Freddie Flintoff: Pro Debut Tonight

Phil Marshall: At around 10pm UK time tonight a former professional cricketer, Freddie Flintoff, will make his debut as a professional heavyweight boxer on BoxNation. He was a world class cricketer who played a major part in England’s historic test series win in 2005 against big rivals Australia. Now he aims to take his fast reflexes, courage and power into the ring.

In his younger days Freddie was known to his team mates as the Fat Slogger. He was overweight and didn’t really care. Neither did his team managers because Freddie could hit a ball like no other player. Spectators cheered when he walked out to bat. They knew the ball would be visiting all parts of the ground – and the stands – very soon.

But Freddie had to retire in his early thirties with knee and ankle problems. He was left hunting for a fresh physical and mental challenge.

Always a big boxing fan, he was chatting one day to former world featherweight champion Barry McGuigan. Mostly out of curiosity, he asked if he could have a session on the pads with McGuigan, just to see what it felt like.

David Price vs. Matt Skelton tonight in Liverpool

By Michael Collins: British/Commonwealth heavyweight champion David Price (14-0, 12 KO’s) faces a badly overmatched opponent tonight in 45-year-old Matt Skelton (28-6, 23 KO’s) at the Aintree Equestrian Centre, Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. This isn’t a fight that’s going to give Price anything other than a brief sparring session before he knocks Skelton out.

The 29-year-old Price has been brought along really slowly despite his Olympic background and he needs to be pushed a little faster.

Price says “I’m moving fast towards a world title shot. Next year will be massive for me”

The talk is that Price will be looking to fight at 40ish American heavyweight in 2013. In other words, another journeyman level opponent that won’t do much for him. However, if the fight is televised in the United States, it will give American boxing fans a chance to see Price fight.

Sergio Martinez to face Martin Murray on 4/27 in Argentina

By Andy Brooks: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) will be slipping in what amounts to being a stay busy fight against #3 WBC Martin Murray (25-0-1, 11 KO’s) in Argentina on April 27th. Martinez, who is coming off of knee surgery, can’t fight an immediate rematch with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. during that early part of the year because the chances are high that Chavez Jr. will be under suspension for his marijuana violation.

A rematch with Chavez Jr. will be taking place on September 14th, according to RingTV. So instead of that fight, Martinez will stay busy with the Murray bout. The fight will likely be good enough to satisfy HBO given Murray’s unbeaten record, and his good performance in his fight with former WBA Super World middleweight champion Felix Sturm last year.

However, it’s not a fight that will interest boxing fans because few of them have heard of Murray in the U.S other than hardcore fans. British boxing fans will likely the idea of Murray facing Martinez, but those are likely the only ones. If Martinez isn’t fighting Chavez Jr, fans want to see Martinez fight Gennady Golovkin, Peter Quillin or Daniel Geale. Those are interesting fights for Martinez, and you can’t blame fans for preferring to see Martinez against one of them rather than the little known fighter Murray.

Ariza: Pacquiao always looks good in training camp, but then falls apart against Marquez in the fights

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza thinks Pacquiao is looking really good in his training camp for his fight against Juan Manuel Marquez next month on December 8th. However, Ariza doesn’t see that as having a real meaning because he’s seen how Pacquiao looks good in training and then struggles when he gets in the ring with Marquez.

Ariza said to the Boxing Channel “I think Manny always looks good in camp, but then it comes to fight night, he falls apart.”

Roach needs to change Pacquiao’s game around to make his fighting style a little less predictable because Marquez has said that he knows what Pacquiao is going to do in the ring. Pacquiao does the same things over and over again, and that is part of his problem in his fights against Marquez.

Ariza says that Pacquiao isn’t following the old strength and conditioning program that Ariza had for him in the past when Pacquiao was at his best. Pacquiao stopped following the program after his win over Miguel Cotto in 2009, and since then he’s stepped back and not had the full program.

Should Robert Guerrero get Fighter of the Year for beating Berto and Aydin?

By Bill Phanco: WBC interim welterweight champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) is being considered for Fighter of the Year honors for his 12 round decision wins over previously unbeaten #1 WBC Selcuk Aydin, and his decisive 12 round decision victory over former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto.

I think Adrien Broner is more deserving of the Fighter of the Year award than Guerrero because Berto has some fine wins over solid fighters Eloy Perez, Vincente Escobedo and Antonio DeMarco this year. I see those opponents as being better than the two guys that Guerrero has beaten.

It’s hard to imagine Guerrero getting that award based on wins over Aydin and Berto because both fighters were limited. Aydin was someone that had never really proven that he deserved to be ranked #1 by the World Boxing Council. His power was very real, but he’d never really faced anyone good before until the Guerrero fight. Aydin had struggled in fights against Said Ouali and Jo Jo Dan before he got to the Guerrero fight.

Showdown: Cotto vs. Trout Analysis and Prediction

by Chip Mitchell & Robert Uzzell

Analysis of Showdown: Miguel “Junito” Cotto vs. Austin “No Doubt Trout” scheduled to take place December 1, 2012 at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY.

