Stiverne-Arreola II fight week coverage – Weigh In

Weigh-ins for the WBC heavyweight title bout between Bermane Stiverne and Chris Arreola took place this afternoon at the Radisson Midtown near the USC campus in Los Angeles, where the action will take place tomorrow night. Both men came in lighter than they weighed for their first bout last April, showing just how serious the fighters are taking this rematch.

Arreola stepped onto the scale first, weighing in at 239, his trimmest physique in years. By comparison, “The Nightmare” came into the first match with Stiverne at 248, and tipped the scale for his most recent bout (a quick destruction of American Seth Mitchell last year) at 242 pounds.

Stiverne hit the scale next, measuring 239.5 pounds. By comparison, “B WARE” was 247 for the first fight with Arreola last April, and came in at 243 against journeyman Willie Herring in his only bout of 2012. Against former title challenger Ray Austin in June of 2011, Stiverne weighed in at 239 pounds.

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Deontay Wilder — I Fought Cyber-Bully Zelenoff… To Save His Life!!

by TMZ Sports — Boxing champ Deontay Wilder — the reigning WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight — says Zelenoff has been harassing him for 3 years … calling him the N-word in texts and in phone calls and even threatening to harm his young daughter.

“He said he was going to murder me. He said he was going to tape my daughter’s mouth … when dealing with my kids, that’s below the belt. That’s what really got me.”

Wilder says he finally got fed up with the constant harassment and told Zelenoff to meet him at the Hollywood Boxing Gym on May 7 to settle their beef once and for all.

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Wilder: Stiverne doesn’t deserve to fight Arreola for WBC title

(Photo credit: Goosen Tutor Promotions) #3 WBC Deontay Wilder (31-0, 31 KO’s) doesn’t think #1 WBC Bermane Stiverne (23-1-1, 20 KO’s) deserves to be fighting for the vacant WBC heavyweight title tonight against Chris Arreola (36-3, 31 KO’s) at the USC Galen Center, in Los Angeles, California, USA.

Deontay thinks that the 6’2” Stiverne lacks the resume to be fighting for a world title given that his only one big named opponent he’s faced during his career is Arreola, who Deontay felt was out of shape when Stiverne beat him last year by a 12 round unanimous decision in April of 2013.

“I don’t feel that Stiverne has done nothing to deserve a title shot,” Deontay said via Fightnews. “The only person he beat to deserve a shot was Chris Arreola. He [Stiverne] got pounded by my man Ray Austin.”

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Canelo Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara press tour hits the big apple; quotes from Hard Rock Café in Times Square, NYC

(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) CANELO ALVAREZ

“These fans motivate me to keep training and to get up in the morning and run.

“I want people to say that I came up from Mexico to the boxing world. It’s a big responsibility for me because in Mexico there are a lot of legends. But our legends cannot be compared to any others. No two Mexican legends are alike.

“Lara has talked a lot, [to the fans] you guys asked for the fight, and here it is. What you guys ask from me, I will give you.

“A lot have asked me, ‘Why did you take this fight?’ I say ‘Why not? I will fight anyone. Style doesn’t matter.’

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Adrien Broner: Scapegoat Racist

Racism: Beliefs, actions, practices, and social/political systems that create a hierarchy of races deemed more superior or inferior to each other. Racism gives advantages to groups with power and privilege (white) and is manifested towards people of color who are in subordinated positions.

Adrien Broner was recently used as a scapegoat of racism in a time where racial insensitivity is a hot topic. This is due to the recent incident with Clippers owner, Donald Sterling and his hate towards black people, not wanting black people at his basketball games, and his history of racism. Although what Broner said this past Saturday night after his victory over Carlos Molina was racially and culturally insensitive, disrespectful, arrogant, lacked humility, and ignorant, I would not say that it was racist. A racist position would be someone who said something of someone from a different race with language and a tone of hate and power over another racial group. As a black man, Adrien Broner is not in a position of power, but more so in a position to disrespect an entire community as a result of his dominant performance over Carlos Molina (who is Mexican and Argentinian).

