Lee v Quillin: The Wait Is Almost Over

04/09/201504/09/2015 Olly Campbell

As they often do for UK viewers, Boxnation, the channel fronted by veteran promoter Frank Warren will this weekend screen the hotly anticipated bout between “Irish” Andy Lee (34-2, 24ko) and “Kid Chocolate” Peter Quillin (31-0,22ko) that is part of the revolutionary Premier Boxing Champions format Stateside that has been masterminded by the seemingly omnipotent manager/adviser, Al Haymon.

A former owner of the WBO 160lb strap now owned by Lee, Quillin vacated that title rather than face then mandatory challenger, dangerous Russian Matty Korobov, and was heavily criticised at the time for turning down a career best purse. Purse bids for that fight were won by Jay Z’s outfit Roc Nation Sports, and the decision for Quillin to vacate was rumoured to have been ordered by Haymon as Quillins “adviser” based on the fact that Jay Z and Haymon had an existing feud from their previous dealings in the music industry.

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The 49-0 taboo in boxing

04/09/2015 Ivan Ivanov

The “zero syndrome” in boxing has gained the upper hand and has obscured the valuable qualities of boxers focusing on a bogus credential like an unbeaten record. The “Zero” has become the factor in choosing opponents and venues; it has tainted verdicts and precipitated decisions that defy common sense. The obsession with an unbeaten resume has been observed to sidetrack careers and alter legacies of pawns and kings in boxing. Unblemished records are just an illusion in most cases, a managerial feat – for example both Marciano and Floyd Mayweather had multiple losses as amateur boxers. Amateurs have to fight all comers and even Franky Carbo and “The Combination” back in the day or any of the present promotional wizards, famous and mysterious alike, could not spare an Olympic/amateur prodigy from meeting the odd awkward stylistic nightmare. Kovalev and GGG have lost their share of amateur bouts too and one of them even happened to be on the wrong end of a vicious one-punch KO once in the amateur light heavyweight division.

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James Kirkland San Antonio Media Workout Quotes

04/09/201504/08/2015 HBO Boxing

Texas knockout artist James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (32-1, 28 KOs) today hosted a media workout in San Antonio in advance of his face-off against Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) on May 9 at Minute Maid Park in Houston live on HBO World Championship Boxing ®. In attendance were James Kirkland’s trainers, Bay Bay McClinton and Rick Morones and Leija*Battah Promotions’ Mike Battah in addition to Texas boxing legend Jesse James Leija.

Texas fighters featured in the non-televised undercard for May 9 were also at today’s media workout including James Leija Jr., the son of Texas Boxing Legend Jesse James Leija; Austin’s Curtis Meeks (9-1-2, 3 KOs), San Antonio’s Cresencio Ramos (2-0, 1 KO), Cut and Shoot, Texas’s light heavyweight Alfonso “El Tigre” Lopez (23-3, 18 KOs), Houston lightweight Antonio Capulin (14-0, 6 KOs), and San Antonio’s Joseph Rodriguez (8-0, 2 KOs), all participated in the media workout.

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If Mayweather Jr. lost to Pacquiao: Bob Arum weighs in

04/08/2015 Vitali Shaposhnikov

Part of the reason that May 2nd is such a colossal event, is mostly due to the fact that for a long time now, boxing enthusiasts believed that only Manny Pacquiao has the right arsenal to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. Of course aside from their competitive edge, both men have developed very unique personalities over the years, and paired together with their history, they make a great story for the sport of boxing.

One of the more popular questions nowadays, is what would happen if Mayweather Jr. lost the fight?

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U.S Senator Harry Reid is rooting to Pacquiao

04/08/201504/07/2015 Vitali Shaposhnikov

Harry Reid, a long time senator from Nevada, has voiced his support for Manny Pacquiao in his upcoming bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr.

“I always try to help people who help me and no one has been more helpful to me, campaign wise, who’s been a personality, than Manny Pacquiao. I wish them both well and they’re good for the sport but Manny Pacquiao broke training on two separate occasions to come and campaign for me and I can’t forget that,” stated Reid.

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Swimming vs. road work/running for boxers – a better option or a therapeutic option?

04/08/201504/07/2015 Ivan Ivanov

Swimming is a great aerobic enhancer and surpasses the benefits of running as far as endurance and lung capacity are concerned. It opens up the alveoli and increases the feel good factor. It brings up the overall fitness level and tones the whole body of a boxer relaxing every muscle as well during warm down in the water. Swimming is a low impact activity and injury in the pool is extremely rare (slipping in the shower is another story). The old school of thought used to believe swimming developed the wrong back and shoulder muscles and affected the range of motion for boxers. The same school preached that free weights were poison for the boxing body.

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Freddie Roach: “Floyd Knows Manny is Taking Him into Deep Water”

04/07/2015 Top Rank

SACRÉ BLEU! We have all heard of France’s New Wave style of filmmaking but has FLOYD “Money” MAYWEATHER decided to incorporate New Wave training into his preparations for his battle against Fighter of the Decade Congressman MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO or is he just a fish out of water? Their welterweight world championship unification battle takes place Saturday, May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

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Hearn offers Frampton £1.5million for unification blockbuster

04/07/201504/07/2015 Matchroom Boxing

Scott Quigg’s promoter Eddie Hearn has offered Carl Frampton £1.5million to fight Quigg at the Manchester Arena on July 18.

The Bury star joined promoter Eddie Hearn in Matchroom Sport’s offices in Brentwood to confirm the offer live on Sky Sports News, which was sent to Frampton’s team earlier in the day.

Unbeaten World champions Quigg (WBA) and Frampton (IBF) have long been on a collision course, and after issuing the offer to the Belfast man, Quigg is hoping that they can clash in a summer blockbuster.

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The Exciting Prospect of Sergey Kovalev vs Artur Beterbiev

04/06/2015 Rummys Corner

Professional boxing returned to network television Saturday afternoon when WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson successfully defended his title with a unanimous decision victory over Sakio Bika. But the most eye-raising performance on the card, which was televised by CBS, came from up-and-coming brutal powerhouse Artur Beterbiev, who destroyed Gabriel Campillo in the fourth round of their contest. It was an explosive display of power from Beterbiev, who is quickly making a name for himself as a devastating force to be reckoned with.

With the impressive win, Beterbiev’s stock has risen, and it brings the potential prospects of a bout between him and former amateur foe Sergey Kovalev one step closer to possibly becoming a reality in the distant, but not too distant future.

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Video: Amir Khan Blasts Kell Brook, Eddie Brook

04/06/201504/05/2015 ESB

Amir Khan to FightHype.com: “First of all, the fight with Algieri is not confirmed yet. Even if it was, I can’t believe the people who are talking shit. At the end of the day, I did say that I want to fight the top guys. Obviously I can’t fight Floyd or Manny, so Miguel Cotto was another guy I wanted, but he’s going on to fight someone else. Broner said he’d fight me, so I said let’s do it, but I heard that Broner don’t want it either…Just look at my last 10 opponents, regardless if I won or lost, and then look at Kell’s. Eddie and Kell are fooling the fans, using my name and saying I’m afraid. All I’m saying is Kell still need to prove himself by fighting A-class fighters like I have done,” stated former world champion Amir Khan, who responded to critics who questioned his decision not to face Kell Brook in a proposed June 13 showdown.

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