Floyd Mayweather has his wish, Conor McGregor has his. The two stars from rival sports will fight their upcoming August 26 “Super Fight” with eight-ounce gloves. The Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) today confirmed an exception has been granted and that eight-ounce gloves will be used, not the standard ten-ounce.
James Slater
Shane Mosley officially announces retirement
Former lightweight and welterweight great “Sugar” Shane Mosley has officially retired from boxing. The 45 year old told ESPN of his decision, stating how he realised he had to “let it go as far as me trying to compete as a fighter any more.”
In truth, Mosley should probably have retired a few years back, say around 2011, after his heavy decision loss to Manny Pacquiao, or certainly in 2012, after his even heavier decision loss to Canelo Alvarez. The final five bouts of Mosley’s career were somewhat tough to watch, for those fans who remembered Mosley when he was at as dazzling prime, in 1997 to 2002, especially.
Mayweather vows to “go straight ahead because the fans deserve it” in McGregor fight – but can we take Floyd at his word?
Floyd Mayweather has said it before and last night he said it again: he is going to step away from his usual defensive, even safety-first approach and “go straight ahead” in his fast-approaching “Super Fight” with MMA star Conor McGregor.
Speaking on The Jimmy Kimmel Live! Show, the 49-0 master – referred to by many good judges as the finest defensive fighter ever – vowed to fight aggressively and do his part to put on an exciting contest, because the fans “deserve it.”
Upset in Japan: Luis Nery stops long reigning champ Shinsuke Yamanaka to grab WBC bantamweight title
The upset trend continues. Earlier today in Japan, in a battle of undefeated southpaws, defending and long reigning WBC bantamweight king Shinsuke Yamanaka shockingly lost his title ultra-aggressive challenger Luis Nery of Mexico. Or, to put it another way, Nery shocked Yamanka; stopping him in the fourth round of an exciting, memorable battle.
Who will work the Mayweather-McGregor fight? Kenny Bayless won’t be the third man in the ring
With less than two weeks to go until the “Super Fight” between Floyd Mayweather, 49-0, and Conor McGregor, 0-0-0, we still do not know who the third man in the ring will be in Las Vegas. But we now know who will not be working the fight: the oft-criticised Kenny Bayless.
As per a piece in the Los Angles Times, Bayless has been informed he will not be working the heavily hyped fight, simply because he was critical of the fight a while back when speaking with the media. Bayless, in speaking with the media a while back, said he wouldn’t want to see a Mayweather-McGregor fight: “It’s two different sports,” the ref said. “What would be the point?”
It’s almost certainly going to be Rigondeaux or Salido rematch next for Lomachenko
Will pound-for-pound star and reigning WBO super featherweight king Vasyl Lomachenko have his formidable skills tested in his next outing? It seems there is at least a decent chance that, yes, this will be the case.
According to Lomachenko’s promoter Bob Arum – who has said his fighter is the best boxer he has seen since the great Muhammad Ali – “Hi Tech” will fight again on December 9, in either New York or in Los Angeles. As per Lance Pugmire of the L.A Times, who tweeted the info, if it’s New York it will be Guillermo Rigondeaux, while if it’s L.A it will be Orlando Salido in a return bout.
Lennox Lewis Vs. Vitali Klitschko: Vitali’s defining fight
June 2003, The Staples Centre, Los Angeles.
The date and venue are familiar to fight fans, heavyweight fight fans especially. Why? Because we saw a great action fight between two huge heavies, both well above the mid-240-pound range, we saw blood and gore, we saw huge bombs landed, we saw heart and courage on the line, and we were left wanting to see a rematch.
But the biggest reason fans still talk about this fight, won by Lewis via corner retirement on the part of Klitschko at the end of the sixth round, is because we all wonder what might have happened; what would have happened.
Kudryashov vs Dorticos = Guaranteed Explosion!
Between them, cruiserweight bangers Dmitriy Kudryashov and Yunier Dorticos have 41 KO’s. Russia’s Kudryashov, 21-1(21) has displayed brutal power in both hands, Cuba’s Dorticos, 21-0(20) has never lost a fight. Together, the two 200 pounders will almost certainly give us an explosion of an exciting fight when they hook up on September 23 at The Alamodome in San Antonio.
Meeting up in a battle that is part of the fascinating World Boxing Super Series tournament, the sluggers with the combined 42-1 record (Kudryashov losing once, to Olanrewaju Durodola, later avenging the stoppage loss with one of his own) will contest the WBA belt. As potentially thrilling as this fight is, it’s also a pretty tough one to pick.
Dillian Whyte talks Joshua rematch: Fight him again and it will be a different story
Dillian Whyte keeps talking about Anthony Joshua and about that which he is convinced would happen if he got the opportunity to fight AJ again (Whyte having lost via 7th round KO in a thrilling fight back in December of 2015). But Whyte says he is happy that Joshua is still talking about him, too.
Speaking with Sky Sports ahead of his US debut next Saturday on the Terence Crawford-Julius Indongo bill, “The Body Snatcher” said that Joshua “talks rubbish” and is not the tough guy he makes out he is whenever he is around. Whyte, chasing a world title, which he hopes will lead him to a return shot at AJ (who will next defend his IBF belt against Kubrat Pulev, and after that his WBA belt against Luis Ortiz; this the most likely scenario anyway) is sure he will get revenge if the second fight happens.
Roberto Garcia pounds out unanimous decision win over a lacklustre Omar Chavez
It was a very quiet Saturday night as far as boxing is concerned (the off-season summer period) but there were a couple of fights taking place. One of them produced a mini upset, as in Monterrey, Mexico, middleweight Roberto Garcia pounded out a pretty wide ten round unanimous decision win over his countryman Omar Chavez to capture the vacant WBC Silver 160 pound strap.