It’s 9-years ago today that Stephen Smith claimed his Commonwealth Gold medal in Melbourne a reality the fighter summed it up nicely when he tweeted, “Scary how time flies, but great memories”.
Smith, 20-1 (12KO’s), will make his return to professional action on Saturday night on the exciting Kell Brook v Jo Jo Dan undercard, looking to put on an empathic performance to lay to rest a difficult few months he will be looking to forget – professionally at least.
Weigh-In Results: Kamil Laszczyk 128.6 vs. Jose Luis Araiza 129
Patryk Szymanski 165.6 vs. Yoryi Estrella 168.2
Rances Barthelemy 137.4 vs. Angino Pérez 137.6
Breidis Prescott 146.2 vs. Fredrick Lawson 146.2
ESPN will broadcast a special Thursday night edition of ESPN Friday Night Fights, appropriately billed “ESPN Thursday Night Fights,” on ESPN2 this Thursday, March 26, 2015, from Hialeah Park Casino in Hialeah, FL.
ABOUT THE FIGHTS – In the main event, Colombian Breidis Prescott (27-6, 20 KOs) is scheduled to fight Ghanaian Fredrick Lawson (23-0, 20 KOs) a 10-round Welterweight bout.
Kell Brook steps between the ropes for the first time as a World champion on Saturday night as he defends his IBF Welterweight title at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield against Jo Jo Dan in ‘Unbreakable’ presented by FX World, live on Sky Sports – after fearing he may never walk again after the shocking attack he suffered on holiday in Spain in September.
Brook ripped the title from Shawn Porter in Los Angeles in August with a stunning performance in the American’s backyard, but just two weeks after that win, Brook was fighting for his life in hospital after a machete attack whilst on holiday in Spain.
The incessant chatter has gone beyond “shooting the breeze”. Voices of disharmony hope to gain support for their viewpoint. Much of their utterings, gossip, and jawboning drifts off into the land of piddling. That should come as no surprise to us, because it would seem that anyone who has ever laced on a pair of boxing gloves, or helped someone else do so has been asked to give his 2cents. There’s no need for him to elbow to the front either. He just needs to hang tight and quicker than later someone will shove a mic under his nose and try to capture the elusive essence of the upcoming May 2nd mega event. Unfortunately, the public is discovering the camera is shaky and so are the opinions.
It’s official: Sky Sports will exclusively televise the May 2nd mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao on Box Office, with Sky today announcing how they have been awarded exclusive live T.V rights in the U.K.
After a fierce bidding war between Sky, BoxNation and BT Sports, Sky have emerged victorious and they promise a lengthy series of build-up shows to further wet the appetite of fight fans in the days and weeks preceding the welterweight title showdown.
Now, to the biggest question the fans have been asking: how much will it cost to watch the fight in the comfort of one’s armchair? Sky have announced how the fight will be priced at £19.95, which is only a small amount above their regular Box Office fee of £17.95. This is sure to please a lot of people, especially after there had been rumours the fight would carry with it a pay-per-view price tag of anywhere from £30 to £49.99.
Both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. have a long lasting relationship, except theirs is not a good fluffy one; instead it consists of strong dislike and social competition.
Pacquiao, while having a shaky past, one filled with cheating, gambling, drinking, and other character tarnishing activities, has always been trying to earn the approval of his fellow man. He was always closely involved in local politics, charities, and actively participated in helping the people every time a natural disaster touched Philippines. After holding a position of a congressman, there were rumors that he is now aiming at elevating his position in the government. A good Samaritan, a loyal husband, and a religious leader, Pacquiao has become a man people can be proud of.
The contract have been agreed on and signed, a date has been set for the fight, competing cable networks with broadcasting rights of the fights of the two pugilistic competitors have reached agreement on who will air what and when, and we wait in gleeful anticipation for May 2 when this will reach its final culmination in the ring. In the interim, the usual coverage and promoting has gotten into full swing, but with variations that are not exactly standard in this process. But then again, it is a Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight, a boxer who seem to generate more hate and hostility from a boxing public not seen in the US since Cassius Clay refused to step forward on the 28th of April 1967 to be inducted into the US army, citing religious reasons for his objection. No, I certainly am not inferring that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a current day replica of Muhammed Ali. I am contending there are similarities in the visceral expositions of hate and hostility directed at him, as that which we saw during that Muhammed Ali era.
When Matty Askin, 17-2 (10KO’s), was told his eagerly anticipated tilt at Ovill McKenzie’s, 23-12 (12KO’s), British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles was to be rescheduled, he could be forgiven for thinking it was some sort of joke.
Unfortunately for the 26-year old, his friend and trainer Michael Jennings was deadly serious when – three days before fight night – he informed him that the fight was to be rescheduled for the third time with a revised date and venue yet to be confirmed.
Thankfully the bout was saved and will now take place within the iconic York Hall, Bethnal Green on Friday 27th March at the fourth time of asking.
The reports coming out of the Mayweather Boxing Club, have Floyd showing more punching power while sparring than he’s had in the recent past. Jeff Mayweather, uncle of the P4P king has spoken about a recent 3 round sparring session between Mayweather and Zab Judah, that his nephew dominated and “beat Judah up”. Reports from a couple of weeks back had Mayweather stopping a sparring partner with a body shot. Uncle Jeff said he initially believed that his nephew brought former Pacquiao strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza in as psychological ploy against the Pacquiao camp.
What’s funny here is that Ariza is now doing strength and conditioning training for Floyd Mayweather. What’s also funny is how suspicious many of the Mayweather naysayers (haters) have become regarding that relationship. I say funny because the inference is that Ariza could be up to no good, even though it was great when Ariza worked for Pacquiao.
(Photo credit: Ester Lin/Showtime) Dubbed by many as “The Fight of The Century,” the fast approaching Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super-fight looks set to go out on Sky Sports in the U.K. British fans have been wondering where they will be able to view the richest fight in boxing and, according to Jeff Powell of The Mail, Sky Sports will exclusively show the fight in the early hours of May 3rd U.K time.
According to The Mail’s article, Frank Warren, head of boxing channel BoxNation, put in a higher upfront fee to the promoters of Pacquiao-Mayweather, but Sky has offered the promoters a substantial fee AND a share of the pay-per-view cash they will rake in from the fans. It remains to bee seen how much Sky will charge fight fans to be able to tune into the most heavily hyped boxing match of all-time, but most fans seem to be expecting the fee to be substantially more than Sky’s usual £17.99.