Lucas Browne: “I can’t say I’m surprised that David Price has vacated his titles”

LUCAS “BIG DADDY” BROWNE says he’s far from shocked with David Price’s decision to vacate the Commonwealth heavyweight title.

The hammer-fisted Aussie won the right to contest the crown when he halted Sheffield giant Richard Towers last month.

He was hoping to square off with Price in early 2014, but the Liverpudlian’s new promoters, Sauerland, yesterday confirmed that he’ll be relinquishing the championship along with his British belt.

Browne keeps busy against old foe Clarence Tillman on December 13 and will be ready for his title opportunity in the New Year.

“I can’t say I’m surprised that Price has vacated to be honest. If Tony Thompson can stop Price, I know I can too,” Lucas, 18-0 (16 KOs), said.

“I have a fight in a weeks’ time that I’m focusing on and I can’t wait to close 2013 with a bang before beginning 2014 with that title fight.

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Adrien Broner and Marcos Maidana Interview Transcript

Marcos, if you could maybe make a quick opening statement before I’m going to introduce Adrien?

Marcos Maidana

I’m excited to be on this great boxing card the next 14th of December in San Antonio. I’m in the last stage of my preparation, which has been great; and once again, I’m convinced that Adrien Broner has never fought a rival like me, so it will not be easy for him.

R. Schaefer

Thank you. Now, the man I’m going to introduce, he talks the talk. Some of them don’t like him because of it, but you know what? He’s one of those guys who not only talks the talk, but he walks the walk. He is, without question, quickly becoming one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. He has a record of 27-0, with 22 knockouts. He is already a three division world champion.

At 130 pounds in 2011, he won the WBO World Title against Vicente Rodriguez in three rounds, by the way. In 2012, he defended the WBA with fourth round TKO over then undefeated Eloy Perez and then against Vicente Escobedo in July.

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Bob Arum: “We’re Willing To Make Anything Happen”

Of all the things that seem to be in the way of a Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao fight, and there are many, the boxing fans claim that Bob Arum of Top Rank is one of the primary causes of the inability of this bout to materialize.

While there has been, and possibly still is some bad blood between Top Rank and Mayweather Promotions (along with Golden Boy Promotions), it is the money that dictates the flow, and it’s the promoters who would ultimately secure a safe and financially care free life for their families’ future.

In a recent interview with USATooday, when Arum was asked whether he still intends on pursuing the mega-fight, Arum gave a long answer:

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De La Hoya, Trinidad and Calzaghe all headed into The Hall of Fame – all three greats fully deserving of the honour

The list of the next great fighters (and writers, promoters, photographers, etc) set to enter The Hall of Fame has been announced. To the dismay of absolutely nobody, ring greats Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad and Joe Calzaghe head the newest inductees.

The special Hall of Fame weekend will take place next June and all three retired greats are sure to be there to make speeches and meet and greet the fans. Also to be inducted are: Barry Hearn, promoter, Richard Steele, referee, Graham Houston, writer, and Neil Leifer, photographer. Also to be inducted are: George Chaney, Charles Ledoux and Mike O’Dowd in the old-timers category, and Tom Allen in the pioneers category.

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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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