Boxing News Thread
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Darchinyan: "I'll Destroy Donaire, and He Knows It"
By Mark Vester
WBA/WBC super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan is hungry to get his hands on WBA interim-champion Nonito Donaire. Top Rank and Darchinyan's promoter Gary Shaw are in the process of finalizing a rematch for the month of August. Donaire knocked Darchinyan out in five rounds in 2007.
Darchinyan told Steve Farhood in the April edition of Boxing Monthly that he always thinks about getting revenge on Donaire. He never lets the thought of a rematch leave his mind and wants to punish Donaire.
“I think about Donaire all the time,” said Darchinyan. “I lost and I want revenge. If I fight him, I destroy him and he knows it. I’m too much for him. I made him what he is now.”
By Mark Vester
WBA/WBC super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan is hungry to get his hands on WBA interim-champion Nonito Donaire. Top Rank and Darchinyan's promoter Gary Shaw are in the process of finalizing a rematch for the month of August. Donaire knocked Darchinyan out in five rounds in 2007.
Darchinyan told Steve Farhood in the April edition of Boxing Monthly that he always thinks about getting revenge on Donaire. He never lets the thought of a rematch leave his mind and wants to punish Donaire.
“I think about Donaire all the time,” said Darchinyan. “I lost and I want revenge. If I fight him, I destroy him and he knows it. I’m too much for him. I made him what he is now.”
Sick fight right here. I got Bradley by way of schoolage
Bradley vs Maidana Agreement Reached For June 19, HBO
By Rick Reeno
BoxingScene.com has been advised by several strong sources that an agreement was reached for Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11KOS) to defend his WBO junior welterweight title against Marcos Maidana (28-1, 27KOs), the WBA's interim-champion, on June 19 with HBO televising. The venue is being finalized and should be revealed in the next couple of days.
Bradley was originally scheduled to make his HBO debut against Luis Carlos Abregu in a welterweight contest, and Maidana appeared to be on course for a showdown with WBC champion Devon Alexander in August. Golden Boy Promotions and Bradley's promoter Gary Shaw were unavailable for comment.
Bradley vs Maidana Agreement Reached For June 19, HBO
By Rick Reeno
BoxingScene.com has been advised by several strong sources that an agreement was reached for Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11KOS) to defend his WBO junior welterweight title against Marcos Maidana (28-1, 27KOs), the WBA's interim-champion, on June 19 with HBO televising. The venue is being finalized and should be revealed in the next couple of days.
Bradley was originally scheduled to make his HBO debut against Luis Carlos Abregu in a welterweight contest, and Maidana appeared to be on course for a showdown with WBC champion Devon Alexander in August. Golden Boy Promotions and Bradley's promoter Gary Shaw were unavailable for comment.
Arthur Abraham's Team Files Protest on Andre Dirrell Loss
By Mark Vester
According to a report in bild, Sauerland Event, promoters for Arthur Abraham, have officially protested the fighter's disqualification loss to Andre Dirrell. The fight took place on March 27 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Sauerland filed a protest with the WBC. The disqualified call was issued in the eleventh round when Dirrell slipped to the mat and Abraham hit him while still down.
One of the main points of the protest include referee Laurence Cole failing to call a knockdown in the tenth round. Abraham had knocked down Dirrell down with a hard hook but the ref waved it off as a slip. Another point had to do with Cole not taking away any points or issuing warnings to Dirrell for throwing low blows. And the final point protests Cole's failure to call a break or being in position to break the fighters apart when Dirrell slipped, which allowed, in their opinion, the DQ punch to happen.
By Mark Vester
According to a report in bild, Sauerland Event, promoters for Arthur Abraham, have officially protested the fighter's disqualification loss to Andre Dirrell. The fight took place on March 27 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Sauerland filed a protest with the WBC. The disqualified call was issued in the eleventh round when Dirrell slipped to the mat and Abraham hit him while still down.
One of the main points of the protest include referee Laurence Cole failing to call a knockdown in the tenth round. Abraham had knocked down Dirrell down with a hard hook but the ref waved it off as a slip. Another point had to do with Cole not taking away any points or issuing warnings to Dirrell for throwing low blows. And the final point protests Cole's failure to call a break or being in position to break the fighters apart when Dirrell slipped, which allowed, in their opinion, the DQ punch to happen.
Mayweather-Mosley Tests Results Not in NSAC Hands
Golden Boy Promotions has not yet provided the Nevada State Athletic Comission with any additional details or results of the random drug tests conducted by the US Anti Doping Agency on Floyd Mayweather Jr and Shane Mosley who face-off at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 1.
The executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission Keith Kizer informed us last April 5 that Mayweather and Mosley had already been tested by the USADA for any illegal substance.
Kizer told BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that he had been informed by Golden Boy Promotions, promoters of the May 1 showdown that “both boxers (at that time) had taken at least one test already.”
He said however that there were no details on where or when the tests had been taken even as he responded to our query by saying no test results or additional details have been provided the NSAC as of today.
Kizer told us previously that the USADA test results would be passed on to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He said “I have been told they will be.”
At the same time the NSAC executive director disclosed that the Commission “tested Mr. Mayweather in late December and his test was negative for any prohibited substance.”
The Mayweather-Mosley fight emerged a negotiations for a big money super-fight between reigning pound-for-pound king and “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr fell through on a disagreement over the cutoff date for random drug tests.
Pacquiao agreed to a cut-off date for the random drug tests 24 days before their scheduled fight but Mayweather Jr and his handlers insisted on 14 days resulting in the scuttling of the fight which was expected to generate $40 million in revenues for each fighter.
Golden Boy Promotions has not yet provided the Nevada State Athletic Comission with any additional details or results of the random drug tests conducted by the US Anti Doping Agency on Floyd Mayweather Jr and Shane Mosley who face-off at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 1.
The executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission Keith Kizer informed us last April 5 that Mayweather and Mosley had already been tested by the USADA for any illegal substance.
Kizer told BoxingScene.com, insidesports.ph, Standard Today and Viva Sports that he had been informed by Golden Boy Promotions, promoters of the May 1 showdown that “both boxers (at that time) had taken at least one test already.”
He said however that there were no details on where or when the tests had been taken even as he responded to our query by saying no test results or additional details have been provided the NSAC as of today.
Kizer told us previously that the USADA test results would be passed on to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He said “I have been told they will be.”
At the same time the NSAC executive director disclosed that the Commission “tested Mr. Mayweather in late December and his test was negative for any prohibited substance.”
The Mayweather-Mosley fight emerged a negotiations for a big money super-fight between reigning pound-for-pound king and “Fighter of the Decade” Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather Jr fell through on a disagreement over the cutoff date for random drug tests.
Pacquiao agreed to a cut-off date for the random drug tests 24 days before their scheduled fight but Mayweather Jr and his handlers insisted on 14 days resulting in the scuttling of the fight which was expected to generate $40 million in revenues for each fighter.
Adamek on Why He Turned Down Klitschko, Talks Haye
By Ruslan Chikov
Polish heavyweight Tomasz Adamek spoke with The Times about his reason for turning down an offer to fight WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Adamek said an offer came his way last year when David Haye withdrew from a September fight with Vitali. Adamek fights Chris Arreola on April 24.
