“Terrible Tim” in the house; Witherspoon speaks on his great career and on Joshua-Klitschko

Former two-time heavyweight champ “Terrible” Tim Witherspoon was a guest of honour in a pub in York, UK last night, promoting his excellent and revealing biography “Terrible Times.”

The Philly legend spent around four hours chatting with a surprisingly small number of fans (making the experience all the more intimate and special); telling us so many stories from his great career: like the time he was thrown out of Gerry Cooney’s gym for being too rough and tough a sparring partner, how he was so massively inspired by sparring and training with the great Muhammad Ali (even though, as Tim said, he knew Ali “was sick” at the time; in the early ’80s), about how he would have loved to have fought Mike Tyson in the 1990s, about how great his era of heavyweights was in comparison to today’s.

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30 Years Later – Valdez / Ramirez / Magdaleno / Stevenson Score Hagler vs. Leonard

It took place on Monday, April 6, 1987 at Caesars Palace and it was promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank®. The SuperFight: Hagler vs. Leonard, with Marvin Hagler defending his middleweight title against Sugar Ray Leonard, making a return after a three-year absence from the ring and a big question mark about his surgically-repaired eye. It was one the biggest and most successful sporting events of that era. Caesars Palace was sold out with 15,000 spectators and an estimated 400 million more watching worldwide via closed-circuit or on pay-tv. The media credentialed for fight week was close to 1,1000. It was the quintessential promotion of that time and the foundation on which mega fights are now promoted. And the result? It is as hotly debated today as it was 30 years ago when the judges’ scores were read that night. Dave Moretti scored it 115-113 for Leonard. Lou Fillippo scored it 115-113 for Hagler. Jo Jo Guerra scored it 118-110 for Leonard, making him the new middleweight champion, and completing one of the greatest career comebacks in boxing .

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Marco Huck vs. Mairis Briedis: Is Huck ready to pass the torch?

Former 200-pound limit champion Marco Huck meets the new kid on the block Mairis Briedis, for a WBC cruiserweight title fight. The fight being upgraded due to Tony Bellew’s absents is a nice boost for the fighters. More importantly, Huck’s career is on the line against what some have branded one of the next generation cruisers.

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Aleksandr Usyk focused on Michael Hunter fight

WBO Cruiserweight World Champion ALEKSANDR USYK, (11-0, 10 KO’s) hosted a huge crowd of media on Thursday afternoon in Downtown Los Angeles joined by his promoter, TOM LOEFFLER of K2 Promotions and manager, EGIS KLIMAS.

Usyk will be defending his title on Saturday, April 8 against undefeated, top ten contender MICHAEL HUNTER, (12-0, 8 KO’s) on HBO World Championship Boxing (10:00 p.m. ET/PT). from The Theater at MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, MD.

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Mikkel Kessler makes comeback

Danish boxing legend Mikkel Kessler (46-3, 35 KOs) announced his plans to return to the ring at a press conference today at the Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers Hotel.

The former five-time World Champion, who retired following his May 2013 rematch with Carl Froch at the O2 in London, will make a sensational comeback later this year with a date and opponent to be confirmed.

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Jermell Charlo quotes for Charles Hatley fight on April 22

Lou DiBella
Thanks for joining us. This is our call to announce the co-feature for Andre Berto versus Shawn Porter, the WBC welterweight world title eliminator — that’s going to be on SHOWTIME live at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT from the Barclay Center in Brooklyn on Saturday, April 22. Tickets for the live event are on sale now. They can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, or by calling 1-800-745-3000, 1-800-745-3000.

The co-feature is a terrific bout for the WBC junior middleweight championship. Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo 28-0, 13 KOs from Houston, Texas against Charles Hatley, 26-1-1, with 18 KOs from Dallas, Texas. So we got a battle of Texas and Brooklyn on April 22. As most of you know Jermell’s brother is Jermall. They’re one minute apart. Jermell’s one minute younger.

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Helenius, Chisora set for huge heavyweight rematch

Robert Helenius (24-1, 15 KOs) and Dereck Chisora (26-7, 18 KOs) came face-to-face for the first time since their controversial December 2011 showdown today at the Hotel Kamp in Helsinki, Finland as they prepare to renew their rivalry on May 27.

Helenius was awarded a split decision victory in their first bout, despite many people believing the British boxer did enough to win. Chisora now has the chance to settle the score when they return to the Hartwall Arena to contest the WBC Silver World Heavyweight title in a hotly anticipated rematch.

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Serious and dedicated like never before? Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. says he is weighing 178 pounds right now; Canelo in trouble!

Though nobody ever, ever expected Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to become the great – all-time great – fighter his legendary father was, all along the experts knew Chavez Jr. could fight. The problem, as both his fans and critics know, was the 30 year-old’s discipline, or lack of it.

The former WBC middleweight champ got so out of shape and overweight that at one point he fought as a light-heavyweight; being stopped by Andrez Fonfara. But it seems those days of lack of focus and laziness in the gym are behind Chavez (although for many people, it will be a case of, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it in the ring’) – at least if his current weight and physical appearance is anything to go by.

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Vasyl Lomachenko-Mikey Garcia: A genuine Grudge-Match to look forward to!

Who is the better fighter, once-beaten junior-lightweight ruler Vasyl Lomachenko, 7-1(5) or unbeaten lightweight champ Mikey Garcia, 36-0(30)? The two fighters themselves have had some heated verbal exchanges and now the two pound-for-pounders wish to settle it in the only place that matters, the ring, to find out who is superior.

Garcia, who looked sensational in returning to the ring to blitz Dejan Zlaticanin to claim the WBC 135 pound belt in January, told CBS Sports that Lomachenko is “only doing stuff that I did three, four years ago.” Garcia points to his own wins over Orlando Salido and Rocky Martinez, the two men who beat and got KO’d by Lomachenko respectively.

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Can Derric Rossy give Ortiz a fight!? Rossy-Luis Ortiz on for April 22

It has just been officially announced, and it was no big surprise because it’s been no secret that a Luis Ortiz-Derric Rossy heavyweight match-up was soon to be announced for April 22 on the under-card of the interesting welterweight clash between ex-champs Shawn Porter and Andre Berto.

Talk of the heavyweight match-up had done the rounds on the various web sites these past couple of days, but RingTV.com actually spoke with Rossy, 31-12(15) and the 36 year old spoke about the “big opportunity” the fight will grant him. Yet another one.

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