Brazil’s Marcus de Oliveira Is Hunting The World’s Best Light-Heavyweights

(2/19/14) Trainers get a certain feeling when they work the mitts with boxers who possess natural power. South Florida’s Ricky Fisler realizes that sensation when he does glove-work with light-heavyweight Marcus de Oliveira. “It’s thrilling to work with a fighter who has that instinctive ability to distribute his weight when he punches,” says Fisler. “Marcus is can do that; he is gifted. His punches feel like sledgehammers.”

The Brazilian-born, Miami-based de Oliveira fights this Friday in Cleveland. The bout – against an opponent not yet identified – is likely to be the first of two tune-ups prior to seeking a match against a world-class foe. Fisler has high expectations of his fighter, and for good reasons, too. Currently 23-1-1 with 21 knockouts, de Oliveira carries one-punch KO power in both hands. 15 of his opponents have taken the full count. The Brazilian has a puncher’s chance against any top-rated fighter in his weight class.

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Chávez, Jr. Training Camp Quotes

(Rafael Soto/Top Rank) CULIACÁN, MÉXICO (February 19, 2014) – Former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion JULIO CÉSAR CHÁVEZ JR is in his final days of training camp in México as he prepares for his 12-round super middleweight rematch against Top-Five contender and two-fisted Texan BRYAN VERA. Chávez Jr. – Vera II will take place next week – Saturday, March 1 – at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX. It will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT. The telecast will open with two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist and 2013 Prospect of the Year, VASYL LOMACHENKO, in only his second professional bout, challenging World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight champion ORLANDO SALIDO.

Here is what Chávez Jr. had to say today:

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Arum: What Mayweather has done to Khan is disgraceful!

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is all bent out of shape with the way that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has treated Britain’s Amir Khan by not naming him as his next opponent for May 3rd, and having him compete for the fight with Marcos Maidana on his website poll at Mayweatherpromotions.com.

Khan won the poll, but Mayweather still hasn’t named him as his next opponent yet. Arum says he would never do that with his fighters in his stable, and he thinks that Khan should “cut his ties with them.” Arum thinks Mayweather has decided to fight Maidana instead of Khan.

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Mayweather Should Have Picked Khan!

Based on recent media reports, it is highly likely that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will probably face Marcos Maidana rather than Amir Khan on Cinco de Mayo weekend (May 3rd), which is a bit of a shame if you ask me, because I feel that a contest against the Brit would have raised the global profile of boxing.

From a purely financial perspective, it made sense for Mayweather Jr. to face Amir Khan, with Broner fighting on the undercard trying to gain some measure of revenge over Marcos Maidana.

However, a lot of casual fans of the sport feel (quite justifiably) that Amir Khan didn’t deserve the privilege of fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr., because he has lost two of his last four bouts and has never achieved anything at welterweight (other than gaining a controversial decision victory over Julio Diaz).

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Ruslan Provodnikov…feared man at Junior Welterweight

After winning the WBO Junior Welterweight Championship by stopping heralded tough guy and incumbent title holder “Mile High” Mike Alvarado in the reigning champ’s hometown of Denver, Colorado, on October 19th of last year, most fight fans would have guessed that big fight opportunities would be easily attainable for undefeated Russian native Ruslan Provodnikov in 2014.

With sledgehammers for fists and an iron chin to match, the irresistible force at 140 pounds always displays violent drama in the ring whenever he graces the light blue canvas…the kind that brings enthusiasm to arenas and excites fight fans around the world.

The 30 year old champ represents the kind of warrior that most avid boxing enthusiasts are willing to support.

So with a fan friendly style and a piece of coveted hardware around his waist, why is the HBO featured title holder still searching for a suitable challenger?

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Floyd Mayweather: He’s not a super-hero

From the fighters mentioned as next opponents, the only boxer that Floyd Mayweather Jr. should face would be Manny Pacquiao (assuming he doesn’t renew his contract with Bob Arum’s Top Rank).

