Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Khan: I’ve been put under more solid tests than Judah; he’s not at the elite level

By William Mackay: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan was in fine form during a recent interview where he mentioned that he’s had more solid tests during his career than his next opponent IBF light welterweight champion Zab Judah, who Khan faces on July 23 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Khan said some very, very strange things during an interview at fight hub, saying “I don’t think he [Judah] is at the same level as me….I was put under more solid tests. I know whenever Zab moves up in class, he always gets beat. He’s at world class, but he’s not at the elite level. Mayweather beat him, Kostya Tszyu beat him, Miguel Cotto beat him, Clottey beat him. And these guys are not maybe world class, but maybe a bit above elite level. All those guys beat him.”

What’s weird about this interview is that Khan seems to be coming from up high, as if he’s proven that he’s better than Tszyu, Cotto, Mayweather and Clottey. I’m not a big fan of Clottey, but I certainly think Tszyu, Cotto and Mayweather are worlds better than Khan and would knock him cold if they were to fight him. Tszyu is retired but a prime Tszyu would be a nightmare for Khan. I can’t see Khan doing anything but getting knocked out against Tszyu.

Khan says he believes he’s been put in more solid tests than Judah has. That’s pretty amusing because the best fighters that Khan has faced during his career are as follows: Marcos Maidana, Breidis Prescott, Paulie Malignaggi, Marco Antonio Barrera, and Anthony Kotelnik. That’s it. Khan was knocked out by Prescott, and almost knocked out by Maidana. Khan did beat Maidana but looked terrible just hanging on for the last three rounds while Maidana pounded Khan with power shots. That wasn’t exactly an elite level performance from Khan if you ask me. It was a guy that was pummeled by a B level fighter. Khan never attempted to fight a rematch with Prescott. Barrera was old and past his prime when Khan fought him. Kotelnik has no power, and was considered by some boxing fans a paper champion when Khan fought him. Malignaggi had no power to speak of and had been stopped recently by Ricky Hatton at the time Khan fought him.

As for Judah, he has faced Cotto, Cory Spinks, Mayweather, Carlos Baldomir, Tszyu, Lucas Matthysse, Clottey and Junior Witter.

I don’t know about you, but I think Judah has faced much better opposition than Khan, and I don’t see Khan as an elite fighter. If he were elite, he wouldn’t have been knocked out in one round by Prescot, and he would have destroyed Maidana instead of going life and death with him.

 

[Timm]

Amir Khan needs to shut the fuck up, the fact is that he isn't on the elite level yet. Judah has fought mayweather, ward, clottey, spinks, corley, etc. He's fought way more legit opponents than Amir Khan has

 

[2-0-Sixx]

^^yeah but judah lost most all those fights. Khan is saying Judah always fails in his biggest fights. Which is mostly true.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Bob Arum says Bam Bam Rios vs Katsidis next. That's going to be a war

 

[Timm]

I like how khan is acting like hes got balls now fighting a shot ass Zab Judah

 

[2-0-Sixx]

judah isn't shot, he the IBF title holder and ranked #6 by The Ring.

Also what do you want Khan do do? He challenged Timothy Bradley, who was the #1 guy in the division, but he turned it down.

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao – Mayweather: Facts about drug testing

By John F. McKenna (McJack): The drug testing for a potential fight between Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO’s) and Floyd “Money” Mayweather (41-0, 25 KO’s) is much more complicated than it would appear to be at first glance. Boxing fans have been clamoring for such a Mega Fight between the two superstars for the past couple of years.

Fans of both Pacquiao and Mayweather are very passionate about their favorite fighter and equally passionate about the criticism they heap on the potential opponent if such a fight were to take place.

