Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Brandon Rios: Khan not that special, he beat an old Judah

By William Mackay: WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (28-0-1, 21 KO’s), who arguably is the best fighter in the lightweight division right now, isn’t all that impressed with World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-1, 18 KO’s) after seeing his recent performance against a reluctant Zab Judah last weekend.

Rios, speaking to examiner.com, thinks Judah just came for a paycheck and didn’t want to get hit and didn’t want to fight. Those are my exact thoughts as well. It was good match making on Khan’s management’s part to pick out a guy like Judah rather than a live body that could possibly Khan out.

Rios said this to examiner.com about Khan: “I don’t see nothing special [about Khan]. They’re trying to make him like this big, special thing…He fought a guy, Zab Judah, who is old. He was done and over with. He acted like he didn’t want to fight no more when he got hit low. He was just looking for a payday.”

Rios then explained how he would go about beating Khan: “I’d put my pressure and block his shots. Make sure his shots don’t get through. That’s just how I fought with [Miguel] Acosta.”

I can see Rios beating Khan with pressure and an inside game. Rios wouldn’t fold and not fight like Judah. He would get inside on Khan the way that Marcos Maidana did and blast away at him until he folds. Khan would likely grab Rios around the neck and try to pull his head down forward the way he now does with his opponents in an illegal move, but Rios would light Khan up with body punches if he pulls that kind of stuff.

I honestly don’t expect Khan and Rios to fight, however, because Rios fights for Top Rank and Khan with Golden Boy Promotions. Besides that, I see Rios as being too dangerous for Khan and I doubt Khan’s management will want to put him anywhere near a fierce competitor like Rios. He’s not faded and he’s not a weak puncher. I think that rules him out.

Rios recently defeated Urbano Antillon by an impressive 3rd round TKO on July 9th. Rios will be back in action on November 12th against a still to be determined opponent. There has been talk of Rios possibly fighting Timothy Bradley on November 12th if Bradley signs with Top Rank. It’s all the rumor stage at this point. Rios has already been mentioned by Top Rank president Bob Arum as a potential opponent for Manny Pacquiao in a year or so. A fight against Khan would be a good warm up for Rios to get ready for Pacquiao.

 

[heyzel]

Schaefer wants Haye to fight Arreola and then Vitali

By Eric Thomas: Robert Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, is pushing to get former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-2, 23 KO’s) to come to the United States and fight a tune-up bout against the hard hitting Chris Arreola in preparation for a bout against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko later on next year.

Schaefer thinks that Haye will match up better against the more methodical, slower Vitali compared to his faster, more athletic brother Wladimir Klitschko, who Haye looked horrible against in a loss earlier this month. Schaefer thinks that Haye has the talent to keep fighting and doesn’t want his humiliating loss to Wladimir being the fight that Haye retires on.

It’s unclear, though, whether Haye will listen to the advice from Schaefer because Haye doesn’t seem interested in fighting a tune-up bout against anyone, and likely wouldn’t be too excited about facing someone as big and powerful as Arreola just to try and get a rematch with Wladimir. Also, Haye wants a rematch with Wladimir and has been cool to the idea of fighting the bigger, perhaps even stronger Vitali. Schaefer says that Vitali is made to order for Haye, but it doesn’t look as if Haye believes that.

Haye appears to see something else when he sees Vitali. Haye knows himself well enough to know that Vitali, with his stronger chin than Wladimir, would be a more dangerous fight because he wouldn’t move around as much as Wladimir to avoid taking hits. Vitali would go right at Haye and force him to flee or fight.

Haye has been pushing for the Wladimir fight without any tune-ups, and has used a couple of strategies to try and lure Wladimir into taking the fight. On on hand, Haye is talking about how a Haye-Wladimir rematch will make more money than any other fights Wladimir can set up in the near future. And Haye is also reminding Wladimir that if he doesn’t soon agree to the rematch, Haye will go ahead and carry out his threat of retiring on his 31st birthday in October. Vitali doesn’t seem to factor in any of this, which makes Schaefer’s job a lot harder. How can you convince a fighter like Haye to accept a dangerous tune-up fight against the likes of Arreola when Haye had been fighting exclusively older heavyweights in the 38-year-old range shortly before his loss to Wladimir? I don’t see it happening.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Haye vs Big Nipple is actually a fight I'd like to see. Despite how much of a bitch he fought like against Klitschko, this matchup would be dope

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Khan is too big for Rios.
I've been on the Rios train along with everyone else since the Peterson fight, but the size differential would be too much. Plus the speed, what a major factor. Rios is just giving answers to the interviewer though. He should wait on Katsidis or Guerrero.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

..

