Boxing News Thread
- Thread starter heyzel
- Start date
Lopez, Lara sign with Haymon
July, 5, 2012
Jul 5
12:18
PM ET
By Dan Rafael | ESPN.com
Get money Lopez and Lara, because Al will get you some big paying TV fights.
As a late substitute, Josesito Lopez moved up to welterweight, busted Victor Ortiz's jaw in two places and forced him to retire on his stool after the ninth round for a major upset win June 23 in a breakout performance.
Junior middleweight contender Erislandy Lara, who disposed of Freddy Hernandez for a lopsided decision win on June 30, is one of the most avoided fighters in boxing.
But you can count on seeing Lopez and Lara get more notable fights now, for one very obvious reason: They have joined the impressive stable of powerbroker adviser Al Haymon, who has unparalleled influence with the promoters he works with -- primarily Golden Boy -- and with HBO and Showtime, where executives go out of their way to make him happy.
Lopez and Lara signed with Haymon after their recent wins and join a stable that includes crown jewel Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- the key reason for so much of Haymon's juice -- in addition to such notable fighters as Cristobal Arreola, Devon Alexander, Adrien Broner, Andre Berto, Danny Garcia, Austin Trout, Seth Mitchell, Gary Russell Jr., Antonio Tarver, Sakio Bika and "Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin, not to mention a host of other lesser-known young fighters on the rise.
Those youngsters include Keith Thurman and Omar Figueroa, who aren't even close to being ready for prime time, but because of Haymon's influence, HBO has handed them prime slots on the July 21 Broner-Vicente Escobedo televised undercard, much to the shock (and displeasure) of many in the industry.
If Haymon can get Thurman and Figueroa -- barely eight-round fighters -- on HBO, imagine what he'll be able to do for Lopez and Lara?
Henry Ramirez trains Arreola and also trains and manages Lopez. He has seen up close what Haymon has done for Arreola. He figured Haymon could do the same thing for Lopez.
"Along with our promoters, Dan Goossen and Thompson Boxing, Al was instrumental in making the Ortiz fight happen," Ramirez said. "His guy [Berto] got pulled out of the fight [for a failed steroid test], and he was instrumental. It's a positive for Josesito moving forward.
"Our thing was to sign with Al to maximize every possible opportunity off of this win. Bringing Al aboard, I think, will benefit us. He can get things done that others can't. I have a relationship with him for over eight years because of Cris, so to me, this was a no-brainer. We're glad he was interested.
"With Al having leverage with the networks, he can get more money than other people can -- someway, somehow. So this is all good. Josesito was very excited to sign with Al. We'll see what's out there next and try to maximize his earning power."
Ramirez said Haymon reached out to him to talk about Lopez the day after his victory against Ortiz.
It was a similar situation with the Golden Boy-promoted Lara, whose manager, Luis DeCubas Jr., has seen what Haymon can do and made the same move after Haymon approached them following the win against Hernandez.
"Any time you can bring in one of the smartest men in any business, you do it," DeCubas said. "My job is to do what's best for my fighter and make him the most money, and in this situation it's bringing in Al Haymon. I think Lara has a very bright future, and the addition of Al Haymon is priceless. We look forward to Al getting Lara the big opportunities he deserves. I couldn't be happier with the scenario we're in."
http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/p...gn-with-haymon
July, 5, 2012
Jul 5
12:18
PM ET
By Dan Rafael | ESPN.com
Get money Lopez and Lara, because Al will get you some big paying TV fights.
As a late substitute, Josesito Lopez moved up to welterweight, busted Victor Ortiz's jaw in two places and forced him to retire on his stool after the ninth round for a major upset win June 23 in a breakout performance.
Junior middleweight contender Erislandy Lara, who disposed of Freddy Hernandez for a lopsided decision win on June 30, is one of the most avoided fighters in boxing.
But you can count on seeing Lopez and Lara get more notable fights now, for one very obvious reason: They have joined the impressive stable of powerbroker adviser Al Haymon, who has unparalleled influence with the promoters he works with -- primarily Golden Boy -- and with HBO and Showtime, where executives go out of their way to make him happy.
Lopez and Lara signed with Haymon after their recent wins and join a stable that includes crown jewel Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- the key reason for so much of Haymon's juice -- in addition to such notable fighters as Cristobal Arreola, Devon Alexander, Adrien Broner, Andre Berto, Danny Garcia, Austin Trout, Seth Mitchell, Gary Russell Jr., Antonio Tarver, Sakio Bika and "Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin, not to mention a host of other lesser-known young fighters on the rise.
Those youngsters include Keith Thurman and Omar Figueroa, who aren't even close to being ready for prime time, but because of Haymon's influence, HBO has handed them prime slots on the July 21 Broner-Vicente Escobedo televised undercard, much to the shock (and displeasure) of many in the industry.
If Haymon can get Thurman and Figueroa -- barely eight-round fighters -- on HBO, imagine what he'll be able to do for Lopez and Lara?
Henry Ramirez trains Arreola and also trains and manages Lopez. He has seen up close what Haymon has done for Arreola. He figured Haymon could do the same thing for Lopez.
"Along with our promoters, Dan Goossen and Thompson Boxing, Al was instrumental in making the Ortiz fight happen," Ramirez said. "His guy [Berto] got pulled out of the fight [for a failed steroid test], and he was instrumental. It's a positive for Josesito moving forward.
"Our thing was to sign with Al to maximize every possible opportunity off of this win. Bringing Al aboard, I think, will benefit us. He can get things done that others can't. I have a relationship with him for over eight years because of Cris, so to me, this was a no-brainer. We're glad he was interested.
"With Al having leverage with the networks, he can get more money than other people can -- someway, somehow. So this is all good. Josesito was very excited to sign with Al. We'll see what's out there next and try to maximize his earning power."
Ramirez said Haymon reached out to him to talk about Lopez the day after his victory against Ortiz.
It was a similar situation with the Golden Boy-promoted Lara, whose manager, Luis DeCubas Jr., has seen what Haymon can do and made the same move after Haymon approached them following the win against Hernandez.
"Any time you can bring in one of the smartest men in any business, you do it," DeCubas said. "My job is to do what's best for my fighter and make him the most money, and in this situation it's bringing in Al Haymon. I think Lara has a very bright future, and the addition of Al Haymon is priceless. We look forward to Al getting Lara the big opportunities he deserves. I couldn't be happier with the scenario we're in."
http://espn.go.com/blog/dan-rafael/p...gn-with-haymon
Vanes: I Accept The WBC's Eliminator, I Can Stop Lara!
By Luis Sandoval
As earlier reported by BoxingScene, the WBC has mandated a purse bid on July 27th for a fight between Vanes Martirosyan and Erislandy Lara for a final WBC elimination bout.
Recently Vanes had rejected an offer to face Lara because he wanted contractual stipulation that if he was victorious, he’d be able to fight current champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. This time however, Vanes is on board 100% regardless of anything.
BoxingScene spoke to Vanes who said he was 100% on board with the fight and was happy to get the opportunity.
BoxingScene.com: Thoughts on the WBC mandating a purse bid for a fight with him and Lara:
I just talked to my manager and he told me about it. I didn’t know about it, I was sleeping since I’m resting for tomorrow for the weigh in. He woke me up and told me they ordered the Lara fight again and I told him you know what, 100% I want it no matter what. I’ve been texting him not to say anything, that I want the fight 100%.
BoxingScene.com: Did the WBC give you the request of putting on paper you will face Canelo Next:
I didn’t get anything like that but I’m pretty sure something will be put on paper. And they keep saying final eliminator so everybody’s seeing that already and it’s written everywhere so we’ll see what happens with that but as far as the fight, 100% I want the fight. I think I can beat Lara and I think I can stop him also.
BoxingScene.com: Happy about getting a shot against Erislandy Lara even though he isn’t one of the bigger names in the division:
100% I’m happy because I think the fight between me and Lara will determine who the best 154lb [fighter] is not counting [Floyd] Mayweather and [Miguel] Cotto because they’re the top dogs. But for all the young guys and all the guys who have titles, I think the winner of me and Lara will show the world who the real best 154 pounder is. The guys who have the titles don’t really mean much because they aren’t fighting anybody.
BoxingScene.com: Thoughts on Lara’s performance against Freddie Hernandez:
I see that he doesn’t take pressure very well and doesn’t take body shots very well. So I think I’m going to put a lot of pressure on him. I didn’t see much punch power actually in his power. I think he tries to fight forward so I’m going to take him to school. I think he was fighting the amateur way, trying to get points by getting points and running away but I’m going to take him out man. I got a good game plan for Lara. I’ve had it for a long time. Before the WBC didn’t want to put it on paper which kind of made us upset but now, I’m taking the fight no matter what.
