Ali’s gloves from historic Liston fight fetch $836,000 at auction

Ali's gloves from historic Liston fight fetch $836,000 at auction

The unforgettable first fight between Muhammad Ali and Sonny Liston is 50-years old on Tuesday and yesterday, the gloves the then Cassius Clay wore when he shook up the world sold at auction for just under $900,00. An anonymous bidder now owns this piece of fistic history and the bounty he or she paid goes to show how big and important and just plain special Ali was, is and always will be.

Back a half century ago, nobody thought the brash, somewhat annoying loudmouth would really amount to too much; certainly nobody from the fight fraternity thought Clay stood any chance against the fearsome “unbeatable” Liston. Even today, with Ali’s legend secure, there are many people who refuse to accept Clay’s 7th round retirement victory as legit. Liston took a dive they claimed then and they claim today; and as for the massive controversy the second fight and its “Phantom Punch” caused – forget it!

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Khan’s contingency plan

Khan’s contingency plan

It would be nice to think that the line has been drawn through the whole Mayweather and Khan chronicles, at least for the time being anyway, but it is difficult to imagine that Khan has seriously discarded any ambition of being handed the May 3rd slot against the number one pound-for-pound king.

Yesterday Khan sent out a stream of tweets suggesting that the fight was dead; whether he actually knows anything official or not can only be speculated but it appears that he has had enough of Mayweather’s lack of communication and is moving on to a plan B. There is however a hint of suggestion that Khan may not be revealing all, given how he wishes luck to Maidana in the Mayweather fight, against the probable scenario where he is just regarding the fight’s other front-runner.

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Hatton Promotions Statement On Martin Murray

Hatton Promotions Statement On Martin Murray

HATTON PROMOTIONS has taken the decision to allow Martin Murray’s contract to expire.

This means the company will no longer financially invest further in Martin’s career following the St Helens boxer’s unwillingness to commit to opportunities negotiated on his behalf.

Offers for world title fights with Gennady Golovkin and Felix Sturm have been on the table for a number of weeks, but Murray has decided to hold off signing any agreements.

Neither of these offers will be available indefinitely, with Sturm now looking at alternative opponents and Golovkin only likely to appear in Europe once more before pressing forwards with his career in the United States.

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Hank Lundy Impresses With Unanimous Decision But Amir Imam Steals The Show Friday on ShoBox: The New Generation

Hank Lundy Impresses With Unanimous Decision But Amir Imam Steals The Show Friday on ShoBox: The New Generation

Hank Lundy may now finally get his shot at a world title.

Lundy once again traveled on the road and scored an impressive unanimous decision over previously once-beaten Angelo Santana in Friday’s main event of ShoBox: The New Generation at the Wolstein Center at Cleveland State University in Cleveland, Ohio

Santana (14-2, 11 KOs), once considered a can’t-miss prospect, was coming off a surprising knockout loss in his last bout and was taking what many considered to be a risky move in facing a veteran opponent. Lundy (23-3-1, 11 KOs) proved to be too much for the Cuban-born lightweight. He established himself as the aggressor and exposed his opponent as a limited fighter as Santana faded in the middle rounds.

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Rudd, Petrov, Gonzalez and Carcamo advance in Boxcino opening round

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The much anticipated Boxcino 2014 kicked off at the Edgewater Casino with a rousing beginning as Chris Rudd, Petr Petrov, Miguel Gonzalez and Fernando Carcamo all advanced to the semi-final round in the lightweight division on March 28th at the 4 Bears Casino in Newtown, North Dakota.

Chris Rudd opened the tournament with a “Drawbreaker” decision over Yakubu Amidu.

Both guys landed tremendous power shots with Amidu getting better in the second but Rudd came back the next round. In round four it became a war of attrition with Amidu landing with Rudd on the ropes. It was a nip and tuck fight down the stretch and when the scores were announced it was ruled a draw on the scorecards.

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Glen Johnson KOs Velazquez in four

Glen Johnson KOs Velazquez in four

Boxing’s ageless “Road Warrior” added another highlight-reel knockout to his resume Friday night at Twin River Casino.

Fighting for the first time in Rhode Island, no surprise given his penchant for spanning the globe throughout his career, former two-time world champion Glen Johnson (54-18-2, 37 KOs) stopped the game Jaime Velazquez (11-6-2) in the fourth round of their scheduled eight-round main event light heavyweight bout at “Home Sweet Home,” presented by Classic Entertainment & Sports. Providence’s Toka Kahn-Clary also won in impressive fashion by technical knockout in the scheduled six-round co-feature.

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Khan announces Mayweather’s next fight for him

Showing perhaps the main reason why Floyd Mayweather Jr. maybe changed his mind about wanting to fight him, Amir Khan came out today and announced Mayweather’s next fight for him by telling everyone on his twitter that Mayweather will be fighting Marcos Maidana next on May 3rd.

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Khan: Mayweather cherry picks to make himself look good

Khan: Mayweather cherry picks to make himself look good

Amir Khan is starting to sound increasingly unhappy with Floyd Mayweather Jr. judging by his comments in interviews and on his twitter account. With each day that goes by, it seems more and more likely that Mayweather won’t be giving Khan a fight on May 3rd and that seems to be getting to the British fighter. Khan thought he had the fight with Mayweather after winning his poll competition against Marcos Maidana. Mayweather, however, appears to have other ideas for his May 3rd fight instead of Khan. A lot of Boxing fans think Khan is desperate for a retirement fight against Mayweather.

In an interview today, Khan took the opportunity to lash out at Mayweather, saying that he’s slower than he used to be, and that he’s fighting slow opponents because he’s slowed down with his ability to get around the ring.

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“Boxcino 2014” begins tonight on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights”

“Boxcino 2014” begins tonight on ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights”

Photos by Hidalgo

“Our most significant opportunities will be found in times of greatest difficulty.” – Thomas S. Monson, (Pathways to Perfection)

Opportunities within the sport of boxing are very few and far in between. But when a hungry, young fighter does receive the chance to showcase his talents on one of the biggest stages of the sport, he is expected to put forth his finest effort.

Tonight, from the Edgewater Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, eight talented Lightweight fighters will compete in the single elimination “Boxcino 2014” tournament, staged by Artie Pellulo and Banner Promotions. The quarterfinals portion of the playoff will be broadcast this evening on ESPN’s popular boxing series, “Friday Night Fights”, with a start time of 9PM EST.

The highly regarded sports franchise has become somewhat of a breeding ground for future stars of boxing, and have provided much needed exposure for budding young prizefighters.

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Ray Austin Begins His Comeback Tonight In Cleveland

Ray Austin Begins His Comeback Tonight In Cleveland

Perennial heavyweight contender Ray Austin returns to the ring tonight in Cleveland. The match — against Earl Ladson — is Austin’s first in two and a half years. “I’m getting back into the heavyweight business,” he says. “I’m taking on all comers…it don’t matter who they are. I’m not looking for media fights, that ain’t gonna do it. I want to fight guys in the squared circle. Tell the rest of the heavyweights that all they gotta do is sign their name on the dotted line. That will make me happy.”

The Cleveland, Ohio native, who has been fighting professionally since 1998, is now 42-years-old. For a professional boxer, obviously, this is an advanced age. But Austin is not daunted. “It feels like I’m 32, to be honest,” he states. The 6’6″, 246 lbs slugger reports that he has had no difficulty resuming training after his layoff.”Technically, I was never laid off,” he explains. “I have always trained two or three times a week, even when I was out of the ring for two years. Preparing to fight comes naturally to me. It’s like learned behavior. I’m used to doing certain things.”

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