Bernard Hopkins Serious About Fighting On / Wants James DeGale

He will be remembered by history as one of the greatest middleweight titlist’s of all time and the Hall Of Fame will surely already have a spot reserved for him, yet following his incredibly brave and spirited performance against Sergey Kovalev, in which he sustained a severe and comprehensive beating – many felt that Bernard Hopkins had at last taken one trip back to the well too many and that it was time for the curtain to finally come down on the Philly native’s epic, record breaking career.

Among his extraordinary achievements are; the most middleweight title defences in history, longest ever reign at 160 and being the oldest fighter to ever win a world title – so now, being 50 years of age, one thinks what could honestly be left for the modern great?

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Anthony Joshua Eyes Future Wilder / Haye Fights

Last weekend we saw big punching British heavyweight prospect Anthony Joshua answer the ‘test’ of Kevin Johnson in emphatic style, making a mockery of the American’s prior credentials of having never previously being stopped throughout his long professional career – the pinnacle of which saw him see the final bell against Vitali Klitschko back in 2009.

The fact he also extended Joshua’s domestic peers Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora the 12 round distance, has drawn comparisons between the British heavyweight rivals – with a school of thought existing that Joshua could well jump in – and beat – either man tomorrow.

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Willie Monroe Jr Would Love To Earn GGG Rematch

Many fans were left pleasantly surprised by 2014 Boxcino tournament winner Willie Monroe Jr in his fight with Gennady Golovkin recently, in which the spirited American was simply outgunned by the brute strength and power of the Kazakh who broke him down and floored him 3 times en route to earning a 6th round stoppage – one which was no doubt hastened by Monroe appearing to say “I’m done” to referee Jack Reiss after rising to his feet.

In spite of that, not many fans gave the light hitting New Yorker a prayer going into the fight, yet he was consistently able to tag Golovkin as the champion moved forward, all the while displaying some slick footwork, decent handspeed and a pure boxing southpaw style that for me, showed he at least has the ability to hang with most of the top 10 at 160lb.

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Done deal – House the new Marco Huck coach

Who will take charge of Marco Huck’s training? Ever since the current WBO Cruiserweight Super Champion severed ties with his former promoter, the boxing world has been left guessing on who might be his next coach. Ulli Wegner, who has held the reigns of Huck’s training regime for ten years, was not allowed to continue the working relationship, by his employer. Therefore a new coach was needed and the 30-year-old found him a few months ago in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“After long and thorough consideration I decided to go with Don House”, confirmed Huck officially. “We went through a few sessions during last years WBO Convention in Las Vegas at the Mayweather. I immediately realized that he is a very experienced guy.” Experienced he is indeed. The 54 year old American has so far worked with eleven world champions.

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Brandon Rios : Kell Brook Fight In The Works / Slates Top Rank

It’s now been almost 6 months since we last saw former WBA 135lb champion Brandon Rios in a ring – forcing a 3rd round retirement from Mike Alvarado in a disappointing end to their all-action trilogy – a fight it’s fair to say Alvarado simply didn’t turn up to on the night.

Since then, Rios has been linked to a couple of other noted ‘names’ – including Ruslan Provodnikov, Lucas Matthysse and, most realistically, IBF 147 boss, Britain’s Kell Brook.

Speaking to fighthype.com to discuss the rumours on social media, Rios attempted to clarify his position by appearing to insist it is indeed the UK fighter who is in the frame to be his next opponent.

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Golovkin: Wants Cotto & All The Belts At 160

‘Catchweight King’ seems to be a more appropriate phrase to describe lineal 160lb champion and WBC middleweight boss Miguel Cotto these days, with the fans almost unanimous in their recognition of Kazakh wrecking machine Gennady Golovkin as the division’s numero uno and top name.

Despite being in attendance to watch Cotto destroy Geale last night, Golovkin -the Puerto Rican’s mandatory challenger – appears to again being given the cold shoulder by Miguel and Freddie Roach as they look towards an all but confirmed super fight with Canelo Alvarez later this year.

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Oscar De La Hoya Focusing On Cotto v Canelo / Dismissive Over ‘Comeback’

After Miguel Cotto’s dominating and destructive performance against Daniel Geale last night in New York, one man rubbing his hands together was Golden Boy chief Oscar De La Hoya, who has told fighthype.com that he is now fully focused on putting together the ‘super fight’ between the Puerto Rican ace and his fighter – Mexican Box Office draw, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez – a clash that is all but a done deal in principle anyway.

Thankfully for the concerned parties, Geale was unable to take the shine of the mooted clash between the two stars – which would have had taken a hit at least financially should the Australian have pulled off the upset.

Speaking post-fight of Cotto’s performance, Oscar said;

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Will Miguel Cotto’s destruction of Daniel Geale lead to a showdown with Gennady Golovkin? (VIDEO)

Lineal middleweight champion Miguel Cotto made the first defense of his middleweight crown against former unified middleweight champion Daniel Geale in front of a packed crowd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The bout took place at a contractually agreed upon catch weight of 157 pounds, which caused displeasure among many boxing fans who are sick and tired of the recent catch weight trend. Cotto dominated the action in the fight where his left hook to the body and face led the charge in his attack. Cotto looked fresh, fast, and strong, whereas Geale seemed lethargic, timid, and uncertain. Cotto ultimately finished matters in round 4, when Geale decided not to continue after suffering two vicious knock downs during that stanza.

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The WBC Middleweight Title Hostage Situation

Miguel Cotto stopped Daniel Geale in the 4th round to defend his WBC middleweight title last night at the Barclays center in Brooklyn, NY. This was the first defense of the belt Cotto won with an excellent performance against veteran Sergio Martinez last year. The winner grabbed the trophy and ran for a whole year before he made a “prudent” choice of bypassing the real challenges in favor of fighting a no-threat opponent. His reluctance to face his mandatory GGG has transpired unequivocally and it seems he would rather be stripped than face a middleweight proper. Apparently he and his team will sit on the title and negotiate its release rather than make a a stand for it – those “middies” hit too hard anyway.

Cotto commented: “My weight yesterday was 153.6 pounds; you think I’m a middleweight? I’m not.”

That’s as clear as it gets regarding a GGG showdown. The Puerto Rican champ stated that if people want his fight with Saul Alvarez to happen, it will happen. He must have noticed that more people appear to want him to step up to his obligation and face his WBC mandatory challenger.

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Cotto destroys Geale

WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) paved the way towards a possible fight against Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez by stopping an over-matched, underpowered Daniel Geale (31-4, 16 KOs) in the 4th round on Saturday night to successfully defend his World Boxing Council middleweight title in front of 12,157 fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Geale, 34, quit after getting knocked down twice by Cotto in the 4th. Geale looked like he could have continued after getting up from a knockdown, but he opted instead to fight another day by telling the referee Harvey Dock that he didn’t want to continue fighting. The bout was subsequently stopped at 1:27 of the round.

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