Goosen gives Deontay Wilder a good chance of beating Stiverne

08/22/2014 Rob Smith

Trainer Joe Goosen believes that #1 WBC Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) has a good chance of beating WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne later this year when Deontay faces Stiverne for the WBC title.

Goosen likes Deontay’s right hand and left hook, and he believes that he could get to Stiverne if he sits against the ropes like he did in his recent fights against Chris Arreola. Goosen expects Deontay to be able to land his right hands against Stiverne.

The only thing Goosen doesn’t know is how well Stiverne will be able to take those big shots. He noted that Arreola, who came into the fight with a right arm injury, was able to hurt Stiverne with right hands.

Mayweather hopes Khan fight will happen in 2015

08/22/2014 T.Baker

WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KOs) says a fight between him and former IBF/WBA 140 pound champion Amir Khan (29-3, 19 KOs) can take place next year. In fact, Mayweather is hoping that a fight between them can take place in 2015, because he would like that. However, at the same time he wants his opponents to prove that they rate a fight against him by taking on quality opposition.

This no doubt is a case where Mayweather is taking a shot at Khan for the three soft fights he’s taken since his back to back losses to Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson a couple of years ago.

Austin Trout in a make or break fight tonight against Daniel Dawson

08/22/2014 Jeff Sorby

Former WBA 154 pound champion Austin Trout (26-2, 14 KOs) is in a must win fight tonight against Daniel Dawson (40-3-1-1, 26 KOs) in a 12 round fight on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights at the Pechanga Resort & Casino, in Temecula, California, USA.

#7 WBA Trout wants to get back in with the big names in the division like Erislandy Lara and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez after losing to both of them last year in 12 round decision losses, but he’s going to need to get past Dawson before he can even start to talk about wanting to get either of them back in the ring again.

Sam Soliman vs. Jermain Taylor to be televised by ESPN2 on October 8th

08/22/2014 T.Baker

Boxing fans will get a chance of seeing the Jermain Taylor (32-4-1, 20 KOs) vs. Sam Soliman (44-11, 18 KOs) fight on ESPN2 on October 8th in a fight that will take place on a Wednesday. Soliman, 40, will be defending his IBF middleweight title against the 35-year-old Taylor at a still to be determined venue.

Soliman could have gotten a much bigger fight against WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, but he instead opted to face #13 IBF Taylor in what some boxing fans see as a title milking fight by Soliman. But at 40 and without much power, you can’t really blame Soliman for taking on Taylor rather than Golovkin or a top fie contender because the chances are that he could lose the fight.

Abner Mares signs with Al Haymon

08/22/2014 Jeff Sorby

Adviser Al Haymon signed former 3 division world champ Abner Mares (27-1-1, 14 KOs) to a contract on Thursday. Mares is still trying to rebuild his career, so Haymon might be able to assist him in getting him some more tune-up fights and then eventually a world title shot.

Mares’ contract with Golden Boy Promotions reportedly expires in November, and it’s unknown at this point whether he’ll stay with them or move on to another promoter like Mayweather Promotions.

Lucian Bute in action on 12/6 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada

08/22/2014 Rob Smith

Lucian Bute (31-2, 24 KOs) will be looking to pick up the broken pieces of his career when he fights on December 6th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Bute, a former IBF super middleweight champion, doesn’t have an opponent for the 12/6 date yet, but his promoters are working on it. Bute, 34, is expected to be facing a high quality fighter.

Bute lost his last fight in January to Jean Pascal by a 12 round unanimous decision. Bute put in a woeful performance in that fight by failing to take the fight to Pascal and let his hands go.

Hearn wants to schedule Brook-Khan fight for the summer in 2015

08/23/201408/22/2014 Bill Phanco

IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook’s promoter Eddie Hearn says that former IBF/WBA 140 pound champion Amir Khan (29-3, 19 KOs) is interested in facing Brook next year. Hearn says he wants to schedule the Brook vs. Khan fight next summer in 2015, and possibly stage at Wembley Stadium.

If that’s the case, Brook will have a chance to defend his title 1-2 times before he faces Khan. Hearn once again is saying that Khan-Brook will be as big as the Carl Froch vs. George Groves 2 fight that took place last May at Wembley Stadium in London. Hearn thinks it will sell out the 80,000 seat stadium.

Miguel Vazquez will be looking to out-box Mickey Bey on September 13th

08/22/2014 Kevin Chittenden

IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (34-3, 13 KOs) plans on using his boxing skills, long reach and movement to beat fringe contender Mickey Bey (20-1-1, 10 KOs) in their fight on September 13th on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Marcos Maidana rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The fight card will be televised on Showtime pay-per-view, and the Vazquez-Bey fight will be one of the fights that makes it onto the televised portion of the card.

Kenny Bayless selected as referee for Mayweather-Maidana 2 rematch

08/22/2014 T.Baker

On Thursday, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has selected Kenny Bayless as the referee for the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Marcos Maidana rematch on September 13th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The previous referee that worked the Mayweather-Maidana I fight was Tony Weeks, who Mayweather was unhappy with because he failed to control the fouling that Maidana did throughout their 12 round bout. Mayweather felt that Weeks had an off night.

The Commission also appointed the following judges for the fight: Dave Moretti, Guido Cavalleri and John McKaie. Hopefully, the judges will score the fight well and not come up with some wild scores like we’ve seen recently with other judges.

Hearn: Paul Smith is getting Arthur Abraham at the perfect time

08/23/201408/22/2014 T.Baker

After 10 years as a pro, Britain’s Paul Smith (35-3, 20 KOs) will finally be getting a world title shot against WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (40-4, 28 KOs) on September 27th in Germany.

Whether Smith actually deserves the title shot is debatable, as he’s won four fights against soft opposition since his 2nd round knockout loss to George Groves in 2011. On paper, the 31-year-old Smith doesn’t have much of a chance of winning, because he’s lost each time he’s tried to take a step up during his career in defeats against Groves and James DeGale.