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Jul 24, 2005
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Haye wants a 50-50 purse split for Wladimir rematch

By William Mackay: Former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-2, 23 KO’s) reportedly not only wants a rematch with IBF/WBA/WBO Wladimir Klitschko (56-3, 49 KO’s) without having to fight one or two times to try and redeem himself, Haye also wants a 50-50 purse split of the revenue, according to thesun.co.uk.

This is pretty amusing given that Haye was beaten by Wladimir on July 2nd in a 12 round decision loss in a fight that Haye was never really competitive in.

Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir’s brother, had this to say about Haye wanting a 50-50 deal: “Does he not realize he is the challenger? He has no belts and here he is demanding things. David Haye is done.”

Haye says he’ll be retiring on October 13th when he turns 31 unless Wladimir gives him a rematch. Wladimir isn’t going to give Haye an immediate rematch and is looking at possibly taking on Dereck Chisora if he can get by Tyson Fury on July 23. In the meantime, Vitali offered to fight Haye, but Haye said that he has “No beef” with Vitali. Some boxing fans see this as meaning that Haye is afraid of Vitali and wants no part of fighting him. Haye states that the reason he wants a rematch with Wladimir is that he lost to him and he wants to avenge the defeat before retiring.

That makes sense, but what doesn’t make sense is Haye asking for a 50-50 purse split and not wanting to fight anyone to show that he’s capable of beating top fighters. The loss to Wladimir was so one-sided that it would be a lot harder to get the kind of interest from boxing fans that they had last time.

Haye could help out the situation by at least beating a life body and showing he’s not a fighter that was based on hype. After all, all of Haye’s wins at heavyweight came against aging heavyweights and not young fighters. At heavyweight, Haye’s wins have come against 39-year-old Audley Harrison, 38-year-old John Ruiz, 38-year-old Monte Barrett and 36-year-old Nikolay Valuev.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Virgil Hunter: “I have Carl Froch rated above Andre Ward, and until Andre Ward beats

by Geoffrey Ciani (Exclusive Interview by Jenna J & Geoffrey Ciani) - Last week’s 132nd edition of On the Ropes Boxing Radio (brought to you by CWH Promotions) featured an exclusive interview with highly regarded trainer Virgil Hunter who is currently preparing WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KOs) to square off against WBC champion Carl Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) in a unification bout that will also be for the Super Six championship. Hunter spoke about the Super Six, and also provided opinions on various other aspects of the boxing landscape including Lucian Bute, Wladimir Klitschko’s victory over David Haye, Mike Dallas Junior’s controversial loss to Mauricio Herrera, Bernard Hopkins becoming the oldest boxer to win a major world championship, and more. Here is what Virgil had to say:

His views on the progression of the Super Six tournament and the fact that Andre Ward has advanced all the way to the Finals:

“Well I think tournament’s progressed in the way everyone expected, particularly with all the things that went on during the duration of the tournament. I don’t think that you could ask for a better conclusion. We worked hard to win this tournament and we intend to win the tournament, and we’re now at the point where we have one more obstacle to overcome.”

His views of Andre Ward’s progress during the tournament and the fact that he has overcome the odds:

“Well the odds were before the action, so you know you kind of just have to accept that for the way it is. I knew Andre could beat Mikkel Kessler before the tournament started. I had been studying Kessler for quite awhile and it boils down to styles. We possess several styles and we knew we had two or three that he wouldn’t be able to cope with, and that’s not taking anything away from Kessler. He’s a great champion, but we wouldn’t have entered this tournament if we didn’t intend to win it. We didn’t think we could win it. We didn’t hope we could win it. We intend to win it and we knew we were going to win it, so that was the whole point of getting into the tournament. We didn’t just want to belong. We wanted to come out on top and that was the goal, and that’s where we’re headed.”

On whether he views the matchup between Andre Ward and Carl Froch as the perfect way to conclude the Super Six:

“I think the path that both fighters have taken, absolutely it is the ultimate grand finale so to speak. Froch has proven his meddle, I think Andre has proven his, and it shouldn’t be any other way. That’s not to discount Glen and Allan Green who came into the tournament as replacements. But they were the original six, so I think it’s only fitting that out of that original six the last two would be Froch and Andre.”

On criticisms of the opponents Ward was matched up with following his fight with Kessler to reach the Super Six Final:

“Well I mean how do you take those criticisms? Mikkel Kessler was a champion. Allan Green was a high rated contender. Arthur Abraham was a champion, and he was actually a favorite to win it. Sakio Bika is someone nobody wants to fight, and we beat him at his own game. Criticism is part of the sport and we accept that hand-in-hand. It doesn’t make a difference what you’re going to do. No matter what you do you’re going to get criticized, so all you can do is take one fight at a time, win that fight, and move on to the next one. Andre is the only one in this tournament that’s had two replacements. We didn’t ask for that, and out of those two replacements he didn’t pick his opponents. He didn’t pick Allan Green, Showtime picked Allan Green. He didn’t pick Sakio Bika, Showtime picked Sakio Bika. So we never complained. We could have looked for a lesser fight. I really believe after Andre Dirrell’s unfortunate accident we took Sakio Bika. It just comes with the territory. It’s just the way it is, so you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t.”

