Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) hosted an international media conference call today ahead of his highly anticipated fight against Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs). Joined by his team, world renowned Eddy and Chepo Reynoso as well as the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, Alvarez opened up about his preparation for the fight, the rivalry between him and Chavez, Jr. and what fans can expect come Cinco De Mayo Weekend, live from T-Mobile Arena and presented by HBO Pay-Per-View.
Orlando Salido to face Amphon Suriyo in non-title bout in May – a “tune-up” for a Lomachenko rematch?
After taking almost a year off since his thrilling, FOTY contender with Francisco Vargas, Mexican ultimate warrior Orlando Salido finally has his next fight set. The teak-tough 36 year old will face Thai fighter Amphon Suriyo, 18-2(14) in Mexico on May 27, RingTV.com reports.
Salido, 43-13-4(30) really is a throwback to the old-school, fight-anyone, sluggers of years gone by. The only man to have beaten the seemingly unbeatable (!) Vasyl Lomachenko, Salido has also carved out fine wins over the likes of Juan Manuel Lopez (twice), Orlando Cruz, Cristobal Cruz and Terdsak Kokietgym (in another great action fight). Heaven knows, he deserves a “safe” or straightforward “tune-up” type of fight.
Canelo Vs. Chavez Jr: a KO one way or the other?
There will be much at stake between the two warriors who will clash on May 6. The huge Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Junior rumble, unofficially tagged, “The Battle of Mexico,” will see the the two stars fighting, above all else, for sheer pride. Quite literally, an entire country will be tuning in over the huge Mexican holiday that is Cinco de Mayo.
In the past, we’ve seen Chavez, the former WBC middleweight ruler, let himself down in fights due to his being either overweight or unfocused; even both. But “The Son of A Legend” has vowed to be at his absolute best for May 6, and so far he has kept his word, getting his body finely tuned, any excess weight almost gone ahead of the 164.5 catch-weight weigh-in.
Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Ward, GGG, Lomachenko, & Klitschko/Joshua!!
Robbie N. (Texas): You can argue that Andre Ward lost (to Kovalev), we saw GGG look beatable against Jacobs, and Roman Gonzalez is obviously beatable, as well. What argument can be made against placing Lomachenko as #1 in your opinion?
Vito W.: I’ll give my thoughts, but as I’ve indicated before, I don’t subscribe to the ‘mythical’ angle. When we look at the text book definition of P4P, there’s no true angle for multiple men to wear that badge at one time. (For further explanation, please see past articles/mailbags where I’ve touched on that topic). As it relates to the ‘mythical’ perspective, I still think naysayers have an angle to keep him from the #1 spot, for the simple fact that he hasn’t done enough in the sport to claim the title. I think from a skill standpoint, what makes him most dangerous is the fact that he has an amazing offense to dispatch with that incredible footwork/defense. The last guy we saw deeply skilled on both offense and defense has some thinking he’s “TBE” (Mayweather). Loma has very similar attributes, and as a result, could create that same type of legacy.
GGG likely to skip Saunders June fight, rest up and concentrate on Canelo September showdown
It doesn’t look as though world middleweight ruler Gennady Golovkin will go ahead with a planned June fight, and will instead rest up and focus fully on the still hoped for superfight with Canelo Alvarez this September. According to “multiple sources” who spoke with Yahoo! Sports, GGG will skip the June fight.
WBO middleweight champ Billy Joe Saunders, who was all set to travel over to Golovkin’s home country of Kazakhstan for the June fight, said all along that he would not wait indefinitely, that he would move on to another fight if Triple-G didn’t sign the contract ASAP. Now it seems BJS will indeed move on (and not be too happy about it; losing out as he has on such a massive opportunity and payday).
Ward, Kovalev NYC Presser
On Monday at Le Parker Meridien in New York City, Unified Light Heavyweight World Champion Andre “SOG” Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) and former Unified Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs) formally addressed the media on their highly-anticipated rematch on Saturday, June 17 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The championship event, presented by Corona Extra, will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Pacquiao vs Horn on 7/1 in Brisbane, Australia
Add Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia to the list of venues on foreign soil that will play host to a MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO fight. Boxing’s only eight-division world champion and the reigning Fighter of the Decade, Pacquiao has accepted the challenge of undefeated No. 2 world-rated contender JEFF “The Hornet” HORN to defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title, Saturday, July 1 (Sunday, July 2, in Australia). Promoted by Top Rank® and Duco Events, “The Battle of Brisbane” is expected to attract 55,000 fans and a record pay-per-view audience in Australia. It will also be seen live in the U.S. Look for details on the U.S. telecast in the following weeks.
At last: we have a good fight set for the Klitschko-Joshua under-card – Campbell-Perez in WBA lightweight eliminator
Let’s face it: the fast approaching heavyweight extravaganza between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko – which has already shifted an amazing 90,000 tickets – doesn’t really need much of an under-card; at least not in terms of pulling in any extra sales.
Make way for the new stars: Lomachenko, Crawford, Thurman are today’s pound-for-pound best
Manny Pacquiao’s star is fading, Andre Ward has been labelled dull by fight fans so many times he has stopped caring, and Sergey Kovalev may well see himself closely, narrowly outboxed and outscored by S.O.G in their June return. So who today is deserving of the mythical but also lofty title of pound-for-pound king?
It seems we have to make way for the new guard, for the news stars: Vasyl Lomachenko, the pick for many even before this past weekend’s utter dismantling of a very good fighter in Jason Sosa, and Terence Crawford, he of the speed, accuracy and power, and also Keith Thurman, a throwback in terms of constantly seeking out the very best opposition and thus far beating them.
Video: Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev II – Early Rematch Preview
On June 17 unified WBA/IBF/WBO light heavyweight champion of the world Andre Ward (31-0-0, 15 KOs) will have a highly anticipated rematch against former light heavyweight world champion Sergey Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs). The bout is scheduled to take place at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.