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TOMORROW! Crawford vs Gamboa Tix Go On Sale at 11 A.M. ET

“This is what I always wanted to do, make my first world title defense in Omaha where I grew up,” said Crawford. “As soon as this fight was announced my phone and Facebook lit up. Everyone wants to be at this fight. This is extremely exciting, something I always dreamed about. Gamboa is fast and he hits with power. This is a serious fight. I fought and beat a lot of great fighters as an amateur.

” I was at 132 pounds then and Gamboa, as an amateur, was 112. But now we are about to go at it. I plan to train in Colorado Springs. During fight week, I will be away from the main fight hotel. It’ll be me and just my team to be by ourselves in the final days leading to the biggest fight of my life. It’s been a long ride to get here but at last my dream has come true. This will be a great action-packed fight.”

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Adrien Broner: Future Pound-for-Pounder?

First of all, I need to make it abundantly clear that I despise the way that Adrien Broner conducts himself outside the ring, but I do think he’s a talented fighter… and many casual boxing observers seem to allow their hatred to cloud their judgement and underestimate his overall ability and potential.

I also feel that the Carlos Molina bout was arranged by the promoters to specifically showcase Broner’s talents, which was essentially a glorified sparring session and a confidence builder.

Anyway, after watching the Molina fight for the second time, I did see some improvement in Broner, though subtle, he does appear to be going in the right direction. Here are my thoughts…

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Canelo Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara – San Antonio press conference quotes

(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) CANELO ALVAREZ

“It truly is an honor to be here amongst all of you. Whenever I am doing anything in boxing, San Antonio is on my list because you guys treat me like family.

“I am going to prepare myself like always to give everyone a great fight. This is the fight the fans have been asking for and I am going to prepare myself for a great victory.

“I love it here and I’d love to fight in San Antonio later this year. Thank you very much.”

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Tony Harrison Gets Some Heavyweight Advice

photo by Nick Navetta — Indy 500 Winner Advises Detroit Contender

DETROIT– Memorial Day weekend usually means the Indy 500. The next weekend after that storied race is the Chevy Detroit Grand Prix. These are two giant motorsports events. Middleweight contender Tony Harrison is hyping his May 30th fight against veteran Bronco McKart as both a test and the next step toward a major title. He is also wisely cross-promoting himself all over Detroit to help ticket sales. He got a great boost from last year’s Indy 500 winner, Tony Kanaan.

The Cobo Center will showcase the McKart (56-10, 34 KO’s) and Harrison (17-0, 14 KO’s) rumble with a variety of ticket options. McKart, the former WBO light middleweight champion, now 43, has not had much action recently. “I respect Tony Harrison,” McKart said, “I think the world of him. He’s good for boxing in Detroit. But I’ve never taken a fight I thought I couldn’t win. I’ve been fighting for over 20 years and I’m not coming to lie down, that’s for sure. I’m coming with all intentions of winning the fight. I think it’s going to be a great fight.”

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Amir Khan: will he finally walk the walk?

Returning from the 2004 Olympic games in Athens was a 17 year old boxer from Bolton, whose performances there belied his juvenility and gained him the adoration of a nation. Amir ‘King’ Khan’s star could not be higher back in his home country and, after defeating the man who defeated him in the Olympic final, the professional ranks beckoned with a huge amount of potential being seen in this likable young star. Ten years later and that adoration and faith seems to have faded in the wash slightly. Prior to his impressive victory over his best opponent since his complete capitulation against Danny Garcia, Khan had been busy lobbying quite desperately for a bout with the undefeated phenomenon Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather, only for his pleas to fall on deaf ears. Opinion seemed to be split on the subject, however, as many pundits believe that he has the tools to truly give Floyd a test that he most definitely has not been given in a while. The fans, meanwhile, seemed to incessantly question what it is exactly Khan has done to deserve such a coveted opportunity. I wanted to examine why Khan’s credibility is so low right now, but also whether he genuinely has the weaponry to at least threaten Mayweather’s seemingly impregnable fortress.

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