Pascal vs. Stevenson not likely to happen soon

For boxing fans hoping to see WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson and Jean Pascal face each other in the near future, it’s not likely to happen, says Dan Rafael of ESPN. He sees both guys as having too many options for fights right now to where they don’t need to face each other. The Pascal-Stevenson fight will happen sooner or later, but probably not anytime soon.

Pascal showed last night after his 12 round unanimous decision victory over Lucian Bute that he wasn’t all that excited about fighting Stevenson when he said to Max Kellerman “I’m very proud of him [Stevenson]. He’s black like me; he’s from the Haitian community. Big shout out to ‘Superman’ Stevenson.”

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What if Floyd accepts or rejects Manny’s dare for a “charity fight”

Possible scenarios are what they are, possibilities. But in the case of the historic “Fight for Charity” dare between two biggest names in boxing, there are only certainties. If and when Floyd Mayweather accepts the challenge to fight Manny Pacquiao for charity, the fight would surely be greater than great as it has been anticipated for years. But if and when Mayweather wouldn’t agree, at least he and his devotees along with the cynics would know that Manny is not desperate to tangle with Money in the ring for money reason; and that dud Mayweather would be proven a big joke once again.

However, should Mayweather opt to ignore the call and keep mum about Pacman’s dare, the people are not dumb and dump to take it as gallantry or anything positive to heal the sport or push boxing forward.

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Vitali Klitschko gets nailed with fire extinguisher spray

Former WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is finding out the hard way how difficult it is to be a politician in Ukraine. While attempting to break up a large crowd of protesters on Sunday, Vitali, an opposition leader, was booed and sprayed with a fire extinguisher at point blank range by what appeared to be the police. Vitali had a bullhorn and seemed to have peaceful intent in breaking up the crowd but someone wasn’t feeling it because they quickly nailed Vitali with spray from the extinguisher. Once Vitali was out of range, he had to be held back because he wanted to go after the person that had sprayed him.

The protests came about reportedly due to after the parliament had passed some new laws that didn’t go over well with some of the public.

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Mike Perez and Carlos Takam Fight Recap

Before a massive crowd of over 20,000 fight fans on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada, world ranked and undefeated heavyweight contender Mike “The Rebel” Perez of Cork, Ireland battled France’s Carlos Takam to a ten round majority draw (96-94 Perez, 95-95 x 2).

After winning the first two rounds, Perez suffered a nasty cut over his right eye in the third stanza from an accidental head butt.

“Mike fought well early in the fight but the head butt left him with blurred vision for a couple rounds and seemed to keep from him being able to mount a consistent attack in the second half of the fight,” said Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions.

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Pac Dares Floyd: “Let’s Fight For Charity”

Things have been clear to the clear minded, but if the latest word from Manny Pacquiao won’t untangle “clutters” in the minds of the “wise” and “confused,” what else can?

Pacquiao has long assured he is ready and willing to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. anytime, anywhere. And just hours ago he told the Manila based Philippine Daily Inquirer: “I’m not desperate to fight Floyd just for the sake of money… I’m not the one seeking this fight rather it’s the boxing fans all over the world.”

Absolutely.

The Filipino icon stressed in the same phone conversation with Inquirer: “I am ready to submit myself to any kind of stringent drug testing. Above all, I challenge Mayweather to include in our fight contract that both of us will not receive any single cent out of the fight. We will donate all the proceeds – guaranteed prize, gate receipts, pay-per-view and endorsements – to charities around the world.”

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Lucian Bute Waits Til the End: Defeat in Montreal

After a long and extended delay, perhaps the highest profile fight in Canadian boxing history has finally ended. A fight that seemed inevitable has finally occurred despite the roadblocks. The fight itself turned out to be an underwhelming affair after all the accolades leading up to it. Lucian Bute held sturdy and was not stopped like many of his detractors declared would happen but he lost in a way that many could not expect. He lacked offensive urgency, his uppercut to the head and viscous liver shot never once became a factor. Bute had several sharp jabs and some occasional left hands.

