USA Boxing Championships Off To Great Start In Spokane

178 boxers from 47 different states are in Spokane Washington trying to win the USA Amateur Boxing crown. The first round of the tournament got started at the HUB in Liberty Lake, a suburb of Spokane Monday. I spoke with organizers about the economic impact the boxers, fans and coaches are making on the region. I also ran into Jack Mosley, father of Sugar Shane Mosley and now trainer to his grandson, Sugar Shane Mosley Jr. The elder Mosley knows a little something about taking boxers to tournaments across the country. He guided his son to to a US Lightweight Championship in 89 and 92.

Shane would later become a champion in several divisions as a professional and is considered by many boxing historians one of the greatest of all time. But Monday night it was Sugar Shane Mosley Jr. who was trying to make his mark in the sport. The 23 year is 31-9 over his amateur career and a good looking athlete who looks strikingly similar to his dad. “We are going to try to go the the Olympics if possible but we’ve got to win this fight, win this tournament national tournament first,” said Jack Mosley, before the bout.

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Canelo vs. Angulo press conference quotes

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) LOS ANGELES (Jan. 21, 2014) – Hundreds of fans turned out on a Tuesday afternoon to witness up close and personal Mexican boxing superstar Canelo Alvarez, fan favorite Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo and four other world-class action fighters for a jam-packed press conference hosted by Golden Boy Promotions to formally announce “TOE TO TOE: Canelo vs. Angulo,” a fantastic four-fight telecast on Saturday, March 8, on SHOWTIME PPV® from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Joining the popular main event fighters at the Los Angeles Central Public Library Outdoor Plaza undefeated Two-Division World Champion Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz, former Three-Time World Champion Cristian “El Diamante” Mijares and Ricardo “Dinamita” Alvarez, a brother of Canelo Alvarez.

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Timothy Bradley vs. Manny Pacquiao II Ready To go on April 12th

According to the Manila Bulletin, Manny Pacquiao will soon cross the ropes to face Timothy Bradley in a rematch that many Pacquiao fans have been clamoring for. The fight is set to take place in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 12, 2014.

This fight undoubtedly gives both fighters a shot at sweet redemption.

By beating Pacquiao again, Bradley can finally get rid of and step out of the shadow that their last fight cast on him. Not only was it a lackluster fight for the fans, but Bradley’s victory was ridiculed and unaccepted by the majority of the boxing fans as well as the media. The victory gave him nothing but a sour feeling, filled with an enormous amount of confidence shredding press.

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Mayweather Jr. Suggests That 9/15/2015 Will Be His Last Fight: Exit or Drama?

Apparently Floyd Mayweather Jr. expects to step into the boxing ring as a fighter for the last time on September 15, 2015.

At a dinner in South Africa, Mayweather Jr. told the attendees that he remembers his first fight when he was a kid in 1987, closing with: “September 2015 will be my last.”

Technically speaking, Mayweather Jr. could retire anytime, especially if he is able to keep his perfect streak up until his Showtime contract is fulfilled. After that, he can dive head first into promotion and possibly even training. But is that what Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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Mayweather-Khan PPV numbers likely to be underwhelming

While Floyd Mayweather Jr. still hasn’t officially named his next opponent for his May 3rd fight date, it’s widely expected to be Britain’s Amir Khan who will be pitted against him. It’s no secret that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Showtime’s President of Sports Stephen Espinoza see his fight as an intriguing on due to the the blazing fast hand speed of Mayweather and Khan.

It’s a win-win fight for Golden Boy because they promote Khan, and just by fighting Mayweather it’ll increase Khan’s value to their stable. However, this fight might not turn out so well for Mayweather due to what will likely be a poor pay-per-view numbers.

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Danny Garcia to fight on March 15th against TBA

WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (27-0, 16 KO’s) will be back in the ring on March 15th against an opponent still to be determined, according to Dan Rafael. Garcia, 25, last fought in September in beating Lucas Matthysse by a 12 round unanimous decision on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez pay-per-view card on Showtime. The Garcia-Matthysse fight was the co-feature bout, and it wasn’t quite as good as it was expected to be due to the continuous circling of the ring and holding that Garcia did in the fight.

“Been told @DannySwift’s next fight will be March 15,” Rafael said. “He’ll be defending his title, not moving up, on @SHOsports. Opponent/site TBA.”

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Why doesn’t Pacquiao offer to fight his April 12th opponent for free?

Manny Pacquiao got a lot of attention last week with his offer to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. for free in a fight where they would both give their entire fight pay to charity. This was Pacquiao’s way of showing Mayweather that he’s not desperate for the fight. My thoughts are this sounds good from Pacquiao, but why focus just on Mayweather for this charity offer?

If Pacquiao is willing to give his entire purse to charity, then he should be willing to give his money away for his next fight against Tim Bradley or Ruslan Provodnikov. If the idea is for Pacquiao to give to charity, why should there be a difference in which opponent he’s fighting for him to do this? Does it absolutely have to be Mayweather that Pacquaio is fighting for him to give money away?

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Brandon Rios to fight in May, possibly against Provodnikov

Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-2-1, 23 KO’s) is expected back in the ring next May against possibly WBO light welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov. Rios is waiting to find out which fighter Manny Pacquiao will take on for his April 12th fight in Las Vegas, Nevada. If Pacquiao selected Tim Bradley, then Rios will be looking to fight Provodikov for his World Boxing Organization 140 lb. title. If Pacquaio selects Provodnikov to fight, then Rios could be fighting Tim Brady for his WBO welterweight title.

The criticism that would come from Rios fighting for a world title against Provodnikov or Bradley stems from the fact that Rios has lost his last two fights and isn’t ranked in the top 15 at either 140 or 147. For Rios to get a title shot off of consecutive defeats and with him being a 2nd tier fighter, it would definitely run a lot of people the wrong way. However, you can bet that the WBO will come to the rescue or Rios once talk begins for him to fight Bradley or Provodnikov.

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Robert Garcia: Maidana deserves a shot at Mayweather after win over Broner

Trainer Robert Garcia feels that his fighter WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana should have been in the running for a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. following his win over Adrien Broner last December. But instead of getting a potential chance against Mayweather in what would have been a career high payday for the Argentinian fighter, Maidana is now pretty much locked into a rematch with Broner after Broner invoked his rematch clause in his contract with Maidana.

“We thought by beating Broner and doing it the way we did, we definitely earned the shot at Mayweather,” Garcia said to the Boxing Channel. “For whatever reason it looks like they’re going to go with Amir Khan, and we’re going to have to wait and wait, because what if he changes his mind and fights someone else?

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Pascal’s win over Bute leaves questions

Jean Pascal’s one-sided victory over Lucien Bute last Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada ended with questions, not about the scoring, but about the fighters themselves. The fight didn’t have the kind of excitement fight fans had hoped for. For years, Canadians wanted to see these two warriors meet. Sadly, the matchup came too late in their careers.

Pascal won by a wide margin, but considering the way Bute fought, it wasn’t much of an accomplishment. Bute didn’t rally until late. His effort lacked the drama of Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.’s knockdown rally against Sergio Martinez. Bute’s fans certainly were hoping for similar results. His late rally gave his fans a glimmer of hope. It appeared Pascal was reeling, maybe ready to go? Then he burst out of his defensive shell, and started ripping off his own looping shots, sapping the enthusiasm out of Bute fans.

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