Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Arum gushing about how good Pacquiao is looking, thinks he’s ready to fight Mosley

By Chris Williams: Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is ecstatic about how good his number #1 cash cow fighter Pacquiao is looking after watching him work out in Baguio in the Philippines as Manny gets ready for his bout against 39-year-old Shane Mosley on May 7th. Arum watched one of Pacquiao’s recent workouts and came away feeling good about how he’s looking, in particular with the way that Pacquiao is using his right hand.

Speaking with gman news, Arum said “This is so early, and look how great he is. He can fight next week, probably. He looks terrific. He looks very, very good. I like the way he’s been using his right hand, because I really believe that the right hand is gonna tell the story of the fight. Everyone knows that the left hand is his power hand, so Mosley’s gonna be looking for that left hand.”

Well, Arum should be happy. He’s picked the right opponent for Pacquiao to look good against once again. Arum has been picking Pacquiao’s opponents well as of late with the struggling Antonio Margarito getting selected last time out in November. Before that, it was Joshua Clottey, a fighter who was coming off of a loss at the time he was selected and not looking particularly good. Miguel Cotto was Pacquiao’s opponent before that, and Cotto hadn’t really shined since beaten to a pulp in 2008. Now it’s Mosley who’s being selected. Mosely hasn’t won a fight in two years and has looked terrible in his last two fights, losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and having to settle for a 12 round draw with Sergio Mora. It’s an odd choice that Mosley is being picked with him looking so bad. But Arum is right. Pacquiao could fight Mosley next week. Heck, he could probably have fought him training camp even started and still win. But what does that tell you about Mosley?

 

[heyzel]

Seven countries bid to host David Haye v Wladimir Klitschko fight

By Gareth A Davies


They are: South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Monaco or the United States.

The bout is scheduled for June 25 or July 2, and is expected to gross in the region £40 million.

Adam Booth, Haye’s manager and trainer, who was ringside in Cologne at the farcical contest between Vitali Klitschko and Odlanier Solis which ended after one round, has insised that Haye v Klitschko would be the biggest fight that either of the Klitschko brothers would ever be involved in, including Vitali’s 2003 unification against Lennox Lewis.

“None of their fights have been ever been this big. Wladimir’s unification against Sergei Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden stank the place out, and even the Lennox Lewis fight with Vitali Klitschko wasn’t as big as this - as Vitali came in on two weeks’ notice. It became bigger after the event because it ended up as Lennox’s retirement fight.”

Booth flies to New York this week with Bernd Bonte, manager of both Klitschko brothers, where the rival pair will meet with executives from Home Box Office and Showtime to finalise the US end of the deal.

 

[heyzel]

David Haye to discover in early May which Klitschko he will fight

by Kevin Mitchell



will know within a month when and where he will next defend his WBA world heavyweight title. And a week or so after that he will learn which of the two Klitschko brothers, Vitali or Wladimir, will be across the ring from him.

The latest deadlines emerged on Sunday and they highlight the nit-picking that has plagued negotiations between Haye and the Klitschkos as they edge towards unification of the four recognised heavyweight titles they hold between them.

Adam Booth, Haye's trainer and manager, said after further talks with the Klitschkos' manager, Bernd Bönte, in Cologne (where Vitali kept his WBC belt in a disappointing one-round stoppage of the reluctant Cuban Odlanier Solís) that the short odds are it will be against Wladimir, the WBO and IBF champion, in Germany on 2 July.

However, Booth revealed Wladimir is still struggling with a stomach muscle injury. And he believes him. "Third week of April we will make an announcement," Booth said. "By the first week of May, Wladimir will have to tell us if he is fit to fight."

If Wladimir fails to recover by then from the injury he claims twice caused him to withdraw from title defences against Dereck Chisora, Vitali will step in, a double-barrelled arrangement surely unique in the history of boxing.

