Rob Smith

Provodnikov says he’ll fight Rios

provodnikov5 (2)Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has said that WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) is one of the names that is a possibility to fight Manny Pacquiao on April 12th, along with Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley. But it’s unknown how serious Arum is about potentially having a puncher like Provodnikov face his money fighter Pacquiao.But in the meantime, Provodnikov has accepted a challenge from one of Arum’s fighters Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s to fight him, presumably in a bout that could happen next on the undercard of Pacquiao’s April 12th card in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Provodnikov said on his twitter “Brandon Rios, I agree to make fight. I’m ready.”

Canelo could select next opponent this week

canelo559Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) is expected to select his next opponent for his March 8th fight date this week. The fight will be pay-per-view, so whoever it is, it’s going to be a fight that the boxing public will be expected to pay to see. That’s not a big deal because Canelo’s fights are frequently exciting affairs with tons of action.

What’s not exciting is the list opponents that Canelo has to pick from for this date. Miguel Cotto is not available for March 8th, so he’s not an option for Canelo. The fighters that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer has for Canelo to pick from are from this bunch: Erislandy Lara, Carlos Molina, or Alfredo Angulo. The fight will be staged at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Maidana defeats Broner; Thurman stops Karass

maidana766(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) Marcos Maidana (35-3, 31 KO’s) battered and bruised WBA welterweight champion Adrien Broner (27-1, 22 KO’s) in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight to capture his WBA title at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Maidana put Broner on the canvas twice with scorching left hooks to the head in the 2nd and 8th rounds. The judges scored the fight 115-110, 116-109, 117-109.

Broner took a real bad beating in this fight and he may have suffered a jaw injury. He was quickly ushered out of the ring immediately after the fight.

In the 2nd round, Maidana connected with a hard left to the head that put Broner down on the canvas. Instead of staying down to clear his head, Broner jumped back up to his feet and was staggering slightly. Maidana then worked Broner over with power shots for the remainder of the round as Broner tried to hold to make it out of the round.

Malignaggi decisions Judah; Porter defeats Alexander; Lara beats Trout

02 Judah vs Malignaggi IMG_4649(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) Zab Judah (42-9, 29 KO’s) scored a knockdown in the 2nd round, and then pretty much disappeared in the fight in losing by a 12 round unanimous to Paulie Malignaggi (33-5, 7 KO’s) at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York. Following a knockdown of Malignaggi in the 2nd, Judah seemed to shift his offense into neutral for the remainder of the fight, as he focused entirely on defense.

It was almost as if Judah had suffered an injury because he just shut down completely and let Malignaggi run away with the fight. For a fan of boxing and entertaining fight due to Judah’s lack of aggression. The judges scored it 116-111, 117-110, and 117-110.

I hope Malignaggi fights someone with a little more enthusiasm next time because this was an awful performance from Judah.

Roger Mayweather: Pacquiao needs to beat Bradley to create interest for Floyd fight

bradley777Trainer Roger Mayweather believes that for Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) to attract a lot of interest in a Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight in the future, he needs to defeat WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley (31-0, 12 KO’s).

Roger thinks a win over Bradley will get boxing fans excited for the Pacquiao-Mayweather bout because Roger thinks that fans really like Bradley. I’m not sure if that’s actually the case, to tell you the truth. A win over Pacquiao over Bradley would say about as much as a win for Pacquiao over Brandon Rios. There are better fighters at 147 than Bradley, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he were knocked out if he were to ever face Ruslan Provodnikov again.

Bellew-Stevenson tonight: Will Tony be KO victim #20 for Adonis?

HBO Boxing After Dark Weigh-In: Adonis Stevenson vs Tony BellewTony Bellew (20-1-1, 12 KO’s) looks to be headed for a knockout loss tonight against WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (22-1, 19 KO’s) in their fight at the Colisee de Quebec, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Stevenson has been knocking guys out left and right lately, and it would seem that the tall, upright Bellew would be the perfect opponent for Stevenson to KO tonight to add his 20th knockout to his growing number of knockouts on his resume.

Bellew has done a great job of drawing attention to the fight with his hyperbolic statements, but at the end of the day he probably will end up getting knocked out quicker than Stevenson’s other recent opponents have. Bellew hasn’t been looking that great lately in his fights against Isaac Chilemba, Roberto Bolonti and Edison Miranda. Those were all fights that were more difficult than they should have been for a fighter ranked as high as Bellew, but they ended up being hard fights for him. He’s not coming into this fight from anything impressive. His win over Chilemba in his last fight was more of a clinching affair than a fight where meaningful punches were thrown by Bellew.

Pacquiao defeats Rios by lopsided decision

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To no no great surprise, Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KO’s) won his tune-up fight against former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) by a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision tonight in the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. Pacquiao won the WBO International welterweight title belt. The judges scored it 120-108, 119-109, 118-110.

It really wasn’t much of a fight unless your idea of a fight is to stick a slow guy with a high guard in the ring with a much faster guy. It was kind of boring because it wasn’t competitive and it reminded me a lot of the mismatch that Bob Arum set up between Pacquiao and Joshua Clottey back in 2010 except that Clottey mostly stood in one place all night while covering up with a high guard to block incoming. In contrast, Rios, using his high guard, followed Pacquiao around like a moving punching back.

Weights: Pacquiao 145, Rios 146.5

rios673433(Photo Credit: Top Rank/Chris Farina) Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) successfully made weight today for his fight for the vacant WBO International welterweight title against the younger 27-year-old Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) for their fight on Saturday night at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.

Pacquiao weighed in at 145 lbs., and looked in great shape. Rios came in slightly heavier at 146.5. The Rios looked, he appeared to be a little drained, and it seems like he’ll rehydrate quite a big by tomorrow night. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Rios coming into the fight with a 10-15 pound weight advantage over Pacquiao tomorrow night.

Rios is definitely bigger fighter here, and it’s going to be interesting to see what he can do with his superior size. He won’t have the speed or the experience advantage, but it’s very possible that he could make up for that with his size and youth. He takes a great shot and he’s getting the 35-year-old Pacquiao at the ideal time with him coming off of a knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, and not having looked good in many years.