Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Mayorga's Blasting of Cotto Angers Human Rights Activist

By Jhonny Gonzalez

The trash talking by Ricardo Mayorga may not have angered his March 12 opponent, Miguel Cotto, but others have become upset. Mayorga has been verbally blasting away at Cotto since the fight got signed. He challenges the Puerto Rican star for his WBA junior middleweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Human rights activist Pedro Julio Serrano is very angry and speaking out against Mayorga for using homophobic epithets against Cotto. During a few of his one-liners, Mayorga questioned Cotto's sexuality. In the past, Mayorga has questioned the sexuality of other opponents.

"It is regrettable and reprehensible that Mayorga has to resort to homophobic slurs in order to advertise his fight against Cotto. Sexual orientation has nothing to do with a person's ability to perform in any aspect of life, including sports," said Serrano. "Mayorga is engaged in his preparation for a fight. He should stop promoting prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people."

 

[heyzel]

Judah staggered and dropped by Mabuza, but pulls out win in 7th

y Jason Kim: Despite what some boxing fans are saying about Zab Judah (41-6, 28 KO’s) looking good in stopping Kaizer Mabuza (23-7-3, 14 KO’s) in the 7th round on Saturday night to win the vacant IBF light welterweight title, Judah looked far from good in the fight – at least on offense. Judah looked to be trailing in the fight in the 7th after getting dropped in the 4th and staggered by a right hand in the 6th. Judah came back to stop Mabuza after hurting him with a straight left hand in the 7th, and then overwhelming him with punches after the action resumed.

Judah got the win but he looked anything but impressive in the fight. If you take away the 7th round and look at what Judah did in the first six, he looked like he was on his way to getting beaten. The problem that Judah had was that he wasn’t throwing shots and was just looking to duck and dodge shots. You could see that Judah was putting a great deal of effort into mimicking Pernell Whitaker’s old style of fighting.

Whitaker, a defensive artist, is Judah’s new trainer. While it’s good that Whitaker has taught Judah some things in terms of helping him avoid getting hit in the head as much, the fact remains that Judah was still just as vulnerable as always to body shots. And his chin was just as weak as it always was, as we saw when he was staggered by Mabuza. Now some boxing fans may be excited about Judah’s win over Mabuza but I’m not.

I can’t see Judah beating Lucas Matthysse, who Judah got a gift decision over in his last fight. It wouldn’t matter if Whitaker trained Judah for the rematch. Matthysse would give Judah huge problems because he wouldn’t get hurt like Mabuza and would out-work Judah badly like he did last time and like Mabuza was doing tonight.

Judah just doesn’t throw enough punches anymore because it looks like he stamina issues and is afraid to fade like he often does when he fights hard for four or five rounds. Judah would have lost to Matthysse, Marcos Maidana and probably Timothy Bradley tonight. I think Judah would have a good chance of beating Amir Khan, but that’s only because Khan’s chin is weak and he still has a lot of questions to answer about his ability to take a hard shot.

 

[heyzel]

Haye Rips 'No Heart' Klitschko: "I Eat Tall, Chinny Euros!

David Haye claims he is ready to realise his destiny after agreeing terms to fight Wladimir Klitschko.

The 30-year-old WBA heavyweight champion has agreed to fight the Ukrainian on either June 25 or July 2 in Germany, in a fight that will unify three of the recognised world belts.

The announcement of the bout comes after months of on-off talks between the two, which has seen them trade verbal blows in the media on countless occasions.

The talking will soon stop, though, and Haye, who will retire when he turns 31 in October, has promised a messy end for Klitschko.

"I always believed we'd one day fight and I'm glad we've cut through the nonsense and put together the most important fight in the heavyweight division," he said.

"This is the match the boxing world has been calling for since I first decided to step into the heavyweight division, and I feel it is my destiny to fight and beat Wladimir Klitschko.

"We are the best two heavyweights in the world and it would have been a travesty for us to have never fought.

"This is an inevitable fight with an inevitable conclusion. Wladimir Klitschko is getting violently knocked out."

Haye has not fought since his third-round stoppage of Audley Harrison last November, and the 34-year-old Klitschko is a far more dangerous opponent than Haye's fellow Londoner.

Haye, though, expects the outcome to be the same.

He added: "I have been chasing this fight since day one, because I know boxing styles and I know which styles I have success against.

"Klitschko is ready-made for me. I eat tall, chinny Eastern European heavyweights for breakfast. Wladimir is a fighter that doesn't like to fight, and he has admitted that fact in the past. Unfortunately for him, I am a fighter that loves nothing more than fighting.

