De La Hoya Now 50/50 On Comeback

If British super middleweight Carl Froch is the will he/won’t he retire guy, then Mexican-American modern great and Hall of Fame inductee Oscar De La Hoya is fast becoming the will he/won’t he come back guy – with another new twist in the saga emerging from multiple sources that are quoting the Golden Boy as saying that any comeback is now 50/50.

After being linked to a potential fight with Kazakh puncher Gennady Golovkin and also a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, De La Hoya took to Instagram to quash those rumours – however, it is looking like the now 42 year old Oscar has had something of a change of heart.

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Is Sergey Kovalev good enough to beat Andre Ward? (VIDEO)

American pound for pound great Andre Ward made his long anticipated return to the squared circle last Saturday when he defeated Paul Smith by 9th round stoppage. The bout, which took place in Ward’s hometown of Oakland, was Ward’s first in 19 months. Ward dominated Smith from start to finish, and his victory proves that he should still be considered one of the absolute elite talents in the boxing world, even following his lengthy layoff. Ward hasn’t seemed to have lost a step.

The match between Ward and Smith took place at an agreed upon catch weight of 172 pounds (although Smith missed the mark by almost 4 and a half pounds). Does this catch weight signify a crossroads moment in Ward’s impressive career?

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Josh Warrington: Wants To Improve On Selby Against Joel Brunker

Matchroom Sport will make their return to Leeds on September 5th, when hometown favourite Josh Warrington takes on Australia’s Joel Brunker in what represents a stern test for the British 126 lb #2 as he defends his Commonwealth title from the First Direct Arena live on Sky Sports.

It certainly will be a good fight for comparative purposes as to how far behind Warrington is in relation to new IBF 126 lb champion Lee Selby, who boxed and outclassed Brunker himself in October of last year, securing a 9th round stoppage – although the tough and experienced Aussie gave the Welshman a little trouble early on depsite the Welshman rarely getting out of first gear.

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Golovkin Wants Froch Or Lemieux Now, Not Later

There has been some interesting talk from the much-avoided 160 lb fan favorite Gennady Golovkin this weekend regarding potential future fights, with the Kazakh knockout artist speaking out to British media and on twitter to talk Carl Froch and new IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux – who captured his strap in exciting but no means technically excellent manner on Saturday night against Frenchman Hassan N’Dam.

I have absolutely no confidence in Froch fighting on and the more time passes, the more that belief looks to be reality. However, he had expressed an interest in a Golovkin fight and for a man as avoided as the Kazakh star – all publicity is good publicity and he wants the world to know he is good on his side of the bargain and really will fight all comers.

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Thurman: Doesn’t See Khan Beating Floyd / Will Fight Amir Himself

Mention the words ‘welterweight’ and ‘Floyd Mayweather’ in the same sentence these days and it’s likely that Britain’s Amir Khan won’t be too far away from the conversation.

Irrespective of Floyd’s (sardonic) assertions that he will fight Andre Berto or Karim Mayfield – which you’d be a fool to believe – Khan still thinks that he is in the running for that fight in September and along with the likes of Kell Brook, Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman – is capable of landing the shot.

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Mayweather: Sympathetic Words For Adrien Broner

(Photo credit: Suzanne Teresa/Premier Boxing Champions) There were hundreds of thousands of boxing fans the world over rejoicing on Saturday night when “Little Bro” Adrien Broner came up short against Shawn Porter in Las Vegas – with consensus opinion being the abrasive motor mouth didn’t get anything that he didn’t deserve – especially given his classless antics at the final presser – that included insulting his opponents father/trainer, Kenny Porter.

In terms of the fight, it was a case of too little, too late from Broner, who appeared to come alive right at the end of the clash – even scoring a late knockdown – and his much maligned attitude was summed up with an Instagram post directly after the fight that informed the world that he was off out – ostensibly to hit the clubs and get pi****.

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Deontay Wilder Talks Klitschko v Fury

For many fight fans in both the US and in Europe, particularly the UK, there is one heavyweight clash they would like to see more than any other – and it DOESN’T involve a Klitschko.

It is of course the hugely anticipated clash between Alabama puncher Deontay Wilder and self-professed ‘Gypsy Warrior’ Tyson Fury – which, when it eventually happens – will surely be one of the most entertaining build ups’ to a fight in a good long time. Not to mention the fact, that due to their individual strengths and frailties, it is a real 50/50 fight and could surely go either way.

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Andre Ward – Paul Smith: Post conversations and observations, Broner facts

By W. White: Last Saturday night, as I observed Super Middleweight champion Andre Ward (28-0, 14KO’s) disassemble Britton Paul Smith (35-6, 20 KO’s) from press row, I had questions. What was the purpose them fighting at a 172lb catch weight? Did Paul Smith purposely coming overweight to give him some sort of advantage? Is this a fight the general boxing public really wanted to see? How would Andre Ward perform given his 19 month absence from the ring? Who could possibly be next after this fight? As the fight progressed and I observed Ward tactfully picking his spots with his jab and sneaking in straight rights through Smith’s guard, I realized it was only a matter of time.

Ward kept Smith in the middle of the ring circling, probing, and striking routinely as Smith surprisingly continued to move forward. By the middle rounds, Smith’s face was flush and beginning to swell. It would seem as if this was just an over-hyped sparring match for Ward to continue to pick a part his opponent and shake of any ring dust. I say dust because there was an apparent lack of rust as Ward seemed sharp, movement wise, defensively and in overall ring generalship.

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Throwback Fighter: Marcus Upshaw

The confident, tenacious, and hard-working orthodox middleweight pugilist Marcus “Arillus” Upshaw (17-13-4, 1NC, 8 KOs) is a firm believer that he’ll be a world champion in the near future.
“My uncle, the late Gene Upshaw, a NFL Hall of Fame offensive tackle for the Oakland Raiders always told me that I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to, and that is what I aim to do by becoming the best boxer in my weight class,” said Upshaw.

Upshaw’s opportunity to become a world champion continues as he takes on hometown favorite Lanell “KO” Bellows (12-1-1, 7 KOs) this Sunday, June 21st at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Upshaw is moving up to the super middleweight division and fighting in his opponents’ backyard for this bout, which he has done throughout his career.

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Barthelemy beats DeMarco

(Photo career: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) LAS VEGAS (June 21, 2015) – Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy (23-0, 13 KOs) dominated and dropped Antonio DeMarco (31-5-1, 23 KOs) on his way to a wide unanimous 10-round decision on Premier Boxing Champions on CBS Sunday afternoon at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as promoter of the event and President of Mayweather Promotions Floyd “Money” Mayweather watched from the first row.

Barthelemy was strong in his 140-pound debut, landing with his left hand from every angle, including a straight left that knocked DeMarco down in the fourth round. Barthelemy controlled the fight, never allowing the southpaw DeMarco to ramp up the pressure or land anything significant.

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