Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Ward's Manager (j Prince) Sends Strong Message To Floyd


In response to an earlier story on BoxingScene.com , where WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. took several shots at WBC/WBA super middleweight king Andre Ward - James Prince, the current manager of Ward and ex-manager of Mayweather, had plenty to say in response to Floyd Jr.'s unexpected verbal jabs."First of all I don't know what demonic spirit jumped into Mayweather causing him to try to assassinate my fighter's character because he is a fighter and a man of God - as if it's a sin to worship God and fight.

It goes to show his ignorance in the word of God because there are prophets throughout the Bible that were fighters, warriors, hit men - and none of them were punks. So for Mayweather to attack a man's spirituality because he has been friends with Robert Guerrero since they were kids and he's riding with him is just an excuse to voice his haterism that's really in his heart for me and Dre," Prince said in a statement to BoxingScene.com."Dre never had nothing but respect for this dude, but if he thinks there is something weak about Andre Ward - then he can eat some steaks and put some weight on his ass so Dre can whip it. Not knocking Floyd Mayweather, but he knows he couldn't draw flies to a dumpster until he beat Oscar De la Hoya.

I know this is true because I was managing him when he couldn't sell out his hometown of Grand Rapids or the San Francisco Auditorium, which only seats 6,000 people.""By the way, any man that represented the United States of America and won a gold medal is not only known, but appreciated by all Americans - something Floyd didn't accomplish. And that invitation on his blueprint for knowing how to get millions - we pass on that, because we know how to make millions, but more importantly, how to keep it.""And yeah, I see how he's trying to befriend Broner so he won't be faced with Broner gettin' in his ass.

But at the end of the day, he would have a problem with Broner because Broner is a real one. And Floyd knows, like I know, that he's uncomfortable with real men around him."

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather Shreds Andre Ward: Broner Is More Known

Something rubbed WBC welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr. the wrong way. During a recent interview, Mayweather took several shots at Andre Ward, the WBC/WBA super middleweight champion. Mayweather first took offense with Ward's nickname, S.O.G. [Son of God].

"He calls himself S.O.G. If I'm not mistaken, that stands for Son of God. Last time I checked, we're all God's children. When one fighter is facing another fighter, God don't choose sides. What's going to happen in life is going to happen. Everything is already planned out. Listen man, if you're going to be a pastor, go to church. If you're going to be a reverend, go to church. If you're going to be a boxer, be a boxer. I mean, one minute, they want to say all this S.O.G. stuff, and the next minute, they wanna go put tattoos on they body. I ain't never seen a pastor boxing. I ain't never seen a reverend boxing. I say a prayer that my opponent lives to fight another day and I live to fight another day. You got these guys trying to hurt a man on Saturday and then going to praise the Lord on Sunday," Mayweather said.

Then Mayweather took a few more shots after hearing that Ward would backing Robert Guerrero to win on May 4th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

"Not knocking Andre Ward, but he can't sell tickets nowhere. He can't sell tickets in Las Vegas. This is the only guy I know that's a gold medalist, but don't nobody know he's a gold medalist. He's a gold medalist, but he's making money like he don't even got a medal. Like I said before, Andre Ward, he's a good fighter, but who knows him? If you're not in Oakland, you don't even know who he is. He's getting older and time is ticking, so I mean, when is he going to ever leave Oakland and put assess in seats somewhere else?," Mayweather said.

"You know, you got fighters, sometimes, they speak on certain situations where the thing is this, like I always tell you before, when you're a fighter getting a million dollars, a million dollar fighter like Andre Ward, if anything, you need to come to my camp so you can learn the blueprint on how to sell out arenas worldwide. I got the blueprint on how to sell out arenas worldwide. We know Adrien Broner is more known than Andre Ward. He don't even have an amateur background. He's got a gold medal? Let me get it and I'll melt it down and get a medallion made."

 

[2-0-Sixx]

The Mayweather Ward beef is heating up. James Prince, Ward's manager blasted Floyd in an interview. He notoriously punked Floyd and beat up Leonard Ellerbe back when Floyd was still with Top Rank..