"I have the heart of lion, whereas Wladimir has the heart of a hyena. He cries and squeals and slips into the wilderness at the first sign of danger. Wladimir has proven this over the years, and I'm certain he will want no part of this lion when it finally comes time to go to war."

 

[heyzel]

Kirkland destroys Gibbs, Jacobs stops Robert Kliewer

By Jason Kim: On the undercard of the Saul Alvarez vs. Matthew Hatton fight on Saturday night, both James Kirkland and Daniel Jacobs scored 1st round knockouts over their mismatched opponents. Both Kirkland and Jacobs are trying to rebuild their careers, so it’s not surprising that they were matched so soft. Kirkland (26-0, 23 KO’s) flattened Ahsanti Gibbs(10-3, 4 KO’s) in a brutal 1st round KO. The fight was stopped at 0:34 of the round.

Jacobs (22-1, 19 KO’s), still trying to come back from being stopped by Dmitry Pirog last year in July, came out fast against Robert Kliewer (11-13-2, 5 KO’s), pounding him with shots until he went down from a hard right hand to the head. To his credit, Kliewer got back up, but Jacobs snowed him under with shots and put him down for a second and final time in the round. Referee Ray Corona then stepped in and halted the massacre at 1:44 of the round.

Unbeaten heavyweight Seth Mitchell (21-0-1, 15 KO’s) blasted out journeyman Charles Davis (19-22-3, 4 KO’s) in a 2nd round knockout. Davis was knocked to the canvas in the 1st, and then several more times in the 2nd as Mitchell teed off on the over-matched Davis with power punches. It wasn’t much of a fight though because Davis wasn’t throwing anything back and just looked like he didn’t belong in the ring with Mitchell.

 

[heyzel]

Dawson vs Diacanu Likely For Pascal-Hopkins Undercard

By Rick Reeno

The likely HBO televised co-feature on May 21, will feature a battle of former light heavyweight champions, with Chad Dawson (29-1, 17KOs) meeting Adrian Diaconu (27-2, 15KOs) in a crossroads fight. Dawson is looking to rebound from last August's technical decision loss to Jean Pascal. Both of Diaconu's career defeats were decision losses to Pascal. The televised main event will involve Pascal, who defends his WBC/IBO light heavyweight titles against Bernard Hopkins in a rematch of last December's controversial draw.

 

[Timm]

I would like to see Haye knock out wladimir, but I doubt that will happen

 

[2-0-Sixx]

he's got a chance. wlad hasn't been in the ring with someone as fast and explosive as haye in many years if ever. but getting to wlad is a difficult task

 

[heyzel]

Haye says he’s going to violently knock Wladimir out

By Dan Ambrose: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) is quite pleased that he and IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) are once again on the verge of fighting after Wladimir pulled out of his April 30th fight against Dereck Chisora due to an abdominal injury that has been slow to heal.

Haye was against this tune-up fight from happening from day one and now that it’s off the table, Haye is over-joyed and looking forward to fighting Klitschko in June or July.

There is one of two dates that are currently being kicked around – June 25th or July 2nd. Neither of them will work if Wladimir’s abdominal injury doesn’t heal. If this injury is legit and not just an excuse for Wladimir to get out of the Chisora fight, it could easily linger on into June or July. Abdominal injuries are often slow to heal and sometimes become chronic problems. Wladimir isn’t helping himself if he’s trying to come back too soon over and over.

Haye, speaking to the telegraph.co.uk, said he’s going to violently knockout the 34-year-old Klitschko and points out that he does well against tall fighters from Easter Europe. Haye has fought only a small handful of fighters from Eastern Europe during his pro career but they obviously weren’t in the class of Klitschko. However, Haye did beat them quickly each time and perhaps he can blitz Wladimir early like he did with these fighters.

It will be interesting to see if Haye can do the same thing with Wladimir that he’s done against the other tall Eastern Europeans that he’s fought in the past. If Haye does well against Wladimir and scores a knockout, Haye will get the chance to prove he can beat an Eastern European fighter that doesn’t have a weak chin by facing Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir’s brother.

That’s a fight that Haye will have a lot of pressure on him to take because of the money that will be thrown his way. Of course, boxing fans will want to see the fight as well, and if Haye opts to avoid Vitali, which is what it seems that Haye has been doing since moving up to the heavyweight division, he’ll take an enormous amount of criticism and it may taint his victory over Wladimir.

Haye has to fight both brothers if he wants to retire with the respect of boxing fans. However, he’s going to have problems with Wladimir unless he’s as chinny as Haye seems to think he is.

