Ward vs. Rodriguez – Ringside with Raymundo: The Return

ward453434 Just off the I-10 freeway in Southern California stands an electric-powered billboard that flashes images of upcoming events, and in-between promoting an upcoming Cher concert and the inaugural game for the Ontario Reign minor league hockey team is an advertisement that simply states, ‘The Return’, with a picture of the consensus No. 2 fighter in the world, Andre Ward, and the date of November 16.

The Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California will be the venue for ‘The Return’ of the fighter who is the closest ranked to the No. 1 boxer in the world in Floyd Mayweather Jr.

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Zab Judah vs. Paulie Malignaggi possible for December 7th

malig77 It seems that the December 7th fight between Amir Khan and Devon Alexander won’t be happening after all.

Instead of the fight there’s talk that a bout between 35-year-old Zab Judah (42-8, 29 KO’s) and former two division world champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-5, 7 KO’s) could happen instead on that date, according to Steve Kim.

It’s a decent fight if it can get made. With Malignaggi, you never know. The possible co-feature could be Keith Thurman vs. Jesus Soto Karass.

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Scott Quigg and co make weight for Carpe Diem O2 bill

WBA Regular Super Bantamweight Champion Scott Quigg (26(19)-0-1) on Friday weighed in at 8stone 9lbs and 9oz ahead of his first world title defence against undefeated Cuban Yoandris Salinas (20(13)-0-1) this Saturday at the O2, London. The challenger weighed in at 8stone 9lbs and 12oz.

Quigg was recently elevated to WBA regular champion after winning the interim title last November in a career best performance against fellow Brit Rendall Munroe. The champion however, refuses to acknowledge his new found status, insisting that nothing has been won as of yet.

“I’ll win this fight and that’s when I’ll become world champion,”said Quigg in an interview with Sky Sports. “Nobody wants to win a world title outside of the ring. I want to win this title in the ring against a good opponent.”

And that is what Quigg has in the form of Salinas. The Cuban is undefeated as a professional and is reported to have had over 300 amateur contests, including a victory over Chinese superstar Zou Shiming.

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Wladimir saying nice things about Povetkin

wlad443 IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitachko (60-3, 51 KO’s) isn’t doing much to try and ruffle the feathers of his Russian opponent WBA heavyweight champion Alexander Povetkin (26-0, 18 KO’s) ahead of their fight tomorrow night at the Olimpiyskiy, in Moscow, Russia.

Wladimir has been very complimentary of the 34-year-old Povetkin throughout the build-up to this fight to the point where it’s probably worked against both of them in generating interest in the fight.

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Cotto vs. Rodriguez: Can Delvin derail Cotto’s big plans in 2014?

This Saturday night Miguel Cotto makes his 2013 debut when he faces the crafty vet Delvin Rodriguez from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The odometer’s of each fighter is at the tip of everyone’s tongue when discussing this fight and possible outcomes.

Will either have enough left in the tank to make it competitive or at the very least entertaining? Both fighters are clearly past their prime but skill will ultimately rule the day.

Miguel Cotto is one of the best and most liked fighters of his generation. Haven fought the who’s who of names ranging from the 140 pound division all the way up to junior middleweight, giving us thrilling drama on the way.

Naturally a left hander, Cotto fights out of an orthodox stance, building his legend with one of the best jabs in the business and a left hook to the body that has left many of his opponents day dreaming about a cold bath mid fight.

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Cunningham doubts Alexander vs. Khan will happen

Yesterday Team Khan came out with a statement saying that the rumors about Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO’s) facing Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May were false and that Khan would be fighting IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander (25-1, 14 KO’s) on December 7th. Alexander’s trainer Kevin Cunningham doesn’t believe the statement from Team Khan, because the Khan-Alexander fight still hasn’t even been negotiated and there’s only 2 months to go before the fight.

Cunningham is saying that if the Khan-Alexander fight isn’t negotiated by October 7th, Alexander won’t take the fight because they want at least 8 weeks to train to get ready. They don’t want to be told at the last minute the fight is happening and end up not ready.

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Tim Bradley Conference Call Transcript

Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) Welterweight Champion TIMOTHY BRADLEY Jr. and four-division world champion and Méxican icon JUAN MANUEL MÁRQUEZ, the only two fighters to beat Fighter of the Decade Manny Pacquiao in the last seven years, will go mano a mano in nine days.

While Bradley (30-0, 12 KOs), of Palm Springs, Calif., and Márquez (55-6-1, 40 KOs), of México City, enter this World Welterweight Championship fight fresh from Fight of the Year caliber performances, Márquez will also be attempting to become the first Méxican fighter to win world titles in five different weight divisions.

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Chavez Sr. wants to see improvement in Julio Jr.

Boxing great Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. wasn’t altogether pleased with what he saw from his son former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (47-1-1, 32 KO’s) in his controversial 10 round unanimous decision victory over Bryan Vera (23-7. 14 KO’s) last Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Chavez Jr. was throwing mainly one punch at a time, backing up much of the time, and getting nailed by the much smaller Vera each time would be cornered. It was a very strange sight to see a bigger fighter with more power running from a smaller fighter.

The judges gave Chavez Jr. the win by the scores 97-93, 98-92 and 96-94, but only a small handful of people agree with those scores.

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Mayweather’s next opponent still a mystery; Khan fight not happening

On Wednesday both Team Khan and Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe said that a fight between former two division world champion Amir Khan and Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn’t happening. According to Dan Rafael, Ellerbe calls it nothing more than rumors that Floyd will be fighting the struggling Khan, and Team Khan is saying that Khan will possibly be fighting IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander on December 7th.

This leaves the question about who Mayweather Jr. will be fighting on May 3rd next year. He’s selected the Cinco de Mayo holiday to fight, so it makes a lot of sense for him to fight a Mexican fighter or least a Hispanic fighter. Unfortunately, there’s not too many names for Mayweather to fight at 140, 147 or 154 if he’s looking to a top Hispanic fighter.

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Earnie Shavers: Pure Power, Pure Punching, Pure Passion

Having just read another article on heavyweight punching legend Earnie Shavers (this fascinating piece on Ringtv.com), I wanted to put up my own piece on “The Acorn,” a man who was once dubbed “The Puncher of The Century.”

I’ve had the privilege of speaking with the 1970’s and early ’80’s heavyweight terror a number of times and here he kindly lists for me his top-three all-time heavyweight punchers; as well as telling me how he feels he would have done – in his pure-punching, zinging prime – against fellow legends, Tyson, Foreman, Liston and today’s kings, the Klitschkos.

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