Boxing News Thread

[2-0-Sixx]

so I'm reading Khan vs Timothy Bradley most likely isn't going to happen in July. It's rather complicated on why (ESPN has an article up now) but basically it's a matter of Bradley's contract with Gary Shaw ending in June, HBO overpaying Bradley for the alexander fight, Shaw wanting more money, and a couple other factors. So bradley may sit out till his contract is up with Shaw so he doesn't have to deal with his fat ass no more, who knows.

Anyways, that leaves Khan open for July 23nd. Who should he fight? I know the perfect opponent - current IBF title holder ZAB JUDAH.

I think that's a dope fight. Winner fights bradley end of the year.

Thoughts?

 

[bigface]

Damn I wanted to see Bradley vs Khan. I guess Judah is going to get himself a big fight after all with either Bradley, Khan, or Marquez.

 

[heyzel]

Roach badly wants Pacquiao to KO Mosley

By Chris Williams: Freddie Roach badly wants his fighter Manny Pacquiao to make a statement next month in their fight against the struggling 39-year-old Shane Mosley by knocking him out and putting on a better performance than the one that Floyd Mayweather Jr. did when beating up Mosley last year. Pacquiao, once again, is fighting one of Mayweather’s leftover opponents if for no other reason than he has a recognizable name to the public and to try and top what Mayweather did to Mosley.

You can throw out the window any notion of this bout being a competitive fight. Mosley wasn’t competitive against Mayweather and following that fight, Mosley struggled to get a draw against fringe contender Sergio Mora. I had Mora easily beating Mosley by four rounds. But Roach wants that knockout win for his fighter Pacquiao to prove something. I don’t know what you can prove by beating a fighter only a step away from 40 like Mosley and who hasn’t won a fight in over two long years.

Where is the victory in knocking out someone this old? Roach wants Pacquiao to be the first guy to knock Mosley out but what will that mean? Mosley isn’t in his 20s anymore and there is little chance that Pacquiao would knock out a prime Mosley. This is like guys knocking out Roy Jones Jr. now that he’s gotten old. No one was knocking out Jones in his prime. Heck, no one was beating, period. Jones was beating everyone. The same applies but to a slightly lesser extent with Mosley. He only had problems against taller fighters in his prime like Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright. Mosley always did well against shorter fighters and Pacquiao would be one of his smaller opponents if they were to have fought back in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Roach says “We are going to force the action and go for it [the knockout] this time.” I’d much prefer to see Pacquiao and Roach going after a younger fighter that is still relevant like Sergio Martinez. Why isn’t Pacquiao fighting him instead of guys like Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito and now Mosley

 

[heyzel]

Statement from Wilfried Sauerland on Ward-Abraham officials

Contrary to what Dan Goossen said and contrary to what has been agreed upon by all parties, the Californian Commission still insists on appointing a Californian referee and a Californian judge,” Sauerland said. “It is a shame that the completion of a high-profile global sporting event such as the Super Six tournament is being jeopardized by a promoter and his ridiculous attempts to protect his fighter. Goossen is using exactly the same tactics he did before the Kessler-Ward fight. He is playing dumb and he pretends to be in the dark about the Commission´s nominations. We have protested their decision to appoint a Californian referee because the contracts, which have been signed by Goossen and Ward, clearly state that he should be neither from the USA nor Europe. Most certainly the third man in the ring should not be one of Goossen´s neighbours from California!”

Sauerland underlined that unless the Californian Commission honours the existing agreement, Arthur Abraham will not leave Germany. “This issue needs to be sorted, that’s the bottom line. It´s ridiculous. We are not sure why Goossen and his friends are playing these tricks on us. Ward is the favourite and he is fighting at home. But maybe it has occurred to them that Arthur has the power to knock Ward out with one single punch. Maybe Goossen has realised that this time he can only protect Ward by blocking this fight to get a free trip to the final.”

 

[2-0-Sixx]

this fucking nazi is lying. They have one California judge, one German judge and one neutral judge. The ref is also neutral.

 

[heyzel]

Abraham’s chances of beating Ward aren’t good no matter who the ringside officials ar

By Scott Gilfoid: It’s sad to see Arthur Abraham’s promoter Wilfried Sauerland saying that they’ll be postponing Abraham’s flight over to the U.S for his Super Six semifinal bout against unbeaten WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (23-0, 13 KO’s) for their fight at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California. Sauerland is considered about one of the judges coming from the same state as Ward and wants to have the California Athletic Commission do something about this.