The impediment and hold up which prevents the Pacquiao – Mayweather fight from happening, as everyone knows is the Olympic style random drug testing that Floyd Mayweather has been insisting on. “Money” in his effort to clean up boxing has stated time and again that he will not fight Pacquiao, or anyone else, unless they submit to random drug testing. It has been pointed out many times that no boxing commission demands the stringent testing that Mayweather is insisting on. Pacquiao has thus far refused to take such a test, which has led many boxing fans particularly Mayweather’s to be suspicious. Floyd even came out with a tee shirt which proclaims in large letters “Take the test”.

The USADA is the testing agency in the USA which would most likely be the testing agency that Floyd Mayweather would want to use, since that agency has been used in the past by Mayweather.

Unfortunately things are not as simple as they seem to be and there are many points to consider. The USADA does not have any jurisdiction to do testing in the Philippines, which is where Manny Pacquiao would do much of his training.

Also there is the question of conflict of interest. USADA’s Travis Tygart has affiliated himself with Mayweather, even proclaiming him a “clean fighter” before any of the testing was done prior to the Mayweather – Mosley fight.

USADA testing is not foolproof unless it is done 24/7 365 days a year. Mayweather for his part, hand picked the USADA to do the testing for his fights.

Mayweather has done much to fuel the speculation that Pacquiao is a drug cheater. He maintains that he was a great fighter right from the start, even as an amateur, while Pacquiao did not become great until later in his career.

It is quite clear that Mayweather is insinuating that Pacquiao has cheated to get where he is as a fighter. It is also clear that Floyd, through dodging the deposition in the defamation lawsuit brought against him by Manny, has no proof whatsoever to prove that this insinuations are true.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Looks like Thomas Hauser was right all a long. Greenburg fired.



Sources: Ross Greenburg Parting Ways With HBO Sports

By Lem Satterfield & Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com has learned that Ross Greenburg is out as HBO's President of Sports, and that his removal is expected to be announced as early as Monday, according to multiple sources familiar with the network's decision.

Although Greenburg will no longer be on HBO's payroll, he has apparently accepted a role as an independent producer of one or more documentaries that will be financed by HBO as part of his severance package.

Greenburg became the president of HBO Sports in the fall of 2000, replacing Seth Abraham when Abraham left Time Warner Sports to become executive vice president and chief operating officer of New York's Madison Square Garden.

Much of Greenburg's demise can be traced to the loss of boxing's biggest star, eight-division titlist Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 knockouts), to rival cable giant Showtime in May.

In May, Pacquiao's earned a unanimous decision in defense of his WBO welterweight title over Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KOs), a bout that was televised on and distributed on Showtime Pay-Per-View and promoted heavily on CBS, that network's parent company.

Although it was the first time that either Pacquiao or Mosley had been televised on Showtime, Greenburg, during an interview with BoxingScene.com in January, downplayed the significance of the move by Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum, promoter of the fight.

"You know, it was a business decision that Bob Arum made, and it was a one-fight deal, we'll just take it from there. But that's really all that I can say about it. We're just moving on and doing what we do best, and that's putting big fights together featuring the best fighters in the world," said Greenburg at the time.

"This is a one fight deal, so we will just wait and see what happens after this fight. It's more a matter of having established over 35 years a brand in HBO boxing, and I've been a part of it for 32 of those 35 years."So this is not going upset our positioning as the preiminant boxing network."

But that was not the view of Abraham, who was considered an architect of HBO Boxing’s rise to boxing prominence.

In a May 6 New York Times article written by Greg Bishop, Abraham compared the Pacquiao-Showtime partnership to the end of Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak.

For years, wrote Greg Bishop, dating at least to when Mike Tyson left HBO in the mid-1990s, the network had staged the bouts of the sport’s best fighters.

"The streak is over," Abraham told The New York Times. "But the impact is not what happens in the ring. It’s what happens afterward. And there, it’s potentially very, very dramatic from a business standpoint."

In January, however, Greenburg insisted that HBO would recover from its failure to land Pacquiao-Mosley.

"That's what we've always prided ourselves on, and we continue to look for the best fighters in the world," said Greenburg. "If they're in the same division, we match them up. That's what the public expects of us, and that's what we'll continue to do."