On whether he is at all worried that success will make it more difficult for Andre Ward to stay motivated and hungry for success:

“No, not at all because I don’t see at this point where success has been so relevant to Andre’s career that he would even take the mindset that hey, you know what I’ve done it all and there’s not much more to do, where there are no more big fights where he’ll be less motivated or something of that nature. Just going back to what Jenna said, just the criticism alone is something that he has no control over. That’s enough to motivate him continuously. He has his dreams, he has his goals in boxing, and until he hangs them up he’ll be motivated. It’s just the type of kid that he is. He will never be in a situation where he will not be motivated, because when the tournament is over they will have somebody else for him to fight, or there will be someone else where they say maybe this guy will be a good test, or maybe that guy will be a good test. The way Andre is doing it right now, no one seems to think he’s being tested because of the way he’s doing it. So if there is a test out there, we welcome it and we’re ready for it.”

His views on Andre Ward’s development and progression as a fighter from the time they first started working with each other when Ward was an amateur:

“Well I think one of the major things is that we made the right decision to allow him to develop as a professional fighter. I don’t think people understand that when you are a top amateur and you start at nine years old, and you go all the way to the Olympics, to fight the computer in the point system it takes a different kind of style to win. So you have to take the professional out and you have to put more or less defensive type of boxing in and he has to understand how to touch those targets, he has to understand what the judges are looking for. It’s not like when Leonard and everyone else was boxing. They had an opportunity to develop as a pro as an amateur. They wore no head gear. They fought three three-minute rounds with card scoring. So a lot of things were scored back in those days that isn’t scored now. So the fighter has to make an adjustment and when you have a fighter who’s been doing this for ten years, all of a sudden to expect him to be this type of fighter is really unreasonable. I think we went about it right. His development has come in increments like they’re supposed to. I believe Andre could have won a title at 23 years old just on youth and energy alone, and raise up to the occasion in the moment. But then what happens after that? You have to continuously fight and defend and hold off men. So we wanted to wait until he was a man. We wanted to see how he developed as a man, and when he was ready and I decided that he was ready, he was ready for anybody! Believe it or not, before the tournament started we had contacted Froch, we had contacted Kessler, we had contacted Bute, and they all turned us down. So the tournament provided the right platform for us and gave us the opportunity, but when he fought Miranda he was ready for anybody.”

On whether he agrees with Nazim Richard’s claim that we have not even seen close to the best of Andre Ward:

“He’s very accurate in his assessment and the reason why is, and I’ll go back to the Olympics one more time. When Andre won the Gold Medal in the light heavyweight division he was really a middleweight. He had made a pact with his cousin DonYil Livingston that they wouldn’t fight in the same weight class. So DonYil Livingston qualified at 165 and Andre moved up to give him an opportunity at 165. At no time in the Olympics in the 178 pound division did he even weigh 170 pounds, and he was fighting guys 6’6”/6’5”, two-time world champions. He fought three world champions and one Silver Medalist to win the Gold Medal. So again the adjustments that he had to make in order to win this suggested that when he turned pro, that we take our time with him. It would take time for him to move over to the pro aspects of boxing and become a solid pro. He’s just now becoming a solid pro. His IQ and his intellect has been professional, but his performance and his attributes in terms of when and where and how in the ring, is becoming around 80% now, and the 20% is going to be the grand finale, and that’s a true accurate assessment.”

His views on Mike Dallas Junior’s controversial loss against Mauricio Herrera on a recent edition of Friday Night Fights:

“That was a difficult night, particularly when you get a young man and you work with him for six weeks. He gives you everything that he has. He believes in what you’re telling him and he believes in what you’re working on with him, and he goes out and he executes! Did he turn into the complete fighter that I believe he can be? Not yet, it’s not soon enough. That was our first camp, but he did enough most certainly to win the fight. I mean it’s a consensus atmosphere when you speak with anybody that he won that fight. I can’t find anybody who says that he didn’t, so it was very disappoint for him and it was very disappointing for me. But in this business you have to move forward, you have to put it behind you, and you have to ask why would somebody go against us. We’ve identified what possibly could have been the reason, even though you kind of battle back and forth but you do have to make that decision on what could possibly have been the reason. He’ll be back up here in Oakland, California next week and we’ll see if we can correct what we feel like somebody took and saw a certain way, and we’ll make the necessary adjustments and corrections. Hopefully the next time it will be very clear to all those who are judging that he won the fight.”

Regarding specific things he believes Mike Dallas Junior could have done better that the judges might possibly be scoring against:

“The conclusion that I came to is that he’s going to have to go forward more, and also when he ties a man up it gives the appearance of holding as opposed to tying him up. Those are the two things that I took and that’s the two things that I intend to correct. As time goes along from the offensive end, he’s got the offense, he’s learning how to settle down, he’s learning how to recognize situations, and it’s painful to say we need to work on this when you knew in your heart we won. But you have to go through it. You have to confront it and you have to go through it. We feel in our hearts that we won the fight and when we go back to the drawing board we take the attitude that something cost us that fight and we intend to correct it. We can’t do anything about the judges. They have to do their work also. It’s an unforgiving sport, and you have to take the next fight in stride. You just can’t go back. Saying that, it’s going to be a great fight out for Michael Dallas his next time out regardless of who he fights.”