Sauerland says that there was an existing agreement about the officials being neutral. However, he doesn’t say anything about whether it was a verbal agreement or something on paper. Presumably if he had it in writing, this would be a done deal but if it was a verbal agreement then he may not have much luck in changing who works the fight. But lets be serious about this: Abraham has next to no chance of winning this fight no matter who works the bout.

I would venture to guess that you could have the entire crew be Germans or Armenians and Abraham would still lose the fight because it won’t be a competitive one. Abraham doesn’t have the boxing skills or the talent to beat a fighter like Ward. It’s basically going to boil down to whether or not Abraham can knock Ward out. If he can do that, it doesn’t matter who the official is working the fight. If Abraham can’t get the knockout, he’s going to lose because he doesn’t have the workrate, the hand speed, the stamina nor the boxing ability to beat a fighter like Ward. Abraham was painfully exposed by the talented Andre Dirrell and then further exposed by Carl Froch.

Abraham was easily out-boxed in both fights. I can see how having the Abraham-Ward fight postponed or perhaps permanently cancelled would be a benefit to Abraham. At least he wouldn’t have to suffer another embarrassing loss and then could go back to fighting little known middleweight contenders like he did while holding down the IBF middleweight crown from 2005 to 2009.

Abraham’s time as a champion was filled defending his paper title against less than stellar opposition, such as Wayne Elcock, Edison Miranda, Raul Marquez, Lajuan Simon, Mahir Oral, Sebastien Demers, Khoren Gevor, Shannan Taylor and Kofi Jantuah. Abraham fought soft opposition his entire time as a middleweight champion. If Abraham can avoid a loss to Ward by cancelling the fight, Abraham can then move back down and possibly pick up a paper title and resume facing those kinds of fighters one after another instead of more challenging fights against the likes of Sergio Martinez, Kelly Pavlik, and Gennady Golovkin.

 

[heyzel]

Dirrell could be fighting in July on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights

By Scott Gifloid: Top super middleweight star Andre Dirrell (19-1, 13 KO’s) could be back in action in July on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, according to boxing news from Dan Rafael. Dirrell, who has out of the ring since sustaining a head injury after being fouled by Arthur Abraham last year in March in the Super Six tournament, has been given the okay from his doctor to resume his promising career and has been training hard for his comeback.

There still isn’t an opponent, date or venue for the 27-year-old Dirrell’s next fight but something should be announced soon. Up until being injured in the Abraham fight, Dirrell had been dazzling his Super Six tournament competition, boxing circles around WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch and making him miss all night long with his shots. And in the Abraham fight, Dirrell was giving Abraham a boxing lesson and making him look bad until being fouled. Abraham was subsequently disqualified for the foul, which hit Dirrell after he had slipped on the wet canvas.

Dirrell has big things planned ahead of him in 2011 and 2012, and wants to face IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute as soon as possible. That fight might not be available for some time, because Bute has a full schedule. As such, Dirrell will have to be satisfied taking on some of the lower level guys until he can get a title shot. Dirrell doesn’t want to waste too much time fighting scrubs though because he wants to get his hands on a title as soon as possible.

 

[heyzel]

Pacquiao vs. Mosley lacks drama, period! – Is it worth $54.99

By Dan Ambrose: How do you sell a fight where one of the fighters is pushing 40, hasn’t won a fight in over two years, and is an incredibly nice guy? This is the predicament we’re in with the upcoming pay-per-view bout between Manny Pacquiao and 39-year-old Shane Mosley. It’s just hard to get excited about the fight because you really can’t see Mosley winning the fight other than maybe getting lucky with a big punch in the first four or five rounds. Mosley has never been a big knockout puncher.

Sure, he’s scored a lot of knockouts in the past but those have come from an accumulation of blows where he’s been beating on his opponents for many rounds. Mosley is not a Julian Jackson type of one-punch knockout artist or anything close to it. His only chance of winning this fight is if Pacquiao stands directly in front of him and stays there all fight long without throwing many punches of his own. You know that’s not going to happen and that’s why this is such a bad mismatch.

How can you get excited about a fight where Pacquiao is being matched up against someone mainly because he’s well known and not because he’s been fighting well as of late. Mosley was beaten last year by Floyd Mayweather Jr. and then looked dreadful in getting a questionable draw against Sergio Mora. That tells you all you need to know about Mosley. How can they sell this fight with Mosley looking so terrible? I know it’s a pay per view bout going for $54.99 but I don’t see this fight as being PPV worthy.

