Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Abner Mares vs. Eric Morel a possibility for April 21 in Mexico
January 28th, 2012

By Jason Kim: A possible bout between unbeaten IBF bantamweight champion Abner Mares (23-0, 13 KO’s) and former WBA World flyweight champion Eric Morel (46-2, 23 KO’s) is a possibility for April 21st in Mexico, according to Dan Rafael.

Both fighters are promoted by Golden Boy, and the CEO Richard Schaefer is looking to put together a fight between them for Cancun, Mexico on 4/21.

Mares is coming off of an impressive 12 round unanimous decision win over Joseph Agbeko in their rematch last December. Unlike their first fight in August 2011, Mares didn’t foul Agbeko over and over again with low blows. Mares surprisingly kept his punches up and did a good job of wearing Agbeko down with body punching.

The 36-year-old Morel #4 WBA, #8 WBC, hasn’t done anything with his career since losing his World Boxing Association (WBA) World flyweight title against Lorenzo Parra in December 2003. Morel would lose to Martin Castillo by a 12 round decision in March 2005 in a failed effort to try and recapture his WBA title.

Morel defeated Gerry Penalosa for the interim WBO bantamweight title in February 2010 by a 12 round split decision but has done nothing special since that fight, beating four overmatched opponents. At this point it’s good to see Morel possibly getting another title shot but I just don’t know how good his chances are of beating the 26-year-old Mares because of his right work rate.

Mares should win this fight on youth alone. He’s a lot more active and has decent power. However, Morel can still punch and Mares is going to have to show a good chin if he’s got win this fight.

Mares may be the best fighter in the bantamweight division right now. WBA champion Anselmo Moreno may be the only guy that Mares might lose to in the division. Moreno could be fighting on the undercard of the Mares-Morel fight against an opponent to be determined.

 

[heyzel]

By Jason Kim: Former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (29-4-1, 18 KO’s) is expected back in the ring in April against possibly #11 World Boxing Council ranked contender Joachim Alcine (33-2-1, 19 KO’s), according to Dan Rafael. It might not necessarily be the 35-year-old Alcine, but someone similar to him and well known in the division.

They don’t want to put Taylor with someone at the very top of the middleweight division just yet, because he’s only had one fight in the past two years and it’s going to take a while before they put him in risky fights. But they want to find a recognizable world class fighter near the bottom part of the middleweight division to match the 33-year-old Taylor against in April in a fight that will be televised by SHOWTIME.

Taylor defeated Jessie Nicklow by an 8th round TKO last December in an impressive performance where Taylor fought almost the entire using mainly his left hand after injuring his right hand in the 2nd round.
Taylor is reportedly looking to get back in the ring as soon as possible, as he’s missed so much time after suffering a reported brain bleed in getting stopped in the 12th round by Arthur Abraham in October 2009 in the Super Six tournament.

Taylor, a middleweight for most of his career, was out of place in the super middleweight division and didn’t look good in losing to Carl Froch and Abraham. I don’t think Taylor was knocked out because he was facing anyone bigger than him, but rather he’s had conditioning problems since 2005 and they seemed to have gotten worse starting in 2007 when he was stopped in the 7th round by slugger Kelly Pavlik.

Taylor was gaining too much weight in between fights and then having to use his training camps as mini fat farms to take off all the weight. It left him drained and weak when it came to his fights and he’d wear down and get stopped in the later rounds.

 

[heyzel]

Schaefer: Arum is going to wait until Pacquiao is at the end of his career before matching him against Mayweather
January 28th, 2012

By Chris Williams: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer seems to have completely given up on the idea of Bob Arum allowing his big money fighter WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May, June or even in November of this year.

Schaefer hears Arum’s numerous why the fight can’t get made and sees Arum already looking to put Pacquiao in a four fighter tournament that will take up the entire year, and sees this as clear evidence that Arum doesn’t plan on letting Pacquiao anywhere near Mayweather.

Schaefer told RingTV writer Lem Sattersfield “The only time that Arum is going to put Pacquiao in with Floyd is when Pacquiao is at the end of his career. I think that’s going to be sometime in the second half of 2013. If Pacquiao keeps winning, that’s when I think that fight will happen.”

