Month: July 2016

Viktor Postol/Freddie Roach Blog Part 3: Tuesday, July 12

Viktor Postol/Freddie Roach Blog Part 3: Tuesday, July 12

How is Crawford different from other boxers and what kind of fight are you expecting?

POSTOL – “What differentiates Crawford from many other fighters are his skills and technical attributes. From a mental aspect he is a very clever boxer, always using his mind in the ring, changing stances, all the time adapting to different types of opponents. He has shown this in his previous fights. But that does not mean he is the best I have fought. I think Lucas Matthysse is a higher-level fighter than Crawford and everyone knows how my fight with Matthysse ended, with him knocked out and the WBC belt around my waist.

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Andre Ward must get past his “tune-up” first, but looks the favourite to defeat Sergey Kovalev in November

Andre Ward must get past his “tune-up” first, but looks the favourite to defeat Sergey Kovalev in November

In boxing, a so-called “tune-up” fight can have the exact opposite result than was planned or hoped for. Wanting to sharpen up tools and pick up added, reaffirming confidence before heading into a big match-up, a fighter can sometimes leave said “tune-up” feeling rustier, less sharp and less confident than he was before fighting it. Light-heavyweight ruler Sergey Kovalev might be feeling a little this way right now, after his frustrating, less than satisfying points win over Isaac Chilemba yesterday.

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Kovalev: I believe my mistake was that I was trying to put power in every punch

Kovalev: I believe my mistake was that I was trying to put power in every punch

Tonight at the DIVS Sports Palace in Ekaterinburg, Russia undefeated WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs*) dazzled his hometown crowd during 12 heart stopping rounds as he defeated Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs) via unanimous decision.

The hard-fought battle between Kovalev and Chilemba was non-stop action from bell to bell. Kovalev came out of the gates guns blazing but the tough Chilemba took every punch handed out by the hard-hitting champ. The toughest round for the 29-year old Chilemba was the 7th when he was knocked down by the Krusher.

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Wilder, Arreola quotes

Wilder, Arreola quotes

Lou DiBella
Thank you. And thank you all for joining us on the PBC on FOX Wilder vs. Arreola conference call. This show will be on July 16 at the Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama. The start time on FOX is 8:00 pm ET/5:00 pm PT

The opening bout on FOX is a terrific one. It’s undefeated 21-0 U.S. Army vet Sammy Vasquez against Felix Diaz, former Dominican Olympian. Excellent matchup in the welterweight division.

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Sergey Kovalev wins 12-round UD over a game and tricky Isaac Chilemba

Sergey Kovalev wins 12-round UD over a game and tricky Isaac Chilemba

Tonight in Russia we came away with two overwhelming thoughts: no wonder Isaac Chilemba has never been stopped, and Andre Ward will be feeling quite happy right now.

IBF/WBA/WBO light-heavyweight king Sergey Kovalev retained both his belts and his unbeaten record against Isaac Chilemba, but, boy did he have a tough/awkward night’s work in doing so. The final scores of the three judges – 118-109, 116-111, 117-110, all for “Krusher” do not tell the full story. Kovalev, now 30-0-1(26) still moves ahead to his big November fight with Andre Ward, but Chilemba, now 24-4-2(10) sure gave Ward plenty of pointers.

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Erickson Lubin vs. Ivan Montero added to Wilder-Arreola card

Erickson Lubin vs. Ivan Montero added to Wilder-Arreola card

BIRMINGHAM, AL (July 11, 2016) – Unbeaten rising star Erickson “Hammer” Lubin (15-0, 11 KOs) returns to the ring to battle once-beaten brawler Ivan Montero (20-1, 8 KOs) in a super welterweight bout featured on the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on FOX and FOX Deportes telecast on Saturday, July 16 from Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama.

FOX televised coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and is headlined by heavyweight world champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder defending his belt against two-time title challenger Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola plus undefeated welterweight contender Sammy “The Sergeant” Vasquez Jr. battles Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz. The televised action will switch over to FS1 and FOX Deportes immediately following the conclusion of the FOX telecast.

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Kovalev defeats Chilemba

Kovalev defeats Chilemba

IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) fought in a controlled and relaxed manner on Monday night in beating the 29-year-old Isaac Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the DIVS Palace of Sports in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Kovalev put Chilemba on the canvas in the 7th, and came within an eyelash of getting a knockout in that round. It looked like Kovalev took it easy on Chilemba until pouring it on in the last minute of the 12th round. Kovalev suddenly came alive and was punishing a badly hurt Chilemba as the fight ended. Chilemba’s nose was bleeding and he looked in bad shape. The question is did Kovalev take it easy on Chilemba to get rounds in so that he could get practice for the Andre Ward fight coming up? It sure looked that way to me.

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Photos: Gennady Golovkin Recieves WBC Belt In Mexico

Photos: Gennady Golovkin Recieves WBC Belt In Mexico

Boxing Superstar and Unified Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin was officially presented with his World Boxing Council title belt by WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman in Mexico City on Saturday, July 9.

Joining Golovkin and Sulaiman at the ceremony attended by a huge contingent of local media were K2 Promotions’ Tom Loeffler, Golovkin’s longtime trainer Abel Sanchez, manager Oleg Hermann and Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Mexico Andrian Yelemessov.

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Abel Sanchez on GGG-Brook: “We seem to forget that others have tried [moving up in weight] and succeeded”

Abel Sanchez on GGG-Brook: “We seem to forget that others have tried [moving up in weight] and succeeded”

In the history of boxing only a few very special fighters have managed to move up from welterweight to middleweight and rule the world there too. We are, on September 10, when he challenges the feared Gennady Golovkin for middleweight gold, going to see if Kell Brook is destined to go down as one of these special fighters (or just go down, as the IBF welter champ’s critics suggest).

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Kell Brook not the only British boxer up against it – Jazza Dickens challenges Guillermo Rigondeaux this Saturday

Kell Brook not the only British boxer up against it - Jazza Dickens challenges Guillermo Rigondeaux this Saturday

It’s not had anywhere near the hype, the attention or anything like the shock factor, but this Saturday’s fight that will see a challenge of the sublime Guillermo Rigondeaux by James Dickens, better known as Jazza, is just as lofty a task of a fight for a British boxer as the Kell Brook-Gennady Golovkin bout. In fact, if anything, Dickens, 22-1(7) will enter the ring in Cardiff, Wales as an even bigger underdog than Brook will against GGG in London in September.

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