Provodnikov in a tough situation with no one to fight

After having been passed over by Top Rank for a big money fight against Manny Pacquiao on April 12th, WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov (23-2, 16 KO’s) is in a really tough spot in terms of him trying to land a big fight or even an just a halfway interesting fight. Provodnikov’s No.1 challenger Juan Manuel Marquez isn’t interested in fighting him, and feels that it’s not a fight that would be great challenge for him due to Provodnikov having a title that he recently had in his possession.

Provodnikov’s other options is a fight against Brandon Rios, but that’s something that likely won’t happen due to Rios’ suspension. Rios isn’t ranked in the top 15 at 140 any longer, so that’s not an option for Provodnikov.

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Kovalev to Face Agnew March 29 on HBO at Boardwalk Hall AC

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ: Dating back to December 2011, Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (23-0-1, 21 KOs) has demolished all seven opponents that he has faced by knockout in an average of less than four rounds per bout. On Saturday, March 29 he’ll be looking to continue the streak and score his 22nd KO when he returns to the ring for his 2014 debut to defend his WBO World Light Heavyweight Title against undefeated challenger Cedric Agnew (26-0-0, 13 KOs) live from the Ballroom at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.Kovalev vs. Agnew will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Presented by Main Events in association with Caesars Atlantic City, tickets for the light heavyweight world title showdown are on sale now through TicketMaster online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or via phone (800) 736-1420. Fans can also contact Main Events for tickets at (973) 200-7050. Ticket prices are $26, $51, $77 and $152. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. ET. Undercard bouts will be announced shortly.

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Sergio Martinez targeting Gennady Golovkin after the June 7th Cotto bout

If everything works out well for WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) with his June 7th title defense against the ambitious Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s), then Sergio wants to face WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26 KO’s) in a unification fight. But Sergio must get past Cotto, because a loss in that fight would make the Golovkin bout a meaningless one for him.

“I have a hard, complicated fight ahead [Miguel Cotto], but seeing how things are working, I know I’m gonna finish him. Once I KO Cotto on June 7, then I can concentrate on Golovkin,” Martinez said to Munod.

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Crolla to put on a ‘Million Dollar’ performance against Simpson

On a lengthy night of boxing from the SECC in Glasgow on March 1st, Anthony ‘Million Dollar’ Crolla will defend his WBO inter-continental lightweight title against John Simpson, live on Sky Sports.

The show’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, announced the bout shortly after the cancellation of the eagerly anticipated fight between Wadi Camacho and Stephen Simmons when a broken rib had forced the latter to withdraw. It was disappointing news as the boxers had each played their part in fueling the passion of the fight in the build-up with heated exchanges on Twitter and plenty of ill-attitude during face-to-face confrontation.

Crolla will enter hostile ground in front of a partisan crowd looking to put on a ‘Million Dollar’ performance against the rugged and relentless Scotsman and hoping to make a statement to WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns.

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The Legacies of Mayweather and Pacquiao

By Blair Frison: Most boxing pundits agree that the legacies of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will stand the test of time, whether or not they face each other. Certainly, nobody can deny them their place in history; their names will be remembered. But they still show a worrying lack of concern for said legacies.

Pacquiao, while great, lacks a voice. He has shown no appetite for this fight. After his impressive victory over Brandon Rios, he was asked the obvious question of who he wanted next. True boxing fans everywhere issued a collective groan when he gave the standard “It’s up to my promoter” response. He has tried to redeem himself in recent weeks and must be applauded for his offer to fight for charity – a stroke of genius on his part, for which Mayweather had no legitimate response. But Pacquiao needs to do more. Basically, he needs to become a champion trash-talker. Calling Mayweather a coward was a good start.

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Mayweather poll vote ends, Khan tops Maidana to get May 3rd fight

Amir Khan’s many twitter followers have voted him in as Floyd Mayweather Jr’s next opponent on May 3rd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Mayweather poll ended yesterday at his site at Mayweather Promotions, and the final numbers showed Khan winning 57 percent of the vote with 20,105 votes compared to Maidana’s 15,474. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Khan for doing a good job of encouraging his many followers to go to the Mayweather Promotions website and vote for him in the poll.

There was no official message at the Mayweather Promotions website about Khan now being the guy that Mayweasther will be facing next, but we’ll likely be hearing something from Mayweather himself shortly, unless he changes his mind about wanting to use the poll as his method for selecting his next opponent for his May 3rd fight. I doubt he’ll do that, because having Khan as his next opponent actually works out better for Mayweather than it would if Maidana were his next opponent.

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Get Real – Mayweather-Pacquiao Would Not “Save” Boxing

Imagine the day that would come after the long-promised Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Everyone thinks this hypothetical bout would “save boxing” and make it relevant again. What would that mean, exactly?

Would boxing gyms reopen? Would viewership permanently skyrocket? Would boxing appear on network TV rather than premium channels? Would a bankrupted Dana White start living in a cardboard box?

I’m tired of hearing about the salvation promised by a single match. One fight cannot save boxing, no matter how big. I cannot stress this enough –DOZENS of great fights WILL save boxing.

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Erislandy Lara challenges Gennady Golovkin

How about you @gggboxing me fight you anytime! #badboyvsgoodboy

— Erislandy Lara (@Laraboxing) February 9, 2014

If WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26 KO’s) is still looking for an opponent for his his next fight on April 26th then he might want to consider facing junior middleweight Erislandy Lara (19-1-2, 12 KO’s), because the Cuban fighter is very interested in facing him judging by his above challenge. Golovkin still hasn’t found an opponent for his April fight at Madison Square Garden in New York.

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Pacquiao reveals his strategy for beating Bradley: “I’m going to throw a lot of punches”

If you wondered what Manny Pacquiao’s strategy will be for how he plans on beating WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley, Pacquiao revealed it in an interview this week. The strategy is simple. Pacquiao says he plans on throwing a lot of punches to force Bradley to deal a lot of incoming. Whether that’ll work or not is another thing.

Bradley isn’t someone that is going to just stand around and let Pacquiao throw 1000 punches at him in a 12 round fight like Joshua Clottey did against Pacquiao in 2010. Bradley has already said that he’s going to use a lot of movement against the Filipino fighter, and choose when and where he wants to mix it up with him.

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Deontay Wilder to get title shot if he beats Malik Scott on March 15th

After 6 years as a professional, #3 WBC Deontay Wilder (30-0, 30 KO’s) is on the cusp of fighting for a heavyweight world title if he can beat Malik Scott (36-1-1, 13 KO’s) on March 15th at the Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The Wilder-Scott fight will be a WBC eliminator bout, and the winner of that fight will be getting a title shot in 2014 against either Chris Arreola or Bermane Stiverne, depending which one of these guys emerge as the winner of their fight for the vacant WBC title in April or May.

“I’m totally capable of being a world champion, just like Emanuel Steward once said that I would,” Deontay said to RingTV. “It’s going to be most important that, come March 15, I display something that I never have before and that I show the world that Deontsy Wilder has really arrived now and that I’m really to be the world champion.”

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