With Mosley fighting so poorly and given his long time period between wins, I see this as a free bout. Technically, Mosley is a contender but he’s a contender on the slide, not someone that’s coming into the fight behind a series of wins like most contenders are when they’re given a shot at a title.

 

[heyzel]

Chris Arreola: "One year from now I’m expecting to be a heavyweight champion, period!

by Geoffrey Ciani (Interviewed by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - Last week’s 121st edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio (brought to you by CWH Promotions) featured an exclusive interview with heavyweight contender Chris Arreola (30-2, 26 KOs) who is scheduled to face Nagy Aguilera (16-5, 11 KOs) on May 14 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Arreola spoke about his upcoming fight, reflected on past bouts, talked about his future, and shared opinions on the current boxing scene. Here are some excerpts from that interview:

Regarding his May 14 fight against Nagy Aguilera and whether he believes he might underestimate him:

“Oh no! Of course not! You can’t underestimate anybody period, especially in the heavyweight division because all it takes is just one shot in order for you to get knocked out. So I got to expect the best Nagy Aguilera out there because he’s going to come out there hungry and he’s going to want to get a win, especially to get a win against me would be a big thing for him.”

On what things he was working on in training camp for this particular fight:

“You know the main thing is throwing combinations. Going back to the old me and making sure I get combinations because I’m really not a one punch knockout artist. I was believing my own hype that I was a knockout artist which I’m not! All of my knockouts have come off of combination punches, not just one punch.”

His views on what the Aguilera fight will mean to him in the bigger heavyweight picture:

“The main thing is I want to make sure that I stay busy this year. I want to fight four or five times this year making sure that my name stays out there and that everybody knows I’m still a force to be reckoned with. I’m new and determined and I’m the new Chris Arreola.”

On what it would mean for him to get another chance to fight for the heavyweight title:

“To me it’s not about getting the chance. It’s about earning that spot and earning that title shot. It’s not about getting a chance, it’s earning it! That’s my main motivation is earning a heavyweight title shot so when people see me fight for it they know that I earned it.”

Regarding which specific champion he would be most interested in fighting:

“It doesn’t really matter to me because champions change. So by the time it’s my turn it could be anybody. It could be Tomasz Adamek again and I would love to beat the sh*t out of him.”

Regarding his twelve round loss against Tomasz Adamek and what he would do differently if given a rematch:

“The main thing that happened in that fight was I got full of myself. I really honestly got full of myself and I just thought I could steamroll through him. He didn’t beat me. I beat myself. His preparation beat me. He came in there in better condition than I did. He had that extra gas in those last few rounds and I didn’t. He came in there determined to win and I came in there expecting to win, not determined to win. So that’s the main thing. That loss eats me up inside every day. I’m still waiting for my gift wrapped because I gave him a present. I gave him a present to fight for a world title shot. I gave it to him! I handed it to him! I gift wrapped it!

His views on the heavyweight unification fight between Wladimir Klitschko and David Haye:

“You know I think David Haye has a very good shot and I’m going with David Haye. Haye moves very good and he throws good combinations and I think he’s going to give Wladimir something different to look at, something that he hasn’t seen in a very long time. So I’m giving it out to David Haye.”

On what he believes he needs to do in order to earn himself another heavyweight title shot:

“I really want to fight some of these European fighters like (Denis) Boytsov and the guy (Robert Helenius) that just knocked out (Samuel) Peter, and all of them guys. You can gain a lot of recognition. I believe we should just settle it once and for all. I would love to fight one of the European fighters. I don’t want to fight an American fighter. I would love to fight a European fighter who is ranked in the top five or top ten in the world. That’s one of the main things I really want to do.”

Whether he was surprised by the way that Robert Helenius knocked out Sam Peter:

“You know you can’t be surprised by anybody being knocked out in the heavyweight division at all. Like I said before all it takes is one shot, just one punch! Hasim Rahman knocked out Lennox Lewis and it made him millions just off of one punch. So all it takes is one punch.”

On what he expects to weight on May 14 come fight night:

“The main thing is I’m going to be a Chris Arreola that’s throwing combinations. That’s my main motivation is being the old school Chris Arreola, but I’m really expecting to come in the low 230s. That’s where I’m expecting to be, but if I don’t make it I know I’ll be in the 230s regardless. The main thing is to fight and to throw combinations.”

