Results: Ward defeats Brand, looks boring

08/07/201608/06/2016 Rob Smith

Andre “S.O.G” Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) won his tune-up fight on Saturday night to stay unbeaten in defeating Alexander Brand (25-2, 19 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The fight was televised by HBO Boxing, and you have to wonder whether they regretted agreeing to televise this fight. It was very boring performance from Ward from the 1st round until the 12th. Ward looked like he never got out of 1st gear tonight, as he just slowly plodded around the ring like a heavyweight than a light heavyweight. it was like watching paint dry. Brand was no better. He ran from Ward for 12 rounds and made it impossible to watch.

Manny Pacquiao vs. Jessie Vargas on November 5!

08/04/201608/03/2016 Rob Smith

Manny Pacquiao’s personal adviser Michael Koncz is reporting that they’ve made their decision about who they’ll be fighting next on November 5 and they’ve selected World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Jessie Vargas (27-1, 12 KOs). The fight will be televised on HBO pay-per-view. Koncz says the reason why he didn’t go with unbeaten Terence Crawford, a fighter that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is really high on, is because he didn’t like his boxing style of fighting. Koncz thinks that Crawford’s style of fighting isn’t a good one for Pacquiao.

Ward vs. Brand official weights

08/07/201608/03/2016 Rob Smith

Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) and his opponent Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) made weight today for their fight tomorrow night on Saturday at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The Ward vs. Brand fight will be televised on HBO Boxing. It will be Ward’s third straight tune-up with HBO before he faces his first quality opponent in his contract with HBO in facing IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovaev on November 19.

Molina defeats Provodnikov

06/13/201606/11/2016 Rob Smith

(Photo credit Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME) John Molina (28-6, 23 KOs) used his size advantage to outwork former WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (25-4, 18 KOs) in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, New York. Molina used a high work rate to get the better of the 32-year-old Provodnikov. The final scores were 116-112, 117-111, and 115-113.

Dmytro Kucher destroys Enzo Maccarinelli

06/11/201606/10/2016 Rob Smith

#9 WBC rated cruiserweight contender Dmytro Kucher (24-1, 18 KOs) proved to be too powerful for former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli (41-8, 33 KOs) in scoring a first round knockout win tonight to claim the vacant European cruiserweight belt at York Hall in London, England. Kucher knocked Maccarinelli down with a left hook late in the 1st round.

Muhammad Ali passes away at 74

06/04/201606/04/2016 Rob Smith

Boxing great Muhammad Ali died tonight at a Phoenix, Arizona hospital. Ali was 74. He was taken to the hospital on Thursday with a respiratory problem. The conditioned worsened overnight. By Friday, Ali’s conditioned led to him being put on life support. Ali had been battling Parkinson’s disease for over 30 years.

Bob Arum, one of the promoters for Ali, had this to say on Twitter: “A true great has left us. Muhammad Ali transformed this country and impacted the world with his spirit. His legacy will be part of our history for all time.”

Haye stops Gjergjaj in 2nd round

05/22/201605/21/2016 Rob Smith

David Haye (28-2, 26 KOs) scored his second straight early knockout in his comeback in stopping fringe contender Arnold Gjergjaj (29-1, 21 KOs) in the 2nd round on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, England. Haye had the 31-year-old Gjergjaj up and down on the canvas like he was playing with a yoyo.

Shannon Briggs stops Emilio Ezequiel Zarate in 1st round KO!

05/22/201605/21/2016 Rob Smith

Heavyweight contender Shannon Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs) showed that he can still punch with massive power in taking out journeyman Emilio Zarate (20-17-3, 11 KOs) in the 1st round with a perfectly placed left hook to the body. Zarate, 34, dropped to the canvas after getting hit by Briggs’ powerful body shot and he stayed down in agony until the fight was halted by the referee at 2:22 of the round.

Gassiev KOs Shimmell in 1st round

07/21/201905/17/2016 Rob Smith

(Photo credit: Andy Samuelson/Premier Boxing Champions) Showing very impressive punching power, undefeated Murat Gassiev (23-0, 17 KOs) made easy work of Jordan Shimmell (20-2, 16 KOs) tonight in stopped him with a single shot to the head in the 1st round at the Black Bear Casino Resort in Charlton, Minnesota. Gassiev, 6’3”, hit Shimmell with a left hand to the head and the shot knocked him senseless.

Shimmell fell hard on the canvas in landing back first. Referee Mark Nelson stopped the fight immediately at 2:54 of the round. The victory for the 22-year-old Gassiev makes him the IBF cruiserweight mandatory challenger to the winner of this Saturday’s unification fight between IBF cruiserweight champion Victor Ramirez and WBA champion Denis Lebedev.

Jack-Bute ends in draw; DeGale defeats Medina

05/01/201604/30/2016 Rob Smith

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME) WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack (20-1-1, 12 KOs) came up empty on Saturday night in having to settle for a 12 round draw against the hard working former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (32-3-1, 25 KOs) at the DC Armory in Washington, DC. The scores were 117-111, 114-114 and 114-114.

With the fight being scored a draw, Jack retains his WBC title. He said he won’t be giving Bute a rematch because he believes he won. Jack said he’ll be facing IBF champion James DeGale next in a unification fight.