BoxingScene.com: Worries about having a future fight planned before heading into his fight this Saturday against Ryan Davis. Nervous about what happened to Ortiz happening to him:
I mean Victor was fighting Josesito Lopez man. I know Josesito from the amateurs. He actually beat me when we fought at 122 or 126 pounds I think. Josesito beat me in the amateurs and I sparred with Victor and I dropped Victor so I knew that was a tough fight. I don’t really know much about Ryan Davis so I mean, it’s not going to put a lot pressure on me. If anything it makes me happier knowing I get a bigger fight after this. So I have to be fast and get the guy out of there so I can focus on the next one.
Sign to Al then the next day you get a big fight offer, Vanes has to win Saturday. But Al Haymon is bad for boxing?? Now let's see if Lara will take the fight. LOL..
By Luis Sandoval
As earlier reported by BoxingScene, the WBC has mandated a purse bid on July 27th for a fight between Vanes Martirosyan and Erislandy Lara for a final WBC elimination bout.
Recently Vanes had rejected an offer to face Lara because he wanted contractual stipulation that if he was victorious, he’d be able to fight current champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. This time however, Vanes is on board 100% regardless of anything.
BoxingScene spoke to Vanes who said he was 100% on board with the fight and was happy to get the opportunity.
BoxingScene.com: Thoughts on the WBC mandating a purse bid for a fight with him and Lara:
I just talked to my manager and he told me about it. I didn’t know about it, I was sleeping since I’m resting for tomorrow for the weigh in. He woke me up and told me they ordered the Lara fight again and I told him you know what, 100% I want it no matter what. I’ve been texting him not to say anything, that I want the fight 100%.
BoxingScene.com: Did the WBC give you the request of putting on paper you will face Canelo Next:
I didn’t get anything like that but I’m pretty sure something will be put on paper. And they keep saying final eliminator so everybody’s seeing that already and it’s written everywhere so we’ll see what happens with that but as far as the fight, 100% I want the fight. I think I can beat Lara and I think I can stop him also.
BoxingScene.com: Happy about getting a shot against Erislandy Lara even though he isn’t one of the bigger names in the division:
100% I’m happy because I think the fight between me and Lara will determine who the best 154lb [fighter] is not counting [Floyd] Mayweather and [Miguel] Cotto because they’re the top dogs. But for all the young guys and all the guys who have titles, I think the winner of me and Lara will show the world who the real best 154 pounder is. The guys who have the titles don’t really mean much because they aren’t fighting anybody.
BoxingScene.com: Thoughts on Lara’s performance against Freddie Hernandez:
I see that he doesn’t take pressure very well and doesn’t take body shots very well. So I think I’m going to put a lot of pressure on him. I didn’t see much punch power actually in his power. I think he tries to fight forward so I’m going to take him to school. I think he was fighting the amateur way, trying to get points by getting points and running away but I’m going to take him out man. I got a good game plan for Lara. I’ve had it for a long time. Before the WBC didn’t want to put it on paper which kind of made us upset but now, I’m taking the fight no matter what.
BoxingScene.com: Worries about having a future fight planned before heading into his fight this Saturday against Ryan Davis. Nervous about what happened to Ortiz happening to him:
I mean Victor was fighting Josesito Lopez man. I know Josesito from the amateurs. He actually beat me when we fought at 122 or 126 pounds I think. Josesito beat me in the amateurs and I sparred with Victor and I dropped Victor so I knew that was a tough fight. I don’t really know much about Ryan Davis so I mean, it’s not going to put a lot pressure on me. If anything it makes me happier knowing I get a bigger fight after this. So I have to be fast and get the guy out of there so I can focus on the next one.
Sign to Al then the next day you get a big fight offer, Vanes has to win Saturday. But Al Haymon is bad for boxing?? Now let's see if Lara will take the fight. LOL..
Chad Dawson trainer John Scully, on defeating Bernard Hopkins and facing Andre Ward
By John J. Raspanti, Doghouse Boxing (July 2, 2012) Doghouse Boxing
By John J. Raspanti - As a former boxer, John "Iceman" Scully experienced the ups and downs of a professional career. Now, as the trainer of light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, Scully and his charge, fresh off a victory over Bernard Hopkins, face their biggest challenge on September 8 when Dawson faces undefeated super middleweight champion Andre Ward in Oakland, California. Dawson surprised many by agreeing to drop down a weight class to 168 pounds. The venue in Oakland is a very comfortable place for the undefeated Ward.
Can Scully and Dawson figure out a way to defeat the talented champion?
Recently I spoke with "The Iceman" to get his take on the Taylor fight, judging, and Andre Ward.
John Raspanti: Explain from a trainers perspective how Chad Dawson was able to defeat the legendary Bernard Hopkins.
John "ICEMAN" Scully: For me it was a thing where the tapes were watched and the game plan was put in place. I didn't allow myself to think of Bernard as a legend or a great fighter or anything like that. It has to be a thing where you watch everything thing the particular guy does and figure out the best way to counter it, period. I think some of the guys who boxed him in recent fights were caught up in who this man was and what he did as opposed to just focusing on what they needed to do to beat him. Chad just had to know that he has the type of style and ability that allows him more often than not to be the one the opponent has to deal with rather than him having to deal with them. Chad just went out there and fought his fight and was successful with it.
JR: As a trainer was the Dawson victory the biggest of your career. Explain your feelings after the bout was over. Was the excitement similar to when you boxed?
ICE: Theoverall feeling was surprisingly calm for me because I really expected Chad to win, I always expect him to win. It was kind of like a thing where deep inside I was really excited and hyped up but I'm not really the type to show a lot of outward emotions like that so I probably appeared pretty calm. As a trainer I really kind of feel happy for the boxer more than for myself because the fact of the matter is that as trainers we do have a lot of input into the fight and the victory but at the same time nothing can happen unless the boxer does it so without him there is nothing. So he deserves the bulk of the credit and praise. I kind of stood back and felt happy for him much more than for myself. Thefeelings of success and accomplishment you get as a trainer are definitely great but, really, the feeling you get as the actual boxer is something otherworldly. There's nothing like being the winning fighter.
JR: It looks like Chad is going to fight Andre Ward. Would you have rather fought Ward at 175 pounds instead of 168?
ICE: As a boxer and as a boxing person, I would have thought the fight would be at 175. Very rarely does a guy go down in weight to challenge for a new title, they always move up to conquer new worlds. But it is what it is and Chad and his nutritionist and strength coach feel it is not a big deal.
JR: Ward has been compared to Bernard Hopkins by some writers. Do you agree that in some ways he is a younger, and faster Bernard?
ICE: I can see how people would say that, I agree to a certain extent, but Hopkins was obviously in possession of a lot more of the subtle type skills that are gained only with experience. He had those real veteran things going on that he picked up over the course of having shared the ring with so many tough fighters over the years. Andre Ward has a very similar thing going on, though, yes, I can see why people would say that. Like Bernard, he's not shy about doing whatever he has to do to try and win the fights and so far he's been successful with it.
JR: Dawson is taller then Ward and has a longer reach. How does he exploit these advantages?
ICE: As always, in my opinion, Chad's best plan of attack is to just be himself and use all that comes with his whole package, including the aspects of his game that are born from the fact that he is in fact so tall and has such a long reach. Any boxer with those type advantages is going to do the same exact thing, that being using them to control the distance between the two men. Chad has always been very good at that and he will continue to be good at it, I'm sure.
JR: Give me your opinion of Andre Ward's skills as a fighter.
ICE: The guy is a very good fighter all around. He does what it takes to beat the people he is in with. He's game and skilled and I think he's a tough kid, too. Chad is all of those things, too, though, and that's what makes this such an intriguing event.
JR: Nobody has been able to come close to defeating Ward. Do you see parts of Wards game you can exploit?
ICE: I have thus far only watched his strong points and his success. Now that we are most likely going to be going against him we will watch closely and find the weaknesses or at least his weaker points and vulnerabilities. They are there, I know this.
JR: The venue of the fight will be Oakland,California. With all bad decisions in boxing lately, do you feel Chad has to knock out Ward to win?
ICE: I think many in the boxing world will believe that and I personally hate to have to even consider that as a real possibility but when you watch some of these recent decisions in our game it certainly make you wonder. I think now even more that any other time in our history, our judges need to really be on their P's and Q's when it comes to how well they pay attention and how fair they are when rendering decisions. Especially in a fight like this that is going to have the majority of our fans and participants watching it. We don't want the favorite to win, we want the winner to win, and if that doesn't happen the way it should every time out it is going to drive more stakes into the heart of our game. There are wide ranging ramifications when a big fight - or any fight - isn't judged in a completely unbiased manner.
