British Boxing News
A former amateur and pro boxer, the one-time Central Area lightweight boss has subsequently served the game with honour as a trainer-second, manager and matchmaker.
Quiet, understated but hugely respected by his fellow licence holders, Mike was unanimously saluted when Darlington’s Stuey Hall – a lad he’d coached and managed since Hall’s formative pro years – annexed the IBF bantamweight title following an epic battle with South Africa’s Vusi Malinga in Marsden’s home city last December.
Hearn doesn’t have an opponent picked out for Cleverly yet, but suffice it to say that it won’t be anyone good enough to worry the 27-year-old fighter any. This is Cleverly’s cruiserweight debut, so Hearn will make sure that he matches him softly so there’s no chance of a mishap. Hearn almost blew it with his matching of Bellew against 37-year-old Valery Brudov this month in a fight that Bellew took a beating and was staggered at one point in the fight in the 7th round.
We won’t have to wait too long before we witness the rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves, May 31st to be exact, which is being staged at a sold-out 80,000 capacity Wembley Stadium. So I thought I’d provide my own view of the controversial ending of their first encounter and also express an opinion on the likely outcome of the rematch itself.
Just to be clear, when reviewing the first fight, I believe that George Groves had a comfortable lead on the scorecards, despite whatever the official scorecards claimed, and also thought that the ref’s stoppage was premature. However, I’m convinced that this was a classic case of one punch too soon or one punch too late. I feel that Groves put the referee in a difficult situation by not defending himself effectively when he was on the receiving end of Froch’s relentless onslaught.
It has recently been revealed that Carl Froch and George Groves will face each other in a rematch that is expected to take place on 31st May 2014. This is after of course the controversial ending of the Froch-Groves I, in which George Groves alleged that he was stopped too soon in the 9th round. News of this rematch started rumours that this match will be the biggest bout in Britain of 2014. I expect that above rumour will be proven, but with little possibility of a controversial ending like the first Froch-Groves bout ended.
LONDON (March, 26) – Pound-for-pound ace Manny Pacquiao will be back on British screens next month when he battles WBO welterweight world champion Tim Bradley live and exclusive on BoxNation.
The world’s biggest and best dedicated boxing channel will air the eagerly anticipated rematch taking place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on April 12th, adding yet another mega showdown to its jam-packed roster.
The news comes hot on the heels following the announcement that the ‘Channel of Champions’ will also screen Floyd Mayweather’s May showdown with Marcos Maidana, which also features Amir Khan’s ring return against the highly respected Luis Collazo.
Enzo Maccarinelli (38-6, 30 KOs) travels to Rostock, Germany to challenge Juergen Braehmer (42-2, 31 KOs) for the WBA World Light Heavyweight Championship on April 5.
Maccarinelli, the former WBO Cruiserweight Champion, knows what it takes to become a world champion and makes no secret of his desire to take the title from Braehmer in front of the German’s home fans.
Q: What do you think of your opponent Juergen Braehmer?
EM: I really respect him. He was a top quality amateur, who beat Ricky Hatton twice I believe. He is a very tough, hard man who has been around almost as long as me.
Q: How have you been preparing for this fight?
LONDON (March, 25) – Boxing’s biggest draw Floyd Mayweather will make his ring return live and exclusive on BoxNation in a stacked May 3rd card from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Long recognised as the number one pound-for-pound king in boxing, Mayweather has continuously broken records, with his previous clash against Mexican star Canelo Alvarez, screened on BoxNation, becoming the highest grossing pay-per-view boxing event of all time.
The fight games biggest star, and the best dedicated boxing channel around, join forces once again as Mayweather puts his undefeated record on the line against Adrien Broner conqueror Marcos Maidana.
In a sign that Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO’s) sees his May 3rd fight against Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KO’s) as a prelude to him getting a big money/cash out fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September or early 2015, Khan says he’s going to be calling Mayweather out at the post press conference after the May 3rd Floyd Mayweather v. Marcos Maidana fight on Showtime pay-per-view at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Khan says he would like to face Mayweather. Oddly enough, Khan isn’t saying he’d like to fight Maidana if he beats Mayweather, but you would have to hope so because that would look like of funny if Khan kept pushing for a Mayweather fight even if he lost to Maidana.