Odlanier Solis ready for “epic battle” against Tony Thompson

Cuban heavyweight contender Odlanier Solis has spent the last two weeks in Turkey to get ready for his WBC international heavyweight championship bout this Saturday (March 22nd) in Tekirdag against US veteran Tony Thompson. Promoter Ahmet Oner used the long and proud history of his home country to get Solis heated up for the clash of former Klitschko foes.

“We went to the cinema to watch ‘300: Rise of an Empire’. The next day I took Solis to ancient graves from the times of the Ottoman empire”, says Oner. “I wanted to show Solis that he is in a country which has seen a lot of big and important battles over thousands of years. I expect him to enter the ring on Saturday with the same attitude of old Ottoman fighters when they went to war. This is a do or die fight. If Solis beats Thompson I will lead him to another world title fight. But if he loses it might be all over.”

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Ekpo made mandatory challenger to Commonwealth Super Middleweight title

Ghana based Nigerian pugilist, Isaac Ekpo has been awarded mandatory status by the Commonwealth Boxing Council (CBC) for their Super Middleweight championship.

The title has become vacant following the failure of Ghana’s Charles Adamu The Crusader to annex it last Saturday after a unanimous decision loss to hitherto champion, Rocky Fielding who was stripped of the belt even before he faced Adamu for failing to make the weight.

According to the CBC bulletin released on 16th March 2014, the Board of Directors of the CBC voted unanimously for the former world title contender to be next in line to battle for the 168 lbs Commonwealth championship.

Ekpo who fought for the WBO world title against Robert Stieglitz in Germany on October 19 last year and is a stable mate of Charles Adamu has welcomed the news as the perfect opportunity to re-launch his career.

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“You don’t have to be a groundhog to know that Bradley’s days as welterweight champ are over” – Roach

HOLLYWOOD, CALIF. (March 18, 2014) – After completing his first week of training camp at his Hollywood-based Wild Card Boxing Club with Fighter of the Decade MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO, Hall of Fame trainer World-Famous FREDDIE ROACH had a few observations he wanted to share as they prepare for their rematch challenge of undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion TIMOTHY “Desert Storm” BRADLEY. Pacquiao-Bradley 2 will take place Saturday, April 12, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. It will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT:

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Boxing 411: “Mayweather vs. Maidana” analysis with Jesse James Leija

Last week, Boxing 411 caught up with two time world champion and talented young fight promoter Jesse James Leija to analyze the upcoming super fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana, which is slated to be broadcast on Showtime PPV on May3rd, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

The knowledgeable fight trainer and former world champion recognizes the gifts that both fighters will bring to the ring and examines the tumultuous fight style of “El Chino” Maidana versus the seemingly impervious defensive technique of “Money” Mayweather.

“I expect to see a great, great fight on May 3rd and a tough, tough fight for both fighters,” observes the budding young boxing promoter. “Mayweather brings intelligence, speed, and experience to the ring, and Maidana is so brutally tough that he’ll give you everything you can handle on fight night.”

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And The Winner is…Al Haymon

It seems that in the recent weeks Al Haymon has been a very busy man. Haymon is one of the most mysterious men in boxing because he is rarely photographed at boxing events. He also has been called one of the most influential figures in boxing. He is known to have great relationships with cable networks and his fighters get plenty of exposure due to this. Well these past couple of weeks Haymon has been signing everyone under the sun. His most recent signing is rumored to be Robert Guerrero, just last week it was Amir Khan.

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Traietti and McLaughlin KO their opponents

Iraq War Veteran, Chris Traietti landed a devastating right hook at Bryan Dailey who went down quickly and was unable to beat the ten count as the referee stopped the bout at 1:43 in the first round of this scheduled six round cruiserweight bout, giving Traietti the knockout victory.

These fights were presented by Big Six Entertainment at the Royale Night Club in Boston, Massachusetts.

“Dailey is a big strong fighter who throws a lot of punches but has a porous defense, so I allowed him to come after me and patiently waited for a perfect opening and when I saw it, I went after it and knocked him out quickly,” said Traietti. “I was pleased with my performance.”

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Garcia/Herrera, Canelo’s PPV numbers, Mayweather, Wilder, and more!!!

C. Jasper (Columbia, SC): I know you were pretty high on Danny Garcia after he soundly defeated Lucas Matthyssee. After seeing him struggle against a nobody, what do you think now?

Vivek W. (ESB): I’ll start by saying that I totally beg to differ, as it relates to your opinion of Mauricio Herrera being a “nobody”. Covering the sport over the years, I’ve always liked the art of keeping a thumb on those men and women who are under the radar, but above the rim, so to speak. Coming into this bout, I definitely viewed Herrera as someone who was not to be taken lightly. On the morning of all major fights, I post a Facebook “Scouting Report” which lays out my thoughts in general terms. I’m not always as deadly accurate as I’d like, but in hindsight, the words posted were almost ominous, as they spoke very clearly about what would later happen. To revisit the caption, here is a direct quote:

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Video: Cunningham – Mansour Press Conference

Philadelphia, PA: This afternoon at the Joe Hand Boxing Gym in Philadelphia, PA members of the media gathered for the kick-off press conference for the Friday, April 4th fight at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, PA between Steve “USS” Cunningham (26-6-0, 12 KOs) of Philadelphia, PA and Amir “Hardcore” Mansour (20-0-0, 15 KOs) of Wilmington, DE. The fight will be for the USBA Heavyweight Title and will be broadcast live on NBCSN Fight Night at 10:00 PM ET/ 7:00 PM PT.

Photo Courtesy of Darryl Cobb Jr.

Hall of Fame Matchmaker, J Russell Peltz has a long history of putting on great fights in Philadelphia. He said, “In this fight we have the bull and the matador. Here Mansour comes forward like a bull and Steve Cunningham is the matador. Both guys are from the neighborhood. Fights like this are what make Philly the great fight town it has been. Both fighters took a long road to get here. I am really pumped for this fight.”

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Tony Thompson to face 2004 Olympic gold medalist Odlanier Solis this Saturday, March 22nd in Tekirdag

Tony “The Tiger” Thompson arrived in Istanbul, Turkey, this afternoon for his WBC International Championship bout against 2004 Olympic gold medalist Odlanier Solis this Saturday (March 22nd) in Tekirdag. The ring veteran from Washington, D.C. is used to traveling. The clash with Solis will be Thompson’s fifth consecutive fight outside of the USA. His last bout on home soil has been a third round TKO win over Maurice Harris almost three years ago.

While “The Tiger” lost his last fight on the road – a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision to IBF #1 Kubrat Pulev in Schwerin in August 2013 – he also had some success fighting abroad recently, knocking out British prospect David Price twice in February and July 2013.

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Broner and Khan on Mayweather Jr. vs. Maidana Undercard?

The ability to consistently break his own PPV record is something that only Floyd Mayweather Jr. seems to be capable of doing in the sport of boxing nowadays.

Not only is a Mayweather Jr. fight guaranteed to deliver extraordinary PPV numbers and an impressive performance by Floyd, but his name is a draw for any and all other fighters to compete for a spot on his undercard.

When Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his next rival Marcos Maidana enter the ring to face each other on May 3rd in Las Vegas, Nevada, all of the seats in the arena will likely be occupied. Knowing that, is there another level in success for Mayweather Jr.? Seems like filling the seats long before the main event would be pretty unusual, and an achievement in itself.

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