Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Roach: Bradley will come in head first against Pacquiao
April 23rd, 2012

By Chris Williams: Freddie Roach seems to think he’s got it all figured out how Timothy Bradley will be trying to fight his guy WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on June 9th. Roach thinks Bradley won’t try and counter punch him as Juan Manuel Marquez so expertly did last November.

Instead, he sees Bradley fighting aggressively by taking the fight to the 33-year-old Pacquiao to wear him down like Marquez did.

Roach said to the Manila Bulletin “I have one counter puncher in case Bradley mimics Juan Manuel Marquez, because Manny and Buboy think that might happen, but I don’t see it. I think he will be aggressive and I don’t think his style will change that much and he will come in with his head first.”

 

[heyzel]

Arum calls Ariza’s leaving camp unprofessional
April 23rd, 2012

By John F. McKenna (McJack): Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has described famed strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza’s leaving the training camp of World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) as unprofessional and unfair.

Ariza took a late night flight to Los Angeles over the weekend so that he could help prepare WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (45-0-1-1, 31 KO’s) for an upcoming fight with Andy Lee (28-1, 20 KO’s) on June 16.

Although Ariza is said to have cleared his leaving camp with the “Pacman” himself, trainer Freddie Roach and Arum had no knowledge that Alex was leaving camp and were stunned when they heard the news. Roach allegedly received the news when his driver failed to pick him up at the hotel he was staying at to take him to the gym. Roach was forced to take a cab to the gym while his driver took Alex to the airport as Freddie later found out.

Arum for his part was quoted in the Manila Bulletin saying the following:

“That’s very unprofessional. There’s something with his (Ariza’s) attitude. It’s unfair.”

Former WBA and IBF light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-2, 18 KO’s) traveled all the way from England to Baguio City specifically for the purpose of working with Ariza. For Amir the impact of Ariza’s departure cannot be overstated. He has a rematch with current WBA/IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KO’s) on May 19 at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Roach also was thrown off stride by Ariza’s departure and was quoted saying:

“That why he (Khan) is here (in Baguio).

Roach went on to say that there are thousands of good conditioning coaches, but only a handful of good boxing trainers.

Ariza is perceived by some in the inner circle of close Pacquiao associates to have gotten to be overly impressed with his own importance. The fact that he left camp without either Roach or Arums’s knowledge could set up a scenario in which Roach will pursue other options in the futures so that Team Pacquiao is not left “holding the bag” so to speak.

Many Pacquiao insiders point out that Manny was already a great fighter long before Alex Ariza appeared on the scene and that Alex was basically an unknown before he started working with “Pacman.”

 

[2-0-Sixx]

mijares is a waste of time for donaire, much better fights out there starting with the #1 Japanese fighter, then rigondeaux and probably Moreno after that, then mares. although mares is the style of fighter donaire will shine against so its surprising nonito isn't begging fir that fight. but mares is golden boy and that's the main issue.

 

[naner12]

another interesting fight coming up is Eddie Chambers vs Adamek. I dropped $50 on Chambers for shits & giggles...I think if he comes in on top of his game he beats Adamek clearly.

Did Chambers open up as an underdog? If so I don't bet anymore but I'll drop some money on that fight, Chambers would beat him clean IMO.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

yeah +170 I believe it was yesterday when I made the bet

 

[naner12]

That's crazy. I don't see it. Adamek is gonna catch his issue and I'm not just saying that because I'm a Chambers fan. I don't like Eddie's layoff going into this fight but Adamek has been hit a lot by guys not close to as good as Chambers.

.. also after Moreno's recent complete humiliation wins I don't see Mares or Donaire getting in the ring with him. I don't care if Mares/Moreno both fight for GBP, I can't imagine them wanting to throw Mares in the ring with him. I wouldn't mind seeing Moreno Vs. Agbeko if neither of those other fights can get made.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

funny thing is donaire was set to fight moreno but then had that contract dispute with Top Rank. If they do ever fight it's better now since Moreno has got way more exposure. But I don't like Top Rank's handling of Donaire, totally wasting time with mijares.

maybe Rigondeaux vs Moreno is possible. I think Rigo takes him. Moreno is a good boxer and all but in my eyes he's still very sloppy at times, throws looping hooks and I think he's kinda slow compared to other guys at 118-122. Although it would not be crowd pleasing fight, I'm sure of that much.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Pretty dope quadruple header on Showtime on June 2nd. We need more of these in boxing.

• Former light heavyweight champ (and current Showtime analyst) Antonio Tarver (29-6, 20 KOs) will face Nigerian slugger Lateef Kayode (18-0, 14 KOs) in a cruiserweight bout.

