Andre Ward told SkySports that he is hoping to create a legacy when he takes on Sergey Kovalev in their light-heavyweight showdown on Saturday:
Tell us how you’re feeling in just days away from the fight.
Andre Ward: I’m excited. I’ve been to so many fights here, coming up countless amount of times. I know a lot of the security here at the MGM Grand, a lot of the staff workers. They know me by first name basis, so to be here now and to be able to headline now is very special.
NABO Junior Welterweight Champion Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker (21-0-2, 16 KOs) and Two-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa “T-Rex” Shields participated in a media workout in Las Vegas, NV on Monday, Nov. 14, ahead of their undercard appearances on Kovalev-Ward “Pound For Pound” taking place Saturday, Nov. 19 at T-Mobile Arena.
Shields, who will be making her professional debut against American rival Franchon Crews, will be featured on the freeview telecast beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT on the Pay-Per-View events channel prior to the official telecast, and through livestreaming on HBO Boxing’s YouTube channel.
Experienced Ghanaian referee/judge, Ataa Eddie Pappoe has been sanctioned by the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) to be one of three judges to score the IBO Lightweight world title fight between Ghana’s Emmanuel ‘Game Boy’ Tagoe and Fernando David Saucedo of Argentina in Accra on November 25.
Pappoe, a renowned WBC/IBF/IBO judge replaces Michael Alexander of the UK whose passport has less than six months to expire. The document replacement and travel arrangements including visa acquisition will delay his journey to Ghana.
Welshman Nathan Cleverly, the reigning WBA light heavyweight champ, remembers well the beating world number-one Sergey Kovalev put on him back in August of 2013, yet he says he wants a rematch next year. Speaking with ESPN.com, Cleverly, who lost his unbeaten record to Kovalev inside four rounds, says he expects “Krusher” to defeat Andre Ward on Saturday night and that he will then face him for a second time.
Could once-beaten British heavyweight David Allen be the fighter who “comes to win” against Luis Ortiz in the Cuban’s next fight, set for December 10 in Manchester? Promoter Eddie Hearn was as dissatisfied as anyone else with Ortiz’ wide but dull decision win over a negative Malik Scott at the weekend, vowing later to find a far more game opponent for “King King” on the Anthony Joshua-Eric Molina bill.
Q&A With Roy Jones Jr.
Roy Jones Jr Prepares Isaac Chilemba to Face Oleksandr Gvozdyk on November 19
Pensacola, Florida: As Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs) prepares to attempt to reclaim the NABF Light Heavyweight Title from Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk (11-0, 9 KOs) live on the Kovalev-Ward “Pound For Pound” HBO Pay-Per-View undercard from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada he will have former four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr. in his corner for the first time. Below Jones assesses the match-up and his observations of the young Malawi native:
WBC RULING REGARDING BERMANE STIVERNE’S
WBC CPB ADVERSE FINDING
ISSUED BY WBC BOARD OF GOVERNORS
November 14, 2016
I. ADVERSE FINDING
On November 11, 2016 VADA notified the WBC that Bermane Stiverne’s anti-doping test taken from his November 4, 2016 sample (the “Test”) pursuant to the WBC Clean Boxing Program (“CPB”) yielded an adverse finding for the banned substance methylhexaneamine (also known as dimethyamylamine or “DMAA”).
Puerto Rican legend and guaranteed future Hall of Famer Miguel Cotto says he will fight until the end of next year and then retire. The former four weight king, speaking with Carlos Narvaez of El Vocero newspaper, said he will continue working with Roc Nation, “with the same intensity,” but that after December 31 2017 he will fight no more.
Cotto, 40-5(33) and now aged 36, has not fought since dropping a competitive decision to Canelo Alvarez, in a middleweight title fight, last November 21. There is a possibility the two will meet in a rematch, but Cotto insists such a fight will have to happen before the end of next year or it will not happen.
Mike Tyson? Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko? Joe Louis? Lennox Lewis? Rocky Marciano? Any other heavyweight you care to mention! Would the Muhammad Ali of 50 years ago today – when he was every bit an unhittable, lightening-fast, lethal-punching fighting machine against Cleveland Williams – have beaten any of them?
Historians call it Muhammad Ali’s peak performance; his defining, shining moment of true brilliance in a career filled with majesty. This is the Ali-Cleveland Williams fight from 50 years ago: November 14th 1966. “Ali never danced like that again,” one writer wrote. “That version of Ali would have beaten any heavyweight in history,” a number of experts have claimed.
If the fight actually took place, how many fight fans would tune in, and pay to do so? It’s a guaranteed great fight that might actually have a small chance of getting made: Gennady Golovkin-Carl Froch! Wow, yes, wow. Yes, super-middleweight warrior and former champ Carl Froch is retired, but, as the saying, the adage, goes – they all come back.
And, according to GGG promoter Tom Loeffler, there is a possibility – just a small one – that “The Cobra” might be enticed to come back to fight the feared middleweight king. Speaking with IFL TV in Monaco at the Ortiz-Scott card, Loeffler said, with a smile (or maybe a mischievous grin) that he and Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn are working on a GGG-Froch match-up. This is a match-up that can only be described as a potential super-fight, one that millions of fans would cheerfully pay to see unfold it it was made a reality.