Here was that old story from 2003:

"Mayweather also found himself in some trouble when he was in a fierce
contractual battle with former manager James Prince. Top Rank stepped in
and advanced him $610,000 to settle with Prince, and also cut Prince a
check for 20 percent of Mayweather's $3.05 million dollar purse for fighting
Phillip Ndou.

The situation with Prince, a well known figure in the rap world, escalated to a
dangerous level when several men showed up to the Top Rank Gym on
September 11, 2003 and roughed up Leonard Ellerbe and former camp
member Thomas Summers, sending both to the hospital.

Mayweather's camp has never confirmed the story, but both DuBoef and
Arum claimed to have saved a "shaken" Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who told
DuBoef 'These are bad guys, you have to help me save my family.'

"I said, 'Let me give James a letter of credit,' " Arum said. "And Floyd said --I'll never forget it -- 'James don't take no letter of credit.' "

 

[2-0-Sixx]

I remember when Floyd was talking shit about X then never mentioned him again after this comment lol:

"Hey, listen, at the end of the day, when I look at guys, and
some rappers that I ain't going to mention, that talk about
gangsta, talk about street, talk about going to jail, talk
about being hard on the street, that remind me of Floyd
Mayweather. Floyd Mayweather is no tough guy. And
Floyd Mayweather can tell you about, and Ellerbe can tell
you about when a couple of guys came up in Top Rank's
gym and they was taking two to three weeks to scrub
blood out of the stains of the carpet that was in there.
Where was the gangsta then? See, they know I know." -Bernard Hopkins

 

[T-Rip]

I dont see why Floyd is badmouthing Ward, dont even make sense. They cant fight eachother and really the last 6 fights or so Ward has the better resume.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Twitter was wild yesterday people saying Ward challenged Floyd to a fight but as usual things were taken out of context as Fat Dan from ESPN jokingly said Floyd should fight Ward at 160 since Floyd knocked out The Big Show on WWE, and Ward joked back saying lets do it or something along those lines. Anyways, Ward clears it up today:


By Edward Chaykovsky

WBA/WBC super middleweight champion

14KOs) says his comments regarding a drop in weight to face
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26KOs) was not a public
challenge. The unbeaten boxer says he was simply answering
a hypothetical question regarding a Mayweather fight. In the
last few days, there have been some words exchanged
between the two camps, but Ward is not looking to drag the
situation out for the sake of making headlines. As far as Ward
is concerned, the Mayweather situation is now closed.

"I've been in boxing a long time and rule number 1 is you don't
call somebody out that's three weight classes lower than you.
You also don't call somebody out who has a fight coming up,
and I'm not in a position to call anybody out right now because
I'm rehabbing my shoulder. I'm not a guy that says things for
shock value or says things to get headlines," Ward told
FightHype.com.

"I respected what Floyd has done for the sport

what he said and I respect what Floyd has done for our sport
after he said what he said. We had a difference and that's what
it is. What I'm not going to allow to happen is this thing to
escalate and there be some long-standing beef or problem
between me and Floyd Mayweather when that's not the case,
so it's done. I don't have no problems with Floyd Mayweather.
It was squashed the other day. I answered the question and it
got blown way out of proportion."

 

[heyzel]

JEFF MAYWEATHER: "I DON'T SEE GUERRERO GIVING HIM TROUBLE...HE GONNA GET KNOCKED OUT"
By Ben Thompson | March 14, 2013

"If southpaws are supposed to give him trouble, I don't understand why he continues to pick them as opponents, and another thing is I don't see Guerrero giving him trouble. I think he gonna get knocked out in about 7 or 8 rounds because of his style. Floyd is too smart. Floyd will take 1 or 2 rounds to figure him out probably, and then it's a wrap. Then he gonna start getting taxed and it's gonna be over," staed world-class trainer Jeff Mayweather, who talked about the upcoming May 4 clash between his nephew, undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, and multi-division world champion Robert Guerrero.