I disagree with Schaefer on his timeline for Pacquiao retiring, but I agree with the rest of it. Pacquiao seems to like fighting and making the money he’s getting for these mostly mismatches. He’s not going to retire next year with Arum putting him in against beatable fighters. I see Pacquiao hanging around until he starts getting beaten by the Top Rank stable guys that Arum is pitting him against.

When Pacquiao gets beaten by someone like Timothy Bradley, Lamont Peterson, Mike Jones, Miguel Cotto or Antonio Margarito, then he’ll look to get that cash out fight against Mayweather. The fight will make a fraction of what it could make now, but at least Pacquiao will be able to make good money in the other fights until he gets taken down by a young lion that will rip him to bits.

I already see the deterioration in Pacquiao’s game and it’s only matter of time before gets taken down at the back of the herd by one of the smaller lions. But if Arum sees Pacquiao struggle to beat whoever he faces next, you can bet that Arum will put Pacquiao in with weaker guys. I can see him going around the horn again for another fight against Margarito for a nice in house fight and maybe even Top Rank fighter Joshua Clottey one more time.

As far as fights in the welterweight division go, we could see Pacquiao fight guys like Kell Brook or maybe the WBA welterweight paper champion Vyachslav Senchenko. Believe me, Arum will start matching Pacquiao with progressively weaker opposition if he struggles to beat Timothy Bradley and wins another gift decision like the one he got in his last fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.

I do agree with Schaefer on Arum waiting until Pacquiao is at the very end of his career before putting him in with Mayweather. Arum will likely be so nice when that time comes and will probably bend over backwards just to get that last payday for his fighter. It’s going to happen just like Schaefer says it will, I hate to say.

 

[heyzel]

Unbeaten Heavyweight Hope Seth Mitchell Likely To Fight On Hopkins-Dawson II Card

By James Slater: Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, in speaking with Ringtv.com, says there is a good chance unbeaten heavyweight hope Seth Mitchell could fight again on the under-card of the April 28th rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Chad Dawson.

Currently looked at as America’s most promising young heavyweight, 29-year-old “Mayhem,” 24-0-1(18) was last seen scoring a highly impressive 2nd-round stoppage over the tough and (usually) durable Timor Ibragimov. It’s great news indeed that Mitchell, as exciting as he is promising, is to be kept busy as he continues his way towards a hoped for shot at the world title (in a recent interview with Ringtv, Mitchell said he expects to be ready for the best in around two years or so).

But who should Mitchell fight next? In playing match-maker, I list here a few names that I would very much like to see the 6’2” approx 240-pounder in with in Atlantic City in April:

Michael Grant. Grant, 48-4(36) is big, powerful and experienced. Coming off stoppage wins over Tye Fields and, last time out, Frans Botha, the 39-year-old veteran would be a perfect test for Mitchell.

Franklin Lawrence. Lawrence, 17-2-2(12) is a dangerous fighter who is capable of asking most any fighter a few tough questions. A fringe contender, the 36-year-old has enjoyed some fine form recently (wins over Jason Estrada and Lance Whitaker) and he would give Mitchell a decent test.

Samuel Peter. Peter, 34-5(27) has been on the downside as of late (stoppage losses to Wladimir Klitschko, which was expected, and to Robert Helenuis last time out), yet “The Nigerian Nightmare” remains a hard puncher who can always be dangerous. If Mitchell were to take a shot or two from the 31-year-old and come on to win, we would have a better idea about how good “Mayhem’s” chin is.

Monte Barrett. Barrett, 35-9-2(20) is as experienced as they come, and the 40-year-old known as “Two Gunz” has recently given his career a shot in the arm by way of a points win over David Tua. Barrett is aiming higher than facing a prospect (Monte reportedly wants a shot at a Klitschko), but if the money were right, who knows, maybe Barrett would agree to face Mitchell? The young fighter would probably learn a few things if he fought Barrett.

