Roc Nation Sports is pleased to announce that Two-Time World Champion and top-rated pound-for-pound fighter Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs) will return to the ring on Saturday, March 26, to begin his assault on the light heavyweight division when he takes on undefeated and number one rated IBF light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs) in a 12-round bout at Oracle Arena in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, California. The event will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing® beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
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Exclusive Interview with super-middleweight prospect Ronald Ellis
Unbeaten super-middleweight prospect Ronald Ellis makes his Showtime debut on February 19th and the 12-0(10) talent says he will “make a statement” in the scheduled 8-rounder with Jerry Odum.
A confident fighter who talks well, Ellis also says he wants an active 2016 so as to make up for a couple of injury-enforced layoffs earlier in his now five-year pro career.
Here the 2010 National Golden Gloves champion speaks exclusively with Eastside Boxing:
Deontay Wilder says he’ll come to UK to fight Tyson Fury, claims he will “bring boxing back like it once was”
Unbeaten KO star and reigning WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder wants a lot of things: he wants to unify the heavyweight titles, he wants to go out of boxing having left a great legacy and he wants to give his many fans great, exciting fights. But right now, it seems the thing topping Wilder’s wish list is a fight with fellow unbeaten, Tyson Fury.
Virgil Hunter will study Mayweather’s win over Canelo ahead of Khan’s May 7th challenge, says Khan is bigger than Floyd, can add to his performance
Ace trainer Virgil Hunter is talking a very confident game ahead of his fighter Amir Khan and his up against it challenge of middleweight king Saul Alvarez. Hunter, who has now been with Khan for five fights, since beginning working with him towards the end of 2012, says he will be looking at a tape of the Floyd Mayweather Junior-Alvarez fight from September of 2013, which Mayweather won via comfortable points decision (barring the simply baffling card of one judge!).
Canelo Vs. Khan: Amir Khan receiving plenty of praise for taking unexpected mega-fight!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27VH8lzzAmg
The boxing world is still trying to come to terms with what has surely been the biggest, “I didn’t see that coming!” mega-fight announcement of the year: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez Vs. Amir “King” Khan, set for Las Vegas on Cinco de Mayo weekend of May 7th.
Sergey Kovalev, Andre Ward, Adonis Stevenson, and the Bernard Hopkins mystery opponent (VIDEO)
Sergey Kovalev made easy work of Jean Pascal in their rematch this past weekend. This hardly came as a surprise. In fact most fans didn’t see their first fight as the type of encounter that warranted a rematch in the first place. Kovalev dominated Pascal when they first met, and was even more dominant this time around hardly losing a second en route to a 7th round stoppage after Pascal’s trainer Freddie Roach admirably told the referee the fight was over to protect his athlete.
Kovalev makes easy work of Pascal
(Photo Credit: David Spagnolo/Main Events) Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Undefeated Unified WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) retains all three of his titles as he makes short work of former light heavyweight world champion, Jean Pascal (30-4-1, 17 KOs), again.
The crowd was deafening as Michael Buffer announced Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev and Jean Pascal and everyone at Centre Bell was on their feet. Through the first five rounds Pascal weathered the flurry of punches handed out by The Krusher. However, by the fifth round Pascal seemed to be barely able to stay on his feet. Pascal’s trainer Freddie Roach stopped the fight just prior to the start of the eighth round.
Trail of Destruction: Mike Tyson’s Top 5 wins
“I don’t succeed when I make a guy a champion,” hall of fame boxing trainer, Cus D’Amato, once said. “I succeed when I make that fellow champion of the world and independent of me. When he doesn’t need me anymore.”
It’s been almost 30 years since Mike Tyson’s first world title fight. Cus didn’t live long enough to witness his protégé become champion. ”Iron” Mike may have exhibited menace and maturity inside the ring, but outside of it, he was a vulnerable young man, who still needed the guidance and stability his father figure provided. Equipped with such shrewd, compassionate tuition, Tyson would almost certainly have coped far better with the pressures and temptations that are inevitable when catapulted into international superstardom – his fighting prime would very likely have been extended. As was the case in early life – when growing up in crime-ridden Brownsville, in eastern Brooklyn, New York City – Mike was again, forced to learn the hard way.
Kovalev vs. Pascal 2: Bad timing not a Bad matchup
Bitter sweet feelings surround this rematch bout from last March have spoiled much of the anticipation for Saturday night’s HBO main event fight between Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal. It’s not as if it’s a bad matchup per se, just bad timing considering the outcome of their first meeting and Pascal’s last performance, which was underwhelming to say the least. Regardless, thankfully the Bell Centre in Montreal will be ready to make noise for this redux that should be fought in an entertaining style.
Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Danny “Swift” Garcia, The Future of Mayweather & Pacquiao, and Porter/Thurman!
David G. (Albany, NY): How do you rate Danny Garcia overall at this stage in his career?
Vivek W. (B247): I think the career of Danny Garcia leaves room for both, great praise, and great criticism. More often than not, I’ve been openly critical of him, for the simple fact that I think his stock has dropped tremendously after the Matthysse bout due to uneven performances and poor choice of opponents. That said, I think he’s right on par for where he needs to be at this stage in his career. On 32 nights spanning 9 years, he has faced a variety of opposition and found a way to win, even if some weren’t as pretty as most would like.