 

[heyzel]

Haye vs Big Nipple is actually a fight I'd like to see. Despite how much of a bitch he fought like against Klitschko, this matchup would be dope

that's a fight I would love to see but haye does well against pressure fighters and brawlers and this would be a good fight for haye to get back into contention at

 

[heyzel]

Hopkins vs. Dawson could be moved to the Staples Center in Los Angeles

By Dan Ambrose: The October 15th bout between 46-year-old WBC light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (52-5-2, 32 KO’s) and challenger Chad Dawson (30-1, 17 KO’s) could be moved from it’s current location of Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

It hardly matters where it takes place, but it might bring in a few more fans if it happens in Los Angeles or Las Vegas. I have no clue who thought of putting it in New Jersey. That sounds like a venue that wasn’t fully thought out. Whatever the case, Hopkins has really got his hands full with Dawson, as this isn’t one of the limited or old guys that Hopkins has been fighting recently. Dawson can fight and is hard to hit when he’s on the move.

Hopkins will want to turn it into an inside war if he can – that’s really his only chance of winning this fight. Dawson isn’t a pot shot fighter like Jean Pascal, so Hopkins is going to have to retool of this fight. Hopkins just finished wasting a year of his career with two fights against Pascal, earning a draw in the first fight and getting a win in the 2nd.

Fans gave Hopkins a lot of praise for the 2nd fight, but he shouldn’t have been facing Pascal in the first place because Pascal likely would have been knocked out by Dawson in their battle last year had Dawson not been cut with a head butt in the 11th round. Dawson had Pascal hurt at the time and was finishing him off when Pascal’s head exploded into the face of Dawson, opening up a huge cut over his right eye. The referee halted the fight right there on the spot without letting Dawson try and finish the round or even try to finish off the hurt Pascal. A very strange fight it was.

Hopkins could end up like two other aging fighters that lost to Dawson recently – Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson. Both guys look great against other fighters but against the lightning fast and tall Dawson, they both looked very ordinary. I expect Hopkins to look his age against Dawson on October 15th and lose badly.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Khan is too big for Rios.
I've been on the Rios train along with everyone else since the Peterson fight, but the size differential would be too much. Plus the speed, what a major factor. Rios is just giving answers to the interviewer though. He should wait on Katsidis or Guerrero.

yeah I agree with that.

Rios could be king of 140 though since everyone is moving to 147 (Khan, Bradley & Alexander). Him & Guerrero.

Also I think like everyone else Rios wants that huge payday against Pacquiao. He knows he could be 2-3 fights away from that happening if he goes up in weight and beats a top guy or two.

 

[bigface]

I think Khan can box Rios head off. Rios would have to go through hell like Margarito did against Cotto to win a fight vs Khan. Rios has no defense and he's flat-footed, but he has punching power, a good chin, heart, and that tuff guy Mexican swag. So it would be a good fight.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

I don't think Rios would be able to land what he wants on Khan. Freddy wouldn't have a game plan like that, and that's not even Khan style to bang like that. The weight difference would easily be 10-15 pounds come fight time. What if his shots don't hurt Khan. Then what???

It would never happen though. Not any time soon anyways.

 

[WYNO707X4]

i got my money on bambam..... i dont see nothing special about khan he just hype

 

[WYNO707X4]

bambam hitz way harder than maidana and is a little faster and a little better

 

[2-0-Sixx]

bambam hitz way harder than maidana and is a little faster and a little better

he also fights at 135 pounds. So lets see him at least at 140 pounds before talking about if he hits harder than maidana or not.

 

[WYNO707X4]

he also fights at 135 pounds. So lets see him at least at 140 pounds before talking about if he hits harder than maidana or not.

140 wont be a problem hes having trouble making 135 robert garcia wants him to fight at 140 but brandon wants to prove hes the best at 135 he wants that green belt.....will see

 

[2-0-Sixx]

I don't think he'll have a problem at 140 either, but as of right now I just think Khan is a bit too big for him. Khan is on another level right now. Bam Bam needs a couple fights at 140 before fighting someone like Khan.