• Former undisputed junior middleweight champ Winky Wright (51-5-1, 25 KOs), coming off a three-year layoff, will meet "Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin (26-0, 20 KOs) at middleweight.

• Junior middleweight titlist Austin Trout (24-0,14 KOs) will defend against Delvin Rodriguez (26-5-3, 14 KOs).

• Bantamweights Leo Santa Cruz (19-0-1, 11 KOs) and Vusi Malinga (20-3, 12 KOs), of South Africa, will meet for a vacant title.


Amazingly, Showtime was able to get six promoters to collaborate on the card: Golden Boy, Gary Shaw, A.T. Entertainment (Tarver's company), Greg Cohen, Joe DeGuardia and Branco Milenkovic. And not only are these four solid matchups, an hour of preliminary bouts will be aired on Showtime Extreme.

It's only the third time that Showtime, which has been doing fights since 1986, has put on a card with at least four TV bouts.

lol lateef

 

[2-0-Sixx]

More tidbits:

According to the WBC, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has signed a contract to fight Sergio Martinez, assuming he beats Lee in his upcoming fight.

It gives great pleasure to World Boxing Council President, Jose Sulaiman to inform that the WBC Middleweight world champion, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has signed his commitment to defend his title against Sergio Martinez in September, if he defeats his next challenger Andy Lee in what will be the third defense of his title. Sergio Martinez had already signed the same document before, as well as Andy Lee.

The World Boxing Council silently carried out, during this period of time, continuous communications and negotiations with both parties, in spite of so many media reports that indicated the opposite; “I am convinced of the dignity, pride and honor that a World Boxing Council champion always has”, Sulaiman said.​

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The great Kenny Bayless will referee Amir Khan vs Peterson II

 

[naner12]

That is a good card. It's good to see Maligna back in the mix after getting stormed by Hasegawa when Hasegawa figured out he could hurt people. Dude is a giant bantamweight and has a better win than anyone Santa Cruz has been in the ring with. Should be a dope fight.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

I don't recall ever seeing Santa Cruz.

trout vs Rodriguez should be good too.

tarver is too experienced for lateef, should be an easy one for milk dud.

chocolate was hella funny in the press conference, he's got a great personality

 

[naner12]

Yeah I'm interested in Trout Vs. Rodriguez and Tarver Vs. Kayode even though I think Kayode gets stopped easily. I don't think much of Rodriguez but Trout hasn't been close to the situations that Delvin's been in. Trout has the talent to beat Delvin but who knows how he'll react if Delvin can turn it into a fire fight.

 

[heyzel]

Chavez Jr. vs. Lee canceled for the Sun Bowl due to security risk at the El Paso border
April 24th, 2012

By Dan Ambrose: The June 16th fight between WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee is looking for a new venue for the fight, as the University of Texas Board of regents has reportedly said no to the idea of Chavez Jr. fighting Lee at the Sun Bowl because of violence that’s taking place right now in the border area.

This isn’t stopping TOP Rank, the promoters for Chavez Jr., to still try and have the fight take place in El Paso. They obviously want the fight to take place in that city because of the large Mexican community there, as well as a lot of Chavez Jr. fans in nearby Mexico where Chavez Jr. has a lot of fans because of his famous father Julio Cesar Chavez Sr.

If they’re going to keep the fight in El Paso, Top Rank will have to find another large stadium to put the fight in because they’ll be wanting to maximize revenue by getting a big venue to take advantage of the large support that Chavez Jr. has in that stage. He’s a big ticket seller and it doesn’t really matter that Lee will be his first quality opponent in his career. Chavez Jr. brings in a ton of fans against pretty much anyone he faces.

 

[heyzel]

Hopkins: What happens when I match Dawson’s speed and energy?
April 24th, 2012

By Dan Ambrose: 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins thinks he’s going to be able to match the fast pace, speed and the energy that challenger Chad Dawson will be bringing to their fight at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Hopkins says he’s not a typical 47-year-old fighter, and that what would work on a normal fighter that age won’t work on him on Saturday.

We’ll have to see about that, because Hopkins didn’t look at all good last October in their fight that was cut short by Hopkins’ shoulder injury. He looked like he was on his way to losing that one because each time he’d land a pot shot, which was pretty much all Hopkins could do, Dawson would answer back with combinations.

Hopkins said “What happens where he matches the same energy and matches the same speed and he isn’t breathing.”

