Eddy Pronishev

Eddy Pronishev has been covering the sport since 2001, known for his deep technical breakdowns, sharp industry insight, and no-nonsense analysis of boxing’s biggest fights and promoters.

Team Oquendo Wants a Showdown with Magomed Abdusalamov

Oquendo WBC Convention Cancunby Pavel Yakovlev, photo: Carlos Baeza – Fres Oquendo is ready for action, and his team is eyeing a showdown with power-punching Magomed Abdusalamov. Recently, Sampson Lewkowicz – Abdusalamov’s promoter — offered to match his fighter with any contender for “a sum of one dollar.” Oquendo’s manager Tom Tsatas is interested. “We accept, but because both guys are so high in the ratings, we want to make it an eliminator for the WBC’s #2 spot,” said Tsatas. “The winner will be in line for a title fight.”

Oquendo definitely wants the bout. “If they can make this fight, it will be a great Christmas gift for me,” he said. “I’ve seen Mago. He’s very strong. He has devastating power. He’s good, but I’m on a higher level. If I beat Mago, my next shot will be against Klitschko.”

In the latest WBC ratings, Oquendo is ranked 12th and Abdusalamov is 10th. Oquendo, a world-rated heavyweight for most of the past decade, has fought twice for world championships. He won three fights this year and has a record of 35-7 (23 KO’s). Abdusalamov, whose record is 16-0 (16 KO’s), is a former two time Russian amateur champion. The 31-year-old Dagestani is known for his pulverizing power: ten of his KO’s have come in the first round. Recently, Abdusalamov stopped former top contender Jameel McCline in two rounds.

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Skipp Scott Interview: “I Want KO’s!”

photoBy James Slater: Houston’s very own heavyweight hope Skipp “Strictly Business” Scott is set for his next fight on January 10th. The 6’8” giant, last seen scoring a 1st-round KO back in May to improve his record to an impressive 15-1(10) will face the experienced Kertson Manswell of Trinidad and Tobago, and Skipp says he wants to “make a statement” in the Lou Savarese-promoted bout that will kick off 2013.

Here, Skipp speaks about his upcoming fight with “The Warrior:”

James Slater: You will be back in action in January, correct, Skipp?

Skipp Scott: That’s correct, yes.

J.S: And do you know who you will be fighting, and where?

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Wladimir Klitschko – Alexander Povetkin On Collision Course

KlitschkoBanks001_PublicAddressby Richard Smith: Not for the first time, heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko and fellow Olympic champion Alexander Povetkin are rumoured to be a on a collision course. Ordinarily, a fight between the dominant champion of the era and an unbeaten Olympic gold medalist would be a thrilling prospect. Instead, even if the fight finally takes place, its lustre will have dimmed considerably since the matchup was first proposed in 2008.

Four years ago, Povetkin was coming off consecutive victories over former Vitali Klitschko conqueror Chris Byrd and undefeated prospect Eddie Chambers. From that point on, his career stagnated. In fact, it was Chambers who would ultimately get a shot at Wladimir, suffering a 12th round stoppage defeat in March 2010. Meanwhile, Povetkin was picking up victories over such boxing notables as Taurus Sykes, Leo Nolan and Teke Oruh. Since claiming the vacant WBA ‘regular’ title with victory over Ruslan Chagaev in 2011, his most exciting win came over Marco Huck, a cruiserweight.

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Deontay Wilder: I thought I did a great job against Price

005WildervsPriceIMG_4963By Brad Cronich, photo by Tom Casino/Showtime – Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Deontay Wilder (26-0, 26 KO’s) seems immune to the criticism leveled at him from a lot of boxing fans who saw him look less than spectacular last Saturday night in his 3rd round knockout win over Kelvin Price. Wilder thinks he did a great job in blasting out the 6’7” Price, and he doesn’t seem to be aware of how other people saw his performance.

Wilder said RingTV I thought that I did a great job. I have a lot more that I can do, but when you’re fighting against a fighter like Kelvin, different fighters bring out different styles, so you have to adjust to what they’re bringing.”

It’s not that Wilder didn’t do his job by knocking Price out. Wilder certainly did a great job of finishing Price with a right hand that not too many heavyweights would have been able to take had they been in the position that Price was in. However, Wilder looked really flawed in that he didn’t throw jabs or use his left hand to throw power shots.

All he seemed capable of throwing were big right hands. Wilder’s left arm was mainly used as a measuring tool to target the proper punching distance for him to get maximum power.

