Froch wants third fight with Kessler next, a tie-breaker

05/25/201305/25/2013 Rob Smith

froch301 Having beaten WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (46-3, 35 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight to take his WBA 168 lb., the victorious IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (31-2, 22 KO’s) is kicking around the idea of fighting Kessler again in what would be a tie breaker.

Both fighters have one victory a piece in their two fights together, and a third bout between them would be one that would prove without a doubt who the better fighter is.

Froch said after the fight: “It’s one [victory] a piece. Who knows? You [Kessler] fancy a third one?”

Froch beats Kessler, avenges his previous loss

05/25/201305/25/2013 Rob Smith

IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (31-2, 22 KO’s) avenged his earlier defeat to WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (46-3, 35 KO’s) by beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight in front of a packed O2 Arena in London, England. Both fighters ended getting hurt with big shots before the fight was done, but in the end Froch did enough to win a 12 round unanimous decision.

After the fight Froch said “He was there to hurt me on a couple of occasions he did hurt me, but I hit him with the bigger shots and I was close to the knockout in the end. I’m really, really happy. I just kept at range with the jab all night long.”

GBP setting aside September 28th at Barclays for Cotto

05/21/2013 Rob Smith

cotto8 Golden Boy Promotions is setting aside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on September 28th for a possible Miguel Cotto fight, according to Steve Kim. This is potentially bad news for WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez because Cotto is the backup plan for him if Golden Boy can’t negotiate a fight between him and Floyd Mayweather Jr. for September 14th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

If Golden Boy strikes out with Mayweather, then they won’t eve have Cotto for Canelo. With Mayweather and Cotto out for Canelo, he’d then likely be matched up with the Golden Boy promoted Alfredo Angulo or Erislandy Lara.

De La Hoya: I think Mayweather will fight Canelo

05/21/201305/21/2013 Rob Smith

Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions believes that WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. will choose to fight De La Hoya’s fighter WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in September on the Mexican Independence holiday, and he feels that Canelo has a great chance of winning the fight.

De La Hoya said this as quoted by holylosangeles.com “I know Mayweather wants the fight, and he’ll take the fight. Many say that Mayweather is not the same fighter, but we saw that he still is against [Robert] Guerrero, but Canelo is not Guerrero. Nobody is invincible. No fighter retires undefeated…even the best in the world has to lose.”

Matthysse: I want Pacquiao

05/21/201305/20/2013 Rob Smith

WBC interim light welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse (34-2, 32 KO’s) doesn’t mind being called the new Manny Pacquiao, but he much rather get a fight against the aging Filipino fighter before he retires or ends up getting knocked out again. Matthysse knocked out Lamont Peterson in the 3rd round last Saturday night, and at the post-fight press conference, Matthysse’s promoter Richard Schaefer called him the new Pacquiao.

This was Matthysse’s 6th straight knockout and he’s looking really powerful right now and similar to how Pacquiao looked in his prime.

Matthysse said “I didn’t imagine I would knock him [Peterson] out so fast. I was expecting a tougher fight. I’m happy to be compared to Manny Pacquiao, but what I want to do is fight him.”

De La Hoya: Who do you want to see this super hero [Canelo] fight?

05/20/2013 Rob Smith

It looks like Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions is referring to WBA/WBC light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez as a “super hero” now following his controversial 12 round decision win over Austin Trout last month in a fight that Canelo appeared to be greatly helped by the open scoring, as well as some very, very generous scores by the three judges that worked that fight. A super hero that failed to prove that he’s better than Trout.

De La Hoya said tonight on his twitter “Who wants to see this super hero [Canelo]? And with who?”

De La Hoya was immediately bombarded with people saying that Canelo should fight WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and that he should fight someone his own size [172 lbs]. That probably wasn’t the answer that De La Hoya was hoping to get because Golovkin is a fighter that Golden Boy appears to be steering a wide path around him when it comes to matching Canelo up.

Alexander: I want Mayweather or Khan next

05/19/2013 Rob Smith

Depending on the extend of the damage in his injured left hand, IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander (25-1, 14 KO’s) is interested in getting back in the ring and fighting in September possibly against Floyd Mayweather Jr. if he wants that fight or Amir Khan whenever he’s ready to fight.

Alexander hurt his left hand in the 1st round against Lee Purdy (20-4-1, 13 KO’s) last night at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Alexander easily beat Purdy by a 7th round stoppage after Purdy’s trainer pulled him out of the fight to save him from sustaining needless punishment in a one-sided fight.

Schaefer wants Garcia-Matthysse and Peterson-Judah for September 7th

05/19/2013 Rob Smith

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is going to try his best to put together a fight card with Danny Garcia facing Lucas Matthysse and Lamont Peterson taking on Zab Judah for September 7th in Washington, D.C.

Dan Rafael said on his twitter “Schaefer says he has September 7 on hold at Verizon Center in DC for Garcia-Matthysse, hopes to do Peterson-Judah in co-feature.”

I can definitely see Peterson and Judah facing each other because Peterson is pretty fearless and Judah knows he’d have a decent chance of winning this fight if he can get to Peterson’s chin the same way Matthysse did in destroying him in only three rounds last night at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Rafael: Mayweather-Guerrero only sold 870K PPV buys, according to my sources

05/18/2013 Rob Smith

Dan Rafael of ESPN is still standing behind his source for the final pay per view numbers for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Robert Guerrero fight despite Showtime saying that the fight will bring in over 1 million buys when the final tally is in.

Rafael says his source is telling him that the Mayweather-Guerrero final PPV numbers will be only 870,000 PPV buys, a much lower number than what Showtime is saying.

Rafael said on his chat this week: “I have good industry sources who swear on their children that this fight will not reach 1 million buys, much less be ‘in excess’ if 1 million and I believe them. These are people with no dog in the fight who I respect and have known for many years and trust. I am told that the number right now is about 870,000 buys.”

Rafael doubts Mayweather-Canelo fight will get made despite Schaefer’s optimism

05/17/201305/16/2013 Rob Smith

ESPN writer Dan Rafael says that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer e-mailed him saying that the reports about Floyd Mayweather Jr. wanting a fight with WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to take place at 147 lbs. isn’t true.

It’s interesting that Schaefer is saying that because Mayweather’s father Floyd Sr. said in an interview today that Canelo has to come down to 147 for the fight to happen in September, and that he won’t let Floyd Jr. fight the 172 pound Canelo due to the huge weight difference between the two fighters.