PC: We haven't talked since your nephew, Floyd Mayweather, signed the most lucrative deal in sports history with Showtime and CBS. What are your thoughts on what this deal does for the sport of boxing and will it be different for you seeing him on another network after seeing him on HBO for so long?

JM: Well, the one thing is this; if HBO wanted him, they would have done the deal. That's it. End of story on that one. They had first dibs at him. They had him all of these years and then all of a sudden, they don't want him anymore, but somebody else does and they were willing to pay whatever he asked for. I think its great not only for Floyd, but I think it's great for the sport of boxing because the one thing about it is this; every generation, there is a person that comes along like this. And now, all that means is this; the person that comes after Floyd may even get more. Way back when Ray Leonard was making $10 million and probably ended up making $100 million from boxing, people thought that was crazy. They never thought it would be surpassed. Then Mike Tyson came along and probably made $3 to $400 million. Maybe even $500 million, I don't know. And now you have Floyd, who has surpassed everybody. And there is gonna be somebody who will surpass him, but it all starts with a person that's bold enough and confident enough to put it out there. I remember a long, long time ago. I remember Glen Robinson…I will never forget it.

PC: "Big Dog"!

JM: That's right, you remember "Big Dog" and he said I want $100 million. He said that so long ago, back when they weren't giving guys nowhere close to $100 million in the NBA. And now you got guys getting $100 million contracts. That's because somebody opened their mouth. If he wouldn't have opened his mouth, he wasn't getting no $100 million. Then somebody with lesser talent than him got $100 million. You have…what's the guy from Michigan? Juan Howard got $100 million and he wasn't even remotely a star in the sport. Well, they got "Big Dog" to thank for that because he was bold enough to ask for it. It takes someone to open that door and once that door is open, it's up to that athlete to kick it in, and once they kick it in, it paves the way for the next athlete and the next one and the next one. I think it is a great thing for the sport of boxing and it's great for Floyd. The best thing is it's a deal that's structured to where Floyd truly cannot relax like he has in the past. He has to fight at least 2 times a year and that's good for boxing.

PC: Of course he will be coming back on May 4th against Robert Guerrero. How do you see this thing playing out, Jeff?

JM: Well one thing is this, if southpaws are supposed to give him trouble, I don't understand why he continues to pick them as opponents, and another thing is I don't see Guerrero giving him trouble. I think he gonna get knocked out in about 7 or 8 rounds because of his style. Floyd is too smart. Floyd will take 1 or 2 rounds to figure him out probably, and then it's a wrap. Then he gonna start getting taxed and it's gonna be over. I can speak on what's going on in the gym…these guys getting thrashed; every one of them.

PC: Do you see a changing of the guard in networks, because a lot of people starting to look at Showtime as the best boxing network when HBO has held that title for some time now? Do you see that?

JM: I mean, it's like anything else; if you got the stars, your network is going to be the one that everyone wants to watch. One of the things I know is this, a lot of these guys all look up to Floyd and try to follow in his footsteps, so if Floyd goes to Showtime, I want to go to Showtime. So it's one of those things, but I think both networks will survive and will do their thing because HBO still has some good fighters as well.

PC: And being that you came up in an era where boxing was on network television like CBS and NBC, it's gotta feel good for you to see it going back to that format.

JM: Definitely! It's the right move and Floyd is the right fighter for it because Floyd knows how to promote; whether it's bad or good, he sells. He makes people want to come there and either see him get his ass whooped or to see him whoop somebody's ass real bad. He's the perfect guy to be able to bring it to the public and reach the demographic that hasn't had the chance to see it because they don't buy the pay-per-views or don't even care about boxing. If it's on CBS and they flash a commercial during one of their televised shows, then all of a sudden, now you bringing in a whole different audience because they'll say, "Wait a second, this gonna be on CBS? I'm gonna have to watch this guy. Everybody says he is an asshole. Let me see what happens." So I think it's great!

PC: Someone who I have heard has been back in the gym is your fighter, Celestino Caballero. What does his future hold and is his situation straight now?