Floyd should not hold the sole responsibility for the Pacquiao super-bout not happening, because (as the old adage goes), “it takes two to tango”, as some of the heavily-publicised demands from Manny’s team from previous attempts to negotiate the fight seemed strange or unreasonable – limited blood testing, 50:50 split of the pot; HBO’s involvement etc.

I also don’t believe that Floyd’s legacy will be tarnished if he doesn’t fight Manny, because it’s not uncommon for some of the biggest stars in boxing not to fight each other, but this has not affected their legacies in any way. For example: Roy Jones Jr. didn’t fight Gerald McClellan, Chris Eubank, Nigel Benn, Steve Collins, Dariusz Michalczewski or Julian Jackson.

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On the Mayweather legacy

Mayweather’s legacy has already been cemented. He is the only one closest to perfecting the sweet science. His defense is almost impenetrable. And he is graceful in the ring. And contrary to casual boxing fans’ claims , Mayweather is not like Guillermo Regondeaux who runs around the ring from his opponent. In fact in his fight against Canelo Alvarez many were surprised that he was the one who attacked Alvarez as early as the first round.

Mayweather has developed the shoulder roll defense not only to elude punches but to give him greater opportunity at offense. “Roll the left, cock the right. ” And Mayweather is not a soft puncher either. The only chance a regular fighter could possibly win is to get closer in which it is not difficult because Mayweather allows it. But as soon as you get hit by that ” cocked right hand” the game will change. You will be reduced to standing in front of him and trying to box him in which you don’t have a chance.

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Offense wins games but Defense Wins Championships!

The old saying ‘offense wins games and defense wins championships’ sure applied to America’s Super Bowl this year. The underdog Seattle team shutdown the favorite Denver team and their Quarterback Peyton Manning to secure the win! Before the game the Denver team was a 4 to 1, favorite with most believing that they would dominate and easily walk away with the Championship.

Parallels to this idiom exist in boxing, for example as a young fighter works his way up the boxing totem pole, it is quite common for him to have a lot of KO’s putting on an offensive show, neglecting defense providing entertainment value for the fans. As the fighter moves from prospect to fringe contender protecting that status becomes a priority because of the risk involved and the paychecks earned, so fighting with more defense takes place. Also at this level of development that same young fighter is fighting more skillful opponents who they can’t just blow out, there’s more give and take and taking less/giving more is the game.

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Canelo vs. Angulo Undercard International Media Conference Call Transcript

Kelly Swanson

Thanks, everybody for joining us today. We’re very excited to be talking about the fantastic undercard of the Canelo vs. Angulo pay-per-view event, which is taking place Saturday, March 8 in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and live on Showtime PPV®. Today joining us will be Leo Santa Cruz, Cristian Mijares, Omar Figueroa, Carlos Molina, Jermall Charlo and Eric Gomez, who will be running the call.

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Cotto-Martinez: Exciting for the wrong reasons?

While negotiations are moving particularly slowly, it seems that the June 7th showdown between current Ring/WBC champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2) and The Ring No.3 Jr. Middleweight Miguel Cotto (38-4-0) is inevitable. Their managers have decided on a fight name, venue, date and even catchweight, and are likely now ironing out more details. While many fans would rather see undefeated knockout-king Gennady Golovkin face Martinez instead, this bout remains interesting to the public. The reasons for this, however, may not be the kinds that lend themselves to an actually enjoyable fight.

Some analysts, for one, remain puzzled as to how Cotto has exactly earned this fight. Having lost 2 of his last 3 weights at Jr. Middleweight (both hard fought unanimous decisions), Cotto came back with a riveting knockout early in round 3 of the largely unheralded Delvin Rodriguez. Though Cotto has held world titles in every weight class from 140 – 154 pounds and has long been considered a world class fighter, he has not convinced everyone that he can still deliver that kind of performance against a world champion level fighter. What is even more questionable about him receiving this fight, however, is that Cotto has never even fought at Middleweight, and hasn’t been a World Champion for close to two years.

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