Boxing Hall Of Fame: Class of 2014 Announced in Canastota!

jpeg The International Boxing Hall of Fame and Museum announced today the newest class of inductees to enter the Hall. Living inductees include two division champion “The Pride of Wales” Joe Calzaghe, six division world champion “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya and three division champion Felix “Tito” Trinidad in the Modern category; promoter Barry Hearn, referee Richard Steele, journalist Graham Houston and photographer Neil Leifer.

“We’re extremely excited about the Class of 2014 and are very much looking forward to honoring the 25th class of inductees,” said Executive Director Edward Brophy.

The 25th Annual Hall of Fame Weekend is scheduled for June 5-8th in Canastota, NY. Over 20 events, including a golf tournament, banquet, parade and autograph card show, are planned. An impressive celebrity lineup of boxing greats of yesterday and today will attend this year’s Induction Weekend.

The highlight of the weekend will be the Official Enshrinement Ceremony on the Hall of Fame Museum Grounds in Canastota, New York on Sunday, June 8th to welcome the newest members.

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Rigondeaux-Agbeko, Kirkland-Tapia and Macklin-Russ this Saturday on HBO

HBO’s hit late-night boxing franchise wraps its 2013 slate with the world-class tripleheader HBO BOXING AFTER DARK: GUILLERMO RIGONDEAUX VS. JOSEPH AGBEKO, JAMES KIRKLAND VS. GLEN TAPIA AND MATTHEW MACKLIN VS. LAMAR RUSS, presented SATURDAY, DEC. 7 at 9:45 p.m. (live ET/tape-delayed PT) from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, exclusively on HBO. The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Andre Ward will be ringside for the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino. Other HBO playdates: Dec. 8 (8:30 a.m.) and 9 (11:00 p.m.) – HBO2 playdates: Dec. 8 (5:00 p.m.) and 10 (11:30 p.m.)

In the main event, Cuban sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0, 8 KOs) puts his super bantamweight titles on the line against Joseph Agbeko (29-4, 22 KOs) of Accra, Ghana. After winning two Olympic Gold medals as an amateur, the Miami-based Rigondeaux, 33, has picked apart 122-pounders like no other in his brief pro career. Most recently, he tactically disposed of Nonito Donaire, one of the sport’s elite, scoring a 12-round unanimous decision in a high-profile unification fight.

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An open letter from Dereck Chisora to Deontay Wilder

Dear Deontay,

I’m asking you man-to-man and hope that you have the honour and courage to accept my challenge and fight me.

I’m in this business to prove that I’m the best and to become a world champion which I’m sure you are too, so take me up on my challenge and let’s do this and get it on early next year.

I’ll be honest, I don’t rate you. You’ve put together a record of 30 knockouts from 30 fights, but I believe that you are grossly overhyped for knocking over nobodies – which is understandable for the first two years as a pro when you’re learning – but after 30 fights you’re still knocking over nobodies. As a guide I fought Vitali Klitschko for the world title in only my 18th fight. When are you going to step up and fight a real contender?

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Lara ready to ‘bust up Austin Trout’s mouth’ live on BoxNation

Light-middleweight hotshots Erislandy Lara and Austin Trout traded verbal jabs ahead of their crunch Brooklyn world title showdown, live on BoxNation.

The pair were speaking ahead of this weekend’s highly anticipated bill, taking place at the Barclays Center in New York, and headlined by Paulie Malignaggi and Zab Judah, with the Brooklyn natives set to tussle for bragging rights.

Nevertheless, the stacked undercard features no fewer than three world title fights, with IBF welterweight ace Devon Alexander defending his belt against undefeated Shawn Porter and Sakio Bika putting his WBC super-middleweight crown on the line against hard-hitting Anthony Dirrell.

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Do Mayweather and Pacquiao Respect Boxing Fans?