By John J. Raspanti, Doghouse Boxing (July 2, 2012) Doghouse Boxing
By John J. Raspanti - As a former boxer, John "Iceman" Scully experienced the ups and downs of a professional career. Now, as the trainer of light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, Scully and his charge, fresh off a victory over Bernard Hopkins, face their biggest challenge on September 8 when Dawson faces undefeated super middleweight champion Andre Ward in Oakland, California. Dawson surprised many by agreeing to drop down a weight class to 168 pounds. The venue in Oakland is a very comfortable place for the undefeated Ward.
Can Scully and Dawson figure out a way to defeat the talented champion?
Recently I spoke with "The Iceman" to get his take on the Taylor fight, judging, and Andre Ward.
John Raspanti: Explain from a trainers perspective how Chad Dawson was able to defeat the legendary Bernard Hopkins.
John "ICEMAN" Scully: For me it was a thing where the tapes were watched and the game plan was put in place. I didn't allow myself to think of Bernard as a legend or a great fighter or anything like that. It has to be a thing where you watch everything thing the particular guy does and figure out the best way to counter it, period. I think some of the guys who boxed him in recent fights were caught up in who this man was and what he did as opposed to just focusing on what they needed to do to beat him. Chad just had to know that he has the type of style and ability that allows him more often than not to be the one the opponent has to deal with rather than him having to deal with them. Chad just went out there and fought his fight and was successful with it.
JR: As a trainer was the Dawson victory the biggest of your career. Explain your feelings after the bout was over. Was the excitement similar to when you boxed?
ICE: Theoverall feeling was surprisingly calm for me because I really expected Chad to win, I always expect him to win. It was kind of like a thing where deep inside I was really excited and hyped up but I'm not really the type to show a lot of outward emotions like that so I probably appeared pretty calm. As a trainer I really kind of feel happy for the boxer more than for myself because the fact of the matter is that as trainers we do have a lot of input into the fight and the victory but at the same time nothing can happen unless the boxer does it so without him there is nothing. So he deserves the bulk of the credit and praise. I kind of stood back and felt happy for him much more than for myself. Thefeelings of success and accomplishment you get as a trainer are definitely great but, really, the feeling you get as the actual boxer is something otherworldly. There's nothing like being the winning fighter.
JR: It looks like Chad is going to fight Andre Ward. Would you have rather fought Ward at 175 pounds instead of 168?
ICE: As a boxer and as a boxing person, I would have thought the fight would be at 175. Very rarely does a guy go down in weight to challenge for a new title, they always move up to conquer new worlds. But it is what it is and Chad and his nutritionist and strength coach feel it is not a big deal.
JR: Ward has been compared to Bernard Hopkins by some writers. Do you agree that in some ways he is a younger, and faster Bernard?
ICE: I can see how people would say that, I agree to a certain extent, but Hopkins was obviously in possession of a lot more of the subtle type skills that are gained only with experience. He had those real veteran things going on that he picked up over the course of having shared the ring with so many tough fighters over the years. Andre Ward has a very similar thing going on, though, yes, I can see why people would say that. Like Bernard, he's not shy about doing whatever he has to do to try and win the fights and so far he's been successful with it.
JR: Dawson is taller then Ward and has a longer reach. How does he exploit these advantages?
ICE: As always, in my opinion, Chad's best plan of attack is to just be himself and use all that comes with his whole package, including the aspects of his game that are born from the fact that he is in fact so tall and has such a long reach. Any boxer with those type advantages is going to do the same exact thing, that being using them to control the distance between the two men. Chad has always been very good at that and he will continue to be good at it, I'm sure.
JR: Give me your opinion of Andre Ward's skills as a fighter.
ICE: The guy is a very good fighter all around. He does what it takes to beat the people he is in with. He's game and skilled and I think he's a tough kid, too. Chad is all of those things, too, though, and that's what makes this such an intriguing event.
JR: Nobody has been able to come close to defeating Ward. Do you see parts of Wards game you can exploit?
ICE: I have thus far only watched his strong points and his success. Now that we are most likely going to be going against him we will watch closely and find the weaknesses or at least his weaker points and vulnerabilities. They are there, I know this.
JR: The venue of the fight will be Oakland,California. With all bad decisions in boxing lately, do you feel Chad has to knock out Ward to win?
ICE: I think many in the boxing world will believe that and I personally hate to have to even consider that as a real possibility but when you watch some of these recent decisions in our game it certainly make you wonder. I think now even more that any other time in our history, our judges need to really be on their P's and Q's when it comes to how well they pay attention and how fair they are when rendering decisions. Especially in a fight like this that is going to have the majority of our fans and participants watching it. We don't want the favorite to win, we want the winner to win, and if that doesn't happen the way it should every time out it is going to drive more stakes into the heart of our game. There are wide ranging ramifications when a big fight - or any fight - isn't judged in a completely unbiased manner.
Bob Arum on Donaire’s Future, Victor Conte and Better Testing in Boxing
By Gabriel Montoya, MaxBoxing (
“I think that the division is loaded,” Arum said of the junior featherweight (122-pound) division. “[Donaire] has a lot of guys to choose from. [Jorge] Arce, [Rafael] Marquez, [Toshiaki] Nishioka, [Abner] Mares and, of course, the guy everyone says is maybe the toughest guy is [Guillermo] Rigondeaux. So Rigondeaux is fighting on probably on the [Julio Cesar] Chavez-[Sergio] Martinez [card] on September 14. And Donaire, if he wins this fight, will fight Arce. And I think there are a lot of good fights.”
I asked Arum if he felt that Donaire, who is of Filipino descent but much more Americanized than Top Rank’s brightest star Manny Pacquiao, could reach the pay-per-view superstar heights Pacquiao has. Donaire has a lot of the intangibles that can make a star. He’s charismatic, friendly, well-spoken and, on top of it all, a singular talent as a fighter. However, Arum, who has been in this business longer than this writer has been alive, is an experienced realist.
“Everything is different,” he said. “Everything is different. HBO has taken a big interest in Nonito. They want to showcase him as much as possible. Whether he'll ever be or that division will ever lend itself to pay-per-view, I don't know. You don't know until you see.”
Arum dismissed the idea that Donaire being Filipino-American had anything to do with breaking through to the mainstream.
“No, I don’t think that has anything to do with it,” said Arum. “I think that he is making his own way. I think that his being a Filipino-American is a plus because he probably relates more to Americans, having lived here most of his life than Manny would. Also, Filipinos realize that he and Manny were born in the same hometown, in General Santos [City].”
When you think about Donaire’s contrast to Pacquiao and how one became a star while the other is still rising, it comes down to who Top Rank had available to fight. Donaire’s biggest names have been Vic Darchinyan and Fernando Montiel, two fighters hardcore fight fans could appreciate. Pacquiao had Mexican icons Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales and later, Oscar De la Hoya to build off. Like Arum said, everything is different.
I switched topics and asked Arum if he was surprised that Donaire asked for anti-doping drug testing conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Arum responded with an emphatic endorsement of nutrition guru and anti-doping activist Victor Conte, who works with Donaire.
“No,” said Arum. “I think that Victor Conte has a big influence on [Nonito] and I really believe that Victor really wants to have good testing now. People point out Victor's background which was certainly there but I think that Victor is a reformed guy. And for me, nobody knows what they are talking about more than Conte does. He really knows the subject. And his idea is to have boxing be a clean sport without all this demagoguery that goes on. I mean, what's going on, managers don’t know what they are talking about; trainers don't know what they are talking about. I mean, Julio Chavez Jr., in his last fight, had to go to the bathroom and he delayed giving his urine sample until a little later. So the production assistant from HBO, when asked why they were taking so long, said [Chavez] hadn't given his urine sample, which of course, HBO talked about. But the fact is, a few minutes later, [Chavez] gave his urine sample and it was tested by the Texas Athletic Commission and it was negative. [Lee’s trainer] Emanuel Steward is now talking about how [Chavez] was so strong when he fought Andy Lee. (Speaking as Steward) ‘Who knows if he gave a urine sample?’ That's nonsense. You can't do that innuendo stuff. You gotta operate with facts.”
What Chavez Jr. and the latest, supposed incident involving him in Texas regarding drug testing and sample collection (well researched and written by Eastsideboxing.com’s Geoffrey Ciani, featured in the following link) shows us is that boxing needs uniformity in drug testing. What took place in Chavez Jr.’s dressing room was against WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) code. That’s the bottom line.