"It was almost a year ago. I got an offer three weeks before the fight. I'm not afraid of a tought fight, but I go into the ring to win, and not just to earn money. At the time I wasn't ready to fight an opponent like Klitschko. God willing our paths will cross one day," Adamek said.
Adamek said his promoter recently spoke with Haye's manager Adam Booth. He doesn't know the details of the conversation. Haye might be looking for Adamek if he beats Arreola.
"First, I must meet with Arreola. I know that my promoter discussed something with Haye's manager, but the details are unknown to me," Adamek said.
By Ruslan Chikov
Polish heavyweight Tomasz Adamek spoke with The Times about his reason for turning down an offer to fight WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. Adamek said an offer came his way last year when David Haye withdrew from a September fight with Vitali. Adamek fights Chris Arreola on April 24.
"It was almost a year ago. I got an offer three weeks before the fight. I'm not afraid of a tought fight, but I go into the ring to win, and not just to earn money. At the time I wasn't ready to fight an opponent like Klitschko. God willing our paths will cross one day," Adamek said.
Adamek said his promoter recently spoke with Haye's manager Adam Booth. He doesn't know the details of the conversation. Haye might be looking for Adamek if he beats Arreola.
"First, I must meet with Arreola. I know that my promoter discussed something with Haye's manager, but the details are unknown to me," Adamek said.
Froch vs Abraham Set For August 21 in Nottingham
By Mark Vester
Arthur Abraham's third fight in Showtime's Super Six Boxing Classic will come against WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch on August 21 in Nottingham, England. Froch has yet to complete his second stage fight, which takes place on April 24 in Denmark against Abraham's stablemate Mikkel Kessler.
Froch had his first Super Six bout in Nottingham and won a close decision over Andre Dirrell. Abraham had his first round bout in Germany and knocked out Jermain Taylor, but lost by way of disqualification to Dirrell in the second stage of the tournament.
Abraham told bild that he would like his next fight to take place in Germany and there might be a chance of that if Kessler beat Froch in a few weeks.
"After my loss in the United States against Andre Dirrell, I would love to fight in Berlin's O2 World. The arena is my fortress," Abraham said.
By Mark Vester
Arthur Abraham's third fight in Showtime's Super Six Boxing Classic will come against WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch on August 21 in Nottingham, England. Froch has yet to complete his second stage fight, which takes place on April 24 in Denmark against Abraham's stablemate Mikkel Kessler.
Froch had his first Super Six bout in Nottingham and won a close decision over Andre Dirrell. Abraham had his first round bout in Germany and knocked out Jermain Taylor, but lost by way of disqualification to Dirrell in the second stage of the tournament.
Abraham told bild that he would like his next fight to take place in Germany and there might be a chance of that if Kessler beat Froch in a few weeks.
"After my loss in the United States against Andre Dirrell, I would love to fight in Berlin's O2 World. The arena is my fortress," Abraham said.
HBO: Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel Special Edition Investigating The Deaths Of Gatti
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 157th edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, APRIL 13 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT, 9:00 p.m. CT), exclusively on HBO. HBO On Demand availability: April 19-May 10. Segments include:
*Arturo Gatti. Few fighters rivaled Arturo “Thunder” Gatti for heart, determination or sheer toughness. A beloved brawler who called northern New Jersey home, Gatti became a star by displaying a willingness to literally die in the ring rather than give up.. Given his reputation for refusing to quit, news of the 37-year-old’s death last July was particularly shocking. Brazilian authorities initially suspected that Gatti had been murdered and charged his wife Amanda with the crime – but after investigating concluded that Gatti killed himself. While the authorities claim to be sure of their suicide theory, many questions still remain, and those closest to the famed slugger refuse to believe he was capable of taking his own life. Correspondent Jon Frankel travels to Brazil to shed light on what actually happened the night Arturo Gatti died.
Producer: Chapman Downes.
*Vernon Forrest. On a hot summer night last July, boxing champion Vernon Forrest, 38, and his 11-year-old godson, Shamar Guillory, pulled into a downtown Atlanta gas station for a quick stop. Moments later, a senseless act of violence left a beloved fighter dead and a child witness traumatized. Bryant Gumbel visits Atlanta to follow the trail of the murder investigation that brought together the police and the bereft community where Forrest had become such a prominent figure through his charitable work. Gumbel also talks with Shamar Guillory, the young eyewitness to the tragic shooting, who provides a detailed account of what happened the night boxing lost one of its “good guys.”
Producer: David Scott.
*Alexis Arguello. When former three-time boxing champion Alexis Arguello took the stage in 2008 to celebrate his election as mayor of Managua, Nicaragua’s capitol, it was a most unlikely sight. For more than two decades, the greatest Nicaraguan athlete of all time had been in a downward spiral that included exile from his homeland and serious issues with drug addiction. Now, Arguello was seemingly back on top, but it wouldn’t last long. Less than a year later, amidst a maelstrom of political pressure, and embarrassment over the powerless nature of his position and his relationship with President Daniel Ortega, he took his own life. As Arguello’s family and friends continue to grieve his passing, correspondent Frank Deford, in a gripping REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated report, heads to Nicaragua in search of answers about why Arguello may have felt compelled to take his own life.
REAL SPORTS WITH BRYANT GUMBEL presents more enterprising features and reporting when its 157th edition, available in HDTV, debuts TUESDAY, APRIL 13 (10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT, 9:00 p.m. CT), exclusively on HBO. HBO On Demand availability: April 19-May 10. Segments include:
*Arturo Gatti. Few fighters rivaled Arturo “Thunder” Gatti for heart, determination or sheer toughness. A beloved brawler who called northern New Jersey home, Gatti became a star by displaying a willingness to literally die in the ring rather than give up.. Given his reputation for refusing to quit, news of the 37-year-old’s death last July was particularly shocking. Brazilian authorities initially suspected that Gatti had been murdered and charged his wife Amanda with the crime – but after investigating concluded that Gatti killed himself. While the authorities claim to be sure of their suicide theory, many questions still remain, and those closest to the famed slugger refuse to believe he was capable of taking his own life. Correspondent Jon Frankel travels to Brazil to shed light on what actually happened the night Arturo Gatti died.
Producer: Chapman Downes.
*Vernon Forrest. On a hot summer night last July, boxing champion Vernon Forrest, 38, and his 11-year-old godson, Shamar Guillory, pulled into a downtown Atlanta gas station for a quick stop. Moments later, a senseless act of violence left a beloved fighter dead and a child witness traumatized. Bryant Gumbel visits Atlanta to follow the trail of the murder investigation that brought together the police and the bereft community where Forrest had become such a prominent figure through his charitable work. Gumbel also talks with Shamar Guillory, the young eyewitness to the tragic shooting, who provides a detailed account of what happened the night boxing lost one of its “good guys.”
Producer: David Scott.
