Floyd Mayweather Junior’s trophy cabinet just got a little fuller; or it will in the spring when he will be presented, for a third time, with the Boxing Writers Association of America’s prestigious Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year award. Dan Rafael of ESPN.com reports how Mayweather won the award for 2015 on the ballots released on Friday.
Month: February 2016
Shawn Porter-Keith Thurman: a fight between “the two best welterweights in the world”
Whichever way you slice it and whoever you feel will emerge victorious when they clash on March 12th in Connecticut, Shawn Porter Vs. Keith Thurman is a great, great match-up. The current welterweight division is stacked with talent and a number of equally good match-ups could/can be made. But Thurman against Porter, the defending WBA champion against the former IBF champion, is seen by most as a 50-50 affair as well as a possible Fight of The Year candidate.
Exclusive Interview with super-middleweight prospect Ronald Ellis
Unbeaten super-middleweight prospect Ronald Ellis makes his Showtime debut on February 19th and the 12-0(10) talent says he will “make a statement” in the scheduled 8-rounder with Jerry Odum.
A confident fighter who talks well, Ellis also says he wants an active 2016 so as to make up for a couple of injury-enforced layoffs earlier in his now five-year pro career.
Here the 2010 National Golden Gloves champion speaks exclusively with Eastside Boxing:
Tony Thompson says he’ll step in to face WBA interim heavyweight champ Luis Ortiz next month
Ultra-experienced long time heavyweight contender Tony Thompson isn’t quite ready to call it a day and retire yet. Immediately after his October points loss to the much quicker Malik Scott (who had to survive a late-rounds knockdown) “The Tiger” said he would retire. Now, though, in hearing about interim WBA heavyweight champion Luis Ortiz and his struggle finding a challenger for his scheduled March 5th date on HBO’s Boxing After Dark, the 44-year-old says he will step in to face the Cuban who is eight years his junior.
Joseph Parker moved to number 1 by the WBO, immediately calls out Anthony Joshua.
Unbeaten New Zealand heavyweight hopeful Joseph Parker celebrated being moved to number one by the WBO in their updated rankings by immediately calling out fellow unbeaten prospect, Brit, Anthony Joshua.
Joshua is currently ranked number two by the WBO and a fight between the two would see the winner become the mandatory to take on current champion Tyson Fury.
Ortiz-Dimitrenko off, WBA interim heavyweight champ searching anew for March challenger
Luis Ortiz must be starting to understand how his countryman, Guillermo Rigondeaux feels. Both talents cannot seem to get a big fight; or, in the case of interim WBA heavyweight ruler Ortiz, any fight. Golden Boy were searching and searching for a suitable, HBO-approved challenger for the southpaw puncher’s March 5th date on Boxing After Dark, then it looked as though a decent opponent had been found in German-based Alexander Dimitrenko.
Caballero TKOs Garcia
A sold-out crowd of 1,814 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino welcomed back hometown hero Randy “El Matador” Caballero (23-0, 14 KOs) of Coachella Valley, Calif. in his first fight since 2014 against the fierce fighter Ruben Garcia (15-2-1, 6 KOs) of Mexico, City, Mexico. The scheduled 10-round featherweight fight was televised live nationally on Boxeo Estelar on Estrella TV.
Amir Khan insists his fight against Canelo is “50-50”
Everyone, it seems, has an opinion on what will happen on May 7th, when superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will face British star Amir Khan. Some “experts” have criticised the fight, saying Khan – who will be giving up perhaps as much as 20-pounds or a little more when the two climb into the ring on fight night – has next to no chance. Others have applauded Khan’s decision to take on the middleweight champion in a 155-pound catch-weight affair, and some, including fellow Brits Carl Froch and Tyson Fury, give Khan and his amazing speed a genuine shot at winning.
Charles Martin looking at a number of options for first title defence: Joshua, Arreola, Breazeale, Szpilka
Brand new IBF heavyweight champion “Prince” Charles Martin is eagerly looking forward to his very first title defence. After winning the vacant belt (stripped as it was from Tyson Fury mere days after he’d relieved Wladimir Klitschko of the belt, and also the WBO, WBA and IBO straps) in disappointing fashion against Vyacheslav Glazkov, who injured a knee and could not continue, the unbeaten big man wants a satisfying fight.
Deontay Wilder says he’ll come to UK to fight Tyson Fury, claims he will “bring boxing back like it once was”
Unbeaten KO star and reigning WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder wants a lot of things: he wants to unify the heavyweight titles, he wants to go out of boxing having left a great legacy and he wants to give his many fans great, exciting fights. But right now, it seems the thing topping Wilder’s wish list is a fight with fellow unbeaten, Tyson Fury.