Tyson Fury. This one is highly unlikely to happen seeing as how both heavies are young, promising talents. Still, Fury, 17-0(12) against Mitchell would certainly prove a huge hit with the fans (and Fury has no next fight planned as of yet). A risky fight for both, the winner would earn more fans, while the loser would be young enough to be able to come again.

 

[heyzel]

Andy Lee: I’d knock Felix Sturm out; he’s not dangerous
January 29th, 2012

By Dan Ambrose: Middleweight contender Andy Lee (27-1, 19 KO’s) is hoping that he gets picked by WBA World middleweight champion Felix Sturm (36-2-2, 15 KO’s) when he makes his next title defense in April or May. Lee, 27, has been mentioned as possible opponent for Sturm but there’s been no concrete offers made to Lee.

Lee told eastsideboxing.com’s On The Ropes Boxing Radio program “Yeah, there’s been a lot of talk, but I don’t know…If the offer was right I would definitely be willing to go over there…I don’t see much danger in Sturm. He has a good style. He’s a very effective boxer, but I believe I can knock Sturm out.”

Sturm, 32, has struggled in his last three fights against Ronald Hearns, Matthew Macklin and Martin Murray, not looking good in any of those fights. Surprisingly, he’s still the World Boxing Association champion despite appearing to lose to both Macklin and Murray. It shows you how hard it is to beat Sturm when he’s fighting at home in Germany. The only time in his career that Sturm lost at home was when he was stopped in the 10th round by Javier Castillejo in July 2006. Since then, Sturm has 13 times and looked to have been in three of those fights to Randy Griffin in their first fight in October 2007, and then by Macklin and Murray.

Lee likely won’t get a shot at Sturm’s style. He punches too hard and he has that southpaw stance that would likely give Sturm a great deal of problems. Instead of facing Lee, Sturm will likely choose one of the lower ranked contenders from the bottom of the division. He’s done this when not fighting his mandatories throughout his career and I can’t see it changing now. Look for Sturm to face #15 Mehdi Boudla or #14 Manny Siaca next.

Lee says that IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale is a possibility for him to fight. He’d like it to take place in the United States.

 

[heyzel]

Grano stops Minto; BJ Flores beats Pineda; Spinks defeats Powell
January 29th, 2012

By Jim Dower: Brian Minto (35-4, 22 KO’s) moved back up to heavyweight to take on Tony Grano (19-2-1, 15 KO’s) on Saturday night and I bet Minto, 37, probably wishes he had stayed at cruisierweight, as he was stopped in the third round by Grando at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.

Minto was knocked down in the 3rd round from right hands by Grano. The second knockdown but Minto down face first on the canvas where the fight was then halted. This was Minto’s third loss in his last four fights.

On the undercard, cruiserweight Eric Fields (20-1, 15 KO’s) defeated Derrick Brown (13-7-3, 11 KO’s) by a lopsided eight round decision. The final judges’ scores were 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73 in a one-sided fight. Fields, 29, stayed busy landing right hands and left jabs against a timid looking Brown.

Nava defeats Martinez, captures WBA super bantamweight title

Jackie Nava (26-4-3, 11 KO’s) defeated WBA Female super bantamweight champion Chantall Martinez (15-5, 6 KO’s) by a 10 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Auditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Mexico. The final judges’ scores were 100-89, 100-89, 99-90.

BJ Flores stops 40-year-old Pineda; Cory Spinks decisions
Sechew Powell

Cruiserweight contender BJ Flores (27-1-1, 16 KO’s) continued his excruciatingly slow march to a title shot on Saturday night with a 6th round TKO of 40-year-old Hugo Pineda (39-6-1, 28 KO’s) at the Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri. Flores, 32, dropped Pineda in the 2nd round and used a lot of combinations to control the aging fighter until the fight was finally halted in the 6th. Pineda hadn’t fought in close to four year. Why Flores, #4 WBO, #7 WBA, #8 WBC, #15 IBF, was fighting a guy that hadn’t fought in four years is the question. It seems like Flores is stuck and not forward to a title shot for some reason. This is fighter that Flores should have fought in the 1st year of his career, not after nine years as a pro. It’s very disappointing a little sad.

