LIVE! Froch vs Groves 2 – The Weigh-In LIVE from Wembley Arena

Official Weights from London:

Carl Froch: 167.9 lbs.
George Groves: 166.4 lbs.

Saturday’s HBO Boxing After Dark telecast begins at 4:00 p.m. (ET/PT) with a world featherweight title fight (Vetyeka vs. Donaire) from Macau. The main event of the day live at 4:45 p.m. (ET/PT) features a highly anticipated 12-round title rematch between super middleweight title-holder Carl Froch and top contender and arch-rival George Groves.

American boxing fans can catch a highly anticipated UK rematch and a title fight from Macau when HBO BOXING AFTER DARK®: CARL FROCH VS. GEORGE GROVES II AND SIMPIWE VETYEKA VS. NONITO DONAIRE is seen SATURDAY, MAY 31 at 4:00 p.m. (ET/PT). The HBO Sports team will be calling both events, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino. Other HBO playdates: June 1 (8:30 a.m.) and 3 (1:00 a.m.) – HBO2 playdates: June 1 (3:15 p.m.) and 2 (11:00 p.m.)

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Hey Floyd, Manny! Remember when Wladimir Klitschko called out David Haye on YouTube?

Remember when heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko called out David Haye in a YouTube video? You remember David Haye, right? He was the polite-sounding, trash-talking, loud-mouth, who was packing a glass toe, and literally talked himself into the heavyweight spotlight without really doing much of anything to actually earn it. Sure, Haye picked up an ABC strap when he squeaked by Nikolai Valuev with an uneventful majority decision victory over the faded aging behemoth. But even before that happened, Haye had already talked himself into title contention by using nothing more than his big loud mouth. It was brilliant! An amazing demonstration of successful self-promotion, the likes of which hasn’t been matched by any other boxer in recent years. And it worked too, even if he did bail out of fights with each Klitschko brother before targeting easier prey in Valuev, for his silly alphabet title trinket that few true fight fans even recognized. It was genius on the part of Haye.

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Are Mayweather & Pacquiao hoping Cotto beats Martinez?

Miguel Cotto’s chances against Sergio Martinez are probably slim. Martinez is likely too big and too skilled for Cotto, who never really shined at any point during his campaign north of 147. Cotto has had an exceptional boxing career and is surely a first ballot future HOF’er, but he is clearly on the downside and Martinez has the type of style that will befuddle Cotto. The boxing pride of Puerto Rico is biting off more than he can chew. If Martinez’s stamina is even close to what we are accustomed to seeing from him, this fight could be an absolute nightmare for Cotto where he endures a prolonged beating and may not even survive to see the final bell.

But who knows? This is boxing and one punch can change a fight, right? Maybe Martinez will show his age. Perhaps his long career has taken its toll and recent injuries will impact his performance. Or maybe Freddie Roach will have a magical ace up his sleeve, or perhaps Cotto will even have something left in the tank for a change over the last few rounds should he make it that far. There is even the possibility of a freak accident, a bad/controversial decision, or a botched call by the referee. Anything can happen in boxing, so maybe we shouldn’t be too quick to write Cotto off just yet.

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Peace Through Fighting: The Humanity of Boxing

“Boxing is a science that adds humanity to a peoples’ conduct & courage to their national character. With boxing, trifling quarrels do not produce assassination and revenge is never finished by murder.” Pierce Egan, 1820

“Boxing is egalitarian. In the ring, rank, age, colour and wealth are irrelevant.” Nelson Mandela

“Politics is comparable to boxing. The only thing is that in politics there are basically no rules. In boxing, you can get a black eye, but in politics you can get poison in your food or a bullet in the head.” Wladimir Klitchko

“In here were two guys killing each other. But I guess that’s better than million.” Sylvester Stallone, Rocky IV.

