British great Herol Graham – widely recognized as one of the finest fighters of recent years never to have won a world title – is currently in hospital, battling complications that arose from a burst appendix, so reports The Sheffield Star. The former British, Commonwealth and European king who retired with a 48-6(28) record in 1998 – after a stoppage loss to Charles Brewer in what was the ludicrously talented southpaw’s third crack at world glory – has been given a boost by way of hospital visits from the likes of Frank Bruno, Colin McMillan and other British boxing stars.
Pacquiao speaks about his recent lack of KO wins: I’m a 140-pounder, I can make 135
Superstar Manny Pacquiao, a once vicious, unstoppable whirlwind of a fighter, has heard the criticism thrown his way for not scoring a knockout victory in quite some time (Pac-Man’s last stoppage win coming over Miguel Cotto back in 2009) – and the former multi-weight king has an explanation: he is not a welterweight.
Despite having fought in the 147-pound division for some time – included amongst his welterweight bouts the highest grossing fight in history with Floyd Mayweather Junior – 37-year-old Pacquiao, 57-6-2(38) told ESPN Deportes he is really a natural 140-pounder who could still make lightweight if he really wanted to. This, Pac-Man says, accounts for his long string of KO-less fights.
New WBA heavyweight champ Lucas Browne fails drugs test, is seeking legal advice
Recently crowned WBA heavyweight titlist Lucas Browne, who made history by becoming the first Australian to win a portion of the world heavyweight title with his stunning stoppage win over Ruslan Chagaev, is today seeking legal advice after reports surfaced saying he failed a drugs test.
According to a story broken by ESPN.com and subsequently picked up by a vast number of publications and web sites, Browne tested positive for the metabolism booster, Clenbuterol. Browne, responding to the report via his Twitter page, insists he knows nothing about these events and that he will seek the advice of a lawyer immediately.
Ormond dominated Jimenez, captured the lightweight IBF Intercontinental Belt
Stephen “The Rock” Ormond crushed Marcos Leonardo Jimenez over ten one-side rounds, en route to unanimous decision victory, 100-90 on all three scorecards in the main event. Ormond with the victory, obtained the vacant lightweight IBF intercontinental title and upped his record to 21-2, 11 KOs. He has won four in a row while Jimenez dropped to 21-7, 14 KOs.
Ormond pressed the action and connected on whatever he wanted, especially in the last couple of rounds. He landed several extremely powerful combinations on Jimenez throughout this fight that badly staggered him and it appeared that he would knockout Jimenez, but Jimenez somehow hung in there and didn’t go down. Jimenez deserved a great deal of credit for not getting knocked down from all the punishment that he absorbed from Ormond’s punches. Jimenez; however, was unable to sustain any effective offensive output to turn this fight around.
Lemieux-Tapia in co-feature bout on Canelo-Khan card
LOS ANGELES (March 21, 2016) – Before WBC, Ring Magazine and Lineal Middleweight World Champion, Canelo Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) and former two-time world champion Amir “King” Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) step into the ring at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 7 for the biggest fight of 2016 thus far, three hard-hitting bouts have been confirmed to get fight fans ready for the main event.
Canada’s biggest boxing star and former IBF Middleweight World Champion David Lemieux (34-3, 31 KOs) will be looking to make an impression and use his power against the swift contender from Passaic, New Jersey, Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia (23-2, 15 KOs) in a 10-round middleweight co-main event.
Hughie Fury-Dominick Guinn set for Saturday night
Hughie Fury, cousin of heavyweight ruler Tyson Fury, has a busy schedule planned; with two fights set for the next month. The unbeaten 22-year-old who is currently 18-0(10) will face a TBA on April 30th but this Saturday, durable, never stopped Dominick Guinn will face the contender on very short notice.
Nagy Aguilera was to have fought Fury – who has just signed a deal with promoter Frank Warren but will still work with Mick Hennessey also – but he pulled out injured, leaving the respective promoters of Fury to find a late replacement foe.
Sanchez believes Sullivan Barrera will beat Andre Ward
(Photo Credit: Craig Bennett/Main Events) Big Bear Lake, CA: As IBF number one light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (17-0, 12 KOs) prepares for the biggest fight of his career against one of the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters, Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs), at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California which will be televised live on HBO, the 34-year old from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba is calm, confident and ready for anything.
Barrera trains in Big Bear Lake, California with legendary trainer Abel Sanchez. Sanchez is best known for working with IBF, WBA and WBC Interim Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Sullivan has taken advantage of working with his prestigious coach and being surrounded by other elite boxers like Golovkin. He said, “Camp has been great. I feel great. I am ready to make history on March 26. The best advice I have received was from Gennady Golovkin who told me to work my speed and to fight intelligently. Abel Sanchez told me not lose my cool and to stay focused at all times.”
Mayweather shows off his money, says he is happy in retirement “making seven figures a month”
They don’t call him “Money” for nothing. All-time great Floyd Mayweather Junior, might be retired, but the 49-0 star has never been shy or retiring when it comes to talking about the incredible fortune he has amassed during his career. The recently turned 39-year-old took to Instagram yesterday to show off a large portion of his cash and to also state that he is more than content in retirement.
Mayweather, who is worth around $500 million or more, posted a picture of himself counting bundles of dollars and wrote the following:
Roy Jones Junior takes out Vyron Phillips in two-rounds
Last night in Phoenix, former great Roy Jones Junior destroyed part-time boxer/MMA fighter Vyron Phillips with a crushing 2nd-round KO. The 47-year-old legend, taking part in something of a novelty bout – with Phillips set to pick up $100,000 if he won – dropped Phillips flat on his face with a right hand shot. The fight was all over with less than a minute to go in the second-round.
Porter-Thurman has a new date, will likely get a new venue too
Fans everywhere were disappointed when the potentially explosive, possible fight of the year welterweight showdown between Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman was postponed due to Thurman being injured with whiplash in a car crash. The fight should be in the history books now, as it should have gone down on March 12th in Uncasville, Connecticut.
But now, with a new date set for June 25th (this fight was simply too good not to happen) it appears the 147-pound clash will also have a new venue: the Barclays Centre in New York. This is the world according to Dan Rafael over at ESPN.com, who reports that the New York venue is now likely to play host to the fight. Which fighter this will benefit the most, is an interesting question. Thurman is from Florida, while Porter hails from Akron, Ohio (but now lives in Las Vegas). Which fighter will get the lion’s share of the fans on the night of June 25th and will this have any bearing on who wins the fight?