Boxing News Thread
- Thread starter heyzel
- Start date
alright fam what do end of the year list looks like
Fighter of the Year: james degale
Fight of the Year: Huck vs Glowacki
Knockout of the Year: gabriel bracero ko o' connor
Trainer of the Year: Jim McDonnell
Promoter/Manager of the Year: Al Haymon
Boxing Network of the Year: PBC
Journalist/Boxing Media person/entity of the Year: Paulie
Comeback of the Year: aron martinez
Upset of the Year: tyson fury over wlad
Prospect of the Year: artur beterbiev
Fighter of the Year: james degale
Fight of the Year: Huck vs Glowacki
Knockout of the Year: gabriel bracero ko o' connor
Trainer of the Year: Jim McDonnell
Promoter/Manager of the Year: Al Haymon
Boxing Network of the Year: PBC
Journalist/Boxing Media person/entity of the Year: Paulie
Comeback of the Year: aron martinez
Upset of the Year: tyson fury over wlad
Prospect of the Year: artur beterbiev
Out of custody, heavyweight Ike Ibeabuchi plans comeback at 43
Kevin Iole By Kevin Iole
55 minutes ago
Boxing
Ike Ibeabuchi was once one of boxing's greatest championship prospects, a massive heavyweight with quickness and incredible punching power. The Nigerian was 20-0 with 15 knockouts while competing from 1994 through March 20, 1999, and had notable victories over David Tua and Chris Byrd.
But Ibeabuchi had numerous legal issues and on July 22, 1999, he was accused of sexually assaulting a dancer he'd hired to come to his room at a hotel in Las Vegas.
On Nov. 8, 2001, Ibeabuchi submitted an Alford plea on charges of battery with intent to commit a crime and attempted sexual assault. An Alford plea is one in which the defendant does not admit the charges, but concedes it is likely the prosecutiion has enough evidence that it is likely he would be found guilty.
Ibeabuchi received sentences of two to 10 years for the battery conviction and three to 20 years on the attempted sexual assault charge. A judge ruled the convinctions would be served consecutively.
He was released by the Nevada prison system on Feb. 28, 2014, but was handed to the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, which detained him in Eloy, Ariz. He was released from custody by ICE in November.
Ibeabuchi contacted Yahoo Sports by telephone on Christmas and said he hoped to fight on the planned Manny Pacquiao card on April 9 in Las Vegas. He's hired Michael Koncz, Pacquiao's adviser, to lead his career. Koncz told Yahoo Sports that Ibeabuchi has his blessing to be on the undercard.
View photo
.
Ike Ibeabuchi, show in a recent photo taken after his release from custody last month, wants to resume his boxing career. (Special to Yahoo Sports)
Ike Ibeabuchi, show in a recent photo taken after his release from custody last month, wants to resume his boxing …
Pacquiao has not announced an opponent, but is choosing from a group of fighters that includes Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan and Adrien Broner.
"[Ibeabuchi] has served his time and wants to improve himself and Manny feels that since he's served his term and is trying to turn his life around, he deserves a second chance," Koncz said.
Ibeabuchi, who earned two Associate's degrees while in prison, faces significant hurdles in order to be licensed to fight again. To begin with, it will be more than 17 years between fights for him if he follows through with his attempt to fight on April 9. His last appearance in the ring was on March 20, 1999, when he knocked Byrd down twice and stopped him in the fifth round in an HBO-televised bout in Tacoma, Wash.
Ibeabuchi, who is 6-foot-2, said he weighs 245 pounds. He insisted he is healthy and prepared to compete at the highest level of the sport.
"I am definitely in shape and I understand I would have to prove this," he said. "I need to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world and I understand that I will have to prove myself worthy. Any of the tests that would be required of me, an EKG, an MRI, an EEG, those kinds of tests, X-rays, things that would be required to obtain a boxing license, were done while I was incarcerated. But I am willing to cooperate and do whatever so that I may obtain my boxing [license] and appear on this card in Las Vegas."
Kevin Iole By Kevin Iole
55 minutes ago
Boxing
Ike Ibeabuchi was once one of boxing's greatest championship prospects, a massive heavyweight with quickness and incredible punching power. The Nigerian was 20-0 with 15 knockouts while competing from 1994 through March 20, 1999, and had notable victories over David Tua and Chris Byrd.
