Mikey Garcia’s Problems Continue

Promotional disputes in boxing can sadly deprive a talented young fighter of crucial peak years in their careers. Most recently we have seen the likes of Andre Ward out of the ring for extended periods due to wrangling over contractual issues – yet at least he is now set to return on June 20th.

Another fighter losing massive chunks of his career is 2-weight world champion, undefeated Mexican-American, Mikey Garcia – brother of Oxnard based trainer Robert Garcia.

Garcia has been in contractual dispute with Bob Arum for some time now and last boxed in January of 2014 when he beat Juan Carlos Burgos.

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Scott Quigg To Fight Kiko Martinez – July 18th

WBA (reg) 122lb champion Scott Quigg (30-0-2, 22ko) has once again dodged the Guillermo Rigondeaux bullet with the announcement that he will defend his title on July 18th in Manchester against Spain’s Kiko Martinez. (32-5, 24ko)

After negotiations for a massive unification clash with Belfast’s IBF champion Carl Frampton falling through recently, it would seem Eddie Hearn has turned to Martinez for comparative purposes.

The former world and European champion has been twice beaten by Frampton in the past – in February 2013 when he was stopped (for the only time in his career) and again last September when he surrendered his belt via 12 round decision.

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Eddie Hearn Concedes GGG Could Hurt Froch – The Cobra Unlikely To Fight On

In a refreshing move, Matchroom Sport’s Eddie Hearn has admitted that should his fighter choose to go on and bow out in a big stadium fight in America in the Summer – murderous punching middleweight Gennady Golovkin would be one to swerve.

However, in speaking to the Daily Mail, “Fast Car” has conceded it is unlikely that Nottingham’s Froch will look to extend his 13 years as a professional with another contest – choosing instead to go out on the famous KO of George Groves in their Wembley rematch a year ago.

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A Movie Legend, A Boxing Legend; An Icon Speaks: Jack O’Halloran on his boxing and movie careers

“Robert Mitchum was a father figure to me.” “[Marlon] Brando was great.” “Christopher Reeve was a jerk and I was just about to kick the s**t out of him!” “Cleveland Williams hit me harder than any other human being.” “Muhammad Ali asked me to get his brother out of boxing.”

Most famous for his role as mute villain, ‘Non’ in the blockbuster ‘Superman’ films, 73-year-old Jack O’Halloran was also an accomplished pro boxer who met a number of big names in the 1960s and ’70s. In compiling a 34-21-2(17) ledger, the strapping 6’6” Philadelphia-born giant – who fought out of Boston – rumbled with, amongst others, George Foreman, Cleveland Williams, Joe Bugner and Ron Lyle.

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Keith Thurman – Fancies He’d Beat Pacquiao

Dan Birmingham trained welterweight star Keith Thurman(25-0, 21ko) has spoken to fighthype.com about the future of the welterweight division in the wake of the Mayweather/Pacquiao saga to say that while Floyd is undoubtedly P4P #1 in the world, Manny Pacquiao has certainly dropped in his estimations.

The undefeated Florida star, who is never short of confidence said of the Filipino legend;

“Floyd is definitely the top dog. But Manny Pacquiao….what was that loss for Manny? Number 6? Number 7 in his career?” (6)

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Floyd Mayweather Says He’d Beat Manny Pacquiao “100 out of 100 Times” | Full Interview

Sports Emmy® Award winning reporter Jim Gray of SHOWTIME Sports® sat down with pound-for-pound champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather for an exclusive and candid interview late Tuesday night, just days after Mayweather dominated Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao en route to a 12-round unanimous decision victory last Saturday night in Las Vegas. The interview will premiere this Saturday, May 9, on SHOWTIME immediately following the network’s premiere of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao (9 p.m. ET/PT).

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Johnson Says He Will Knock Joshua Out/AJ Unfazed

Anybody who tuned in to see British future heavyweight star Anthony Joshua’s (12-0,12ko) routine, one sided knockout of South American Raphael Zumbano Love on Saturday night will have witnessed durable American veteran Kevin Johnson (29-6-1, 14ko) step into the ring post-fight to hype and sell their upcoming May 30th bout from London’s O2.

The veteran American, who has never been stopped in his 36 professional fight career – looked calm and composed as he met Joshua’s stare and said;

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The Future Is Bright (And Cotto?) For Canelo After Slaughtering Kirkland

Well – I wrote yesterday that a couple of rounds of toe-to-toe action filled with drama would be better than 36 minutes of May-Pac and unless you are a total purist – I was proven correct. It was what we hoped for, albeit it for slightly longer maybe?

Though from the hurtful, venomous punches the Mexican star threw repeatedly how was Kirkland ever going to last? It looked like he was being used as a heavy bag by Alvarez whose mother, as always, cheered enthusiastically on from the sidelines.

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Floyd Mayweather: Nineteen Years, One Excuse

Manny Pacquiao, outpointed by Mayweather on May 2nd, recently underwent surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, the shoulder injury which he blamed for his defeat, infuriating Mayweather to say, “I’ve lost all respect for him”, and brand him a “coward”. “I’m not going to buy into the bulls***, and I don’t want the public to buy into the bulls***”.

“Nineteen years in the fight game and I’ve had one excuse: don’t have an excuse. Winners win and losers have excuses”, Mayweather recently stated on Instagram.

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You Have To Feel For Ricky Burns – But Boy Is He Back!

After last night’s contest in Texas- as part of Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions brand – the history books will always say Ricky Burns (37-5, 11ko) lost 3 of his last 4 fights. Yet in my humble opinion, the former 2 weight world champion was extremely unlucky as the traveling fighter against Omar Figueroa (25-0-1, 18ko) – dropping the decision in a fight where he wasn’t just fighting his opponent but also the referee and the odds in general.

Some might say, in a different ring, with a different ref, had the action all been the same – Burns may well have walked out the victor. Or at least battled to a hard earned draw.

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