Orlando Salido to face Amphon Suriyo in non-title bout in May – a “tune-up” for a Lomachenko rematch?

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.

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Canelo Vs. Chavez Jr: a KO one way or the other?

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.

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Ward, GGG, Lomachenko, & Klitschko/Joshua!!

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.

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GGG likely to skip Saunders June fight, rest up and concentrate on Canelo September showdown

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).

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Ward, Kovalev NYC Presser

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.

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Pacquiao vs Horn on 7/1 in Brisbane, Australia

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.

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Make way for the new stars: Lomachenko, Crawford, Thurman are today’s pound-for-pound best

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.

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Can Anthony Joshua become boxing’s first billionaire?

Can Anthony Joshua become boxing's first billionaire?

Maybe we should call him Anthony “Money” Joshua. That nickname is of course exclusive property of one Floyd Mayweather Junior; currently the richest, most successful prize fighter in boxing history. However, as stinking rich as he is, Mayweather never earned himself the staggering total of a $billion.

But Joshua, in speaking with GQ Magazine, says that this is now the goal he has to aspire to. Reflecting on how the status of having made it big has changed drastically in today’s world, Joshua says that becoming a millionaire is no longer the huge achievement it once was.

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