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?more=1&p=32505
“The only way we are going to get a uniformity in our drug testing rules other than voluntary which is never going to happen is to have either the ABC or a federal commission that subjects every boxer to random testing and has uniform rules and more important, an education system,” said Arum. It should be noted that because fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Andre Berto, Lamont Peterson, Saul Alvarez and now Nonito Donaire have stepped up and undergone extensive voluntary drug testing, the issue is not only on the table but becoming a wave of change. “I think a lot of the boxers that are testing positive like [Antonio] Tarver and so forth, I don't believe Tarver would do anything wrong. He has a whole career of not doing anything wrong. But I believe they get these strength-and-conditioning coaches that don't know crap and they give them stuff and it shows up as a positive because it is a positive. So I think there has to be an education program; it has to be uniform testing.”
Arum suggested that the sport go all in the way Donaire has. For boxing to prove its legitimacy, a radical change must happen.
Said Arum, “And I really believe that the only solution is random testing for everybody who is involved in boxing, whether it is a four-round fighter or a championship fighter.”
While we were asking for the perfect dream, I added, “And year-round, in and out of competition?”
“Year-round, just the way they do it in football, baseball,” agreed Arum.
Amen. Except let’s do it better than those sports.
By Gabriel Montoya, MaxBoxing (
“I think that the division is loaded,” Arum said of the junior featherweight (122-pound) division. “[Donaire] has a lot of guys to choose from. [Jorge] Arce, [Rafael] Marquez, [Toshiaki] Nishioka, [Abner] Mares and, of course, the guy everyone says is maybe the toughest guy is [Guillermo] Rigondeaux. So Rigondeaux is fighting on probably on the [Julio Cesar] Chavez-[Sergio] Martinez [card] on September 14. And Donaire, if he wins this fight, will fight Arce. And I think there are a lot of good fights.”
I asked Arum if he felt that Donaire, who is of Filipino descent but much more Americanized than Top Rank’s brightest star Manny Pacquiao, could reach the pay-per-view superstar heights Pacquiao has. Donaire has a lot of the intangibles that can make a star. He’s charismatic, friendly, well-spoken and, on top of it all, a singular talent as a fighter. However, Arum, who has been in this business longer than this writer has been alive, is an experienced realist.
“Everything is different,” he said. “Everything is different. HBO has taken a big interest in Nonito. They want to showcase him as much as possible. Whether he'll ever be or that division will ever lend itself to pay-per-view, I don't know. You don't know until you see.”
Arum dismissed the idea that Donaire being Filipino-American had anything to do with breaking through to the mainstream.
“No, I don’t think that has anything to do with it,” said Arum. “I think that he is making his own way. I think that his being a Filipino-American is a plus because he probably relates more to Americans, having lived here most of his life than Manny would. Also, Filipinos realize that he and Manny were born in the same hometown, in General Santos [City].”
When you think about Donaire’s contrast to Pacquiao and how one became a star while the other is still rising, it comes down to who Top Rank had available to fight. Donaire’s biggest names have been Vic Darchinyan and Fernando Montiel, two fighters hardcore fight fans could appreciate. Pacquiao had Mexican icons Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales and later, Oscar De la Hoya to build off. Like Arum said, everything is different.
I switched topics and asked Arum if he was surprised that Donaire asked for anti-doping drug testing conducted by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association. Arum responded with an emphatic endorsement of nutrition guru and anti-doping activist Victor Conte, who works with Donaire.
“No,” said Arum. “I think that Victor Conte has a big influence on [Nonito] and I really believe that Victor really wants to have good testing now. People point out Victor's background which was certainly there but I think that Victor is a reformed guy. And for me, nobody knows what they are talking about more than Conte does. He really knows the subject. And his idea is to have boxing be a clean sport without all this demagoguery that goes on. I mean, what's going on, managers don’t know what they are talking about; trainers don't know what they are talking about. I mean, Julio Chavez Jr., in his last fight, had to go to the bathroom and he delayed giving his urine sample until a little later. So the production assistant from HBO, when asked why they were taking so long, said [Chavez] hadn't given his urine sample, which of course, HBO talked about. But the fact is, a few minutes later, [Chavez] gave his urine sample and it was tested by the Texas Athletic Commission and it was negative. [Lee’s trainer] Emanuel Steward is now talking about how [Chavez] was so strong when he fought Andy Lee. (Speaking as Steward) ‘Who knows if he gave a urine sample?’ That's nonsense. You can't do that innuendo stuff. You gotta operate with facts.”
What Chavez Jr. and the latest, supposed incident involving him in Texas regarding drug testing and sample collection (well researched and written by Eastsideboxing.com’s Geoffrey Ciani, featured in the following link) shows us is that boxing needs uniformity in drug testing. What took place in Chavez Jr.’s dressing room was against WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) code. That’s the bottom line.
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?more=1&p=32505
“The only way we are going to get a uniformity in our drug testing rules other than voluntary which is never going to happen is to have either the ABC or a federal commission that subjects every boxer to random testing and has uniform rules and more important, an education system,” said Arum. It should be noted that because fighters like Floyd Mayweather, Andre Berto, Lamont Peterson, Saul Alvarez and now Nonito Donaire have stepped up and undergone extensive voluntary drug testing, the issue is not only on the table but becoming a wave of change. “I think a lot of the boxers that are testing positive like [Antonio] Tarver and so forth, I don't believe Tarver would do anything wrong. He has a whole career of not doing anything wrong. But I believe they get these strength-and-conditioning coaches that don't know crap and they give them stuff and it shows up as a positive because it is a positive. So I think there has to be an education program; it has to be uniform testing.”
Arum suggested that the sport go all in the way Donaire has. For boxing to prove its legitimacy, a radical change must happen.
Said Arum, “And I really believe that the only solution is random testing for everybody who is involved in boxing, whether it is a four-round fighter or a championship fighter.”
While we were asking for the perfect dream, I added, “And year-round, in and out of competition?”
“Year-round, just the way they do it in football, baseball,” agreed Arum.
Amen. Except let’s do it better than those sports.
Froch to fight in November in UK, then face Bute in March 2013 in rematch
July 5th, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) will be fighting former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (31-1, 24 KO’s) in a rematch in March 2013 in Canada as part of the rematch clause the two fighters have in their contract, according to fightnews.com. Before that, Froch will fight in November in the UK against possibly Mikkel Kessler.
Bute said “That was not the real Lucian Bute in that Nottingham ring on May 26. I spent the last few weeks reflecting on what went wrong, what happened…I want the rematch with Carl Froch as soon as possible.”
I agree with Bute. It wasn’t him at his best, because he made some tactical blunders by trying to slug with Froch, and then fighting off the ropes. That was dumb of him. But Bute won’t do that in the rematch. He’ll go back to his old hit and run style that he used for most of his career, and which is pretty much an unbeatable style especially against slow plodders like Froch.
Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants Froch to fight in November and wants Bute to take a tune-up fight as well. He sees those fights as making the Froch-Bute II fight much bigger. I would agree with Hearn if not for the fact that they’re trying to hook him up with a rematch against Kessler. In that case, I think it’s a real, real bad idea for Froch to be fighting a tune-up bout. Kessler already beat Froch once and he’s got his number. He knows how to fight him by boxing and moving, and he’ll whip him again. You can forget all about a Froch-Bute II fight once Froch loses to Kessler.
My advice is for Froch to take it easy in November and face one of his domestic fighters like George Groves, James DeGale, Tony Bellew or Nathan Cleverly in stay busy fights. At least Froch won’t have any risk involved if he faces one of those guys, and he can come into the Bute rematch well rested. Froch doesn’t need the Kessler fight right now. He can always take that after the Bute fight. Why risk losing the Bute fight by facing Kessler when you can fight Kessler later?
July 5th, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (29-2, 21 KO’s) will be fighting former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (31-1, 24 KO’s) in a rematch in March 2013 in Canada as part of the rematch clause the two fighters have in their contract, according to fightnews.com. Before that, Froch will fight in November in the UK against possibly Mikkel Kessler.
Bute said “That was not the real Lucian Bute in that Nottingham ring on May 26. I spent the last few weeks reflecting on what went wrong, what happened…I want the rematch with Carl Froch as soon as possible.”
I agree with Bute. It wasn’t him at his best, because he made some tactical blunders by trying to slug with Froch, and then fighting off the ropes. That was dumb of him. But Bute won’t do that in the rematch. He’ll go back to his old hit and run style that he used for most of his career, and which is pretty much an unbeatable style especially against slow plodders like Froch.
Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants Froch to fight in November and wants Bute to take a tune-up fight as well. He sees those fights as making the Froch-Bute II fight much bigger. I would agree with Hearn if not for the fact that they’re trying to hook him up with a rematch against Kessler. In that case, I think it’s a real, real bad idea for Froch to be fighting a tune-up bout. Kessler already beat Froch once and he’s got his number. He knows how to fight him by boxing and moving, and he’ll whip him again. You can forget all about a Froch-Bute II fight once Froch loses to Kessler.
