Whether you were a fan of his or not and whether you will miss him or not, it is undeniable how Andre Ward left a big hole in the sport when he announced his pretty much out of the blue retirement earlier this week.
James Slater
Loeffler: There’s a reason Mayweather fought McGregor and would never entertain fighting GGG at 154
Though Tom Loeffler, promoter of middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, feels his fighter has what it takes to carry on fighting until the age of 40, he also says there is no chance 40 year old Floyd Mayweather will ever agree to face him, even at 154 pounds.
Speaking with Sky Sports, Loeffler said that never at any time were there “serious talks” between GGG and Mayweather; even though “ out of respect to Floyd, he is the only fighter that Gennady would have come to 154 for.”
Jake LaMotta: Did he have the toughest chin in middleweight history?
As fight fans the word over know, boxing great Jake LaMotta passed away this week at the long-lived age of 95. Tributes have been pouring in from all over, deservedly so, and most celebratory pieces written in dedication to “The Bronx Bull” go into great detail about Jake’s great chin, his unimaginably tough and durable chin.
Truly a phenomenon, LaMotta, who retired from the ring with an astonishing 83-19-4(30) record in April of 1954, outlived his famous ring rivals by a considerable amount of time. The sublime Sugar Ray Robinson has been gone for well over thirty years, Frenchman Laurent Dauthuille, against whom Jake scored that flabbergasting, come-from-behind, last 13-seconds of the 15th-round KO, passed away back in 1971. Tony Janiro, the good looking kid Jake busted up (as immortalized in the classic movie starring Robert De Niro (“well, he ain’t good looking no more”) left us in 1985. And the list goes on.
Former Ward foe Froch on Andre’s retirement: I won’t be sad to see the back of him
It was the most frustrating, horrible night of Carl Froch’s entire boxing career, one the retired “Cobra” still has nightmares about some six years on. And it is due to the bad night Froch had against Andre Ward, along with Ward’s particular fighting style, that Froch says he will not miss the two-time champ one bit.
As fans know, 33 year old Ward shocked many people by announcing his retirement yesterday. Though he’s still very much on top of his game – scoring a very impressive stoppage over arguably the most dangerous 175 pounder on the planet, Sergey Kovalev in his most recent fight – Ward has had enough. And Froch, who says he was as shocked as everyone else was by the decision of his former foe, says he wouldn’t be too surprised if the unbeaten former champ decided to make a comeback down the road.
Freddie Roach wants Pacquiao to avenge loss to Horn then retire
Great trainer Freddie Roach insists his most famous fighter, Manny Pacquiao, is not finished yet but concedes how the end is “close” for the all-time great. Speaking with Sky Sports, Roach revealed how he has received offers to face Terence Crawford “and some other guys,” but that the fight he wants Pac Man to take is the return with Jeff Horn.
As fans know, this rematch will not happen this year as was the original plan, with Pacquiao deciding he wants until next year to fully prepare for the return bout. Roach says this fight will likely take place next year (no word yet on whether or not Manny is still set on not going back to Australia, the scene of the first fight, back in July) and that he would like to see Pacquiao call it a day afterwards.
Mikey Garcia says he’d move up to 154 to face Miguel Cotto in December
Miguel Cotto has made two things clear: he will not fight beyond December of this year, his retirement plans being absolutely final, and he wants to go out with, as he says it, “a bang.” The target the Puerto Rican great had in mind before last Saturday night was the winner between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez.
As we all know there was no winner at the conclusion of the most heavily hyped middleweight showdown in years, so Cotto seems to be out of luck with regards to his facing either warrior (who are almost certain to box a rematch, perhaps next May.) But Cotto has just been given another very interesting retirement fight possibility courtesy of lightweight ruler Mikey Garcia.
Deontay Wilder “promises” to unify heavyweight titles; predicts KO win over Luis Ortiz
Deontay Wilder Vs. Luis Ortiz was officially announced yesterday in New York, silencing those remaining cynics who felt the fight was nothing more than talk and way too big a risk for Wilder. Now, as the WBC heavyweight champ said to the media, we can look forward to “one of the best heavyweight fights in a long time.”
Wilder, unbeaten at 38-0(37) will be taking the biggest risk of his entire career against Cuban southpaw Ortiz, unbeaten at 27-0(23) yet he says knocking Ortiz out will be the start of his campaign to unify the division.
“Don’t believe that,” says Anthony Dirrell on Julio Cesar Chavez Junior fight
Anthony Dirrell says we can forget all about the recent tweet put out by Julio Cesar Chavez Junior, who said he would be fighting Dirrell on November 11 (the fight even going up on BoxRec). Speaking with Eric Woodyard of Michigan Live, Dirrell says he has another fight scheduled, with Dennis Douglas, on November 17.
“Don’t believe that,” Dirrell said of Chavez’ tweet. “It’s exciting and I’m just ready to get back into the groove (in the Douglas fight). I’ve probably got about a year more of this boxing and I’m just going to hang it up, honestly. I’ve been doing this almost 24 years, and it’s about that time. I’ve already set a goal to retire at 34 or 35, and I just feel like it’s the right time.”
George Foreman agrees with drawn verdict for GGG-Canelo: You don’t score points by just coming forward
During his own great career, heavyweight legend George Foreman never boxed to a draw, rarely did “Big” George even go the distance such was his incredible punching power. And Foreman told TMZ Sports how the only assured way to win a fight and leave no controversy is to do what he did during his career 68 times – score a knockout.
Foreman said he agrees with the drawn verdict that was handed in at the conclusion of this past Saturday’s big Golovkin-Canelo fight. Most people are unhappy with the result, claiming Golovkin deserved a win, but Foreman is not one of them:
Talks to begin this week for Golovkin Canelo rematch; May 5 Cinco de Mayo the date in mind
Thanks to having had a rematch clause put in place before the fight, Saul Canelo Alvarez now appears to be in the driving seat as regards to the possibility of a rematch between he and middleweight king Gennady Golovkin. Most fans feel GGG was the rightful winner this past Saturday, only for the 160 pound, years in the making Super Fight to be scored a draw.