On where he expects to be one year from now in the heavyweight landscape:

“One year from now I’m expecting to be a heavyweight champion, period! It’s not a goal, it’s not this or that. I know where I’m going to be at and I know I’m going to be a heavyweight champion and I’m going to work my ass off to be a heavyweight champion.”

Regarding what he feels he could have done differently to be more successful in his fight against Vitali Klitschko:

“I would have probably waited. I probably would have waited to fight him. Mentally I was ready but physically I was not ready to fight a man like Vitali Klitschko. You know he was just so much smarter in the ring than I was. He adapted so much better than I did. Even fighting backwards he was a great fighter. I was one of the only fighters who backed up Vitali Klitschko like I did in that fight. I just recently had seen it for the first time in years and man, he kicked my ass!”

Whether he believes Tomasz Adamek has any chance of beating Vitali Klitschko:

“No! It’s an easy answer to me. It’s no. You can’t teach height. That’s one thing you can’t teach. You cannot teach height and he already has skills. So you add the skills with the height and he’s just a freak of nature sometimes. With Tomasz Adamek he’s not a real big heavyweight at all. I was able to push him around and I’m not as strong as Vitali is so I got to give it up to Vitali.”

Regarding the fighters out there today whom he most enjoys watching as a fan:

“You know I love watching the little guys. I love watching Manny Pacquiao. He’s a great fighter. I like Andre Berto and one of the good friends of mine is Timothy Bradley. It’s great! I’m seeing how hard they train and where they’re at now and the things that they’ve achieved. It gives you great honor to say at one point like Andre Berto and Timothy Bradley and the Peterson brothers and all of that, we went to and fought as amateurs in different tournaments together. We weren’t in the same weight class, but it’s pretty cool to see childhood friends you grew up with do stuff like that.”

On whether he thinks Manny Pacquiao is going to have an easy time against Sugar Shane Mosley:

“No, I don’t think he’s going to steamroll him. I think he’s going to beat him but steamroll? No, and if he does then it even adds more to his legacy because nobody has stopped Sugar Shane Mosley. So if he can accomplish that it’s just going to add to his legacy. People are going to try and say he’s old, or he’s this and that. Regardless, Pacquiao stopped Mosley and no one else stopped him if he does that.”

Regarding how many fights he realistically believes he needs before earning another title shot:

“Well I got beat Nagy, first things first. After Nagy about two more fights, one or two more fights and in those two fights like I said I want to at least fight one of the top European guys, if not two European guys. That’s my goal.”

His official prediction for his May 14 fight against Nagy Aguilera:

“I’m going in there to knock him out and I hope he does the same. I’m not trying to disrespect him in any kind of way, but I’m hoping he does come in there and try to knock me out because that’s only going to make for a great fight for both of us.”

 

[heyzel]

Erik Morales Looking For A Big Fight July 30th - Could Face Barrera, Maidana, Khan

By James Slater: Due to the spirited effort a seemingly rejuvenated Erik Morales gave in his very close April 9th points loss to the hard-hitting Marcos Maidana, the legendary Mexican warrior is hot again. And, despite that brutally damaged, hammered shut right eye (a handicap “El Terrible” carried for almost the full fight in Vegas), the word is the 34-year-old is looking at headlining a big fight card on HBO Pay-Per-View on July 30th.

This is the word according to Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who has been speaking with Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. But who will Morales fight in July? Schaefer wants very much to match Morales with former three-time rival and fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera, in what would be a fourth instalment of one of the greatest series in boxing history. Schaefer said he spoke with Erik and that Morales is definitely interested in going at it with Barrera for a fourth time.

“It’s going to be a good fight [if it happens]. That I know,” Schaefer said.

And without a doubt, due to the renewed fire Morales showed against Maidana, and simply because of the greatness of their previous three rumbles, a Morales-Barrera IV would prove to be an attractive event for the fans. We don’t know if Barrera, a little older than Morales at 37, has as much left as his countryman does, but it’s likely the two would produce a good fight if they did do it again. However, there are other possible options for “El Terrible.”

A return match with Argentine banger Maidana is a possibility for July, as is a Morales challenge of WBA 140-pound champ Amir Khan. According to Schaefer, Morales feels he is the better man than Maidana and he is sure he won the April 9th battle. This fight is probably the one Morales most wants. And who knows, if he did what he did with one eye closed pretty much for all 12-rounds, what could a Morales who would be able to see left hands coming at him be able to do?

