Photos: Cotto and Geale make weight

(Photo Credit: Will Hart/HBO) WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) came in really low at 153.6lbs at his weigh-in today for his title defense on Saturday night against Australia’s Daniel Geale (31-3, 16 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Cotto looked like he overestimated how much weight he needed to strip off in order to make his own 157lb catch-weight.

By coming in lower than he needed to, Cotto kind of shot himself in the foot because he didn’t need to strip off nearly that much weight.

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The Next Step For Anthony Joshua ? Dillian Whyte Clash Inches Closer

The fire of excitement surrounding London 2012 gold medallist Anthony Joshua, from both the hardcore fight fans and those who follow the sport a little less closely, has been burning intensely for months now – and following his seemingly effortless destruction of Kevin Johnson last weekend, expectation and interest in the Watford star has reached a career high level.

Arguably the freshest, strongest and most talented heavyweight prospect that the UK has seen since the days of Lennox Lewis (who won his Olympic gold for Canada), those growing more and more convinced he will – over the next 18 months/2 years – develop into the finished article, are now left with an awkward situation on their hands, asking the same questions as promoter Eddie Hearn.

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Cotto Confident Of Beating Canelo And Golovkin

LONDON (5 June) – Middleweight world champion Miguel Cotto believes he would have too much for either Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin if they were to share the ring.

The WBC champion makes the first defence of his title this weekend against Australian Geale from the Barclays Center in New York, live and exclusive on BoxNation.

Much talk prior to the Geale showdown has circled around potential clashes with Mexican idol Canelo and rising pound-for-pound star Golovkin, but four-weight world champion Cotto believes he would be at an advantage if he was to face either man.

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Miguel Cotto vs. Daniel Geale: Catch Me If You Can

Live on HBO from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Miguel Cotto and Daniel Geale meet for the lineal middleweight title. Instead of breaking down the X’s and O’s of the matchup the pugilist masses are mainly fixated on the number 157. That is the number Geale must hit to prevent a possible cancellation. Cotto’s image has taken a big hit of late and even if he does make a big statement this Saturday night the damage is deep. They might as well of called this fight Cotto vs. Geale: To Catch A Mockingbird.

Barring a minor roadblock the only major obstacle that stands in the way of an HBO PPV fight between Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez is Daniel Geale. The Aussie has middleweight contender pedigree it’s just too bad that this bout won’t be contested at 160. Instead, this bout will be fought at a catchweight of 157 pounds. Judging by the comments made by both camps in the lead-up it sounds as though sticking to their guns is the plan.

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Linares & Mitchell Set To Do It Again?

Those that witnessed it saw something special last Saturday when Dagenham lightweight Kevin Mitchell tragically fell short of his world title dream against Venezuelan WBC champ Jorge Linares, when he was stopped at the end of the 10th round after giving an heroic account of himself – flooring the champion along the way and sustaining an horrific eye injury from an earlier clash of heads.

For those that had doubted whether Mitchell truly belonged at top level, things became a little clearer given his performance. In a thrilling contest, at the time of the stoppage, Mitchell was up on 2 of the cards and things were level on the third. A fitting testament to the drama that left those in attendance and watching at home crying out for more.

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Shawn Porter: No Concerns About The Catchweight – Porter v Broner

The catchweight situation is at the forefront of boxing more than ever right now, most notably with Miguel Cotto, who is using it as the preferred method of defending his WBC middleweight title this weekend against Australia’s Daniel Geale – a visibly larger fighter.

A similar situation, although not quite as extreme, surrounds welterweight Shawn Porter, who fights Adrien Broner as part of Premier Boxing Champions on June 20th at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas at a 145lb catchweight – though unlike Geale, he has a 10lb rehydaration clause woven into the contract that means he won’t be able to “blow-up” on the night beyond 155.

Talking to ThaBoxingVoice about the fight and the catchweight stipulation imposed by Team Broner, Porter was relaxed and confident about the job in hand;

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Kell Brook Clears Up The Khan Situation

Many many column inches are being devoted to the potential Brook v Khan fight, that so far continues to elude us thanks to Amir Khan’s stubborn insistence that Brook is somehow ‘undeserving’ of sharing a ring with him.

It’s a fight the British public in particular are desperate to see – and thankfully, down to this day and age of media saturation via the internet – every verbal barb and excuse is visible and it’s growing increasingly obvious who is stopping this fight from happening – even to the man in the street and the “casual” fan, if you will.

And it’s not the IBF 147lb champion, who has once again gone on the record to state his position unequivocally regarding Khan, telling Sky Sports;

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Robert Garcia Concerned By Coming To The UK – Brook v Rios

He was in London at the weekend to corner his fighter Evgeny Gradovich in his (unsuccessful) defence of the IBF 126lb strap against Lee Selby – and following that TD loss, Robert Garcia has spoken to fighthype.com to voice any concerns he has about making Brook/Rios in the UK, hinting that contractually there are already a number of things he doesn’t like – even going so far as to question the neutrality of British officials – and even the ringside doctor!

Never shy, Garcia said;

“Brandon wants the fight, we want the fight too but there’s already a few little things that I’m not liking. First of all they told us we wouldn’t be able to wear the (Everlast) MX gloves. They said the commission in London or England, whatever (BBBofC) – that they’ve pretty much banned those gloves. I think that’s just ’cause of us, ’cause they know what we wear and they’re worried.”

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Robert Guerrero – Aaron Martinez, Dominic Breazeale quotes

The main event is former world champion, Robert Guerrero (32-3-1 18 KOs) out of Gilroy, California. Robert’s no stranger to the southern California boxing fans, having posted two huge wins in recent years: the sensational 12-round decision over Andre Berto in November 2012 down in Ontario, and his epic fight-of-the-year win over Yoshihiro Kamegai on June 21, 2014 at the StubHub Center.

Aaron Martinez, West Covina, California has a record of (19-3-1, 4 KOs). He made his bones on the southern California boxing circuit, and knows how valuable this opportunity to face Guerrero is on such a big platform. Martinez never takes a backward step, never tires, and that’s his primary weapon: incredible stamina. With the styles of Guerrero-Martinez, this main event has all the makings of another action-packed StubHub Center war to add to the venue’s history.

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Froch Hits Back At DeGale : ‘Wouldn’t Get Past 8 vs Me’

After he vacated his IBF title instead of facing James DeGale (his then mandatory) in the first instance – something that allowed the Londoner to box – and beat – Andre Dirrell in Boston last month for said title, Carl Froch has spoken out (again!) to hit back at DeGale for his recent pu*** slur on him, insisting he is too experienced for the new champion to deal with – and certainly no pu***.

Speaking to TalkSport to criticise DeGale’s history making performance against Dirrell, Froch said;

“I thought he did just what he had to do to win the fight. I thought he could have pressed it home a little bit more when he scored the knockdown, (but) he seemed off the pace and on the back foot towards the end.”

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