scoring of actual punches. Mayorga continues to try, but he is unable to pin Spinks down long enough to land with authority.

Round ten brings us a very protective referee Orlando, who won't let the fighters get off in a clinch. It was the best trading so far, and they closed the round with a nice exchange of leather. It was a strong round for Cory Spinks.

Round eleven brings us another call to action by referee Orlando who now deducts another point from Mayorga for holding and hitting. The replay clearly showed that while Mayorga did hold Spinks and pushed his head down, he did not hit him while holding him. Orlando seems hell bent on taking over this fight.

Twelfth and final round, and once again referee Orlando makes a bad call. Mayorga hits Spinks with a very good right hook to the body, sending Spinks to the canvas only to be ruled a slip by the referee.

Mayorga vs Spinks should have been refereed by Randy Neuman and Rahman vs Ruiz should have assigned to Tony Orlando, but it's too late for all that now, and the official announcement is ready. Majority decision says the announcer, 114-114, (ok I can live with that), 114-112 (ok, I could live with that too regardless of which guy got the 114), and 117-110, (wait a damn minute! there is no way either guy built up such a lead)... and the now undisputed welterweight champion of the world is .... Corey Spinks...

Much to his credit Ricardo Mayorga then approached Spinks, placed his two belts on the kid's shoulders, kissed his hand, bowing his head and apologizing for all the foul stuff he spewed prior to the fight. It might be too little too late for some fans who fell off the Mayorga bandwagon, but at least Ricardo Mayorga was man enough to apologize in earnest in front of the world.

In my humble opinion Spinks didn't win this fight, and actually if you were to take referee Orlando's two points deduction from the equation, the fight would have been declared a draw. Meanwhile, Hector Perez, Mayorga's long time trainer, has slapped a 10 million dollars lawsuit against Don King, but that's another story...

Last but not least, another fight for an undisputed position, this time in the middleweight division. But wait, isn't Bernard Hopkins the WBA 'super champion' already? So why is he now fighting for William Joppy's 'regular' WBA belt? Which one will he have to vacate? Does he get to keep them both? I don't know, if you have the answer(s) please drop me an email, because this is confusing.

Many colleagues have deemed this bout "brilliant" and have ranted and raved about Hopkins' condition for a man his age. I take exception to the "brilliancy" of the fight, and I'll tell you why. Rewind to May 13, 2001, Madison Square Garden, where then WBA champion William Joppy met Felix "Tito" Trinidad who was fighting as a middleweight for the first time in his career. Tito went on to put Joppy down three times on his way to a total dismantling of the Sloppy One in five rounds. But there is more, stay with me on this one...

Joppy and Hopkins engage in a well publicized side bet, whereby Hopkins will pay Joppy $25,000 if he knocks him out or $50,000 if Joppy manages to remain standing after 12. So, Hopkins beats Joppy like a drum for twelve rounds, but is unable to put him out early. Meanwhile Joppy suffers a tremendous beating, with Bernard's fists and head, a weapon that proved very effective throughout the night, and neither the referee, nor the corner see fit to stop the fight in spite of the tremendous punishment Joppy was absorbing and his obvious inability to turn the bout around. He was just out to survive, running for his life in order to collect on the $50,000 bet, and I don't know about everyone else... maybe I am with the silent majority or perhaps with the outspoken minority... but does anyone see a problem with this? How ethical is this situation?

It's ok for a fighter to bet on himself at a casino, like Bernard did when he fought Trinidad, I have no problem with that, but this is another issue... Does anyone remember why Pete Rose got in trouble -and has been kept out of baseball's Hall of Fame- where he certainly belongs? It wasn't because he bet on games, it was because he bet on his own games, and I would think anyone can see the conflict there. And remember, there are eight other guys in a baseball field, so Rose could only manipulate things to a degree, not so in the case of a boxing match.

I have cringed at the glowing reports and amusing commentaries by members of the press regarding this bet. I have yet to read any type of reaction from the boxing commission involved, or any other for that matter, but for whatever it's worth, I believe this type of bet is unethical and should not ever be allowed again. Like boxing doesn't have enough problems already...

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins scores a lopsided unanimous decision 119-109, 119-108, 118-109 over William Joppy who has since announced his retirement from the sport.

In the post fight interview Hopkins announced his next project, a promotional company. I couldn't help but chuckle at that thought... I mean, here is a guy who can't promote himself out of a paper bag, who couldn't capitalize on the biggest fight of his career after soundly putting away Felix Trinidad, and he is going to promote others? I wish him well, but I don't see that being a successful venture.

I did notice that Bernard has softened his stand, even when New York radio personality turned boxing color man Tom Joyner was making a total nuisance of himself in the dressing room. Come on guys, when the fighters are warming up (as was the case when Joyner pestered Ruiz) or when they are getting their hands taped, (as was the case with Bernard) they should not be interrupted or disturbed.

Final observations...

I wish the judges would make up their mind as to whether dancers/movers win fights or aggressors/punchers? It didn't work for Oscar de la Hoya but it did for Cory Spinks...

Cory Spinks is a slick southpaw, (flashbacks of Winky Wright came to mind), but with 10 knockouts in 32 wins it is clear that he lacks power. He seems to be a very nice young man, and I salute him in this win, but his victory was neither dominant nor impressive.

It was funny hearing Chris Byrd say that sometimes fighters "need to take chances." Yeah, Chris, fight fans have been telling YOU that for years.

On a closing note, boxing commissions need to go to work, please elect a new president, and soon. Tim Lueckenhoff -who could be making a difference- simply lacks leadership. Bets between two fighters such as the Hopkins-Joppy bet should not be allowed to happen ever again! Let's just hope that in his quest to add $50,000 to his bank account William Joppy did not suffer permanent health damage.