What the competing parties have yet to do, having settled on an even split of all revenues, is find a suitable place and time for the biggest heavyweight title fight since Lennox Lewis beat Vitali nearly eight years ago. "Monte Carlo has been rumoured," Booth said, "South Africa, Switzerland, Germany, Moscow ..."

Booth and Haye have already conceded the fight will not be in the UK. Bönte said there are three major football stadiums in Germany that appeal: Düsseldorf (51,000), Gelsenkirchen (capacity, 61,000) and Dortmund (80,000).

Booth would no doubt rather be trapped in a lift with the tax man than share a city with the forthright Bönte but they will fly together to New York this week to talk to HBO and Showtime executives about American TV coverage.

"I would imagine after a couple of days," Booth said, tongue in cheek, "we should have a lot of time to talk. Then, it will kick on from there. It will be the icing on the cake."

But neither Booth nor Bönte is bothered about the fight being in the so-called capital of the business, Las Vegas, because they can make more money in Europe, perhaps as much as £50m. Vitali, meanwhile, continues his reign as WBC champion but his German fans were unhappy with the manner of his win.

Solís, who has grown fat in America on the delights of boxing capitalism since defecting from Cuba in 2006, rolled over on a right knee he reckoned was wrecked, pain compounded by a glancing tap to his temple at the end of round one.

Klitschko remonstrated with him loudly to get up but Solís's body language shouted resignation. He later went to hospital for an operation on his cruciate ligaments and might not fight for a year, his volatile manager, Ahmet Oner, said later.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Kessler is still game. Too much experience to just write him off. I don't want to call a winner because it will be a really tough fight but it would be the most skillful opponent Bute has ever fought.

Mayweather doesn't want to fight. They should just leave him alone.
When/If he does want to fight, he will let them know. They swear all these ridiculous follow up calls are going to matter.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Roger Mayweather from today saying $100 million AND the drug tests to make the pac fight. lol I don't think they want it honestly, that's just absurd.

 

[heyzel]

NFLer-turned-boxer Zbikowski hires Hall of Fame trainer Steward Read more: http://sp

Baltimore Ravens safety Tommy Zbikowski has hired Hall of Fame trainer Emmanuel Steward, Steward told SI.com. Steward will work Zbikowski's corner when Zbikowski fights on the undercard of the Yuri Gamboa-Jorge Solis featherweight title fight Saturday night in Atlantic City.

Zbikowski (2-0) and Steward first met in 1998, when Steward was training Lennox Lewis for his heavyweight title defense against Shannon Briggs. A then-13-year old Zbikowski wandered into Steward's gym in Miami and asked to take a picture with the veteran trainer. They reconnected last month when Zbikowski approached Steward in Las Vegas, where Steward was training Miguel Cotto.

"We did some work on the pads," Steward said. "He has such beautiful balance. He has a great natural rhythm and he's always in position when he is punching. He doesn't box like a football player. He boxes like a boxer."

Steward recalls watching a video of Zbikowski at the final press conference for Cotto's fight with Ricardo Mayorga. Zbikowski defeated Richard Bryant in a first-round knockout on the undercard of that fight.

"I forgot who he was," Steward said. "I just remember looking at the screen and seeing this guy slipping and sliding, dancing around. It was beautiful. Miguel leaned over and told me that was the guy who was working out with us."

Steward says Zbikowski, who has committed to boxing during the NFL lockout, will train with him at the famous Kronk Gym in Detroit. Steward says he would like to use Zbikowski as a sparring partner for former light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, who will begin training soon for his May 21 fight against Adrian Diaconu.

"He told me boxing was his first love," Steward said. "I don't know where this is going to go right now

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/mma/boxing/03/21/zbikowski.steward/index.html#ixzz1HL1WKyT9

 

[heyzel]

The Klitschko clause chaos

By Mark Hepplestall: For the last few years it’s been hard to watch Heavyweight boxing for a number of reasons, people say it’s due to the lack of competition, the lack of an American world champion, or just the people who hold the belts are to blame.