Arum said that he still is undecided which of the two networks -- HBO or Showtime -- will get the November 12 third bout between Pacquiao and WBO and WBA light weight titlist Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs), and the Dec. 3 rematch between WBA junior middleweight king Miguel Cotto (36-2, 29 KOs) and Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27 KOs).

The two networks still are in a bidding war over two bouts. HBO already has put out a bid to Top Rank, which expects a counter offer from Showtime on Tuesday.

A 1977 Brown University graduate and winner of the Sam Taub Award for excellence in boxing broadcasting, Greenburg was also responsible for HBO series' such as "Sports of the 20th Century," as well as "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel," and, "Inside The NFL," the latter featuring Bob Costas, Dan Marino, Cris Carter, and Chris Collinsworth.

 

[bigface]

By John F. McKenna (McJack): The drug testing for a potential fight between Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO’s) and Floyd “Money” Mayweather (41-0, 25 KO’s) is much more complicated than it would appear to be at first glance. Boxing fans have been clamoring for such a Mega Fight between the two superstars for the past couple of years.

Fans of both Pacquiao and Mayweather are very passionate about their favorite fighter and equally passionate about the criticism they heap on the potential opponent if such a fight were to take place.

The impediment and hold up which prevents the Pacquiao – Mayweather fight from happening, as everyone knows is the Olympic style random drug testing that Floyd Mayweather has been insisting on. “Money” in his effort to clean up boxing has stated time and again that he will not fight Pacquiao, or anyone else, unless they submit to random drug testing. It has been pointed out many times that no boxing commission demands the stringent testing that Mayweather is insisting on. Pacquiao has thus far refused to take such a test, which has led many boxing fans particularly Mayweather’s to be suspicious. Floyd even came out with a tee shirt which proclaims in large letters “Take the test”.

The USADA is the testing agency in the USA which would most likely be the testing agency that Floyd Mayweather would want to use, since that agency has been used in the past by Mayweather.

Unfortunately things are not as simple as they seem to be and there are many points to consider. The USADA does not have any jurisdiction to do testing in the Philippines, which is where Manny Pacquiao would do much of his training.

Also there is the question of conflict of interest. USADA’s Travis Tygart has affiliated himself with Mayweather, even proclaiming him a “clean fighter” before any of the testing was done prior to the Mayweather – Mosley fight.

USADA testing is not foolproof unless it is done 24/7 365 days a year. Mayweather for his part, hand picked the USADA to do the testing for his fights.

Mayweather has done much to fuel the speculation that Pacquiao is a drug cheater. He maintains that he was a great fighter right from the start, even as an amateur, while Pacquiao did not become great until later in his career.

It is quite clear that Mayweather is insinuating that Pacquiao has cheated to get where he is as a fighter. It is also clear that Floyd, through dodging the deposition in the defamation lawsuit brought against him by Manny, has no proof whatsoever to prove that this insinuations are true.

What was the point of this article again, other then trying to justify Manny not taking random testing.

 

[bigface]

Bob Arum says Bam Bam Rios vs Katsidis next. That's going to be a war

Rios will knock Katsidis out in 5 to 7 rounds.

 

[Johnny Truelove]

Marquez risks Pacquiao fight vs. Ramos

Lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, one of the top fighters in the world, has yearned for a third fight with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao for three years.

They have fought to two controversial decisions: They drew in a 2004 featherweight title fight, and Pacquiao won a hotly contested split decision in their 2008 rematch for the junior lightweight championship. After three years of chasing Pacquiao since their last meeting, Marquez finally landed the fight.

They are scheduled to meet at a catchweight of 144 pounds for Pacquiao's welterweight title on Nov. 12 on pay-per-view at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It's everything Marquez -- who will make a minimum of $5 million -- has wanted.

Yet Marquez (52-5-1, 38 KOs) has put himself in harm's way by taking a tuneup fight, knowing that a loss or major injury would shatter his dream.

