Month: February 2013

Interview with Patrick Day: “I am enjoying flying under the radar for as long as it lasts”

By Dan Emicus:

How did you get into boxing?

I got in to boxing out of the curiosity I had for the science of the sport (the difference between boxing and street-fighting). Watching the golden gloves in my town sparked an interest and living across the street from my trainer, Joe Higgins, led me to act on it.

Any boxing idols from the past?

My biggest boxing idol from the past that I both admire and look up to is Sugar Ray Leonard. Our fighting styles are similar and I feel that he was the best of his time.

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Money Mayweather boxing’s ULTIMATE Businessman!

By Robert Jackson: Up until yesterday 2/5/2013 it was all but expected that Floyd Mayweather Jr. would be soon announcing his return to the ring to face Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero. And then…Facebook interceded and the whole world found out that Money Mayweather would be facing Devon Alexander! But wait, wasn’t it announced yesterday that Alexander injured a bicep while training for a February matchup with Kell Brook for the IBF title, causing that match-up to be postponed?

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Exclusive interview with Peter Fury

Exclusive interview with Peter Fury by Dan Emicus

When Tyson first came to you, his conditioning was sub-par and he was more a good fighter, as opposed to a good boxer. 18 months later and his conditioning has improved dramatically, he’s professional in his approach to fights, has solid boxing fundamentals, and has progressed leaps and bounds technically. How happy are you with his progress and do you expect a similar rate of progress between now and in another 18 months?

I’m delighted with his development and have put in endless hours every day over the last 12 months in particular. Every single area is painstakingly gone through. He is constantly improving technically, as well as in terms of conditioning, and come April we will see another level in Tyson again.

How did you rate Tyson’s performance last time out against Kevin Johnson? On the Channel 5 coverage, you were heard advising Tyson to stick to the gameplan and not allow the crowd to influence his boxing, so were you concerned at that point that Tyson might lose focus and try too hard to ‘entertain’ the crowd with a grandstand finish?

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Mayweather: Negotiations for Devon Alexander fight are almost completed

floyd66By Jeff Sorby: Unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. is claiming that he’s on the verge of fighting a unification bout against IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KO’s) on May 4th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Mayweather said on his twitter tonight: “The negotiations for my fight are almost done. The front runner is IBF Champion Devon Alexander. It’d be a unification bout at welterweight.”

How the fight could be a unification bout is the big question given that Alexander is under contract for a title defense against Kell Brook. If Alexander takes the fight with Mayweather, he’ll get stripped of his IBF title by the International Boxing Federation for failing to fight his mandatory challenger Brook.

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Wladimir Klitschko Could Face Fres Oquendo In April; Oquendo Says Talks Are Ongoing

wladimir53By James Slater: According to invaluable news site Fightnews.com, Puerto Rican veteran and long-time heavyweight contender “Fast” Fres Oquendo could be next for the mighty Wladimir Klitschko. “Dr. Steel Hammer” asked for permission to take a voluntary fight before his ordered defence against “regular” WBA heavyweight titlist Alexander Povetkin, and it looks like initial possibility Odlanier Solis is now out of the running and Oquendo, 35-7(23) is in pole position.

Of course, nothing is certain until contracts are signed. Still, Oquendo, now aged 39 and into his sixteenth year as a pro, is hoping he will get the next shot at the WBA, IBF, WBO, IBO king.

“My manager (Tom Tsatas) is working on it and it’s possible that in the end Wladimir could face me on April 6th,” Fres told Fightnews.com. “I’m training to get in the best condition to rip his head off. Give me the opportunity and don’t avoid me!”

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Ronnie Shields remembers Omar Henry

By Joseph Herron: On Friday, February 1st, Junior Middleweight prospect Omar Henry passed away at age 25, after battling gallbladder cancer for the past three months.

After learning of the tragic news, trainer Ronnie Shields expressed his sympathy for his former fighter on this Sunday’s edition of “The Pugilist KOrner’s: Weekend Wrap”.

“I trained Omar Henry in the beginning of his professional career, and we always had a lot of fun in the gym. He was a fun-loving and jovial character. He was always making people laugh and telling jokes.”

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Cory Spinks Retires

spinksBy John G. Thompson — As reported on various websites including a statement released by Christy Spinks on Boxingscene.com, her husband, thirty-four year old Cory “The Next Generation” Spinks (39-8, 11 KO’s) is retiring from the sport of boxing following his loss to Carlos “King” Molina (21-5-2, 6 KO’s) this past Friday night.

Molina dominated the IBF eliminator at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, pitching a shutout on one judge’s scorecard, and losing only one round according to the other two judges. Spinks was deducted a point in the ninth round for holding. Molina knocked him down in the eleventh, and Spinks was given a standing eight count in the twelfth after the ropes seemed to keep him from going down again.

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Exclusive interview with Quatavious Cash

Exclusive interview by Dan Emicus with Quatavious Cash [6-0, 4 KOs]

When did you know that boxing was your calling?

I knew boxing was my calling when I was six years old. I was forced to fight everyday and I was good. So I always knew I was going to become a fighter, even though I didn’t get the opportunity until I was 14 or 15. That’s when I stopped everything and gave all my focus to boxing.

How did you fare in the amateurs?

I was too small for 165 and too big for 152, so I never reached my full potential as an amateur.

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Braehmer beats Gutknecht – Robert Woge wins first title

EduardGutknecht_JuergenBraehmerJuergen Braehmer is the new European Light Heavyweight Champion. After twelve exciting rounds, the 34-year-old won an unanimous decision over previous titlist Eduard Gutknecht in Berlin on Saturday night.

“It was a very tough fight against Eddy. I did manage to take advantage of most of my strengths, but it was difficult for me to keep focus for the whole duration of the fight,” said the prodigy of coach Karsten Roewer after the championship bout at the Max-Schmeling-Halle.

Right at the beginning, the former titleholder Gutknecht was keen to put his stamp onto the fight and went straight into attack mode. The 30-year-old caught Braehmer on the head, who seemed a bit overrun by this ferocious start. However, this was not going to be the only unwanted surprise for the man from northern Germany. Gutknecht tried everything he could which resulted in him not only showing an aggressive approach with his fists but also using some unclean methods by pushing his opponent to the ground.

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Finally: Timothy Bradley Gets A Post-Pacquiao Opponent – Will Face Russian Slugger Ruslan Provodnikov In March

provodnikov324By James Slater – Though some fans were a little turned off by unbeaten pound-for-pounder Timothy Bradley after his hugely controversial points win over superstar Manny Pacquiao – most people referring to the June 2012 split decision as a blatant robbery – the subsequent time spent out of the ring by “Desert Storm” has been unfortunate. Some fans seem to feel Bradley, 29-0(12) should have raised his hands after June 9th last year, and admitted he didn’t really defeat Pac-Man, but of course he didn’t and who can be surprised by this (have you EVER known a winning fighter confess that he didn’t deserve the victory he was awarded)?

But despite the perceived lack of sportsmanship on the part of Bradley, he is too good a fighter to have been out of action for almost a year. The good news is Bradley has an opponent all sorted out; the not so great news is the guy the WBO welterweight champ will defend against on March 16th on HBO. After the “win” over Pacquiao, it was thought the Palm Springs man would get further mega-fights. Instead, Bradley will face crude (but hugely exciting) Russian light-welterweight Ruslan Provodnikov. The 29-year-old (the same age as Bradley) from Beryozovo will move up in weight and go after Bradley’s belt at The Home Depot Centre.

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