Brandon Rios to fight in May, possibly against Provodnikov

01/20/2014 Jeff Sorby

Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) is expected back in the ring next May against possibly WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov. Rios is waiting to find out which fighter Manny Pacquiao will take on for his April 12th fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. If Pacquiao selected Tim Bradley, then Rios will be looking to fight Provodikov for his World Boxing Organization 140 lb. title. If Pacquaio selects Provodnikov to fight, then Rios could be fighting Tim Brady for his WBO welterweight title.

The criticism that would come from Rios fighting for a world title against Provodnikov or Bradley stems from the fact that Rios has lost his last two fights and isn’t ranked in the top 15 at either 140 or 147. For Rios to get a title shot off of consecutive defeats and with him being a 2nd tier fighter, it would definitely run a lot of people the wrong way. However, you can bet that the WBO will come to the rescue or Rios once talk begins for him to fight Bradley or Provodnikov.

Robert Garcia: Maidana deserves a shot at Mayweather after win over Broner

01/20/201401/20/2014 Jeff Sorby

Trainer Robert Garcia feels that his fighter WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana should have been in the running for a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. following his win over Adrien Broner last December. But instead of getting a potential chance against Mayweather in what would have been a career high payday for the Argentinian fighter, Maidana is now pretty much locked into a rematch with Broner after Broner invoked his rematch clause in his contract with Maidana.

“We thought by beating Broner and doing it the way we did, we definitely earned the shot at Mayweather,” Garcia said to the Boxing Channel. “For whatever reason it looks like they’re going to go with Amir Khan, and we’re going to have to wait and wait, because what if he changes his mind and fights someone else?

Pascal’s win over Bute leaves questions

01/20/201401/20/2014 Paul Strauss

Jean Pascal’s one-sided victory over Lucien Bute last Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada ended with questions, not about the scoring, but about the fighters themselves. The fight didn’t have the kind of excitement fight fans had hoped for. For years, Canadians wanted to see these two warriors meet. Sadly, the matchup came too late in their careers.

Pascal won by a wide margin, but considering the way Bute fought, it wasn’t much of an accomplishment. Bute didn’t rally until late. His effort lacked the drama of Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.’s knockdown rally against Sergio Martinez. Bute’s fans certainly were hoping for similar results. His late rally gave his fans a glimmer of hope. It appeared Pascal was reeling, maybe ready to go? Then he burst out of his defensive shell, and started ripping off his own looping shots, sapping the enthusiasm out of Bute fans.

Pascal vs. Stevenson not likely to happen soon

01/19/2014 Jeff Sorby

For boxing fans hoping to see WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson and Jean Pascal face each other in the near future, it’s not likely to happen, says Dan Rafael of ESPN. He sees both guys as having too many options for fights right now to where they don’t need to face each other. The Pascal-Stevenson fight will happen sooner or later, but probably not anytime soon.

Pascal showed last night after his 12 round unanimous decision victory over Lucian Bute that he wasn’t all that excited about fighting Stevenson when he said to Max Kellerman “I’m very proud of him [Stevenson]. He’s black like me; he’s from the Haitian community. Big shout out to ‘Superman’ Stevenson.”

What if Floyd accepts or rejects Manny’s dare for a “charity fight”

01/19/2014 Reni M. Valenzuela

Possible scenarios are what they are, possibilities. But in the case of the historic “Fight for Charity” dare between two biggest names in boxing, there are only certainties. If and when Floyd Mayweather accepts the challenge to fight Manny Pacquiao for charity, the fight would surely be greater than great as it has been anticipated for years. But if and when Mayweather wouldn’t agree, at least he and his devotees along with the cynics would know that Manny is not desperate to tangle with Money in the ring for money reason; and that dud Mayweather would be proven a big joke once again.

However, should Mayweather opt to ignore the call and keep mum about Pacman’s dare, the people are not dumb and dump to take it as gallantry or anything positive to heal the sport or push boxing forward.

