Rahman gets title shot against Povetkin tonight; Pulev faces Ustinov on undercard

Rahman gets title shot against Povetkin tonight; Pulev faces Ustinov on undercard (Photo Wende) By Rob Smith: Former WBC heavyweight champion 39-year-old Hasim Rahman will get getting a shot at the title against WBA World heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin in their fight at the Sporthalle, Alsterdorf, in Hamburg, Germany. A lot of boxing fans thought that Rahman had retired years ago after getting stopped by Wladiimr Klitschko in 2008. Rahman looked old and shot even then, and one can only imagine how much he’s deteriorated since that fight. But Rahman has been piling up wins over little known 2nd tier opposition and has now won his last five fights, albeit against WEAK opposition.

It’s hard to say why the World Boxing Association decided to give Rahman a #1 ranking because he’s done little to deserve even a bottom #15 in my view. It just seems unreal that Rahman can get the top ranking from wins over the likes of Galen Brown (35-16), Marcus Magee (22-17), Damon Reed (46-13), Shannon Miller (16-4) and Clinton Boldridge (9-15-1). This doesn’t boxing fans any good if a guy is given an inflated ranking and then tossed into the ring with a champion, even a fighter that many boxing fans see as a paper champion like the 33-year-old Povetkin.

You can’t blame Rahman for taking the opportunity to fight Povetkin after he was made the #1 challenger by the WBA, but you can sure find blame with the WBA for ranking Rahman so highly in the first place.

Khan: I know I can get back to the top with Virgil Hunter as my trainer

By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan is convinced that his new trainer Virgil Hunter can turn his sinking career around and bring it back to where it briefly was while Khan was being trained by the well respected Freddie Roach from 2009 to 2012. Khan started out well with Roach, winning his first six fights before things started to turn rotten for him with two losses to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia.

Khan said “With Virgil in my corner, I know that I can get back to the very top of the light welterweight division.”

I somehow remember Khan saying pretty much the same thing when he hired Freddie Roach as his trainer not long after Khan was starched by Breidis Prescott. Roach was seen as his savior and indeed he helped Khan’s career by getting him through some decent opponents and through his toughest fight of his career against Marcos Maidana. However, Khan remained pretty much the same fighter he had been with other trainers.

Mario Santiago returns with victory

In a thrilling encounter, as part of the main event of the evenning, two-time world title contender, Mario “El príncipe ponceño” Santiago (22-3-1, 14KOs) won a unanimous decision over Hector Marengo (5-3-4, 3 KO’s) in a fight that was scheduled for eight rounds.

Santiago started good, landing solid left power shots to Marengo’s body, alongside with a stiff jab but in the third round, Marengo was very aggressive, landing good shots to Santiago’s face but Santiago managed to take control of the fight. All three judges scored 77-75 for Santiago

“All I wanted was a win, and it was good because I went the distance. I really felt good and now I’m more motivated than ever stated Santiago “the plan is to go down to 130 pounds, where I know, I will be in excellent shape, much faster and stronger, but still, I’m happy with tonight’s’ performance” said Santiago, who carried a large fan base to the event that was held in his hometown of Ponce, PR.

King wins $1.1 million bid to promote Arreola vs. Stiverne WBC heavyweight title eliminator

By Rob Smith: Promoter Don King won Saturdays WBC heavyweight purse bid to promote the Chris Arreola vs. Bermane Stivern WBC heavyweight title eliminator bout with the winner to possibly face WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko if he doesn’t retire. King came in with the winning purse bid of $1.1 million, twice as much as runner-up Dan Goosen’s $500,000 bid. Golden Boy Promotions’ bid was $515,000, and WealthTV $132,000.

Ricky Burns will be back in the ring in December, but not against Scott Harrison

By Michael Collins: WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) will be returning to the ring by December, according to his promoter Frank Warren. However, it won’t be against former WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison, because the World Boxing Organization president Paco Valcarcel is saying that Burns has to fight his mandatory challenger.

Gamboa could fight on Pacquiao-Marquez 4 undercard on December 8th

By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa (21-0, 16 KO’s) could wind up on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez 4 fight on December 8th, according to Steve Kim. Gamboa hasn’t fought since last year in September in beating Daniel Ponce De Leon. Gamboa has been out of action due to promotional problems in leaving Top Rank.

Hatton looking to take on the top world champions

By Michael Collins: Ricky Hatton’s first fight in his comeback will be against former WBA World welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko on November 24th in Manchester, England. This fight is only the beginning for the 33-year-old Hatton, however, because he intends on going after the top world champions to pick up their titles if possible. WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi will likely be Hatton’s first stop after he beats #5 WBA Senchenko on November 24th.

Rigondeaux to fight on undercard of Tim Bradley’s first defense on December 15th

By Dwight Chittenden: WBA World super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8 KO’s) will be defending his title against an opponent still to be determined on December 15th on the undercard of WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley’s first defense of his World Boxing Organization title in an HBO televised fight at the Marlin’s Stadium in Miami, Florida, according to USA Today.

Sergio Martinez wants Mayweather in 2013

By Rob Smith: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez isn’t just content with getting a rematch against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. next year; Martinez also wants a fight against undefeated WBO junior middleweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. Martinez seems to believe that he can get Mayweather in the ring to face him, but the signs aren’t there. Mayweather Jr. is totally silent about a fight against Martinez.

Martinez said to Punto Pelota on Spanish tv, “[Mayweather] be ready because I’m going to find you in 2013.”

The odds are probably very, very low that Mayweather decides on taking the dangerous punching Martinez because Martinez hits too hard and there’s less dangerous options out there for Mayweather to make big money against rather than risking his neck against a bigger and stronger fighter like Martinez.

Khan and McCloskey in talks for rematch in December

By Michael Collins: To show you how far down Amir Khan’s once promising career has plummeted, he’s now looking to go over old ground by taking on a domestic level fighter in 33-year-old Paul McCloskey (24-2, 12 KO’s) in a rematch in December. McCloskey, at one time a contender in the light welterweight division, he’s lost two out of his last four fights [three if you count his gift decision over Breidis Prescott].

In an interview with the BBC Sport, McCloskey’s manager Francie McNichol said “Both parties are serious. The dates being mentioned are 8 or 15, December in Manchester…I would expect that something will be decided in the next week.”

There’s a couple of ways to look at it. One, Khan you could possibly see it as Khan giving up on being a world class fighter and just focusing on facing domestic level opposition in the UK to collect easy paydays to milk his still very high popularity over there.