He will face 25-year-old Likar Ramos (24-3, 18 KOs) of Colombia in a 10-rounder at 140 pounds at the Plaza de Toros bullring in Cancun, Mexico, on Saturday night.

"It is important for me that he is a left-hander, like Pacquiao, and this fight will give me the work I need to be ready for November," Marquez told ESPN.com through translator Ricardo Jimenez of Top Rank.

Ramos briefly held an interim junior lightweight title, losing it in his first defense when Jorge Solis knocked him out in the seventh round in February 2010. Ramos has won three in a row since, including one at 140 pounds.

The fight will headline a three-bout broadcast that will be will streamed live in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada on Top Rank's website, www.toprank.tv, beginning at 9 p.m. ET.

Also scheduled to be shown: flyweight titlist Roman Gonzalez (28-0, 23 KOs) defending against Omar Salado (22-3-2, 13 KOs), and former bantamweight and junior featherweight champion Rafael Marquez (39-6, 35 KOs) -- Juan Manuel's younger brother -- facing Eduardo Becerril (12-7-2, 4 KOs) in a featherweight fight. Rafael Marquez will be fighting for the first time since suffering a shoulder injury in an eight-round TKO loss to then-featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez on Nov. 6.

Juan Manuel Marquez, 37, is also coming off a long layoff, caused in part by the long process of working out his promotional situation with Golden Boy (whom he has parted ways with) before he could accept an offer from Top Rank to fight Pacquiao.

Marquez hasn't fought since Nov. 27, when he survived a hard knockdown in the third round but rallied to defend the lightweight title by stopping Michael Katsidis in the ninth round.

Besides wanting work against a southpaw, Marquez said he took the fight with Ramos because he didn't want to go into a fight with Pacquiao coming off a year of inactivity.

"I need the activity," said Marquez, a three-division champion. "Every fighter needs to be active and busy. I just felt I needed a fight. I know there are risks involved. But I knew I needed to take this fight to be OK for November. Of course, I understand the risk, but in every fight there is a risk.

"Anytime you go in the ring, there is risk. Anything can happen. But we are intelligent, and I have prepared well for this guy. I just felt like I needed a fight so I could be at my best for Pacquiao."

The fight with Ramos is also a homecoming for Marquez, who, although popular in Mexico, has fought almost all of his career in the United States -- especially in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

He hasn't fought in Mexico in nearly 17 years. The last time was in October 1994, when Marquez -- in just his seventh professional fight -- won a four-round decision against Israel Flores.

"It was very important to me to fight again in Mexico in front of my people," Marquez said. "It's been 17 years. That is a long time. So I am very happy to be here fighting again. We wanted to have the fight in Mexico City [where Marquez is from], but we couldn't do it. It was a better opportunity in Cancun. But I am just happy to be fighting again in Mexico."

He will also have the company of his little brother on the card. The Marquez brothers haven't shared a card since they were on a Showtime telecast in 2006.

Juan Manuel won a vacant interim featherweight belt by knocking out Terdsak Jandaeng in the seventh round, while Rafael stopped Silence Mabuza in defense of his bantamweight title on the undercard.

"It's been a while since we have fought together on the same card, and it is important to both of us," Juan Manuel said. "So why not do it when we are here in Mexico, which makes it even bigger?"

In Marquez's only fight above the 135-pound weight limit, he lost a lopsided decision to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a 2009 welterweight fight. Marquez fought at a career-high 142 pounds.

Instead of moving above junior welterweight to fight Ramos, Marquez said he wanted to get comfortable at 140 before going higher for the fall fight with Pacquiao.

"I felt I needed to do a fight at 140 pounds first," Marquez said. "I wanted to be smart about things before the fight with Pacquiao. I want to see how my body feels at 140 and then 144. One step at a time.

"I'm very excited and happy to get the fight with Pacquiao. It's been a long time that I have wanted this fight. But it is important for me to do well on Saturday night and to show people that I am ready for November."