*Alexis Arguello. When former three-time boxing champion Alexis Arguello took the stage in 2008 to celebrate his election as mayor of Managua, Nicaragua’s capitol, it was a most unlikely sight. For more than two decades, the greatest Nicaraguan athlete of all time had been in a downward spiral that included exile from his homeland and serious issues with drug addiction. Now, Arguello was seemingly back on top, but it wouldn’t last long. Less than a year later, amidst a maelstrom of political pressure, and embarrassment over the powerless nature of his position and his relationship with President Daniel Ortega, he took his own life. As Arguello’s family and friends continue to grieve his passing, correspondent Frank Deford, in a gripping REAL SPORTS/Sports Illustrated report, heads to Nicaragua in search of answers about why Arguello may have felt compelled to take his own life.
God I hope this happens. If so, it could mean David Haye could get a shot at a Klitschko now and after Solis beats Valuev he could fight a klitschko or Haye (and for those that don't know Solis stopped Haye in 3 rounds back in the amateurs).
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Odlanier Solis-Nikolai Valuev is Ordered By The WBC
From the office of WBC President Jose Sulaiman:
Due to the unavailability of Ray Austin, as declared in testimony given under oath in a court of law, and based in an overwhelming majority vote of the WBC Board of Governors, the WBC is ordering a final elimination fight between the two highest available contenders in the heavyweight division, Odlanier Solis of from Cuba and Nicolay Valuev of Russia, to determine the mandatory challenger in the heavyweight division.
The free negotiation period begins today and if there is no agreement between the two parties, a purse offer will be held on Friday, April 30, 2010, at 12:00 noon at the WBC Executive Offices in Mexico City.
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Odlanier Solis-Nikolai Valuev is Ordered By The WBC
From the office of WBC President Jose Sulaiman:
Due to the unavailability of Ray Austin, as declared in testimony given under oath in a court of law, and based in an overwhelming majority vote of the WBC Board of Governors, the WBC is ordering a final elimination fight between the two highest available contenders in the heavyweight division, Odlanier Solis of from Cuba and Nicolay Valuev of Russia, to determine the mandatory challenger in the heavyweight division.
The free negotiation period begins today and if there is no agreement between the two parties, a purse offer will be held on Friday, April 30, 2010, at 12:00 noon at the WBC Executive Offices in Mexico City.
The Beast from the East!
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Hopkins calling out Lucien Bute.
That's a big money maker for Hopkins in Canada, real tough fight, Bute is slick.
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Hopkins calling out Lucien Bute.
That's a big money maker for Hopkins in Canada, real tough fight, Bute is slick.
from btalk:
I have been thinking about who I would like to fight, if I could make the fight, and the name that came to my mind, because he's a helluva fighter and a good challenge for me, is Lucian Bute. He's fighting Edison Miranda next. I think that would be a fight people would be interested in, especially in his hometown, which is righ outside the United States. My thing is that, they say there's no fights out there for Bernard Hopkins
I have been thinking about who I would like to fight, if I could make the fight, and the name that came to my mind, because he's a helluva fighter and a good challenge for me, is Lucian Bute. He's fighting Edison Miranda next. I think that would be a fight people would be interested in, especially in his hometown, which is righ outside the United States. My thing is that, they say there's no fights out there for Bernard Hopkins
Arum thinks a Pavlik win over Martinez will restore Kelly’s luster in the middleweigh
By Chris Williams: WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (36-1, 32 KO’s) lost a lot of his stature in the middleweight division after being badly beaten by then 44-year-old Bernard Hopkins in 2008. Pavlik has since been trying to win back fans with fights against Marco Antonio Rubio and Miguel Espino. However, those opponents didn’t have the name value to erase the image of Pavlik getting schooled by Hopkins. On April 17th, Pavlik will be facing one of the best opponents of his 10-year pro career when he faces Sergio Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KO’s) at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Pavlik, 6’2”, will have a three inch height advantage, but Martinez will have the advantage in experience, speed and likely boxing skills. Pavlik’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank feels that a win for Pavlik against Martinez will redeem Pavlik in the eyes of boxing fans, and make them see him in a new light. In an article at Boxing Fan House, Arum says “I am convinced beyond any measure that we’re going to see the old Kelly Pavlik against Martinez and as soon as the public sees that, he’ll be right back on top. People will be clamoring for his [Pavlik] next fight, whether it’s Paul Williams or Lucian Bute or somebody else. People love to see knockout fighters.”
Arum is right in part about boxing fans wanting to see knockout punchers like Pavlik, but I think he’s missing the boat badly by saying that fans will be clamoring to see Pavlik against “somebody.” We’ve already seen Pavlik against somebody with his fights against Rubio, Gary Lockett and Espino, and the fans haven’t been beating down Pavlik’s door to pour praise over his head.
I just hope that if Pavlik gets by Martinez on April 17th that this doesn’t wind up as excuse to match him against fighters that boxing fans could care less about. Pavlik hasn’t had much choice in some of his defense of his title, but I think its hurt him by not facing fighters that the boxing public wants to see him against. Obviously, Pavlik’s fights against Rubio, Lockett and Espino haven’t done anything to endear him to the average fan, so hopefully Arum doesn’t match him against more fodder in the middleweight division.
I think fights against Williams or Bute would be outstanding fights, as would having Pavlik pitted against the eventual winner of the Super Six tournament. But I don’t think the boxing public will be interested in seeing Pavlik matched up against the winner of the Julio Cesar Chavez vs. John Duddy bout, something I’ve been hearing as a potential fight for Pavlik in the future. And I also doubt that fans will want to see Pavlik against fellow Top Rank fighter Winky Wright.
I think that would have been a good fight years ago, but Wright hasn’t been busy enough in the past four years and was soundly beaten by Paul Williams last year. Arum needs to start putting Pavlik in with better fighters, ones that are more popular with fans. It might be a risky thing for him to do, because Pavlik could lose like he did against Hopkins, but that’s what Arum needs to do to restore the luster that Pavlik lost in his defeat to Hopkins.
Arum says “The 168 pound guys are the middleweights of the 1980s, and I think Kelly, when he cleans out the middleweight division, will go up to 168 pounds and there is a lot of competition there.” I doubt that Pavlik will beat Williams, and I also have serious doubts about Pavlik beating Martinez on April 17th. However, if Pavlik does get to the super middleweight division, I see him having big problems with guys like Arthur Abraham, Andre Ward, Mikkel Kessler and Andre Dirrell.
Those guys aren’t fighters that can be taken out by simple 1-2 combinations and a little pressure. Pavlik is going to have to up his game and develop some more skills if he’s going to be anything other than a contender at super middleweight. I frankly don’t think he’s the best middleweight right now, and would be very surprised if he “cleans out the middleweight division” like Arum says
By Chris Williams: WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (36-1, 32 KO’s) lost a lot of his stature in the middleweight division after being badly beaten by then 44-year-old Bernard Hopkins in 2008. Pavlik has since been trying to win back fans with fights against Marco Antonio Rubio and Miguel Espino. However, those opponents didn’t have the name value to erase the image of Pavlik getting schooled by Hopkins. On April 17th, Pavlik will be facing one of the best opponents of his 10-year pro career when he faces Sergio Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KO’s) at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Pavlik, 6’2”, will have a three inch height advantage, but Martinez will have the advantage in experience, speed and likely boxing skills. Pavlik’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank feels that a win for Pavlik against Martinez will redeem Pavlik in the eyes of boxing fans, and make them see him in a new light. In an article at Boxing Fan House, Arum says “I am convinced beyond any measure that we’re going to see the old Kelly Pavlik against Martinez and as soon as the public sees that, he’ll be right back on top. People will be clamoring for his [Pavlik] next fight, whether it’s Paul Williams or Lucian Bute or somebody else. People love to see knockout fighters.”