***

Former welterweight and light middleweight champion Cory Spinks (38-6, 11 KO’s) defeated junior middleweight contender Sechew Powell (26-4, 15 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision. The final judges’ scores were 115-113, 115-113 and 116-112. Spinks, #8 IBF, came into the fight having lost three out of his last five fights. Powell, #5 IBF, was coming off of a 12 round decision loss to IBF light middleweight champion Cornelius Bundrage.

 

[heyzel]

Froch to fight in Nottingham for next bout, but not against Lucian Bute
January 30th, 2012

By Scott Gilfoid: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute won’t be getting the fight that he wanted to get against former WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch on April 14th, because Froch revealed during the Carl Frampton vs. Kris Hughes fight last Saturday that his next fight will be in Nottingham, England, not in Montreal, Canada against Bute.

Wise move by Froch to escape what would have been a sure thing loss to Bute in Canada.

Froch said this to Sky Sports during the Frampton-Hughes fight: “We’d love to get a fight back on home soil. It will be good to fight on British soil; give my fans something they want, and then look for another world title [against] maybe the likes of Lucian Bute. First things first, maybe early May in England.”

Froch supposedly is going to be facing a top 10 opponent, but there are a lot of soft fighters in the top 10 that aren’t worth much and I can see Froch looking to face one of them instead of someone that can actually fight. The sanctioning bodies often rank guys that have no business on this earth being ranked in the top 15, let alone in the top 10. Froch will find a soft opponent to get a payday at home in Nottingham.

Froch isn’t even talking about the Bute fight in definitive terms any longer, and you know that’s not a good thing if you’re Bute and his promoters from InterBox. They were counting on facing Froch and getting a win over him to make some money in Montreal and then go from that fight to a unification bout against WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward. Now Bute and InterBox are going to have to look for another world class option to fight next in order to satisfy Ward’s requirements of Bute facing and beating an ‘A’ level fighter before he’ll give him a fight.

The choices for Bute are pretty limited in order to satisfy Ward’s requirements. Here are the options for Bute if he and his promoter are serious about wanting to fight Ward:

1. Andre Dirrell
2. Anthony Dirrell
3. Mikkel Kessler
4. Robert Stieglitz
5. Kelly Pavlik
6. Arthur Abraham

I can’t see Bute getting fights with any of them other than Andre Dirrell, but the chances of that happening are kind of low because Dirrell reportedly doesn’t want any part of fighting Bute in Canada because he doesn’t want to be on the losing end of a hometown decision or have to come into the fight faced with the task of having to knock Bute out to get a win.

 

[heyzel]

Bute may have to come out of Canada if he wants Dirrell
January 30th, 2012

By Scott Gilfoid: If IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (30-0, 24 KO’s) wants to earn a shot against WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward then he’s going to have to come out of the safety of Canada to take on Andre Dirrell, the fighter that SHOWTIME wants him to fight.

There’s talk that Dirrell wants Bute to fight in the United States in Detroit, Michigan. That’s not a bad place but it might be better if they can put the fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. At least Dirrell wouldn’t have to worry about finding himself on the receiving end of a hometown decision.

What Bute is going to quickly find out that the top fighters like Dirrell want nothing to do with coming to Canada to fight Bute over there because of a lot of visiting fighters losing fights that they appeared to win.

Bute needs a big win over an ‘A’ level fighter and Ward has already told him that Dirrell is a key fighter that he needs to face and beat if he wants a chance at his two titles. Bute can’t keep fighting the low quality super middleweights he’s been fighting his entire career.

He’s got to step up and finally prove himself as a world class fighter and not a cherry picker that fights only in Canada where he’s impossible to beat no matter what happens. Look at Bute’s first fight with Librado Andrade to see what I’m talking about.

Carl Froch is no longer available for Bute, as he wants to squeeze in a payday bout in Nottingham, England in May and he’s not so sure about whether he’ll take on Bute after that because he’ll then have the tasty option of taking on the winner of the Mikkel Kessler vs. Robert Stieglitz. That’s clearly a better fight because Froch can probably get that fight in a neutral venue and if now, he won’t have to worry too much about the judges in Denmark.