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Canelo-Lara Full Undercard Set For July 12 On Showtime PPV

LAS VEGAS (May 27, 2014) – The hottest fight of the summer of 2014 deserves a sizzling undercard, and Golden Boy Promotions and SHOWTIME PPV are pleased to announce the three bouts that will support the main event featuring Canelo Alvarez and Erislandy Lara on Saturday, July 12 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

In the co-main event, former three-division world champion Abner Mares returns to face Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Oquendo in a 10-round featherweight bout. In the SHOWTIME PPV opening bout, Johan Perez defends his interim WBA Junior Welterweight World Championship against Mauricio Herrera in s 12-round match up.

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Matthew Saad Muhammad Obit – Matthew: You Gave Us Everything You Had!

Matthew Saad Muhammad, perhaps the most entertaining light-heavyweight in boxing history, passed away over the weekend at the age of 59. Promoter J Russell Peltz, International Boxing Hall of Fame class of 2004, recalls his days with Saad.

Matthew: You Gave Us Everything You Had!

I was in my car Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh with my wife, Linda, and our grand-children and we were on our way to see the Pirates play at PNC Park when the call came in over the car-phone speaker. It was Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, calling from Las Vegas, to tell us that Matthew Saad Muhammad had passed away the night before.

Eddie boxed several times for me in the 1970s and 1980s and we have a friendship based on mutual respect. Eddie has become a keeper-of-the-flame for the fighters of his era and in January, 2011, he and his wife flew from Las Vegas to Philadelphia to attend Bennie Briscoe’s funeral, something I will never forget.

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Bernd Boente suggests Klitschko vs. Stiverne for the sake of history

For the heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, finding a formidable foe which not only fits contractual parameters but pleases the fans as well is no easy task.

While Wladimir steps inside the ring on a regular basis, his opposition is not always as exciting and competitive as we would like.

Lately, boxing fans have been asking for Klitschko vs. Kubrat Pulev, and while there have been some rumors surrounding the possibility of this fight happening, it seems as though team Klitschko would rather face Bermane Stiverne.

“The only reason that Wladimir wants to face Stiverne instead of Pulev, is because he wants to make history.

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Carl Froch: The best of “The Cobra”

Britain is currently bracing itself for one of the biggest fights ever to be staged on these shores, with excitement levels soaring and soaring ahead of Saturday night’s huge rematch showdown between bitter super-middleweight rivals Carl Froch and George Groves.

Indicative of how big a deal this fight is and of how the return meeting has captured the imagination of the British public is the way the man on the street is almost constantly talking about the outcome. Seen by just about everybody as a 50-50 fight, some people are making an argument for a Froch win, with just as many fans making case for a Groves win.

Everything is on the line for both warriors, and we can expect something special for the £17.99 we must part with so as to tune in live on Sky Box Office.

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Why Juan Manuel Marquez should avoid a fifth fight with Manny Pacquiao

When two fighters, who are almost evenly matched, fight multiple times, the outcome of each bout eventually becomes subject to the law of probabilities. In other words, the more times the combatants fight, the greater each one’s chance of losing – or winning.

Applying this same law to Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, if they fought 10 times, they would probably win five fights each, on average, minus of course the controversial decisions from the judges. Now, after four fights, the question is, when is enough enough? After such a sensational ending to the fourth fight, an unbiased person would assume that the story has finally ended. Game over. Marquez finally silenced his critics.

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WBA Champion Braehmer wants to charge Bolonti with heavy bill on June 7

Juergen Braehmer (43-2, 32 KOs) brings the WBA World Championship to his hometown! Schwerin, Germany will host the 35-year-old’s next title defense against even-aged challenger Roberto Bolonti (35-2, 24 KOs) on June 7. The Argentinian already provoked the defending champion in the run-up to their fight. In the following Q&A, you can read Braehmer’s verbal counter as well as his future plans inside the ring.

Juergen, you last defended your world title in early April. About two months later, you are going to put it on the line again. Is the short break between fights a problem for you?

Juergen Braehmer: No, not at all. I see it more as an advantage to me. After enjoying a few days off, I went back into the gym after the Easter holidays. I did not start at zero and therefore I could lay my concentration more on technique and tactics.

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