Regarding when he feels Michael Dallas Junior will return to the ring and whether he thinks a rematch with Herrera is a possibility:

“Well a rematch for what? I mean he really won the fight. I would like to see him take on somebody that he’s not supposed to beat as opposed to going back and doing a rematch with somebody that he did win. He’s going to have to be in that position I believe at some point in order to bring himself further along and challenge himself. There is no sense in having a rematch with Herrera when you beat him, and I doubt if they’d take the rematch anyway. There is nothing significant on the line. Now if he wants to put his belt on the line, which he didn’t do this time that might be something to be considered. But if it’s the same scenario and the same setup I don’t see where it would be relevant. I don’t make those calls. That’s just my personal opinion.”

His views on Wladimir Klitschko’s unification victory against David Haye and whether he thinks this has had an impact on the heavyweight division:

“I don’t know how it can effect it any more than it has been. It’s obvious that boxing is not being taught from the grassroots. I think a lot of time is being spendt on irrelevant things as far as strength works and things of that nature as opposed to teaching a person how to fight. David Haye was pretty stymied in his approach to that fight in the sense that he had no idea how to get in. When you’re sitting there and you’re watching this and you’re saying this is all you have to do to get in and when you get in what to do and it’s not being applied. The coaching is different now. It’s appealing to what the people want to see, basically a blood and guts type of fight, and skill is becoming secondary now. But it takes skill to win a fight! Haye has come a long way. He was a cruiserweight champion. I’m certainly not minimizing him. I like David Haye. I think he’s very exciting, but in a fight of that magnitude against a champion of that size and the duration that he’s been on the throne, I didn’t see a plan! I didn’t see something clear cut that said this is what it’s going to take to beat him and this is what we’re going to apply. I didn’t see a plan. I just saw a Hail Mary attitude that I believe I can catch him, and it looks like the whole camp was based on at some point in this fight I’m going to catch him and it’s going to go in my favor. I mean that’s the way he fought that fight, and then you have a champion who’s reluctant and he has all these physical attributes, and every time you do come in and he pulls away and grabs you and pushes you down. There you go! Not one time did I see Wladimir Klitschko try to set David Haye up. Or I didn’t see Wladimir Klitschko do like George Foreman did against Joe Frazier and say, look you’re the smaller man, you don’t have any business in the ring with me, I’m the King of the Jungle, and I’m going to get ready to walk you down and beat you down. I’m just going to hit you everywhere and there is nothing you can do. Why are you just going for his head? When you’re that size and you got that kind of power and you feel in your heart that you’re the King, then you go out and you just put the beating down and he will succumb to it. I didn’t see that either, so it was inevitable it was going to be that type of fight. Both men were leery of each other.”

Regarding which fellow boxing trainers out there today he has the most respect for:

“First and foremost, being in the training fraternity I dare not bad mouth any trainer because I know what they’re going up against. Saying that is to say that I admire the trainers that I see strategy in their approach, and I also admire trainers that have exhibited longevity in the sport in being able to win. You know, Freddie Roach, Nazim Richardson, Emanuel Steward, and the list goes on and on and on. I couldn’t name everybody. These are just some that come off the top of my head. I think Robert McCracken is a good coach with Froch. I think he’s done a good job with Froch. I believe Leon Lawson Senior is a good coach with what he’s done with Andre Dirrell, being able to take things to all sides and never letting an opponent get settled and having success with a young pup in the game. It goes on and on. Everybody has their philosophy. Everybody has their approach. I tend to go back more to the old school fundamentals over and over and over again, and skill above all.”

His views on Bernard Hopkins’ historic victory against Jean Pascal when he became the oldest fighter to win a major world championship at age 46:

“Well I think it validates what I just said. He’s taken that skill to such a level that he has developed that sense in boxing. There is a sense in boxing that, regardless of his age he’s able to sense what you’re going to do. So what happens is as the fight progresses you begin to look slow-motion to him because he cans sense what you’re going to do, and because he’s been in the ring so long he’s developed fundamental so long. He never deviated from that, and remarkably he was able to reinvent himself three times and that’s really saying something, because when you look at his early career he was a beast. He’d come right out of there and take it to you. Starting with the Trinidad fight he began to show his technical side, and then in the last two Pascal fights he came back and blended both in. I thought it was just incredible and just remarkable, but it just goes to show you that boxing more than any other sport like baseball or football where it calls for a different type of hand-eye and not so much sense. You can fight until your mid/late 40s if you were developed early on with the fundamentals and the skills because his senses are intact, very intact, so things look slow-motion to Bernard Hopkins and I think he’s exhibited that.”

