Brook Upsets Porter to take home the title

09/15/201608/17/2014 Michael Montero

There’s something about the atmosphere at the StubHub Center when the sun has fallen and it’s time for the main event! Over 7,000 fans came out to watch American Shawn Porter defend his welterweight title against England’s Kell Brook. The Brit made his way to the ring first, practically jogging his way through the crowd and between the ropes, looking eager to get it on. Porter’s ring walk was slow and calculated, making his opponent wait for him. Jimmy Lennon announced the fighters in his classy, unique way. Brook drew boos from the partisan crowd, yet had plenty of British supporters making their presence felt.

Porter came out with a lot of energy, trying to get inside on his taller opponent and work the body. Brook seemed content to hold and back up; while Porter looked like a pit bull in the early going. In the second round a clash of heads caused a small cut over Brook’s left eye, yet his cut man did a great job with it.

Figueroa stops Estrada in an exciting fight

09/15/201608/17/2014 Michael Montero

Another great night of boxing at the StubHub Center in Carson, California! After an entertaining undercard featuring Deontay Wilder, Jorge Linares and other notables, the tripleheader broadcast kicked off with Texas native Omar Figueroa defending his lightweight title against Daniel Estrada of Mexico City. It was an exciting opening to another solid tripleheader from Showtime Boxing, which was criticized for the one-sided Al Haymon showcase in Brooklyn they broadcast last week (topped off with the Garcia-Salka fiasco).

Figueroa started cautiously in the early going, attempting to move his head and responsibly. It didn’t last long. By the end of the first round both men were exchanging blows on the ropes. Figueroa stalked forward and seemed to do the better work, yet Estrada stood his ground and made his presence felt. A low blow in the third round seemed to really bother Omar, as he took a long break at the suggestion of referee Raul Caiz to recover.

Dirrell wins rematch with Bika, takes home the belt

09/15/201608/17/2014 Michael Montero

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) The first time these two fought in Brooklyn last December, a rough and rugged contest ended in a controversial draw. Bika, of Australia by way of Cameroon, held onto his title but the sanctioning organization mandated a rematch take place. It’s clear to anyone who’s paid attention during the build up to this rematch that Bika and Dirrell don’t like each other, as they jawed back and forth at the presser and weigh-in earlier this week. But how would all that animosity translate into the ring? It didn’t take long to find out.

The first round of this boxing match looked more like a wrestling match, as the fighters took turns slamming each other into canvas. Referee Jack Reiss tried to establish control of the fight early and told the fighters to knock out the rough stuff or he’d take a point. Dirrell, the quicker, slicker boxer, attempted to confuse his opponent by switching between the southpaw and orthodox stance.

Samuel Peter takes on Alex Leapai on October 24 in Queensland Australia

08/16/2014 Bill Patrice Jones

In news which will surprise some, and seems standard to others, former WBC heavyweight champion of the world Samuel Peter has signed to fight recent title challenger, and popular contender, Alex Leapai. The 10 round bout is scheduled for October 24 of this year, given the former champion barely two months to prepare, and is set for Leapai’s home country of Australia. The news has been confirmed by several media outlets and the bout is listed on the usually reliable boxrec.com.

Rumours have been circulating since December of last year that Peter was planning a ring return. The always popular Nigerian powerhouse was reportedly said to be struggling with the idea of retiring off of two back to back losses, the last being a particularly shocking, and painful to watch, knockout at the hands of Robert Helenius three years ago. The nature of that loss and the fact that Peter has not boxed in three years will give his former fans a rather ominous sense of foreboding ahead of this fight. Does Peter really want another crack at the big time? Or is it simply another sad case of a former star and champion secretly battling financial losses and succumbing to acceptance of the role as the ‘opponent’ on another fighter’s card. As with the Helenius fight, this bout is going to be an Alex Leapai show in front of his fans. Peter has been chosen by team Leapai as a big name to build upon after a hopelessly one sided title defeat to Wladimir Klitschko.

Showtime Tripleheader Preview & Weigh-In Results

09/15/201608/16/2014 Michael Montero

Fans, media, fighters and their teams gathered at the StubHub Center in Carson, California this afternoon, as the official weigh-ins for tomorrow’s Showtime Boxing tripleheader took place.

Omar Figueroa 23-0-1 (17KO) vs. Daniel Estrada 32-2-1(24KO)
Lightweight title bout

Figueroa returns to the StubHub Center, where he narrowly escaped with a controversial split decision victory over Jerry Belmontes in April. For Estrada, this is his first bout outside of his native Mexico, and easily the biggest stage he’s ever fought on. Estrada hit the scales first, weighing in at 134.5 pounds; while Figueroa came in right at the lightweight limit of 135 pounds.