Arum is right in part about boxing fans wanting to see knockout punchers like Pavlik, but I think he’s missing the boat badly by saying that fans will be clamoring to see Pavlik against “somebody.” We’ve already seen Pavlik against somebody with his fights against Rubio, Gary Lockett and Espino, and the fans haven’t been beating down Pavlik’s door to pour praise over his head.
I just hope that if Pavlik gets by Martinez on April 17th that this doesn’t wind up as excuse to match him against fighters that boxing fans could care less about. Pavlik hasn’t had much choice in some of his defense of his title, but I think its hurt him by not facing fighters that the boxing public wants to see him against. Obviously, Pavlik’s fights against Rubio, Lockett and Espino haven’t done anything to endear him to the average fan, so hopefully Arum doesn’t match him against more fodder in the middleweight division.
I think fights against Williams or Bute would be outstanding fights, as would having Pavlik pitted against the eventual winner of the Super Six tournament. But I don’t think the boxing public will be interested in seeing Pavlik matched up against the winner of the Julio Cesar Chavez vs. John Duddy bout, something I’ve been hearing as a potential fight for Pavlik in the future. And I also doubt that fans will want to see Pavlik against fellow Top Rank fighter Winky Wright.
I think that would have been a good fight years ago, but Wright hasn’t been busy enough in the past four years and was soundly beaten by Paul Williams last year. Arum needs to start putting Pavlik in with better fighters, ones that are more popular with fans. It might be a risky thing for him to do, because Pavlik could lose like he did against Hopkins, but that’s what Arum needs to do to restore the luster that Pavlik lost in his defeat to Hopkins.
Arum says “The 168 pound guys are the middleweights of the 1980s, and I think Kelly, when he cleans out the middleweight division, will go up to 168 pounds and there is a lot of competition there.” I doubt that Pavlik will beat Williams, and I also have serious doubts about Pavlik beating Martinez on April 17th. However, if Pavlik does get to the super middleweight division, I see him having big problems with guys like Arthur Abraham, Andre Ward, Mikkel Kessler and Andre Dirrell.
Those guys aren’t fighters that can be taken out by simple 1-2 combinations and a little pressure. Pavlik is going to have to up his game and develop some more skills if he’s going to be anything other than a contender at super middleweight. I frankly don’t think he’s the best middleweight right now, and would be very surprised if he “cleans out the middleweight division” like Arum says
Bradley: “He [Maidana] can either be outboxed, or I could get knocked out”
Boxing Organization light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO’s) knows what he’s up against in his next fight against Argentinean knockout artist Marcos Maidana (28-1, 27 KO’s) when they face each other on June 19th at the Agua Caliente Casino, in Rancho Mirage, California. In an article at Mydesert, the 26-year-old Bradley says “It’s a typical fight between a boxer vs. puncher. I’m not a huge puncher, so he [Maidana] can either be out-boxed or I could get knocked out. I don’t think he fights technically at all. He comes with a game plan, but that’s just to break you down and then knock you out. He’s like, ‘I can take your punchers, but can you take mine?”
That pretty much sums Maidana up completely. He’s not going to be a fighter that will try to box with Bradley. Maidana will instead be pure business, as he single-mindedly goes after Bradley and tries to tear him apart all night long. Maidana clearly isn’t a technical boxer, and instead likes to go after his opponents with huge punches with unrelenting pressure. Maidana, unlike other fighters, loads up on everything he throws but does it without tiring out.
It doesn’t matter to him if he misses a lot of his shots. He continues to throw with a lot of power with every shot and hurts whatever he hits. In his last fight, he walked through a lot of big shots from Victor Cayo to take him out in the 6th round, in a fight that was televised by HBO on March 27th. In the past year alone, Maidana has destroyed two top fighters with knockout wins over Victor Ortiz, and Cayo.
The win over Ortiz was especially impressive, because many boxing experts felt that Ortiz was destined to be a world champion. Maidana got up off the deck three times to score to knockdowns and an eventual 6th round stoppage win over Ortiz. Some people say that Ortiz made the mistake of fighting Maidana’s fight, saying that’s why he lost. However, in looking at the fight recently, Ortiz had little choice but to fight Maidana all out because Maidana expertly cut off the ring on Ortiz and forced him to fight. Maidana’s power shots were too big for Ortiz just to cover up against. He had to fight because there was little other choice.
Gary Shaw, the promoter of Bradley, says this about the Bradley-Maidana fight: “This could probably go down as the best fight of the year in any weight class. It’s a fight fans can’t wait to see. It’s just a huge fight coming early in Tim’s career. The benefactors obviously are the fans and all of boxing, specially the fans around here who can come to the Agua Caliete to watch Timmy.” Shaw was previously going to match Bradley against a welterweight contender Luis Carlos Abregu. However, an HBO executive suggested that Maidana might be a good alternative. The rest is history.
Maidana will be an excellent choice for Bradley, because of his big power and pressure. Maidana, the World Boxing Association light welterweight interim champion, is hoping to get a fight with the full WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan next year in 2011, as long as Maidana can keep
Boxing Organization light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO’s) knows what he’s up against in his next fight against Argentinean knockout artist Marcos Maidana (28-1, 27 KO’s) when they face each other on June 19th at the Agua Caliente Casino, in Rancho Mirage, California. In an article at Mydesert, the 26-year-old Bradley says “It’s a typical fight between a boxer vs. puncher. I’m not a huge puncher, so he [Maidana] can either be out-boxed or I could get knocked out. I don’t think he fights technically at all. He comes with a game plan, but that’s just to break you down and then knock you out. He’s like, ‘I can take your punchers, but can you take mine?”
That pretty much sums Maidana up completely. He’s not going to be a fighter that will try to box with Bradley. Maidana will instead be pure business, as he single-mindedly goes after Bradley and tries to tear him apart all night long. Maidana clearly isn’t a technical boxer, and instead likes to go after his opponents with huge punches with unrelenting pressure. Maidana, unlike other fighters, loads up on everything he throws but does it without tiring out.
It doesn’t matter to him if he misses a lot of his shots. He continues to throw with a lot of power with every shot and hurts whatever he hits. In his last fight, he walked through a lot of big shots from Victor Cayo to take him out in the 6th round, in a fight that was televised by HBO on March 27th. In the past year alone, Maidana has destroyed two top fighters with knockout wins over Victor Ortiz, and Cayo.
