By Marcus Richardson: WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (34-2, 9 KO’s) defends his title next month against #1 WBO Kevin Mitchell (33-1, 24 KO’s) on September 22nd in Glasgow, Scotland. On paper, this fight appears to be pretty evenly matched between two good but far from great lightweights. However, this could turn out to be a blowout if Burns comes in as the much heavier fighter. Burns has looked huge after rehydrating for his last two fights against Michael Katsidis and Paulus Moses, and Mitchell is a small lightweight in terms of frame.
ESB
Chavez Jr-Martinez PPV card = One good fight and a lot of mismatches
By Michael Collins: September 15th’s pay-per-view card headed by WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez, has a lot of notable fighters on the card but pretty much is nothing but mismatches aside from the main event. Normally when you pay good money to see a PPV event you’d like to have a decent undercard of at least one good undercard fight. Sadly, the Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez undercard is a pretty disappointing one.
This is what you get for the undercard:
Gullermo Rigondeaux vs. Robert Marrroquin
Rafael Marquez vs. Wilfredo Vazquez Jr
Matthew Macklin vs. Joachim Alcine
Mikael Zewski vs. TBA
Dawson: I’m at 178, I can make weight easy for Ward fight
By Marcus Richardson: WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KO’s) revealed that he’s only 10 pounds away from making weight for his September 8th bout against WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (25-0, 13 KO’s) next month at the Oracle Arena, Oakland, California.
Donaire vs. Nishioka and Alvarado vs. Rios on October 13th in Carson, California
By Michael Collins: IBF/WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18 KO’s) will be facing 36-year-old Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KO’s) on October 13th at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Donaire’s promoter Bob Arum reported this to RingTV earlier today. Also on the card will be Mike Alvarado (33-0, 23 KO’s) vs. Brandon Rios (30-0-1, 22 KO’s) in light welterweight action.
Broner needs a big name like Marquez to fight next
By Rob Smith: Former WBO super featherweight champion Adrien Broner (24-0, 20 KO’s) mentioned wanting to fight guys like Juan Manuel Marquez and Antonio DeMarco next after he laid waste to Vicente Escobedo last month in a fine performance in Cincinnati. Broner couldn’t make weight for the super featherweight fight and will now be moving up to 135 to campaign in the lightweight division. However, the division is lacking in a big way any real names for Broner to fight apart from DeMarco, Ricky Burns and Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Gamboa would be an ideal fight for Broner, but given Gamboa’s recent reluctance to fight former WBA World lightweight champion Brandon Rios, it’s probable that Gamboa would pass on a fight against the equally big Broner.
One opponent that would be absolutely perfect for Broner is 38-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez, the WBO light welterweight champion. To face him, Broner would be required to move up in weight to 140, which shouldn’t be a problem for him because he fought Escobedo last month while weighing 146.
Brandon Rios to face Mike Alvarado on October 13th in Carson, California
By Marcus Richardson: On October 13th, former WBA World lightweight champion Brandon Rios (30-0-1, 22 KO’s) will be facing unbeaten light welterweight contender Mike Alvarado (33-0, 23 KO’s) at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, according to the 26-year-old Rios. The Alvarado-Rios fight will be taking place on the same card as Nonito Donaire against possibly Toshiaki Nishioka.
Rios commented on his twitter yesterday “Spoke to my manager and it’s official. I’m fighting Mike Alvarado 10/13 at HDC in Carson, CA. Same card as @ Filipoflash. See you there.”
A fight between Alvarado and Rios will be an in house Top Rank promoted fight, as both guys are with Bob Arum’s Top Rank stable. It’s a good fight for Rios, and a risky one for Alvarado, because Rios just won a fight over Cuban Richard Abril by a 12 round split decision last April and he didn’t look like he deserved the win. Top Rank has a lot of hopes for Rios, and they were almost dashed by that performance.
Deontay Wilder ready to step up against better opposition
By Michael Collins: It’s unclear whether his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions wants to move him up yet against better opposition, but 6’7″ heavyweight prospect Deontay Wilder (24-0, 24 KO’s) says he’s ready to start facing the best fighters in the heavyweight division finally after obliterating 35-year-old Kertson Manswell (22-6, 17 KO’s) in a 1st round TKO last Saturday night at the Exposition Hall in Mobile, Alabama. Wilder’s power was too much for Manswell, as he was knocked down three times before the referee gave Manswell the hook to spare him another knockdown.
Wilder told RingTV after the fight “It’s just about telling Golden Boy, ‘let’s do it.’ Tell Golden Boy that I’m ready to fight anybody and everybody that’s out there. I’m ready. I’m ready for the world, and my time is coming.”
Wilder wasn’t ready a year ago, because he was still pretty much a fighter completely dependent on his right hand do everything for him. But in the last year, Wilder has vastly improved his left hook and jab and now he’s an all around threat to anyone in the division.
Naseem Hamed – Where Does “The Prince” Belong Amongst the Best Featherweights In History?
By James Slater – I can vividly remember Emanuel Steward, who was training featherweight sensation Naseem Hamed at the time, telling an interviewer that Hamed would, in time, go down in history as the greatest featherweight of all-time. I was shocked by those words, coming as they did from a highly knowledgeable and respected trainer. No way did I agree then (the statement was made by Emanuel just prior to the Barrera fight, back in 2001) and no way do I agree now.
Just where then, does “The Prince” rank amongst the very best in featherweight history? Many will disagree, but to my mind he does not belong in a list of the top ten finest featherweights of all-time. In fact, when Steward made his amazing statement I fully believe the likes of Sandy Saddler, Henry Armstrong and Salvador Sanchez were turning over in their graves! And as for the truly gifted featherweight boxers from yesteryear who are still with us, along with quite a few from more recent years – some of whom are still active-they too must have at the very least raised an eyebrow or two upon hearing the lavish praise Emanuel was bestowing on his fighter at the time.
Former Heavyweight Champ Mike Weaver: The Man They Called Hercules!
By James Slater – Today, long since retired, former WBA heavyweight champ Weaver says Larry Holmes was the best fighter he ever met. Weaver and Holmes had a great action fight in 1979 (as well as a rematch many years later, when both were coming towards the end) and it was during this losing battle that Weaver, a former Marine, made his name. Later on, in a real career turnaround, the man Ken Norton called Hercules stunned John Tate and the boxing world to become champ.
But as great as Holmes was and as special as the win over Tate was, the name Bernardo Mercado sticks uppermost in 61-year-old Weaver’s mind – as I discovered when speaking with the Texan recently
Wilder stops Manswell in 1st round!
By Rob Smith: Heavyweight Deontay Wilder (24-0, 24 KO’s) stayed unbeaten tonight with a 1st round knockout win over a badly overmatched Kertson Manswell (22-6, 17 KO’s) at the Exposition Hall in Mobile, Alabama. The 26-year-old Wilder had Manswell on the canvas exactly three separate times before the bout was finally halted at 2:10 of the 1st round.
The 6’7″ Wilder caught Manswell with a long chopping right hand followed by a left hook to score the 1st knockdown. The 35-year-old Manswell got back to his feet groggily, shaking his head as if trying to clear the cobwebs from it. When the action resumed, Wilder connected with another big left hand that put Mansell on the canvas. Manswell got back to his feet and Wilder jumped on him hitting with a right hand followed by a left hook to put Manswell down for the third and final time. Manswell looked like he could have continued fighting but given how easily Wilder kept knocking him down, the referee opted to halt the fight at that point.