Thurman vs. Chaves & Berto vs. Soto-Karass in late July on Showtime

04/03/2013 Bill Phanco

thurman32 - Copy In a couple of interesting fights that are being put together for late July, former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KO’s) will be getting a chance to redeem himself in a fight against Jesus Soto-Karass (27-8-3, 17 KO’s), and unbeaten welterweight Keith Thurman (20-0, 18 KO’s) will face interim WBA welterweight champ Diego Chaves (22-0, 18 KO’s) in a fight that will be televised on Showtime. The date of the fight hasn’t been set but they’re looking at either July 20th or July 27th as of now.

Berto, 29, could find himself in deep, deep trouble if he gets outworked like he was in his last fight against Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero last November in a 12 round unanimous decision loss. Guerrero didn’t do anything special to beat Berto other than pressuring him and throwing a lot of shots.

Maidana-Lopez, Angulo-Lara & Bika-Periban on June 8th in Carson, California

04/03/2013 Bill Phanco

Golden Boy Promotions is putting on an excellent fight card on June 8th headlined by WBA Inter-Continental welterweight champion Marcos Maidana (33-3, 30 KO’s) defending his title against Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KO’s) in this Showtime televised card at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California, USA.

In addition to this fight, the undercard has #1 WBC, #3 WBO, #5 IBF junior middleweight contender Erislandy Lara (17-1-2, 11 KO’s) facing #9 WBC Alfredo Angulo (22-2, 18 KO’s) in a 12 round bout, and #1 WBC super middleweight contender Sakio Bika (31-5-2, 21 KO’s) battling unbeaten #14 WBC Marco Antonio Periban (20-0, 13 KO’s) in a 12 round bout.

Alvarado defeats Rios; Crawford decisions Prescott in boring fight

03/31/201303/30/2013 Bill Phanco

In a big upset, Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) defeated former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The final judges’ scores were 115-113, 115-113 and 114-113.

Rios started off well with his heavy pressure and was able to force Alvarado to brawl with him despite the fact that Alvarado was constantly moving in the first three rounds.

In the 2nd round, Rios staggered Alvarado badly with a hard jab. Alvarado’s legs went to jelly briefly, but he was able to hold onto Rios long enough to clear his head. Rios landed several big shots before the round ended, but to his credit Alvarado was able to take them and stay upright. Rios should emptied his arsenal in that round because Alvarado was able to take control of the fight from the 3rd round on and dominate with his movement and hard right hands to the head.

Alvarado prepared to box and slug with Rios tonight

03/31/201303/30/2013 Bill Phanco

Tonight in a battle of Top Rank sluggers on HBO, light welterweight Mike Alvarado (33-1, 23 KO’s) and Brandon Rios (31-0-1, 23 KO’s) will be fighting in a rematch at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The fight has a lot riding on it for the 26-year-old Rios because his promoter Bob Arum wants to put him in bigger fights next against Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez or Tim Bradley.

There’s less of an upside for the 32-year-old Alvarado because Arum hasn’t been vocal about wanting to put Alvarado in with Pacquiao, Marquez or Bradley if he beats Rios. It’s likely he’ll put Alvarado back in with Rios in a third fight immediately to give his highly hyped Rios a chance to redeem himself so that Arum can move him in against his better known Top Rank stable fighters.

Vera defeats Bondorovas on questionable stoppage

03/30/201303/30/2013 Bill Phanco

vera11 Middleweight Brian Vera (23-6, 13 KO’s) got a lucky break tonight when the referee Charlie Fitch stopped a fight that Vera was clearly losing to Donatas Bondorovas (17-4-1, 6 KO’s) after the 7th round because of two small cuts that Bondorovas in their fight at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York, USA.

After an especially strong round by Bondorovas in the 7th, referee Fitch asked Bondorovas if he could see out of his eyes, and he said “not so good.” Bondorovas then angrily got to his feet and told Fitch “I said I CAN see.” It was no use, Fitch had made up his mind and the fight, which was actually good one, was stopped prematurely.

Robert Guerrero arrested in New York for attempting to carry a pistol onto a plane

07/22/201903/28/2013 Bill Phanco

In a potential buzz-kill, WBC interim welterweight champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) was arrested earlier today for attempting to board a plane with an unloaded pistol while at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport.

According to Yahoo Sports, the 29-year-old Guerrero was leaving New York after spending a short period of time promoting his huge blockbuster pay-per-view bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Guerrero was boarding a Delta flight 1429 to Las Vegas at 8:10 a.m. Guerrero attempted to declare the pistol [40 caliber semi-automatic] at the Delta counter, but was arrested. The pistol wasn’t loaded.

Robert Guerrero turns 30 today; getting ready for Mayweather

03/27/2013 Bill Phanco

(Photo credit: Casino/Showtime) Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) turned 30-years-old today, March 27th. Guerrero has been spending a lot of time meeting with different media personalities in the past couple of weeks as he’s getting ready for his May 4th fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s).

Guerrero was on Good Morning America, ESPN, and most recently meeting with Sean Hannity from Fox News. Guerrero seems to be really milking the opportunity to make a name for himself outside of the ring.

It’s hard to remember a fighter doing as much meeting with the media than what Guerrero is doing now. He seems to live for this. It’s too bad that this can’t go on forever because this is something he’s good at. The problem is he’s going to have to perform in the ring on May 4th, and I just don’t think it’s possible for him to pull off the upset over Mayweather.

Rios-Alvarado on HBO this Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada

03/26/201303/25/2013 Bill Phanco

Brandon Rios and Mike Avarado will be going to war on Saturday night in a fight for the interim WBO light welterweight title on HBO at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The winner of the Rios vs. Alvarado fight will be in line to eventually challenge for the WBO full 140 pound title, which is held at this time by WBO champion Juan Manuel Marquez.

For Rios, it’s important that he defeat Alvarado once again in order to get a big money fight against Manny Pacquiao. Rios was supposed to be fighting Pacquiao already, but the plans were changed when Pacquiao was destroyed by Marquez in a 6th round knockout last December. Pacquiao now could end up facing Marquez, the winner of the Alvarado-Rios fight or Tim Bradley in September.

Breidis Prescott vs. Terence Crawford this Saturday, March 30th in Las Vegas

03/26/201303/25/2013 Bill Phanco

29-year-old light welterweight Breidis Prescott (29-4, 20 KO’s) will be facing unbeaten lightweight fringe contender Terence Crawford (19-0, 15 KO’s) in a scheduled 10 round bout on the undercard of the Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado bout on HBO at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Prescott was supposed to be facing WBA light welterweight champion Khabib Allakhverdiev (18-0, 8 KO’s), but he suffered an injury and had to drop out of the card. The Prescott-Crawford fight will be the co-feature on the card.

Bradley vs. Provodnikov replay tonight on HBO at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT

03/26/201303/24/2013 Bill Phanco

HBO will be televising the replay of the March 16th fight between WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (30-0, 12 KO’s) and Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KO’s) in their fight from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The fight was an exciting one from start to finish with Bradley getting hurt badly on four separate occasions, yet still winning the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 115-112, 114-113 and 114-113.

HBO will replay the fight at 10:35 p.m. ET/PT. Additionally, HBO will be televising a replay of Road to Rios-Alvarado II immediately following the Bradley-Provodnikov replay.