A half century ago, the world was being dazzled, baffled and entertained by a heavyweight champion who fought like no heavyweight before him. Muhammad Ali, aged 24 and approaching his absolute peak, had won the crown a couple of years earlier and he had made the title retentions he registered since shocking the greatly feared Sonny Liston look almost easy.
Month: June 2017
New book counts the number of punches “The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali took
Today, June 3rd, marks the first anniversary of the death of the one and only Muhammad Ali; without a single doubt the most famous boxer of all time. The tributes continue to come in thick and fast for the three time world heavyweight champion who would have been 75 today had he not lost his long and extremely brave battle with Parkinson’s.
The books continue to roll in, too – even though, as has been pointed out by more than a few boxing aficionados, there surely cannot be anything to write about Ali that hasn’t already been written. We’ve had “The Real Story,” with Ali’s autobiography, released way back in 1975, we’ve had another endorsed account of Ali’s life, with the 1991 effort by Thomas Hauser, and we’ve had hundreds, if not thousands of Ali books since.
Results: Azat Hovhannisyan decisions Isao Carranza
In front of a sold out Belasco Theater, Armenian fighter Azat “Attack” Hovhannisyan (12-2, 10 KOs) of Los Angeles, CA took down Mexico City’s Isao “Kato” Carranza (15-9-1, 8 KOs) in an eight-round super bantamweight main event fight. Towards the end of the third round, Carranza slipped yet rebounded back to fight. Hovhannisyan, living up to his nickname “Attack,” earned a unanimous decision victory with all judges scoring the fight 80-72.
Pacquiao-Horn fight tops Nelson-Fenech; becomes Australia’s biggest ever fight with 40,000 tickets sold
Manny Pacquiao’s global popularity is not in doubt. At all. USA Today reports how Pac Man’s upcoming July fight in Australia, against local hero Jeff Horn, has already shifted 40,000 tickets, this making it the biggest fight in the country’s history – the previous record of 38,000 tickets sold for the big super-featherweight rematch battle between Azumah Nelson and Jeff Fenech.
Stevenson vs. Fonfara 2: Sounds About Right for Adonis
There’s not much buzz or anticipation floating around the boxing twitter-sphere about the Showtime doubleheader coming up this Saturday. There are a few reasons why mainly due to Adonis Stevenson career being stuck in neutral since he shocked the world via first round KO versus then respected Chad Dawson in 2013. Over the last few years Adonis failed to make his mark in a division that featured Bernard Hopkins, Jean Pascal, and Sergey Kovalev.
Tony Bellew still craves revenge over Adonis Stevenson; says he’d go back down to cruiserweight if Stevenson came up
A whole lot has happened to Liverpool’s Tony Bellew since his 2013 stoppage loss to defending WBC light-heavyweight champ Adonis Stevenson – most of it good. Shortly after the painful loss, the sole stoppage loss “Bomber” has suffered as a pro, he moved up, Bellew subsequently capturing the WBC cruiserweight belt and even having some odds-defying success as a heavyweight.
Bukom Banku wants to spar with Floyd Mayweather when he visits Ghana
Undefeated Ghanaian boxer, Braimah Kamoko (29-0, 22 KOs) famously nicknamed Bukom Banku has sent out a passionate plea to retired boxing legend, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather ahead of the American’s planned visit to Ghana later this month.
Mayweather who retired undefeated nearly two years ago has confirmed he will be in the country that produced Boxing Hall of Fame inductee, Azumah Nelson on June 15 and 16 even though details and itinerary of the trip still remain scanty.
Kamoko who also calls himself the ‘Africa Mayweather’ says it will only be appropriate that he trains, spars and also escorts Mayweather around on tour and other engagements whilst in the West African country.
Marco Antonio Barrera: Heading to The Hall!
One of Mexico’s finest, smartest and most resilient fighters, the great Marco Antonio Barrera will be inducted into The Hall of Fame in Canastota next week (along with, for one other true great, Evander Holyfield). Barrera thrilled millions of fans a number of times, his incredible fights lighting up the lower weight classes in a huge way.
Mikey Garcia and Adrien Broner media quotes
Two of the world’s best 140-pound boxers in the sport – Adrien Broner and Mikey Garcia – participated in a media conference call on Thursday to discuss the news that they would square off against one another on Saturday, July 29, on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®.
Stevenson vs. Fonfara II final weights, quotes
WBC Light Heavyweight World Champion Adonis Stevenson and Andrzej Fonfara had a tense faceoff during Friday’s weigh-in for their 175-pound rematch this Saturday live on SHOWTIME from Bell Centre.
(Photo credit Stephanie Trapp/SHOWTIME)
Fonfara (29-4, 17 KOs) weighed-in at 174 ¼ pounds while Stevenson (28-1, 23 KOs) measured a ready 173 ½ pounds for their rematch of an all-action 2014 showdown in which both fighters scored knockdowns.