Barthelemy beats Saucedo; Martirosyan defeats Nelson; Karpency decisions Dawson

Rances Barthelemy defended his IBF Junior Lightweight World Championship against Fernando David Saucedo with a dominating unanimous decision, scored 120-108 by all three judges, Saturday on SHOWTIME from Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn.

Barthelemy (21-0, 12 KOs) controlled the bout from the opening bell and was the more active and accurate fighter, throwing 819 punches to Saucedo’s 382. Saucedo (52-6-3, 8, KOs) tried to counter, but he wasn’t quick enough to land anything meaningful against the elusive Cuban. Barthelemy, who landed 50 percent of his power shots, employed a diverse attack of uppercuts, hooks and jabs and fought with his hands down and by his side for most of the fight.

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Warrington v Dieli the Undercard

The Matchroom promoted Battle Lines, presented a stacked undercard, which contained Ricky Burns, Callum Smith and Brian Rose no less, not to mention an all British Commonwealth title fight at Light Welterweight.

Ricky Burns v Alexandre Lepelley

Ricky Burns began his campaign at Light Welterweight in good style, knocking down the Frenchman with a hard right hand, followed by a left hook to seal the deal. Unfortunately, that is as good as it got for the 2-time former World Champion.

Although Burns was winning the rounds, the distance between the fighters reduced as the fight went on, descending into a war of attrition, which was not the order of the day. The Scotsman continued to win the rounds, but he didn’t look great in doing so.

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Burns beats Lepelley; Warrington conquers Dieli; Rose defeats Fraga

In an impressive performance, #14 WBA Josh Warrington (19-0, 3 KOs) gave his Italian opponent Davide Dieli (15-4, 5 KOs) a methodical beat down in defeating him by a 4th round TKO tonight to win the vacant EBU featherweight strap at the First Direct Arena, Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Warrington, 23, knocked Dieli down once in the 4thb with a fight hand.

After Dieli got back to his feet, Warrington unloaded on him with a flurry of shots that resulted in Dieli’s corner tossing in the towel to have the fight stopped. The official time of the stoppage was 1:42. Warrington doesn’t usually score knockouts, but he had the right opponent in front of him tonight for him to make that happen.

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Korobov vs. Andy Lee to fight in December, winner to possibly face Billy Joe Saunders

Unbeaten #1 WBO Matt Korobov (24-0, 14 KOs) and #3 WBO Andy Lee (33-2, 23 KOs) will be tangling for the vacant WBO middleweight title in early December in the UK, according to promoter Frank Warren. The fight has been agreed on.

The winner of the Korobov-Lee fight will then possibly face #2 WBO Billy Joe Saunders (20-0, 11 KOs) if Saunders defeats #9 WBO Chris Eubank Jr (17-0, 12 KOs) in their November 29th domestic level match-up at the ExCel Arena, Dockland, in London, United Kingdom.

It’s a tough ask for Saunders to defeat Eubank Jr in order to get to the Korobov-Lee winner, because that’s a really tough test for the 25-year-old Saunders to have to pass for him to face the likes of Korovbov or Lee.

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Bellew-Cleverly 2 tickets sell out quick

Perhaps Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn knew what he was doing by making the November 22nd rematch between Tony Bellew (22-2-1, 14 KOs) and Nathan Cleverly 28-1, 14 KOs) a pay-per-view fight on Sky Box Office from the Echo Arena, in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The fight card, which includes the likes of James DeGale, Anthony Joshua, Callum Smith, Stephen Smith, Scott Quigg, and Jamie McDonnell, sold out in just 48 hours after the tickets went on sale.

That’s pretty impressive. The Bellew-Cleverly 2 fight is a decent one, but hardly what you’d call a great one. Neither of these guys have the talent to win a world title at cruiserweight in my view, but that still didn’t stop their fans from quickly buying out the tickets in just 2 days.

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Cotto-Canelo will come close to 2 million PPV buys, says De La Hoya

Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions has high hopes for the proposed pay-per-view fight next year between Golden Boy’s flagship fighter former WBA/WBC junior middleweight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) and WBC 160lb champ Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) on HBO. De La Hoya is projecting that this fight will bring in close to 2 million pay-per-view buys.

This is a huge number when you look at the fact that the recent pay-per-view fights for both guys have been around 300,000. De La Hoya is assuming that when you get Cotto and Canelo together, it’ll bring a much bigger number than when they’re facing other opposition.

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Battle Lines – Main Event Preview

Saturday night marks the eagerly awaited return of local favourite Josh Warrington (18-0 2KO’s), who meets Italian Davide Dieli (15-3 5KO’s) for the vacant EBU Featherweight title at the impressive First Direct Arena in the heart of his beloved Leeds.

When Eddie Hearn described Josh Warrington as “The biggest ticket seller in the country right now” he wasn’t kidding. Alone, Warrington has shifted 1500+ tickets, for what is the first fight in a bumper 5 fight deal with Matchroom, that’s no joke, in fact it’s a following that would embarrass many World Champions.

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Kovalev with no specific plan for Hopkins fight

WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (25-0-1, 23 KOs) says he has no specific game plan for his fight next month against the more experienced and much older 49-year-old IBF/WBA 175 pound champion Bernard Hopkins (55-6-2, 32 KOs) on November 8th at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.

Kovalev’s style of fighting is one oriented around him going all-out in an attack mode to try and score a quick knockout. He’s throws a lot of heavy combinations, putting a massive of pressure on his opponents. His opposition generally fold pretty quickly even with them fighting 100% a defensive fight. They’re unable to stand up to Kovalev’s power for long with him throwing combinations with huge power.

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Sergey Kovalev Training Camp Notes

As current WBO Light Heavyweight World Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev prepares for the fight of his life against Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins next month, he is on the precipice of a life-altering event as his wife, Natalya, is moments away from giving birth to their first child.

The Kovalevs are expecting their son any day now, with the official due date scheduled for October 17. Despite the stress and distractions that come with expectant-parenthood, the 31-year-old Kovalev assured everyone at his media day at Wolf Total Fitness in Big Bear City, Calif. yesterday that his focus is still fixated 100 percent on Hopkins, “I’m living for this fight. Only for this fight. I’m leaving for Florida when my [first] baby is due. I’ll be in training camp in Florida because this is the most important thing in my life right now.”

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Mike “Yes Indeed” Reed Vows to Impress in His Top Rank Debut — Glen Tapia, More!

Light Welterweight prospect fights Juan Montiel in his Top Rank debut

By Paul “Paparazzi” Jones & Justin Jones | Photo © Daniel Kucin, Jr.

Undefeated Junior Welterweight Mike “Yes Indeed” Reed, 10-0 with 6 KOs, takes an important step in his pro career when he faces Juan Montiel (7-6-3, 2 KOs) this Saturday in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The six-round bout, featured on the undercard of the Junior Middleweight matchup between Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia (21-1, 13 KOs) and Donatas Bondorovas (18-5-1, 6 KOs), marks the first contest for Reed as a Top Rank fighter. While there is pressure to validate his signing, the 21-year-old Reed is not concerned about succumbing to it.

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