Boxing’s only eight-division world champion and the reigning Fighter of the Decade, Congressman MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO, and five-time world champion TIMOTHY “Desert Storm” BRADLEY, will collide in a 12-round World Welterweight Championship battle of pound for pound titans, Saturday, April 9, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. This will also mark the first time former Trainers of the Year Freddie Roach and Teddy Atlas have faced each other from opposite corners. Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with MP Promotions, the Pacquiao vs. Bradley world championship event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT.
Month: January 2016
The Heavyweights – High on potential or low on talent?
Barely a month into 2016 and we’ve already seen some interesting developments in the normally sleep inducing heavyweight scene. I hate to open an article with such a statement as, traditionally, the division has always been the jewel in the crown of world boxing but, as we know, times have changed. I grew up in an era where we looked to the golden years of the 70’s when Ali, Frazier, Foreman and Norton plied their trade and it would be an injustice not to mention Holmes in that list.
These days we look to the likes of Tyson, Holyfield and Lewis for inspiration. Names like Tim Witherspoon, Ray Mercer and the late Tommy Morrison are often discussed purely on the level of sheer excitement that they brought to the ring and the world yearns for a warrior of the modern age to capture our imagination.
Karim Mayfield vs. Dmitry Mikhaylenko on January 30
Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Last week, Ray Robinson suffered injuries in a car accident which caused him to withdraw from his scheduled fight against undefeated welterweight Dmitry “The Mechanic” Mikhaylenko (20-0, 9 KOs). Today Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield (19-2-1, 11 KOs) agreed to step in and replace Robinson in the ten-round welterweight co-feature on the Saturday, Jan. 30 HBO World Championship Boxing® telecast which features the much-anticipated rematch between Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs) and Jean Pascal (30-3-1, 17 KOs) for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championship. The Mikhaylenko-Mayfield bout will be for the vacant USBA Welterweight Title. The HBO telecast begins at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
Kovalev vs. Pascal II Conference Call Quotes
Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev – WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion
On Pascal changing his training camp:
“What he says and what he will do in the ring is two different things.”
On his game plan for this fight:
“I don’t have any plans for the fight. We will go to the ring. A boxing fight is a street fight. No rules. It doesn’t matter what he will bring. I must be ready for anything. I don’t think about Pascal. I don’t think about what he will be. He has good motivation and he has a new coach, but I just should be ready for anything. If he will bring something better, it doesn’t matter.”
David Lemieux back in action in March
After a sell-out at The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden, in New York, on October 17, 2015, Eye of the Tiger Management and Golden Boy Promotions is proud to announce, that former IBF Middleweight Champion, David Lemieux (34-3, 31 KOs) will keep his promise to return to his hometown, Montreal, Quebec, Canada for his first fight of 2016. On March 12, hometown fans, will witness, Lemieux’s grand return against San Benito, Texas’ “King” James de la Rosa (23-3, 13 KOs) in an exciting battle at Montreal’s Olympia Theatre , live on Indigo and all pay-per-view channels across Canada starting at 9:00 p.m. ET.
David Haye: “This is just the beginning of the road back to regaining the heavyweight championship of the world”
Former two-weight world champion David Haye broke broadcasting records this weekend for UKTV channel Dave, with a peak of 3 million viewers tuning in to watch The Hayemaker’s long-awaited comeback versus Australian Mark De Mori.
Dave, broadcasting a live sports event for the very first time, peaked a total of 3.02 million viewers for the fight – 14% of the UK TV audience – making it the top non-public broadcast service programme of the day. During the fight Dave actually experienced a higher share of the UK audience than Channel 4 and was only 1 per cent behind ITV. In addition, 100,000 viewers streamed the fight live on YouTube around the world.
Happy Birthday, Muhammad Ali: The Greatest turns 74
Boxing legend, icon and global superstar Muhammad Ali today celebrates his 74th birthday. And, judging by the numerous photos his daughters – May May amongst them – put up on FaceBook, the living legend had a great time celebrating last night.
Without doubt the single most important and influential athlete of the 20th Century, Ali has been battling Parkinson’s disease for over thirty years now, yet he has managed to keep going, even out-living a number of his former opponents: Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Jimmy Ellis, Ron Lyle and Sir Henry Cooper among them.
Deontay Wilder defeats Artur Szpilka with 9th round KO
(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp/SHOWTIME) American heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder defended his WBC title for the third time with a devastating ninth round knockout of Polish challenger Artur Szpilka on Saturday night, live on SHOWTIME in front of 12,668 fans at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
With WBA and WBO Heavyweight World Champion Tyson Fury and Wilder’s mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin watching from ringside, Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) impressed yet again in knocking out his 35th opponent in 36 fights.
Wilder KOs Szpilka; Martin stops Glazkov
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (36-0, 35 KOs) unleashed a monstrous right hand in the 9th round to knock his opponent Artur Szpilka (20-2, 15 KOs) completely out on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Wilder’s right hand ended the show in the 9th round in what was a very closely contested match. The fight was stopped at 2:24 of round nine.
David Haye obliterates Mark De Mori in 1st round TKO
As expected, 35-year-old David Haye (27-2, 25 KOs) put in a big statement on Saturday night in blowing out heavyweight contender Mark De Mori (30-2-2, 26 KOs) by a 1st round knockout at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Haye backed De Mori up against the ropes and knocked him down with a big right hand to the head. De Mori was too hurt to get back to his feet. The fight was then halted by referee Bob Williams at 2:11 of the round.