Mayweather -Maidana 2: To box or not to box that is the question?

Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana will meet once again at the MGM Grand Garden Arena this Saturday night live on Showtime PPV. Will Chino’s melee create “Mayhem”, or will it be muscle memory for the money man?

Damn near everyone is convinced that Floyd Mayweather will do a number on Marcos Maidana in the rematch. Isn’t this the same sentiment most fans had prior to the first go round? Maidana was a huge underdog at the sports book, ranging from 12-1 all the way up to 15-1 on a few betting website.

Even though Marcos gave Floyd by far his toughest and roughest fight of his career, barley any one gives him a real chance to get the job done against the future Hall-of-famer.

continue

Samuel Peter to Face Aubrey in Heavyweight Slugfest

The opponents have been announced for the co-main events on Saturday, September 27, 2014’s, “Rumble on the River” at OKC Downtown Airpark in Oklahoma City, presented by Ivaylo Gotzev and his Epic Sports and Entertainment.

In the night’s eight-round heavyweight “bombs away” co-main event, hard-hitting former WBC Champion Samuel Peter (34-5, 27 KOs) will return for the first time in three years to face former ECHL hockey enforcer turned heavyweight KO artist Ron “The Iceman” Aubrey (12-3, 12 KOs) from Oklahoma City.

continue

Mayweather vs Maidana Preview

A seasoned 37-year-old champ, Floyd Mayweather Jr, will climb through the ropes at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night knowing that the last time his champ status was questioned to a point that warranted a rematch (Jose Luis Castillo), he provided clear answers and removed all doubt; that was in 2002. Since then Floyd’s put in some great performances over the years, perhaps not in the most exciting style but in his own, unique style which has kept him undefeated so far, despite not having stopped an opponent since 2011.

Marcos Maidana’s 31 years’ old and is a hungry, aggressive, and exciting fighter with a point to prove in the world of boxing. His style seems to be borne of the school of blood and guts with a ‘let’s fight’ approach. He’s picked up a couple of losses along the way which is no surprise given how he operates in the ring, but he’s also picked up knowledge and experience which is making him better and better at fighting, and he’s already stopped 31 of his opponents and has never been stopped himself.

continue

Algieri on Pacquiao: My job is to break his will

Chris Algieri is just what boxing needs.

He hs it all! He is a thoroughbred, he is a classy boxer, he’s educated, highly intelligent, well spoken, polite, and professional, with movie star looks.

He and his next opponent, Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) are likeable, humble, and respectful of each other. They will clash on November 22nd in Macao, China, on a Top Rank/Star Boxing promoted show, televised live on HBO PPV, in a fight between two WBO World Champions: Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) is the junior welterweight title holder and he is challenging the Pacman for his welterweight championship.

continue

Mayweather vs. Maidana: Money on a decision

Rematches may lack some of the drama and anticipation of other fights. They make up for it in predictability.

I’ve spent hours reviewing old fight footage, watching the most recent fights, fights against opponents with similar styles, fights they won, fights they lost…

While you can learn from any of these, none can teach you as much as watching a previous fight against the same opponent. Instead of speculating as to how this boxer will fare against that puncher, or how a three inch reach advantage will win or lose against superior hand speed, you ask one question: What happened last time?

continue

“The Great Wall” hits the heavyweight scene…HARD

They call Chinese heavyweight Taishan Dong “The Great Wall”, and it’s a nickname well deserved. At 6’11” and over 280 pounds of solid muscle, the 26 year old former kickboxer gives a whole new meaning to the term “super heavyweight”. It’s rare that a boxer with virtually no amateur experience fights on national television in their professional debut; but then again you don’t exactly see NBA center-sized Chinese heavyweights all too often either.

Taishan’s July 18th pro debut was a successful one, scoring a second round TKO over Alex Rozman (2-7 1KO) on a FOX Sports 1 card. Now manager George Gallegos and promoter Golden Boy Promotions are on the hunt for the next opponent. In the meantime, their fighter is soaking up all things boxing like a giant sponge. “He’s thinking about boxing 24 hours a day”, said Gallegos, “Whether it’s punching, footwork, or bag work, he’s going to go home and practice and you’ll see (the improvement) the next day”. The successful lawyer and longtime boxing fan met Taishan completely by random. “He walked into my office to ask a few legal questions”, said Gallegos, “when we were talking I asked him what he did and he said he was a fighter and he wanted to fight here but didn’t know how”. After that original meeting, Gallegos made some calls, got Taishan working in the gym and things took off from there.

continue

Maidana: I’m going to pace myself on Saturday

Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) says he’s ready to fight hard for 12 rounds on Saturday night, but he plans on pacing himself more against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KOs) this time instead of using up all of his fuel in the first 6 rounds like we saw last May. Mayweather and Maidana will be squaring off on Showtime pay-per-view in this highly anticipated rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Maidana is supposedly coming into the fight at a lighter weight this time. Just how much lighter is unknown, but if he comes into the fight at below 155, then he can probably forget all about winning or doing well. Maidana’s No.1 advantage last May in his previous fight against Mayweather was his weight. Maidana came into the fight weighing 165 pounds against the 150 pound Mayweather, and that extra weight gave Maidana the ability to manhandle Mayweather for parts of the fight.

continue

Floyd Sr sees no point in Mayweather-Maidana 2 rematch

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) As far as trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr is concerned there’s really no point in his son WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KOs) fighting Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) in a rematch this Saturday night because he thinks that Mayweather Jr already clearly beat Maidana last May, and he doesn’t see there being any reason for a rematch.

Floyd Sr. didn’t agree with the fight being scored as a 12 round majority decision obviously. He saw the fight as a definite victory for Mayweather.

Mayweather chose to fight Maidana again because he wanted to show the fans that he could beat him easier the second time around. Mayweather isn’t saying this but he really didn’t have any other interesting options in terms opponents to fight. Amir Khan was unavailable, Shawn Porter suffered a defeat, and Kell Brook and Keith Thurman don’t have big enough names for Mayweather to fight them.

continue

Mayweather: Arum and Pacquiao are mentioning my name to sell tickets to Algieri fight

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr told the media on Tuesday that there is zero truth to him being in negotiations for a fight against WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. There are no secret negotiations of any kind. Mayweather feels that Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank are mentioning his name in order to try and sell tickets and attract interest for Pacquiao’s November 22nd fight against little known fighter Chris Algieri in Macao, China.

“Not true,” Mayweather said. “I can’t say what the future holds, but Arum and Pacquiao is trying to sell tickets for the (fight with the) guy named (Chris) Algieri. Trying to sell tickets for that fight. I don’t know where they fighting, I don’t know anything about what Top Rank is doing.”

continue

The Sweet Sucker Punch: Rocky Lockridge

The following excerpt from my book, The Sweet Sucker Punch, is taken from one of many inspirational stories of honor and character of my experiences with some of boxing’s elite. It is my intention that you will be entertained and inspired to purchase the book for my promotional campaign in honor of the 30th anniversary of the greatest Olympic boxing team in history. Some of the proceeds will be used to help bring tribute to those legendary 1984 Olympic boxing icons.

I remember at that time I was in peak shape and scheduled to meet Rocky Lockridge for more sparring at Georgie Benton’s gym. My conditioning and confidence made me eagerly anticipate the session. When that day finally arrived, I came to the gym earlier than usual and shadowboxed and danced around the ring to the funky music that was kicking from the high-powered boom box in the corner of the gym.

continue