Firstly the difference in competition is not that different between now and the last 10 years, obviously the lack of American talent has reduced the amount of interest in the sport in the USA giving the impression “boxing is dying” when it is actually thriving everywhere but America. Also the three belt holders engage in some of the most mind boggling psychological warfare before the fight has even started by selling their own propaganda to the fans who will desperately battle for their champion to the death no matter who is in the right and most importantly even though they probably wouldn’t give you the time of day if they saw you in the street.

Firstly we have David Haye, who is the “badboy” of the sport and therefore always in the wrong. Outspoken is his middle name coming out with colourful comments such as “the fight will be more one sided then gang-rape”(Haye Vs Harrison, 2010) best known for being the undisputed cruiserweight champion and then calling out the Klitschko brothers. Then the battle of ego’s commenced, Haye after only two fights at heavyweight then talked his way into a title fight with Wladimir, but even then people were not sure which brother he was fighting. After the fight fell through probably due to Setanta going bust meaning Haye was fighting for free and Wladimir/Vitali was only fighting for his German TV money, possible agreement on faking an injury?

Then all negotiations kept failing, nobody believes anything that comes from “badboys” mouth because he must be lying, he faked an injury once so all credibility has gone, similar to giving an alcoholic $10 and being angry after seeing him shout at birds an hour later. We shall blindly believe in anything that Team Klitschko says even though we really do not know. But then the tables turned, Wladimir pulled out of a fight with Chisora due to an abdominal injury, however he was seen playing Golf two weeks later. Does this man think the people who line his pockets with money are stupid? But we like Wladimir so we shall give him the benefit of the doubt, only for him to cry injury again less than 4 weeks until his fight! Was there any pain in the training before pulling out? Did he even train for Chisora? Why did he come back from”injury” so early? All unanswered questions, which all became futile when he signed a deal to fight David Haye no less a week after crying “injury”.

Next my favourite part of this total farce, the once one on one fight became a Tag Team Match, except i do not see Team 3D Vs The Hardy Boys. If Wladimir cannot recover from the injury that he may or may not have then Haye must fight Vitali instead. Why the hell did Haye agree to that? He basically has to train hard for one fighter and at any time up to fight night Wladimir can pull out and have Vitali take his place who is a totally different boxer compared to Wladimir, it actually suicide. Whereas Vitali only has to train for David Haye and doesn’t need to worry about the prospect of having to fight a totally different fighter such as Nikolay Valuev who Vitali would need a totally different game plan against.

What can we see from this? None of these guys can be trusted; they are all the same just portrayed differently by the propaganda sites they use to further their name. It is obvious that Haye has no intention of staying in boxing anymore, shown by his willingness to just fight either Klitschko, get his huge payday and retire. It shows Wladimir is not as clean as portrayed by his unprofessional behaviour with Derek Chisora, also the possibility he maybe never wanted to fight Haye in the first place and just wanted to keep his belts. I for one cannot wait for 3rd of July because one of Haye, Wladimir or Vitali would have retired by then and by the end of the year all three of them may be retired and the world can get on with the rest of the heavyweight division.

 

[heyzel]

Arreola to fight Aguilera on Ward-Abraham undercard on 5/14

By Jason Kim: Heavyweight contender Chris Arreola (30-2, 26 KO’s) will continue with his slow climb back up the heavyweight rankings with a 10 round bout against recently beaten Nagy Aguilera (16-5, 11 KO’s) on May 14th on the undercard of the Super Six tournament fight between Andre Ward vs. Arthur Abraham at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California. This isn’t exactly the ideal opponent for the 30-year-old Arreola, because Aguilera was just beaten by a chunky looking 42-year-old Antonio Tarver last October in 2010 in a one-sided 10 round decision loss.