The win over Ortiz was especially impressive, because many boxing experts felt that Ortiz was destined to be a world champion. Maidana got up off the deck three times to score to knockdowns and an eventual 6th round stoppage win over Ortiz. Some people say that Ortiz made the mistake of fighting Maidana’s fight, saying that’s why he lost. However, in looking at the fight recently, Ortiz had little choice but to fight Maidana all out because Maidana expertly cut off the ring on Ortiz and forced him to fight. Maidana’s power shots were too big for Ortiz just to cover up against. He had to fight because there was little other choice.
Gary Shaw, the promoter of Bradley, says this about the Bradley-Maidana fight: “This could probably go down as the best fight of the year in any weight class. It’s a fight fans can’t wait to see. It’s just a huge fight coming early in Tim’s career. The benefactors obviously are the fans and all of boxing, specially the fans around here who can come to the Agua Caliete to watch Timmy.” Shaw was previously going to match Bradley against a welterweight contender Luis Carlos Abregu. However, an HBO executive suggested that Maidana might be a good alternative. The rest is history.
Maidana will be an excellent choice for Bradley, because of his big power and pressure. Maidana, the World Boxing Association light welterweight interim champion, is hoping to get a fight with the full WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan next year in 2011, as long as Maidana can keep
Froch vs. Kessler: Can Carl win if Mikkel doesn’t turn it into a war?
By William Mackay: World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KO’s) is counting on his April 24th opponent Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KO’s) trading with him and making it easy to land his big shots. Froch, 32, really has no other way of winning the fight unless Kessler falls into his trap and decides to slug with Froch in their Super Six tournament fight in Herning, Denmark. Froch, however, thinks that he can win the fight no matter if he slugs or boxes, saying “I don’t feel like I need the knockout. I’m a big puncher. If the knockout comes it comes, but I don’t like I need a knockout to win.” I think Froch is really fooling himself here. He’s a slugger, not a boxer. That’s what he is and what he does.
I would believe this if Kessler wasn’t such a good fighter and if the fight were taking place in Froch’s home city of Nottingham, England, where he recently won a controversial 12 round split decision over American Andre Dirrell on October 17th 2009. Froch struggled badly in that fight, landing few punches, and fouling often, and yet he got the decision in the end. His fight with Kessler will be completely different. The bout won’t be in Nottingham; it’s going to be in Kessler’s home country of Denmark, and Froch won’t likely be able to get away with nearly as many fouls without losing points.
He perhaps should have penalized numerous times in the Dirrell bout, but was able to get away with his rough in-fighting against Dirrell without paying the price. Against Kessler, Froch will be getting hit a lot more because Kessler tends to throw a lot of punches and has an active jab. Froch is more of big puncher and won’t be trying to out-jab Kessler from the outside, so he’s going to have immediate problems with all the jabs that Kessler will be constantly pumping into his face all night long.
Another problem for Froch is that with his lack of defense, he’s guaranteed to take a lot of shots to the head as he plods forward. That’s going to make it even harder for him to win a decision if the fight goes the full 12 rounds. Really, the only way that I can see Froch winning this fight is if Kessler is dumb enough to fight his kind of fight by going toe-to-toe with him for 12 rounds. Froch’s probably boxing skills aren’t good enough to match a skilled fighter like Kessler for 12 rounds.
Froch is a confident fighter, and sees himself as someone who can do it all – slug or box. I think Froch isn’t a good judge of his own ability. I think he overestimates what he’s capable of doing. If he tries to box with a fighter like Kessler, Froch will lose and lose badly. All you have to do is look at a handful of Froch’s fights and see all the knockout wins. That’s what he does. His thing is to pressure his opponent, land his big shots and wear them down until he finishes them.
In a way, he’s like the super middleweight version of Marcos Maidana. But he’s very beatable if you box him and stick a jab in his face all night long, which is what I expect Kessler to do with the slow-footed Froch on April 24th. He’s not going to get down to Froch’s level and fight his fight. If you know that you’re fighting a guy that is good at basically one thing, slugging, it doesn’t pay off to fight their fight and expect to win. Kessler learned his lesson in his loss to Andre Ward last
By William Mackay: World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KO’s) is counting on his April 24th opponent Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KO’s) trading with him and making it easy to land his big shots. Froch, 32, really has no other way of winning the fight unless Kessler falls into his trap and decides to slug with Froch in their Super Six tournament fight in Herning, Denmark. Froch, however, thinks that he can win the fight no matter if he slugs or boxes, saying “I don’t feel like I need the knockout. I’m a big puncher. If the knockout comes it comes, but I don’t like I need a knockout to win.” I think Froch is really fooling himself here. He’s a slugger, not a boxer. That’s what he is and what he does.
I would believe this if Kessler wasn’t such a good fighter and if the fight were taking place in Froch’s home city of Nottingham, England, where he recently won a controversial 12 round split decision over American Andre Dirrell on October 17th 2009. Froch struggled badly in that fight, landing few punches, and fouling often, and yet he got the decision in the end. His fight with Kessler will be completely different. The bout won’t be in Nottingham; it’s going to be in Kessler’s home country of Denmark, and Froch won’t likely be able to get away with nearly as many fouls without losing points.
He perhaps should have penalized numerous times in the Dirrell bout, but was able to get away with his rough in-fighting against Dirrell without paying the price. Against Kessler, Froch will be getting hit a lot more because Kessler tends to throw a lot of punches and has an active jab. Froch is more of big puncher and won’t be trying to out-jab Kessler from the outside, so he’s going to have immediate problems with all the jabs that Kessler will be constantly pumping into his face all night long.
Another problem for Froch is that with his lack of defense, he’s guaranteed to take a lot of shots to the head as he plods forward. That’s going to make it even harder for him to win a decision if the fight goes the full 12 rounds. Really, the only way that I can see Froch winning this fight is if Kessler is dumb enough to fight his kind of fight by going toe-to-toe with him for 12 rounds. Froch’s probably boxing skills aren’t good enough to match a skilled fighter like Kessler for 12 rounds.
Froch is a confident fighter, and sees himself as someone who can do it all – slug or box. I think Froch isn’t a good judge of his own ability. I think he overestimates what he’s capable of doing. If he tries to box with a fighter like Kessler, Froch will lose and lose badly. All you have to do is look at a handful of Froch’s fights and see all the knockout wins. That’s what he does. His thing is to pressure his opponent, land his big shots and wear them down until he finishes them.
In a way, he’s like the super middleweight version of Marcos Maidana. But he’s very beatable if you box him and stick a jab in his face all night long, which is what I expect Kessler to do with the slow-footed Froch on April 24th. He’s not going to get down to Froch’s level and fight his fight. If you know that you’re fighting a guy that is good at basically one thing, slugging, it doesn’t pay off to fight their fight and expect to win. Kessler learned his lesson in his loss to Andre Ward last
A mixed bag – A treat for everyone: Super Six, Pavlik-Martinez, Mayweather-Mosley
These are exciting times for boxing. There is so much too talk about. Here’s a list of items of what I’ll speak about:
- Haye/Klitschko’s
- Super Six Tournament
- Pacquiao/Mayweather/Mosley
- Pavlik/Martinez
- Light welterweight division
These five things seem to be hot topics within boxing. As usual, I will try to stick to fact and will make it obvious when I’m offering opinion, unlike others who try to offer opinion as fact. I will also try to offer an unbiased opinion.