 

[heyzel]

Peterson has two fight offers to consider: Khan or Marquez
January 30th, 2012

By Chris Williams: IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson is considering offers made to him by Top Rank for a fight against Juan Manuel Marquez for July, and an offer made by Golden Boy Promotions for a rematch against Amir Khan, according to RingTV.

Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, told RingTV “[We] offered [Peterson] $1.5 million and we offered him a 50-50 split for the world-wide revenues,” for a fight against Khan.

Golden Boy’s offer could bring Peterson a payday close to $2 million and that’s probably going to be more than the offer that Bob Arum makes from Top Rank. However, if Peterson is able to beat Marquez then he’d likely be fighting Manny Pacquiao in November in a fight that would pay Peterson as much as $3 million or possibly more.

Golden Boy can’t beat that. But then again, Peterson could have a really hard time beating the counter punching Marquez in Texas.
Barry Hunter, the trainer/manager for Peterson, told RingTV “That was the first time that we [Golden Boy] had any type of dialogue, Richard and I, among one another, since a week after the fight…It’s a start.”

That sounds like Hunter likes the offer from Golden Boy. Arum will be speaking with Peterson and Hunter tomorrow about his offer, and it’s likely that Arum may sweeten his offer in order to try and match or top Schaefer’s offer to Peterson. Arum can’t have his four fighter tournament without Peterson, because he’s a got a key role in the tourney due to the cache he’s got right now from his exciting win over Khan last December.

There isn’t anyone that can match that in the light welterweight division and I don’t think Arum wants to pick a dangerous welterweight like Andre Berto or Victor Ortiz for his four fighter tourney. Those guys would have a reasonable chance of beating Pacquiao the way he’s fighting now and that would put a big crimp in Arum’s eventual plans in matching Pacquiao against Mayweather. Sure, Arum could still pit Pacquiao with Mayweather, but it won’t be the same if Pacquiao gets picked off by someone like Berto or Ortiz before he makes that fight.

 

[heyzel]

Froch Says Nobody Wants To See Him Fight Cleverly, Calls Fight “Boring”

By James Slater: Thought it would undeniably be a big deal and likely a sell-out event in the U.K, former two-time WBC super-middleweight king Carl Froch says he will NOT be moving up in weight to fight reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) 175-pound boss Nathan Cleverly. “Clev’s” promoter, Frank Warren, recently spoke about the potential fight, saying he would sign the Welshman up for it “in a heartbeat.”

However, “The Cobra,” beaten in his last fight by the undefeated Andre Ward, has quashed the fight, saying he sees it as “boring.” Froch correctly feels he has unfinished business at 168-pounds, and he is eager to get it on with the likes of Lucian Bute and, in a rematch, Mikkell Kessler.

“Nobody’s interested in talk about me stepping up to light-heavyweight to fight Nathan Cleverly,” Froch stated. “It’s boring. There’s big fights for me - Mikkel Kessler, Lucian Bute. There’s more names I could roll off the tongue that would make people interested.”

Froch, who went on to say, also correctly, that he “never has easy fights” (an understatement if ever there was one when we consider Froch’s last seven opponents: Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler, Arthur Abraham, Glen Johnson, Ward!), said he doesn’t think he’ll ever get a return fight with the man known as “S.O.G.”

“I don’t think anyone’s ever going to beat him,” Froch said of Ward. “There’s no excuses, he beat me on the night. If I had a rematch with him tactically it would be a totally different fight. I can’t see it happening to be honest, but you never know.”

The next step for Froch is said to be a planned home fight in the U.K, maybe in Nottingham in early May, against a top-10 ranked name. Then, if the 34-year-old future Hall of Famer gets his way, he will be rumbling with either Bute or Kessler - or, knowing Froch, both of them!

 

[heyzel]

Julio Cesar Chavez Junior-Marco Antonio Rubio This Saturday; Some Big Fights In The Pipeline For Chavez If He Wins

By James Slater: This coming Saturday night (Feb. 4th) in San Antonio, Texas, WBC middleweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez will meet dangerous power puncher and fellow Mexican Marco Antonio Rubio. An exciting, possible slugfest is anticipated and there will be much more on the line for unbeaten Chavez Jr than just his green belt.

