Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Malignaggi, Mayweather/Pacquiao, Thurman/Kahn, & Danny Garcia!

Austin E. (Charlotte, NC): Paulie Malignaggi was recently quoted saying that he feels Thurman and Khan both have enough in their arsenal to defeat Mayweather and Pacquaio. I was curious to hear your thoughts on his words and whether or not you find them true?

Vivek W. (ESB): Malignaggi is one of those guys who has earned my respect both in and outside of the ring. Despite his limited power, I always viewed him as a fighter who had a very strong grip on the fundamental element of boxing. Listening to him in the role of commentator, I think his words solidify that position, as I think he’s a complete natural at breaking it all down. Few have done a better job than Paulie behind the mic, as it relates to articulating how certain fighters need to go about execution to gain victory in a given match. I think this is the first time I totally questioned his logic, but in all truthfulness, I can’t say that he’s wrong, either.

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Stevens vs. N’Dam: Where the rubber meets the road

Espn2 Friday Night Fights is back, but not for the season, rather a double dip of sorts that kicks off Wednesday night in Southern California at the Barker Hangar. The winner of Wednesday’s bout will be in line for a title shot facing the winner of Wednesday’s fight between Jermain Taylor and Sam Soliman, which will also be broadcasted by Espn.

A few years ago, and 8 pounds north of his current weight class, Curtis Stevens was on a path leading to nowhere fast on the world level. Stevens, known for his power in both hands, struggled mightily with the likes of Jessie Brinkley and Marcos Primera.

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Cleverly/Bellew rematch live on Sky Sports Box Office

DeGale, Joshua, Quigg, McDonnell and Callum Smith all feature on massive undercard

Tony Bellew will finally seek his revenge against arch rival Nathan Cleverly when the pair meet in the hugely-anticipated grudge match exclusively live on Sky Sports Box Office.

Three years ago, Cleverly defeated Bellew by a tight majority decision as he defended is WBO World Light Heavyweight crown and finally the rematch is on. On November 22 the pair will go head to head for the second time but at Cruiserweight back at the Echo Arena in Bellew’s home town of Liverpool.

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ESPN Boxing Weigh-In Results

Tomorrow night on a special edition of ESPN Boxing, Michael King of King Sports presents another great night of fights from Santa Monica, California. Featherweights Miguel Marriago (18-0, 16KO) and Christopher Martin (28-3-3, 9KO) open the telecast, followed by welterweights Frederick Lawson (22-0, 20KO) and Ray Narh (26-5, 21KO). The main event features an IBF middleweight title eliminator between Hassan N’Dam (30-1, 18KO) and Curtis Stevens (27-4, 20KO). Earlier this evening the fighter camps and media gathered for a brief press conference and the official weigh-ins.

Hassan N’Dam vs. Curtis Stevens, middleweights

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Canelo to fight 37-year-old Joshua Clottey next on December 6th

Chris Mannix of Sports illustrated is reporting that Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya has confirmed that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (44-1-1, 31 KOs) will be fighting 37-year-old former IBF 147lb champion Joshua Clottey (38-4, 22 KOs) next on December 6th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. This is obviously disappointing news for hardcore boxing fans with some knowledge of the sport because Clottey hasn’t been a factor since 2010 when he was beaten soundly by Manny Pacquiao.

Recently, De La Hoya dangled James Kirkland’s name as a potential opponent for Canelo’s December 6th fight. You now have to wonder whether De La Hoya did this in order to get Clottey to come in at a cheaper price for the Canelo fight. Why else mention Kirkland’s name if the guy that Canelo and De La Hoya really wanted is the 37-year-old Clottey?

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De La Hoya: Canelo wants to be second to nobody, that’s why he moved to HBO

Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya says that one of the reasons why the 24-year-old former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez moved to HBO was because he didn’t want to be second to anybody in fighting on Showtime. With Canelo’s situation in fighting on Showtime, he was badly overshadowed by the more popular and much more accomplished Floyd Mayweather Jr.

That situation wasn’t going to go away until Mayweather finished out his contract with Showtime, because he was simply a more talented fighter than the red-haired Canelo. That fact was borne out when the two fighters faced each other last year in September and Mayweather made Canelo look bad in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision.

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Golovkin ready for Rubio fight, says Sanchez

Trainer Abel Sanchez says his fighter WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (30-, 27 KOs) is 100 percent ready for his clash next month against WBC interim middleweight champion Marco Antonio Rubio (59-6-1, 51 KOs) on their “Mexican Style” fight card on October 18th at the StubHub Center, in Carson, California, USA.

Sanchez believes that the hard hitting Rubio will be coming to slug it out with Golovkin, and that’s what he’s hoping for. Sanchez wants to see the two of them slugging it out in front of the boxing fans at the StubHub Center and the fans that tune in to watch the fight on HBO Championship Boxing.

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Leonard wants Pacquiao and Mayweather to face each other

Boxing star Sugar Ray Leonard thinks that it’s time WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao face each other in a mega fight. Leonard thinks it’s time the two stars get inside the ring to face each other for the sake of the fans as well as their own legacies. He sees it as an important fight for their careers.

Leonard didn’t touch on the issues that have held the two fighters back from facing each other in the past. The fight likely would have taken place long ago if the two had agreed on the blood testing that Mayweather wanted in his attempt to get a fight against Pacquiao in 2010. After that missed attempt at putting the fight together, it was pretty much over in terms of putting a fight together.

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Soliman will have confidence against Jermain Taylor

#15 IBF Jermain Taylor (32-4-1, 20 KOs) will be challenging IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman (44-11, 18 KOs) in a little over a week on October 8th at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, in Biloxi, Mississippi, USA.

Taylor hasn’t done much to deserve a world title shot, but that doesn’t matter because he’s been selected by Soliman’s management due to his name recognition and obviously because he’s perceived as an opponent that Soliman can likely beat.

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Paul Smith feels confident Arthur Abraham will give him a rematch

Britain’s Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) says that WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) gave him a handshake when he asked him at the post-fight press conference if he’ll agree to give him an immediate rematch. Smith, 31, interpreted the handshake from Abraham to mean that he’ll get his badly needed rematch with the 34-year-old German based champion.

Last Saturday night, Smith lost a 12 round unanimous decision to Abraham by the scores of 117-111, 117-110 and 119-109. Many people who saw the fight felt that Abraham did enough to get the victory. Some fans felt that it should have been a draw while a smaller minority felt that Smith won the fight. However, because of the scores being so wide, Smith and his promoter Eddie Hearn feel that a rematch is warranted.

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