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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Stiverne-Arreola II fight week coverage – Open Workouts

This afternoon on the University of Southern California campus in Los Angeles, Bermane Stiverne and Chris Arreola held open workouts as they prepared for this Saturday’s WBC heavyweight title match. Please check out the embedded video to see the fighters in action.

Southern California native Chris “The Nightmare” Arreola arrived first around 3pm and after some stretching and shadowboxing, he worked the mitts with longtime trainer Henry Ramirez. Chris was his normal jovial self and was joking with media members as he worked up a sweat. He appeared in good shape and high spirits only days ahead of the biggest fight of his career. After a few minutes skipping rope, he stepped aside to talk with media and leave the ring area open for his opponent to work. Arreola made it a point to tell media he is in much better condition for the rematch with Stiverne than he was in their first bout. He beamed with confidence as he answered questions and seemed very relaxed.

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Mikkel Kessler: “I still feel I have something to prove”

Following months of speculation, today, former five-time World Champion Mikkel Kessler announced his intentions to continue boxing and fight his way back to the top of the sport he loves.

“I’ve thought a lot about whether I should continue my career,’’ said Kessler. ‘’I became a father and I have a life outside of boxing that I really appreciate. I’ve got a special responsibility. So it was not a decision I took lightly.

‘’But I still feel I have something to prove. I hate to lose! And I lost my last fight against Carl Froch. Many thought that I would quit, but I owe it to myself and my fans to finish on top. My last performance showed that I still belong at the top. And I know that my fans believe in me.’

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Canelo Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara – Los Angeles press conference quotes

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) LOS ANGELES (May 6, 2014) – A four-city, four-day, whirlwind press tour for “HONOR & GLORY: Canelo vs. Lara,” a highly anticipated event headlined by a showdown between former WBC and WBA Super Welterweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez and WBA Junior Middleweight World Champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara, commenced Tuesday at El Pueblo Historical Monument in Los Angeles.

Hundreds of fans and media members turned out for the Golden Boy Promotions open-to-the-public press conference that also was streamed live in High Definition across multiple SHOWTIME platforms, including via satellite feed, YouTube, Ustream and sports.sho.com/live.

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