Gary Russell Jr. in line for the WBO Title

Gary Russell Jr. in line for the WBO Title

Gary Russell Jr. will finally get a chance to showcase his talent against some decent opposition. The WBO has named Russell the number one contender for the vacant title. This is all due to the fight that happened over the weekend between Orlando Salido vs. Vasyl Lomanchenko. Since Salido was victorious in the bout his next opponent might be none other than Mr. Russell Jr. Gary is quick and explosive but hasn’t fought anybody worth mentioning. He has been a mile ahead of his competitors in all of his recent fights.

His followers are losing interest because he has yet to develop from a prospect into a contender. I’m a DMV native who actually had the pleasure of seeing Gary train and I can definitely say that hard work runs in his family. Gary comes from a fighting family of seven boys who are all trained by Gary Russell Sr. They train late at night but they push their bodies to the limit and focus intently on their craft.

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Angulo to test his debilitating power on Canelo this Saturday

Angulo to test his debilitating power on Canelo this Saturday

Boxing fans will get a chance to see how good Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s punch resistance is this Saturday night in his Showtime pay-per-view clash against the hard-hitting Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18 KO’s) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is going to be a first for Canelo in terms of him facing an opponent that has power equal to his own, and it should give fans a good chance to see if Canelo can stand up to the kind of big power shots that Angulo will be hitting him with.

Angulo’s trainer Virgil Hunter has been very impressed with Angulo’s power ever since he started training him, and he thinks he’s got the kind of punch that could lay the 23-year-old Canelo out, especially if he’s able to get him into a fatigued state.

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Khan-Broner: The saga continues

Khan-Broner: The saga continues

One could be forgiven for mistaking the headline as the title of a new Star Wars film but actually it is the heading of an entirely different lengthy series that concerns Mayweather and Khan. The thing that needs to happen pronto is for the latter to announce his next fight so, at least for the time being, we can forget about the whole Mayweather and Khan narrative that is being increasingly drawn out.

An interesting clash that Mayweather is endorsing to be featured on his May undercard is between Khan and Broner. Khan tweeted last week that he would KO Broner and for Mayweather to fight him afterwards, and Broner was a name that Khan had mentioned as his next potential opponent on Sky Sports’ ‘Ringside’ program.

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Khan-Broner on the May 3rd Mayweather Card?

Khan-Broner on the May 3rd Mayweather Card?

By Brandi Miller: Floyd “Money” Mayweather has challenged Amir Khan to face Adrien Broner on his May 3rd undercard for a chance to face Mayweather himself, that being if Khan is able to beat Broner of course. Those who follow boxing know that recently Khan was in the running to face Floyd this May but instead Floyd chose Marcos Maidana. Khan was begging for the fight in the weeks leading up to the fight announcement only to be embarrassed by Mayweather when he was not the chosen one.

The question now is will Khan accept the challenge from Floyd to face Broner. Khan made it publicly known that he needed to fight a big name in order to land the Floyd fight and Broner would definitely be the name that could get people talking. Khan even went as far as calling Broner out on twitter and saying her would win by knockout. Broner has not responded but he did mention the possibility of fighting on “big bros” undercard so maybe he is willing to accept the Khan fight. In my opinion the Khan-Broner fight is an interesting fight but I don’t think it does much for Khan beating a guy who just came off a loss like the one Broner took.

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Acourtier ‘Warzone’ Event Review

MarkPrince2780 Former cruiserweight world title challenger Mark Prince continued his comeback on Saturday night when he demolished Latvian Olegs Lopajevs in the first round at a lively Acourtier event at the legendary York Hall venue in East London.

Although the event was less high profile than the shows in Glasgow, Germany and the US which all had world title fights, the evening was packed with all the boxing related drama you could wish for.

Seasoned pro Mark Prince was the headline act and he showed real class when he took centre stage. The Londoner, who has called his comeback the ‘Return Of The Prince’, was actually taking part in his second bout after being absent from the ring for 14 years.

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Lomachenko doesn’t take the bait; Chavez, Jr. battles more than one opponent

Lomachenko doesn't take the bait; Chavez, Jr. battles more than one opponent

Top Rank’s grand poobah Bob Arum called for the head of referee Laurence Cole. It’s no secret Arum wanted Vasyl Lomachenko to set a record by capturing a world title in only his second professional fight. What a promotional gem that would have been. Concerning Cole, Arum had an ally in HBO blow-by-blow announcer Jim Lampley. Secure in his 26 year history of anchoring or co-hosting boxing, he threw his own low blow, but this time at Cole by describing him as dreadful. He then reminded viewers that Laurence’s father sits on the commission. Ouch!

So what’s all the fuss about? Well, Arum’s camp (and plenty of others) claim Orlando Salido didn’t fight fair, and referee Cole allowed him to get away with it. Heavens to mergatroyd! That’s a first. A fighter goes into his opponent’s backyard and gets jobbed. In this case, it’s a foreigner in a strange country. Sure, he will be taken care of. Boy, was he ever taken care of!

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Khan trying to work a deal to fight Broner on Mayweather’s undercard

Having been turned down by Floyd Mayweather Jr. for a fight on May 3rd, Amir Khan is now trying to work a deal to fight former three division world champion Adrien Broner on Mayweather’s undercard in exchange for Mayweather agreeing to fight him. So in other words, Khan will do Mayweather a big favor by helping make his May 3rd Showtime pay-per-view card a successful one by agreeing to fight Broner in exchange for Mayweather signing him up for his next fight after that.

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What’s next for Jean Pascal?

What’s next for Jean Pascal?

So what’s happening with former WBC light heavyweight champion and former Olympian Jean Pascal? He’s coming of a pretty impressive win against fellow Canadian fighter Lucian Bute back in January and at the age of 31 years old; he’s still in his prime. Of course, Bute is considered to now be a shot fighter after his disastrous performance against reigning IBF and WBA super-middleweight champ Carl ¨The Cobra¨ Froch, but it’s still a win against a well known, former champion of the world. I mean, you can say all you want about Bute, but guys like Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev are prime example of guys that have not fought this caliber of opponent in their career and are both considered top fighters in the business.

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Lomachenko suffers a rude awakening in his WBO featherweight title bid against Salido

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After a confident debut in a 10 round fight, Vasyl Lomachenko attempted to make history by fighting for a title in his second fight. The fight turned out to be for a vacant title because Orlando Salido forfeited it on the scales by weighting in at 128.25 lbs. Salido did not even try to lose the extra 2.25 pounds and opted to pay the $15 000 fine rather than drain himself further. He was busy re-hydrating instead and came in at 147 pounds. Lomachenko and company were fooled from the start.

The Ukranian showed up in excellent condition and started the fight with confidence trying to work from long range. He used a lot of movement and footwork but found out his sharp shots had little effect on his rough and tough Mexican opponent. Salido kept his head low and walked through his rival’s pot shots to close in and rough him up at close range using his weight advantage.

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