 

[Timm]

judah isn't shot, he the IBF title holder and ranked #6 by The Ring.

Also what do you want Khan do do? He challenged Timothy Bradley, who was the #1 guy in the division, but he turned it down.

Khan isn't getting fights with bradley and shit because of money disagreements I read in the Ring, the Judah shit almost didn't go down over money disagreements as well. Judah is definitely not who Khan should be gunning for. Like you said yourself, he lost pretty much every big fight he's been in

 

[2-0-Sixx]

No it didn't have to do with money. Khan offered Bradley $1.4 million plus 50/50 of the UK ppv which would have been the biggest payday of his life. Bradley turned down the fight because he doesn't want to risk a loss because he thinks he can fight pacquiao or Floyd within 1-2 fights. He admitted that. Khan was more then generous with what he offered Bradley, in fact Khan bent over backwards trying to make the fight happen. 50/50 of the UK ppv that's unheard of these days.

Bradley's contract just expired with Gary Shaw and Bradley will sign with either Top Rank or Golden Boy within days and he's going to 147 pounds because that's where Floyd & Pac are.

As for Judah, he is a belt holder and it's a unification bout for Khan. Khan has always said from the start he wants to unify the division, meaning he wants all the belts. What other options are there? Fight Devon Alexander who looks like shit in his past two fights and has no belts? Fight Eric Morales? The only people left are Andreas Kotelnik and Maidana who Khan already beat. That leaves Judah, or some low ranked guy like Anthony Peterson or some shit.

 

[heyzel]

James Toney On His Best

By James Slater: I always enjoy reading the “Best I’ve Faced” articles that appear on Ring Magazine’s website. The latest issue is a feature on the great Mike McCallum and interestingly, McCallum lists James Toney as the best overall fighter he ever fought.

Having the chance to speak with “Lights Out” recently, as he prepares for his latest bout - another MMA adventure, this one against veteran Ken Shamrock - I asked him some questions regarding the best fighters he ever faced. I also quizzed the future Hall of Famer on the subject of how he gets himself ready for a big fight, who he rates as the best trainer he’s ever worked with and some other things.

Toney says a combination of his natural talents, his learning from watching endless footage of the old-school masters and his incredible mental strength make him the fighter he is. At times in fights, Toney has appeared to know exactly what his opponent was going to do, what punch he was going to throw even before he threw it. In his prime, the 42-year-old really did make it look all too easy. But how did Toney put on such masterful displays? And which of his many great performances does James list as his best-ever?


J.S: It’s great to be able to speak with you again, Champ. First of all; of all your great fights, which would you say were your top-three best-ever performances?

J.T: Well, firstly, the absolute best is still to come; I ain’t anywhere near done yet and I aim to put on a few more masterpieces as a heavyweight - if any of these bitches will fight me, that is! But for now, hmm (pauses) - I’d have to say my win over Evander Holyfield ( TKO 9, 2003). I said I was gonna stop him and I did; no-one believed me beforehand. And the ass-kicking I put on Iran Barkley (a 9th-round retirement win in ’93) and the beating I gave Tim Littles (a 4th-round TKO win in ‘94). I was perfect in each of those fights; especially against Barkley. Every punch was on target against Iran. The reason I was so sharp was because of all the big talk he was giving me ahead of the fight. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on him. I made that fight look easy.

J.S: When you went into camp for that fight, were you thinking about Barkley instantly, from day one in training?

James Toney: As soon as he put his name down on that dotted line, on the contract, then I knew he belonged to me! I knew he was in big trouble.

J.S: What would you say is the most important aspect of training for a fight?

J.T: The most important thing, a hundred-percent, is the mental side of the game - getting mentally focused and ready. In the past I made a couple of mistakes getting ready for fights and wasn’t 100-percent ready in my mind and I slipped up. That will never happen again. Mental preparation, and mental strength, are the main elements to winning any fight.