But Ibeabuchi had numerous legal issues and on July 22, 1999, he was accused of sexually assaulting a dancer he'd hired to come to his room at a hotel in Las Vegas.
On Nov. 8, 2001, Ibeabuchi submitted an Alford plea on charges of battery with intent to commit a crime and attempted sexual assault. An Alford plea is one in which the defendant does not admit the charges, but concedes it is likely the prosecutiion has enough evidence that it is likely he would be found guilty.
Ibeabuchi received sentences of two to 10 years for the battery conviction and three to 20 years on the attempted sexual assault charge. A judge ruled the convinctions would be served consecutively.
He was released by the Nevada prison system on Feb. 28, 2014, but was handed to the U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, which detained him in Eloy, Ariz. He was released from custody by ICE in November.
Ibeabuchi contacted Yahoo Sports by telephone on Christmas and said he hoped to fight on the planned Manny Pacquiao card on April 9 in Las Vegas. He's hired Michael Koncz, Pacquiao's adviser, to lead his career. Koncz told Yahoo Sports that Ibeabuchi has his blessing to be on the undercard.
View photo
.
Ike Ibeabuchi, show in a recent photo taken after his release from custody last month, wants to resume his boxing career. (Special to Yahoo Sports)
Ike Ibeabuchi, show in a recent photo taken after his release from custody last month, wants to resume his boxing …
Pacquiao has not announced an opponent, but is choosing from a group of fighters that includes Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan and Adrien Broner.
"[Ibeabuchi] has served his time and wants to improve himself and Manny feels that since he's served his term and is trying to turn his life around, he deserves a second chance," Koncz said.
Ibeabuchi, who earned two Associate's degrees while in prison, faces significant hurdles in order to be licensed to fight again. To begin with, it will be more than 17 years between fights for him if he follows through with his attempt to fight on April 9. His last appearance in the ring was on March 20, 1999, when he knocked Byrd down twice and stopped him in the fifth round in an HBO-televised bout in Tacoma, Wash.
Ibeabuchi, who is 6-foot-2, said he weighs 245 pounds. He insisted he is healthy and prepared to compete at the highest level of the sport.
"I am definitely in shape and I understand I would have to prove this," he said. "I need to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world and I understand that I will have to prove myself worthy. Any of the tests that would be required of me, an EKG, an MRI, an EEG, those kinds of tests, X-rays, things that would be required to obtain a boxing license, were done while I was incarcerated. But I am willing to cooperate and do whatever so that I may obtain my boxing [license] and appear on this card in Las Vegas."
Was just about to post that. 43. years old and that long away from the sport? Doubt he'll be able to do much of anything, but I'll definitely watch and see if does anything crazy. Dude is a certified nut case.
Props:
Coach E. No and Coach E. No
TEVIN FARMER: "I'LL SPANK NICHOLAS WALTERS...THESE TOP GUYS DON'T WANT TO FIGHT"
By John Russell | December 28, 2015
[​IMG]
JR: I see you cracked the top 15 in the WBC rankings, man. Congrats on that. What's up with you?
TF: Yeah, yeah! I was talking to the WBC earlier this year and I guess they looked me up and recognized that I really deserved to be there in the rankings and I'm actually number 14 now.
JR: Frank De Alba is a guy you had a draw with in the past and he has his hands full with Omar Douglass next week. What are your thoughts on how this bout plays out?
TF: It's going to be a good fight. Both of those guys are my friends. I've sparred with both of them and I'm looking forward to that fight. I have to stay neutral on it, but I think that it's a step-up fight for both of them.
JR: What were your thoughts on Nicholas Walters facing one of your training partners and stablemates in Jason Sosa?
TF: I'll spank Nicholas Walters! I might stop him. This is why DiBella's job is hard because these top guys don't want to fight, man.
JR: You had 3 fights in 2015. I know you're trying to double that number up in 2016 and you hope for a title shot. I really wanted to give you this opportunity to get some things off of your chest. The floor is yours.
