Freddie Roach : I Want His Gloves Checked – Mayweather v Pacquiao

04/27/2015 Olly Campbell

It would seem that the consensus among fight fans is that Manny Pacquiao is going to be up against it when he steps between the ropes to fight Floyd Mayweather on Saturday, and trainer Freddie Roach is determined to ensure there are no unfair advantages, telling Mlive.com that he want’s Floyd’s custom made Grant gloves checked thoroughly.

Roach said; “Grant is doing his gloves and they’re all custom (hand) made. I’d like to know what he’s putting in those gloves and what materials they are made with.”

“I’m a little concerned about the custom made gloves that Floyd’s going to wear.”

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Mayweather vs Pacquaio: #ScrewTheFans

04/26/201504/26/2015 Jason Peck

“Sorry but the contest is over and nobody has #MayPac tickets as of today with less than two weeks to go. #FansFirst#wheresmyticket” – Oscar De La Hoya Twitter feed, April 21, 2015

Odd choice of a hashtag there, Oscar.

How can you call this a “Fans First” issue when only 1,000 out of 16,800 tickets were actually available to the public? The more pertinent questions – why were so few tickets available? And has this superfight ever put the fans first?

Mayweather-Pacquiao should be a love letter to fans. It’s the once-in-a-generation event every generation deserves. They’ve hoped and prayed for Mayweather-Pacquiao since 2009. Now the fight’s finally here, the invitations have been issued, but it doesn’t seem like those fans are welcome. Instead, this enterprise merely exemplifies the asinine business model that’s slowly killed boxing for the last two decades.

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Klitschko v Fury Looking A Certainty After NY Snooze-Fest

04/27/201504/26/2015 Olly Campbell

After last night’s jab-hug-hold fest in NY, that finally saw Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53ko) deducted a point for the antics that have served him so well for so long, it would appear WBO #1 Tyson Fury (24-0, 18ko) will definitely be the giant Ukranian’s next contest later this summer.

If the reception from the watching American public towards Klitschko was lukewarm before the opening bell, then last night’s performance against Bryant Jennings will have done nothing to whet their appetites ahead of a clash with the 6ft 9″ British gypsy.

I, along with many others, wrote Jennings off leading into the fight, and whilst the score cards pitched a shut-out, you can make an argument that they don’t fully reflect the performance of the Philadpelphia fighter, who showed heart and persistence in spades.

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Wladimir Klitschko v Bryant Jennings – Main Event Review

04/26/201504/26/2015 Ryan Forde-Kelly

Wladimir Klitschko successfully defended his WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles at New York’s Madison Square Garden tonight with a unanimous points decision over previously undefeated challenger Bryant Jennings.

All three judges found in favour of the Ukrainian with scores of 116-111, 116-111 and 118-109, despite a spirited effort from the challenger who succeeded in announcing himself as a name in the heavyweight division.

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Klitschko v Jennings Weigh-In; Wilder-Briggs Go At It!

04/25/201504/24/2015 Ryan Forde-Kelly

During an eventful weigh-in at Madison Square Garden-Chase Square this afternoon, Wladimir Klitschko, 63-3 (53KO’s), tipped the scales at 241.6 pounds, looking magnificent at 39 years of age.

His challenger Bryant Jennings, 19-0 (10KO’s), looked equally impressive – despite the size aggregate – notching a ripped 226.8 pounds.

Sadly, it was not the two men who will put it on the line tomorrow that will take the headlines from today. These will once again be dominated by the tedious sideshow that is Shannon Briggs and his furious slanging match with reigning WBC World heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder.

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Magnanimous Mayweather? A New Impression, More Than Three Years Removed

04/23/201504/23/2015 Travis Dettmer

Humble. Quiet. Polite. Contemplative, even. These aren’t the words one would have normally used to describe Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the past. These aren’t the words this author, nor the soldiers assigned to Task Force Duke at Forward Operating Base Salerno in Afghanistan, used to describe Mayweather following an overseas Skype session in 2011.

The date was Sept. 2 of that year, and Mayweather was just weeks from squaring off against Victor Ortiz, the World Boxing Council welterweight champion at the time.

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Mayweather v Pacquiao Tickets At Last!

04/23/2015 Olly Campbell

It appears that the rich and powerful can finally sleep a little easier tonight, as Mayweather-Pacquiao tickets appear to finally be going on sale later today.

Well around a thousand rich people can sleep easy anyway, as of the 16,500 seats inside the venue come fight night, that’s the amount that will be available to the public.

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Oscar’s Deadline Passes! Mayweather v Pacquiao Ticket Fiasco Rumbles On!

04/22/201504/22/2015 Olly Campbell

The panic among those rich enough to secure one, must be rising steadily as tickets for the “Fight Of The Century” are STILL not on sale to the public as at time of writing (Weds am)

A little over 24 hours ago Golden Boy Promotions boss, Oscar De La Hoya issued a day-long offer to anybody with a genuine ticket, that could they take a photo and tweet it to him, he would send them to the May 9th Canelo-Kirkland fight in Texas for nothing.

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Wladimir Klitschko v Bryant Jennings – Final Presser

04/22/201504/21/2015 Ryan Forde-Kelly

Fight week got started in New York this afternoon as long reigning World heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, 63-3 (53KO’s), faced unbeaten challenger Bryant Jennings, 19-0 (10KO’s), in their final formal media obligation in Madison Square Garden.

Both fighters conducted themselves with confidence, class and respect, something, which has typified the build up to a fight that has accepted its position as the entrée to the biggest event in boxing history.

This class cannot be extended to the continued delusion of gate crasher Shannon Briggs, who ludicrously turned up at the proceedings as incoherent and as annoying as ever.

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Mayweather vs Pacquiao – Styles Make Fights

04/21/201504/21/2015 Bill Bradshaw

I spent this morning watching old boxing clips, compilations of great rounds, profiles of great fighters and the one thing that became obvious was that styles most certainly make fights. Ali was superbly sleek and ultimately elusive until he shared the ring with Frazier whose marauding style negated much of what Ali had to offer. Their trilogy rank amongst the all-time great bouts as styles forced those men into a war that defined an era of the sport. Kenny Norton, the forgotten man, had even more success against Ali and many felt that he actually won two of their three encounters…I happen to be one of those and I always felt a sense of sympathy for the truly brilliant but often overlooked Norton.

On a different level, Marco Antonio Barrera knew all about styles when he opted to face Junior Jones as a warm up for a major showdown with Erik Morales. Jones was no pushover but, on paper, he simply wasn’t in Barrera’s class. I remember watching the bout live and being truly amazed at how inept Barrera was in dealing with the movement of Jones. The rematch was designed to show how a more focused Marco Antonio could easily handle the limited Jones but that backfired also and Junior Jones has a 2-0 record against the legendary Mexican. That Morales later destroyed Jones and Barrera went on to beat Morales is a scenario that highlights the ‘styles make fights’ aspect of what happens in the ring when the talking and the training is done.

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