As for a Khan fight: Schaefer told Rafael that this fight is dependant on the ongoing Khan-Timothy Bradley situation. As fans may have read, the talked-of July 23rd 140-pound unification fight is in some doubt right now, due to negotiating issues relating to the money side of things. Schaefer says that if Khan and Bradley do not meet on July 23rd, Khan could defend against Morales on that date instead.

And, as big a fight as this would be for Morales (another chance to become Mexico’s first ever four-weight world champion), I personally would fear for Morales if the fight took place. Okay, we all feared for Morales ahead of the Maidana fight and he proved we had no need to. But Khan, with his blinding speed, would, in my opinion, make Morales look foolish as he boxed him out of sight. Maidana, a crude fighter at the best of times, gave Morales opportunities to score punches. I don’t think the superior boxing skills of Khan would give Morales the same chances.

In any case, after the great effort he gave on April 9th, Morales deserves at least one more big fight. Far from shot, “El Terrible” proved last time out that he really is a special fighter. But would a Khan fight be a step too far for the man with 58 pro fights on his body?

 

[bigface]

Arthur Abraham is scared of that ass whipping he's going to get.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

I read they worked it out. There will be a ref from Puerto Rico. One German judge, one america judge and one from South Africa. All is good. Abraham's promoter was just putting up a hissy fit.

 

[bigface]

I hope Ward Knocks him out.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

he's going to make those nazi promoters squirm again, just like he did against kessler:

LOL @ Sauerland (on the right) got made into a straight retard!

 

[heyzel]

Warren: Khan might have to make some sacrifices to get Bradley

By William Mackay: WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (27-0, 11 KO’s) doesn’t see any point in fighting WBA champion Amir Khan with the money they’re offering him to take the fight. Promoter Frank Warren, in his column at thesun.co.uk, believes that if Khan wants the fight with Bradley then Khan is going to have to make some financial sacrifices to get the fight.

Here is what Warren had to say:

“It’s the fact that he’s [Bradley] got two titles to Khan’s one that makes him a tough man to negotiate with and why should he take the short end?”

Warren went on to point out that Khan and HBO might have to come up with the money if they want to take on quality fighters. Khan also didn’t help himself by taking on Paul McCloskey and not impressing in that fight.

This is true. You can’t come off of an unimpressive performance against an unknown fighter like McCloskey and then expect Bradley, who just finished beating a much better fighter than McCloskey in Devon Alexander, to take the smaller money.

Khan might as well stick to facing McCloskey type fighters if he expects to get the bigger money when facing a guy like Bradley. There is something wrong with that picture. Bradley has more titles and has taken on the better fighters, so why should he take the smaller money?

If Khan doesn’t want to make sacrifices to fight a champion like Bradley then let Khan try his luck in a rematch with Breidis Prescott. I’d love to see that. Prescott would like knock Khan out again and then no one would be talking about Khan-Bradley.

 

[heyzel]

Hopkins-Pascal on 5/21: Bernard attempting to become the oldest world title holder in

By Dan Ambrose: 46-year-old Bernard Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 KO’s) looks to become the oldest fighter ever to capture a major title when he takes on WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KO’s) in a rematch next month on May 21st in an HBO televised bout at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Hopkins tried his luck last December but failed to capture the WBC belt after getting knocked down a couple of times in a close fight and had to settle for a 12 round majority draw.

Hopkins complained bitterly about the results and felt that he should have won the fight. However, with Hopkins down on the canvas twice, he really didn’t have much room to argue that he deserved a decision under those circumstances. He now vows to win the fight this time and prove that an older fighter like him can still beat the younger guys. We’ll see because Pascal is training harder this time around and has come up with a better strategy to beat Hopkins with this time.

Pascal made the mistake of trying to pot shot his way to victory against Hopkins in what looked to be a poor imitation of Roy Jones Jr’s win over Hopkins many years ago in 1993. However, Pascal didn’t have Jones’ defensive skills and excellent foot speed to avoid Hopkins’ pressuring tactics and was often forced to fight it out with Hopkins on the inside. This favored Hopkins because he showed that he’s got much better inside skills compared to Pascal, even at this late stage in his career.