His views on Carl Froch’s strengths as a fighter and what types of things he believes Froch can do in the ring which might cause Andre Ward some problems:

“Well first and foremost I’m a Carl Froch fan. I admire his bravado, I admire his confidence, and I admire the path that he’s taken, and I think that all of the accolades that come to him are justified. Of course I don’t want to get too much into what I perceive as his weaknesses. I have identified Carl Froch’s strengths and I have identified his weaknesses, and I believe the main focus and the main catalyst in this fight would be that Froch has a different perception of Andre outside of the ring that’s going to be totally different when he gets inside the ring. But I don’t blame him. He’s no different than anyone else who’s watched Andre and made predictions before they have fought him. So I think his weakness is his bravado. I think he puts up a good talk in front of the microphones and I think behind the scenes, and there is proof of this, that he worries a lot. I also think that his coach is not 100% confident in him. He made a comment that as long as Froch does what he wants him to do he’ll be alright. So that tells me he has no confidence in Froch thinking on his own, so it’s our job to get him in a situation where he has to think on his own. It’s our job to take whatever plan McCracken has and to get in Carl Froch’s mind that that plan is not working, and that’s what we intend to do. That fight will go in many different facets, but we intend to control all the facets. I know he made his comments about the back foot or whatever. It could be the back foot, the left foot, the good foot, the athletic foot, anything he wants we have an answer for, and I think he’s going to be surprised when he finds out that what he saw on the outside is not really like it is on the inside. So it’s going to be an interesting fight and we’re very much up for it.”

His views on where Andre Ward would rank pound-for-pound should he beat Carl Froch and win the Super Six:

“I don’t know where the public will have him. I tend to think that I always rate Andre beneath somebody he hasn’t fought, so I have Carl Froch rated above Andre Ward, and until Andre Ward beats Carl Froch he’ll stay beneath him. I have him rated beneath Lucian Bute, because he hasn’t fought him yet and that’s my philosophy. If you haven’t fought him, regardless of what the public feels and the public thinks you’re beneath him. They were champions before you were champions defending their titles. Froch is actually a two-time champion, so his credentials are much more impressive than yours at this time. But now when you beat him, then we can flip the script but until you beat him you have to accept your place where we feel like you should be, and he and I are in agreement with that. When he wins the Super Six tournament there’s a lot more work to do. I know we have a lot of goals in this business. We would like to win a light heavyweight title at some point and we’d like to fight the best of them, at all points fight the best.”

His views on Lucian Bute as a champion and whether he thinks Bute would be a logical opponent for Andre Ward should he win the Super Six:

“Well first of all, being a realist in boxing like I am, you can’t be critical of Bute when you have situations that go on where people are being maneuvered into titles. You have Canelo being maneuvered into a title. He’s fighting guys who are not even ranked in the division below him and he’s getting accolades and praises for that, so how can you knock Lucian Bute? You have Chavez Junior being maneuvered into a title and he’s getting accolades and praises for that, for fighting someone and disregarding those who are truly worthy of the challenge. So when you look at that aspect of boxing you have to tell the truth and say how can you talk about Lucian Bute? He’s not doing anything different than some people are. I happen to think he’s a great champion because he’s doing what he’s supposed to do with the people that he’s fighting and getting them out of there. Canelo is going the distance and he’s struggling. Chavez is going the distance and he’s struggling. He’s getting his people out of there so I have to give him credit for that, and by no means is he an unworthy champion. His time will come. Now I do have reservations as to whether or not he should get a shot right away after Froch and Ward and everyone has come through the gauntlet so to speak. I do have reservations about that, because it’s almost like you’re sitting there at the end and just waiting for a reward without working for it. Like I just mentioned, I’ve seen that with Canelo and Chavez Junior. By no means is he an unworthy champion. He’s worthy of every bit if praise that he gets, and I have nothing demeaning to say about him. He’s a tremendous talent, he works hard, he’s a big draw, he’s popular, and my hat goes off to him. One day I hope that we fight and I hope that fight will be soon. I am disappointed he and Kessler didn’t fight. I was very disappointed that Kessler decided to take the route that he took. I don’t know the particulars behind it, but with the politics of the sport there’s a lot. I just don’t understand why they would trot him out to Montreal and do all the things that they did, and the fight didn’t take place. It looks like he’s going to fight Kelly next. I think that will be a very interesting fight. By no means in my opinion is Kelly Pavlik through. You can’t base it on his last fight after such a long layoff and the tremendous odds that he’s overcome. I think he’s going to be a player in the division, and I think he’s somebody if they don’t take seriously they’re going to realize they made a mistake. The division is very interesting. The division is very strong. There are a lot of opportunities out there and I just hope everything stays intact in terms of fairness and who deserves it and who’s worth of it. I’m a fan of the super middleweight division right now and Bute, I’m a fan of his also.”

On whether he believes the Super Six can help generate more positive interest in boxing:

“I think it is a fight that will bring more attention to the sport, and in particular to the division. I expect a very, very competitive fight, but I also expect to emerge victorious and in spectacular fashion. That doesn’t mean it’s not going to be an entertaining fight, but we intend to be dominant and we will be dominant, just plain and simple.”
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Boxing Only Needs 7 Weight Divisions…Not 17!!!

By David Kassell: When people argue that boxing is a dying sport I always find about 100 different reasons to prove them wrong. A lot of people have gotten on the MMA bandwagon and no disrespect to Mixed Martial Arts (I am a fan of the sport as well), but the fact is that boxing still generates more revenue and draws better television audiences than MMA.