J.S: Who would you say you trained hardest for during your long career? Your best-ever camp?

J.T: Without a doubt, the fight with Iran Barkley. He talked so much shit. I couldn’t wait to get hold of him. I made sure he paid the price for making me so mad, for making me work so hard for all those weeks in camp.

J.S: You seemed to be able to anticipate every punch he threw at you that night. Barkley barely landed a glove on you apart from a few body shots.

J.T: That’s because I’m old-school. I’m a natural. I also spend a lot of quality time watching the greats: guys like Sugar Ray [Robinson], Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore. And I also learnt so much from the great trainers I worked with; guys who worked with the all-time greats. But you can only teach so much. I have natural heart and skill. It’s instinct to me. What I do can’t be taught. I can do it all - fight coming forwards, fight going back, take a punch and land one. Everything.

J.S: Of all the great trainers you’ve worked with, who was the best?

J.T: There’s two that I can‘t really separate, and that’s Bill Miller and Freddie Roach. No-one else comes close. Back when I was with those guys, I really set the sport of boxing alight Nobody could touch me, man.

J.S: Do you work the same way for every fight today? Are you still as determined, still as hungry?

J.T: I train hardest for the really big fights. When it’s a big fight I can’t wait. And I want more big fights this year and next year. I’m gonna get busy against the so-called best heavyweights out there. I want to get my hands on David Gay, and the two Bitschko sisters. I wanna do to them what I did to Barkley. But they don’t have the guts to fight me. That’s gonna be the biggest problem, the biggest issue - getting ‘em in the damn ring! If they do agree to face me, you’ll see me prove again how great, how old-school I am. All three of ‘em [Haye, Wladimir and Vitali] must go to sleep! It’s lights out, baby!

 

[heyzel]

Froch vs. Ward to take place at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on 10/29

By Scott Gilfoid: WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch’s chances of emerging at the Super Six tournament winner took a huge, and I mean huge, drop today when it was learned that Froch will be facing World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KO’s) on October 29th in their finals bout at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. That’s it, Froch has pretty much no chance of winning this fight as far as I’m concerned. It’s over with.

Froch’s main chance at winning was if the fight were to take place in his home city of Nottingham, England. If Froch could landed the fight there he might have been able to get another Andre Dirrell-esque type decision where he gets the nod despite being out-boxed all night long. I had Dirrell winning that fight by an 8 rounds to 3 with 1 even score.

Froch would be hard to beat in Nottingham, I must admit. But put him in Atlantic City, and it’s going to be like Superman being exposed to krytonite. Froch is going to lose his powers and won’t even come close to winning the fight. I predict Froch won’t win one round, and rightly so, Ward is a much better boxer. Froch is just a decent puncher and not even a huge one. He doesn’t have the hand speed, he doesn’t have the power and he doesn’t have the smooth silky skills of a fighter like Dirrell.

Froch needs to be like Dirrell to beat Ward. Froch is more like Pawel Wolak, while Ward is similar to Floyd Mayweather Jr. You can’t expect a slow, wide open brawler like Froch to come out on top against a slick fighter like Ward. It’s just not going to happen. So the news that the Froch-Ward fight will be taking place in Atlantic City is practically the early crowning of Ward as the Super Six tourney king.

 

[Timm]

No it didn't have to do with money. Khan offered Bradley $1.4 million plus 50/50 of the UK ppv which would have been the biggest payday of his life. Bradley turned down the fight because he doesn't want to risk a loss because he thinks he can fight pacquiao or Floyd within 1-2 fights. He admitted that. Khan was more then generous with what he offered Bradley, in fact Khan bent over backwards trying to make the fight happen. 50/50 of the UK ppv that's unheard of these days.

“Right now I’m not fighting Amir Khan,” Bradley confirmed. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t come to terms. I’m ready and wiling to go and available for other opportunities. I’d rather not discuss the private negotiations in public out of respect to the people involved. Hopefully, Khan and I will meet in the future.”