It might be hard to get motivated fighting a guy that was just dominated by the aging Tarver. But it tells you how far Arreola has slipped since he lost to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko by a 10th round TKO in September 2009. Arreola briefly righted the course in his career after that fight by beating Brian Minto. However, Arreola then lost his next fight to Tomasz Adamek by a 12 round decision in April 2010.

That loss really hurt Arreola because that was a fight he needed to win to show that he’s someone that is worthy of another title shot. Arreola had the power and the size advantage over Adamek, but he ended up injuring his left hand and running out of gas late. Arreola has since won his last two fights against B level fighters Manuel Quezada and Joey Abell. But Arreola needs to start showing signs that he’s getting better instead of staying at the same level fighting 2nd tier guys. In his last fight, Arreola destroyed Abell in one round.

That was a good fight for Arreola because he showed better speed and was a lot more aggressive than he had been in a long time. Arreola needs to pounce on Aguilera early in the same way to make impression on boxing fans. Aguilera, 6’3″, has a 1st round knockout win over Oleg Maskaev in December 2009. However, things haven’t been good for him since then, losing to Samuel Peter, Maurice Harris and most recently Tarver.

 

[heyzel]

Dzinziruk may be the best fighter in the junior middleweight division

By Dan Ambrose: Despite getting knocked out in the 8th round by WBC Emeritus middleweight champion Sergio Martinez on March 12th, WBO junior middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-1, 23 KO’s) may be the best fighter in the division right now. That might not be something that Miguel Cotto fans like to hear but I got to with who looks like the best fighter right now and that’s Dzinziruk. The Ukrainian fought remarkably well against Martinez and held his own until getting knocked out in an entertaining fight.

Cotto would have likely been knocked out in the first four rounds by Martinez unless he decided to run all night. Even then, I can’t see Cotto being able to take Martinez’s big left hands for very long without going down for the count. Dzinziruk has got a great jab and sneaky power. I saw in the Martinez fight was a guy capable of knocking out anyone in the junior middleweight division.

Dzinziruk was out of his element against the stronger Martinez, but he was facing the best fighter in the middleweight division. Dzinziruk was being asked to do a lot by moving up in weight and taking on the best fighter in the middleweight division by far. I don’t know of any junior middleweight that would have lasted as long as Dzinziruk or fought as well as him during the bout.

Dzinziruk got the better of Martinez in the 7th but then made a mistake in the 8th by not keeping his distance. Martinez then flattened him. Dzinziruk will come back from this and start in where he left off by dominating the junior middleweight division. I’d like to seen Cotto step it up and face him but I can’t see that happening. Dzinziruk is a master boxer and I can see Cotto getting a boxing lesson.

 

[heyzel]

Froch says Ward’s fight against Abraham will reveal more about him

By Scott Gilfoid: WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (27-1, 20 KO’s) will be watching the Super Six tournament May 14th fight between WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (23-0, 13 KO’s) and former IBF middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (32-2, 26 KO’s) intently to find out more about how good Ward is and to compare how he does against a common opponent, Abraham.

Froch recently defeated Abraham by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision last year in November and now Froch wants to see how Ward does against Abraham. Abraham and Ward will be battling it out in the semifinals of the Super Six tourney at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California.

In an interview at livefight.com, Froch said “He [Abraham] only has to land that money shot once and it could turn the fight around. It will be interesting to see Ward against a common opponent. We both fought [Mikkel] Kessler under significantly different circumstances, but this one will hopefully reveal more about out standings in the tournament.”

Yes, there was a huge difference between Froch and Ward in how they did against a common opponent in Kessler. While Ward totally schooled Kessler in whipping him by a 11th round technical decision in November 2009, Froch struggled with Kessler and got beat last year by a 12 round unanimous decision in April. The boxing world saw that Ward was the superior fighter and now Froch wants to see it again with Ward vs. Abraham. The thing of it is Abraham was already badly schooled by Andre Dirrell the fight before Froch, so whatever Froch did with Abraham was more of a sloppy seconds type thing.

