Weigh-In Results:
Deontay Wilder 222 vs. Gerald Washington 239
Tony Harrison 153.6 vs. Jarrett Hurd 153
Dominic Breazeale 263 vs. Izu Ugonoh 230.6
By Ryan Greene, Premier Boxing Champions – Jerry Izenberg will tell you he’s covered boxing for so long that the only reason he missed the fight between Cain and Abel was due to a big traffic jam.
Keith Thurman vs. Danny Garcia Media Conference Call
Lou DiBella
Thank you, everybody, for joining us for this call for what I think is going to be a Fight of the Year, if not the Fight of the Year, between champions Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia, the World Welterweight Championship Unification at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Saturday, March 4th. This will be a telecast of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING on CBS, presented by Premier Boxing Champions.
David Haye really is feeling it as far as wanting to put a nasty beating on his equally vocal March 4 rival Tony Bellew. Haye, who is convinced he will win, not only wants to win but to also score a viciously memorable KO win. And Haye, with a nasty edge to his tone in speaking with Sky Sports, said he isn’t looking to flatten Bellew with one punch.
No, Haye wants to blast his rival with a hurtful, “three, four, five-punch combination.” Haye says he is even working on hitting a falling target.
Despite the crazy scorecard turned in by judge C.J Ross, who somehow had the fight a draw, almost everyone agrees that Floyd Mayweather Jr. put on a master-class in decisioning Canelo Alvarez back in their May 2013 blockbuster. Looking great, the defensive master never put a foot (or a fist) wrong in outboxing his young opponent.
But Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya – perhaps wanting to add even more hype and attention to the upcoming May 6 showdown between Canelo and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. – has suggested Floyd comes out of his now 17-month retirement for a return meeting with the Mexican megastar. De La Hoya even stated how he believes his fighter would “beat him easy” in a sequel.
A few days back, Top Rank Boss and Manny Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum stated flat-out that the stories in the UK newspapers claiming Pacquiao could fight Amir Khan next were “complete bulls**t.” Well, the ongoing saga on who Pac-Man may fight next just took yet another twist, as Manny himself has confirmed that yes, he IS in talks with Khan.
“My team and I are in negotiations with Amir Khan for our next fight. Further announcement coming soon,” Pacquiao wrote in his tweet.
Heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder and unbeaten Gerald Washington went face-to-face Thursday at the final press conference before their primetime showdown that headlines Premier Boxing Champions on FOX and FOX Deportes this Saturday, February 25 from Legacy Arena at the BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama.
(Jennifer Hagler/Premier Boxing Champions)
Undisputed Women’s Welterweight World Champion CECILIA BRAEKHUS, (29-0-0, 8 KO’s) defends her titles (WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF, IBO) tomorrow, Friday night, February 24 against KLARA SVENSSON, (17-1-0, 5KO’s) at the Oslo Spektrum in Oslo, Norway.
Both participants weighed in on Thursday, Braekhus at 146.8 and Svensson at 144.6 for their scheduled 10-round bout. The bout was originally scheduled for January 28 but was pushed back four weeks due to a bout of the flu contracted by Braekhus. A sold-out crowd of over 10,000 is expected.
Both the ongoing press tour for the big Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr showdown and the fight itself just got even more interesting. The two Mexican stars, appearing on Univision’s Despierta America TV show, bet their fight purses in a bold winner takes all move.
Canelo, who already feels the May 6 catch-weight fight is “personal,” felt slighted when he heard how Chavez Jr. had predicted that he would KO him inside eight rounds. In response, Canelo agreed to the audacious bet with his rival countryman.
Danny Garcia says he has a “huge” legacy as a 140 pound fighter and he now needs a win over Keith Thurman in their fast-approaching WBC/WBA unification showdown to achieve the same as a 147-pounder. Garcia, in speaking with RingTV.com, says a win over Thurman – one he is sure he will indeed pick up in New York on March 4 – will “have my name up there with the Miguel Cottos of the world.”
In his own super-polite way, IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua has laid into rival champ, WBC ruler Deontay Wilder. AJ is no trash-talker and never will be, but he got as close to being verbally aggressive towards another fighter as he is likely to get when he spoke about Wilder and his “easy pickings” opposition.