TF: I've been calling out the top guys for a while now; guys like Jose Pedraza, which would be a rematch for me, Rocky Martinez, guys like Javier Fortuna, who actually blocked me on Instagram and this was way before he got the world title because I just wanted to fight the top guys. Pedraza told me personally that he wouldn't fight me again until I got a title. I've called [Yuriorkis] Gamboa out, because about a month ago, he didn't have an opponent. I said, "Listen, if you don't have an opponent, I'm right here. I'm not hard to find." But he told me he had an opponent, which I don't think he did at the time, and said in 2016 that he will talk to his promoter and see if we can get things going on. I respect Gamboa for that too, he's a humble dude, but business is business and if we have to get down, then we have to get down. I'll go to anybody's hometown. I'll go overseas. I'll fight in their own house. Nothing is surprising to me no more. My promoter Dibella works with Al Haymon on some things and we will see how it will play out. It seems like the promoters are not really getting along. I was on HBO Latino last time and I would love to fight on one of the PBC shows. Next year, I'm looking to get a title shot!
JR: I know you can't anticipate getting a title shot right off the break in 2016, so what's your goal here?
TF: I've been a pro since 2011 and if I don't achieve that goal of getting that title shot, then I've failed. I'm young, but I'm not going to waste my time and my youth just to be boxing when things like title shots are not happening when I can be building a career doing something else and getting my life set. Most people say boxing is all they have. With me, I don't need boxing. I set a mark and a goal. If I don't get a world title by age 25, then I might not continue. I can fight a big name without a title, but the goal is to get that title. Personally, I feel that I can beat anybody that they put in front of me.
JR: I hear you on that. Anything else you want to put out there real quick?
TF: Man, anybody in the top 15 in the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF, whatever, I'm with it! Lomachenko is a good friend of mine and a lot of guys don't want to fight him or certain other people like Gamboa. Every day, I'm telling y'all, I'm right here! I keep hearing excuses. I started off shaky at 7 wins and 4 losses and it wasn't worth it reaching out to the bigger names and taking a risk with me. But now, there is no excuse. I've cracked the top 15 and this year, I fought guys with a combined record of 45 wins and 2 losses. So now, it's up to my promoter to push me to one of those title eliminators or push me to be a mandatory and I honestly believe in him and my manager.
By John Russell | December 28, 2015
[​IMG]
JR: I see you cracked the top 15 in the WBC rankings, man. Congrats on that. What's up with you?
TF: Yeah, yeah! I was talking to the WBC earlier this year and I guess they looked me up and recognized that I really deserved to be there in the rankings and I'm actually number 14 now.
JR: Frank De Alba is a guy you had a draw with in the past and he has his hands full with Omar Douglass next week. What are your thoughts on how this bout plays out?
TF: It's going to be a good fight. Both of those guys are my friends. I've sparred with both of them and I'm looking forward to that fight. I have to stay neutral on it, but I think that it's a step-up fight for both of them.
JR: What were your thoughts on Nicholas Walters facing one of your training partners and stablemates in Jason Sosa?
TF: I'll spank Nicholas Walters! I might stop him. This is why DiBella's job is hard because these top guys don't want to fight, man.
JR: You had 3 fights in 2015. I know you're trying to double that number up in 2016 and you hope for a title shot. I really wanted to give you this opportunity to get some things off of your chest. The floor is yours.
TF: I've been calling out the top guys for a while now; guys like Jose Pedraza, which would be a rematch for me, Rocky Martinez, guys like Javier Fortuna, who actually blocked me on Instagram and this was way before he got the world title because I just wanted to fight the top guys. Pedraza told me personally that he wouldn't fight me again until I got a title. I've called [Yuriorkis] Gamboa out, because about a month ago, he didn't have an opponent. I said, "Listen, if you don't have an opponent, I'm right here. I'm not hard to find." But he told me he had an opponent, which I don't think he did at the time, and said in 2016 that he will talk to his promoter and see if we can get things going on. I respect Gamboa for that too, he's a humble dude, but business is business and if we have to get down, then we have to get down. I'll go to anybody's hometown. I'll go overseas. I'll fight in their own house. Nothing is surprising to me no more. My promoter Dibella works with Al Haymon on some things and we will see how it will play out. It seems like the promoters are not really getting along. I was on HBO Latino last time and I would love to fight on one of the PBC shows. Next year, I'm looking to get a title shot!