Haye/Klitschko’s
Firstly, I don’t care what anyone says, David Haye has relit the flame of the heavyweight division. He has created a buzz on the scene, one that’s been missing for years. The good thing about him is he is charismatic, talks some trash, plays mind games, builds up his fights and delivers in them. Don’t’ agree? How many American contenders have we seen they are the man? Chambers, Arreola, Johnson, Rahman to name a few. Critics say he has had four fights at heavyweight, and that these four aren’t the best. He had to beat Valuev to get a title, then had to have his mandatory against Ruiz. Now the world’s his oyster. The best thing about Haye is he is so vunerable and a vunerable champion is better to watch. Haye might be more vunerable, but unlike the Klitschko’s, his fights are exciting to watch because you know that he has that suspect chin he even admits too. Sure, he has flaws, he knows it too, but it helps makes him the most attractive champion out of the three. Against Ruiz, he got hit by shots he shouldn’t have, but this just adds to the excitement and he’s not the safety first fighters the Klitschko’s are.
The Klitschko’s get very little stick for choosing weaker opposition. People are saying Haye should fight big punchers like Solis, Arreola and Peter, but Solis is unproven and the latter two fluffed their chances when they froze and were outclassed against Vitali. Personally, the next fight I want to see for Haye is Ruslan Chagaev because I think it would give us a better indication of how good Haye is in terms of the Klitchsko’s.
I’d like to see the mega fight happen early next year, it will be a huge fight when it happens and a couple more defences for Haye will improve his experience at heavyweight and his credibility as a champion, and this heightens the size of the event. When it happens, and I’m convinced it will, it will be the biggest event since Klitschko vs Lewis.
Super Six Tournament
Things have really spiced up in the tournament. Abraham’s somewhat shock loss to Dirrell has made the tournament very interesting and proves nobody is safe. Certain writers on here have often talked about Dirrell’s flashy hand speed, quick footwork n good timing of punches. These can’t be denied, but what was evident that will perhaps have an effect on his popularity is how unreal the ‘knockout’ of Dirrell was and perhaps sensing he was tired and starting to get hit more, took the easy way out. As a fan, I was highly disappointed because Abraham was coming on strong and the question was could Abraham get Dirrell before it ended. Abraham was very stupid for what he did, but rumour has it that Dirrell is up for a prestigious Oscar for Best Male Actor. The only fact we can take from this is that Dirrell might need to take a second look at his stamina because he was clearly running out of wind.
We look ahead to the Green-Ward fight and the Froch-Kessler fight. Since the upset of Kessler, something I personally didn’t find an upset, I have a feeling Froch might nick this. I see it being very similar to the Froch-Pascal fight, a good, old, 12 rounds of brutual action. I hope so, as much as I appreciate the skills that slick fighters like Dirrell possess, I like to see fighters put heart and chin on the line. As for the Green-Ward fight, I see a 12 round UD for Ward being the most realistic option.
Providing my predictions were correct, that would guarantee Froch and Ward are through. Green fights Kessler in which would be a match for either fighter needing a KO to progress, which still might not be enough if Dirrell overcame Ward and Abraham beats Froch in Nottingham. The only way it would be good enough is if Dirrell lost to Ward and Green or Kessler got the KO which would eliminate Dirrell and the receiver of the KO. If the KO doesn’t come, then a points win would cause a tie. According to Showtime, they say ‘In the event of a tie on points, a tie-break mechanism is in place’ which I can only presume means a fight for the last place in the semi’s.
Pacquiao/Mayweather/Mosley
The three best welterweights in the division now. I don’t think we can include Cotto because since his first loss to Margarito, he’s looked a shadow of himself. Personally, I think we would all like to see a triangle of fights between these three and they would create huge money. As it stands, that could happen, kicking off with Mayweather vs Mosley. Mosley looked great in the ring against Margarito and upsetting the critics. However, that was over a year ago and I’d like to have seen him take a warm up fight before this, just to rid some ring rust.
Mayweather looked great beating the smaller Marquez, making it much more one sided than we all thought it would be. However, in Mosley, he has arguably his biggest opponent since De La Hoya, a fighter that took him the distance and was unlucky not to get the nod in that fight with Mayweather scrapping a split decision.
Pacquaio’s last couple of fights have been good, albeit you could make an argument in every fight. De La Hoya was weight drained, Hatton had wrong tactics and arguably not the same since Mayweather, Cotto hasn’t looked good since his first loss and Clottey claims he had toilet worries during the fight and that’s why he couldn’t do much. However, certainly in the last fight with Clottey, it exposed some Pacquaio’s faults. He got hit far too much, but has a good chin at welterweight. However, if a bigger puncher than Clottey can exploit that, it could be a problem.
I predict a Mayweather win against Mosley, in similar fashion to the De La Hoya fight, I expect Mayweather to feel Mosley’s approach out to begin with before showing his flashy boxing skills to turn the fight and win by a unanimous decision. Will he fight Pacquaio? We hope so, but it doesn’t look likely just yet. If not, why not throw Paul Williams into the mix?
Pavlik v Martinez
This is going to be such an explosive fight! Pavlik has that awesome power coming forward, stand in front of him and he’ll drop you. Sergio Martinez has become one of the most exciting fighters in the light middleweight division and moving up to middleweight.
Pavlik really has a point to prove to most people, since he beat Taylor, he fought Lockett who was well out of his depth, before getting severely outclassed by a forty something Bernard Hopkins, who’s boxing skills and fast hands proved far too much to the point Hopkins was allowed to showboat in what was his most impressive performance for sometime. It is also worth mentioning that when Taylor held the title, he defended it against Winky Wright, Pavlik has come back since then with a neat win over Rubio, but really needs a fighter in his class to look good against. Enter Martinez.
Martinez was on the back burner, always showed potential and unlucky in some fights, but not more than his previous fight against Paul Williams with some feeling he deserved to get the win. What is certain is he gained the recognition for a very good showing of himself. Martinez is a fighter who will get into a very good fight and shows plenty of heart, also showing some good power.
This will be an interesting one, I see either a Pavlik stoppage or a Martinez points win. It’s going to be a great battle that will establish at least one fighter.
Light welterweight Division
So many good stars in this division, Amir Khan, Timothy Bradley, Marcos Maidana, Devon Alexander, Paulie Malignaggi, Victor Cayo, Victor Ortiz, Nate Campbell to name a few. Should a tournament be set up? I hope so, HBO have been interested in making one and I think the time is right to do it.
Some people think perhaps a knockout tournament should be done, but to be honest, I favour what Showtime have done and think a league is better. It’s brilliant that you can watch Dirrell beat Abraham and then look at the league to see how it affects the standings, plus you can then think about how good a fight between Dirrell and Ward is going to be. If the tournament was a knockout, Froch would have advanced and Dirrell goes out. That would have created some controversy to say the least so it was good Dirrell got a second chance to prove himself and some of the fights being made, you can only dream about if it would have happened sooner. Now replace the super middleweights with the light welterweights and I defy any true boxing fan not to drool!