My advice is for Froch to take it easy in November and face one of his domestic fighters like George Groves, James DeGale, Tony Bellew or Nathan Cleverly in stay busy fights. At least Froch won’t have any risk involved if he faces one of those guys, and he can come into the Bute rematch well rested. Froch doesn’t need the Kessler fight right now. He can always take that after the Bute fight. Why risk losing the Bute fight by facing Kessler when you can fight Kessler later?
De La Hoya: Khan vs. Garcia is a 50-50 fight
July 4th, 2012
By William Mackay: While Amir Khan has been busy bragging about how he’s going to blow away WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia on July 14th, Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya sees the fight as being a competitive one that could either way.
De La Hoya said to esnewsreporting.com “Amir Khan has to get through Danny Garcia, which is no easy task. This is a 50-50 fight for both guys.”
De La Hoya also spoke on the option of Khan facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the future, saying “If ever that fight presents itself, it should be a great fight.”
However, De La Hoya didn’t look convinced that it would happen in the future judging by the way he spoke.
De La Hoya is right about the Khan vs. Garcia fight – it is a 50-50 fight. Khan is a badly flawed fighter as we saw in his losses to Breidis Prescott and Lamont Peterson. The last thing the guy should be doing is looking at ahead for a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. or some other big name. That’s the whole problem with Khan. He likes to look ahead and then he turns around and gets beat.
He was looking ahead and planning out his next bout before the Peterson fight, and that turned out to be a real dumb move. Now he’s doing it again by talking up a fight with Mayweather, and talking about how he’s going to move up to the welterweight division after this fight. What he should be doing is saying nothing beyond this fight against Garcia unless he wants to still move up in weight even if he gets beaten by Garcia. I could see that happening, because it’s not as if Khan avenged his loss to Prescott. He had the chance and chose not to. I guess he can do the same thing if he loses to Garcia.
July 4th, 2012
By William Mackay: While Amir Khan has been busy bragging about how he’s going to blow away WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia on July 14th, Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya sees the fight as being a competitive one that could either way.
De La Hoya said to esnewsreporting.com “Amir Khan has to get through Danny Garcia, which is no easy task. This is a 50-50 fight for both guys.”
De La Hoya also spoke on the option of Khan facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the future, saying “If ever that fight presents itself, it should be a great fight.”
However, De La Hoya didn’t look convinced that it would happen in the future judging by the way he spoke.
De La Hoya is right about the Khan vs. Garcia fight – it is a 50-50 fight. Khan is a badly flawed fighter as we saw in his losses to Breidis Prescott and Lamont Peterson. The last thing the guy should be doing is looking at ahead for a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. or some other big name. That’s the whole problem with Khan. He likes to look ahead and then he turns around and gets beat.
He was looking ahead and planning out his next bout before the Peterson fight, and that turned out to be a real dumb move. Now he’s doing it again by talking up a fight with Mayweather, and talking about how he’s going to move up to the welterweight division after this fight. What he should be doing is saying nothing beyond this fight against Garcia unless he wants to still move up in weight even if he gets beaten by Garcia. I could see that happening, because it’s not as if Khan avenged his loss to Prescott. He had the chance and chose not to. I guess he can do the same thing if he loses to Garcia.
Sulaiman wants Donaire-Nishioka to fight for Diamond WBC super bantamweight strap
July 4th, 2012
(Photo: Chris Farina/Top Rank) By Chris Williams: If WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire is able to defeat IBF super bantamweight champion Jeffrey Mathebula in their unification bout on Saturday night, World Boxing Council (WBC) president Jose Sulaiman is interested in having WBC Emeritus WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka and Donaire fight for the WBC Diamond super bantamweight strap before the end of the year.
The Diamond belt was created not too long ago by the WBC to be a belt for the best fighters in a division to be competing over. In this case, it’s incredibly premature to be having Donaire fight for the Diamond belt because even if he wins the IBF title against Mathebula on Saturday night, he won’t have proved that he’s better than the WBA champ Guillermo Rigondeaux and WBC regular champion Abner Mares.
The only thing that Donaire will have proved is that he can beat a little known paper champion in Mathebula, which to me isn’t enough for Donaire to be fighting for the Diamond title. I guess Sulaiman feels that Donaire can do this because he’ll have two titles in his possession and that will give him weight to say he’s the top dog in the division along with Nishika, who some people see as the best fighter at 122. I’m not one of them. I see Nishioka as like #7, behind Rigondeaux, Mares, Donaire, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Rico Ramos and Ricardo Cardoba.
If Donaire would fight Mares or Rigondeaux and prove that he’s better than them, then I could understand the WBC putting up their Diamond strap for a fight against Nishioka. But to have Donaire fighting for that belt without having fought those guys, it’s the equivalent of fighting for a trophy without having competed against the main guys. It’ll be pretty empty.
July 4th, 2012
(Photo: Chris Farina/Top Rank) By Chris Williams: If WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire is able to defeat IBF super bantamweight champion Jeffrey Mathebula in their unification bout on Saturday night, World Boxing Council (WBC) president Jose Sulaiman is interested in having WBC Emeritus WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka and Donaire fight for the WBC Diamond super bantamweight strap before the end of the year.
The Diamond belt was created not too long ago by the WBC to be a belt for the best fighters in a division to be competing over. In this case, it’s incredibly premature to be having Donaire fight for the Diamond belt because even if he wins the IBF title against Mathebula on Saturday night, he won’t have proved that he’s better than the WBA champ Guillermo Rigondeaux and WBC regular champion Abner Mares.
The only thing that Donaire will have proved is that he can beat a little known paper champion in Mathebula, which to me isn’t enough for Donaire to be fighting for the Diamond title. I guess Sulaiman feels that Donaire can do this because he’ll have two titles in his possession and that will give him weight to say he’s the top dog in the division along with Nishika, who some people see as the best fighter at 122. I’m not one of them. I see Nishioka as like #7, behind Rigondeaux, Mares, Donaire, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., Rico Ramos and Ricardo Cardoba.
If Donaire would fight Mares or Rigondeaux and prove that he’s better than them, then I could understand the WBC putting up their Diamond strap for a fight against Nishioka. But to have Donaire fighting for that belt without having fought those guys, it’s the equivalent of fighting for a trophy without having competed against the main guys. It’ll be pretty empty.
38-year-old Mayorga a possibility for Canelo Alvarez on 9/15
July 4th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: In a match-up in keeping with the kinds of opponents that WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) has been fighting his entire seven-year pro career, 38-year-old former two division world champion Ricardo Mayorga (29-8-1, 23 KO’s) is reportedly being considered for Canelo Alvarez’s September 15th fight on Showtime, according to Fighthype.com.
There’s also a chance that the fight will be televised on CBS. Why they would want to televise a fight as awful as this one is anyone’s guess. I’m just wondering how the World Boxing Council and Showtime would agree to to this fight. If I’m working for Showtime, I would say no immediately to the idea of televising this bout if Golden Boy Promotions brought it up. Mayorga was a good fighter 10 years ago, but he’s done very little since losing to Cory Spinks in 2003.
Mayorga hasn’t fought since last year in March when he was stopped in the 12th round by WBA World junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Mayorga is not ranked in the top 15 in the junior middleweight division, although I could see the WBC changing that in a heartbeat by suddenly pumping him to the #1 spot based on nothing. Sad, but true.
The positive to having Alvarez fight Mayorga is that he’s not a threat to beating him like Erislandy Lara would be. Mayorga would do a good job of promoting the fight by insulting Alvarez like mad during their press conferences and probably easily getting the better of him. In terms of showmanship and arguing ability, it would be like man against boy. Mayorga is a much better trash talker than Alvarez, and he’s got better charisma as well. However, he can’t fight at a high level anymore and the bout would be a mismatch. It would be interesting for three or four rounds, but after that it would be all Alvarez.
It would be disappointing to see Alvarez matched against Mayorga because Alvarez is a champion and he really needs to start facing world class opposition. He won the title against a welterweight in Matthew Hatton rather than a ranked junior middleweight. I still don’t understand how the WBC let that happen. Alvarez has defended the title four times beating Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez, Kermit Cintron and 40-year-old Shane Mosley. Those were all weak opponents, and boxing fans have been hoping that Alvarez would finally face someone good or at least marginally good like Cornelius Bundrage at the minimum. But it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I think an Alvarez-Mayorga fight would be the equivalent of Tomasz Adamek vs. James Toney. A terrible mismatch and a joke of a fight. It would make it seem like Alvarez is being protected by Golden Boy despite the fact that he’s holding a world title and should be facing the best fighters now.
