Hatfield traveller Billy Joe Saunders is chomping at the bit to add his name to Britain’s list of world class middleweight talents.
And the 2008 Beijing Olympian knows that impressive victories over unbeaten rivals Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan at Wembley on Saturday, then Islington’s John Ryder at the Copper Box in September will place him firmly into the mix, alongside Martin Murray, Matt Macklin and Darren Barker.
For just a moment, let us allow ourselves, the true boxing fans to acknowledge the great accomplishment of Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez. Last Saturday evening at the Salle des etoiles in Monte Carlo, Monaco the Dominican cum Massachusetts fighter thoroughly destroyed Denis “Drago’s Son” Grachev after less than two hundred seconds had elapsed. Perhaps the fact that throughout the majority of the first and only round, Grachev stood almost squarely in front of Rodriguez.
Add to that the almost platinum buzz cut adorned by Denis made his head look like a box for which to box and three sides of the box to hit was all Edwin (24(16)-0) would need to tee off on his opponent. It is up to the interpretation of the boxing know whether or not the first round TKO victory was a true shock or as expected.
#1 WBO, #5 IBF, #10 WBC, junior middleweight contender Vanes Martirosyan is hoping to get the winner – or loser – of the September 14th fight between Mayweather and Canelo. Martirosyan, 27, thinks he can out-box and stop Canelo, who he hears has problems in dealing with boxers in sparring sessions.
Martirosyan said to esnewsreporting “yeah, I would want to fight the winner. I’ll take the loser too. I’ve heard in sparring he’s [Canelo] not good with boxers. I’m a boxer/puncher. If I catch him, I’ll hurt him. He’s going to get his a** schooled. Mayweather’s going to bring him back to reality. I think Mayweather by decision or knockout. Canelo’s a strong fighter, but I think Mayweather’s too smart.”
Freddie Roach doesn’t see the upcoming September 14th fight between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) as being an exciting fight that boxing fans that like action will be pleased with. Instead, Roach sees Mayweather beating Canelo by a decision that is more of a boxing match than a back and forth slugging affair that interests fans.
Roach said in an interview with esnewsreporting.com “I think it’s a very, very good boxing match. It’s not a great fight. I think Mayweather is a beautiful boxer and Mayweather will win a decision in that fight. But people who like action will fall asleep.”
Trainer Freddie Roach says he’s going to tell Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) to retire if he loses to former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) in their fight on November 23rd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.
Roach says he already has an agreement with Pacquiao that he’ll hang up his gloves when he tells him he’s no longer got it and needs to retire. Roach doesn’t say whether Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank knows about this deal or if he’d agree with it if Roach told his #1 money fighter he needs to retire.
GHANA is engulfed in a festive mood as it host yet another major IBF title. This time around the vacant “IBF International Welterweight Title” is up for a grab. The rivalry is between two of the finest boxers from Africa and Eastern Europe. Pitting the “IBF Continental Africa Welterweight King” and number #5 IBF I/C Fredrick Lawson (20(19)-0-0) on the one hand and the Georgian strongman George Ungiadze (22(10)-14(3)-0) on the other hand respectively. The duos meet next weekend July 20, 2013 and their rumble has already been rated a 4 stars by the boxing pundits.
It is only natural for the nation of Ghana harboring so many talented boxers to invest so much hopes to these fine athletes while other countries in the continent are only paying lip services to the development of boxing as a professional sport. The country is rejuvenating its lost boxing glory that exited with the great boxers the like of Poison Kotey, Prof. Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey to mention just a few.
British heavyweight Dereck Chisora (16-4, 10 KO’s) will be trying to turn around his struggling career this Saturday night in a scheduled 10 round bout against unbeaten American Malik Scott (35-0-1, 12 KO’s) at the Wembley Arena in London, England. Scott, 32, is the world class contender in this fight, while Chisora is a 2nd tier fighter trying to turn his career around after having lost four out of his last five fights.
You can ignore Chisora’s loss to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, because he’s a really good fighter, but Chisora’s losses to Robert Helenius, David Haye and Tyson Fury shows that Chisora is a level below those fighters in the talent department.
by Robert Uzzell: I keep having this eerie feeling that Floyd Mayweather is going to go for it in the final fights of his career. I’ve never subscribed to the fact that Mayweather has ducked or dodged opponents in the past. For every time someone has mentioned this, one merely has to look at Mike Tyson not fighting Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield at times in his career. We can look at the fact that Ray Leonard ignored Aaron Pryor’s and Mike McCallum’s pleas for fights many years ago.
Mayweather has fought Miguel Cotto (a guy he allegedly ducked in the past), Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez, and Robert Guerrero in four of his previous five fights. Guerrero was a hot fighter who had gone 15 fights without a loss. He was also a six-time world champion in four different weight classes.
Mario R. (Atlanta, GA): HBO put pressure on Arum to make the Donaire/Rigondeaux fight, but have somewhat distanced themselves from Rigondeaux after he defeated the fighter they strongly supported? I know this is a sensitive issue, but would you attribute this to race, considering how difficult it has been to promote certain fighters?
Vivek W. (ESB): Looking at this issue from 10,000ft, I think some would say it’s probably a mere coincidence. When we dig beneath the surface of this situation and get to the core, without doubt we have to acknowledge that this is a business, and investments have to be made in any business. When these networks have to shell out big dollars to put on a show, they’re going to make sure that investment is well spent.
By Shaun Campbell: Kell Brook impressively closed a chapter on his career Saturday night by stopping the durable Carson Jones in their 152 pound rematch. Brook now moves in to the elite level by beating the gatekeeper Jones. It was a good performance from “The Special One”, although he himself claimed it was “nothing to get excited about”. The fight started off much like their first encounter with Brook dominating behind the jab, while Jones kept plodding forward. But the Sheffield fighter couldn’t seem to miss with his sweeping right hook and in the 2nd round he sent Jones to the canvas.
It seemed as thought it would be an early night for Brook. But the American is tough, and after a slow start began to loosen up and land on Brook, doing damage to his nose. But Brook remained calm and controlled the action at a measured pace. Should he have chose to step it up earlier, the stopped could have probably come much sooner. But in the 8th a series of unanswered punches by Brook forced the referee to call a halt, prompting complaints from Jones.