With that said, it appears Timothy Bradley will be fighting Maidana next. This will be a very good fight. I have a lot of faith in Bradley’s boxing abilities, but I feel his chin could be suspect. The man to put my claim to the test could be more tailored for the job. I was impressed with Victor Cayo against Maidana, gave it a real good go and he’ll come back.
Campbell fights Ortiz in what really is a crossroads fight. Ortiz has the potential to do well, but since that Maidana fight, he has been questioned. Campbell is starting to age but we shall see what he can still bring.
Khan fights Malignaggi in his first fight in America. A much tougher fight for Khan than people give him credit for. Khan is very confident about this, but judging Mallignaggi since the Hatton fight, I’ve a feeling this could be very controversial and extremely close. We shall see.
And the man people are now avoiding, Devon Alexander. I’m very intrigued to see his next move now he holds two belts. There are plenty of great fights in this division, but what concerns me is I feel a tournament maybe required to match them up. I hope I’m wrong, but we shall see what happens after all the previously mentioned fights. Ceratinly the best potential of match up lies in this division
These are exciting times for boxing. There is so much too talk about. Here’s a list of items of what I’ll speak about:
- Haye/Klitschko’s
- Super Six Tournament
- Pacquiao/Mayweather/Mosley
- Pavlik/Martinez
- Light welterweight division
These five things seem to be hot topics within boxing. As usual, I will try to stick to fact and will make it obvious when I’m offering opinion, unlike others who try to offer opinion as fact. I will also try to offer an unbiased opinion.
Haye/Klitschko’s
Firstly, I don’t care what anyone says, David Haye has relit the flame of the heavyweight division. He has created a buzz on the scene, one that’s been missing for years. The good thing about him is he is charismatic, talks some trash, plays mind games, builds up his fights and delivers in them. Don’t’ agree? How many American contenders have we seen they are the man? Chambers, Arreola, Johnson, Rahman to name a few. Critics say he has had four fights at heavyweight, and that these four aren’t the best. He had to beat Valuev to get a title, then had to have his mandatory against Ruiz. Now the world’s his oyster. The best thing about Haye is he is so vunerable and a vunerable champion is better to watch. Haye might be more vunerable, but unlike the Klitschko’s, his fights are exciting to watch because you know that he has that suspect chin he even admits too. Sure, he has flaws, he knows it too, but it helps makes him the most attractive champion out of the three. Against Ruiz, he got hit by shots he shouldn’t have, but this just adds to the excitement and he’s not the safety first fighters the Klitschko’s are.
The Klitschko’s get very little stick for choosing weaker opposition. People are saying Haye should fight big punchers like Solis, Arreola and Peter, but Solis is unproven and the latter two fluffed their chances when they froze and were outclassed against Vitali. Personally, the next fight I want to see for Haye is Ruslan Chagaev because I think it would give us a better indication of how good Haye is in terms of the Klitchsko’s.
I’d like to see the mega fight happen early next year, it will be a huge fight when it happens and a couple more defences for Haye will improve his experience at heavyweight and his credibility as a champion, and this heightens the size of the event. When it happens, and I’m convinced it will, it will be the biggest event since Klitschko vs Lewis.
Super Six Tournament
Things have really spiced up in the tournament. Abraham’s somewhat shock loss to Dirrell has made the tournament very interesting and proves nobody is safe. Certain writers on here have often talked about Dirrell’s flashy hand speed, quick footwork n good timing of punches. These can’t be denied, but what was evident that will perhaps have an effect on his popularity is how unreal the ‘knockout’ of Dirrell was and perhaps sensing he was tired and starting to get hit more, took the easy way out. As a fan, I was highly disappointed because Abraham was coming on strong and the question was could Abraham get Dirrell before it ended. Abraham was very stupid for what he did, but rumour has it that Dirrell is up for a prestigious Oscar for Best Male Actor. The only fact we can take from this is that Dirrell might need to take a second look at his stamina because he was clearly running out of wind.
We look ahead to the Green-Ward fight and the Froch-Kessler fight. Since the upset of Kessler, something I personally didn’t find an upset, I have a feeling Froch might nick this. I see it being very similar to the Froch-Pascal fight, a good, old, 12 rounds of brutual action. I hope so, as much as I appreciate the skills that slick fighters like Dirrell possess, I like to see fighters put heart and chin on the line. As for the Green-Ward fight, I see a 12 round UD for Ward being the most realistic option.
Providing my predictions were correct, that would guarantee Froch and Ward are through. Green fights Kessler in which would be a match for either fighter needing a KO to progress, which still might not be enough if Dirrell overcame Ward and Abraham beats Froch in Nottingham. The only way it would be good enough is if Dirrell lost to Ward and Green or Kessler got the KO which would eliminate Dirrell and the receiver of the KO. If the KO doesn’t come, then a points win would cause a tie. According to Showtime, they say ‘In the event of a tie on points, a tie-break mechanism is in place’ which I can only presume means a fight for the last place in the semi’s.
Pacquiao/Mayweather/Mosley
The three best welterweights in the division now. I don’t think we can include Cotto because since his first loss to Margarito, he’s looked a shadow of himself. Personally, I think we would all like to see a triangle of fights between these three and they would create huge money. As it stands, that could happen, kicking off with Mayweather vs Mosley. Mosley looked great in the ring against Margarito and upsetting the critics. However, that was over a year ago and I’d like to have seen him take a warm up fight before this, just to rid some ring rust.
Mayweather looked great beating the smaller Marquez, making it much more one sided than we all thought it would be. However, in Mosley, he has arguably his biggest opponent since De La Hoya, a fighter that took him the distance and was unlucky not to get the nod in that fight with Mayweather scrapping a split decision.
Pacquaio’s last couple of fights have been good, albeit you could make an argument in every fight. De La Hoya was weight drained, Hatton had wrong tactics and arguably not the same since Mayweather, Cotto hasn’t looked good since his first loss and Clottey claims he had toilet worries during the fight and that’s why he couldn’t do much. However, certainly in the last fight with Clottey, it exposed some Pacquaio’s faults. He got hit far too much, but has a good chin at welterweight. However, if a bigger puncher than Clottey can exploit that, it could be a problem.
I predict a Mayweather win against Mosley, in similar fashion to the De La Hoya fight, I expect Mayweather to feel Mosley’s approach out to begin with before showing his flashy boxing skills to turn the fight and win by a unanimous decision. Will he fight Pacquaio? We hope so, but it doesn’t look likely just yet. If not, why not throw Paul Williams into the mix?
Pavlik v Martinez
This is going to be such an explosive fight! Pavlik has that awesome power coming forward, stand in front of him and he’ll drop you. Sergio Martinez has become one of the most exciting fighters in the light middleweight division and moving up to middleweight.
Pavlik really has a point to prove to most people, since he beat Taylor, he fought Lockett who was well out of his depth, before getting severely outclassed by a forty something Bernard Hopkins, who’s boxing skills and fast hands proved far too much to the point Hopkins was allowed to showboat in what was his most impressive performance for sometime. It is also worth mentioning that when Taylor held the title, he defended it against Winky Wright, Pavlik has come back since then with a neat win over Rubio, but really needs a fighter in his class to look good against. Enter Martinez.
