Booth has had 25 title fights in a career that has brought him major honours at four weights – and Wood steps up to championship level in front of his home crowd next week. Wood will battle Ian Bailey for the vacant British Masters featherweight title in the top-of-the-bill fight at Clifton Leisure Centre a week on Saturday.
Bellew: Adonis Stevenson won’t last long as champion if I can help it
Now that Adonis Stevenson (21-1, 18 KO’s) has the WBC light heavyweight title after obliterating Chad Dawson in one round, Britain’s Tony Bellew, the #1 WBC 175 lb. contender, has come out of the woodwork and he wants his shot at Stevenson’s new WBC title and he likes his chances in beating the 35-year-old.
Bellew said to Sky Sports “He’s [Stevenson] the one I’d have preferred to face…it’s not going to last long…Adonis Stevenson is wild and gives you opportunities. So I don’t think he’s going to be a long-standing champion, especially if I’ve got anything to do with it.”
Haye: I have not agreed to fight Tyson Fury
In response to a comment from unbeaten heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) over the weekend where Fury said a fight between him and former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (26-2, 24 KO’s) was “99 percent done,” Haye answered the questions on his social media site saying that he’s not agreed to fight the 6’9” heavyweight.
Haye said on his twitter today: “I read that Fury thinks a fight with me and himself is ‘99% Done’ HAHA At best i’d say there’s Light Discussions, that are moving slowly. For everyone asking if I’m fighting Fury. I currently have no agreement, or contract in place. But a fight later in the year would be fun.”
Q & A with super bantamweight prospect Jorge Diaz fighting June 14, in West Orange, N.J.
June 14th ESPN Boxing Show will be telecasting championship boxing from Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange N.J. The Main Event will feature Jundy Maroan vs. Juan Carlos Payano in a WBC Championship fight.
The co–main event features rising super bantamweight Jorge “King” Diaz 17(10)-1-0 of New Brunswick, N.J. battling Miami based Yenifel Vicente 24 (16)-1-2 for the WBC FECARBOX title in a scheduled 8 rounds. FECARBOX refers to Federacion Centroamericana de Boxeo Profesional–a Central American sanctioning body of the World Boxing Council.
Rios: I’m going for the kill against Pacquiao
Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) is very happy that he was picked out by his promoter Bob Arum to fight Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) on November 23rd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China. Rios, 27, doesn’t plan on wasting his opportunity. He wants to knock Pacquiao out and get the praise that will come with a victory over the 34-year-old former 8-division world champion.
Rios said to esnewsreporting.com “I’m going to win this fight. I’m going to knock him out. [Juan Manuel] Marquez kicked his a**. I’m going for the kill.”
With Pacquiao having lost his last two fights, it’s hard to say who precisely will win this fight on November 23rd. If you were to throw Rios in the ring with Pacquiao in 2009, it would be like feeding Rios to a hungry Velociraptor, but a lot of things have changed since then.
Mikey Garcia vs. Juan Manuel Lopez this Saturday, June 15th in Dallas, Texas
Former two division world champion Juan Manuel Lopez (33-2, 30 KO’s) could be the sacrificial lamb for WBO featherweight champion Mikey Garcia (31-0, 26 KO’s) to slaughter this Saturday, June 15th at the American Airlines Center, in Dallas, Texas, USA.
Although anything is possible for this fight, it just looks like Juanma will be the lamb being brought into slaughter for the young, 25-year-old Mikey to tear apart to add a name to his resume. Lopez isn’t that much older than Mikey at 29, but he’s had a lot of hard fights and he’s lost two out of his last five fights.
Schaefer wants Maidana to face Broner-Malignaggi winner
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is going to be looking to match #2 WBC, Marcos Maidana (34-3, 31 KO’s) up against the winner of the June 22nd fight between WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO’s) and Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s), according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Maidana defeated Josesito Lopez by a 6th round TKO last Saturday night in Carson, California, in a tough, tough for Maidana.
That was not an easy win despite the early stoppage. Maidana was hurt in the 4th round by some big body shots from Lopez, and the referee Lou Moret appeared to miss a knockdown of Maidana in that round.
Let’s Look On The Bright Side… The Cold War Has Its Benefits
By now boxing fans know about the sport’s latest impediment- the war between Golden Boy (with USADA and Showtime apparently in the promotion’s corner) and Top Rank (with VADA and HBO apparently on board). As a result, many fights boxing fans want to see have not come to fruition.
However, let’s look at some matchups that have taken place as a result of “Boxing’s Cold War” and how they have benefitted fight fans. Then moving forward, let’s explore some possibilities of good matches taking place if the status quo remains intact.
Left-Hook Lounge: Dawson, Lara, & Maidana vs Broner!!!
Virgil B. (Liberty City, FL): Chad Dawson is a very good fighter, in terms of skills. But he has looked worse in the last few fights and I just don’t get it. Is his heart no longer in the sport? Is there outside distractions? What do you think the reason for this really is?
Vivek W. (ESB): I always like to look at things by measuring the total picture. There are times when it’s best to analyze certain elements exclusively; but when trying to determine probable cause for flaws, on a wide scale, I always like to look at the total picture. When I look at the evolution of Chad Dawson, particularly scanning over my catalog of notes over the years, two things in particular stand out. Back in 2008, I remember watching Dawson take on Glen Johnson. Decent performance, but it left me with a few questions. From that point through 2010, I remember criticizing him for taking part in what I termed the “Senior Tour”, facing aged veteran after aged veteran.
Kotey Neequaye beats Sanchez to improve to 20-0
Ghanaian world championship hopeful, Samuel Kotey Neequaye improved his burgeoning career record to 20 wins in as many fights and an impressive 15 knockouts to boot after adding Guillermo Sanchez to his list of conquests on Friday night.
In perhaps the toughest fight of his career thus far, 29 year old Neequaye edged the strong challenge of Sanchez in their Lightweight clash at Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Verona, New York via a unanimous points’ decision victory.
Refereed by Paul Brown, Judge Tom Schreck scored it 76-75, Don Trella also scored it 76-75 whilst judge number three, Don Ackerman had his scorecard 77-74, all in favour of the hard hitting Samuel Kotey Neequaye despite suffering a knockdown in the second round.
“He stepped on my feet because he is a southpaw and threw a straight right which I thought the ref will not count. But rather I took the count and it made me more aggressive when I woke up. You know it comes with the territory where the strong survives,” Neequaye explained to the Ghana based website www.sportsinghana.com from his US base.