With that being said however, there is one thing I hear people say that I have no argument for (other than it’s just another way for the sanctioning bodies to earn more money). Boxing has too many weight classes. Mixed Martial Arts only has 9 nine weight divisions while boxing currently has 17. Boxing weight classes currently read as follows…

Heavyweight…(201 lbs & up)
Cruiserweight…(200 lbs)
Light-Heavyweight…(175 lbs)
Super-Middleweight…(168 lbs)
Middleweight…(160 lbs)
Junior-Middleweight…(154 lbs)
Welterweight…(147 lbs)
Junior-Welterweight…(140 lbs)
Lightweight…(135 lbs)
Super-Feathertweight…(130 lbs)
Featherweight…(126 lbs)
Super-Bantamweight…(122 lbs)
Bantamweight…(118 lbs)
Super-Flyweight…(115 lbs)
Flyweight…(112 lbs)
Light-Flyweight…(108 lbs)
Minimumweight…(105 lbs)

Count them yourselves…17 weight classes. I don’t so much have a problem with the Heavyweight and Cruiserweight divisions, but once we start getting into each weight class only separated by 7 pounds or less we have a problem.

Part of the reason fans don’t see the best fighters matched up against one another is fighters try to stick to these ridiculous weight restrictions and are unwilling to move up.

The solution is simple and will eliminate needless excuses about fighters moving up in weight or having to drain themselves to make weight. Imagine boxing where every fighter comes into the ring in great shape and doesn’t have to starve themselves making them weak come the championship rounds. The following realignment of weight divisions would help bring boxing back stronger than ever…

Heavyweight (201 lbs & up)
Potential match-ups: Klitschko vs Klitschko (of course this will never happen), Adamek vs Haye

Light-Heavyweight (176-200 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Bernard Hopkins vs Steve Cunningham, Tavoris Cloud vs Marco Huck, Danny Green vs Jean Pascal

Middleweight (161-175 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Sergio Martinez vs Andre Ward, Bernard Hopkins vs Lucian Bute, Carl Froch vs Andy Lee

Welterweight (148-160 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Floyd Mayweather vs Sergio Martinez, Victor Ortiz vs Saul Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao vs Alfredo Angulo

Lightweight (136-147 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Mayweather vs Pacquiao, Marcos Maidana vs Brandon Rios, Juan Manuel Marquez vs Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan vs Robert Guerrero

Bantamweight (123-135 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Yuriorkis Gamboa vs Adrian Broner, Chris John vs Daniel Ponce de Leon, Brandon Rios vs Juan Manuel Lopez

Flyweight (122 & down)
Potential match-ups: Nonito Donaire vs Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Joseph Agbeko vs Giovani Segura
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Judah refuses to speak to British media at Khan-Judah press conference

By William Mackay: IBF light welterweight champion Zab Judah reportedly refused to answer questions from the British media at today’s press conference with WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan to publicize their July 23rd unification bout in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to boxing news from Dan Rafael, Judah chose not to speak to the British media because he wasn’t given any of Khan’s British pay-per-view money for this fight.

I can understand where Judah is coming from. Here he is the bigger star in the U.S and the fighter that is going to be helping Khan possibly make a name for himself if he can somehow win the fight, yet Judah isn’t given a share of the PPV money. However, Judah should have backed out of the fight during the negotiations rather than taking it out on the British press, though. Judah could have fought someone else and let Khan take on one of the other top contenders.

Obviously, Khan’s options wouldn’t that good because his first choice Erik Morales was recently beaten by Marcos Maidana and declined to fight Khan. He would have likely had to get someone like Lamont Peterson to fight him, and that’s fight that mainly hardcore boxing fans would be interested in seeing. Judah should have backed out. If Khan wanted the Judah fight badly enough, he would have given him a taste of the British PPV money.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Lara a potential opponent for Saul Alvarez or Dzinziruk

By Dan Ambrose: Provided that junior middleweight fringe contender Erislandy Lara’s slight facial fracture heals quickly enough, he could be a potential opponent for WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (37-0-1, 27 KO’s) for his second title defense, which is scheduled to take place on September 17th in Mexico.

There’s talk that Lara could get that fight or he could get a fight against World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk for his next title defense. Lara recently lost a controversial 12 round majority decision to Paul Williams.

Many boxing fans and writers saw Lara winning the fight. Williams thus far hasn’t shown any interest in giving Lara a rematch. However, a fight against Alvarez or Dzinziruk would be a lot better for Lara than facing Williams again, because those fighters have titles and Williams currently without a title. But that said, Lara might have a lot of problems against either Alvarez or Dzinziruk because they’re a lot better boxers than Williams.

Alvarez might be especially difficult because he hits hard and has excellent boxing skills. Lara showed in the Williams fight that he has little power to speak of. If he has to take Alvarez’s big shots for 12 rounds, things might not go well for Lara. And with Dzinziruk, he’s got an excellent jab and would no doubt keep the shorter Lara on the outside all night long.

Dzinziruk was recently beaten for the first time in his career in a loss to Sergio Martinez. Dzinziruk couldn’t handle Martinez’s huge left hand shots. Lara doesn’t have anywhere close to the same kind of power as Martinez and wouldn’t be able to give Dzinziruk the same kinds of issues.

Lara seems more suited towards the amateur game because when he fought for the Cuban team his lack of power didn’t matter. The amateur game is about scoring points, but in professional boxing you have to have power. This is where Lara is badly lacking. I see Alvarez knocking him out and Dzinziruk, a decent puncher in his own right, taking him out as well
 

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Apr 25, 2002
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www.godscalamity.com
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By David Kassell: When people argue that boxing is a dying sport I always find about 100 different reasons to prove them wrong. A lot of people have gotten on the MMA bandwagon and no disrespect to Mixed Martial Arts (I am a fan of the sport as well), but the fact is that boxing still generates more revenue and draws better television audiences than MMA.