JR: I know you can't anticipate getting a title shot right off the break in 2016, so what's your goal here?
TF: I've been a pro since 2011 and if I don't achieve that goal of getting that title shot, then I've failed. I'm young, but I'm not going to waste my time and my youth just to be boxing when things like title shots are not happening when I can be building a career doing something else and getting my life set. Most people say boxing is all they have. With me, I don't need boxing. I set a mark and a goal. If I don't get a world title by age 25, then I might not continue. I can fight a big name without a title, but the goal is to get that title. Personally, I feel that I can beat anybody that they put in front of me.
JR: I hear you on that. Anything else you want to put out there real quick?
TF: Man, anybody in the top 15 in the WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF, whatever, I'm with it! Lomachenko is a good friend of mine and a lot of guys don't want to fight him or certain other people like Gamboa. Every day, I'm telling y'all, I'm right here! I keep hearing excuses. I started off shaky at 7 wins and 4 losses and it wasn't worth it reaching out to the bigger names and taking a risk with me. But now, there is no excuse. I've cracked the top 15 and this year, I fought guys with a combined record of 45 wins and 2 losses. So now, it's up to my promoter to push me to one of those title eliminators or push me to be a mandatory and I honestly believe in him and my manager.
BoxingScene 2015 Network of the Year: Spike TV
[IMG]
By Cliff Rold
Can there be too much of a good thing?
Boxing fans in 2015 had a chance to answer that question. The sport was everywhere this year in terms of television coverage. For those diehards who watch across multiple linguistic platforms, there were weeks with sometimes close to ten different fight shows from afternoon to night.
That’s a lot of boxing.
Much of the expanded coverage can be attributed to the birth of the Premier Boxing Champions brand. The PBC, through time buys, had the sport back on network television, taking over coverage on multiple cable networks, and adding new networks to the fold.
The quality varied but that was to be expected. Volume has its drawbacks. Lots of fights don’t necessarily mean lots of good fights. CBS had the excellent Omar Figueroa-Ricky Burns card. It also had Adonis Stevenson-Sakio Bika. Even the winner in this category had some turkeys (like Stevenson-Tommy Karpency…not a memorable year for history’s light heavyweight king on any platform).
For some reason, be it the luck of the draw or concerted matchmaking for this network in particular, most of the night’s clicked. Some of the most consistently thrilling boxing on US television this year kept happening on the same spot of the dial.
2015 Network of the Year: Spike TV
The best fight to date in the PBC experiment was the cruiserweight tilt between Krzysztof Glowacki and Marco Huck. It happened on Spike. One of the year’s best doubleheaders saw a 115 lb. title war between Kohei Kono and Koki Kameda paired with light heavyweights Andrzej Fonfara and Nathan Cleverly breaking punch stat records in the main event. It happened on Spike. Edwin Rodriguez and Michael Seals traded vicious knockdowns in a wild affair. Rances Barthelemy rallied to outbox a bloody Denis Shafikov. Amir Khan and Chris Algieri exceeded all expectations. Badou Jack scored the upset over Anthony Dirrell.
It all happened on Spike.
And as a bonus, Spike makes all of those fights available for free to anyone with an internet connection. Given the nature of the PBC, any of the platforms they perform on could arguably have had a similar string of good fortune. None did and no other network or promotional entity was consistently as good either.
In terms of fan satisfaction, Spike was boxing’s crown broadcasting jewel for 2015.
[IMG]
Others Receiving Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order)
BeIn Sports Espanol: They didn’t have the same sort of blockbuster year they had in 2014. That was no surprise. BeIn had arguably the two best fights aired in the US last year (Francisco Rodriguez-Katsunari Takayama and Orlando Salido-Terdsak Kokietgym). That was a tough act to follow. It remained a must-have for serious fans. Rodriguez was back at 108 lbs. in spirited battles with Donnie Nietes and Moises Fuentes, Luis Concepcion saved his career with a knockout of David Sanchez at 115, and fans who missed the pay-per-view airing had a chances to see the first Salido-Rocky Martinez bout and later the rematch as well. Replays of some of the best matches from another candidate considered (see below) didn’t hurt either.
