Ray Beltran ready for Ricky Burns

This Saturday afternoon Ray Beltran (28-6, 17 KO’s) will take on Ricky Burns for Burns’ WBO Lightweight championship on AWE & www.awetv.com beginning at 3pm eastern time.

To say Beltran earned this opportunity is an understatement as the native of Phoenix, Arizona via Los Mochis, Mexico has had to fight his way to this opportunity.

Beltran turned pro in 1999 took some losses early in his career but he was determined to realize his dream of becoming a world champion.

Beltran who lost a controversial decision to Sharif Bogere and a close loss to undefeated Luis Ramos Jr. before a magical three fight run where he defeated Number-one ranked contender Henry Lundy, former world title challenger Ji-Hoon Kim and Alejandro Rodriguez that catapulted him into this opportunity.

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Teddy & Tyson – A Few Words and a Hug

Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champ of the world, who now is a boxing promoter, showed up ringside for ESPN’s season finale of Friday Night Fights. Iron Mike took the opportunity to make peace with Teddy Atlas. He said he was sorry for what he did years ago. Apparently, he was referring to a well-publicized incident that occurred years ago. Allegedly, it involved Tyson’s crude behavior toward a young girl related to Teddy’s wife. Tyson, after expressing his sorrow, then hugged Teddy. All is well. It was a release for Tyson, who constantly struggles to turn the corner on his recovery.

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Tommy Morrison passes away

44-year-old former WBO heavyweight champion Tommy “The Duke” Morrison has passed away in Omaha, Nebraska. Morrison died last night with his wife at his side. The cause of death hasn’t been revealed yet. Morrison started in the movie “Rocky V” with actor Sylvester Stallone. One of the top boxers in the late 80s and 90s, Morrison was said to have Gullain-Barre Syndrome, according to his wife Trisha.

Morrison tested positive for HIV back in 1996, which halted his promising boxing career. Morrison would later fight two more times in stopping John Castle in the 2nd round in 2007, and Matt Weishaar in the 3rdnd round in 2008. Morrison didn’t look good in the Weishaar fight, as he was badly out of breath before finally halting him.

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Jairo Castaneda makes Golden Boy debut in San Antonio, Texas

_MG_6314 Newly signed Golden Boy Promotions prospect Jairo “El Increible” Castaneda (2-0, 1 KO) will make his GBP debut on tonight’s “Monday Night Fights” bout sheet in San Antonio, Texas, which will be aired on the new Fox Sports One at 9PM EST/6PM PST.

The talented Alamo City native will take on Warren Stewart (0-1, 0 KOs) of Austin, Texas, in a four round, Welterweight special attraction.

In what will be his third professional contest, Castaneda hopes to showcase his devastating, one punch knock-out power, as well as his technical boxing ability and capacity to fight at multiple ranges proficiently.
Castaneda’s trainer and mentor expounds on the noticeable maturity of the 22 year old prospect.

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Luis Collazo: Ready, willing, and able

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, has always paid homage to the American worker and served as a tribute to the contribution he or she has made to the strength, opulence, and welfare of the United States.

On a day that celebrates the worker’s fortitude and commitment to success, it seems only fitting that one of the more determined and resilient fighters in boxing gets another opportunity to “punch the clock” on network television.

Former WBA Welterweight Champion Luis Collazo (33-5, 17 KOs) will compete in the main event of the evening on Fox Sports One’s newest boxing series, “Monday Night Fights”, from San Antonio, Texas, against 22 year old prospect Alan Sanchez (12-2-1, 6 KOs) of Fairfax, California.
The perennial contender is excited to be a headliner on the Golden Boy/Leija Battah Promotions fight card.

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Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: Mayweather/Canelo “All Access” Ep.2, Garcia/Matthysse, & Canelo Weight: Penalty or Remedy?

Kerri I. (Cincinnati, OH): Last week, you pointed out a few things from the first episode of Mayweather/Canelo “ALL ACCESS” that you felt gave insight on how the bout may end. What did you take from this weeks Episode 2?