With that being said however, there is one thing I hear people say that I have no argument for (other than it’s just another way for the sanctioning bodies to earn more money). Boxing has too many weight classes. Mixed Martial Arts only has 9 nine weight divisions while boxing currently has 17. Boxing weight classes currently read as follows…

Heavyweight…(201 lbs & up)
Cruiserweight…(200 lbs)
Light-Heavyweight…(175 lbs)
Super-Middleweight…(168 lbs)
Middleweight…(160 lbs)
Junior-Middleweight…(154 lbs)
Welterweight…(147 lbs)
Junior-Welterweight…(140 lbs)
Lightweight…(135 lbs)
Super-Feathertweight…(130 lbs)
Featherweight…(126 lbs)
Super-Bantamweight…(122 lbs)
Bantamweight…(118 lbs)
Super-Flyweight…(115 lbs)
Flyweight…(112 lbs)
Light-Flyweight…(108 lbs)
Minimumweight…(105 lbs)

Count them yourselves…17 weight classes. I don’t so much have a problem with the Heavyweight and Cruiserweight divisions, but once we start getting into each weight class only separated by 7 pounds or less we have a problem.

Part of the reason fans don’t see the best fighters matched up against one another is fighters try to stick to these ridiculous weight restrictions and are unwilling to move up.

The solution is simple and will eliminate needless excuses about fighters moving up in weight or having to drain themselves to make weight. Imagine boxing where every fighter comes into the ring in great shape and doesn’t have to starve themselves making them weak come the championship rounds. The following realignment of weight divisions would help bring boxing back stronger than ever…

Heavyweight (201 lbs & up)
Potential match-ups: Klitschko vs Klitschko (of course this will never happen), Adamek vs Haye

Light-Heavyweight (176-200 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Bernard Hopkins vs Steve Cunningham, Tavoris Cloud vs Marco Huck, Danny Green vs Jean Pascal

Middleweight (161-175 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Sergio Martinez vs Andre Ward, Bernard Hopkins vs Lucian Bute, Carl Froch vs Andy Lee

Welterweight (148-160 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Floyd Mayweather vs Sergio Martinez, Victor Ortiz vs Saul Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao vs Alfredo Angulo

Lightweight (136-147 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Mayweather vs Pacquiao, Marcos Maidana vs Brandon Rios, Juan Manuel Marquez vs Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan vs Robert Guerrero

Bantamweight (123-135 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Yuriorkis Gamboa vs Adrian Broner, Chris John vs Daniel Ponce de Leon, Brandon Rios vs Juan Manuel Lopez

Flyweight (122 & down)
Potential match-ups: Nonito Donaire vs Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Joseph Agbeko vs Giovani Segura
Props. A couple of times on this site I've said boxing needs to go back to the traditional 8 weight classes. I know he listed 7 but that is better than 17.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Judah: Khan isn’t going to be able to run from me

By William Mackay: If WBA World light welterweight champion Amir Khan (25-1, 17 KO’s) thinks he’s going to be able to run from IBF light welterweight champion Zab Judah (41-6, 28 KO’s) on July 23 in their Las Vegas fight, Khan might want to think twice about that.

Judah, 33, dismissed Khan’s running as impossibility, saying to fighthub “Khan can’t run from me; that aint going to happen.”

The way that Judah said these words it left me with no doubt that he means it. Khan was able to do a good job of running from Marcos Maidana for nine rounds in his 12 round decision win over Maidana last December, but even the slow-footed Maidana was able to catch up with Khan and stagger him in the 10th.

Khan’s legs were like rubber during the last three rounds of the fight. No doubt from all the running he had been doing in the fight. Judah is a lot quicker on his feet and better at cutting off the ring. He’ll step in front of Khan and literally force him to fight.

Look for a lot of holding by Khan when Judah gets near him. Judah has the perfect remedy for Khan’s holding around the neck and his tendency to grab one of his opponents’ arms while fighting. Judah will nail Khan with uppercuts to make him let go. If the referee doesn’t step in and penalize Khan for his holding, Judah will take care of Khan himself. Khan may have to come up with some different tricks to beat Judah other than by running and holding in the fight. Those are strategies that a professional like Judah knows how to deal with.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Lara-Williams judges suspended by the New Jersey State Athletic Board

By Scott Gilfoid: The three judges that worked the Erislandy Lara vs. Paul Williams fight have been suspended by the New Jersey State Athletic Board according to Dan Rafael at ESPN. Williams won the fight by a 12 round majority decision by the scores of 115-114, 116-114 and 114-114.

However, New Jersey commissioner Arron Davis is suspending the judges and will require that they take extra training before they are allowed to continue. The judges met with the New Jersey State Athletic Board and they reviewed the fight round by round and couldn’t find any case of “Bias, fraud, corruption or incapacity on the part of the judges.”

As such, the results of the fight will stand and the New Jersey State Athletic Board doesn’t have the power to call for a rematch. They do think that a rematch is needed but that’s just an opinion.