Tale of The Tape

Age: Miguel Cotto 32, Austin Trout 27
Current Status: Miguel Cotto – Challenger, Austin Trout – WBA Champion
Professional Record: Miguel Cotto – 37-3-0, 30 KOs, Austin Trout – 25-0-0, 14 KOs
Height: Miguel Cotto – 5 ft 7, Austin Trout 5 ft 9½
Reach: Miguel Cotto – 67 in, Austin Trout – 72 in
Knockout Percentage: Miguel Cotto – 75%, Austin Trout – 56%
Previous Fight: Cotto 05/05/2012, Trout 06/02/2012
Common Opponents: None of Note

Miguel “Junito” Cotto

The body snatcher returns! Miguel Cotto is the former WBA Super Welterweight (Light Middleweight) Champion. As stated in past analysis, Miguel embodies a fight-until-I-die brashness that has won him respect from fight fans and journalists. He’s a champion in the ring and win or lose, fans know that they always get their money and times worth of action.

Schaefer working on Mayweather-Guerrero bout

By Bill Phanco: Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions is trying to put together a fight between WBC interim welterweight champion Robert Guerrero and Floyd Mayweather Jr. WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez wants a fight with Mayweather too, but Schaefer is looking to put Guerrero in with Mayweather instead for some reason. It could be that Mayweather isn’t all that eager to get back in with another junior middleweight after taking a lot of punishment in his win over Miguel Cotto last May.

Schaefer told RingTV “Robert [Guerrero] really wants that Mayweather fight, and so I’m going to see what I can do. I’ve already started negotiations for the Guerrero fighting Mayweather, so we’ll see where it’s going to end.”

Let’s hope that Schaefer can put that fight together because it could be a huge one due to Mayweather’s big fan base and the large amount of fans that Guerrero captured with his win over Andre Berto last Saturday night.

Kevin Johnson: I don’t need my ‘A’ game to beat Tyson Fury

By Michael Collins: American heavyweight Kevin Johnson (29-2-1, 13 KO’s) figures he won’t even need to switch on his ‘A’ game this Saturday night in order to defeat unbeaten #3 WBC heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (19-0, 14 KO’s) in their fight at the Odyssey Arena, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Johnson sees the 24-year-old Fury as a doofy, we-punching heavyweight without experience against quality heavyweights.

Johnson said in his conference call with Fury “Height is not a problem. I know a lot of guys that don’t know how to use their key element. It don’t matter if you’re tall or short, I can break you down in 0.5 seconds, especially if your level of opposition..This guy [Fury] isn’t championship level. It’s not as if I’m going against an ‘A’ fighter. That’s not the case for me to bring out my ‘A’ game. So my ‘A’ game will really kill this dude. So what have I learned from fighting tall guys? You really don’t learn much. The tall or the short games are the same thing. It just depends on how skillful. This [Fury] is the most doofiest I’ve met in boxing. This is the most feeble-handed guy I’ve ever seen in boxing history, and you’re going to come in and make a mistake against me? When the bell rings I’m going to go and get him. I haven’t done that in a long time.”

Roach suspicious about Marquez’s muscle growth

By Rob Smith: Freddie Roach is suddenly suspicious about the muscle growth of Juan Manuel Marquez as he heads towards a fourth fight with Manny Pacquiao on December 8th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Roach suspects that Marquez may have built his impressive physique by other than natural means.

Roach told usatoday.comK/u> “If [Marquez’s body] is natural, I will kiss his a**. [Marquez] has gotten bigger and gained weight. It throws up a red flag.”

Roach has nothing to go on with this, and seems to be just reaching out of nowhere on this. Marquez has never failed any tests in the past for performance enhancing drugs, and he’s really not put a whole of muscle. He started at 135, and has merely put on less than 10 pounds in the past year. That’s hardly the sign of a fighter using performance enhancing drugs.

Marquez hired a strength and conditioning coach Angel Hernandez, who has done a good job of helping Marquez build up his physique with resistance exercises. Hernandez is quite good at his job, and he’s worked wonders with Marquez.

…read more

Schaefer looking for an opponent for Malignaggi’s next fight

By Bill Phanco: WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi is in need of an opponent after his desired rematch against big British star Ricky Hatton fell through due to Hatton getting blasted out by Vyacheslav Senchenko last Saturday night in the UK. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is now looking at picking out Malignaggi’s next opponent from one of these fighters: Danny Garcia, Amir Khan, Andre Berto, and Adrien Broner, according to RingTV.

Malignaggi, 32, wants a big name for his next title defense and this may be his last chance to get a big name before gets beaten. Malignaggi almost lost his title in his last fight against fringe contender Pablo Cesar Cano, who Malignaggi barely beat by a 12 round decision last October in a 12 round split decision win. That fight showed that Malignaggi is vulnerable even against fringe level opposition, and that puts more pressure on Schaefer to try and get the biggest name he can because Malignaggi is so vulnerable.

Khan: He’s already beaten Malignaggi and Khan has his own problems right now having lost twice in a row.

Berto: This is winnable fight for Malignaggi but not an easy one because of Berto’s superior power. This wouldn’t be big fight for Malignaggi.