Glendale “Fight Night” Results

08/10/2014 Michael Montero

Top Rank and Bash Boxing put on another fun card from their “Fight Night” series tonight in Glendale, California; featuring ten 4-8 round bouts between up and coming prospects. The main event and co-feature were broadcast live on UniMás; with former super bantamweight champ Israel Vasquez doing guest commentary. Results below.

Joe Felix Jr. 26-1-1 (21KO) vs. Alejandro Rodriguez 21-14 (12KO)
Super Featherweights, 8 rounds

The UniMás main event between two Mexican natives was a bit of a let down after the great opener. Things started slowly as both fighters attempted to feel each other out while not taking any risks. Rodriguez moved forward and Felix Jr. tried to counter. In the third round Rodriguez was bleeding from his nose, no doubt the result from those counter shots. By the fourth round the nose was bleeding badly and appeared broken. No doubt Felix Jr. was the harder puncher, as his shots were doing more damage as the rounds progressed. Rodriguez continued to stalk but seemed late to the punch in every exchange. Felix Jr. always got off first, while moving his feet and remaining defensively responsible.

Porter vs. Brook: ‘It’s Showtime’ for the Special One

08/08/2014 Philip Anthony

Finally, following a rollercoaster 18 months of injuries, accusations and cancellations, Kell ‘The Special One’ Brook will get to live out his childhood dream by contesting for the World welterweight title against ‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter on August 16th at the StubHub Centre in Carson, California.

It’s been nearly two years since the Sheffield boxer was first named mandatory challenger for the IBF title. During that spell three scheduled bouts against former champ Devon Alexander failed to materialise due to injuries to both men. Following Brooks latest setback (a fractured metatarsal), Alexander ‘the Great’ moved on and subsequently lost his title to up and coming Ohio native Shawn Porter.

Chris Algieri vs. Manny Pacquiao: About the Fighters

08/05/2014 Bill Barner

On November 22, 2014, WBO Jr. Welterweight Champion Chris Algieri will move up in both weight and opponent caliber as he challenges Manny Pacquiao for the WBO Welterweight Championship.

Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao is as accomplished as he is well-known. A world champion at a record-breaking eight weight classes, he has fought and beaten nearly every world-class fighter available. Moreover, like Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali before him, he has avenged nearly every loss.

In 2012 questions surfaced as to whether Pacquiao’s career was through. First, he lost an incredibly controversial decision to Timothy Bradley. The same year, he suffered his most definitive loss at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez. However, the Philippine pugilist took a year off and returned to beat Brandon Rios by unanimous decision in 2013. In April of 2014, Pacman decisively beat Timothy Bradley, avenging his loss to the 147lb champion and proving his sustained greatness to the boxing community. At the time of the fight, Bradley was coming off a win against Ruslan Provodnikov and considered one of the best fighters – pound for pound – in the world.

Kovalev “The Krusher” back on the Boardwalk & Rios vs Chaves potential FOTY

08/01/201408/01/2014 Chris Carlson

Rios claims that he has returned back to earth after his head was stuck in the clouds of success. Alex Ariza is gone from his camp, now he and his world renowned trainer Robert Garcia are going back to the basics. Strength and condition coach or not, Rios better have been on his best behavior to prepare for a hungry and dangerous fighter like Chaves.

Diego Chaves has a snappy jab and loves to throw chopping hooks to the body and head. He favors his left hand for lead hooks and has a decent overhand right to go with it.

The thought amongst fans and media who are picking Chaves are banking on his movement. I question Diego’s capability to outbox Rios only because he hasn’t shown that trait at a high level. He pressed the action for the most part in a loss to Keith Thurman, and in a close victory over Omar Weis. When he was pushed back in both of those fights, he looked very uncomfortable making him vulnerable to a hunter like Rios.

Wladimir Klitschko and Kubrat Pulev sell out the O2 Arena in Hamburg, Germany

07/31/2014 Ivan Ivanov

There are no more regular seats available for the IBF heavyweight title fight on Sep. 6 at the O2 World Hamburg. Kubrat Pulev said he tried to buy tickets for friends recently and he couldn’t, he contacted K2 promotions and found out he might find separate seats if he used a German IP address and checked regularly for availability. Those seats would be either lowest price that do not offer a good view or highest price (unreasonably expensive). Pulev himself was promised “one or two” free tickets, so he is not getting a lot of compliments from Klitschko and company.

The unbeaten Bulgarian knows he is a mandatory challenger per se, that is Wladimir Klitschko clearly does not want the fight and is only complying with an obligation. This is not a big money event for K2 while for Pulev this would be a career defining fight and his biggest payday. K2 promotions are handling the event and Kubrat Pulev is just a participant, and opponent that brings some intrigue and his 0 into the contest but not too much revenue.