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Marquez to make decision on whether to continue fighting

marquez412By Rob Smith: Juan Manuel Marquez riding high right now after knocking Manny Pacquiao out cold in the 6th round of their fight this month. Marquez avenged his two earlier controversial decision losses to the Filipino and did it in dramatic fashion by knocking Pacquiao completely out cold.

Marquez reportedly had promised his wife that the fourth fight with Pacquiao would be his last fight of his career and that he’d retire after that, but Marquez is now considering fighting on. For him to do that, however, he’s going to have to convince his wife, who wants him to hang up his gloves for good.

Marquez told the record.com.mx “I wish my wife would give the green light to continue and seek a fifth world title. I am trying to convince her.”

There won’t be any titles on the line for a fifth fight between Marquez and Pacquiao, so this would mean that Marquez is considering facing another opponent besides Pacquiao next year. The only one that’s a logical fit for Marquez is WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley, because he’s a Top Rank fighter and Bob Arum of Top Rank would likely go for that fight.

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Mayweather Sr. worried Pacquiao might get knocked out again if he faces Marquez in 2013

pac53By Bill Phanco: Floyd Mayweather Sr. is advising that Manny Pacquiao stay far, far away from a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez next year. Mayweather Sr. is concerned that Pacquiao’s ability to take head shots may have been diminished with his 6th round knockout loss to Marquez recently, and thinks Pacquiao get knocked out once again if he makes the mistake of fighting Marquez for a 5th time.

Mayweather Jr. told Doghouseboxing.com “When you get knocked out like that, pretty much everything is over…Pacquiao is not going to be the same fighter he was…If he fights Marquez again the same thing could happen.”

It definitely could happen.

Pacquiao doesn’t think it will, but then again this is the common response for fighters that have been knocked out like he was. They often think they can go back in the ring and fight like they did before the knockout, but many of them quickly find out that they can’t take heavy shots like before without getting knocked out.

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Rigondeaux to fight Donaire in June 2013

rigondeaux4By Steve Mabbott, photo by Tom Casino — It looks like WBA World super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8 KO’s) will finally be getting his shot at WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire in the summer. Rigondeaux’s manager Gary Hyde is saying that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has promised him that he’ll set up a fight between Donaire and Rigondeaux for June.

Rigondeaux, 32, has to first win his next fight on February 23rd, and then he’ll be free to face Donaire in the summer.

Hyde said to El Nuevo Herald “Rigos next fight is scheduled for February 23rd against an opponent still to be named. Promoter Bob Arum promised me Rigo-Donaire fight will be in June 2013.”
This is good news because Rigondeaux has been waiting to get a shot at Donaire for a year now, and it looks like he’ll finally be getting his big chance.

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Ariza wants Pacquiao to adopt his old strength program before facing Marquez again

pac562By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza wants to get Pacquiao back on their strength training regimen so that he can increase Pacquiao’s strength and get him winning a again. Ariza thinks that Pacquiao has made a mistake by not following his old strength training with Ariza.

Pacquiao lost his last fight to Juan Manuel Marquez, who did a great job of increasing his own strength with his strength coach Angel Heredia.

Ariza has a lot of respect for what Heredia was able to do with Marquez with building up his muscle strength while keeping Marquez’s weight the exact same as it was. Heredis built up Marquez’s body and was able to replace the fat on his frame with muscle, which made him a much different fighter than he’d been in the three prior fights with Pacquiao.

Ariza said to Doghouseboxing.com “In a perfect world, I would want Manny to adopt the strength and conditioning program all over again from day one. Then I’d like him to have a tune-up fight to get familiar with that feeling again. After that then Marquez again and let me do my thing to help.”

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Chavez Jr. could sack Roach and replace him with Beristain

chavez422By Jeff Sorby: Trainer Freddie Roach’s bad luck could be about to get even worse, as fightnews.com is reporting that Roach might possibly get the sack by former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. The replacement, if it happens, will be Nacho Beristain, the trainer of Juan Manuel Marquez.

It’s a move that would make sense for Chavez Jr. because there wouldn’t be the language issue by switching to the Mexican Beristain. It would also make training easier because Chavez Jr. wouldn’t have to travel to Los Angeles, California to train with Roach. Chavez Jr. could stay in Mexico and trainer there with Beristain.

It’s a logical move and I can understand why Chavez Jr. might want to do that. Also, Beristain has the hot hand right now with his fighter Marquez’s recent impressive 6th round knockout win over Manny Pacquiao. I doubt that Beristain would be under consideration if Marquez had been the one knocked out.

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