Only a fool would look past the powerful fists of long-time contender Rubio, but Bob Arum has spoken about some of the bigger names the 25-year-old “Son of A Legend” could fight providing he’s victorious at The Alamodome. As big a deal as this Saturday’s potential rumble is to all fight fans but Mexican fans in particular, there are in store some much grander fights for the reigning WBC champ with the 44-0-1(31) ledger.

Arum, in speaking with The San Antonio Express, said it could well be Miguel Cotto next for Junior if Chavez gets past Rubio.

“It’s one step at a time with this kid,” Arum said of Chavez Jr. “If he can handle someone like Rubio, then we’re ready to move him.”

And Cotto’s name is well and truly in the frame for Chavez Jr later this year. Of course, the Puerto Rican star is also in the frame as a potential Floyd Mayweather opponent on May 5th (or maybe the next rival for Manny Pacquiao) and Cotto is very much in a position to be able to pick and choose as a result. But a Chavez Jr-Cotto fight, another addition to the passionate feud that is Mexico Vs. Puerto Rico in boxing, would be a huge event if it took place.

Arum also spoke about when Chavez will face REAL world middleweight ruler Sergio Gabriel Martinez; a fighter who has accused the young Mexican of shamelessly ducking him.

“He’ll fight Martinez when he’s ready to fight Martinez,” Arum said, adding, “I don’t think Martinez is all that good.”

Most fans disagree, and feel the Argentine southpaw known as “Maravilla” is indeed all that good; with most fans feeling the soon-to-be 37-year-old would take Chavez Jr to the cleaners. Again, there are big, big fights out there for Julio if he can get past Rubio at the weekend.

I think Chavez will be carrying more nerves into the ring than Rubio on Saturday, fully aware that his promising future is very much on the line. Sure, 31-year-old Rubio, 53-5-1(46) wants to win at all costs himself, but he has had a decent, long career already and would at least be satisfied in having given the sport his best shot if he were to lose - and would even a victorious Rubio get himself fights with the likes of Cotto? Chavez, with all those big, defining fights head of him, has more to lose than Rubio does.

This fight is the acid test for Chavez Jr, but I think he will pass the test in a rough encounter. Look for the Freddie Roach-trained boxer/puncher to survive a few scares in the early to middle rounds, before winning a quite gruelling points decision. True superstardom could await Chavez if he does come through with his belt and unbeaten record intact.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Chavez will be such a hoe if he fights margarito next. lmao @ margarito even being a possibility to fight for the middleweight title.

 

[RM211]

what a joke.

 

[heyzel]

De La Hoya: I told you Arum would do Bradley vs. Pacquiao
January 30th, 2012

By Chris Williams: It looks as if Oscar De La Hoya’s prediction about Top Rank promoter Bob Arum matching Manny Pacquiao up with Timothy Bradley is about to come to fruition, as the 80-year-old Arum is talking about Bradley being the likely next fight for Pacquiao on June 9th in Arum’s four fighter tournament.

De La Hoya is gloating about him being right about seeing Arum make this move, but De La Hoya isn’t happy at all about this. He wanted to see Arum match Pacquiao against Floyd Mayweather Jr. but that’s not going to happen now. Arum has already said that Mayweather is out of the picture for Pacquiao and it looks like he’ll continue to be out of the picture for the remainder of 2012 due to Arum’s four fighter tournament.

De La Hoya said this on his twitter today: “I told you Bob will do Bradley vs. Manny. What a shame.”

This will be very sad news when this becomes official. Right now, Arum is still holding out hope that his fighter Miguel Cotto will agree to drain himself down to 147lbs in order for Arum to make a bigger fight between Pacquiao and Cotto in a rematch. But Cotto wants no part of the strength weakening 147lbs, as having already lost to Pacquiao in 2009 after he made the mistake of agreeing to a 145 pound catchweight fight that left Cotto with little energy to fight, resulting in Pacquiao beating him by a 12th round TKO. Cotto doesn’t want to absorb another beating like that, so he’s sticking to his principals and holding firm and wanting a fight with Pacquiao to take place at 150, which would be the halfway point between 147 and 154. Cotto fights at 154, and having to drain seven pounds down to 147 would be too much for him.

