Garcia vs. Burgos: Is Burgos just a stepping stone for Mikey’s big plans for 2014?

Fresh off a banner year for boxing in 2013 this Friday and Saturday will be the busiest fight weekend so far for 2014. And since the rematch between Jhonny Gonzalez and Abner Mares is postponed due to injury this will also be the last major network (not HBO2 Macua) championship fight card until March, when the boxing year will really heat up.

Normally one of the major network premium channels will take advantage of the bye week on the Saturday a little over a week before the Super Bowl.

Shane Mosely vs. Antontio Margarito was the biggest fight that I recall of late that filled a void from the overdose of hype before the big game.

continue

Peterson vs. Jean/Rosado vs. Charlo: Showtime fights this Saturday feature “real” matchups

by Chris Carlso, photos © Paul “Paparazzi” Jones/ESB — Counter programming was the norm last year and this Saturday night marks the first battle in the ongoing war that turned cold between HBO a.k.a. Top Rank and Company and Golden Boy now in exclusive cahoots with Showtime who is broadcasting their event from the nation’s capital city Washington D.C.

Showtime who may not lead HBO in subscribers had clearly been the better network pound for pound the last 2 years.
The two fights that top the bill are very legit with the main event between Lamont Peterson and Dierry Jean basically a 50-50 type fight on paper. Peterson comes in a slight favor according to the betting websites yet more and more fans and scribes are leaning towards the challenger Dierry Jean.

continue

Carl Froch says a Vegas fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Junior motivates him more than a Groves return

It seems Carl Froch will not be facing bitter British rival George Groves in a rematch – not in his next fight, anyway. “The Cobra,” who says he has many options, told Sky Sports Ringside that a fight with Mexico’s Julio Cesar Chavez Junior is “closer to being made than a Groves rematch.” Froch also said that the idea of facing Chavez in Las Vegas, where he has never boxed, motivates him hugely.

Under fierce pressure from Groves to grant him a rematch – with many fans also asking for a second slice of the action that ended prematurely back in November – Froch says he is not all that interested in “going over old ground and beating George Groves again.”

Froch said that should he fight twice this year, as he usually does, he will look at facing Groves and Julio Chavez Junior but, “not in that order.”

continue

Airich fails medical – David Price now faces Istvan Ruszinski on BoxNation

David Price believes his work with a sports psychologist can help propel him back into the mix for heavyweight glory.

The Liverpudlian banger makes his ring return against Istvan Ruszinski, live this Saturday on BoxNation, where he will enter the squared circle for the first time since his emphatic back-to-back defeats against American hitman Tony Thompson. The losses to Thompson last year came at a time when Price’s name was being touted as one of the genuine contenders to take over the throne of the dominant Klitschko brothers.

So crushing were the defeats for the British heavyweight that many speculated they could well have signalled the end for the rising pugilist.

continue

Schaefer: Victor Ortiz wants to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. again

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is going to be trying to rebuild the career of his fighter former WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-4-2, 22 KO’s) in 2014. Ortiz, 26, hasn’t fought since his loss to Josesito Lopez in June of 2012, and he’s lost his last two fights with one of them being at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. That’s who Ortiz wants to fight again if possible, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work by him and Golden Boy for that rematch to take place.

“There’s a lot of 140lb and 147lb match-ups we’re working on for this year and Ortiz-Collazo falls within that talented weight class. ‏He wants to get back on the road and fight Floyd Mayweather again but he can’t look past Luis Collazo.”

continue

Canelo: I’ll still be the future of boxing despite loss

(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) Former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) still feels he’s going to be the guy that carries the sport of boxing for a long time to come despite his one-sided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. last September. Canelo was pretty well clowned by Mayweather until the 36-year-old fighter backed off in the last 4 rounds and took it easy on him. Canelo isn’t bothered that he looked so bad. He thinks he’s going to bounce back in his next fight against his hand-picked opponent Alfredo Angulo ((22-3, 18 KO’s) and resume where he was before his loss to Mayweather.

“Losing is part of boxing. Muhammad Ali lost and he’s still the greatest of all time,” Canelo said. “So a loss isn’t going to prevent me from being the future of boxing.”

continue

Lamont Peterson – Dierry Jean & Jermell Charlo – Gabriel Rosado quotes

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) WASHINGTON, D.C. (Jan. 22, 2014) – It may freezing in our Nation’s Capitol, but the four fighters competing in this Saturday night’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) braved the cold to sit down with SHOWTIME® cameras at the DCB Fit Boxing Gym to discuss their upcoming bouts.

In Saturday’s main event at DC ARMORY, local favorite Lamont Peterson (31-2-1, 16 KO’s) will defend his IBF Junior Welterweight World Championship against unbeaten No. 1-ranked Dierry Jean (25-0, 17 KO’s), of Montreal by way of Haiti. USBA Junior Middleweight Champion Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (22-0, 11 KO’s), of Houston, risks his 154-pound belt and unbeaten record against Two-Time World Title Challenger Gabriel “King” Rosado (21-7, 13 KO’s), of Philadelphia, in the co-feature.

continue

Arum wants Mikey Garcia in position to fight Pacquiao by end of 2014

Manny Pacquiao (55-5-2, 38 KO’s) may have run out of viable opposition in the 140-147 lb. class in his promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank stable, but the 82-year-old promoter is in the process of digging up a new opponent that he’s pooling from the super featherweight division in Mikey Garcia (33-0, 28 KO’s), the WBO 130 lb. champion.

Arum wants to have the painfully thin Mikey move up in weight and get to the position where he can be a contender for Pacquiao by the end of 2014. In this way, Arum could scare up a new opponent for Pacquiao to fight.

continue

Andre Ward Ready For A Great 2014

World Super Middle Weight Champion Andre Ward is in Spokane Washington showing his support for amateur boxing. Ward is the last male from the United States to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games. He achieved the feat in 2004 and says his presence is about motivating the young boxers to be the best in the world. “I’m excited, I think it’s important and I’ve been through the program. I think it’s important to show up and let the young ladies and young men see your presence, talk to them and let them know that you support and care for them, “said Ward.

Ward is considered by many the number two pound for pound best fighter in the world. The only person ahead of Ward on that list in Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Ward who is considered one of the most gifted fighters says amateur male boxers in the United States are just as talented as any in the world, despite being shut out of any medals in the 2012 Olympics.

continue

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.

continue