Then suddenly in the final three minutes Bute assaulted Jean Pascal with everything in his arsenal. A first it was hard to tell if he was playing possum because Pascal then jumped out and sprung into attack. Then, Bute went back onto the assault once again until the end of the round. When the fight was over and the twelve rounds were completed there was no doubt about who would win and the right man was given the nod on the scorecards by margins of four points on one card and seven on the other two.

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Carlos Takam Batters Mike Perez: Settles for a Draw

Opening up for the HBO broadcast from the Bell Center in Montreal, Canada were two relocated heavyweights. The contest pitted two relocated fighters in late starter Carlos Takam born in Cameroon fighting out of France and Mike Perez born in Cuba and fighting out of Ireland. The bout seemed like it was going to be a forgettable one as the first three rounds saw very little action.

Then a cut on the right brow of Perez opened from an accidental head butt in the third round and neither man got particularly desperate despite facing a possible no contest. Then suddenly the fight picked up. The much larger Takam spent the early goings backing away from Perez and trying to box the former Cuban amateur and the perceived better boxer. Perez appeared to be ahead after five rounds as the fight remained at a slow pace with no real engagements. In round six the fight became stationary and toe to toe and Takam began to dig to the body and work in the uppercut.

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Pascal defeats Bute; Perez -Takam fight to a draw

Jean Pascal (29-2-1, 17 KO’s) beat former IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (31-2, 24 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The final judges scores were 116-112, 118-110, 117-111.

The fight was horrible to watch because Bute wouldn’t throw punches, and spent 3 minutes of every round just moving his head like a fighter who can no longer pull the trigger on his punches. Bute didn’t look like a physically shot fighter. He did throw some nice punches in the 12th round when he finally decided to start fighting. But Bute’s problem seemed to be more on the mental side. He looked like he was afraid to get countered by Pascal if he let his hands go, and he just wasn’t going to leave himself in a vulnerable position.

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ShoBox: Ivan Redkach Wins, Frank Galarza Steals Show

Promising, world-ranked southpaw Ivan Redkach (16-0, 13 KO’s), of Los Angeles, by way of Ukraine, passed the toughest challenge of his career, scoring one knockdown en route to a unanimous 10-round decision over Canada’s Tony Luis (17-2, 7 KO’s), but the night belonged to “The Brooklyn Rocky” Frank “Notorious” Galarza (12-0-2, 8 KO’s), of Brooklyn, N.Y., who registered an exciting second-round knockout over John “Apollo Kidd’’ Thompson (14-1, 5 KO’s), of Newark, N.J., Friday on ShoBox: The New Generation live on SHOWTIME® from Cook Convention Center.

In other ShoBox results on a four-fight card, Antoine Douglas (12-0, 7 KO’s), of Burke, Va., by way of Washington D.C., won a lopsided eight-round decision over Marquis Davis (8-1-2, 5 KO’s), of Tampa, Fla., in a matchup of unbeaten middleweights and undefeated junior welterweights Maurice “Mighty Mo” Hooker (12-0-2, 9 KO’s), of Dallas, Texas, and Abel Ramos (8-0-1, 4 KO’s), of Casa Grande, Ariz., by way of Gettysburg, Pa., boxed to an eight-round draw in an exciting scrap that opened the telecast.

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“Indeed” Mike Reed Does it Again

By Justin Jones & Paul “Paparazzi” Jones, Photo © Paul “Paparazzi” Jones

Fort Washington, MD — Light Welterweight Mike “Yes Indeed” Reed (7-0, 5 KOs) of Waldorf, M.D. stopped Jorge Marquez (4-2, 2 KOs) of Phoenix in the fifth round of their featured bout on Keystone Boxing’s “Friday Night Fights” card at Rosecroft Raceway. Reed, 21, a decorated amateur with a National Golden Gloves Championship to his credit, put all of his boxing skills on display against Marquez who, prior to this match-up, had never been stopped in his professional career.

Offensively, Reed had everything working for him, alternating between fast combinations to the head and body of Marquez and powerful digs to his opponent’s midsection that appeared to befuddle the challenger in the early going.

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