 

[heyzel]

Lucian Bute Working Over Sparring Partners Judah, McGirt

By Chris LaBate

IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (27-0, 22KOs) is working very hard in his training camp, which is presently taking in Miami, Florida. He defends the title against Brian Magee (34-3, 24KOs) on March 19 at the Bell Centre in Quebec. After starting off slow, Bute has really imprvoved over the last couple of weeks and greatly improved his form. He is reportedly holding nothing back when working over his sparring partners, cruiserweight Daniel Judah, and super middleweight James McGirt Jr. Bute has been traing for twelve, thirteen rounds at a time and ready for the first fight of his exlcusive contract with Showtime.

 

[heyzel]

Roger Mayweather: Pacquiao doesn’t want to take the blood test to fight Floyd

By Eric Thomas: Roger Mayweather, the uncle and trainer for Floyd Mayweather Jr., has doubts about whether a fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd can ever happen because of the blood testing issues for performance enhancing drugs. Roger believes a fight can be made if Pacquiao agrees to take the blood tests but he remains doubtful that Pacquiao wants to do that.

Speaking to the Inquirer, Roger said that Pacquiao hasn’t taken the blood tests for the fight to happen, and says that Pacquiao doesn’t want to take that test. Roger figures that Pacquiao doesn’t want the money that would come from a fight between him and Floyd. He believes that Pacquiao is a talented figther but remains skeptical how hes arrived to where he is right now.

Roger thinks the fight will never take place because he thinks that Pacquiao may be taking something. Roger points out if Pacquiao will take the test for the performance enhancing drugs, the fight with Mayweather will happen.

This is interesting because Pacquiao is reportedly willing to take the drug tests for a Mayweather fight. However, Roger seems to doubt whether he’ll do that.

 

[heyzel]

Klitschko-Haye could take place outside Germany

FRANKFURT, Germany -- The highly anticipated fight between IBF and WBO champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBA title-holder David Haye could take place outside Germany, Klitschko's management said Monday.

The Klitschko Management Group said it was looking at soccer stadiums in Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen and Kaiserslautern, but also at "two options abroad."

KMG executive Bernd Boente said the fight would take place in prime time for German television, but did not say which possible locations outside Germany were being considered.

The fight is set for either June 25 or July 2.

"I am pleased that a Klitschko fight against David Haye is finally taking place," Wladimir Klitschko said in the statement from KMG.

"Haye chickened out twice against us and is now already talking big again. It's time to let the fists do the talking," Klitschko said. "It is my family's dream to unify all four titles in the family."

Klitschko's older brother Vitali holds the WBC belt and will defend it against Odlanier Solis on March 19 in Cologne, Germany.

"Since I switched to the heavyweight division, it was clear that this fight will come one day," Haye said. "The outcome is also clear: I will destroy him and end the Klitschko era once for all."

A Briton who was once cruiserweight champion, Haye brings a 25-1 record with 23 knockouts to the fight.

Klitschko has a 55-3 record with 49 knockouts.

Haye has angered the Ukrainian brothers with incendiary statements before.

He memorably attended a news conference wearing a T-shirt with a rendering of Haye holding the brothers' severed heads.

After months of failed negotiations, both boxers confirmed Sunday the fight was finally on.

Haye pulled out of a fight with the younger Klitschko brother in 2009 with a back injury and talks between the two camps have collapsed several times since.

"I always believed we'd one day fight and I'm glad we've cut through the nonsense and put together the most important fight in the heavyweight division," said the 30-year-old Haye, who plans to retire in October. "This is the match the boxing world has been calling for since I first decided to step into the heavyweight division, and I feel it is my destiny to fight and beat Wladimir Klitschko. We are the best two heavyweights in the world and it would have been a travesty for us to have never fought."

The Haye camp said the deal, which will unify three of the four recognized belts in the division, was struck with Klitschko on Friday.

"Klitschko is ready made for me. I eat tall, chinny Eastern European heavyweights for breakfast. Wladimir is a fighter that doesn't like to fight," said Haye, who won the WBA belt by defeating giant Russian boxer Nikolay Valuev in November 2009 and has since successfully defended his title twice.

"The terms were right, it's a fair deal -- it's a 50-50 split," Haye said. "That's what they wanted and that's what I wanted."

The Haye fight was announced shortly after Klitschko pulled out of a planned title defense against British challenger Derek Chisora on April 30 because the Ukrainian said he hadn't recovered from a torn abdominal muscle

 

[heyzel]

Yuri Foreman Q/A

eremy- You haven't fought since June of last year. Besides the healing with your leg, what have you been up to since the Cotto fight?

Yuri Foreman- I had a surgery on my knee to reconstruct my ACL , than a few moths of rehab. My son born on Aug 29th and my manager past away in October. This is all in a nutshell.