Dirrell basically softened up Abraham for Froch. Abraham has no chance of beating Ward, and I think Froch is going to be disappointed if he thinks the Ward-Abraham will be close or if there will be an upset in this fight. There won’t be. Ward is going to dominate Abraham and eliminate him from the Super Six tourney. Instead of worrying about how Ward does against Abraham, Froch needs to be worried about trying to get by his next opponent Glen Johnson on May 21st. I’m giving Johnson an excellent chance of beating Froch and sending him packing.

 

[heyzel]

TRAINING WITH MAYWEATHER DAY 1: A WHOLE DIFFERENT WORLD

Although I love boxing, the terminology is different and it's a different style. I can go out there and spar, but MMA, it's a whole different world. In MMA, we throw punches longer. We may shorten them up when we're closer, but for the most part, we throw them longer to set up other things. In boxing, it's about being short and snappy...Physically, I was tired because he wore me out on the mitts (laughing). Mentally, I was frustrated because I felt like I couldn't get it. I knew that I could get it, but I was just excited just to be there with him and I think I was trying too hard to look good for him," stated former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion King Mo, who for the next week is chronicling his experience training with world-class boxing trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. Check out what it's like for an elite mixed martial artist to work with one of the best boxing trainers in the world

http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content9571.html

 

[heyzel]

BOB ARUM SAYS FILIPINOS DON'T SUPPORT NONITO DONAIRE; BLAMES WIFE RACHEL

The lawyers will handle it from now on. I gotta move on to other things. I mean, it's not like I got like another Manny Pacquiao. He's a bantamweight and he wants to go up and I got four fighters who probably could beat him. You know, Lopez, Gamboa, you know, or Rigondeaux. I mean, he's not going to beat those guys, or even if he would beat 'em, he's not going to beat all of them...I don't know who he's going to fight after that, but again, it's not big business," stated Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, who seemed unconcerned about the decision of bantamweight king Nonito Donaire leaving Top Rank promotions and joining Golden Boy Promotions. According to Arum, in the grand sceme of things, Donaire wasn't really a big draw or a pay-per-view star to begin with


http://www.fighthype.com/pages/content9578.html

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather's new Pacman shield: Guaranteed $100-M purse

BAGUIO CITY—Floyd Mayweather Jr. may have found a $100-million reason to shelve a fight with Manny Pacquiao.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum revealed to journalists here yesterday that he and fellow Hall of Fame promoter Don King tried to put together the showdown that the boxing universe is dreaming about “after a group came in wanting to put [the fight] in a particular country.”

But Mayweather, who deflected two previous attempts by promoters to put the fight together using overly stringent dope testing procedures, found a new way to thwart negotiations: He priced himself out of the bargaining table.

Arum, who’ll be staying in the Philippines to monitor Pacquiao's training camp until Thursday, said Mayweather asked for a ludicrous guarantee worth $100 million for himself.

Blurting out an expletive, Arum said that the number “indicated that he (Mayweather) didn't want to fight.”

“Who's going to pay him 100 million? I mean, unless Manny fights for nothing.”

The consensus by boxing's prime movers is that both Pacquiao and Mayweather stand to earn between $40 and $50 million, including pay-per-view shares, if ever the super fight pushes through.

It would have happened as early as 2009, but Mayweather shielded himself with demands for an Olympic-style drug-testing protocols, which isn't the norm for professional fights.

In the second round of negotiations, Pacquiao relented a bit, agreeing to having a doping control body to draw blood for testing up to two weeks before the fight.

Inexplicably, Mayweather's camp again balked, insisting that no talks ever took place—a claim eventually proven to be false.

Now, Mayweather, who has dropped to No. 3 in credible pound-for-pound rankings behind Pacquiao and rising middleweight superstar and WBC champion Sergio Martinez, shielded himself from having to agree to a fight with his asking price.

Mayweather last fought in May 2010 when he beat Mosley by unanimous decision.

