Khan Says Floyd Fight Chances ‘Better Than 50/50’

It’s pretty fair to say that Britain’s former 140lb world champion Amir Khan comes in for more than his fair share of stick – particularly over the fact that for the last two years he has (some say desperately and at the expense of his credibility) been pursuing a mega-money fight with P4P king Floyd Mayweather.

That and his not fighting domestic rival – IBF 147lb champion Kell Brook in a UK super-fight this Summer. Oh – and the fact that his next opponent is light hitting American Chris Algieri in a much maligned and ridiculed fight on the 29th.

Are you getting the idea?

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Willie Monroe Jr – ‘Ring IQ Wins Me This Fight’ – GGG v Monroe Jr

Saturday night sees slick, yet light punching Boxcino tournament winner Willie Monroe Jr (19-1, 6ko) attempt the seemingly impossible when he becomes the 33rd man to step between the ropes to face destructive puncher Gennady Golovkin.

Of the previous 32 men who took on the task – 29 failed to see the final bell.

This is going to be a massive ask for the relatively unknown American and represents a huge jump up in class from anyone he has faced before. To give you an idea for comparative purposes, Brian Vera – now due to fight Britain’s Rocky Fielding – is the best, and last, name on his resume.

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Canelo vs Golovkin – Abel Sanchez Wants It Sooner Rather Than Later

There are quite a few figures in boxing who are never short of something to say, one of the most vocal being veteran trainer Abel Sanchez, -for whom Gennady Golovkin is the latest of the world champions he has cornered.

Ahead of Golovkins upcoming 160lb bout with Boxcino tournament winner Willie Monroe Jr on Saturday, Sanchez has spoken to fighthype.com about the seemingly inevitable clash with Mexican superstar Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in the wake of Saturday’s destruction of James Kirkland.

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Kovalev Baiting Adonis Once Again

After his recent ill-advised “racist” tweet ostensibly suggesting that 175lb rival and WBC champion Adonis Steven (26-1, 21ko) is a chimpanzee, unbeaten Russian banger Sergey Kovalev (27-0-1, 24ko) has gone on twitter once again to attempt to hype any potential clash – albeit in a slightly less offensive manner.

Two tweets from the “Krusher” in particular have been re-tweeted hundreds of times.

The first read;

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Froch May Well Return Says Trainer – Only ‘ Elite’ Fighters Can Challenge Him

168lb boss Carl Froch, recently stripped of his WBA (reg) title for inactivity, has hinted more than enough recently that the end is nigh. Promoter Eddie Hearn also waded in last week to say he too suspects we’ve seen the last of “The Cobra”, yet The Daily Star are reporting that long time trainer and Team GB Olympic boxing head coach Rob McCracken, may well think otherwise.

Provided Froch fights on for the right reasons – and not just the money – then the former fighter-turned-trainer can feasibly see a return.

He said;

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Crolla At Last Gets His Dream Shot/Gonna Be Up Against It

Brilliant news this afternoon for British lightweight Anthony Crolla (29-4-2, 11ko) who will at last land a world title shot, getting the gig to fight dangerous Colombian Darleys Perez (32-1, 20ko) for the WBA (reg) 135lb strap on the same card as Scott Quigg’s 122lb WBA defence against Kiko Martinez on July 18 in Manchester.

The saga began with Crolla being due to face then-champ Richar Abril for the belt but fate intervened before Christmas when the Manchester prizefighter was hit over the head with a concrete slab confronting burglars at a neighbour’s home.

A fractured skull and a broken ankle, sustained during the assault has kept him out of action until now.

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Money and Pacman – We have a winner, but questions remain

Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. should be feeling like he is on top of the world, celebrating what some thought would be the biggest win of his career, a unanimous decision over Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao at the MGM, Las Vegas on May 2nd. There would be no more irritating questions like, when will you fight Manny? Why won’t you fight Manny? His big win should have brought an end to the pestering, but it has not. Why? Now there is a new set of questions.

Now that Manny “Pacman” Paquiao has undergone the knife (tear rt. rotator cuff), and is faced with a lengthy recuperative period, will he retire? If Manny had been one hundred percent healthy, would things have been different? Did Money beat someone other than the real Pacman?

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The Devil’s Advocate: Mayweather vs Pacquiao wasn’t all that bad!

After re-watching Mayweather vs Pacquiao, I have to say it really wasn’t a bad fight. It was certainly no worse than most of Mayweather’s recent high profile bouts. I found it far more watchable than Mayweather’s fights against Saul Alvarez, Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero and the second Marcos Maidana affair. The early rounds were filled with tension and the fight was close enough at the mid-way point that a win for either fighter was still on the table. Technically, as Max Kellerman pointed out on Saturday night, even at the start of round 11 Pacquiao was still in a position to pull out a draw, and so it wasn’t completely one sided. It was hardly the stinker that the media has made it out to be. The problem seems to be a combination of unrealistic expectations along with the high price tag. Add to that the fanciful notion that the public had that this was a pick ‘em fight and you have a recipe for disappointment. Manny was a solid underdog coming into the fight and that’s how the fight played out. That hardly means it was a bad fight. The fact is that it held my interest during a second watching, and I am sure I am not alone in that.

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Walters vs. Marriaga & Verdejo vs. Najera: Saturday, June 13 Live on HBO

NEW YORK (May 12, 2015) — Undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight world champion NICHOLAS “Axe Man” WALTERS of Jamaica, and the boxing gem of Puerto Rico, undefeated No. 3 world-rated lightweight contender FELIX “El Diamante” VERDEJO will headline, in separate bouts, a world championship card in New York during Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend. With 34 knockout victories between them, fireworks are all but assured for this event which will take place Saturday, June 13, in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Both will be facing undefeated opponents. Walters, who is in the third year of his championship reign, will defend his world title against Top-10 contender MIGUEL “The Scorpion” MARRIAGA of Colombia. Verdejo, in his live HBO debut, will make the first defense of his newly-won World Boxing Organization (WBO) Latino lightweight title against IVAN “Bam Bam” NAJERA, of San Antonio, TX. Both fights will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark®, beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

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Erislandy Lara vs Delvin Rodriguez on June 12th

CHICAGO (May 12, 2015) – Cuban boxing sensation Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara (20-2-2, 12 KOs)returns to the ring on Friday, June 12 to face veteran Delvin Rodriguez (28-7-4, 16 KOs) as Premier Boxing Champions heads back to Spike.

Additionally, Russian knockout artist Artur Beterbiev (8-0, 8 KOs) is set to square off against the ring-savvy Doudou Ngumbu (34-6, 13 KOs) of Haute-Garonne, France.

This edition of PBC on Spike begins at 9 p.m. ET. Doors at UIC Pavilion open at 5 p.m. CT with the first fight set for 5:30 p.m. CT.

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