Mikey Garcia vacates WBO 130lb title, moves up to 140

In what has to be seen as a bold move on the part of Mikey Garcia (34-0, 28 KOs), he’s vacated his World Boxing Organization super featherweight title and will be moving up to light welterweight instead of lightweight. Garcia can no longer make super featherweight, and he’s too big for the lightweight division as well.

Mikey’s going to try and fight at light welterweight, but obviously if things don’t work out well for him in that weight class then you can expect him to find a way to get back down to super featherweight or at least lightweight.

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Donaire and Walters workout quotes

http://youtu.be/OqJp6n8ezB8

World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champions NONITO “The Filipino Flash” DONAIRE and NICHOLAS “The Axe Man” WALTERS collide This Saturday! in a WBA featherweight title unification showdown at a sold-out StubHub! Center in Carson, Calif.

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag – Mayweather vs Khan, Golovkin, Donaire, & Steven A. Smith

Barry N. (Houston, TX): Floyd Mayweather has ripped several people in the news lately and it’s not only uncalled for, but also kind of hard to understand it all. What do you think is really going on with him lately?

Vivek W. (ESB): The on-going drama we’ve seen lately between these four men have somewhat reached a boiling point. While Smith and Mayweather Sr. have stepped away from the table, it seems little Floyd and Khan still have a few things to air out, which we’ve heard lately. There are so many different angles to this discussion that I don’t even know where to start, but I guess the safest statement for me to lead off with is the fact that I think there’s a hint of truth to all of their respective positions, with the exception of maybe Steven A. Smith’s.

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Macklin hints at retirement if he loses to Heiland

Matthew Macklin (31-5, 20 KOs), ranked #6 by the World Boxing Council, will be in action next month in fighting #4 WBC Jorge Sebastian Heiland (24-4-2, 12 KOs) in a WBC middleweight eliminator bout on 11/15 at the 3Arena, in Dublin, Ireland. Macklin, now 32, is hinting that if he can’t beat the 27-year-old Heiland then that might be it for him in terms of his career.

It’s not known if Macklin would retire, but a loss to Heiland would definitely be a clear sign that Macklin doesn’t have what it takes to be a world champion at 160. It would also make it difficult for him to continue to get world title shots the way he’s been getting over the last three years.

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Khan questions whether Mayweather can outbox him

Recently ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith said on his “First Take” program on ESPN that he felt that if WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr opted to face Amir Khan but not World Boxing Organization 147lb champion Manny Pacquiao in one of his last two remaining fights that he would come on ESPN and say Mayweather is avoiding a fight against Pacquiao.

Smith had no problems with Mayweather finishing his career with fights against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Miguel Cotto, because he felt those two fighters were worthy for Mayweather to fight instead of Pacquiao. But Smith doesn’t believe Khan is worthy of a fight against Mayweather, as he points out that Khan was destroyed by Danny Garcia in four rounds just two years ago in 2012, and that Khan doesn’t have the same box office appeal as Mayweather does.

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Algieri: I’m going to beat a legend [Pacquiao]

Undefeated light welterweight Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) says he knows had the talent to defeat WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) for ages ever since he saw him fight Tim Bradley a couple of years ago. He saw the flaws in Pacquiao’s game even then, and obviously he hasn’t improved in the last two years since the first fight. Pacquiao has aged since the first fight with Bradley, and he’s now getting close to 36-years-old.

“I’m really in it and focused at the task at hand. I’m going out there to beat Manny Pacquiao and to beat a legend,” Algieri said via CBSSports.com. “That’s the only thing on my mind.”

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Sturm-Stieglitz winner faces Abraham

Next month’s clash between former two time World Boxing Organization super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (47-4, 27 KOs) and former IBF/WBA middleweight title holder Felix Sturm (39-4-2, 18 KOs) on November 8th will determine which of these two fighters will be getting a world title shot against WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) in 2015.

Abraham will likely be fighting a needless rematch against British fighter Paul Smith next to clear up the controversy surrounding their fight last September in Germany. Abraham won that fight by a 12 round unanimous decision, but Smith and many of his boxing fans felt that he’d done enough to deserve a win or a draw. Having seen the same fight, I don’t think Smith did nearly enough to get a win in that fight.

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Pacquiao’s sparring partner doesn’t expect Algieri to be a tough fight

Sparring partner Stan Martyniouk doesn’t think World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) will have too many problems in his fight next month against unbeaten Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) on November 22nd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, in Macao S.A.R., China.

Martyniouk, one of four sparring partners that Pacquiao will be using to get ready for the 5’10” Algieri, thinks that Algieri will have a tough time with the speed and power of Pacquiao next month. Martyniouk says that he learned a lot from the sparring session with Pacquiao.

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David Price: I’ll be looking to take Anthony Joshua’s head off from the shoulders

Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in matching former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price (18-2, 15 KOs) against his unbeaten heavyweight Anthony Joshua (9-0, 9 KOs) next year in a fight that he believes the British boxing public will be interested in seeing. Judging by the boos from the British fans last Saturday night when Hearn floated that idea to them, it might not be a fight that the fans want to see.

Price was at ringside for Joshua’s 2nd round demolition of 34-year-old Russian journeyman Denis Bakhtov (38-10, 25 KOs) last night at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Price said that if he’s the guy that ends up facing the 6’6” Joshua next year, he’ll be looking to take his head off.

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Rubio will beat Golovkin by fighting smart, says Robert Garcia

WBC interim middleweight champion Marco Antonio Rubio (59-6-1, 51 KOs) is a big boxing underdog for his fight next Saturday night against WBA Super World Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (30-0, 27 KOs) on HBO from the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Rubio’s trainer Robert Garcia says he’s watched enough of the 32-year-old Golovkin’s past fights to know that he’s got flaws that Rubio can exploit on Saturday night.

Garcia says Golovkin can be hit due to his come forward style of fighting, and that’s something that the hard hitting Rubio can take advantage of with his power.

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