Froch sees Bute’s win against Grachev as a so-so performance

09/15/201611/04/2012 ESB

Froch sees Bute's win against Grachev as a so-so performance By Michael Collins: Carl Froch thinks that Lucian Bute didn’t look great in beating Denis Grachev by a 12 round unanimous decision last night in Bute’s win in Montreal, Canada. But Froch believes that it was a situation where Bute needed any kind of win to get over the hump of his knockout loss to Froch last May.

Froch said to Sky Sports News: “Let’s be honest, it wasn’t the most impressive performance from Lucian Bute that I’ve ever seen. Bute didn’t really impress, but it was a comeback fight from a devastating defeat against myself, so what did people expect? He needed to find his feet again, find his confidence. I’m sure he’s done that. I think mentally he needed to get that fight in the bag.”

Bute actually didn’t look that bad. What was missing from the performance was of course a knockout for Bute. However, he was fighting a guy in Grachev that even Froch likely wouldn’t be able to KO. Grachev has a great chin and he doesn’t stand in one place and let you punch on him. He moves around and he’s a solid guy.

Arslan feels he was robbed in Huck fight

09/15/201611/04/2012 ESB

By Dwight Chittenden: Right now 42-year-old #8 WBO Firat Arslan (32-6-2, 21 KO’s) is feeling really upset about being on the losing end of a controversial 12 round unanimous decision against WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (35-2-1, 25 KO’s) last night at the Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Arslan fought well, landed the better punches in the fight, and had the crowd firmly behind him from start to finish. However, instead of being given the decision, Arslan was handed a nice big loss for all his trouble with the judges giving the frequently lucky Huck the win by the scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 117-111.

Arslan said this moments after the fight had ended “I’ve seldom landed so many clean punches and the only scuffed me. How can such a thing happen? I landed so many punches. I think the whole crowd believes I’m the winner. I’ve been robbed of my win. I would have been the new world champion today. I would have written history.”

Bute defeats Grachev; Green stops St Juste

09/15/201611/04/2012 ESB

By Michael Collins: Former IBF super Lucian Bute (31-1, 24 KO’s) had to really battle hard to defeat previously undefeated NABF light heavyweight champion Denis Grachev (12-1-1, 8 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Canada. The fight was a lot harder than what many boxing fans thought it was going to be and it was strange to see Bute struggling so badly against a fighter that didn’t look all that special. The judges scores were 115-113, 118-110 and 116-112.

This wasn’t the kind of performance that Bute was looking for to prove that he’s ready and capable of defeating IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch in their planned rematch in the first quarter of next year. Bute was hit often by the 30-year-old Russian and had problems getting out of the way of his shots. Bute made it easy for Grachev by constantly backing up to the ropes and trying to find one big shots.

Q and A with Atlantic City’s Bantamweight KO Artist Qa’id Muhammad returning to action from hand injury

11/04/2012 ESB

By Lou McLaughlin: I was given the opportunity to interview via telephone Qa’id “Kid Dynamite” Muhammad. Qa’id from Atlantic City, New Jersey is a bantamweight whose record is 7-0 (6 KO). He is managed and trained by his father Abdur Rahim Muhammad. Qa’id was having a knockout streak having won all 7 of his fights and six won by stoppage. Then in training he suffered a setback breaking his hand. He is scheduled to return to action at Fitzgerald’s Casino & Hotel, Tunica, Mississippi on November 3rd against Jamal “The Mailman” Parram 6(4)-6(3)-1
Q- How did you break your hand? How long have you been sidelined by the injury? And how is it feeling?

Huck beats Arslan in unpopular decision

09/15/201611/03/2012 ESB

By Kevin Chittenden: Making his 10th defense of his World Boxing Organization cruiserweight title champion Marco Huck (35-2-1, 25 KO’s) took a real beating from challenger Firat Arslan (32-6-2, 21 KO’s) in successfully defending his belt by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight at the at the Gerry Weber Stadium, Halle, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany. The judges scored it 115-113, 115-113, 117-111(!).

However, the decision was met with boos from the large crowd, many of which thought that the 42-year-old Arslan had done more than enough to deserve the decision. It’s hard to argue with that because Arslan landed the cleaner punches in virtually every round of the fight. He was snapping Huck’s head with uppercuts and had his nose swollen up and looking broken. Huck’s face was red from the many shots he absorbed in the fight.

Huck did throw a lot more punches but many of them were picked off on the gloves of Arslan, and the ones that did land had no affect on him. Arslan was never hurt and wasn’t slowed down in the least by Huck’s constant shots.

Golovkin vs. Oosthuizen on 1/19

09/15/201611/03/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: WBA World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (24-0, 21 KO’s) is heading for a clash against unbeaten super middleweight contender Thomas Oosthuizen (20-0-1, 13 KO’s) if the fight can get get put together. Golovkin, 30, would be moving up in weight for one fight to take on the tall 6’4″ International Boxing Organization (IBO) super middleweight champion Oosthuizen at MSG Theater, in New York, New York, USA in a fight that will be televised in the United States nationwide.

It’s come to this after the fight that Golovkin wanted against IBF/WBA middleweight champion Daniel Geale didn’t materialize due to Geale choosing to fight fellow Australian Anthony Mundine in a better money fight. Once it was known that Geale was going to take that fight instead of the World Boxing Association ordered fight against Golovkin, the WBA wasted no time in stripping Geale of his WBA title.

However, he reportedly knew that he had to face Golovkin next after the WBA told him when he first captured the WBA belt against Felix Sturm last September but he still opted for the bout against Mundine. With that fight unable to take place, Golovkin’s promoters at K2 are looking to put a fight together with the 24-year-old Oosthuizen.

