Klitschko vs Povetkin live on Boxnation

KlitschkoBanks001_PublicAddressThe Channel Of Champions, BoxNation (Sky Ch. 437/Virgin Ch. 546), is delighted to announce that it will show the year’s biggest heavyweight fight between Wladimir Klitschko and Alexander Povetkin live and exclusive in the UK.

Klitschko, regarded as the world’s best heavyweight, puts his WBO/IBF/WBA Super/IBO World titles on the line in his hardest and riskiest fight to date against the undefeated challenger Povetkin, who holds the regular WBA world title, on Saturday 5th October at the Olimpyskiy Arena in Moscow.

Not only does it pit two world champions against each other, but two Olympic Champions with Klitschko winning gold for Ukraine in 1996 and Povetkin capturing gold for Russia in 2004.

Such was the demand to stage the fight, a Russian promoter bid an incredible $23.3m, the third largest ever winning purse bid, to ensure that the fight went on in the Russian capital.

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Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Bryan Vera agree to 173 pound weight limit and 10 round contest

chavez8According to trainer Ronnie Shields, successful negotiations have taken place to append a new weigh-in limit for the big Saturday night showdown between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KOs) of Culiacan, Mexico and Bryan Vera (23-6, 14 KOs) of Austin, Texas.

After the fight card’s final press conference convened this afternoon at the Crystal Ballroom of the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California, both parties, including promoters Top Rank, Inc. and Banner Promotions, reached an accord binding both combatants to a new weigh in limit of 173 pounds for this Friday afternoon’s weigh in ceremony.

Although the added weight limit came as no surprise to most media members who had been following the current Chavez/Vera novella, veteran trainer Ronnie Shields made a surprise stipulation within the new fight agreement.

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Oleksandr Usyk, an Olympic gold medalist, will make a pro debut on Nov.9

IMG_9561A recent press release about the pro debut of Oleksandr Usyk (not Alexander) on Nov. 9 finally alerted some journalists that the cruiserweight Olympic champion had actually turned pro. He did that right after Vasyl Lomachenko singed with Top Rank. The two are team mates and close friends and they traveled to the US together to seek a deal with a premiere promotional company. Both are Olympic champions from the Ukraine and very competent boxers whose styles would need only minor tactical adjustments for them to cross over to the paid ranks. Conditioning should not be a problem for people who run the marathon distance as a part of their road work.

Lomachenko was in high demand and he put up an auction of sorts demanding a championship fight in his debut along with the financial terms. Apparently Top Rank beat the rest to the chase and attracted the diamond in the rough to their stable. A debut for a title was a pipe dream but the rest of the requirements may have been met.

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Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. : “The Way Things Are Going….”

chavez766According to promotional giants Top Rank, ticket sales for the ring return of the son of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico’s favorite son have been highly successful and a raucous crowd is to be expected on Saturday night. Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. is now back from his one year hiatus, only now the former WBC middleweight champion is no longer a middleweight. As is such, Chavez’s opponent, Austin, Texas native Brian Vera is now in the middle of a wait himself. Weight, poundage and mass are among the choicest words to accurately describe the grappling of the girth that Chavez, Jr. has so famously as well as publically battled.

To be fair, many of us aren’t as slim and trim as we’d prefer, yet even more of us are not handsomely paid professional athletes. The contracted weight for this Saturday’s bout in Carson, California was originally contracted at 168 pounds, yet rumblings emerged that the mark had been raised up another five pounds to 173.

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Julio César Chávez Jr. Conf Call Transcript

Former World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion and Son of the Legend JULIO CÉSAR CHÁVEZ JR., (46-1-1, 32 KOs), of Culiacán, México, makes his 2013 debut in his first fight in the Los Angeles area in over two years. He will go mano a mano against No. 1 contender BRYAN VERA 23-6, 14 KOs), of Austin, TX, who is riding a 16-month, four-bout winning streak, This Saturday! September 28, under the stars, at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. Chávez vs. Vera will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing®, beginning at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.

BOB ARUM: It’s nice to be on this call and it will be good to see Julio César Chávez Jr. get back into the ring after an absence of a little over a year. Julio has a great fan base and everyone is anxious to see him perform at the StubHub Center on Saturday. We have a full card o nine bouts with some great prospects including Óscar Valdez, Jose Ramírez and Diego Magdaleno. It should be a really fun night. Now we can hear from Fernando Beltran on his feelings about the event.

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Undefeated Cruiserweight Quantis Graves Speaks Out On Career, Deontay Wilder, and More

How are you doing today Quantis?

I’m doing just fine. How are you?

Good, thanks. Let’s start at the beginning. How did you get involved in boxing?

I started in the streets at the age of 15, fighting in the streets. This guy suggested that I start boxing at the local gym. With that being said, I started and I didn’t like it. I stopped after 5 or 6 months. I started back when my brother was killed in the streets of New Orleans. I told my mom that I’d rather pick up some gloves than pick up a gun. That was in 2002.

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Haye-Fury has new date of February 8th – but Team-Fury not convinced, say Haye might “cry off again”

fury54David Haye and Tyson Fury will now meet on February 8th of next year, various media reports have confirmed. The fight, postponed due to Haye suffering a cut eye in sparring, will still take place at The Phones 4U Arena in Manchester.

Haye is delighted with the news:

“I was absolutely devastated this weekend, and felt as though I’d let a lot of people down. But now, with this new date, I couldn’t be happier,” Haye said. “My fans will still get the chance to see what they all wanted to see this weekend – they’ll get to see Tyson Fury sparked out in spectacular fashion. Fury might start to get brave now that he’s received a stay of execution – and he might call me names and accuse me of ducking him – but that will all be short-lived, I can promise you.

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In The Changing Room

If the ring is where a boxer comes face to face with his opponent, the changing room is where he struggles with his emotions.

Prior to the fight, usually between one and two hours before, he arrives with his entourage, consisting of his trainer, trainer’s assistant, cut man, and perhaps a friend or two. Unless he’s the main event, he’ll be sharing the changing room with three or four other fighters appearing on the same bill.

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Brian Vera – “Chavez, Jr. Has Never Faced Anyone Like Me”

chavez565Many hearts across Mexico were left broken on September 14. When Saul “Canelo” Alvarez suffered a lopsided unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the same had happened to Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. almost one year to the day. Chavez, Jr. lost a one-sided yet almost unforgettable twelve round decision to middleweight king Sergio Martinez on September 15, 2012. The two respective losses for what many saw as Mexico’s future torchbearers behind Juan Manuel Marquez left many questions answered, yet perhaps many more to be asked of each.

In regard to Chavez, Jr., (46(32)-1-1) the son of Mexico’s greatest fighter ever, his day back in the sun (literally) will come this Saturday evening at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Standing in the way of the Culiacan, MX native is the ring hardened Brian “The Warrior” Vera of Austin, TX. Vera (23(14)-6(2) has had an interesting career in the sport. He’s experienced a stint on the reality series “The Contender” and has victories over such names as Andy Lee, Sergio Mora and Serhiy Dzinziruk.

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Rigondeaux to fight on HBO on December 7th or 14th

WBA/WBO super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (12-0, 8 KO’s) will have his next fight televised on HBO on either December 7th or December14th, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Rigondeaux recently beat Nonito Donaire by a 12 round unanimous decision, but instead of HBO choosing to televise Rigondeaux’s fights, they chose to televise the lower of the fight Donaire.

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