Jeff Sorby

Berto to drop shoulder roll defense for Soto Karass fight

berto233Former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KO’s) says he’ll be going back to the basics in his fight against Jesus Soto Karass (27-8-3, 17 KO’s) this month in their fight on July 27th at the AT&T Center, in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

In going back to the basics, Berto will be getting rid of the shoulder roll defense that he experimented with in his last fight against Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero last November and going back to his old defensive style.

Berto tried out the shoulder roll and it was a disaster with Guerrero hitting him nearly at will for 12 rounds in beating Berto by a 12 round unanimous decision.

Donaire to try and make 122 for Darchinyan rematch

donaire#55Nonito Donaire (31-2, 20 KO’s) said the other night that he’s walking around at 145 lbs. right now, and he’s going to see if he can drop the weight to take a fight against Vic Darchinyan in October or November. However, he’s not really sure if he can take that much weight off without being brittle for his next fight, and he prefers that not happen.

If Donaire doesn’t feel good in trying to get down to 122, he’s going to move up to 126 and go after one of the world titles at that weight. Donaire would be looking to face the likes of Chris John or Evgeny Gradovich.

Stieglitz defeats Kiyota by 10th round technical decision

WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (45-3, 25 KO’s) had too much kill and too much firepower for his outclassed opponent Yuzo Kiyota (23-4-1, 21 KO’s) in defeating him by a 10th round technical decision tonight at the Energie Verbund-Arena, in Dresden, Sachsen, Germany. The fight went to the scorecards following the 10th when Kiyota was cut over his left eye from a clash of heads. The judges scored the fight 99-90, 100-89, 99-90, all for Stieglitz.

Hughie Fury defeats Perkovic

Heavyweight Hughie Fury (7-0, 5 KO’s), the cousin of heavyweight contender Tyson Fury, made easy work of an over-matched 39-year-old Ivica Perkovic (19-21, 14 KO’s) last night by defeating by a 5th round stoppage at the Fairways Hotel in Dundalk, Ireland.

Arum to meet with Mike Alvarado to talk Provodnikov fight

alvarado665WBO interim light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) wants to be paid well to face welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KO’s) on October 19th. Alvarado’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank will be meeting with him next week to try and iron out a deal between him and the hard hitting Russian Provodnikov.

Arum said to RingTV “I’m meeting with him at my office on Monday. We’re going to sit down and get it resolved.”

Arum plans on having Zou Shiming fight on Pacquiao-Rios undercard in November

shiming33In a not surprising move, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum will be sticking unbeaten Chinese flyweight Zou Shiming (1-0) on the undercard of the November 23rd Manny Pacquiao vs. Brandon Rios pay per view card from Macao, China. Shiming, 32, has a fight scheduled 6-round bout this month against Mexican novice Jesus Ortega (3-1, 2 KO’s) that Shiming has to take care of first at the Venetian Casino & Resort in Macao, China.

Shiming’s fight on the Pacquiao vs. Rios card will be an 8 round bout, and following that Arum wants to move Shiming up to 10 round bouts. The idea here is to quickly move the former two-time Chinese Olympic Gold medalist quickly so that he can fight for a world title by next year provided he keeps winning and looking good in his bouts.

Arum wants Terence Crawford vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa on October 5th Cotto card

crawford453Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is reportedly hoping to put together a fight between #1 WBA, lightweight contender Yuriorkis Gamboa (23-0, 16 KO’s), and his own fighter #1 WBO, Terence Crawford (21-0, 16 KO’s) as the co-feature on the Miguel Cotto vs. Delvin Rodriguez card on October 5th, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.

The Cotto-Rodriguez fight isn’t done yet, but that’s the one they’re working on putting together for Cotto.

Arum said to Dan Rafael at ESPN “I’d like to make him [Crawford] with Gamboa.”

Donaire likely to fight Darchinyan in rematch in November

donaire012Bob Arum is looking to match Nonito Donaire (31-2, 20 KO’s) against Vic Darchinyan (39-5-1, 28 KO’s) in a fight that’ll take place in November, according to Dan Rafael. Why Arum is interested in making this match after all these years is anyone’s guess.

It’s likely that he sees Darchinyan as one of the few recognizable names that he can put with Donaire. It’s also a fight that is a winnable one for Donaire, and he clearly needs a victory after getting soundly beaten by WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux last April.