Dirrell: Bika can’t lay a hand on me when I box

(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) #6 WBC Anthony Dirrell (26-0-1, 22 KOs) plans on taking a page out of the playbook of his defensive-minded brother Andre Dirrell by strictly boxing WBC super middleweight champion Sakio Bika (32-5-3, 21 KOs) and not letting him hit him in their rematch this Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Dirrell made it easy for Bika the last time they fought by standing perfectly still in front of him during the fight. Later on in the second half of the action, Dirrell frequently was backed up against the ropes and took a lot of punishing body and head shots.

Andre Dirrell tried to give Anthony advice in between rounds by telling him to stay off the ropes and box Bika in the center of the ring, but Anthony stuck with his game plan of trying to beat Bika by out-slugging him.

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Jermain Taylor battles Sam Soliman on 10/4

Former IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (32-4-1, 20 KOs) is getting a miracle world title shot against IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman (44-11, 18 KOs) in less than two months from now on 10/4. The venue hasn’t been decided as of yet.

Taylor is ranked at the bottom of the IBF rankings at #15, which would make him seem like an unlikely opponent for Soliman. But Soliman is obviously looking for a guy he thinks he can beat rather than someone than can give him a real test like Martin Murray and of course Golovkin.

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Khan says Alexander and Guerrero are in play for December

Amir Khan would like to be facing Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao in his next fight in December, but neither of those fighters will be available to him at that time, so he wants to take the best fight possible against either Robert Guerrero or Devon Alexander.

Khan wants to pick up a big win over an opponent with a name so that it can catapult him into a fight against Mayweather next year. Khan believes that a big win will get him the fight that he’s been wanting for ages against Mayweather, who he believes he can beat at this point in his career.

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Groves: I think Brook can beat Porter

Few people are giving Kell Brook (32-0, 22 KOs) much of a chance of beating undefeated IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15 KOs) in their fight on Saturday at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

George Groves, a fellow Brit, believes that Brook has it in him to pull off the upset and bring Porter’s IBF strap back to the UK. Groves sparred with Porter a decade ago when both fighters were teenagers and he sees him as essentially the same fighter now as he was back then.

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Golovkin closing in on Chavez Jr on Froch’s Facebook poll

On Tuesday, IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch asked boxing fans on his Facebook account to pick out who they would like to see him fight from these three fighters: Julio Cesar Chavez, James DeGale and Gennady Golovkin. Froch initially asked fans if they wanted to see him fight DeGale or Chavez Jr. But a couple hours later, Froch added Golovkin’s name to the list.

As you would guess, Chavez Jr jumped out to a huge lead over the other contestants. However, now a day later, Golovkin has narrowed Chavez Jr’s lead considerably and is within striking distance of taking the lead.

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Brook has a great chance of beating Porter, says Hatton

Kell Brook (32-0, 22 KOs) is the underdog in his fight against IBF 147 pound champ Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15 KOs) for their fight this Saturday night, but fellow Brit Matthew Hatton is giving him a great chance of going into the ring and taking Porter’s belt.

Hatton knows what kinds of skills that Brook has, because he lost to him a couple of years ago by a 12 round decision. Hatton took Brook’s best shots for the first 8 rounds, and fought well in the last four rounds after Brook gassed out. Brook has since taken care of his stamina problems by carefully monitoring his diet.

“I think he’s got a great chance going into this fight,” Hatton said to Skyboxing.com. “I believe Kell is a special fighter. I believe he can do it.”

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Showtime Sports presents award-winning series “ALL ACCESS” in advance of “Mayhem: Mayweather vs. Maidana 2”

NEW YORK (Aug. 12, 2014) – SHOWTIME Sports will offer the latest edition of the award-winning original documentary series ALL ACCESS in advance of the SHOWTME PPV event “MAYHEM: Mayweather vs. Maidana 2,” the welterweight world championship rematch on Saturday, Sept. 13 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

ALL ACCESS: Mayweather vs. Maidana 2 premieres Saturday, Aug. 30, on SHOWTIME at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT and will be immediately followed by a special Saturday installment of ShoBox: The New Generation.

ALL ACCESS gives viewers intimate and exclusive coverage as Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana prepare for the most highly anticipated rematch in recent memory. Episode 1 reveals the aftermath of their thrilling first fight and takes viewers inside the minds of both fighters for what will be only the second rematch Mayweather, the undefeated 11-Time World Champion, has ever granted.

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Deontay Wilder: I’m not treating the Gavern fight as a warm-up

Unbeaten heavyweight Deontay Wilder (31-0, 31 KOs) is taking seriously his opponent Jason Gavern (25-16-4, 11 KOs) this Saturday night in their fight at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Deontay doesn’t care that Gavern, 37, is seen as a guy without a hope in this fight. He’s still taking him seriously, because he realizes at the heavyweight level one punch can change the outcome of the fight regardless of how over-matched that fighter is. In this case, Gavern has respectable power, and could potentially pull off an upset of Deontay if he lands something big enough.

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Shannon Briggs threatens Wladimir: Team Klitschko adds extra Security

It has been a little over a week since Shannon Briggs stormed into a restaurant where Wladimir Klitschko was having a meal, and took it took far with his antics, eating Wladimir’s food and promising to follow him everywhere he goes. This must have been that very last straw, because this time, even though calm and composed, Klitschko poured a glass of water over Shannon’s head, sending Briggs into a frenzy, resulting in broken glassware and cuts.

Clearly this incident did nothing to settle the situation, as Briggs is back on Wladimir’s back, threatening more action: “As soon as I see you, I will hot you in the face. Your fat security guard approached me from the back and grabbed me. That’s cool. I even cut my foot on your glass jaw. Nobody cares about your fight against Pulev, while the entire world is talking about us. Let’s do this!” said Briggs.

“This was 100% real, not staged,” added Briggs about that restaurant brawl.

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Daniel Jacobs: A fight against Golovkin is out of my control

Newly crowned WBA World middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs (28-1, 25 KOs) made it a point to call out WBO middleweight champ Peter Quillin last Saturday night after blowing out #2 WBA Jarrod Fletcher in 2 rounds at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Jacobs sees a fight against Quillin as a potentially big affair that they could stage at the Barclays Center. Jacobs, however, seems less excited at the thought of facing WBA Super World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in the near future despite Jacobs now being his mandatory.

Golovkin would jump at the chance of fighting Jacobs, especially now that he’s gotten a small name for himself after being the Australian Fletcher.

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