HBO: They had half of the biggest money generating fight ever (Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao) and. all of the second biggest fight of the year (Saul Alvarez-Miguel Cotto) with the possible fight of the year on the undercard (Francisco Vargas-Takashi Miura). They had a big upset for the heavyweight title (Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko), the continued rise of Gennady Golovkin, the arrival on US TV of flyweight king Roman Gonzalez, Sergey Kovalev-Jean Pascal, and the highs and lows of thrilling Lucas Matthysse. HBO’s investment in a solid set of exciting, TV friendly talents in the last couple years is paying off for them and subscribers.
NBC: Boxing had been on network television a couple of times in recent years. When the PBC debuted on NBC, something different was on the table. For the first time since the 1990s, boxing was airing in prime time. On March 7, Keith Thurman faced Robert Guerrero and over three million homes tuned in with a peak of over four million. Parse it however one wants in terms of what that means in terms of overall broadcast network ratings. Boxing doesn’t do those kind of live eyes often in the US anymore. NBC has been the flagship for the PBC in many ways and provided some quality affairs like Danny Garcia-Lamont Peterson, James DeGale-Andre Dirrell, and Shawn Porter-Adrien Broner. In September, Deontay Wilder defended his heavyweight belt against Johann Duhaupas, the first heavyweight title fight in prime time since Larry Holmes-Carl Williams more than a generation ago.
Sky Sports: While US fans miss out on a lot of the action live, Sky provided UK fans with plenty of thrills in 2015. The rise of Anthony Joshua, arguably the brightest heavyweight prospect in over twenty years, has been the centerpiece of an excellent year. A big highlight, seen by many in the US on BeIn, was the lightweight scrap between Jorge Linares and Kevin Mitchell. There was also Scott Quigg’s obliteration of Kiko Martinez in July that set the stage for a showdown between Quigg and Carl Frampton in less than two months. As the Brits might say, cheers.
Previous Network of the Year Winners
2014: HBO
2013: Showtime
2012: Showtime
- See more at: BoxingScene 2015 Network of the Year: Spike TV - Boxing News
[IMG]
By Cliff Rold
Can there be too much of a good thing?
Boxing fans in 2015 had a chance to answer that question. The sport was everywhere this year in terms of television coverage. For those diehards who watch across multiple linguistic platforms, there were weeks with sometimes close to ten different fight shows from afternoon to night.
That’s a lot of boxing.
Much of the expanded coverage can be attributed to the birth of the Premier Boxing Champions brand. The PBC, through time buys, had the sport back on network television, taking over coverage on multiple cable networks, and adding new networks to the fold.
The quality varied but that was to be expected. Volume has its drawbacks. Lots of fights don’t necessarily mean lots of good fights. CBS had the excellent Omar Figueroa-Ricky Burns card. It also had Adonis Stevenson-Sakio Bika. Even the winner in this category had some turkeys (like Stevenson-Tommy Karpency…not a memorable year for history’s light heavyweight king on any platform).
For some reason, be it the luck of the draw or concerted matchmaking for this network in particular, most of the night’s clicked. Some of the most consistently thrilling boxing on US television this year kept happening on the same spot of the dial.
2015 Network of the Year: Spike TV
The best fight to date in the PBC experiment was the cruiserweight tilt between Krzysztof Glowacki and Marco Huck. It happened on Spike. One of the year’s best doubleheaders saw a 115 lb. title war between Kohei Kono and Koki Kameda paired with light heavyweights Andrzej Fonfara and Nathan Cleverly breaking punch stat records in the main event. It happened on Spike. Edwin Rodriguez and Michael Seals traded vicious knockdowns in a wild affair. Rances Barthelemy rallied to outbox a bloody Denis Shafikov. Amir Khan and Chris Algieri exceeded all expectations. Badou Jack scored the upset over Anthony Dirrell.
It all happened on Spike.
And as a bonus, Spike makes all of those fights available for free to anyone with an internet connection. Given the nature of the PBC, any of the platforms they perform on could arguably have had a similar string of good fortune. None did and no other network or promotional entity was consistently as good either.
In terms of fan satisfaction, Spike was boxing’s crown broadcasting jewel for 2015.
