Bellew vs. Chilemba II possible for Froch-Kessler II undercard on May 25th

bellew33 Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn says that he’s thinking about putting a rematch between WBC Silver light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew (19-1-1, 12 KO’s) and Isaac Chilemba (20-1-1, 9 KO’s) on the undercard of the Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler 2 undercard on May 25th at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Bellew and Chilemba fought to a 12 round draw last Saturday night in a WBC light heavyweight eliminator bout in Liverpool, UK.

Bellew fought well enough to deserve a loss in the fight, but he lucked out when the judges scored the fight a draw. Chilemba was a bad match-up for the hard hitting Bellew because he was unable to hit him with his big swings couldn’t deal with Chilemba’s quick reflexes and excellent defensive skills.

Chavez Jr. interested in facing Darren Barker on June 22nd

Former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) is leaning in the direction of facing former EBU middleweight champion Darren Barker (25-1, 16 KO’s) on June 22nd in a fight that in Mexico City, Mexico. Chavez Jr. needs a tune up bout and he previously thinking of fighting Brian Vera or Matthew Macklin, but something has put him off the trail of fighting one of those guys and instead he likes the idea of facing the 30-year-old Barker.

Chavez Jr. told ESPN Deportes “I think Barker is a good fighter. He’s only lost to [Sergio] ‘Maravilla’ Martinez.”

Canelo vs. Trout: 31,000 tickets already sold for April 20th bout

Tickets are still going fast for the April 20th unification bout between WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) and unbeaten WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s) at the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas, USA. 31,500 tickets have already been purchased for the fight.

Mike Battah of Battah Promotions said to the elpasotimes.com “We’ve sold 31.500 tickets at this point. We’re currently building a new section that will seat 3,000. We’re considering opening up some of the higher levels as well. And, we might still open up seats to view the fight on a big screen.”

Andre Ward hoping to fight Chavez Jr.

WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (26-0, 14 KO’s) says former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) is high on his list for a big fight in 2013. Ward just destroyed WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson last September in a 10th round TKO when Dawson made the mistake of moving down in weight to face him at 168. Now, Ward is hoping that Chavez Jr., a huge fighter for the 160 pound division, will move up in weight and face him at 168. Ward thinks it’s a fight that boxing fans will want to see.

Ward said to RingTV “A fight between me and Chavez Jr. is more interesting. I think it’s what fans what to see more than [Sergio] Martinez now.”

Arum: No Rios-Alvarado rematch; they should fight other guys

rios2 Despite last night’s fight between Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) and Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) on HBO being incredibly exciting for boxing fans, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is saying no to the idea of them facing each other in an immediate rematch.

Arum wants to put them in with other fighters first, and then match them up at some point in the future. This is no doubt a risky move because if one of them gets beaten badly it could take some of the interest in seeing them fight again.

Alvarado defeated Rios by a 12 round unanimous decision last night by the scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 114-113.

Paul Fleming: Ready for “Showtime” in Macao This Weekend

This Saturday night, as part of Top Rank’s historic first boxing promotion in China, at the Venetian Casino & Resort in Macao that will showcase the debut of dual Olympic champion Zou Shiming and two world title fights, the eyes of Australian fans will be focused on the appearance of super featherweight Paul ‘Showtime’ Fleming (17-0, 12 KOs), who will appear on the undercard against Japan’s Ryusei Yoshida (22-5, 10 KOs).

Fleming, a 2008 Olympian in the featherweight division, has progressed steadily since his debut in November 2008. In his last encounter in the ring, Fleming defeated former world title challenger, Filipino Balweg Bangoyan via 8 round unanimous decision, to improve his record to an impressive 17 wins from 17 fights, with 12 wins inside the distance.

Mike Alvarado Gets Revenge – Bet on Rios 3rd Time Around

Mike Alvarado did the tough job that was needed to come away with a decision, but he took a terrible beating along the way at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas. His decision win was a tribute to his courage and ability to keep on keeping on, avoiding the many kayo shots coming his way, which allowed him to come away with a decision. But, if there’s a third fight, don’t bet on him being able to do it again.
The physical appearance of the winner and loser during the post fight interview chaos made one wonder how Alvarado pulled it off. His face was a bloody pulp, and Rios was still bouncing around like the Energizer Bunny. Rios definitely took plenty of hard shots too, but the damage was much less evident on his kisser or his post fight demeanor.

It’s doubtful whether Rios was being totally truthful when telling HBO announcer Max Kellerman he hadn’t been rocked by his conqueror, but it was also true he wasn’t shook enough to lessen the “dangerous when wet” sign that should have be pinned on his back. Once Rios works up a sweat, watch out! Even as the end approached, viewers knew he could still end it at any time. His shots were still full of power, and whistling on straight, short pathways. Unfortunately for him, they were just barely missing, and Alvarado was bouncing side to side enough to keep Rios from throwing the combinations he really desired.

Live from Salle Des Etoiles in Monte Carlo, Monaco, current WBA and IBO Middleweight Champion Gennady Golovkin (26-0, 23 KOs) needed just a little over eight minutes to hand the usually durable Nobuhiro Ishida (24-9-2, 9 KOs) his first knock-out loss in 35 professional bouts.

Triple G’s 23rd knock-out as a prizefighter occurred only nine weeks after his previous stoppage victory over Junior Middleweight contender Gabriel Rosado, which happened on January 19th in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

A surprisingly aggressive Ishida claimed his spot in the center of the ring and attempted to dictate the pace of the action by working his long, rangy jab in round one. Ishida held his own during the first three minutes of the contest, while the incumbent champ circled the tall Japanese fighter to find openings for his own jab and straight right hand. Both men landed good shots and showed their respective beards in the opening stanza.

In a big upset, Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) defeated former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The final judges’ scores were 115-113, 115-113 and 114-113.

Rios started off well with his heavy pressure and was able to force Alvarado to brawl with him despite the fact that Alvarado was constantly moving in the first three rounds.

In the 2nd round, Rios staggered Alvarado badly with a hard jab. Alvarado’s legs went to jelly briefly, but he was able to hold onto Rios long enough to clear his head. Rios landed several big shots before the round ended, but to his credit Alvarado was able to take them and stay upright. Rios should emptied his arsenal in that round because Alvarado was able to take control of the fight from the 3rd round on and dominate with his movement and hard right hands to the head.

In one of the worst decisions I’ve seen in a while, WBC Silver light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew (19-1-1, 12 KO’s) was given a 12 round draw against challenger Isaac Chilemba (20-1-2, 9 KO’s) tonight in Bellew’s home city of Liverpool, at the Echo Arena in the UK.

Chilemba completely controlled the last 9 rounds of the fight, and deserved a clear win by making the 6’2″ Bellew miss again and again with his shots. At the same time, Bellew got away with an awful of fouling in the fight in terms of holding and hitting, throwing a shot after the bell, a head butt and push that occurred after the 1st round had ended, and a handful of rabbit shots.

It look like the referee was just there to watch the fight instead of controlling it. The final judges scores were 116-112 for Chilema, 116-115 for Bellew, and 114-114 even. I scored the fight 117-111 for Chilemba.