Pascal has ramp up his offense and let his hands go with rapid nonstop punches the way that Joe Calzaghe did in his win over Hopkins. The way to beat a 46-year-old fighter isn’t to try and pot shot him into submission; you have to set a fast pace by throwing a massive amount of punches in every round and make him use up all his energy. This is where you’ll see the old man in Hopkins come out. He’ll likely start flopping around on the canvas, complaining to the referee about phantom low blows and other such fight delaying actions in order to get a breather in the action. This is what Pascal failed to realize last time he fought Hopkins.

 

[heyzel]

Khan-Bradley: The money and public interest just isn’t there for this fight

By Dan Ambrose: While WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (25-1, 17 KO’s) and a certain segment of U.S. boxing fans want to see him fight WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (27-0, 11 KO’s) next in July, the problem is the interest and the money for this fight aren’t huge as of yet. Khan doesn’t mind taking the fight because he’ll likely be getting UK money on top of the $1.4 million he’d make from HBO.

However, Bradley would only be getting $1.3 million and he’s already guaranteed a $1.2 million payday by HBO no matter who Bradley fights next. It makes no sense for Bradley to fight Khan for only $1.3. The fight is way too premature right now for the big money that Bradley and Khan could be getting if they wait for a year or two. Bradley would be making a mistake to fight Khan anytime soon. The fight needs to marinate two or three years while Khan builds a following in the U.S, and the same for Bradley.

It’s too early for this fight and if Bradley takes it now for the money that’s been offered to him, it will pretty much mean that his future fights will likely be bringing in less than that number. Since this is the biggest fight for Bradley in the light welterweight division and it doesn’t get better than this, why short change yourself by taking the small money? Bradley needs to let this fight build. If Khan doesn’t want to wait, so be it. Let him move up to welterweight and cherry pick opponents if he wants to.

If Khan fights anyone good like Victor Ortiz, Mike Jones or Andre Berto, he’s going to get knocked out and send back down to the light welterweight division hunting for Bradley again. Bradley doesn’t have to rush because Khan has nowhere to go. He won’t win any fans by taking on and beating one of the welterweight paper champions like Vyacheslav Senchenko and Jan Zaveck, because U.S. fans have no clue who those fighters are. The only way Khan wins any fans at welterweight is to take on the best and I see him losing and ending up back at light welterweight.

Bradley needs to go after the best names at light welterweight and then look to take on Khan in at least two years after Khan has fought at least six more times in the U.S. The Bradley-Khan fight will be huge that way and Bradley will get a big payday instead of the small money he’s being offered now. It’s got to be a pay-per-view bout and right now neither Khan or Bradley are well known enough in the U.S to make their fight a PPV bout. They need more fights under their belt before they can get the big money

 

[heyzel]

Brook: Khan is killing himself to make 140

By Sean McDaniel: Unbeaten welterweight contender Kell Brook (23-0, 16 KO’s) is eagerly waiting for WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (25-1, 17 KO’s) to finally move up in weight to the welterweight division so that he can get a crack at fighting Khan. Brook, 24, realizes that the 5’10″ Khan will have to move up in weight sooner or later because he’s quickly out-growing the 140 pound limit at light welterweight. Brook can’t wait until Khan finally does move up, as he wants to face him and add his scalp to his resume.

In an article at the BBC, Brook said “He’s [Khan] definitely going to step up. I know that he’s killing himself to make ten stones so he’s going to move up to my division. Best thing for me to do is to gran hold of a world title and then he needs to fight me because he’ll want that belt I’ve got and it will be easier to make the fight happen.”

Brook is partly correct. He will definitely help himself by capturing one of the welterweight titles. However, it might not be easy to get a shot at one of the champions because the WBO welterweight champ is Manny Pacquiao, and he won’t likely ever fight a little known fighter like Brook. I can see Brook getting bypassed forever as long as Pacquiao is the champion. Brook isn’t currently ranked in the top 15 by the IBF, WBA or WBC in the welterweight division. That makes it even tougher for Brook to force one of these champions to fight him. He could end up waiting forever for Pacquiao to finally give up his WBO belt before he has a chance to try and claim it against someone like #1 WBO contender Mike Jones. And at the same time, even if Brook did capture one of the titles, Khan could easily move around him to take on one of the paper champions like Jan Zaveck or Vyacheslav Senchenko. Khan wouldn’t need the aggravation and danger of facing someone as skilled as Brook when he has two paper champions he could pick to fight.