[IMG]
Others Receiving Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order)
BeIn Sports Espanol: They didn’t have the same sort of blockbuster year they had in 2014. That was no surprise. BeIn had arguably the two best fights aired in the US last year (Francisco Rodriguez-Katsunari Takayama and Orlando Salido-Terdsak Kokietgym). That was a tough act to follow. It remained a must-have for serious fans. Rodriguez was back at 108 lbs. in spirited battles with Donnie Nietes and Moises Fuentes, Luis Concepcion saved his career with a knockout of David Sanchez at 115, and fans who missed the pay-per-view airing had a chances to see the first Salido-Rocky Martinez bout and later the rematch as well. Replays of some of the best matches from another candidate considered (see below) didn’t hurt either.
HBO: They had half of the biggest money generating fight ever (Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao) and. all of the second biggest fight of the year (Saul Alvarez-Miguel Cotto) with the possible fight of the year on the undercard (Francisco Vargas-Takashi Miura). They had a big upset for the heavyweight title (Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko), the continued rise of Gennady Golovkin, the arrival on US TV of flyweight king Roman Gonzalez, Sergey Kovalev-Jean Pascal, and the highs and lows of thrilling Lucas Matthysse. HBO’s investment in a solid set of exciting, TV friendly talents in the last couple years is paying off for them and subscribers.
NBC: Boxing had been on network television a couple of times in recent years. When the PBC debuted on NBC, something different was on the table. For the first time since the 1990s, boxing was airing in prime time. On March 7, Keith Thurman faced Robert Guerrero and over three million homes tuned in with a peak of over four million. Parse it however one wants in terms of what that means in terms of overall broadcast network ratings. Boxing doesn’t do those kind of live eyes often in the US anymore. NBC has been the flagship for the PBC in many ways and provided some quality affairs like Danny Garcia-Lamont Peterson, James DeGale-Andre Dirrell, and Shawn Porter-Adrien Broner. In September, Deontay Wilder defended his heavyweight belt against Johann Duhaupas, the first heavyweight title fight in prime time since Larry Holmes-Carl Williams more than a generation ago.
Sky Sports: While US fans miss out on a lot of the action live, Sky provided UK fans with plenty of thrills in 2015. The rise of Anthony Joshua, arguably the brightest heavyweight prospect in over twenty years, has been the centerpiece of an excellent year. A big highlight, seen by many in the US on BeIn, was the lightweight scrap between Jorge Linares and Kevin Mitchell. There was also Scott Quigg’s obliteration of Kiko Martinez in July that set the stage for a showdown between Quigg and Carl Frampton in less than two months. As the Brits might say, cheers.
Previous Network of the Year Winners
2014: HBO
2013: Showtime
2012: Showtime
- See more at: BoxingScene 2015 Network of the Year: Spike TV - Boxing News
I dont know why this is the only big fight Bradley can get. How much interest for this fight is there really?
Pacquiao vs Bradley 3 a done deal – Arum
December 30, 2015 •
By JOSEF T. RAMOS Reporter
Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and American World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight titleholder Timothy “The Desert Storm” Bradley will fight for the third time on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada according to Top Rank boss Bob Arum.
“It’s a done deal and it’s going to be a third fight against Timothy Bradley. We took a lot of consideration knowing Bradley has improved a lot as a fighter since the last time they’ve met in 2014,” Arum told The Manila Times via overseas call on Wednesday.
Arum added that he already discussed the matter with Pacquiao’s adviser Mike Koncz last week.
“Bradley is happy about it of course and that’s really a competitive fight for Manny [Pacquiao]. The report about Adrian Broner fighting Pacquiao is untrue,” Arum said.
Pacquiao (57-6-2 win-loss-draw record with 38 knockouts) has earlier announced that his April 9 bout would be his last fight so he can focus on his political career but Arum still believes that the Filipino ring icon would change his mind.
“It’s not going to be Manny’s last fight because anything could still happen and you know Manny. That’s why we won’t sell it that way. I don’t think it is Manny’s last fight,” he said.
In their first bout in June 2012, Bradley scored a split decision win over Pacquiao to seize the WBO welterweight belt. But Pacquiao recaptured the title in April 2014 by beating Bradley via unanimous decision.
