The 2000 Olympic boxing team was the first U.S. team since 1948 to not win gold and is widely considered to be the worst American team ever.
But as pros, half the team remains undefeated and headed for title shots.
Saturday night, middleweight Jermain Taylor pounded veteran Raul Marquez into retirement with a stoppage after nine rounds. Though unhappy with his performance, Taylor was dominant and confident enough afterward to mention the possibility of fighting Bernard Hopkins.
Taylor isn't ready for that just yet, but his victory and those by fellow undefeated Olympic teammates Jeff Lacy, Jose Navarro, Rocky Juarez, Brian Villoria and Calvin Brock are slowly helping cast a different glow on the 2000 team. It's not an easy task considering the crash-and-burn careers of heavyweight Michael Bennett (knocked out in the first round twice), silver medalist Ricardo Williams (two losses in past three fights) and light middleweight Dante Craig (loser in three of past four).
The greatest hope for the rehabilitation of the 2000 team, whose failures are likely to get a fresh coat of paint during this year's Olympics, remains St. Petersburg's Lacy, who fights Syd Vanderpool later this year for the IBF super middleweight title. A victory would make Lacy the first of the 2000 class to land a major title.
STAY TUNED: It appears Nov. 20 will be the date, and Mandalay Bay the place for Shane Mosley's rematch with St. Petersburg's Winky Wright. At least that's the date HBO is holding for the fight.
HBO also is holding Sept. 25 for a possible Roy Jones Jr. return against either Fabrice Tiozzo or Glen Johnson, though the possibility of Jones- Antonio Tarver III could kill that date for a pay-per-view date later in the year.
HE'S BACK: Marco Antonio Barrera, once rated as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world before his loss to Manny Pacquiao, beat former world champion Paulie Ayala on Saturday, winning every round.
Barrera knocked down the tough Ayala twice in the eighth round and once in the 10th to prompt the fight's stoppage.
SHOULD JOE JUST GO?: The potential life-and-death soap opera of heavyweight title contender Joe Mesi continues.
Since his brutal victory (more like survival) over Vassily Jirov on March 13, Mesi has denied a series of news reports and rumors that he had suffered serious career-threatening head injuries.
Mesi was knocked down in the ninth and twice in the 10th and likely would have been knocked out had the fight last another 15 seconds. But he had a big enough lead to win a decision.
The Nevada Boxing Commission thinks Mesi is hiding something, especially since he hasn't turned over his medical records since the fight.
The Buffalo News, Mesi's hometown newspaper, reported Mesi suffered "at least three instances of subdural hematoma (bleeding on the brain) following the Jirov fight."
The Nevada Boxing Commission knows Mesi has had five MRIs and believes some show subdural hematoma, which causes 85 percent of all boxing deaths, neurologist Margaret Goodman, chairwoman of the Nevada Boxing Commission's medical advisory board, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Mesi is 29-0 with 25 knockouts and has been trying to work out a fight with Mike Tyson, but his biggest fight now will be the one convincing someone he is fit to step into the ring.
GOODBYE?: The World Boxing Council filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in a Puerto Rican court last week, perhaps ending the organization's 41-year run.
President Jose Sulaiman said the WBC is a not-for-profit organization and cannot afford to pay a $31-million judgment granted by a New York jury to light-heavyweight Graciano Rocchigiani last year.
Rocchigiani was stripped of his title, which was given to Roy Jones Jr., when he returned from his brief life as a heavyweight.
The WBC was foolish to do so and deserves some of what it is getting. It and other boxing organizations have severly diminished the value of title belts, once the pride of the sport.
But $31-million? Excessive and ridiculous. Rocchigiani had no chance to make even close to that amount had he been allowed to keep his titles.
