George Groves: Looking to Steal the Show on Mayweather/Berto Bill

This Saturday in Vegas, at the MGM Grand, Britain’s George Groves attempts to make it third time lucky, when he challenges Sweden’s Badou Jack for the “Ripper’s” WBC super middleweight title, on the undercard of the much-maligned Floyd Mayweather/Andre Berto headline PPV fight.

With the lack of enthusiasm for what many deem a flagrant cherry pick in Mayweather choosing Berto for dust-up number 49, Groves, who twice challenged Carl Froch for world honours, thinks his time to be crowned champion has at last arrived, and he feels he may even be able to upstage the self-professed “TBE” with the performance he plans on putting on beneath the headliners.

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Dirrell conquers Rubio; McDonnell beats Kameda in close fight

(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS (Sept. 6, 2015) – Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell (28-1-1, 22 KOs) scored an impressive unanimous decision over Marco Antonio “El Veneno” Rubio (59-8-1, 51 KOs) Sunday afternoon in the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on CBS main event from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Dirrell proved to be too fast for Rubio as he consistently beat the Mexican veteran to the punch and was able to control the fight. Rubio hung tough throughout the fight, continuing to come forward in his attempts to catch Dirrell.

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Dirrell schools Rubio; McDonnell decisions Kameda

(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) 30-year-old former WBC 168lb champion Anthony Dirrell (28-1-1, 22 KOs) defeated Marco Antonio Rubio (59-8-1, 51 KOs) by a 10 round decision in a mismatch on Premier Boxing Champions on CBS from the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Rubio was little more than a punching bag in the fight for the much bigger, stronger and quicker Dirrell.

The three judges all scored the fight the same in giving Dirrell every round by the scores of 100-90, 100-90 and 100-90. Dirrell had Rubio slightly hurt on a number of occasions, but he wasn’t able to finish him off due to him throwing only shot at a time. Dirrell’s pot shot style of fighting wasn’t conducive to getting a knockout against a guy with a good chin like Rubio.

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Anthony Joshua: Keeping Wladimir Klitschko Clash Firmly on the Radar

Big hitting British heavyweight prospect Anthony Joshua (13-0, 13ko), thinks that he will come through in style against Scotland’s Gary Cornish (21-0, 12ko) next Saturday, when the two go toe-to-toe for the Commonwealth heavyweight title in London.

The Olympic gold medalist, set to then meet fellow Londoner Dillian Whyte in December, looks to then eventually chase down Wladimir Klitschko towards the end of next year, and is confident that the Ukrainian – who boxes Tyson Fury on October 24th – will still be around by the time he is ready to step up.

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Ringside Report: Briggs v. Marrone

Saturday, September 5, 2015, former Heavyweight Champion Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) continued his campaign for a title shot by knocking out Florida native Michael Marrone (21-5, 15 KOs) in the second round of a scheduled twelve-round bout.

Briggs retired from boxing after losing to Vitali Klitschko by unanimous decision in 2010. In 2014, he returned to boxing hoping to secure another world title shot. Since his April, 2014 return, Briggs has won all eight of his bouts with seven coming by KO. Of Briggs’ last eight opponents, Marrone is only the second to make it through the first round.

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Roy Jones Jr NOT Fighting in the UK on Sept 12th

It would appear that long faded 46 year old future Hall of Fame inductee Roy Jones Jr, will NOT be fighting in the UK as planned, after he failed to board a plane to England ahead of next Saturday’s scheduled fight against local 42 year old, Tony Moran, that was to take place in Liverpool.

Jones is chasing an elusive cruiserweight title, the only division from middleweight thru heavyweight that he hasn’t won a world honour, and according to Stephen Vaughan, who was promoting the Malta Boxing Commission sanctioned Liverpool event, Jones has been promised the shot he wants.

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Tony Bellew: ‘It’s Only a Matter of Time Until I Get a World Title’

Exciting isn’t a word one regularly associates with British cruiserweight contender Tony Bellew (25-2-1, 16ko), and nothing changed in that regard last night either, after another forgettable, 8 round “late-notice” bout against Latvian journeyman, Arturs Kulikauskis (16-26-5), in Leeds.

Bellew, without trainer Dave Coldwell, who is in the US with WBA (reg) bantamweight champion, Jamie McDonnell, made hard work of a mobile, but limited, survivor in Kulikauskis, and went hunting for the punch to finish things from the get-go, enjoying limited success in a difficult to watch contest that set the tone of almost the entire underwhelming fight card from the First Direct Arena.

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Shannon Briggs Wins One Sided Michael Marrone Fight / Again Calls Out Wladimir Klitschko

Faded former heavyweight champ, Shannon Briggs, made short work of unheralded and overmatched foe Michael Marrone last night, fighting in front of a small, but star studded and raucous crowd at the Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena, in Hollywood, Florida.

It took less than 2 rounds for Briggs, who turns 44 at the end of the year, to dispose of his hapless foe, flooring Marrone with a big right hand to the head at the end of the first round, immediately knocking any desire out of him, as former heavyweight luminaries such as Evander Holyfield, Larry Holmes and Lennox Lewis – all in town for the weekend’s gathering of former heavyweight legends – looked on.

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Warrington decisions Brunker; Murray beats Torres; Bellew defeats Kulikauskis

#8 IBF featherweight contender Josh Warrington (22-0, 4 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a 12 round unanimous decision win over the now often used #9 IBF Joel Brunker (28-2, 16 KOs) in a one-sided fight at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. Brunker, 28, is finding himself an in demand fighter for British guys in Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport.

Like he showed tonight, Brunker was no match for Hearn’s fighter Warrington. In a recent fight in which Brunker was badly beaten by one of Hearn’s fighters, he was stomped by Lee Selby last October in losing by a 9th round stoppage. All three judges scored the fight 120-108.

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Twenty Heavyweight Champions Together in Florida

On Friday, September 4, 2015, twenty World Heavyweight Champions gathered in Hollywood, FL at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Michael Moorer, Shannon Briggs, Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko, Oliver McCall, Hasim Rahman, Riddick Bowe, Michael Spinks, Leon Spinks, James “Bonecrusher” Smith, Michael Bentt, Ray Mercer, Tim Witherspoon, Lamon Brewster, Chris Byrd, John Ruiz, Mike Weaver, Bruce Seldon, Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tubbs, Tony Tucker, and Larry Holmes all attended the event. The atmosphere was light as the heavyweights, dressed in tuxedos, clowned around with one another, joked, and reflected on their careers.

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