Can former champions Juan Manuel Lopez and Wilfredo Vazquez Junior still fight? We may or may not find out tomorrow night when the two meet in a very real and very intense all-Puerto Rican rivalry/grudge-match. Both men are way past what they once were – Juanma suffering some truly X-rated KO defeats over the last two or three years – but the genuine hatred they have for one another just might allow both warriors to raise their game and give fans one final, decent performance.
Year: 2016
Anthony Joshua-Eric Molina a done deal for Dec 10?
Eric Molina has been the frontrunner to challenge reigning IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua for a few days now and fans will not be at all surprised to see the Mexican/American in the ring with Joshua in Manchester on Dec 10. Yet so far there has still been no official confirmation from Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn.
Yet the fight is up on BoxRec and it seems we will see Molina tackling the 17-0(17) star next. What kind of a fight will it be? Molina, still judged my a number of people by the loss he suffered to Chris Arreola over four years ago, is sick of telling people he has improved since then, when he was inexperienced and it showed. Stopped in the 1st-round (after stunning Arreola himself with a good shot to the head) Molina has had a tough time making people forget about this defeat, but is Molina, 25-3(19) a different fighter today?
Terence Crawford-John Molina Jr likely for Dec 10
According to the man with all the news, Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, Terence Crawford will likely face John Molina Jnr on December 10 in the unbeaten WBC/WBO 140-pound king’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Crawford, 29-0(20) dominated Viktor Postol in his last ring outing, back in July, taking the WBC belt he now holds along with his WBO.
Molina Jnr, 29-6(23) scored a big win in his last outing, back in June, when he out-pointed Ruslan Provodnikov over 12-rounds. Crawford will enter the ring on Dec 10 as a considerable favourite, but Molina Jnr is never a warrior who can be totally written off. The big news surrounding this match-up, though, is the fact that it will pit a Top Rank fighter against an Al Haymon fighter, without the need for a purse bid.
Weights: Kanat Islam 154 v Patrick Allotey 154
Weights from Almaty Arena, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Kanat Islam 154 v Patrick Allotey 154
Zhanibek Alimkhanuly 169 v Milton Nunez 171
Zhankozh Turarov 145 v Issac Aryee 145
Ruslan Myrsatayev 218 v Nuhu Azuma 227
Ali Akhmedov 171 v Ali Mammadov 169
Aidar Sharibayev 132 v Juan Ocura 130
Zhuma Zhumabekov 138 v Ivanou Uladimir 138
Wilfredo Vázquez, Jr. wants to KO Juan Manuel Lopez
This Saturday night’s grudge match between Puerto Rican former world champions Wilfredo “Papito” Vázquez, Jr and Juan Manuel “JuanMa” López is no hype job. Plain and simple, they really dislike each other immensely and both have predicted knockouts in their 12-round Special Attraction showdown, contested at a 129-pound catch-weight, which will air live on pay per view from Roberto Clemente Coliseum in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Orlando Cruz vows to defeat Terry Flanagan
Puerto Rico’s Orlando Cruz has vowed to make history by becoming the first openly gay boxing World Champion. Cruz challenges WBO World Lightweight Champion Terry Flanagan at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff on Saturday 26 November, live and exclusive on BoxNation.
The 5ft 4in southpaw became the first openly gay active boxer when he came out four years and says he is ready for another shot at making history after losing to Orlando Salido in a clash for the Vacant WBO World Featherweight Championship back in 2013.
Tagoe vs Saucedo announced for November 25
Ghana’s Emmanuel ‘Game Boy’ Tagoe will have the opportunity to win the IBO version of the world Lightweight title come November 25 when he battles experienced Argentine, Fernando David Saucedo for the vacant belt in Accra.
Announcing the fight at the plush Alisa Hotel in the Ghanaian capital on Thursday, Sammy Anim-Addo, CEO of BabyJet Promotions who will stage the bill explained that his outfit put in tremendous effort to get the rights to make the fight and reserved special words of praise for UAE based Ghana national soccer team captain, Asamoah Gyan who doled out loads of cash to support the bid.
Jesus Cuellar: I’m making a statement against Abner Mares
Featherweight world champion Jesus Cuellar and former three-division world champion Abner Mares met face-to-face Thursday at a press conference at OUE Skyspace at US Bank Tower – the tallest building west of the Mississippi River – to discuss their world title showdown presented by Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Saturday, December 10. The event will be live on SHOWTIME from USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles.
The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader begins with super welterweight world champion Jermall Charlo defending his title against top contender Julian “J-Rock” Williams in a matchup of undefeated rising stars in their prime.
James DeGale: “My mega-fight would be against Golovkin!”
You can add super-middleweight champ James DeGale to the list of big names who want to fight feared middleweight king Gennady Golovkin. Southpaw DeGale, like GGG a former amateur standout, is the IBF 168-pound champion – and he will next face WBC super-middleweight champ Badou Jack in a big unification fight in January – but he sees GGG moving up one day.
Manny Pacquiao’s Media Workout Quotes
Boxing’s only eight division world champion and the reigning Fighter of the Decade Senator MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO, held a media workout on Wednesday at Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood, Calif.
Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs), from General Santos City, Philippines, is in the final week of training for his world championship collision with World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight world champion JESSIE VARGAS (27-1, 10 KOs), of Las Vegas. In just nine days they will go mano a mano and toe-to-toe in a high-stakes welterweight showdown. While Pacquiao will be looking to become a three-time WBO welterweight champion as well as the first senator to win a world title, Vargas will be resolute in enforcing a term limit on the future Hall of Famer’s boxing career.