Bradley, 32, who holds a 33-1-1 record with 13 knockouts, scored a ninth round technical knockout against Brandon Rios last November 7 in Las Vegas. Before defeating Rios, Bradley beat Jessie Vargas also by unanimous decision in June 27 in Carson, California for the vacant WBO belt.
Bradley also hired Teddy Atlas as his new trainer.
Pacquiao, 37, lost via unanimous decision to unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0 record with 26 knockouts) in May 3, in Las Vegas. He went through surgery to repair his right rotator cuff a week after that fight.
Pacquiao vs Bradley 3 a done deal – Arum
December 30, 2015 •
By JOSEF T. RAMOS Reporter
Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao and American World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight titleholder Timothy “The Desert Storm” Bradley will fight for the third time on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada according to Top Rank boss Bob Arum.
“It’s a done deal and it’s going to be a third fight against Timothy Bradley. We took a lot of consideration knowing Bradley has improved a lot as a fighter since the last time they’ve met in 2014,” Arum told The Manila Times via overseas call on Wednesday.
Arum added that he already discussed the matter with Pacquiao’s adviser Mike Koncz last week.
“Bradley is happy about it of course and that’s really a competitive fight for Manny [Pacquiao]. The report about Adrian Broner fighting Pacquiao is untrue,” Arum said.
Pacquiao (57-6-2 win-loss-draw record with 38 knockouts) has earlier announced that his April 9 bout would be his last fight so he can focus on his political career but Arum still believes that the Filipino ring icon would change his mind.
“It’s not going to be Manny’s last fight because anything could still happen and you know Manny. That’s why we won’t sell it that way. I don’t think it is Manny’s last fight,” he said.
In their first bout in June 2012, Bradley scored a split decision win over Pacquiao to seize the WBO welterweight belt. But Pacquiao recaptured the title in April 2014 by beating Bradley via unanimous decision.
Bradley, 32, who holds a 33-1-1 record with 13 knockouts, scored a ninth round technical knockout against Brandon Rios last November 7 in Las Vegas. Before defeating Rios, Bradley beat Jessie Vargas also by unanimous decision in June 27 in Carson, California for the vacant WBO belt.
Bradley also hired Teddy Atlas as his new trainer.
Pacquiao, 37, lost via unanimous decision to unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr. (49-0 record with 26 knockouts) in May 3, in Las Vegas. He went through surgery to repair his right rotator cuff a week after that fight.
Props:
heyzel and heyzel
Lol that shit is wack ain't nobody wanna watch a 3rd useless fight give him a new opponent
Props:
2-0-Sixx and 2-0-Sixx
Can never go wrong there, each one of the four fights were great. Truly our Ali-Frazier match up of our time I think.
How the hell can Pac get motivated for Bradley? What does it prove? He proved everything he needed to in the second fight. A trilogy just because Bradley got a gift decision the first time? Might as well go the Mayweather path and just fight some random gatekeeper like Berto for an easy win. Fight Ruslan, there that's a better match up stylistically than Bradley plus there is an element of danger which would keep Pac's focus. Or just retire. A retirement fight is either going to be an easy win just for the sake of going out with a W or some kind of accomplishment, something to get motivated for or lastly a big fight, usually between two faded superstars that still generates interest. Bradley is none of those things.
How the hell can Pac get motivated for Bradley? What does it prove? He proved everything he needed to in the second fight. A trilogy just because Bradley got a gift decision the first time? Might as well go the Mayweather path and just fight some random gatekeeper like Berto for an easy win. Fight Ruslan, there that's a better match up stylistically than Bradley plus there is an element of danger which would keep Pac's focus. Or just retire. A retirement fight is either going to be an easy win just for the sake of going out with a W or some kind of accomplishment, something to get motivated for or lastly a big fight, usually between two faded superstars that still generates interest. Bradley is none of those things.
What the fuck!!!!!! Normally, I order any major PPV, but this time, fuck no!!
Really don't even care who wins this one, won't even stream this bullshit
Really don't even care who wins this one, won't even stream this bullshit
Props:
heyzel and heyzel
Pacquiao vs Bradley makes sense because this fight is not being promoted as Manny's last fight. With that being said, I don't really care about this fight but I will watch it because at least he's not fighting a C level fighter like Berto. Manny vs Bradley are the top 2 welterweights anyways so why complain?