Neither Arum or Pacquiao delved too much in Mayweather’s latest demands, focusing instead on the eight-division champion’s welterweight showdown against Shane Mosley on May 7 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Even if their ring showdown doesn't push through, however, Pacquiao and Mayweather are likely to tangle in court.

According to an AP report Tuesday, United States District Judge Larry Hicks of Nevada has ruled that Pacquiao's defamation lawsuit against the Mayweathers (Floyd Jr. and Sr. and Roger), Oscar De La Hoya and Golden Boy Promotions' Richard Schaefer, rests on firm allegations and has sufficient evidence to continue.

In the lawsuit filed in 2009, Pacquiao averred that the respondents have besmirched his untarnished reputation (he hasn't failed any drug test) with constant allegations that he'd been using performance enhancing drugs.

 

[heyzel]

Wladimir Thinks Haye Is Scared of Vitali

By
Rajbir Parmar


Younger Klitschko brother Wladimir is of the opinion that rival heavyweight David Haye prefers a fight with him over his older brother Vitali. The Klitschko and Haye camps have come to an agreement that will match WBA champion Haye against one of the Klitschko brothers sometime this summer.

After Vitali’s first round stoppage of top heavyweight contender Odlanier Solis this past weekend, Wladimir feels the “Hayemaker” will want no part of the older Klitschko. Solis was unable to continue in the first round when he hurt his knee after going down from a Vitali right hand.

“It’s always very difficult to handle who is going to fight David Haye next, between me and Vitali,” Wladimir said to ESPN, “David chose Wladimir, the weakest one, because after this performance (against Solis) he’s definitely going to say to Vitali, ‘maybe [I'll fight you] down the road, but Wladimir is next because he is younger and weaker’.”

 

[heyzel]

Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. to be Honored in Mexicali

By
Salvador Rodriguez



The legendary Julio Cesar Chavez will be honored by the Boxing Commission of Mexicali on April 2, during the card that sees Giovanni Segura defend his flyweight championship against Ivan Calderon.

Chavez will also be inducted this June in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Odlanier Solis injury update..... serious


anterior cruciate ligament rupture
articular cartilage damage
meniscal tear

"I haven't seen a knee torn apart like this in a long time" said the knee specialist in Germany Dr. Joern Michael..

and then Oner went on about having a rematch......


then Solis said something like he "didn't feel the punch" and it
didn't take the wind out of him, it was just he just felt something wrong with his knee

 

[Tony]

Wladimir seems scared of Haye.

Man it's obvious that Mayweather doesn't care about fighting period. If and when he does choose to fight, hopefully he won't need a tune up (I'm not paying to see another Mayweather vs Marquez blow out), if he does fight someone else other than Pacman, then yes it will look like Mayweather is ducking him or ducked him. I think Floyd is done with fighting, as a fan I am beginning to lose interest.

 

[Timm]

i do wish floyd had some recent fights, he brings a lot to boxing

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

Floyd as a boxer, he's the fuckin man. As a man though, he's a piece of shit.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

floyd has issues. He's literally like a big spoiled kid and he's out of control. Sad thing is 20 years from now people are going to remember floyd as someone who COULD HAVE been the greatest of all time, instead he'll be remembered as an underachiever.

And Floyd's own dad said today his "$100 million" demand is crazy.

anyways, klitschko-haye is finally signed and officially a done deal.

Klitschko-Haye contract signed

By Alexey “Oscar” Potapov

The contract has been signed for the unification clash between IBF/ WBO/IBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KOs) and WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KOs). Wladimir Klitschko himself informed *********.com of the news. The fight will take place on June 25th or July 2th at a site in Europe.

* * *
Yours truly, Alexey “Oscar” Potapov, now work a commentator for Ukrainian TV First National. Listen to my comments regarding the March 13 Avtandil Khurtsidze-Mariusz Cendrowski clash for the IBO middleweight championship here.