 

[2-0-Sixx]

"A lot of people say it's great money. Man, at the end of the day it's still really risky. At the end of the day, let's say I lose the fight, what happens then? I'm out of the sweepstakes with Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao"

 

[heyzel]

George Foreman doubts Wladimir Klitschko will leave much of a legacy

By Eric Thomas: Boxing great big George Foreman (76-5, 68 KO’s) has his doubts about IBF/WBA/.WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (56-3, 49 KO’s) leaving much of a legacy when he retires from the sport someday because of the way that Wladimir fights so defensively.

Foreman, 62, thinks that Wladimir has to fight defensively because of his weak chin. Foreman believes that Wladimir would have had problems if he had fought guys in his era like Joe Frazier and Sonny Liston, but he does believe that Wladimir would find success because of his defensive style of fighting.

In an interview at the examiner.com, Foreman said “It doesn’t matter if his [Wladimir] opponent is big or small, he will never take any chances. He’ll probably go down as one of the most reluctant heavyweight champions ever….So he’s not going to go down as the bravest guy. The reason why he’s reluctant is because he has a weak chin. He’s always trying to protect that chin, but he’s not going to leave much of a legacy.”

Foreman goes on to say that he sees guys from his era getting past Klitschko’s jabs to work on him at close range. Foreman might not have been impressed with Wladimir’s recent fight against WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, who came into the fight weighing 30 pounds less than Wladimir. A prime Foreman would have went right at Haye and tried to take him out in the first two rounds.

It’s hard to imagine Haye lasting long against a young Foreman, even through both of them would be around the same height and weight. Foreman was just so strong and powerful. He’d have caught up with Haye and made things miserable for him. The same goes for Wladimir. He would have problems against the 1973 version of Foreman that destroyed a prime Joe Frazier in two rounds. Foreman was big and was able to cut off the ring well. Wladimir wouldn’t been able to hold Foreman off for long throwing only jabs.

 

[heyzel]

Arthur Abraham moving back down to middleweight – Boxing News

By Sean McDaniel: Having now lost three of his last four bouts at super middleweight, Arthur Abraham (32-3, 26 KO’s) says he’s moving back down to the middleweight division where he previously held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight title between 2005 to 2009.

Abraham moved up to the super middleweight division in 2009 after having problems making the 160 pound weight limit for the middleweight class. However, at super middleweight, Abraham has been an utter failure, struggling against the bigger fighters and picking up wins against former middleweight champion Jermain Taylor and little known Stjepan Bozic.

Abraham’s recent lopsided defeat to Andre Ward was the final nail in the coffin for Abraham, who has little choice but to move back down to the middleweight division if he wants to have any hopes of finding the same kind of success he had previously during his career. The Ward loss eliminated Abraham from the Super Six tournament, something that likely came to a great relief for Abraham because he was out of his league in more ways than one in the tournament.

“I want to prove I can come back,” Abraham said to SID/AFP. “No one should write me off. Just because I lost recently, it doesn’t mean I have lost my sporting ambitions.”

Abraham’s promoter Wilfried Sauerland says that Abraham will be using a nutritional consultant to work with his diet. Abraham is going to need someone to help him in this area if he’s going to be able to squeeze back down to middleweight. Before moving up in weight to the super middleweight division, Abraham was melting down from the 180s for his fights at 160, leaving him with little energy. Now 31-years-old, it’s hard to imagine that Abraham will find things easier.

Abraham will be reportedly making his first fight back at middleweight in November after two more final bouts at super middleweight.

The good news for Abraham is that the middleweight division is still almost as weak as it was when he was the champion, and thus making his job much easier than it would be if it was stacked the way that the super middleweight division is with excellent fighters. You’ve got weak champions like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Felix Sturm, and Gennady Golovkin for Abraham to pick from.

 

[Tony]

A 100% cosign if you have nothing to hide then take the damn tests and stop making excuses.

100 co- sign.