JM: Well, Celestino is fighting on April 20th in Panama. See, the thing is this, right now, he's not dealing with that whole thing with 50 Cent and Floyd. His manager is putting on a fight because the man still gotta make a living and he still gotta eat. Hopefully this thing gets resolved because at the end of the day, I think it's going to boil down to Celestino giving 50 Cent his $20,000 back and then go on because you can't make nobody be with you, especially when they have a signed contract with somebody else. So it's one of those situations as to right now, Celestino is the man with no home. He has no guidance, so he's out doing his thing and he has the blessing of the WBC. But this fight in April is guaranteed and he is actually fighting for the #1 spot and then he will get the winner out of Abner Mares and Ponce De Leon.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

Ward would do a number on Floyd.
It's not even a contest.
Any top 20 guy at 168 would simply grab his neck and slam him up against a wall.

Huge size difference.
Just look at the picture.
Floyd is delusional at times.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Brother Nazim and Tyson Fury going at it

 

[CHRISHOGGALYPSE]

Yeah I guess. Just seemed disrespectful from Floyd but what do u expect its floyd.

seriously, you really think Floyd wants to fight someone with Ward's size and skills?

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Canelo-Trout: 15,000 Tickets
Sold, Huge Crowd Expected

Click Here To Email

By Miguel Rivera

According to Ramiro Gonzalez, public relations director for
Golden Boy Promotions, there have already been 15,000 tickets
sold in two days for the junior middleweight unification
between Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (41-0-1, 30KOs) and Austin
Trout (26-0, 14KOs), taking place on April 20th at the
Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

"In two days 15,000 tickets were sold including the most
expensive seats at ringside, so we expect 35 to 40 thousand
spectators at the Alamodome for the fight with Trout,"
Gonzalez said.

Back in 1993, a record attendance of over 58,000 came to Julio
Cesar Chavez take on Pernell Whitaker for the WBC
welterweight crown.

"Now Canelo can write his own story and he will definitely have
a large mass of fans on April 20 against Trout, in a fight where
Saul puts his unbeaten record on and should prove to be the
next world figure in boxing," Gonzalez explained. "Saul is a
charismatic fighter, a box office hit and he will confirm [his
worth] with Austin Trout in a real test."

 

[CHRISHOGGALYPSE]

I was gonna try and go to the fight. My homeboy said "road trip!" when I commented on twitter about it but we both realized it was pretty far, like 8 hours each way. It's not really the distance, it was more about the cash for both of us right now I think. Wish I was going. Undercard is probably gonna be booty though

 

[heyzel]

ADRIEN BRONER ON PAULIE MALIGNAGGI: "HE'S KNOWN FOR GETTING STOPPED...JUST WATCH"
By Ben Thompson | March 18, 2013

Though he's rarely short on words, undefeated WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner didn't have a lot to say about his June 22 showdown with WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi. FightHype.com caught up with the "fresh, fly and flashy" Broner over the weekend while he was engaging in one of his favorites hobbies, "shopping like always." When asked why he was making such a dangerous move to jump up two weight divisions to try and capture his third world title, Broner made it clear that he's in the driver's seat and is able to face anyone he wants to from 135-147 pounds.

"I do what I want to do and these guys do what they can. That's why! One thing about it, I've been ready. Other guys gotta get ready," Broner explained. "Man, I know what I'm doing. Trust me." Despite the fact that Malignaggi is the naturally bigger man, Broner isn't concerned at all about being at a disadvantage. In fact, Broner appeared to be so unconcerned with anything that Malignaggi brings to the table that he didn't even bother to acknowledge any of the recent smack talk that the welterweight champion has been dishing out. "Hey man, fuck Paulie, man. Flat out! Ain't nobody worried about Pauletta. I don't care about that, man. Hey, he's known for getting stopped, man," Broner commented when informed of Malignaggi's most recent comments directed towards him. "Man, listen, just watch this fight. I ain't got much to say about this fight. Just watch!"