 

[WYNO707X4]

khans speed is on another level but his boxing skills aint

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

I think Maidana packs a bigger punch than Rios. Rios just wears people down. Not necessarily one shot KO power. He digs with his punches and it eventually grinds down his opponent. Maidana's shots are hard on impact. He straight decks people.

 

[Timm]

Zab judah was shot as fuck and now khan wants ancient morales? The more these guys beat up far older has beens, the more respect i get for floyd fighting a young hungry fighter...hate saying this lol

 

[heyzel]

Roach in a bad spot with Mayweather/Khan

by Robert Elmore: With the announcement of Floyd Mayweather’s come back against Victor Ortiz, many interesting things have happen. The most interesting thing is that Freddie Roach is eager to put the WBA/IBF champ in the ring with Mayweather.

Floyd has even expressed interest in fighting in the UK. But the talk of this fight raises one question. Will Roach be in the corner of Khan if he fights Mayweather?

The Floyd/Pac saga continues as Mayweather’s gears up for a come back fight after taking a year off since dismantling Shane Mosley. Floyd has stated Pac is next. But now it seems Khan is the front runner to face Money May. Khan has said he will do the blood testing May wants. This fight is easy to make seeing that Khan is promoted by Golden Boy. However, I think Roach is in a bad spot with this one. If the fight goes on and the testing is done, the public will really scream for the May/Pac fight. They probably will ask “How come Khan took the test and not Pac”? If he doesn’t train Khan for the fight and is not in the corner, then the speculation will rise also. The media might ask “Why didn’t you train Khan”?

Either way Pac and Khan fight out of Wild Card gym and for one fighter to take the test and not the other would seem fishy. Could this be the reason Khan is asking for a 50/50 split with Money knowing that he hasn’t really accomplished that much to ask for such a thing? It sure is an easy way to get out of fight. But if Khan fights May before Pac, Roach will have some explaining to do.

 

[heyzel]

Devon Alexander moving up to welterweight

By Robert Brown: Devon Alexander is preparing to move up and launch an assault on the 147l pound division after winning a highly controversial fight against the 140 pound brawler Lucas Matthysse. Rather than organizing a re-match, Alexander has decided to resurrect his career and go after bigger names and bigger money in the 147 pound division.

In my opinion this is a suicide mission! After a loss to Bradley and disputed decision wins against Kotelnik and Matthysse, this looms as a disastrous move by Alexander and his team to move him up to the 147l pound division, one which will have him facing bigger, stronger and faster fighters than what he has currently barely survived against, and one which could easily spell the end of his thus far unfulfilled career.

Certain sections of the boxing world seem to have a higher level of fascination with Alexander, and build him up under false pretenses to be one of the boxing worlds shining stars, when it is clear from his recent fights that he is the new generation “Zab Judah”, who just like him fails to perform under pressure against elite competition.

His first fight in this division will most likely be against Paulie Malignaggi, who Devon Alexander will most likely dominate, which will leave certain sections of the boxing public in raptures with him again. But don’t be fooled, Malignaggi, although being a highly skilled technical boxer, does not have the punching power to successfully intimidate Alexander, or the pressure to force him on the back foot, which is what must be done to beat him.

The fact of the matter is that if Alexander struggled with the punching power and pressure of Kotelnik, Matthysse and Bradley; Bradley not being known as a hard puncher, then Alexander is not going to be able to cope with the combined power, speed and boxing skill of either Berto or Ortiz. Because on top of struggling with fighters who put the pressure on and force him backwards; as seen recently in the fight against a straight line brawler like Matthysse, where Alexander repeatedly ate straight right hands like Queen Latifah eats burgers, punches like Berto and Ortiz, who have the ability to apply that kind of extreme pressure, will devour Alexander like Rosie O’Donnell devours a large pizza. And if he struggles to compete with those guys, I can’t possibly imagine that he could ever come close to reaching the likes of Pacquiao or Mayweather.

I don’t give Alexander much chance of winning a major championship in the 147l pound division, he simply will not be able to deal with the sustained pressure and speed combined with the skill level that these fighters can provide. And as far as I can tell this move up to 147 pounds is about landing a couple of big pay checks off of his name rather than dominating the division.

Personally I believe Matthysse won the fight against Alexander and deserves a rematch. Alexander should grant that wish before moving up, and if Alexander is moving up to get away from fighters such as Matthysse and Khan, then the 147lb division will not only expose his ticker problem again, like it was exposed against Timothy Bradley, but he himself will also be exposed for what he is, all flash and no fabric..