De La Hoya said “I swear to you when boxing is ready, I will bring you guys all the best fights boxing has to offer. In the mean time, we have to put up with Bob.”

It sounds like here that De La Hoya is saying that when Arum is gone from the earth, he’ll be able to put together the big fights by being able to have Golden Boy face Top Rank fighters. I think it’s kind of morbid to hint about stuff like that, but I really don’t think much will change when Arum is gone. He’s got his Todd Luboef that will be taking over for him I suppose, and if he continues with Arum’s blueprint in match his Top Rank fighters mostly against each other, then nothing will change at all. It’ll just be a different guy pulling the strings but with the same old tunes be churned out

 

[2-0-Sixx]

actually, pacquiao vs bradley is the best fight for pac besides floyd, imo. It was either that or a cotto rematch, or lamont peterson or a 20th fight with Marquez.

obviously we all wanted pac vs floyd, but if we accept reality (which is that fight is not happening) then bradley is a good choice. He's in his prime, undefeated, has a tricky style, recognized as the best 140 pound fighter in the world. It's a good matchup all things considered.

Now, it could end up being a somewhat ugly fight though, especially since both have a history of head clashes, both tend to lunge in at times and being that this is a southpaw vs orthodox it's guaranteed to happen. So there is some risk of that and a bad cut, which you have to hope wont stop the fight.

As far as Oscar I stopped paying attention to what that dude says. He's the figure head, nothing more. Richard Schaefer and crew run Golden Boy, Oscar is just the name. He's an idiot to be honest. Golden Boy does the same in-house fighting like everyone else, just look at all their PPV's. Now I will give credit where it's due and Golden Boy does a much better job stacking their cards of quality fighters versus top rank. Bob arum's theory has always been "why put on my other good fighters when my star is selling the fight?" So he spreads out all of his stars (cotto, pac, chavez, gamboa, donaire, etc.) in separate bouts to maximize earnings.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Nothing wrong with him fighting Bradley.
I think it'll be a great fight.

 

[heyzel]

News update: Berto’s left arm injury to require surgery
January 31st, 2012

By Eric Thomas: Earlier tonight, former IBF/WBC welterweight champion suffered a reported ruptured left bicep during a sparring session while getting ready for his February 11th rematch against Victor Ortiz. It sounded serious at the time, and now it’s been confirmed.

Berto will need surgery to repair the ruptured bicep, according to fightnews.com. An MRI was done on Berto’s left biceps, which as turns out, is the same type of injury that Berto suffered in his fight with Carlos Quintana in April 2010. Berto needed surgery on his bicep at that time as well.

Needless to say, the Berto-Ortiz fight will have to be postponed until the injury heals. Last time, Berto was able to get back in the ring in seven months time and looked sharp in his next fight against Freddy Hernandez. However, Ortiz can’t just sit and wait all those months. He’s going to have to stay busy and that could mean that a replacement opponent will be sought to try and save the February 11th fight card.

 

[heyzel]

Arreola and Wilder are good bets to take over the heavyweight division once the Klitschkos retire
January 30th, 2012

By Scott Gilfoid: Unbeaten heavyweight knockout artist Deontay Wilder (20-0, 20 KO’s) and Chris Arreola (34-2, 29 KO’s) are both in a prime position to take over the heavyweight division once both of the Klitschko brothers call it a day.

WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko could be gone within a year, and his brother IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko may hang around for another three to four years at best depending on whether anyone can knock him out. But once Wladimir is gone, it’ll leave Arreola and Wilder to take over the heavyweight division. There will still be a handful of heavyweight contenders for them to take out but no one really troubling because most of the contenders either can’t punch or have chins made of fine china.

Wilder, 26, has the best chance of capturing all the heavyweight titles after the Klitschkos retire from the sport. Wilder, 6’7”, has one punch power in his right hand and he can knock you out even if he’s not looking particularly graceful. It doesn’t really matter because once he lands one of his right hand bombs then it’s all over.

