During the playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens, a commercial aired putting millions of viewers on notice that boxing was coming to NBC in March 2015.
As reported a while back, a multi-fight deal had been on the table between Al Haymon and NBC. It was reported that the deal would be something in the neighborhood of $20 million for approximately 24 fight dates. Based on yesterday’s commercial, the deal is done.
In what should be a fairly easy fight for IBF middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (33-4, 20 KOs), he’ll be defending his IBF title on February 6th against 34-year-old former WBC junior middleweight champion Sergio Mora (27-3-2, 9 KOs) at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.
Unfortunately for the 36-year-old Taylor, he’s facing some huge legal problems that he’s got to deal with in the near future, and it’s still unclear whether he’ll be able to avoid jail time for the charges.
Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach has been doing some talking about Pacquiao potentially moving down in weight to light welterweight to fight a new crop of fighters in that weight class. Roach surmises that Pacquiao’s power will be better at that weight class and that he will be able to start knocking guys out once again.
Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is saying that the Filipino fighter will be staying put at 147. If Arum has the last word then Pacquiao won’t be moving down in weight in 2015. It doesn’t mean that he won’t someday make the move down in weight, but it looks like Arum has other plans for him at welterweight.
Amir Khan didn’t have much luck in getting Floyd Mayweather Jr to agree to fight him, so he’s now he’s put his focus on trying to get the highly popular Manny Pacquiao to face him in 2015. Khan is hopeful that the 36-year-old Pacquiao will say yes to a fight with him, and then agree to fight him in the UK.
Khan would like to stage the Pacquiao fight in the huge 90,000 seat Wembley Stadium in London. Khan obviously believes that the two of them would be able to sell out the stadium in the same way that IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch sold out the stadium in 2015 in his rematch with George Groves in May.
Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) has been using sparring partner Demetrice King (15-20, 13 KOs) as a source of information to get him ready for his fight in two weeks from now against World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. King, 29, stopped Stiverne in the 4th round of their fight in 2007.
There was a little bit of controversy involved with the stoppage, however, because Stiverne was still standing and fighting back. He’d been hurt moments before by a big left-right from King, who then proceeded to land a flurry of head shots while Stiverne attempted to cover up on the ropes.
As a long time Floyd Mayweahter fan and supporter I like the rest of the boxing public am on the edge of my seat awaiting the announcement that the fight is on! As of yesterday I’m concerned that this fight may once again not be made.
It’s true that Mayweather’s (the Canelo fight excluded) numbers have dropped off, and Pacquiao has verbally acquiesced to Mayweather’s drug testing terms. What is also a fact is, Mayweather’s out of court settlement of Pacquiao’s defamation suit a few years back. Both fighters in my humble opinion have seen better days in the ring especially Pacquiao who’s KO loss to 4-time opponent Juan Manuel Marquez has an exclamation point on it.
WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO
2014 was simply a continuation of the pattern Klitschko has seen for quite some time now. Two unknown opponents, two more victories, and two more defenses of a title that he’s rarely been tested for. While critics will jump at the chance to tear down this ‘great wall’ of talent, the truth is that no talent can choose the era in which they dominate.
Wladimir unfortunately came along at a point where the talent pool in the heavyweight division is about as tough as that last ply of toilet paper on the roll. No fault of his own, which has to mean something when scanning over his lifeless resume. 2015 could offer a few interesting twist, as suddenly, the heavyweight division has received a shot in the arm that few saw coming.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) isn’t shy about letting people know how badly he wants a fight against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) on Cinco de Mayo on May 2nd. Canelo believes that a fight against the 34-year-old Cotto is something that all of boxing wants to see. He may be correct to a certain extent.
There are a lot of fans who want to see that fight take place. However, there are still major question marks about Canelo’s talent level after his three step up fights against Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Even if Canelo beats Cotto, he’s still going to have a lot to prove against other fighters like Gennady Golovkin.
The International Boxing Federation (IBF) sent out a letter to IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KOs) on December 31st, ordering him to start the negotiation process with his IBF mandatory challenger James DeGale (20-1, 14 KOs). If Froch fails to do this then the IBF will strip the 37-year-old Froch of his IBF title and then order #7 IBF Andre Dirrell to face DeGale for the vacant IBF strap.
Froch has been holding out for a fight against former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, because Froch believes that he’s a fighter popular enough for him to fight on pay-per-view in the United States. Chavez Jr has promotional issues with Top Rank, and it doesn’t look as if Froch will be able to get that fight with him anytime soon.
Manny Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz says he’s still in negotiations with Floyd Mayweather Jr’s management for a fight between the two fighters. Mayweather has made an offer, and Konz, with the help of Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum, has made a counter offer to Mayweather. Unfortunately for the fans, we don’t know what Mayweather’s starting offer was and what the counter offer is from Arum and Konz.
It’s hard to imagine that Mayweather’s offer was a substantial one though because he doesn’t see Pacquiao as being in his class, and he’s well aware that Pacquiao’s pay-per-view numbers have been dropping in the last two years. Pacquiao losses to Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez don’t help matters either.