Mayweather And Fifty Cent, Once “Brothers,” Now Enemies – The Rap Star/Boxing Promoter Says He “Can’t Hang With Floyd No More, I’m Tired Of Running From Pacquiao”

09/14/201611/02/2012 ESB

By James Slater – Unless superstars Floyd Mayweather Junior and Curtis “Fifty Cent” Jackson are engaging in a well publicised bit of play acting designed to give their boxing rivals false hope, a firm bond has been forever broken. Once “brothers” who would do anything for one another, Mayweather and Jackson have taken to warring on Twitter; the result of “Money” walking away from the rap mega-star’s recently formed TMT Promotions.

Whatever the reasons for Mayweather’s displeasure with his former friend’s plans for TMT – and Fifty, during one of his Twitter rants said he “can’t hang with Floyd no more, I’m tired of running from Manny Pacquiao – Jackson has now formed another outfit, called SMS. The two appear to have become bitter enemies (unless it is all an act designed to benefit them both in the end; highly unlikely considering some of the nasty things the two have said about each other on the social network) and Jackson will now concentrate on promoting Yuriorkis Gamboa, Billy Dib, Andre Dirrell and others without the unbeaten master’s assistance.

With the long-running (and highly tiresome) Mayweather-Pacquiao saga dragging on and on, some fans have come to the conclusion that Mayweather is the fighter afraid of taking the fight; what with Pac-Man’s recent “desperate” act of agreeing to take a 45-percent split of the purse and of agreeing to take all the drugs tests Floyd has long since demanded. And it now looks like Fifty Cent is among those people who believe Mayweather wants nothing to do with the southpaw dynamo. This could be the main reason for the split. Mayweather sure hasn’t been left looking good; reduced as he has been to slinging cheap insults at his one-time “brother.”

Abner Mares: In the tradition of greatness

09/15/201611/02/2012 ESB

By Joseph Herron: On October 20th, in Brooklyn, New York, the world of boxing more than likely witnessed the final chapter in the career of a Mexican boxing legend.

Four division world champion and future Hall of Famer Erik “El Terrible” Morales was unceremoniously knocked out by the young incumbent Junior Welterweight Champion, Danny Garcia in just four rounds of action.

Although the 19 year fight veteran was most recently campaigning in the 140 pound weight class, the battler most affectionately known as “El Terrible” will most widely be remembered for his breathtaking matches at 122 and 126 pounds that truly captivated the masses; classic battles against Marco Antonio Barrera, Daniel Zaragoza, Junior Jones, Kevin Kelley, In-Jin Chi, and Manny Pacquiao.

Morales developed his exciting brand of brutality by predominately fighting the best of the Super Bantamweight and Featherweight divisions. And in a sport that traditionally showcased big men, the undersized warrior pioneered a boxing future that would eventually be filled with big events dominated by the action packed lower weight divisions.

On November 10th, 2012, just a little over 15 years since Morales won his first Super Bantamweight title, 26 year old Abner Mares will headline a major televised event that will take place in a 20K capacity arena in downtown Los Angeles.

Bute faces Grachev in a dangerous fight tonight

09/15/201611/02/2012 ESB

By Michael Collins: Former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (30-1, 24 KO’s) will be trying to pump some life into his career tonight in moving up to 175 to challenge NABF light heavyweight champion Denis Grachev (12-0-1, 8 KO’s) in a very dangerous fight for the soft-chinned 32-year-old Bute at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Bute was blasted into oblivion in his last fight against Carl Froch in Nottingham last May, and Grachev can punch with the same kind of power that Froch has.

Grachev is about as fast as Froch, but not quite as tall. Bute wants to fight Froch in a rematch next March in Montreal, but he’s got to get past Grachev in order to get to that fight. If Bute can’t beat Grachev then the big money fight against Froch will go down the drain along with it.

Bute has figured out what he did wrong in the loss to Froch and he doesn’t plan on making the same kind of mistakes against Grachev tonight. Specifically what Bute has to avoid is backing up agaisnt the ropes and just standing in one place trying to look one big shot. It’s no secret that Bute has been matched softly for the past six years and it’s caused him to develop up a lot of bad habits like looking to load up on single punches instead of throwing combinations like he once did early in his career.

Bute kind of fell in love with his power in the last couple of years after scoring a number of knockouts from single shots. When Bute tried this with Froch, he found it not working and he ended up getting beat up in that fight. It’s pretty obvious what Bute needed to do in order to beat Froch by using movement, but Bute chose to stand in one place and he paid the price for it.

Broner vs. DeMarco still set for Atlantic City on November 17th

09/15/201611/02/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith the November 17th bout between WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco and Adrien Broner is still set for Boardwalk Hallt in Atlantic City, New Jersey in spite of the damage to the area from the huge hurricane Sandy this past week. Golden Boy Promotions still want the fight to be staged there. The area is pretty wrecked from the hurricane and it’s questionable how many people will show up for the fight.

HBO will be televising the fight, which will also have heavyweight Seth Mitchell facing Johnathon Banks in addition to the Broner vs. DeMarco fight. The Boardwalk Hall reportedly wasn’t damaged so that shouldn’t be a problem. The only question is how many boxing fans from around the area will want to see the fight given the damage that has taken place from the storm.

Broner, 23, is hoping to put on a good performance in trying to grab the World Boxing Council 135 lb title from the more experienced DeMarco. This is the first fight for Broner at 135 and he’s taking on a really tough opponent in 26-year-old DeMarco. This is like going to the head of the class and it’s definitely a risky thing for Broner to be doing. He’s had trouble in the past against tough pressure fighters like Daniel Ponce De Leon, and you’ve got to rate DeMarco ahead of him. Demarco can be a lot of problems for anyone.