July 4th, 2012
By Dan Ambrose: In a match-up in keeping with the kinds of opponents that WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) has been fighting his entire seven-year pro career, 38-year-old former two division world champion Ricardo Mayorga (29-8-1, 23 KO’s) is reportedly being considered for Canelo Alvarez’s September 15th fight on Showtime, according to Fighthype.com.
There’s also a chance that the fight will be televised on CBS. Why they would want to televise a fight as awful as this one is anyone’s guess. I’m just wondering how the World Boxing Council and Showtime would agree to to this fight. If I’m working for Showtime, I would say no immediately to the idea of televising this bout if Golden Boy Promotions brought it up. Mayorga was a good fighter 10 years ago, but he’s done very little since losing to Cory Spinks in 2003.
Mayorga hasn’t fought since last year in March when he was stopped in the 12th round by WBA World junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto. Mayorga is not ranked in the top 15 in the junior middleweight division, although I could see the WBC changing that in a heartbeat by suddenly pumping him to the #1 spot based on nothing. Sad, but true.
The positive to having Alvarez fight Mayorga is that he’s not a threat to beating him like Erislandy Lara would be. Mayorga would do a good job of promoting the fight by insulting Alvarez like mad during their press conferences and probably easily getting the better of him. In terms of showmanship and arguing ability, it would be like man against boy. Mayorga is a much better trash talker than Alvarez, and he’s got better charisma as well. However, he can’t fight at a high level anymore and the bout would be a mismatch. It would be interesting for three or four rounds, but after that it would be all Alvarez.
It would be disappointing to see Alvarez matched against Mayorga because Alvarez is a champion and he really needs to start facing world class opposition. He won the title against a welterweight in Matthew Hatton rather than a ranked junior middleweight. I still don’t understand how the WBC let that happen. Alvarez has defended the title four times beating Ryan Rhodes, Alfonso Gomez, Kermit Cintron and 40-year-old Shane Mosley. Those were all weak opponents, and boxing fans have been hoping that Alvarez would finally face someone good or at least marginally good like Cornelius Bundrage at the minimum. But it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. I think an Alvarez-Mayorga fight would be the equivalent of Tomasz Adamek vs. James Toney. A terrible mismatch and a joke of a fight. It would make it seem like Alvarez is being protected by Golden Boy despite the fact that he’s holding a world title and should be facing the best fighters now.
Dirrell: Stevenson’s one-punch KO is all he has going for him
July 4th, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KO’s) isn’t worried about beating Andonis Stevenson (18-1, 15 KO’s) in their proposed fight for August 11th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Dirrell sees nothing in the 34-year-old Stevenson’s game that worries him, and he feels it would be a fairly easy fight for him to win.
The Dirrell-Stevenson fight is being negotiated at this time, and it’s far from a sure thing. Dirrell is okay with fighting in Montreal, but he’s not going to take the fight for free. He wants to be paid what he’s worth, and for a talent like Dirrell, I hope Stevenson’s promoter has deep pockets. This isn’t going to be an easy fight to negotiate.
The winner of this fight will become IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch’s mandatory challenger. I don’t see Froch ever fighting Dirrell, because Froch has already got two fights lined up in front of him with rematches against Mikkel Kessler and Lucian Bute. If Froch wins those fights, he’ll likely choose to fight Jean Pascal and then probably retire. If Froch doesn’t retire, I still don’t see him fighting Dirrell. He’ll likely choose one of the other contenders rather than risk facing Dirrell and losing.
Dirrell told the Flint Journal at Mlive.com “His [Stevenson] one-punch knockout is all he has. I’m too hungry, first and foremost, and I’m really just ready to get in there. So, if the terms are right and everything goes smoothly, then I hope this fight is made.”
The fight would match two southpaws with blazing hand speed and excellent power. Dirrell, 28, is the younger and taller fighter compared to the 34-year-old 5’11″ Stevenson. Dirrell also has faced much better opposition and has the better amateur credentials with his 2004 Olympic experience on the U.S team. Dirrell is the better defensive fighter by far and he puts his punches together much better. Like Dirrell said, all Stevenson has is his one punch knockout power.
Dirrell is good at making opponents miss, especially ones that load up with every shot like Stevenson does. Stevenson only has power in his left hand, and he’s predictable. Dirrell would dominate him and it doesn’t matter that the fight will take place in Canada. Stevenson is going to get schooled by Dirrell and knocked out.
July 4th, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KO’s) isn’t worried about beating Andonis Stevenson (18-1, 15 KO’s) in their proposed fight for August 11th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Dirrell sees nothing in the 34-year-old Stevenson’s game that worries him, and he feels it would be a fairly easy fight for him to win.
The Dirrell-Stevenson fight is being negotiated at this time, and it’s far from a sure thing. Dirrell is okay with fighting in Montreal, but he’s not going to take the fight for free. He wants to be paid what he’s worth, and for a talent like Dirrell, I hope Stevenson’s promoter has deep pockets. This isn’t going to be an easy fight to negotiate.
The winner of this fight will become IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch’s mandatory challenger. I don’t see Froch ever fighting Dirrell, because Froch has already got two fights lined up in front of him with rematches against Mikkel Kessler and Lucian Bute. If Froch wins those fights, he’ll likely choose to fight Jean Pascal and then probably retire. If Froch doesn’t retire, I still don’t see him fighting Dirrell. He’ll likely choose one of the other contenders rather than risk facing Dirrell and losing.
Dirrell told the Flint Journal at Mlive.com “His [Stevenson] one-punch knockout is all he has. I’m too hungry, first and foremost, and I’m really just ready to get in there. So, if the terms are right and everything goes smoothly, then I hope this fight is made.”
The fight would match two southpaws with blazing hand speed and excellent power. Dirrell, 28, is the younger and taller fighter compared to the 34-year-old 5’11″ Stevenson. Dirrell also has faced much better opposition and has the better amateur credentials with his 2004 Olympic experience on the U.S team. Dirrell is the better defensive fighter by far and he puts his punches together much better. Like Dirrell said, all Stevenson has is his one punch knockout power.
Dirrell is good at making opponents miss, especially ones that load up with every shot like Stevenson does. Stevenson only has power in his left hand, and he’s predictable. Dirrell would dominate him and it doesn’t matter that the fight will take place in Canada. Stevenson is going to get schooled by Dirrell and knocked out.
NBC Sports Network to Renew and Extend “Fight Night” Series
By John G. Thompson: As reported through various media outlets, NBC’s cable sports channel the NBC Sports Network has not only renewed its “Fight Night” series, but increased its number of scheduled matches from six to sixteen, with at least six broadcasts to air per year on Saturdays. In addition to the cable channel’s broadcasts, NBC Sports President Jon Miller has announced that they will try to schedule one or two “Fight Night” shows on network NBC.
NBC Sports Group has partnered with Main Events and well-known matchmaker J. Russell Peltz, who commented, "This series is the best thing that has happened to boxing in years… the fights have been promoted the old-fashioned way, in sold-out noisy venues in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Bethlehem and Newark. This is the way boxing was meant to be." Jon Miller added, “Fight Night has been a tremendous success. The unique approach to have multiple promoters competing to put fights on the NBC Sports Network has allowed us to produce compelling match-ups and incredibly exciting shows."
In an exciting move, Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is set to join Kenny Rice and cruiserweight prospect B.J. Flores as part of the play-by-play commentating team. Also, Sports Illustrated staff writer Chris Mannix will continue to serve as the ringside reporter. So far the Fight Night series has showcased up and coming US heavyweight Bryant Jennings and junior middleweight Gabriel Rosado, as well as the recent controversial bout between Eddie Chambers and Tomasz Adamek. The next broadcast is scheduled for September 21st, featuring undefeated welterweight Ronald Cruz and a possible return for Adamek.
"We are once again reaching out to all promoters to get involved in the series." said Main Events President Kathy Duva. "The multiple promoter format worked incredibly well during season one and we are hoping to continue to build on the momentum. All fighters who are willing to further their careers by engaging in compelling, interesting, meaningful matches are welcome."
By John G. Thompson: As reported through various media outlets, NBC’s cable sports channel the NBC Sports Network has not only renewed its “Fight Night” series, but increased its number of scheduled matches from six to sixteen, with at least six broadcasts to air per year on Saturdays. In addition to the cable channel’s broadcasts, NBC Sports President Jon Miller has announced that they will try to schedule one or two “Fight Night” shows on network NBC.