Vitali Klitschko gets nailed with fire extinguisher spray

01/20/201401/19/2014 Rob Smith

Former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is finding out the hard way how difficult it is to be a politician in Ukraine. While attempting to break up a large crowd of protesters on Sunday, Vitali, an opposition leader, was booed and sprayed with a fire extinguisher at point blank range by what appeared to be the police. Vitali had a bullhorn and seemed to have peaceful intent in breaking up the crowd but someone wasn’t feeling it because they quickly nailed Vitali with spray from the extinguisher. Once Vitali was out of range, he had to be held back because he wanted to go after the person that had sprayed him.

The protests came about reportedly due to after the parliament had passed some new laws that didn’t go over well with some of the public.

Mike Perez and Carlos Takam Fight Recap

01/20/201401/19/2014 K2 Promotions

Before a massive crowd of over 20,000 fight fans on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, world ranked and undefeated heavyweight contender Mike “The Rebel” Perez of Cork, Ireland battled France’s Carlos Takam to a ten round majority draw (96-94 Perez, 95-95 x 2).

After winning the first two rounds, Perez suffered a nasty cut over his right eye in the third stanza from an accidental head butt.

“Mike fought well early in the fight but the head butt left him with blurred vision for a couple rounds and seemed to keep from him being able to mount a consistent attack in the second half of the fight,” said Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions.

Pac Dares Floyd: “Let’s Fight For Charity”

01/19/201401/19/2014 Reni M. Valenzuela

Things have been clear to the clear minded, but if the latest word from Manny Pacquiao won’t untangle “clutters” in the minds of the “wise” and “confused,” what else can?

Pacquiao has long assured he is ready and willing to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. anytime, anywhere. And just hours ago he told the Manila based Philippine Daily Inquirer: “I’m not desperate to fight Floyd just for the sake of money… I’m not the one seeking this fight rather it’s the boxing fans all over the world.”

Absolutely.

The Filipino icon stressed in the same phone conversation with Inquirer: “I am ready to submit myself to any kind of stringent drug testing. Above all, I challenge Mayweather to include in our fight contract that both of us will not receive any single cent out of the fight. We will donate all the proceeds – guaranteed prize, gate receipts, pay-per-view and endorsements – to charities around the world.”

Lucian Bute Waits Til the End: Defeat in Montreal

01/19/201401/19/2014 George Goddiess

After a long and extended delay, perhaps the highest profile fight in Canadian boxing history has finally ended. A fight that seemed inevitable has finally occurred despite the roadblocks. The fight itself turned out to be an underwhelming affair after all the accolades leading up to it. Lucian Bute held sturdy and was not stopped like many of his detractors declared would happen but he lost in a way that many could not expect. He lacked offensive urgency, his uppercut to the head and viscous liver shot never once became a factor. Bute had several sharp jabs and some occasional left hands.

Then suddenly in the final three minutes Bute assaulted Jean Pascal with everything in his arsenal. A first it was hard to tell if he was playing possum because Pascal then jumped out and sprung into attack. Then, Bute went back onto the assault once again until the end of the round. When the fight was over and the twelve rounds were completed there was no doubt about who would win and the right man was given the nod on the scorecards by margins of four points on one card and seven on the other two.

Carlos Takam Batters Mike Perez: Settles for a Draw

01/19/201401/19/2014 George Goddiess

Opening up for the HBO broadcast from the Bell Center in Montreal, Canada were two relocated heavyweights. The contest pitted two relocated fighters in late starter Carlos Takam born in Cameroon fighting out of France and Mike Perez born in Cuba and fighting out of Ireland. The bout seemed like it was going to be a forgettable one as the first three rounds saw very little action.

Then a cut on the right brow of Perez opened from an accidental head butt in the third round and neither man got particularly desperate despite facing a possible no contest. Then suddenly the fight picked up. The much larger Takam spent the early goings backing away from Perez and trying to box the former Cuban amateur and the perceived better boxer. Perez appeared to be ahead after five rounds as the fight remained at a slow pace with no real engagements. In round six the fight became stationary and toe to toe and Takam began to dig to the body and work in the uppercut.