It’s funny how things work out sometimes. When Juan Manuel Marquez knocked Manny Pacquiao out with the punch of the century, most people thought it represented the final nail in the coffin for a Mayweather-Pacquiao clash. That perfectly timed right hand not only put an end to Pacquiao’s recent aura of invincibility, but also seemingly sealed the fate of what could have been the biggest fight in boxing history.

Demand for Mayweather-Pacquiao had reached an all-time high in 2009-2010. But by the end 2012, however, all hope seemed lost compliments of Pacquiao’s Mexican nemesis.

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Malignaggi, Bika-Dirrell, Lara quotes

Paulie Malignaggi, Two-Time and Two-Division World Champion

“I expect the best Zab Judah. [I expect] a Zab Judah who is going to be fighting for his boxing career. I feel the same way.

“If we saw each other in the gym, we would try to knock each other out. There’s no love taps. With this much on the line you can bet we’re both going to have it out on Saturday.

“You have to be stubborn to have longevity. One or two losses can quickly demote you to a second level fighter, but you have to have the stubbornness to keep going.

“There’s a lot of emotion, but at the end of the day we gotta do what we gotta do to win.

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Gennady Golovkin vs Osumanu Adama in Monte Carlo on Feb 1

Boxing’s fastest rising superstar, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin will return to Monte Carlo, on Saturday, FEBRUARY 1 to defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Organization (IBO) Middleweight Championship belts against former world title challenger Osumanu Adama in the main event of “Monte Carlo Night of Champions.”

“Monte Carlo Night of Champions” is presented by Africa’s promotional giant, Golden Gloves of South Africa. The Golvokin/Adama world title clash is presented in association with K2 Promotions and GGG Promotions. Detailed ticket information for the event at the beautiful Salle des Etoiles venue on the peninsula of Monte Carlo will be announced shortly. Monte Carlo is known as one of the premier cities in the world and one of the most beautiful tourist destinations.

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Rigondeaux/Agbeko, Tapia/Kirkland, Macklin/Russ Quotes

Undefeated World Boxing Association (WBA) / World Boxing Organization (WBO) 122‐pound world champion and Cuban sensation GUILLERMO “El Chacal” RIGONDEAUX returns to the ring fresh from his career‐best victory. Rigondeaux will be bidding for Fighter of the Year honors when hedefends his unified titles against former two‐time world champion JOSEPH “King Kong” AGBEKO, Saturday, December 7, at Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Ballroom in Atlantic City. The card will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark® beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT. The live telecast will also feature local favorite GLEN “Jersey Boy” TAPIA risking his Top‐Five rating and undefeated record in a 10‐round junior middleweight battle against knockout artist JAMES KIRKLAND and three‐time world title challenger MATTHEW MACKLIN in a 10‐round middleweight rumble against undefeated contender LAMAR RUSS.

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Will Froch avenge Bellew’s defeat against Stevenson?

Carl Froch’s good friend Tony Bellew (20-2-1, 12 KO’s) was literally bludgeoned into submission in a 6th round stoppage loss last Saturday night at the hands of WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (23-1, 20 KO’s) at the Colisee de Quebec, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

That couldn’t have been a good experience for Froch to see Bellew getting manhandled by the Canadian-based Stevenson like that for 6 rounds, but then to make matters worse, Stevenson put Froch on notice by saying to the entire boxing world that he wants to fight him next rather than WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: What Next for Kovalev & Stevenson?, Rigondeaux Ready for Agbeko?

Anthony I. (Long Island, NY): I saw a recent interview with a reporter talking to Larry Merchant where Merchant stated that the media needs to “put pressure on Ward and Stevenson”. I have mixed thoughts on his position, but I’d like to get your thoughts on his remarks.

Vivek W. (ESB): I did get a chance to read the interview you’re referring to. It was a piece of work done by Chris Robinson. I’ll preface my comments by saying that you’re not the only one to walk away with mixed emotions. After taking a moment to read the direct quotes, I definitely found myself looking at things from a different angle, as well.

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