WBO Cruiserweight World Champion ALEKSANDR USYK, (11-0, 10 KO’s) hosted a huge crowd of media on Thursday afternoon in Downtown Los Angeles joined by his promoter, TOM LOEFFLER of K2 Promotions and manager, EGIS KLIMAS.
Usyk will be defending his title on Saturday, April 8 against undefeated, top ten contender MICHAEL HUNTER, (12-0, 8 KO’s) on HBO World Championship Boxing (10:00 p.m. ET/PT). from The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD.
Danish boxing legend Mikkel Kessler (46-3, 35 KOs) announced his plans to return to the ring at a press conference today at the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers Hotel.
The former five-time World Champion, who retired following his May 2013 rematch with Carl Froch at the O2 in London, will make a sensational comeback later this year with a date and opponent to be confirmed.
Lou DiBella
Thanks for joining us. This is our call to announce the co-feature for Andre Berto versus Shawn Porter, the WBC welterweight world title eliminator — that’s going to be on SHOWTIME live at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT from the Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 22. Tickets for the live event are on sale now. They can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, or by calling 1-800-745-3000, 1-800-745-3000.
The co-feature is a terrific bout for the WBC junior middleweight championship. Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo 28-0, 13 KOs from Houston, Texas against Charles Hatley, 26-1-1, with 18 KOs from Dallas, Texas. So we got a battle of Texas and Brooklyn on April 22. As most of you know Jermell’s brother is Jermall. They’re one minute apart. Jermell’s one minute younger.
Robert Helenius (24-1, 15 KOs) and Dereck Chisora (26-7, 18 KOs) came face-to-face for the first time since their controversial December 2011 showdown today at the Hotel Kamp in Helsinki, Finland as they prepare to renew their rivalry on May 27.
Helenius was awarded a split decision victory in their first bout, despite many people believing the British boxer did enough to win. Chisora now has the chance to settle the score when they return to the Hartwall Arena to contest the WBC Silver World Heavyweight title in a hotly anticipated rematch.
Though nobody ever, ever expected Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to become the great – all-time great – fighter his legendary father was, all along the experts knew Chavez Jr. could fight. The problem, as both his fans and critics know, was the 30 year-old’s discipline, or lack of it.
The former WBC middleweight champ got so out of shape and overweight that at one point he fought as a light-heavyweight; being stopped by Andrez Fonfara. But it seems those days of lack of focus and laziness in the gym are behind Chavez (although for many people, it will be a case of, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it in the ring’) – at least if his current weight and physical appearance is anything to go by.
Who is the better fighter, once-beaten junior-lightweight ruler Vasyl Lomachenko, 7-1(5) or unbeaten lightweight champ Mikey Garcia, 36-0(30)? The two fighters themselves have had some heated verbal exchanges and now the two pound-for-pounders wish to settle it in the only place that matters, the ring, to find out who is superior.
Garcia, who looked sensational in returning to the ring to blitz Dejan Zlaticanin to claim the WBC 135 pound belt in January, told CBS Sports that Lomachenko is “only doing stuff that I did three, four years ago.” Garcia points to his own wins over Orlando Salido and Rocky Martinez, the two men who beat and got KO’d by Lomachenko respectively.
It has just been officially announced, and it was no big surprise because it’s been no secret that a Luis Ortiz-Derric Rossy heavyweight match-up was soon to be announced for April 22 on the under-card of the interesting welterweight clash between ex-champs Shawn Porter and Andre Berto.
Talk of the heavyweight match-up had done the rounds on the various web sites these past couple of days, but RingTV.com actually spoke with Rossy, 31-12(15) and the 36 year old spoke about the “big opportunity” the fight will grant him. Yet another one.
Official results from the Weigh in from Dortmund, Germany, for the WBC cruiserweight championship of the world:
Marco Huck – 90,5 kg – 199,5 lb
Mairis Briedis – 90,5 kg – 199,5 lb
Christina Hammer – 72,0 kg – 158,73 lb
Maria Lindbergh – 70,0 kg – 154,32 lb
A laser-focused Samuel “Main Event” Clarkson (19-3, 11 KOs) will step onto the world stage on Friday, April 14, as the Uprising Promotions light heavyweight faces unbeaten prospect Dmitry Bivol (9-0, 7 KOs) for the Interim WBA World Championship. The bout will serve as the feature attraction of ShoBox: The Next Generation, with the fight taking place at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Md., just outside of Washington, D.C.
Both the fighters themselves and the fans of both Martin Murray and Gabriel Rosado are expecting something special on April 22 in Liverpool, UK. The two teak-tough middleweights will go to war next month and both aim to use a win as a steppingstone to a bigger fight.
Philly’s Rosado, 23-10(13) and Manchester’s Murray, 34-4-1(16) have both tasted the drama and the painful near-glory of fighting for a world title before – in fact both fighters have shared a ring with world middleweight king Gennady Golovkin – but the desire to win the crown continues to drive both men. To get another shot, Rosado will have to come through Murray, or Murray will have to get past Rosado. Either way, fight fans are in for a great night on April 22.