 

[heyzel]

Canelo-Trout: 20,000 tickets already sold; Alamodome will be configured for 40,000
March 17th, 2013 | Post Comment


Canelo Trout Canelo vs. Trout saul alvarez austin trout (Photo: Stephanie Trapp/SHOWTIME) By Dan Ambrose: Ticket sales for the April 20th fight between WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) and WBA champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s) continue to be scooped up at an alarming rate for this fight at the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

According to mysantonio.com, 20,000 tickets have already been purchased for the fight with still a little over one month to go. Alamodome, which holds 72,000, was previously reconfigured to hold 30,000, according to Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, but with the tickets still moving at a fast pace, they’ve reconfigured it to hold 40,000.

If the ticket sales get near or surpass the 40,000 seats, you can bet they’re reconfigure it again by bumping it up to an even higher number.

Canelo is pulling in the big ticket sales due to his popularity among Mexican boxing fans. The thing is Canelo is popular without having proven himself as of yet. He’s faced a lot of older and smaller fighters, which is why his fight with Trout is considered to be his first real test of his career.

Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy didn’t want the fight with Trout, and instead wanted a beatable fighter like Miguel Cotto. In other words, if Golden Boy had their way, Canelo would still be without a real test.

The undercard is still lacking in a big way with only light middleweights Omar Figueroa vs. Abner Cotto the only undercard fight that’s been approved. Golden Boy is going to have to dig up a lot more than this if they want to impress boxing fans at home at watching on Showtime.

Fans want to see more than just the main event, and Figueroa vs. Cotto isn’t worthy of being the co-main event if that’s what’s going to happen. They’re going to have to find some better fighters or at least more recognizable ones that casual boxing fans have heard of.

 

[heyzel]

Warren: Burns didn’t want the fight with Broner
March 17th, 2013 | Post Comment


Broner Burns Broner vs. Burns ricky burns adrien broner By Scott Gilfoid: WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns’ former promoter Frank Warren has revealed that Burns didn’t want the unification fight with WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s) when it was offered to him.

We had previously heard that Burns wasn’t interested in facing the talented Broner, but now Burns’ ex-promoter is revealing it to the world in his latest column.

Warren said to thesun.co.uk “He [Burns] was offered the Adrien Broner fight in writing, and he didn’t want that.”

Oh, this is so, so sad. Burns turned down the fight with Broner. Now why would Burns say no to a fight like that when it would easily have given him the biggest payday of his career, a chance to unify the lightweight titles, and a heap of publicity around the world? Why would Burns turn down such a fight?

Burns’ new promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport said that one of the first things that Burns mentioned to him after signing with his promotional stable was that he wanted a fight against Broner. It sounds good right. However, this was after the news had already come out that Broner was moving up to 147 to challenge WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi on June 22nd in New York.

So Burns is suddenly interested in the fight with Broner, but his interest coincides with the news that Broner is moving up in weight after having given up on trying to land a fight with him.

Why did it take Burns so long to start showing interest? Broner has been trying to get a fight with him ever since he was a super featherweight, but it’s only after Broner decides to move up to welterweight that we’re hearing that Burns is interested in fighting him.

Broner has moved on to bigger and better things, so even if Burns is legitimately interested in facing him now all of a sudden, which I highly doubt, there’s no point in Broner wasting anymore more of his previous time trying to land that fight. If you snooze you lose, and I think Burns has too many chances already in fighting what could be the eventual #1 fighter in all of boxing in terms of pay-per-view sales.

 

[heyzel]

Schaefer wants to match Wilder against Price-Thompson winner
March 17th, 2013 | Post Comment


Price vs. Thompson tony thompson deontay wilder david price By Scott Gilfoid: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer was hoping to match rising heavyweight contender Deontay Wilder (27-0, 27 KO’s) in a fight against Tony Thompson (37-3, 25 KO’s) next, but Schaefer has learned that heavyweight David Price, who was knocked out in the 2nd round by Thompson last month, has a rematch clause with him and he plans on using it to face him next. As such, Schaefer wants to match Wilder against the Thompson-Price winner.