Here the heavyweights that will be contending with Wilder and Arreola:
• Tyson Fury: He’s basically a slapper with no defense other than his ability to run around the ring. He’s not very good and will be knocked cold by both Arreola and Wilder.

• David Price: He’s got good right hand power, but nearly as good as Wilder. But Price’s chin is completely fragile as we’ve seen during his amateur days. If Arreola and Wilder were to hit him with a glancing blow, Price would likely be out cold.

• Tony Thompson: He’s about 40-years-old and too weak and slow.

• Eddie Chambers: Too small, too short and too weak.

• Ruslan Chagaev: Getting old in the tooth, too small and too weak.

• Denis Boytsov: This guy really should be fighting at cruiserweight. He’s only 6’0” and has short alligator arms. He’d be knocked out by Wilder and Arreola.

• Alexander Povetkin: He’s not tall enough, lacks power and is too slow.

• Robert Helenius: He was already exposed by Dereck Chisora as being an overhyped heavyweight without much talent. He may not be the same fighter after shoulder surgery on his right shoulder.

• Dereck Chisora: He’s about to be destroyed Wladimir and completely eliminated from the 1st tier. He probably won’t be back in the 1st tier

 

[heyzel]

Saul Alvarez likely Mayweather opponent for May 5th
January 30th, 2012

By Chris Williams: WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KO’s) is being mentioned as the next opponent for WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. for May 5th, the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Alvarez, 21, wants the fight and negotiations are rumored to be taking place. “Canelo” Alvarez is perfect for the date of the fight so that Mayweather can take advantage of the Mexican fans celebrating the holiday.

It’s also an easy fight to make, because Alvarez fights for Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather also does business with them as well. Alvarez will be way over his head in this fight due to the huge gap in experience between the two fighters.

However, Alvarez is young and might be able to make up for what he lacks in experience by his youth and power. It’s going to be tough for him, though, because Mayweather Jr. is a lot faster and is hard to hit. Alvarez is more like a bigger slightly slower version of Juan Manuel Marquez.

We already saw what Mayweather was able to do with Marquez three years ago when he beat him by a decisive 12 round decision in 2009. Alvarez is a bigger puncher than Marquez, so he’ll have a punchers chance of beating Mayweather but that’s about it. He’ll have to take a lot of hard shots and will have to be able to apply a ton of pressure if he wants to somehow beat Floyd. I can’t see it but I think it’ll make for a good fight and will bring in a lot of pay per view buys.

 

[bigface]

actually, pacquiao vs bradley is the best fight for pac besides floyd, imo. It was either that or a cotto rematch, or lamont peterson or a 20th fight with Marquez.

obviously we all wanted pac vs floyd, but if we accept reality (which is that fight is not happening) then bradley is a good choice. He's in his prime, undefeated, has a tricky style, recognized as the best 140 pound fighter in the world. It's a good matchup all things considered.

Now, it could end up being a somewhat ugly fight though, especially since both have a history of head clashes, both tend to lunge in at times and being that this is a southpaw vs orthodox it's guaranteed to happen. So there is some risk of that and a bad cut, which you have to hope wont stop the fight.

As far as Oscar I stopped paying attention to what that dude says. He's the figure head, nothing more. Richard Schaefer and crew run Golden Boy, Oscar is just the name. He's an idiot to be honest. Golden Boy does the same in-house fighting like everyone else, just look at all their PPV's. Now I will give credit where it's due and Golden Boy does a much better job stacking their cards of quality fighters versus top rank. Bob arum's theory has always been "why put on my other good fighters when my star is selling the fight?" So he spreads out all of his stars (cotto, pac, chavez, gamboa, donaire, etc.) in separate bouts to maximize earnings.

In the end Bradley is going to get the last laugh at Khan. Khan got beat by Peterson a guy that Bradley beat up easily. Bradley is most likely going to fight Manny, while Khan is begging for a rematch with Peterson. Bradley made a great business move signing with Top Rank. lol Bradley so-called ducked his way into a Manny figh,t while Khan is still dreaming about fighting Mayweather. Bradley made the smart business move for his career and will probably make $3-5 million for making the move.