Martinez was on the back burner, always showed potential and unlucky in some fights, but not more than his previous fight against Paul Williams with some feeling he deserved to get the win. What is certain is he gained the recognition for a very good showing of himself. Martinez is a fighter who will get into a very good fight and shows plenty of heart, also showing some good power.
This will be an interesting one, I see either a Pavlik stoppage or a Martinez points win. It’s going to be a great battle that will establish at least one fighter.
Light welterweight Division
So many good stars in this division, Amir Khan, Timothy Bradley, Marcos Maidana, Devon Alexander, Paulie Malignaggi, Victor Cayo, Victor Ortiz, Nate Campbell to name a few. Should a tournament be set up? I hope so, HBO have been interested in making one and I think the time is right to do it.
Some people think perhaps a knockout tournament should be done, but to be honest, I favour what Showtime have done and think a league is better. It’s brilliant that you can watch Dirrell beat Abraham and then look at the league to see how it affects the standings, plus you can then think about how good a fight between Dirrell and Ward is going to be. If the tournament was a knockout, Froch would have advanced and Dirrell goes out. That would have created some controversy to say the least so it was good Dirrell got a second chance to prove himself and some of the fights being made, you can only dream about if it would have happened sooner. Now replace the super middleweights with the light welterweights and I defy any true boxing fan not to drool!
With that said, it appears Timothy Bradley will be fighting Maidana next. This will be a very good fight. I have a lot of faith in Bradley’s boxing abilities, but I feel his chin could be suspect. The man to put my claim to the test could be more tailored for the job. I was impressed with Victor Cayo against Maidana, gave it a real good go and he’ll come back.
Campbell fights Ortiz in what really is a crossroads fight. Ortiz has the potential to do well, but since that Maidana fight, he has been questioned. Campbell is starting to age but we shall see what he can still bring.
Khan fights Malignaggi in his first fight in America. A much tougher fight for Khan than people give him credit for. Khan is very confident about this, but judging Mallignaggi since the Hatton fight, I’ve a feeling this could be very controversial and extremely close. We shall see.
And the man people are now avoiding, Devon Alexander. I’m very intrigued to see his next move now he holds two belts. There are plenty of great fights in this division, but what concerns me is I feel a tournament maybe required to match them up. I hope I’m wrong, but we shall see what happens after all the previously mentioned fights. Ceratinly the best potential of match up lies in this division
Mayweather-Mosley: Is Shane the physically younger fighter?
By Jason Kim: In looking at both Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. standing side by side, I’m struck at how youthful Mosley looks compared to Mayweather, the younger fighter. Mosley is 38, five years older than Mayweather, is supposedly a fighter that some people feel might be too old in this fight against Mayweather to win. However, people age at different rates and even if one person is five years younger than another person like Mayweather, the older person can still be physically younger. When I look at Mosley and Mayweather, I think Mosley looks to be the younger person.
I don’t know if it’s just me that is noticing this but this is something that can be important because if Mayweather doesn’t have an advantage in youth in his May 1st fight with Mosley, then he really doesn’t have much of any other advantages in this fight. Mosley was the best fighter in the 90s, and has continued to be one of the best fighters in boxing as he’s aged. With the exception of his controversial 12 round unanimous decision loss to Miguel Cotto in 2007, Mosley has never been beaten by a fighter his size or smaller.
Mosley has always dominated fighters smaller than him. On May 1st, the 5’9” will be facing the 5’8” Mayweather, and that one inch may be more than enough for Mosley to get the win against Mayweather. Mosley already has the better offensive skills, the better work rate and the ability to mix it up. Mayweather hates getting hit and retreats when his opponents try to draw him into a war. Because of this, Mayweather often winds up with really low punch outputs.
At 33, I don’t think Mayweather can increase his punch volume any more than what it has been. I think he’s starting to age, and lose his ability to adapt to different fighting situations. Mosley, in contrast, can do it all – boxing, move and slug. Mosley can shift effortlessly between each mode depending on the circumstances of the fight. Mayweather is kind of a one trick pony who only knows how to box, move and pot shot. He’s not someone that is going to go after his opponent and throw flurries.
And he won’t react well when Mosley starts cutting off the ring on him forcing him to fight in a way that he hasn’t in years. I don’t think Mayweather has the physical tools anymore to fight like this even if he wanted to. He just looks older, like someone older than his 33-years. Mosley has to pressure him, make Mayweather move his wheels and get him tired.
I don’t think Mayweather run for long anymore. He’ll come to a stop in one of the corners like he often does and stand sideways trying to get small and dodge punches with his shoulder roll. I don’t expect that approach to work at all well against Mosley. He’s going to know how to land his shots and get the better of Mayweather in close.
By Jason Kim: In looking at both Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. standing side by side, I’m struck at how youthful Mosley looks compared to Mayweather, the younger fighter. Mosley is 38, five years older than Mayweather, is supposedly a fighter that some people feel might be too old in this fight against Mayweather to win. However, people age at different rates and even if one person is five years younger than another person like Mayweather, the older person can still be physically younger. When I look at Mosley and Mayweather, I think Mosley looks to be the younger person.
I don’t know if it’s just me that is noticing this but this is something that can be important because if Mayweather doesn’t have an advantage in youth in his May 1st fight with Mosley, then he really doesn’t have much of any other advantages in this fight. Mosley was the best fighter in the 90s, and has continued to be one of the best fighters in boxing as he’s aged. With the exception of his controversial 12 round unanimous decision loss to Miguel Cotto in 2007, Mosley has never been beaten by a fighter his size or smaller.
Mosley has always dominated fighters smaller than him. On May 1st, the 5’9” will be facing the 5’8” Mayweather, and that one inch may be more than enough for Mosley to get the win against Mayweather. Mosley already has the better offensive skills, the better work rate and the ability to mix it up. Mayweather hates getting hit and retreats when his opponents try to draw him into a war. Because of this, Mayweather often winds up with really low punch outputs.
At 33, I don’t think Mayweather can increase his punch volume any more than what it has been. I think he’s starting to age, and lose his ability to adapt to different fighting situations. Mosley, in contrast, can do it all – boxing, move and slug. Mosley can shift effortlessly between each mode depending on the circumstances of the fight. Mayweather is kind of a one trick pony who only knows how to box, move and pot shot. He’s not someone that is going to go after his opponent and throw flurries.
And he won’t react well when Mosley starts cutting off the ring on him forcing him to fight in a way that he hasn’t in years. I don’t think Mayweather has the physical tools anymore to fight like this even if he wanted to. He just looks older, like someone older than his 33-years. Mosley has to pressure him, make Mayweather move his wheels and get him tired.
I don’t think Mayweather run for long anymore. He’ll come to a stop in one of the corners like he often does and stand sideways trying to get small and dodge punches with his shoulder roll. I don’t expect that approach to work at all well against Mosley. He’s going to know how to land his shots and get the better of Mayweather in close.