NBC Sports Group has partnered with Main Events and well-known matchmaker J. Russell Peltz, who commented, "This series is the best thing that has happened to boxing in years… the fights have been promoted the old-fashioned way, in sold-out noisy venues in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Bethlehem and Newark. This is the way boxing was meant to be." Jon Miller added, “Fight Night has been a tremendous success. The unique approach to have multiple promoters competing to put fights on the NBC Sports Network has allowed us to produce compelling match-ups and incredibly exciting shows."
In an exciting move, Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach is set to join Kenny Rice and cruiserweight prospect B.J. Flores as part of the play-by-play commentating team. Also, Sports Illustrated staff writer Chris Mannix will continue to serve as the ringside reporter. So far the Fight Night series has showcased up and coming US heavyweight Bryant Jennings and junior middleweight Gabriel Rosado, as well as the recent controversial bout between Eddie Chambers and Tomasz Adamek. The next broadcast is scheduled for September 21st, featuring undefeated welterweight Ronald Cruz and a possible return for Adamek.
"We are once again reaching out to all promoters to get involved in the series." said Main Events President Kathy Duva. "The multiple promoter format worked incredibly well during season one and we are hoping to continue to build on the momentum. All fighters who are willing to further their careers by engaging in compelling, interesting, meaningful matches are welcome."
Oscar De La Hoya Interested In 154-Pound Tournament, names Kirkland, Cotto, Lara, K-9, Canelo and others as possibilities!
By James Slater: A 154-pound Super Six? Well, not exactly, but Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya has shared with Ring.tv his idea for an eight-man tourney that would feature some of the top names at light-middleweight, and Oscar says he'd like to have the tournament fought and wrapped up significantly quicker than it took for the Showtime Boxing Classic to reach its conclusion.
The Super Six was a great idea and event, yet the one drawback was the two full years it took for Andre Ward to be crowned the winner. De La Hoya envisages a thrilling tourney that would last just a few months.
"Why not do an eight-man tournament in a shorter period of time," Oscar said to Ring. "Why not have three or even four fights in one night and make it a single elimination tournament in a shorter amount of time. It doesn't have to last a year or two years. You can make it a single elimination, and this tournament can last just a few months."
There is a long way to go before De La Hoya can get his brainchild off the ground, and Oscar says he will sit down with his match-makers and see which Golden Boy fighters might make for great entrants into the tourney. But the names Oscar has spoken about off the top of his head make for a quite mouth-watering scenario!
"Bundrage, Trout, Lara, Canelo, Cotto, Kirkland, Angulo making a comeback. S**t, I might throw myself into the mix," The Golden Boy said.
Oscar was joking when he spoke of fighting in the tournament himself (at least I hope he was), but the great idea he is working on is no joke whatsoever. The seven top names De La Hoya mentioned (plus one more fighter) going at one another in a knockout tournament? What's not to like?
Now, can De La Hoya and his team make it happen? The people who brought you The Super Six will tell you all about the numerous headaches they encountered when putting their show on the road. However, to see sluggers like Kirkland and Angulo, and classy boxers like Alvarez and Cotto, and Lara and Trout going at it, the hard work of putting together such a tournament would sure be worth it: for the promoters, for the fighters themselves and above all for the paying fans.
By James Slater: A 154-pound Super Six? Well, not exactly, but Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya has shared with Ring.tv his idea for an eight-man tourney that would feature some of the top names at light-middleweight, and Oscar says he'd like to have the tournament fought and wrapped up significantly quicker than it took for the Showtime Boxing Classic to reach its conclusion.
The Super Six was a great idea and event, yet the one drawback was the two full years it took for Andre Ward to be crowned the winner. De La Hoya envisages a thrilling tourney that would last just a few months.
"Why not do an eight-man tournament in a shorter period of time," Oscar said to Ring. "Why not have three or even four fights in one night and make it a single elimination tournament in a shorter amount of time. It doesn't have to last a year or two years. You can make it a single elimination, and this tournament can last just a few months."
There is a long way to go before De La Hoya can get his brainchild off the ground, and Oscar says he will sit down with his match-makers and see which Golden Boy fighters might make for great entrants into the tourney. But the names Oscar has spoken about off the top of his head make for a quite mouth-watering scenario!
"Bundrage, Trout, Lara, Canelo, Cotto, Kirkland, Angulo making a comeback. S**t, I might throw myself into the mix," The Golden Boy said.
Oscar was joking when he spoke of fighting in the tournament himself (at least I hope he was), but the great idea he is working on is no joke whatsoever. The seven top names De La Hoya mentioned (plus one more fighter) going at one another in a knockout tournament? What's not to like?
Now, can De La Hoya and his team make it happen? The people who brought you The Super Six will tell you all about the numerous headaches they encountered when putting their show on the road. However, to see sluggers like Kirkland and Angulo, and classy boxers like Alvarez and Cotto, and Lara and Trout going at it, the hard work of putting together such a tournament would sure be worth it: for the promoters, for the fighters themselves and above all for the paying fans.
Ok few quick notes for today:
-Lara vs. Vanes Purse Bid is Scheduled By WBC For 7/27. Surprisingly Vanes has stated he accepts the fight.
-Toshiaki Nishioka will be sitting ringside at this weekends Nonito Donaire fight and if Donaire wins, plans on confronting Donaire to issue a challenge (one that Donaire says he would accept). Unlike what the retard "writer" chris williams says, Nishioka is ranked #1 at Jr. Featherweight and it would be a great unification bout at 122 pounds.
-Dmitry Pirog Suffered a Back Injury during training and has withdrawn From Golovkin Bout, which is a massive bummer since this was the 2nd best fight at MW imo and more importantly a unification bout. Some rumors are that Pirog has pulled out because Miguel Cotto wants to try and win a belt at 160 pounds in December and Pirog is the guy he wants, but this is nothing more than a rumor at this point and one I don't personally believe since the risk/reward would be too big for Cotto to take imo. The real reason may have been because the WBO, for some unknown reason, said they would strip Prirog of his WBO belt if he goes ahead and fights Golovkin. Boxing politics may have killed this fight, who knows now though.
-Shame Cameron BRUTALLY knocked out Monte Barrett in New Zealand today...knock out of the year? Barrett was laying on the canvas for about 5 minutes and needed medical attention, but apparently he's alright. Video below:
[video=youtube;3BrGfuCd-LI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BrGfuCd-LI[/video]
-Lara vs. Vanes Purse Bid is Scheduled By WBC For 7/27. Surprisingly Vanes has stated he accepts the fight.
-Toshiaki Nishioka will be sitting ringside at this weekends Nonito Donaire fight and if Donaire wins, plans on confronting Donaire to issue a challenge (one that Donaire says he would accept). Unlike what the retard "writer" chris williams says, Nishioka is ranked #1 at Jr. Featherweight and it would be a great unification bout at 122 pounds.
-Dmitry Pirog Suffered a Back Injury during training and has withdrawn From Golovkin Bout, which is a massive bummer since this was the 2nd best fight at MW imo and more importantly a unification bout. Some rumors are that Pirog has pulled out because Miguel Cotto wants to try and win a belt at 160 pounds in December and Pirog is the guy he wants, but this is nothing more than a rumor at this point and one I don't personally believe since the risk/reward would be too big for Cotto to take imo. The real reason may have been because the WBO, for some unknown reason, said they would strip Prirog of his WBO belt if he goes ahead and fights Golovkin. Boxing politics may have killed this fight, who knows now though.
-Shame Cameron BRUTALLY knocked out Monte Barrett in New Zealand today...knock out of the year? Barrett was laying on the canvas for about 5 minutes and needed medical attention, but apparently he's alright. Video below:
[video=youtube;3BrGfuCd-LI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BrGfuCd-LI[/video]
Dirrell: I’m chasing down Froch
July 5th, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: Super middleweight Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KO’s) has his eyes on the prize and wants a revenge rematch with IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch so bad he can taste it. This is why Dirrell has agreed to face a fighter that no one wants to fight right now in Adonis Stevenson.
Dirrell has agreed to fight Stevenson in an IBF eliminator bout on August 11th in Montreal, Canada. The fight will take place as long as Dirrell gets a good offer for the fight from Stevenson’s promoter. I wish I could say for sure that Dirrell will like what he sees with the green stuff offer, but I won’t blame Dirrell if he says no to it. They’re not going to get him on the cheap, and some promoters might think they can because of Dirrell’s long periods in between fights since suffering an injury in the Super Six tournament in 2010. But that’s okay. Dirrell doesn’t need the Stevenson fight if they’re not going to give him the cash that he wants, but hopefully they give him a nice tidy sum so that he can wet his beak until he gets a title shot against Froch.
Dirrell said to Mlive.com “I’m chasing down Carl Froch and he has the title once again. He’s in the spotlight once again and his hype never really died down to begin with.”