Schaefer told RingTV “While we would want a fight with Tony Thompson, we have been made aware that Thompson has an immediate rematch obligation to David Price…Deontay would be happy to fight the winner of that immediate rematch.”

In other words, Wilder won’t be getting the winner of the Thompson-Price rematch unless Thompson wins it.

Here’s the deal. If Price beats Thompson in the rematch, you can bet that there won’t be any interest from the 6’8” Price to get in the ring with the hard hitting 6’7” Wilder because the chances would be too high that Price would end up getting knocked out again, except a lot sooner than the 2nd round.

Wilder hits way too hard, and Price isn’t someone that can knockout guys in the 1st round unless their name is Audley Harrison. That means Price would have to take big shots from Wilder, and I can’t see Price making it out of the 1st round.

Price’s promoter Frank Maloney will likely steer Price either against domestic level heavyweight Dereck Chisora or some light hitter if Price can get past Thompson, and that’s a big if because Price didn’t look good once Thompson started throwing punches back at him last month. Price was fine when it was him doing the punching, but once he started getting hit back in the 2nd, he collapsed to the canvas like a big giraffe taken down by a hungry lion.

Wilder unfortunately is just too dangerous for his own good. He tried to get a fight against another British heavyweight Tyson Fury and was ignored, and believe me he’s going to get ignored by Price and his promoter Maloney if they’re able to avenge the loss to Thompson.

 

[heyzel]

BREAKING: HBO boxing decides it is no longer doing business with Golden Boy. Story coming soon on @YahooSports #boxing
By KevinIole

 

[2-0-Sixx]

BREAKING: HBO boxing decides it is no longer doing business with Golden Boy. Story coming soon on @YahooSports #boxing
By KevinIole

This is some of the most idiotic shit ever. Can't wait to hear the story behind this.

Not only do us boxing fans have to deal with the top rank golden boy fued but now we have to deal with a network vs promotional company fueds as well. God, boxing sure loves to shoot itself in the foot....with a bazooka.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

So Showtime is basically Golden Boy boxing now. HBO will be Top Rank, dibella, gary shaw, etc.


HBO Ends Golden Boy
Relationship, Passes on Broner



By Keith Idec

HBO has passed on broadcasting Adrien Broner’s next fight
and the premium-cable channel’s boxing boss indicated
Monday that the network won’t work with Golden Boy
Promotions, Broner’s promoter, for the foreseeable future.

The announcement marked the crumbling of a once-powerful
alliance between HBO Sports and Golden Boy Promotions, a
relationship that was weakened when Showtime hired former
Golden Boy attorney Stephen Espinoza to run its sports
division in November 2011. Showtime now televises Golden
Boy Promotions cards almost exclusively, but Broner and
Bernard Hopkins were the only high-profile Golden Boy fighters
whose fights were still broadcast by HBO.

Ken Hershman, president of HBO Sports, said in a statement:
“In order to achieve our goal of the best fighters, in the most
compelling matchups, we’ve decided to focus our efforts and
resources on those strategic relationships where we better
share common goals in business philosophy.”

In other words, HBO intends to work with promoters other than
Golden Boy Promotions moving forward, most notably Golden
Boy’s promotional nemesis, Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc.

HBO’s announcement comes less than a month after Floyd
Mayweather Jr., HBO’s flagship fighter, signed a six-fight, 30-month deal with Showtime. Mayweather works closely with
Golden Boy Promotions, although the company technically is
not the promoter of record for boxing’s pound-for-pound king.

Broner (26-0, 22 KOs) is expected to move up two weight
classes to challenge WBA welterweight champion Paulie
Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KOs) in his next bout, possibly June 22 in
Malignaggi’s native Brooklyn, N.Y. Malignaggi is employed by
Showtime as a color commentator, but HBO’s decision to pass
on the Broner-Malignaggi fight ultimately had more to do with
the network’s concern over eventually losing Broner to
Showtime no matter whom Broner fights next.

 

[JLMACN]

So Canelo fights will all be Showtime too now?


fuck, I have to pay for Showtime......I got HBO right now.