I think this is silly. The judges did a fine job of scoring the fight. It was a close fight and their scores reflected that. Lara may have been landing clean left hands from time to time, but Williams was hitting him constantly with shots that looked even harder. And Lara was running all the time and it looked bad. When you got a runner like Lara trying to escape from the pressure from a big guy like Williams, of course the referees are going to tend to score rounds for Williams.

It doesn’t matter that Lara would connect with a left hand from time to time, Williams was putting hands on Lara and imposing his will. Lara had no power in his shots and it wasn’t impressive to see him throwing occasional left hands when he was getting hit a lot by Williams.

I think the boxing world need to accept that the better man won the fight. Williams was better and deserved to win. If Lara wants to win fights, he needs to stop running so much and develop some power.


this is the best news I heard all day but what drug is this guy on that wrote this article lol
 

HERESY

THE HIDDEN HAND...
Apr 25, 2002
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Yeah he smoked some shit or took a slide off snowy mountain.

I think this is silly. The judges did a fine job of scoring the fight. It was a close fight and their scores reflected that. Lara may have been landing clean left hands from time to time, but Williams was hitting him constantly with shots that looked even harder. And Lara was running all the time and it looked bad. When you got a runner like Lara trying to escape from the pressure from a big guy like Williams, of course the referees are going to tend to score rounds for Williams.
A couple of says ago I said that was the reason why they gave the fight to him. It appeared that Williams was constantly hitting and it appeared that Lara was running.
 
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By William Mackay: IBF light welterweight champion Zab Judah reportedly refused to answer questions from the British media at today’s press conference with WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan to publicize their July 23rd unification bout in Las Vegas, Nevada.

According to boxing news from Dan Rafael, Judah chose not to speak to the British media because he wasn’t given any of Khan’s British pay-per-view money for this fight.

I can understand where Judah is coming from. Here he is the bigger star in the U.S and the fighter that is going to be helping Khan possibly make a name for himself if he can somehow win the fight, yet Judah isn’t given a share of the PPV money. However, Judah should have backed out of the fight during the negotiations rather than taking it out on the British press, though. Judah could have fought someone else and let Khan take on one of the other top contenders.

Obviously, Khan’s options wouldn’t that good because his first choice Erik Morales was recently beaten by Marcos Maidana and declined to fight Khan. He would have likely had to get someone like Lamont Peterson to fight him, and that’s fight that mainly hardcore boxing fans would be interested in seeing. Judah should have backed out. If Khan wanted the Judah fight badly enough, he would have given him a taste of the British PPV money.
Why? I don't give a FUCK if he isn't talking to british media, i want to see this fight. LOL, greedy ass boxers, who the fuck in Britain is going to pay to see Zab Judah fight? NO ONE. smh

Judah- American $

Khan- British $

Common sense- some don't have it
 
Sep 16, 2008
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By David Kassell: When people argue that boxing is a dying sport I always find about 100 different reasons to prove them wrong. A lot of people have gotten on the MMA bandwagon and no disrespect to Mixed Martial Arts (I am a fan of the sport as well), but the fact is that boxing still generates more revenue and draws better television audiences than MMA.

With that being said however, there is one thing I hear people say that I have no argument for (other than it’s just another way for the sanctioning bodies to earn more money). Boxing has too many weight classes. Mixed Martial Arts only has 9 nine weight divisions while boxing currently has 17. Boxing weight classes currently read as follows…

Heavyweight…(201 lbs & up)
Cruiserweight…(200 lbs)
Light-Heavyweight…(175 lbs)
Super-Middleweight…(168 lbs)
Middleweight…(160 lbs)
Junior-Middleweight…(154 lbs)
Welterweight…(147 lbs)
Junior-Welterweight…(140 lbs)
Lightweight…(135 lbs)
Super-Feathertweight…(130 lbs)
Featherweight…(126 lbs)
Super-Bantamweight…(122 lbs)
Bantamweight…(118 lbs)
Super-Flyweight…(115 lbs)
Flyweight…(112 lbs)
Light-Flyweight…(108 lbs)
Minimumweight…(105 lbs)

Count them yourselves…17 weight classes. I don’t so much have a problem with the Heavyweight and Cruiserweight divisions, but once we start getting into each weight class only separated by 7 pounds or less we have a problem.

Part of the reason fans don’t see the best fighters matched up against one another is fighters try to stick to these ridiculous weight restrictions and are unwilling to move up.

The solution is simple and will eliminate needless excuses about fighters moving up in weight or having to drain themselves to make weight. Imagine boxing where every fighter comes into the ring in great shape and doesn’t have to starve themselves making them weak come the championship rounds. The following realignment of weight divisions would help bring boxing back stronger than ever…

Heavyweight (201 lbs & up)
Potential match-ups: Klitschko vs Klitschko (of course this will never happen), Adamek vs Haye

Light-Heavyweight (176-200 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Bernard Hopkins vs Steve Cunningham, Tavoris Cloud vs Marco Huck, Danny Green vs Jean Pascal

Middleweight (161-175 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Sergio Martinez vs Andre Ward, Bernard Hopkins vs Lucian Bute, Carl Froch vs Andy Lee

Welterweight (148-160 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Floyd Mayweather vs Sergio Martinez, Victor Ortiz vs Saul Alvarez, Manny Pacquiao vs Alfredo Angulo