Vivek W. (ESB): I’ve watched the initial two installments of “All Access” probably 6 or 7 times now. There were certain things that stood out in the first episode. But in this second episode there was one piece that continued to resonate with me well after it finished each time…..almost as a prelude of what’s surely destined to come. In a funny irony, leading into the Mayweather vs Ortiz showdown, I remember stating that of all the things I heard Mayweather say, the words “If you make a mistake, you have to pay” rang loud and clear, more so than any others. On fight night, it was those very words that embodied the final storyline and all subsequent headlines that went to press the next morning all over the globe!

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Pacquiao should be careful against Rios, says Del Rosario

pac Tambong, del Rosario, the former trainer of Rustico Torrecampo, thinks Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) needs to be extra careful in his fight on November 23rd against Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s). Del Rosario’s concerns are that Pacquiao could hurt against Rios in the same way that he was in his 6th round knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez last December.

In that fight Pacquiao disregarded Marquez’s power, and walked into one of his hard right hands in the 6th round that resulted in Pacquiao getting knocked clean out.

Del Rosario said Philboxing “Manny should watch out and not make the mistake he committed against Marquez last December. Maybe Rios is younger and lacks experience, but he definitely possesses the strength and endurance that can connect when his rival gets careless.”

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Pascal, Alvarez and Lemieux on Sept. 28 Stevenson-Cloud card in Montreal

MONTREAL (September 1, 2013) — Last week, GYM confirmed that World Boxing Council (WBC), The Ring Magazine and linear world light heavyweight champion, Adonis “Superman” Stevenson ( 21-1-0 , 18 KOs), will defend his crown for the first time against former International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight champion Tavoris “Thunder” Cloud (24-1-0, 19 KOs). The titanic collision will take place at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Saturday, September 28 and will be broadcast live worldwide by HBO Sports USA.

GYM recently confirmed the Sept. 28th participation of the former WBC light heavyweight, The Ring Magazine and linear world light heavyweight champion, Jean Pascal (22-2-1, 16 KOs), against George “Honey Boy” Blades (23-4-2, 16 KOs). WBC #2-rated Pascal will be fighting for the first time since defeating Aleksy Kuziemski in December, 2012.

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Mayweather calls Canelo “Chucky” and “Carrot top”

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) seemed to get confused about the name of his opponent Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) during ALL ACCESS Mayweather vs. Canelo episode 2, saying “I’m fighting Dennis the Menace, I mean, Carrot top, I mean, Chucky.”

Mayweather also spoke on the weak opposition that Canelo has been matched up against by his promoters at Golden Boy in saying “I’ve faced real opponents. It’s not his [Canelo] fault. His job was to beat anyone that they put in front of him. When I think of my career and Canelo’s career, tell me 10 you have beat out of 42 fights; just 10. I have more than 20.”

Mayweather Jr. does have a point in commenting on Canelo’s weak resume. The red-haired Mexican fighter has had essentially the same amount of fights as Mayweather, yet Canelo’s opposition has been much weaker. Canelo’s has faced the likes of Carlos Baldomir, Lovemore N’Dou, Kermit Cintron, Ryan Rhodes, Shane Mosley, Alfonso Gomez, Austin Trout, Matthew Hatton, and a lot of fighters that fans have never even heard of.

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Canelo brags about how his sparring partners can’t keep up

It was kind of sad to see WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) reduced to bragging about dominating unknown sparring partners on SHOWTIME’S ALL ACCESS Mayweather vs. Canelo. Instead of realizing that he’s sparring guys that are not even remotely as good as Maywether, Canelo chose to pat himself on the back by pointing out that some of his sparring partners are unable to handle the punishment they’re taking in training camp with him.

Canelo said “It’s the word. It’s the work. It’s the way that we train. They can’t keep up. They can’t keep up with the work. They get hurt, and that’s why they leave.”

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