Let’s be clear on this: Hopkins wasn’t matching Dawson’s speed or work rate last time they fought. Hopkins was moving and trying to elude Dawson for the most part. When Hopkins did come at Dawson, the younger fighter easily backed away and fired off long jabs to the head of Hopkins. But Hopkins wasn’t matching Dawson’s speed or energy during the brief going.

It was still too early in the fight for either fighter to be breathing, so it’s no big surprise that Hopkins wasn’t tiring. However, he was making sure that he got plenty of rest breaks by clinching Dawson from time to time, and you can expect that to be part of his strategy for the rematch on Saturday. Expect to see Hopkins clinching 10+ per round to slow the fight to an almost unwatchable crawl.

I think there’s no real choice in the matter for Hopkins. He’ll have to clinch and flop otherwise he’s going to get embarrassed by Dawson. Even those two fight stalling tactics, Hopkins will still get beaten

 

[heyzel]

Schaefer sees Mayweather-Cotto as being biggest PPV fight since Mayweather-De La Hoya
April 25th, 2012

By Chris Williams: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer believes that the May 5th pay per view card headlined by Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Miguel Cotto will be the biggest PPV event since Mayweather’s May 2007 PPV fight against Oscar De La Hoya, which draw 2.4 million buys.

Since then, the highest buyrate was for Manny Pacquiao Juan Manuel Marquez III last November in a fight that brought in 1.45 million PPV buys.

Schaefer told Fighthype.com “It’s going to be the biggest pay-per-view then [De La Hoya-Mayweather], no question about it.”

I have to agree with Schaefer, because this fight has four big money guys in Cotto, Saul Alvarez, Shane Mosley and Mayweather. It doesn’t matter that the undercard is absolutely horrid once you get past the Mosley-Alvarez mismatch; the card will bring in a ton of PPV buys just because of the Mayweather-Cotto, Mosley-Alvarez fights.

It would have been extremely nice if Mayweather hadn’t insisted on having Deandre Latimore vs. Carlos Quintana, Jessie Vargas vs. TBA, because I don’t know of anyone at all that wants to see any of those guys fight. Golden Boy could have really done it right if they had lost those fighters and looked to put some semi-big name fighters to help make the card a lot more interesting and appealing to boxing fans.

As it is, the card has three mismatches with Mayweather being far too good for Cotto, and Alvarez facing a shot Mosley, and Latimore being much too talented for Quintana. It doesn’t matter who Vargas fight, because there won’t be much interest no matter who is brought in for that one. I know he’s one of Mayweather’s fighters but they could have really helped the card by losing him and Latimore, as well as Quintana.

I think the PPV numbers will eclipse the Pacquiao-Marquez numbers, but not by much. It’s a good card but stacked too heavily in the mismatches at the top of the card with the bottom of the card completely neglected with some god awful fights.

I personally won’t pay a dime to see this card because I only watch competitive fight cards and this one has mismatches written all over it. Cotto hasn’t fought a live opponent since he got destroyed by Pacquiao three years ago; Mosley is completely shot as a fighter; Alvarez has been protected his entire career and I don’t care if I ever seen Vargas, Quintana or Latimore fight again. I have no interest in paying to see those guys fight

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather to fight five more times
April 25th, 2012

By Allan Fox: Undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. says he plans on fighting at least five more times before he eventually retires by the time he’s 38-years-old, according to boxing news from Dan Rafael.

Mayweather said this as quoted by Rafael “Of course, I want to give you guys more than just a few more fights. Five more if I can…Manny Pacquiao has done a lot for the sport, but he should also be standing behind me to clean up the sport.”

Maweather says he can’t fight more than twice a year for some reason, and that explains why he sees himself fighting only five more times. However, these things no doubt could change in the future if he’s still fighting at a high level and/or he continues to blow money at an alarming rate in gambling. You would have to guess that unless Mayweather is able to keep up his income lifestyle, the gambling could be a problem in his cash flow one of these days once he’s no longer making the big money he’s making of after he’s retired from the sport.

Pacquiao likely won’t be fighting too much longer either, so it’s kind of silly to see him as a fighter that is cleaning up the rear. Both fighters are fighting quality opposition after going over each others leftovers to if for no other reason that there isn’t enough high visibility opposition for them to fight.

Mayweather faces WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on May 5th, and he’s already been stomped by Pacquiao three years ago in a 12th round TKO loss. Bradley hasn’t lost to anyone as of yet, but he’s never faced anyone in the Pacquiao class or even approaching it. Both fights will be tough, but there’s no reason to see why Mayweather and Pacquiao won’t continue winning and moving along their different career paths.

