Fight week buzz on social media is primarily centered on an IV that Floyd took the night before the Manny Pacquiao fight. Even with a juicy Thomas Hauser piece this week, Mayweather’s choice of opponent has the boxing world looking ahead to better matchups on the schedule. Can Andre Berto do the unthinkable and pull an upset for the ages? Or will it be business as usual for Money May in route to another unanimous decision.
SHOWTIME Sports will offer live streams of Floyd Mayweather vs Andre Berto fight week events for their Welterweight World Championship taking place on Saturday, Sept. 12, live on SHOWTIME PPV® (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) from MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Golden Boy Promotions today announced that Mexican superstar and former WBC and WBA Super Welterweight World Champion Canelo Álvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) has re-signed with the company, agreeing to a multi-fight, multi-year contract extension.
“I am loyal, it’s part of my character and that’s why I am extending my contract with Golden Boy Promotions,”said Álvarez. “Golden Boy Promotions knows how to build a fighter and elevate him to a world stage as they have done with me and continue to do with many others. I look forward to working with Golden Boy throughout my career.”
The eagerly anticipated dust-up between the old foes, largely stemming from an old amateur rivalry that saw Whyte beat Joshua in 2009, provided a taster of the bad blood to come at today’s presser to promote Saturday’s card, when Whyte told Joshua, ‘You’re getting hurt in December.”
Ahead of his much-maligned 49th, and ‘final,’ fight this weekend against Andre Berto in Las Vegas, Floyd Mayweather and those around him, like right-hand man, Leonard Ellerbe, continue to insist to all and sundry that he will not be fighting on, despite continued public belief to the contrary.
Much has been made of the fact that the deteriorating health of his Uncle Roger is said to be key in the decision for Floyd to hang them up, and whether he will indeed resist the wealth of lures to make history and attain a perfect 50-0 slate, remains to be seen.
It would seem that many of George Groves’ old foes are wishing him well in Saturday’s WBC title clash with Badou Jack in Las Vegas on Saturday.
First Carl Froch, who defeated the Hammersmith man in back-to-back world title fights, wished him luck for the sake of British boxing, and now IBF 168 lb champion James DeGale, defeated by Groves in their close 2011 encounter, has joined the chorus of well-wishers in hope of getting a big domestic unification rematch signed for the future.
Tonight at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, WBC light-heavyweight champion, Adonis Stevenson, takes on America’s Tommy Karpency in a defence many have slammed as yet more one-sided matchmaking from Premier Boxing Champion’s boss and elusive fight ‘advisor,’ Al Haymon.
Since launching the PBC brand back in March, fans have been critical of the seemingly ever-present format’s tendency to lean on the side of ‘quantity,’ rather than ‘quality,’ with only a few noted exceptions.
BADOU JACK
“I’m very excited for this fight. We had a tremendous camp. We’re ready to go. I don’t talk much. I’m all about fighting.
“Groves is absolutely not in my head. I’m focused and mentally strong on my task at hand. I won my biggest fight that I’ve had up to date, he didn’t. He has had two shots at the title and has lost them both.
“Groves got famous for getting knocked out by Carl Froch. He’s a good fighter, but I’m very comfortable that I’m going to beat him.
The fighters who will appear on the stacked, action-packed “HIGH STAKES: Mayweather vs. Berto” undercard this Saturday, September 12 live on SHOWTIME PPV (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena took part in their final press conference Thursday at MGM Grand.
In the three pay-per-view fights preceding Saturday’s main event between Floyd “Money” Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs) and Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs), Roman “Rocky” Martinez (29-2-2, 17 KOs) will defend his WBO Junior Lightweight Title in a rematch against four-time world champion Orlando “Siri” Salido (42-13-2, 29 KOs), Badou Jack “The Ripper” (19-1-1, 12 KOs) will make the first defense of his WBC Super Middleweight World Title against mandatory challenger “Saint” George Groves (21-2, 16 KOs) and former three-time world champion and Mexican power-puncher Jhonny Gonzalez (58-9, 49 KOs) will be opposed by Puerto Rico’s Jonathan “Polvo” Oquendo (25-4, 16 KOs) in a 10-round 130-pound match.
ISHE SMITH
“When I fought Cornelius Bundrage for the title, I knew I had to win. I had a lot of pressure on me. There was no doubt I had to win. It’s the same thing now. Vanes is a good fighter, but I have to win. I’ve had to bring myself up from the bottom.
“All of the other promoters gave up on me, but Leonard Ellerbe and Floyd took a chance on me and I’ll always be grateful.