Earnie Shavers: Pure Power, Pure Punching, Pure Passion

shavers643277 Having just read another article on heavyweight punching legend Earnie Shavers (this fascinating piece on Ringtv.com), I wanted to put up my own piece on “The Acorn,” a man who was once dubbed “The Puncher of The Century.”

I’ve had the privilege of speaking with the 1970’s and early ’80’s heavyweight terror a number of times and here he kindly lists for me his top-three all-time heavyweight punchers; as well as telling me how he feels he would have done – in his pure-punching, zinging prime – against fellow legends, Tyson, Foreman, Liston and today’s kings, the Klitschkos.

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Klitschko vs. Povetkin & Cotto vs. Rodriguez headline Live HBO Boxing Saturday

wlad#4 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, HBO Sports’ flagship boxing series, presents a dynamite split-site tripleheader headlined by the return of two of the sport’s biggest stars on SATURDAY, OCT. 5. The action begins at 3:30 p.m. (live ET) with the heavyweight title fight WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO VS. ALEXANDER POVETKIN from SC Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow. Following a replay of the fight later that day at 9:45 p.m. (ET/PT), the doubleheader MIGUEL COTTO VS. DELVIN RODRIGUEZ AND TERENCE CRAWFORD VS. ANDREY KLIMOV will be presented from Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. (live ET/tape-delayed PT). The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr. will call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino

Other HBO playdates: Oct. 6 (8:00 a.m.) and 7 (11:30 p.m.)

HBO2 playdates: Oct. 6 (4:00 p.m.) and 8 (11:30 p.m.).

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Star Boxing gets Rodriguez in with Cotto on HBO and opportunity of a lifetime

Saturday night in Orlando, Florida, world rated contender Delvin Rodriguez, 28-6-1 16KO’s, Danbury, CT steps into the ring with future Hall of Famer and three time World Champion Miguel Cotto, 37-4 30KO’s, Caguas, PR in a bout that will be televised live on HBO. While Delvin has had many opportunities in his long career including two world title fights, multiple title eliminator’s, and numerous ESPN appearances, this opportunity presents Delvin’s biggest yet, against a legend as the main event on the ‘legend of boxing networks’, HBO.

Many have credited Star Boxing’s relentless efforts on behalf of its fighters as a reason for Delvin’s consistent ability to participate in so many high profile bouts and be the recipient of so many opportunities. Star Boxing, unlike many other sports entities, as a knack for rebuilding its talent. In Delvin’s instance, Star Boxing has continually provided National TV fights for Delvin, and has stood behind him where many others might have given up.

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Peter Quillin vs Gabriel Rosado in co-main event of Hopkins vs. Murat tripleheader on Oct. 26

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ (October 1, 2013) – After scoring 10 knockdowns in his last two fights and soaring to the top of the 160-pound weight class, WBO Middleweight Champion Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin will make his second title defense on Saturday, Oct. 26 when he meets Philadelphia contender “King” Gabriel Rosado in the Bernard Hopkins vs. Karo Murat co-main event at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, live on SHOWTIME® (9 p.m. ET/PT).

Additionally, knockout artist WBC Continental Americas Heavyweight Champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder, will open the telecast when he takes on Nicolai “Stone Man” Firtha in a 10-round showdown. In the main event, IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins will become the oldest fighter in history to make his initial title defense when he faces highest-rated light heavyweight challenger Karo Murat in a 12-round matchup.

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Gennady “GGG” Golovkin LA Media Photos

WBA/IBA Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and undefeated heavyweight Mike “The Rebel” Perez spent this past weekend in Los Angeles where they held a media lunch for the Southern California press, attended the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr./Bryan Vera clash at the StubHub Center in Carson, California and were hosted on Sunday by two separate National Football League telecast outlets.

At the Manhattan Beach Marriott on Saturday, Golovkin and Perez along with K2 Promotions’ Tom Loeffler and their trainer Abel Sanchez discussed their November 2 fights in New York City and future plans in front of a massive turnout of area media.

Also joining them at the media lunch was undefeated cruiserweight Isa Akberbayev who will be fighting on the undercard at the November 2 event.

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The World Agrees: Brian Vera Won The Fight Against Chavez, Jr.

This past Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, WBO #1 Ranked Middleweight Bryan Vera put in an amazing performance that should have propelled him to a victory over former WBC Middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.

Vera won the fight overwhelmingly on all social media sites and the below link compiled by Boxing News polled nearly sixty writers and NOT ONE saw the fight for Chavez and only seven went so far as to score this a draw.

The entire world on HBO Championship Boxing, with the exception of the three judges at ringside, saw that Vera controlled the action and outlanded Chavez in the bout. Vera also threw 406 more punches and was more consistent throughout the fight.

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Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin sell out the Olympic arena in Moscow

Apparently their heavyweight championship fight on October 5 will do very well at the gate as all 14 000 seats have been sold out. Tickets ranging from 90 EUR/120 US$ to 6665 EUR/9000 US$ were no longer available at the end of last week. The fight set one financial record already when Russian promoter Vladimir Hryunov bid $23,333,330 to stage the fight and outbid more than three times K2 Promotions and Sauerland Event.

Two Olympic champions in the ring should always mean a great match unless one of them is called Audley Harrison. In this case one of the champs is unbeaten while the other has three KO defeats on his record. Ironically the unbeaten Povetkin is the underdog in this fight. His last outing against a serious opponent – the cruiser weight champion Marco Huck (Muamer Hukić) – did not leave a good impression. He out boxed and out punched Huck easily but his shape was substandard and his conditioning betrayed him in the championship rounds. Only his amateur boxing skills and survival instincts helped him hear the final bell when he barely stood on his feet and fell into the arms of his corner right after the bell. After this spurious performance Povetkin boosted up his confidence with two early KO wins against softer opposition – a faded Hasim Rahman and a Polish heavyweight by the name of Andrzej Wawrzyk.

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Wlodarczyk vs Fragomeni on December 6, 2013, in Chicago

On Friday, December 6, at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, promoters Andrew Wasilewski and Piotr Werner of Ulrich Knockout Promotions, Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing and Dominic Pesoli of 8 Count Promotions will once again bring world-class professional boxing back to the Windy City with their latest blockbuster event, this one entitled “World Championship Boxing: Wlodarczyk vs. Fragomeni 3”.

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GGG is NEXT!!

Before I get started I just want to say that the Mayweather/Canelo fight is a unanimous decision victory for Floyd regardless of CJ Ross’ inept scoring. By now everyone is wondering who Floyd will fight next in May of 2014. Cinco De Mayo is a traditional Mexican holiday that Floyd on several occasions has chosen to fight on, and has fought non-Mexicans on that date. Fans can expect an undercard loaded with Mexican fighters if Floyd elects to fight a non-Mexican on that date. Floyd could also elect to fight on another May 2014 date all-together.

Of the names that Floyd could be expected fight a few will peak fans interest and these are:
Danny Garcia – Matthysee will enforce his rematch clause. But does anybody believe that Garcia can beat Mayweather? NO!

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Wladimir Klitschko Breaks His Sparring Partner’s Nose

wlad1 For Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin, as well as many boxing fans, October 10, 2013 will be a date to remember.

For both fighters this match will be one of their most significant ones, as not only is the championship on the line, but this kind of promotion is simply put, colossal. While most champions always train hard for their fights, there are those moments when they take their training just a bit further.

Heavyweight fighter Sam Sexton (18-3-0) is proof of that. Sexton happened to be picked as a sparring partner for Wladimir Klitschko in preparation for his mega-bout against Povetkin.

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