 

[heyzel]

Jessie Vargas vs. Steve Forbes on Mayweather-Cotto undercard
April 26th, 2012

By Allan Fox: Undefeated light welterweight contender Jessie Vargas (18-0, 9 KO’s) will be fighting former IBF super featherweight champion Steve Forbes (35-10, 11 KO’s) in a scheduled 10 round bout on May 5th on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Forbes, 35, is a replacement opponent for Alfonso Gomez, who had to pull out of the fight due to back spasms. Forbes, now a journeyman and recent sparring partner for WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez in prepping him for his bout against 40-year-old Shane Mosley on the same card, has lost seven out of his last ten fights since February 2006. Something has gone wrong with Forbes’ once promising career, and now he’s pretty much losing almost every time out. He’s been beaten in his last two fights against Karim Mayfield and Ionut Dan Ion. You have to figure he’ll lose against the 22-year-old Vargas, although I’m giving him a decent chance of pulling off an upset.

Vargas, #9 WBA, #13 IBF, is on the card because he fights for Mayweather Promotions and Floyd wanted him to be on the undercard. However, Vargas hasn’t looked all that special in recent fights and it’s difficult to imagine him winning a world title unless the division becomes even more watered down than it is now with multiple tiles spread around the four alphabet groups.

Vargas looked terrible against Joseito Lopez last year on the undercard of Mayweather vs. Victor Ortiz. Vargas won the fight by a 10 round split decision, but looked like he was fading badly in the second half of the fight. Luckily for him, it was only a 10 rounder rather than a 12 round bout otherwise he likely would have lost.

Vargas has beaten the following fighters in his last four fights: Vivian Harris, Walter Estrada, Lopez and Lanardo Tyner.

The Mayweather-Cotto undercard is lacking in a big way once you get past the Saul Alvarez vs. Shane Mosley fight. There’s not much there to be seen unless your a huge follower of Deandre Latimore, Carlos Quintana, Vargas or Forbes. If you compare this fight undercard with the Manny Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley undercard, it pales in comparison. On the Pacquiao-Bradley undercard, you get Guillermo Rigondeaux vs. Teon Kennedy, Jorge Arce vs. Jesus Rojas, Mike Jones vs. Randall Bailey. Those are simply much better fights than what the Cotto vs. Mayweather undercard has to offer.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Hopkins: What happens when I match Dawson’s speed and energy?
April 24th, 2012

By Dan Ambrose: 47-year-old Bernard Hopkins thinks he’s going to be able to match the fast pace, speed and the energy that challenger Chad Dawson will be bringing to their fight at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Hopkins says he’s not a typical 47-year-old fighter, and that what would work on a normal fighter that age won’t work on him on Saturday.

We’ll have to see about that, because Hopkins didn’t look at all good last October in their fight that was cut short by Hopkins’ shoulder injury. He looked like he was on his way to losing that one because each time he’d land a pot shot, which was pretty much all Hopkins could do, Dawson would answer back with combinations.

Hopkins said “What happens where he matches the same energy and matches the same speed and he isn’t breathing.”

Let’s be clear on this: Hopkins wasn’t matching Dawson’s speed or work rate last time they fought. Hopkins was moving and trying to elude Dawson for the most part. When Hopkins did come at Dawson, the younger fighter easily backed away and fired off long jabs to the head of Hopkins. But Hopkins wasn’t matching Dawson’s speed or energy during the brief going.

It was still too early in the fight for either fighter to be breathing, so it’s no big surprise that Hopkins wasn’t tiring. However, he was making sure that he got plenty of rest breaks by clinching Dawson from time to time, and you can expect that to be part of his strategy for the rematch on Saturday. Expect to see Hopkins clinching 10+ per round to slow the fight to an almost unwatchable crawl.

I think there’s no real choice in the matter for Hopkins. He’ll have to clinch and flop otherwise he’s going to get embarrassed by Dawson. Even those two fight stalling tactics, Hopkins will still get beaten

maybe hopkins finally gets old and Dawson beats him on Saturday, but this writer is acting like hopkins was getting his ass kicked. Dawson landed 5 punches, that's it. it was 1.5 rounds, hardly enough time to know anything, especially considering Hopkins is always a slow starter (he was down early in both Pascal fights and we saw how those turned out).

 

[dookie1]

^^^ Right? Neither of them even relly broke a sweat!! WAR B-HoP!!!

 

[T-Rip]

You could just see Hopkins was well on his way to winning. Dawson was clueless, thats why he resorted to what he did. Im expecting more of the same again