A view from America

Muhammad Ali - Even 'The Greatest' has regrets

BBC Sport Online's American sports reporter Kevin Asseo gives the first in a weekly series of columns on what's going on in boxing on the other side of the pond.

Ali apologises

Nearly 30 years after the fact, for reasons known only to himself, Muhammad Ali has done something he's never done before.

He admitted he was wrong and took back some of the words he had said.

In a public apology, Ali said he was sorry for the manner in which he treated Joe Frazier before each of their three epic heavyweight title fights.

Frazier had made no secret of his bitterness toward Ali, after Ali had referred to him on several occasions as an "Uncle Tom," a "gorilla," and "too ugly to be heavyweight champion."

"Joe's right. I said a lot of things in the heat of the moment that I shouldn't have said," Ali said.

"Called him names I shouldn't have called him. I apologize for that. I'm sorry. It was all meant to promote the fight. "

Jones seeks respect

Roy Jones Jr was once the consensus choice for the mythical 'best pound-for-pound fighter in the world' title.

But in recent years, due to his inability to find any worthwhile opponents, no matter how impressive his victories have been, that title has been questioned.

Roy has a lot of pride and a big ego - he wants to be recognized as the best fighter on the planet

  Larry Merchant

Jones reportedly stormed out of a meeting with HBO interviewer Larry Merchant.

The disagreement occurred when Merchant told the light heavyweight champ he now considered both Sugar Shane Mosley and Felix Trinidad ahead of Jones.

"Roy has a lot of pride and a big ego," said Merchant. "He wants to be recognized as the best fighter on the planet."

Possibly because of his current perception, Jones is pulling out all the stops to find credible opponents (which admittedly will not be easy in that weight class).

Talks have begun between Jones' management, HBO, and the representatives of Polish light heavyweight Dariusz Michalczewski.

The German based-Pole holds the World Boxing Organisation title, with Jones holding three other belts at the weight.

Both boxers have a busy summer ahead, though, so an autumn bout seems the earliest possible date.

WBC crown up for grabs?

A Canadian and a Brit could be the beneficiaries of the World Boxing Council's decision to strip Davey Hilton of his super middleweight title.

Hilton, in jail following his 16th March conviction on sexual assault charges, is almost certain to be relieved of his belt when the WBC executive board votes on the matter.

If they do declare the title vacant, look for a match-up between Canada's Eric Lucas and Britain's Glenn Catley to decide the new champion.

The fight could happen as early as May, most likely in a neutral American location.

The pair met once before, in a 1998 bout in Montreal, with Catley stopping Lucas in the 12th round of what had been a very close fight.

Mayweather Sr makes a scene

Floyd Mayweather Sr raised eyebrows in Las Vegas during the week of the recent Oscar de la Hoya/Arturo Gatti fight.

As De la Hoya's newly recruited trainer, he spent much of his time with the media declaring himself the sport's all-time greatest trainer.

One problem - before hooking up with De la Hoya, the only fighter he'd ever trained was his son, Floyd Jr.

"Hey, they can say that I've only trained my son, and that's true," Mayweather Sr said.

"But look at the kind of fighter my son is. He's the best there is. Didn't that show people what I can do?" Give it some time, Floyd.

Brooklyn returns to fight game

Coney Island, New York City's famous beachfront property, may get big-time boxing back.

Coney Island hosted big-time fights throughout the early part of the last century, but hasn't been the scene of a title fight since 1931.

That could change in July, if HBO gets its wish.

The cable network is trying to bring the 7th July fight between James Toney and IBF cruiserweight champ Vassiliy Jirov to the Brooklyn beach.

"Coney Island is exciting and we're looking forward to it," said Kery Davis, HBO senior VP of programming.

"Doing fights at places that can generate interest in the sport helps all of us."