It would seem that finally, the landscape has changed for the better and the fans are to be treated to consistent, meaningful fights at not just World level, but European and domestic level also. With fights such as, Bellew v Cleverly 2, Fury v Chisora, Saunders v Eubank, alongside muted bouts featuring Kell Brook v Amir Khan and Carl Froch v James DeGale, the British public are salivating, with I’m sure the boxing world at large closely behind, reaching for their handkerchiefs.
International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight champion Sam Soliman (44-12, 18 KOs) physically fell apart and he looked every bit of his 40 years in losing to 36-year-old Jermain Taylor (44-12, 18 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA.
Neither fighter looked good at all. Taylor may have won the fight, but he looked poor in comparison to the likes of Gennady Golovkin and Miguel Cotto, two of the best middleweights in the division. Soliman slipped on the wet canvas in the 7th, causing him to injure his left leg while being knocked down.
Eastside Boxing gets an invite into Joseph Parker’s training camp as he prepares for his October 16th fight with Sherman ‘The Tank’ Williams.
Driving through this low key industrial estate in East Auckland there are no neon signs or flashing lights that scream out boxing gym and that is just how Coach Kevin Barry prefers it. Like a mirage in the desert, housed out the back of contracting company is a small purpose-built boxing gym built by the company’s owner and personal friend of Barry.
It is a place free of distractions and allows Team Parker to get down to the business of work uninterrupted. However if anyone were to walk through the doors the exertion being put in is obvious. You can see it as the young fighters are put through their paces watched intently by their trainer. You can hear it with every thud of the heavy bag or crack of the mitts and you can definitely sense it as the air vibrates around them.
Jermain Taylor returns from a sabbatical of sorts to challenge Sam Soliman for his IBF middleweight belt. The card will be broadcasted live on Espn2 from the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Boxing adviser extraordinaire Al Haymon, known for his mysterious persona, has a way of giving his clients the best possible deal and boxing fans the shaft. His mismatches on Showtime have underlined a subpar 2014, coming off an energized 2013.
When I first heard this fight being announced it wasn’t so much how but why. I’m not one to take money out of the next mans pockets but this fight is more than a shame.
A Polish guy with Nigerian parents walks into a gym in New Zealand….it sounds like the beginnings of a good joke but it is merely proof once again how the sport of boxing can uplift a fighter from everything they know and transport them halfway around the world as they seek to take their tools of trade on the road, mapping out a journey to championship belts and a better life.
I meet Polish Heavyweight fighter Izu (pronounced ‘E-zoo’) Ugonoh at a boxing gym in East Auckland as he prepares to take on the ever dangerous ‘TBA’ as one of the featured undercard bouts for the upcoming Joseph Parker/Sherman Williams fight at Trusts Stadium on October 16th.
Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions floated the idea today of Amir Khan facing IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson in Washington, DC. Khan previously fought Peterson in that city three years ago in Khan losing by a 12 round split decision after being docked points in the 7th and 12th rounds for shoving Peterson.
The referee working the fight Joseph Cooper had repeatedly warned Khan to stop shoving Peterson, but Khan had no other alternative because he was getting worked over by him on the inside and he didn’t have any other way of keeping Peterson off of him other than by shoving him.
The number three Ring Magazine Junior Lightweight Pugilist, Rances “Kid Blast” Barthelemy dominated former world title challenger, Fernando David “El Vasco” Saucedo as he won every round en route to a twelve round unanimous decision by three scorecards, 120-108. He also made his first successful defense of the Junior Lightweight International Boxing Federation Title that he won in July over former defending champion, Argenis Mendez.
Barthelemy controlled the action throughout this bout as he outworked and out landed Saucedo. He landed more effective and accurate punches, especially power shots which he connected on half of them.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) will be resting his injured ankle for the next 6 weeks, says his promoter Oscar De La Hoya. Canelo has a muscle strain that has lingered for the past 3 months since before his last fight against Erislandy Lara, says De La Hoya. Last Monday, Golden Boy Promotions announced that Canelo’s December 6th fight against former IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey was cancelled due to Canelo’s ankle injury.
Instead of rescheduling it, De La Hoya says Canelo will probably stay out of the ring until next May and then look to fight Miguel Cotto in an HBO pay-per-view bout. This is the fight that De La Hoya and Canelo both want. It’s the biggest fight in boxing right now other than Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Manny Pacquiao.
IBF welterweight belt holder Kell Brook (33-0, 22 KOs) has targeted February for his next fight date against an opponent still to be determined. Brook was stabbed last September while on holiday in Tenerife, and he’ll be coming back from that injury. Brook wants to fight either Floyd Mayweather Jr or Amir Khan, but those opponents will probably not be in the cards for the 28-year-old Brook.
We’ll likely see Brook facing one of the names that his promoter Eddie Hearn was previously mentioning for him to fight on December 6th before Brook was stabbed and unable to fight on that date. Hearn was talking about matching Brook against a fighter that Americans would recognize like Brandon Rios, Andre Berto or Josesito Lopez.
In disappointing news, the red-headed Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) has pulled out of his December 6th fight against Joshua Clottey due to an ankle injury Canelo suffered. With the injury, it looks like Canelo will go straight into the May 2015 fight against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on HBO pay-per-view.
More than a few boxing fans are already suspecting that Canelo pulled out of the fight with Clottey in order to avoid the risk involved in facing the tough ex-IBF welterweight champion. Clottey might be 37, but he looked awfully good last April in soundly beating Anthony Mundine by a 12 round decision. In that fight, Clottey looked as good as he had in the prime of his career when he was beating Zab Judah and giving guys like Antonio Margarito problems.