As he boarded his flight in Oakland, fans were already beginning to line up, more than four hours ahead of his scheduled appearance time. After arriving at the location, he saw the long line of people waiting to meet him, many of whom had traveled a great distance to get their own autograph and photo with the Olympic champion.
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) LOS ANGELES (Aug. 30 2013) – Looking strong, fit and sounding ultra confident, a relaxed Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse was in Carson, Calif., last Saturday to meet with the media in attendance at StubHub Center and conduct an interview on the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® telecast.
The hard-hitting WBC Interim Super Lightweight World Champion was headed to the California desert where he’ll spend the next week or so training before he departs to Las Vegas for his mega-confrontation with undefeated, Undisputed Super Lightweight World Champion Danny “Swift’’ Garcia (26-0, 16 KO’s) on Saturday, Sept. 14, live on SHOWTIME PPV®.
By Paul “Paparazzi” Jones & Justin Jones, Photo © Paul “Paparazzi” Jones– American Heavyweight titlist Seth ‟Mayhem” Mitchell (26-1-1, 19 KOs) held a closed media workout at the Dream Team Boxing Gym (MD) in preparation for his upcoming 12-round tilt against fellow U.S. contender Cristobal ‟The Nightmare” Arreola (35-3, 30 KOs).
The affable Mitchell and Arreola headline a Showtime Boxing – Special Edition® doubleheader on September 7th at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino (Indio, CA). The telecast also marks the return of former World Champion Rafael Marquez (41-8, 37 KOs), 38, who battles the lesser-known Efrain Esquivias (16-2-1, 9 KOs) in a 10-round junior featherweight bout.
This is an open letter to the fans who support me as well to those who don’t.
First off, I want to congratulate my opponent Thabiso Mchunu of South Africa for his victory against me. I do not want to in any form or fashion diminish that win by making excuses about my performance in the ring. I did my best that I could to make the fight. To win the fight. Losing this decision woke up my spirit to compete again and I will continue to pursue my career as a Cruiserweight.
I felt fine throughout the bout. The weight loss was not a factor in my performance. I did not expect Mchunu to fight such a defensive, awkward fight. I was trying to follow instructions from my trainer, James Ali Bashir. It was very difficult to do as I am a counter puncher as well who was forced into being the aggressor. I felt that if I did not doing something to make the fight, there would have been no action during the fight. I am not that kinda guy who is going to lay around crying over spilled milk.
Seventeen days before the record-breaking “THE ONE: MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO” mega-event on Saturday, Sept. 14, from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., live on SHOWTIME PPV®,, boxing superstar Floyd “Money” Mayweather hosted the biggest Media Day of his career Wednesday at The Mayweather Boxing Club.
Hordes of media from around the world crammed into the upscale gym in Las Vegas to watch the Eight-Time and Five-Division World Champion (44-0, 26 KO’s) as he continued to prepare for his long-awaited showdown against WBC, WBA & Ring Magazine Super Welterweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) during Mexican Independence Day Weekend.
After watching the video in the ESB article entitled, “Team Mayweather Calls Canelo’s Management Inept In Episode 2 of ALL ACCESS,” by ShowTime Boxing, published August 29, 2013, I knew I had to respond—out loud—to what I believe, are misleading comments that Leonard Ellerbe made about Team Alvarez and how the 152 lb. catchweight limit was arrived at for this fight. My biggest issue with what Ellerbe said is that he didn’t tell the whole story. He just modified it to suit Team Mayweather’s needs. So, I’m calling you out, Leonard Ellerbe.
IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (31-2, 22 KO’s) will be defending his titles against unbeaten George Groves (19-0, 15 KO’s) on November 23rd in a 50-50 fight at the Phones 4u Arena (formerly M.E.N Arena), in Manchester, United Kingdom. This is really one of those fights that is very difficult to predict the outcome mainly because Froch was so poor looking in his recent win over Mikkel Kessler last May.
If you saw that fight you’ll have noticed that Froch is incredibly slow now, and very clumsy-looking. Kessler could have won that fight and probably should have except that he didn’t start fighting until the 5th round.
Semajay Thomas, who was a standout out amateur, makes his pro debut this Friday, August 30 at the Cicero Stadium in Cicero, Illinois. The “Night of the Rising Stars” card is promoted by Hitz Boxing Promotions. The biggest star of the night will no doubt be the much anticipated and delayed professional debut of Semajay “The Truth” Thomas, who has already faced more adversity than the average person sees in a lifetime.
CARSON, CALIF. (August 29, 2013) — The fight between former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion and Son of the Legend JULIO CÉSAR CHÁVEZ, JR., returning to the ring in his 2013 debut, and No. 1 contender BRYAN “The Warrior” VERA has been rescheduled for Saturday, September 28, and will take place at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif.
The Chávez vs. Vera 12-round super middleweight rumble marks the first time Chávez has fought in the Los Angeles area since June 4, 2011, when he won the world title over undefeated interim world champion Sebastian Zbik. The fight will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing®, beginning at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.
It’s been a frustrating year for the talented Mr. Russell.
Following a very active start to his professional career, fighting nineteen times in only three years, the former Olympian from the DMV area could visibly see the light of Championship gold glowing in the distance.
But after suffering numerous physical ailments throughout his 2012-2013 campaign, most recently a fracture in his left hand while competing against Vyacheslav Gusev in March of this year, the seemingly unstoppable momentum of the Russell Junior Express began to decrease, and the luminescent beam at the end of the tunnel started to flicker.
As a result of being riddled with several injuries, Gary was reduced to competing just four times within the last twenty months…an unanticipated and unwelcomed surprise to the ever so hopeful Team Russell.