Yes, Dirrell wants to avenge his controversial loss to Froch. The two fighters fought in 2009 in Nottingham, and Froch was missing all night long. It was like he was fighting the invisible man, because he couldn’t lay a glove on Dirrell all night. Pretty much the only time Froch was able to land anything was when he was holding on Dirrell. In other words, holding and hitting, and the referee should have done something about it. I thought I was watching some kind of mix between MMA and professional wrestling, especially when Froch body slammed Dirrell on the canvas in the 5th round in front of the referee, who didn’t do a thing about it.
If the Dirrell-Stevenson fight gets made, Dirrell will school Stevenson and make it look easy. Stevenson is just like Froch with the way he loads up with every shot he throws. It’ll make it easy for Dirrell to make Stevenson miss and then come back and counter him.
July 5th, 2012
By Scott Gilfoid: Super middleweight Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KO’s) has his eyes on the prize and wants a revenge rematch with IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch so bad he can taste it. This is why Dirrell has agreed to face a fighter that no one wants to fight right now in Adonis Stevenson.
Dirrell has agreed to fight Stevenson in an IBF eliminator bout on August 11th in Montreal, Canada. The fight will take place as long as Dirrell gets a good offer for the fight from Stevenson’s promoter. I wish I could say for sure that Dirrell will like what he sees with the green stuff offer, but I won’t blame Dirrell if he says no to it. They’re not going to get him on the cheap, and some promoters might think they can because of Dirrell’s long periods in between fights since suffering an injury in the Super Six tournament in 2010. But that’s okay. Dirrell doesn’t need the Stevenson fight if they’re not going to give him the cash that he wants, but hopefully they give him a nice tidy sum so that he can wet his beak until he gets a title shot against Froch.
Dirrell said to Mlive.com “I’m chasing down Carl Froch and he has the title once again. He’s in the spotlight once again and his hype never really died down to begin with.”
Yes, Dirrell wants to avenge his controversial loss to Froch. The two fighters fought in 2009 in Nottingham, and Froch was missing all night long. It was like he was fighting the invisible man, because he couldn’t lay a glove on Dirrell all night. Pretty much the only time Froch was able to land anything was when he was holding on Dirrell. In other words, holding and hitting, and the referee should have done something about it. I thought I was watching some kind of mix between MMA and professional wrestling, especially when Froch body slammed Dirrell on the canvas in the 5th round in front of the referee, who didn’t do a thing about it.
If the Dirrell-Stevenson fight gets made, Dirrell will school Stevenson and make it look easy. Stevenson is just like Froch with the way he loads up with every shot he throws. It’ll make it easy for Dirrell to make Stevenson miss and then come back and counter him.
Erislandy Lara and Josesito Lopez Sign to Al Haymon, Great Move
By Dan Rafael | ESPN.com
As a late substitute, Josesito Lopez moved up to welterweight, busted Victor Ortiz's jaw in two places and forced him to retire on his stool after the ninth round for a major upset win June 23 in a breakout performance.
Junior middleweight contender Erislandy Lara, who disposed of Freddy Hernandez for a lopsided decision win on June 30, is one of the most avoided fighters in boxing.
But you can count on seeing Lopez and Lara get more notable fights now, for one very obvious reason: They have joined the impressive stable of powerbroker adviser Al Haymon, who has unparalleled influence with the promoters he works with -- primarily Golden Boy -- and with HBO and Showtime, where executives go out of their way to make him happy.
Lopez and Lara signed with Haymon after their recent wins and join a stable that includes crown jewel Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- the key reason for so much of Haymon's juice -- in addition to such notable fighters as Cristobal Arreola, Devon Alexander, Adrien Broner, Andre Berto, Danny Garcia, Austin Trout, Seth Mitchell, Gary Russell Jr., Antonio Tarver, Sakio Bika and "Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin, not to mention a host of other lesser-known young fighters on the rise.
Those youngsters include Keith Thurman and Omar Figueroa, who aren't even close to being ready for prime time, but because of Haymon's influence, HBO has handed them prime slots on the July 21 Broner-Vicente Escobedo televised undercard, much to the shock (and displeasure) of many in the industry.
If Haymon can get Thurman and Figueroa -- barely eight-round fighters -- on HBO, imagine what he'll be able to do for Lopez and Lara?
Henry Ramirez trains Arreola and also trains and manages Lopez. He has seen up close what Haymon has done for Arreola. He figured Haymon could do the same thing for Lopez.
"Along with our promoters, Dan Goossen and Thompson Boxing, Al was instrumental in making the Ortiz fight happen," Ramirez said. "His guy [Berto] got pulled out of the fight [for a failed steroid test], and he was instrumental. It's a positive for Josesito moving forward.
"Our thing was to sign with Al to maximize every possible opportunity off of this win. Bringing Al aboard, I think, will benefit us. He can get things done that others can't. I have a relationship with him for over eight years because of Cris, so to me, this was a no-brainer. We're glad he was interested.
"With Al having leverage with the networks, he can get more money than other people can -- someway, somehow. So this is all good. Josesito was very excited to sign with Al. We'll see what's out there next and try to maximize his earning power."
Ramirez said Haymon reached out to him to talk about Lopez the day after his victory against Ortiz.
It was a similar situation with the Golden Boy-promoted Lara, whose manager, Luis DeCubas Jr., has seen what Haymon can do and made the same move after Haymon approached them following the win against Hernandez.
"Any time you can bring in one of the smartest men in any business, you do it," DeCubas said. "My job is to do what's best for my fighter and make him the most money, and in this situation it's bringing in Al Haymon. I think Lara has a very bright future, and the addition of Al Haymon is priceless. We look forward to Al getting Lara the big opportunities he deserves. I couldn't be happier with the scenario we're in."
By Dan Rafael | ESPN.com
As a late substitute, Josesito Lopez moved up to welterweight, busted Victor Ortiz's jaw in two places and forced him to retire on his stool after the ninth round for a major upset win June 23 in a breakout performance.
Junior middleweight contender Erislandy Lara, who disposed of Freddy Hernandez for a lopsided decision win on June 30, is one of the most avoided fighters in boxing.
But you can count on seeing Lopez and Lara get more notable fights now, for one very obvious reason: They have joined the impressive stable of powerbroker adviser Al Haymon, who has unparalleled influence with the promoters he works with -- primarily Golden Boy -- and with HBO and Showtime, where executives go out of their way to make him happy.
Lopez and Lara signed with Haymon after their recent wins and join a stable that includes crown jewel Floyd Mayweather Jr. -- the key reason for so much of Haymon's juice -- in addition to such notable fighters as Cristobal Arreola, Devon Alexander, Adrien Broner, Andre Berto, Danny Garcia, Austin Trout, Seth Mitchell, Gary Russell Jr., Antonio Tarver, Sakio Bika and "Kid Chocolate" Peter Quillin, not to mention a host of other lesser-known young fighters on the rise.
Those youngsters include Keith Thurman and Omar Figueroa, who aren't even close to being ready for prime time, but because of Haymon's influence, HBO has handed them prime slots on the July 21 Broner-Vicente Escobedo televised undercard, much to the shock (and displeasure) of many in the industry.
If Haymon can get Thurman and Figueroa -- barely eight-round fighters -- on HBO, imagine what he'll be able to do for Lopez and Lara?
Henry Ramirez trains Arreola and also trains and manages Lopez. He has seen up close what Haymon has done for Arreola. He figured Haymon could do the same thing for Lopez.
"Along with our promoters, Dan Goossen and Thompson Boxing, Al was instrumental in making the Ortiz fight happen," Ramirez said. "His guy [Berto] got pulled out of the fight [for a failed steroid test], and he was instrumental. It's a positive for Josesito moving forward.
"Our thing was to sign with Al to maximize every possible opportunity off of this win. Bringing Al aboard, I think, will benefit us. He can get things done that others can't. I have a relationship with him for over eight years because of Cris, so to me, this was a no-brainer. We're glad he was interested.
"With Al having leverage with the networks, he can get more money than other people can -- someway, somehow. So this is all good. Josesito was very excited to sign with Al. We'll see what's out there next and try to maximize his earning power."
Ramirez said Haymon reached out to him to talk about Lopez the day after his victory against Ortiz.
It was a similar situation with the Golden Boy-promoted Lara, whose manager, Luis DeCubas Jr., has seen what Haymon can do and made the same move after Haymon approached them following the win against Hernandez.
"Any time you can bring in one of the smartest men in any business, you do it," DeCubas said. "My job is to do what's best for my fighter and make him the most money, and in this situation it's bringing in Al Haymon. I think Lara has a very bright future, and the addition of Al Haymon is priceless. We look forward to Al getting Lara the big opportunities he deserves. I couldn't be happier with the scenario we're in."