Lightweight (136-147 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Mayweather vs Pacquiao, Marcos Maidana vs Brandon Rios, Juan Manuel Marquez vs Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan vs Robert Guerrero

Bantamweight (123-135 lbs)
Potential match-ups: Yuriorkis Gamboa vs Adrian Broner, Chris John vs Daniel Ponce de Leon, Brandon Rios vs Juan Manuel Lopez

Flyweight (122 & down)
Potential match-ups: Nonito Donaire vs Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Joseph Agbeko vs Giovani Segura
They need less fucking belts too, i feel like every fighter in the sport has some sort of fucking belt. Takes away the importance of being a champ, since everyone is a champ of something now
 

HERESY

THE HIDDEN HAND...
Apr 25, 2002
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www.godscalamity.com
www.godscalamity.com
Judah is putting himself on the line just like every other boxer who steps into the ring. Fighters need other fighters to make money, and regardless if they were fighting in Britain or on the moon, Zab should have seen some of the PPV money. Again, he is putting his body and health on the line so that alone should give him a cut of the ppv bucks.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Julio Cesar Chavez Junior Looking To Get Two Title Defences In This Year

By James Slater: Unbeaten Mexican star Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, who won the “regular” version of the WBC middleweight title last month, is reportedly planning on defending his belt twice before the year ends. The 25-year-old who beat Sebastian Zbik by close decision to take the WBC strap, is set to fight in Mexico in September 24th, and then, at a venue to be determined (probably the U.S), on November 19th.

Peter Manfredo Junior appears to be the frontrunner to land the November date, but there are a few names being bandied around for Junior’s maiden title fight challenger. According to a piece on Bad Left Hook, two names now being in the mix for the September date include Nobihiro Ishida and Ronald Hearns.

Ishida is of course known to fans for his shocking 1st-round upset TKO win over the previously unbeaten James Kirkland. The April win firmly announced the Japanese fighter’s arrival on the world stage (even though the 35-year-old southpaw had previously held the WBA interim title at 154), and it’s possible fans would buy into a Chavez defence against him. However, having said that, HBO recently rejected Ishida as Paul Williams’ comeback foe; preferring Erislandy Lara. In light of this, it may seem strange to some that Ishida is even being considered as a “world” title challenger.

A year or so ago, before either guy had fought for anything approaching a major title, the idea of a “Clash of Juniors” fight between Chavez Jr and Hearns Jr would have proved most interesting. But now, after Hearns has been beaten by both Harry Joe Yorgey and, in a failed WBA middleweight title challenge, Felix Sturm, “The Chosen One” would likely prove to be a tough sell for many fans. This of course doesn’t mean the son of the legendary Tommy Hearns will not be rewarded with a shot at the son of the equally legendary Julio Cesar Chavez Senior, though.

Seemingly looking at a “safe-ish” homecoming type affair for his first title defence, Chavez Jr, 43-0-1(30) says he will be meeting the likes of Sergio Martinez and Miguel Cotto and maybe countryman Saul Alvarez next year. If he’s still in possession of the alhpabelt he currently holds, that is.

Had Hearns not been so badly stopped by Sturm, I’d have given Ronald a decent chance against the not too hard-hitting Chavez. But not now. Ishida, though, with his power and his lefty stance, could maybe give the still-improving Mexican a fierce argument. If he does sign on to defend against the experienced former titlist, will Chavez make it to his planned second defence in November?
 
Jul 24, 2005
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By James Slater: Unbeaten Mexican star Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, who won the “regula

By John F. McKenna (McJack): Actions speak louder than words when it comes to boxing. Once again pound for pound superstar Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao has proven that he is the best fighter in the world. Pacquiao won the “Fighter of the Year” award at the annual 2011 ESPY Awards.

Pacquiao won the award in two sports, by beating out future Hall of Fame legend Bernard Hopkins, Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St- Pierre and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones.

The coveted ESPY Awards is an annual sports awards event created by the ESPN television network. Nominees for the award are selected by the ESPY Select Nominating Committee and the winners are selected through online voting.

In 2009 Pacquiao also won the ESPY Award, while in 2009 Floyd Mayweather took the honors. This year however there was no doubt who fans thought was the best fighter in both boxing and mixed martial arts.

Bernard Hopkins was nominated because he was the oldest boxer to win a major world title, while Sergio Martinez was nominated mostly because of his impressive knockout win over Paul Williams.

The Filipino icon now adds another award to his overflowing trophy case as his stature around the world continues to grow. Pacquiao also won the 2006, 2008, 2009 Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year award as well as the 2006, 2008 & 2009 Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year. Sports Illustrated named Manny the Boxer of the Year for 2008. In 2008 and 2009 Pacquiao was named ESPN Star’s Champion of Champions. In 2008 PacMan was named by Yahoo Sports as Fighter of the Year and of course Ring Magazine named him the #1 Pound for Pound Fighter in the World.

If all of that was not enough, the Boxing Writers Association named Manny Pacquiao Fighter of the Decade for 2000 – 2009.

In 2009 Time Magazine name Pacquiao one of the world’s most influential people for his boxing exploits and also for his impact on the Filipino people.

Not bad for a kid who grew up in poverty on the streets of the Philippines.