(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp/SHOWTIME) JULIO CEJA
“We have had a long and very intense camp. We are prepared and know what is on the line here because we know that Hugo comes at it with everything he’s got. This is a prestigious opportunity that I have been presented with and we can forecast that it will be an all-or-nothing fight.
“This will be a toe-to-toe fight because we both know each other’s strengths and having fought before we know this rematch will be explosive.
(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp/SHOWTIME) LOS ANGELES (Feb. 24, 2016) – Former world champion Kiko “Sensacion” Martinez (35-6-0, 26 KOs) participated in a media workout Wednesday at the City of Angels Boxing Club in Los Angeles as he prepares to face undefeated WBA Featherweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday, Feb. 27 live on SHOWTIME® (7 p.m. PT/10 p.m. ET) from Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
“Retired” boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior celebrates his 39th birthday today. The word retired is in quotes because, well, practically everyone who follows the fight game is all but certain Mayweather, currently 49-0, WILL fight again – it’s just a matter of time, the general line of thinking goes, until Floyd comes back in search of pro win number-50.
And, despite the fact that age 39 is somewhat advanced for a top class prize fighter (greats Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Louis and many others were finished well before closing in on age 40), Mayweather has proven that age is literally just a number to him. Eventually, if he were to fight on and on, his reflexes would fade or his punch resistance (never tested too much as it is!) would desert him, but there wouldn’t be too many people willing to bet against Mayweather managing to put at least one more result in his win column if he did/does box again either later this year or early next.
It’s no secret that comebacking former WBA heavyweight champ David Haye wants a big, all-British showdown with unbeaten fellow Londoner Anthony Joshua. Haye, who returned to the ring in January and next fights, against TBA, in May, has been interested in a potential blockbuster with “A.J” for months now. And Haye is quite right when he says the fight would only be that much bigger if a world title were on the line.
Well over three years in the making, “Hands of Stone,” the biopic on the life and legendary career of the one and only Roberto Duran, finally gets released in the U.S this August, on the 26th. The film – written and directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz and starring Robert De Niro as Duran trainer Ray Arcel and Edgar Ramirez as the Panamanian warrior – was filmed on location in both New York and Panama.
Also starring Usher Raymond, as Sugar Ray Leonard and Ruben Blades as Duran’s main man, Carlos Eleta, the film will also have portrayals of infamous mob guy Frankie Carbo and another boxing legend in Angelo Dundee.
Four-division world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner (31-2, 23 KOs) defends his 140-pound world title against Ashley “The Treasure” Theophane (39-6-1, 11 KOs) Friday, April 1 on Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on Spike from the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. with televised coverage beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
The supremacy of the heavyweight division is uncertain at this point in time as a handful of contenders are waiting for their turn to be called on to challenge three current world heavyweight champions for their respective titles. Three new champions within the past year has brought excitement back to a division that was ruled by the Klitchscko brothers for the past decade. The division is ripe for the picking and one particular heavyweight contender is ready to shake it up.
Undefeated 122-pound world champions Carl Frampton (IBF) and Scott Quigg (WBA) held media workouts on Tuesday in Manchester, England, as they finalize preparation for their long-awaited super bantamweight unification showdown this Saturday, Feb. 27 at Manchester Arena.