Rigondeaux Stripped by the WBO for Inactivity

10/30/201510/29/2015 Olly Campbell

Cuban former amateur standout and 2x Olympic gold medalist, Guillermo Rigondeaux (15-0, 10ko), – widely considered one of the best fighters P4P in the world – has this week been stripped of his WBO super-bantamweight title for inactivity by the sanctioning body.

Rigondeaux, who is still WBA (super) 122 lb champion, hasn’t defended the title since last December’s fight with Hisashi Amagasa in Japan, and the decision was taken unanimously by the WBO’s 28 strong championship committee – at their annual convention in Florida – to strip the Cuban given he still doesn’t have a fight scheduled.

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Tony Thompson: Wants Wilder Then ‘3rd Time Lucky’ Shot at Klitschko

10/30/201510/29/2015 Olly Campbell

Veteran American heavyweight contender, Tony Thompson (40-5, 27ko), has claimed that he wants a WBC title clash with maligned champion, Deontay Wilder, using the green belt he hopes to win to entice Wladimir Klitschko into a 3rd and final clash.

Thompson fights 35 year old fringe contender, Malik Scott (37-2-1, 13ko) tomorrow on a PBC on Bounce TV card that is bizarrely being billed on fight posters as for the “World Heavyweight Championship” – a slogan that no doubt suggests we’ll be seeing those independent PBC titles established good and proper soon.

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Miguel Cotto vs. Saul Alvarez: All roads lead to GGG

10/29/201510/29/2015 Vitali Shaposhnikov

On November 21, 2015, Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be jam-packed with thousands of boxing fans. Pugilists, media, celebrities, and of course an avalanche of boxing enthusiasts will arrive at the arena to witness one of the more intriguing fights of the year thus far.

Many wouldn’t buy the possibility of Canelo facing Cotto this year, and when the news of ongoing negotiations surfaced, they were mostly dismissed as yet another misunderstood, overstated, optimistic myth.

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Ryan Farrag Looking to Continue the British Bantamweight Boom

10/29/201510/29/2015 Ryan Forde-Kelly

Ryan Farrag, 13-1 (2KO’s), will travel to the little known Hall Omnisport de La Préalle in Liege, Belgium on Friday night, bidding to claim the currently vacant EBU (European) Bantamweight title when he faces former World title challenger Stephane Jamoye, 28-6 (16KO’s), – very much behind enemy lines.

Much like his weight class contemporaries, current interim IBF Bantamweight champion Lee Haskins, Ross Burkinshaw and to a lesser extent – these days at least – multiple World champion and reigning WBA ruler Jamie McDonnell, he will do so with a level of anonymity seemingly reserved in Britain for the 118lbs weight class.

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Algieri-Bone on Dec. 5

10/29/201510/28/2015 Showtime Boxing

Former world champion and Long Island-native Chris Algieri (20-2, 8 KOs) returns to Barclays Center in Brooklyn to take on Ecuador’s Erick Bone (16-2, 8 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight bout on Saturday, Dec. 5. The Algieri vs. Bone fight is promoted by DiBella Entertainment in association with Star Boxing and will be part of a stacked undercard featuring top regional talent that will be announced in its entirety soon.

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Matchroom Target Potential DeGale/Murray Unification

10/29/201510/28/2015 Olly Campbell

Matchroom boxing boss, Eddie Hearn, has one eye on a huge UK super-middleweight unification between IBF champion, James DeGale and recent signing Martin Murray, provided both come through their next outings.

Murray challenges for Arthur Abraham’s WBO 168 lb strap in Germany on Nov.21, while DeGale defends his IBF strap a week later against former champ, Lucian Bute in Canada, and the Beijing 2008 gold medalist has stated that unification fights are on his mind for the future – including one against Murray should he prevail.

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Fury: Klitschko Needs to ‘Catch Me Cold Early’ to Win

10/29/201510/28/2015 Olly Campbell

WBO mandatory challenger, Tyson Fury, believes that he has not only the physical advantage over Wladimir Klitschko, but a psychological one, claiming that the dominant champion needs to catch him early in order to stand any chance of winning next month’s big fight.

The 6’9″ Fury has claimed the original postponement that moved the card back a month (thanks to a Klitschko calf strain), was actually a blessing in disguise as he had been feeling out of sorts with a virus, a problem that has been resolved thanks to the delay, meaning he will come in on fight night 100% and ready to win the WBO/WBA/IBF titles.

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Jessie Vargas to Sit Out Rest of 2015

10/29/201510/28/2015 Olly Campbell

After turning down a fight with unbeaten New Yorker, Sadam Ali (22-0, 13ko), welterweight contender Jessie Vargas (26-1, 9ko) is to sit out the rest of the year, having boxed just the once in 2015.

The solitary outing for the Top Rank promoted Vargas, is of course June’s (interim WBO) challenge to Tim Bradley (who has since been upgraded to full champion), a fight in which Vargas was comfortably out-pointed until some last minute drama in which the final bell sounded 10 seconds early, just at the moment Vargas had Bradley rocked back and stunned.

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Roy Jones vs Enzo Mac on Dec. 12 in Russia for WBA 200 lb Strap

10/29/201510/28/2015 Olly Campbell

It’s been confirmed this morning [Weds], that long faded, 46 year old Roy Jones Jr (62-8, 45ko), will square off against former world cruiserweight champion, Enzo Maccarinelli (40-7, 32ko) in Moscow, on December 12.

Despite neither man being in the latest WBA 200 lb rankings, they will contest the organization’s top tier, ‘super’ belt, much to the bemusement of many fans across social media this morning.

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Manny Pacquiao claims ongoing negotiations for Mayweather Jr. rematch

10/28/2015 Vitali Shaposhnikov

In recent news, various sources suggested that Manny Pacquiao will be retiring after one more final fight. Next year, likely in the month of April, right around the time when the brand new gigantic MGM AEG arena will open its doors in Las Vegas, Nevada, Pacman is looking to close the doors to his career. The finality is always as important as the entrance, and leaving the sport of boxing with a bang is something that can certainly elevate a champions stock in history.

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