Khan will likely do whatever he has to do to stay at light welterweight because he’s vulnerable against the bigger punchers in the welterweight division. At light welterweight, Khan has a much better chance of staying on top for longer than he does at welterweight.

 

[heyzel]

Froch doesn’t care whether he faces Abraham or Ward in the finals – if he makes it pa

By William Mackay: WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch is reportedly in talks with Eddie Hearn, the promoter for Mathroom Sport, to have him take over as his new promoter. Froch recently split with his old promoter Mick Hennessy and is looking for a replacement. Froch said that he had a favorable meeting with Hearn recently and was impressed. Froch’s next fight will be against 42-year-old Glen Johnson on June 4th in the Super Six tournament semifinals, which will be taking place in the United States at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Froch says he doesn’t care who he fights in the finals of the Super Six tourney if he can get by Johnson in June. The choices are Andre Ward, the WBA super middleweight champion, or Arthur Abraham. Froch already has a win over Abraham last year in the Super Six tourney, so it won’t be as nearly a big an obstacle for Froch then a fight against the much quicker Ward.

Speaking with Steve Bunce, Froch said “I’ve just had a promising meeting with Eddie Hearn. He’s a gentleman; he knows what he’s talking about. The Super Six final will be around the Autumn time. Hopefully that’s going to be against Andre Ward. I don’t mind if it’s against Abraham because that’s another fight that I can win, but the exciting fight and the one the Americans want is Ward.”

Froch would figure to be the underdog in the Ward fight because Froch doesn’t have the same hand speed or the boxing skills that the American possesses. Froch’s best chance of winning against Ward is to try and knock him out. He won’t be able to out-work him or out-box Ward because Froch is too much of a slugger and doesn’t have the same skills as the younger Ward has going for him.

All of this may end up being meaningless if Froch can’t get by Johnson. That fight will be a very tough one for Froch because Johnson has much more experience and does well against sluggers like Froch.

 

[heyzel]

Pac-Man Tells Mike Marley: “If I Hit Mayweather Like Mosley Did, I Finish Him

By James Slater: Will Floyd Mayweather ever fight again? If he does will it be against Manny Pacquiao? Fans have been asking these two questions and a whole bunch of others regarding “Money” for months now. It was this day last year, May 1st, when the legally-troubled 34-year-old superstar last fought. That Las Vegas night, Mayweather came through one of the biggest crisis of his masterful career, as he ate two huge head shots from “Sugar” Shane Mosley in a dramatic 2nd-round.

Mosley is now less than a week away from getting his chance to land the same kind of dynamite on the chin or head (or body) of the reigning P-4-P king. Fans are wondering if Mosley, if he can crack Pac-Man as hard as he did Mayweather, can put Pacquiao down, maybe even keep him there. But other fans - those still optimistic Mayweather Vs. Pacquiao will happen - are wondering what would happen if Pacquiao belted Mayweather the way Mosley did.

One man who asked Manny this exact question personally, is top scribe Mike Marley. In his column on examiner.com, Marley wrote how Pac-Man said this:

“If I can hit Mayweather like that, I will finish him off,” Pacquiao said. “I would continue the attack in a way Mosley did not. I will attack until Mayweather is gone.”

Some fans argue how Pacquiao, with his blinding speed and his southpaw stance, would be able to get the job done against the unbeaten Mayweather. Other fans argue that Floyd’s defensive attributes would be firing on all cylinders in a fight with Pac-Man, and that there would be no defensive lapse the kind we saw a year ago today. Who is right and who is wrong, however, is looking more and more like a question which will never be answered.

Mayweather’s two trials have both been put back again, with July being the new date for the more serious of the two cases. Pacquiao is already looking at his next fight after Mosley as a result; with Mexican great Juan Manuel Marquez reportedly in the frame for a third clash with the global sensation. In the meantime, we have Pacquiao-Mosley, this Saturday. In some ways a poor man’s Pacquiao-Mayweather, Saturday’s fight has nonetheless got fans excited.

Mosley, as he proved against the harder-to-hit Mayweather, always has at least a puncher’s chance. Pacquiao, as he showed against the much bigger Antonio Margarito, is at the peak of his powers. For my money, we will not get to find out whether or not Pac-Man can take the kind of shot that wobbled Mayweather. Mosley, almost 40, will be too slow and unable to pull the trigger. Look for Pacquiao to win a wide, comfortable, one-sided decision this weekend. No doubt Mayweather will be watching!