Matty Askin: Delayed but not distracted

When Matty Askin, 17-2 (10KO’s), was told his eagerly anticipated tilt at Ovill McKenzie’s, 23-12 (12KO’s), British and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles was to be rescheduled, he could be forgiven for thinking it was some sort of joke.

Unfortunately for the 26-year old, his friend and trainer Michael Jennings was deadly serious when – three days before fight night – he informed him that the fight was to be rescheduled for the third time with a revised date and venue yet to be confirmed.

Thankfully the bout was saved and will now take place within the iconic York Hall, Bethnal Green on Friday 27th March at the fourth time of asking.

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Ariza may work out for Floyd Mayweather

The reports coming out of the Mayweather Boxing Club, have Floyd showing more punching power while sparring than he’s had in the recent past. Jeff Mayweather, uncle of the P4P king has spoken about a recent 3 round sparring session between Mayweather and Zab Judah, that his nephew dominated and “beat Judah up”. Reports from a couple of weeks back had Mayweather stopping a sparring partner with a body shot. Uncle Jeff said he initially believed that his nephew brought former Pacquiao strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza in as psychological ploy against the Pacquiao camp.

What’s funny here is that Ariza is now doing strength and conditioning training for Floyd Mayweather. What’s also funny is how suspicious many of the Mayweather naysayers (haters) have become regarding that relationship. I say funny because the inference is that Ariza could be up to no good, even though it was great when Ariza worked for Pacquiao.

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Mayweather-Pacquiao “Fight of The Century” looks set to be televised live in U.K on SKY

(Photo credit: Ester Lin/Showtime) Dubbed by many as “The Fight of The Century,” the fast approaching Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super-fight looks set to go out on Sky Sports in the U.K. British fans have been wondering where they will be able to view the richest fight in boxing and, according to Jeff Powell of The Mail, Sky Sports will exclusively show the fight in the early hours of May 3rd U.K time.

According to The Mail’s article, Frank Warren, head of boxing channel BoxNation, put in a higher upfront fee to the promoters of Pacquiao-Mayweather, but Sky has offered the promoters a substantial fee AND a share of the pay-per-view cash they will rake in from the fans. It remains to bee seen how much Sky will charge fight fans to be able to tune into the most heavily hyped boxing match of all-time, but most fans seem to be expecting the fee to be substantially more than Sky’s usual £17.99.

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The “Pound-For-Pound” Puzzle

What exactly do we mean by the best fighters in the world, “pound-for-pound”? And how do we decide who gets to be on the list?

Back in the earliest days of pugilism, weight divisions as we know them today simply didn’t exist. By the early 20th century, boxing’s traditional eight weight classes began to crystalize, and later in the century these grew to the now seventeen recognized divisions we see today. For a fighter operating within the lower weight divisions though, no matter how far he excels himself beyond his peers, it is the heavyweight champion who nevertheless retains the title of ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’. He is the guy on the street who stands aside for no one; he is the bouncer where the buck stops; he is the true ‘King of the Jungle’. He is, after all, the only boxer who can claim the beating of “any man in the world” – in the literal rather than figurative sense.

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John Culver’s Boxing Top-ten Pound-For-Pound List

Here is my current, top-ten pound-for-pound list in the sport of boxing…

#1. Floyd Mayweather Junior – 47-0-0 (26 knockouts). He’s currently the lineal welterweight champion, he holds 2 of the ‘big four’ world title belts at welterweight – the WBA ‘Super’ world title and WBC title, and he is undefeated and has recently held the championship and WBA/WBC world titles at 154 pounds (superwelterweight/junior-middleweight), simultaneously with the welterweight titles and lineal championship.

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Åland Islands Court dismisses Sauerlands claim, Helenius will fight

Robert Helenius’ agent Kari Uoti informed the organizators of GIGA Estonian Boxing Night, that the Åland Islands Court decided to dismiss Sauerlands claims and the therefore the fighter has no obstacles stepping into the ring in Tallinn on Saturday.

Sauerland issued a claim to prevent Helenius from fighting in Tallinn, but the Åland Islands Court did not see a reason to institute the proceedings.

Finland heavyweight boxer Robert Helenius will make his comeback this Saturday, on the 21st of March in Tallinn. Helenius arrived in Tallinn already on Monday and will appear in the ring today, during press-training.

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Braehmer promising victory on Saturday night in Rostock

Photo Credit: Sebastian Heger – Mission Impossible’ or ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’, these are the two opposing views shared at today’s final press conference ahead of Saturday night’s WBA World Light Heavyweight Championship fight between Juergen Braehmer (45-2, 33 KOs) and Robin Krasniqi (43-3, 16 KOs) at the StadtHalle in Rostock, Germany.

Kicking-off proceedings at the Fischland Hotel, promoter Kalle Sauerland expressed his excitement at the all-German duel. ‘’On Saturday night we have the champion versus the number one ranked challenger,’’ said Sauerland. ‘’This is what boxing is all about – the best fighting the best!’’

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The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board: May 2 Will Crown Welterweight King and May Launch Pac Into Boxing History

The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, an independent, international, noncommercial rankings organization, announces that the winner of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.–Manny Pacquiao fight on May 2 will be crowned the true welterweight champion of the world.

The 44-member board, representing 16 countries and five continents, does not acknowledge the various belts passed off as “world championships” and therefore does not acknowledge “unification” as anything more than hype. Its charter identifies the true divisional champions as those who defeat their rightful predecessor and holds that the first two ranked contenders alone can contest a vacant divisional throne.

Mayweather has been ranked #1 at welterweight since the board’s inaugural rankings were published in October 2012.

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Satchell set to defend EBU title in the wake of Shiming defeat

Kevin Satchell, 14-0 (3KO’s), will now defend his European Flyweight title against mandatory challenger Thomas Masson, 12-3 (3KO’s), in the wake of a surprise defeat for Chinese boxing poster boy Zou Shiming, 6-1 (1KO), on 7th March.

Rumours were rife – following Satchell’s confident 1st round stoppage of the heavily outclassed Walter Rojas a night earlier – that the Liverpool man was next in line to face the would be superstar following an expected victory over IBF titlist Amnat Ruenroeng, 15-0 (5KO’s).

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Golovkin: I look forward to the test Monroe will bring

Boxing Superstar GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN will defend his WBA/IBO and ‘Interim’ WBC Middleweight World Titles against Top-Rated Challenger WILLIE MONROE JR. on Sat., May 16 emanating from the Forum in Inglewood, CA. The championship event will be televised Live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

“I’m very excited to fight again in Los Angeles where I now live” said Golovkin. “Monroe is a skilled southpaw and I look forward to the test he will provide. I promise my fans another ‘Big Drama Show’.”

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