Jeremy- Congratulations on your new addition to the family. Sorry to hear about your manager Murray Wilson.....
Cotto vs Yuri Foreman round 7. Can you please tell exactly what happened? And if that never happened, how different do you think the fight would have been?

Yuri Foreman- My knee popped out in 7th round, it was a sharp pain and i couldnt put my weight on it anymore. Our game plan was to start to step the game up from the 7th round. We where planning for a 12 round strategic fight.

Jeremy- How are you preparing for this fight with Wolak?

Yuri Foreman- I've been preparing for this fight the same as any other fight, really hard and serious. I cant take Pawel lightly. I have to make sure I'm ready for anything he has to bring to the table.

Jeremy- What do you know about Wolak? Have you watched or studied any of his fights that might help you in the ring?

Yuri Foreman- We know he likes to throw a lot of punches. He likes to get on the inside and put a lot of pressure. These are some of the things we are also preparing for.


Jeremy- How important is this fight for you and do you have any idea what the next step is after this fight if you win?

Yuri Foreman- This fight is very important. Right now my only focus is Wolak and this fight only.

Jeremy- Whats your prediction on this fight? What do you see happening in that ring on March 12?

Yuri Foreman- I don't do predictions. If I had to make a prediction, I predict this will be a very exciting fight!

Jeremy- On behalf of BoxingCommunity.org, we like like to thank you for taking the time answering some questions with us. Thank you and Good luck on your next fight against Pawel Wolak on March 12 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas.

"Thanks,happy purim sameach!
best
Yuri

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Richard Schaefer said that Mathiew Hatton will get a shot at the Berto-Ortiz winner.

LMAO! Andre Berta will be the biggest joke in boxing

 

[heyzel]

but also the most paid but his resume of fighters is a joke

 

[heyzel]

Clottey injured while training, pulls out of this Saturday’s fight with Green

By Jim Dower: The ring rusty former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey (35-4, 20 KO’s) was injured while training this week and won’t be able to fight his scheduled opponent Calvin Green (21-5-1, 13 KO’s) this Saturday night on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto vs. Ricardo Mayorga fight at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Clottey, 33, hasn’t fought since being dominated by Manny Pacquiao last year in March.


This was supposed to have been Clottey’s comeback fight after a long year rest from the ring. However, Clottey fell this week while jogging and injured his ankle and wrist bad enough for him to pull out of the Green fight. Clottey was supposed to be moving up in weight to fight at junior middleweight. The injury will no delay Clottey’s comeback efforts. It’s unclear when Clottey will be able to get back in the ring.

This injury has got to be disappointing for him because he looked so bad in the Pacquiao fight and he really needs a good fight to make boxing fans forget the image of Clottey just covering up and doing nothing while Pacquiao worked him over. Fans didn’t understand why Clottey didn’t put in a big effort in the fight of his life. Clottey looked like he was just trying to survive rather than trying to win the fight against the Filipino star.

 

[ArGenTin3]

keep doubting ortiz people.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

ortiz lost something in the ring against Maidana. I believe that. He's not the same since then. He doesn't have that killer instinct no more, he doesn't go for the kill. He might even be soft.

Maybe he proves me wrong. I just have this feeling that Golden Boy is cashing him out. If I'm Victor's promoter no way in hell I'd have him fight Berto in his first fight at 147. He's gonna become a gatekeeper if he loses this fight by KO.

 

[bigface]

Ortiz has all the talent and the skill set to be great. But like 206 has stated Maidana took has soul and his nuts. Berto is going to hurt Ortiz. I bet Berto knocks Hatton out unlike Alvarez. Alvarez came to the ring 165lb and couldn't KO 150 Hatton. Alvarez did not impress me at all.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Imagine James Kirkland vs Hatton!

A lot of the top guys would have KO'd hatton. But let's remember this kid is only 20 years old, he still has a lot of improving to do.

Some credit needs to go to hatton. He fought with a warriors spirit. He's annoying, kinda dirty at times, but he was a game fighter and always fought back. A real solid effort.

But for real I don't think Alvarez is as "heavy handed" as people are saying, especially not as much as the HBO crew were saying. At one point Max Kellerman said "he looks Irish, is from Mexico and fights like George Foreman!" lmao suuure max. He works the body well and the combo's he puts together are beautiful. But he doesn't have that devastating power that some of the 154 pound guys have like Kirkland, Cintron and Angulo for example.

 

[heyzel]

agreed anyone else would have knock out hatton even tho he's still young I see golden boy protecting their next cash cow I wonder who's he going to fight next?