We’ve been treated to some big, big fights this year, but the best may be still to come; as pound-for-pound stars and former amateur greats Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux are gearing up for their truly fascinating December 9 meeting.
Both great boxers took part in a conference call with the media yesterday – Lomachenko saying he feels Rigondeaux has taken the fight merely for the payday, Rigondeaux having none of it, asking, even demanding, that we give him full credit after he wins.
Super Featherweight Prospect Lamont Roach, Jr. (16-0, 6 KOs) demonstrated yet again why he’s one of the best and brightest prospects of the Golden Boy Promotions stable as he defeated tough contender Rey “Flash” Perez (21-9, 6 KOs) via unanimous decision in the 10-round main event of the latest edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at the MGM National Harbor in Maryland. Despite getting caught with a hard shot to the body in the second round, Roach, Jr. prevailed in exciting and dominant fashion, landing right hands and lead left uppercuts to hurt Perez in the later rounds. Roach, Jr. won with three scores of 99-91.
Unbeaten welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr. and former champion Lamont Peterson went face-to-face for the first time Wednesday at a press conference in Brooklyn to discuss their world title showdown headlining action on Saturday, January 20 live on SHOWTIME. The event is presented by Premier Boxing Champions from Barclays Center, the home of BROOKLYN BOXING®.
It’s the most fascinating, intriguing match-up of the year: Vasyl Lomachenko Vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux. The two duel Olympic gold medal winners, arguably the finest modern day amateur boxers ever, have such a high skill level that fans simply cannot wait to see what boxing brilliance will be on display in New York on December 9.
It really does seem as though there will be talk of ‘one more time,’ or ‘one more fight’ revolving around megastar Floyd Mayweather Junior until he is around 45 years of age. A recent report courtesy of TMZ Sports strongly suggested “Money” is keeping himself in fantastic shape because he has not entirely ruled out the idea of having a 51st fight.
In truth, the upcoming February battle between seemingly bitter British rivals George Groves and Chris Eubank Jr. doesn’t mean all that much to US fans. No, this fight is a far, far bigger deal in Europe, the UK in particular. And with good reason. It was back in the glorious 1990s when Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank Snr and Michael Watson, household names all, fought one another in a fantastic series of fights – each of them on terrestrial, or, if you like, “free” TV.
John Scully, known as “Iceman” was a light heavyweight prize fighter from 1988 to 2001 with an impressive professional resume of 38-11-21 KOs. During his career he sparred some of the greats such as Roy Jones Jr, Vinny Pazienza and James Toney. Very well known in the boxing world and highly respected, John Scully is an experienced sports analyst for ESPN classic network and is also a boxing trainer. He is soon to release a book, written in his own words and not ghost written, will tell his story of boxing as it really is. As a foretaste, this unique exclusive interview which follows will give readers a greater insight into the life of John Scully.
A superstar enters the ring for the final time when HBO Sports presents WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING: MIGUEL COTTO VS. SADAM ALI AND REY VARGAS VS. OSCAR NEGRETE on SATURDAY, DEC. 2 at 10:00 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from Madison Square Garden in New York City, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team will call the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
Cotto vs Ali Press Conference Live Stream
The fights will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO, HBO On Demand and affiliate portals.
MICHAEL “Mick” CONLAN, SHAKUR STEVENSON, and MIKAELA MAYER will complete their first season as professionals on the undercard of the historic collision between world champions VASILY “Hi-Tech” LOMACHENKO.and.GUILLERMO “El Chacal” RIGONDEAUX, Saturday, December 9, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs) a native of Ukraine, will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight world title against the reigning World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight world champion Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs), of Cuba, marking the first time that two-time Olympic gold medalists have fought each other professionally at the highest level. The four-bout telecast, headlined by Lomachenko vs. Rigondeaux, will be televised live and exclusively at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN App.
Heated words were exchanged at the kickoff press conference before the Ali Trophy semi-final bout between WBA Super World Champion George Groves (27-3, 20 KOs) and IBO-Champ Chris Eubank Jr. (26-1,20 KOs) at the Manchester Arena on February 17, 2018.