It’s kind of a forgone conclusion that WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (27-0, 24 KO’s) will be dominating his over-matched and undersized opponent Curtis Stevens (25-3, 18 KO’s) in their HBO televised fight at Madison Square Garden Theater, in New York, New York, USA. It’s not so much what happens in this fight for Golovin, because he’s going to win by either a knockout or a lopsided decision.
Jeff Sorby
Hopkins wants Mayweather next’; No Stevenson or Kovalev for him
While boxing fans would like to see IBF light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins to step it up from the likes of Karo Murat and Tavoris Cloud to fight the best in the division in Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev, Hopkins said that he’s interested in moving down in weight to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. next.
Hopkins feels he can get down to 160 by next May to fight Mayweather in Cinco de Mayo if they can negotiate the fight. As for fighting Kovalev or Stevenson, Hopkins feels that the fights can’t get made due to him fighting on Showtime and Kovalev and Stevenson fighting on HBO.
Hopkins said “You give me until May of next year to make 160, that fight is on. I don’t think too many reporters would count me out.”
Kell Brook stops Senchenko in the 4th round
Brook survived a scare in the 4th when he was hurt by a long right hand to the head that sent him scurrying to the ropes. Brook quickly recovered and came back to drop Senchenko with a right hand.
Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn says he would like to match Brook against Amir Khan or Adrien Broner. If not, then he’ll be looking to match Brook against IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander next.
Anthony Joshua destroys Paul Butlin in 2nd round TKO
Joshua jabbed and hammered the punching bag-like Butlin at will in the 1st round. At the start of the 2nd round, the 6’6″ Joshua connected with a combination to the head that sent the 37-year-old Butlin down on the canvas on his backside. He got back up to his feet but his left eye was cut badly and he staggered against the ropes. Surprisingly the referee let the fight continue. Joshua then waded in with a couple of shots before the white towel was tossed in by Butlin’s corner to have the fight stopped.
Rios picks Maidana to beat Broner
Brandon Rios is picking #2 WBA to defeat WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner (27-0, 22 KO’s) in their pay-per-view fight on Showtime on December 14th at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Rios thinks that Broner isn’t unhittable like Floyd Mayweather Jr., and he likes the power that Maidana has after sparring 10 rounds with him. Rios says the sparring with Maidana was pretty brutal.
Rios told esnewsreporting.com “I think it’s going to be a tough fight, but I think he [Maidana] can pull it off. Broner showed [against Paulie Malignaggi] that he can be hit. He’s not like Mayweather. When Maidana cracks, he cracks hard.”
Weigh-In Video: Brook’s trainer expects KO victory for Kell over Senchenko
Brook needs a victory in this fight to move forward for another shot against IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander.
Brook fought a won an IBF eliminator last year in defeating Hector Saldivia. But then unfortunately Brook suffered two injuries that got in the way of his title shot against Alexander. This time Brook intends on making the most of his opportunities by beating the 36-year-old Senchenko, and then finally getting his shot against Alexander.
Provodnikov stops Alvarado in 10th
Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) ended the brief reign of WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (34-2, 23 KO’s) by defeating him by 10th round stoppage tonight in a two knockdown victory at the 1STBANK Center, Broomfield, in Denver, Colorado, USA. In the 10th round, Provodnikov staggered a tired and badly beaten Alvarado, pummeling him with powerful shots for the last minute of the round.
Alvarado was ready to go in the last 20 seconds of the round while trapped against the ropes badly hurt. Somehow Alvarado made it out of the round, but there was no way that he was going to be able to make it through the 11th. After the round, Alvarado’s corner wisely halted the fight rather than letting him come out for the 11th and get finished off by Provodnikov.
Kovalev vs. Sillakh possible for November 30th on HBO
WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KO’s) could be facing fringe contender Ismayl Sillakh (21-1, 17 KO’s) for his first title defense on HBO on November 30th, according to Dan Rafael. It’s still definite but it’s of the names being mentioned for the 30-year-old Kovalev.
The light heavyweight division has less than impressive contenders, so this might be about as good as it gets unless Kovalev faces Nathan Cleverly again. We already saw how much of a mismatch that fight was with Kovalev stopping Cleverly in 4 rounds last August.
Sillakh’s stock has really dropped since he was stopped by Denis Grachev in the 8th round last year in April. Sillakh was winning the fight handily when he got nailed by a big right hand from Grachev in the 8th round, and then taken out with a flurry of punches.