Where Will Marquez Be In 2014? 2015? 2016?

marquez5 Juan Manuel Marquez has been a top notch champion in boxing forever, and it seems as though the seconds had stopped ticking for Dinamita as his performance has not diminished a bit over the years. As a matter of fact, I have heard many boxing fans and analysts suggest that he has actually gotten better as he got older.

Being that Marquez is 40 years old, and is performing at peak, do we have a lighter version of Bernard Hopkins on our hands?

I am not attempting to compare Hopkins and Marquez, but if things keep going the way they are for Juan, I don’t foresee a retirement anytime soon for Dinamita, unless of course his family insists.

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An Interview with Caleb Truax

Q.1 Caleb, you discovered your talent for boxing quite late on. Tell us a little about your introduction to the sport.

Yes, I didn’t begin boxing until I was 19. I was always a big boxing fan, but never knew it was accessible in MN. Ultimately, I saw an ad in the local City Pages for a tough guy tournament, decided to enter with a friend, and that’s how I was introduced to competing in the sport.

Q.2 Growing up in Minnesota you were heavily involved in team sports. How did it feel to step into the individual environment of a boxing ring for the first time?

As a kid, I played every sport there was to play, but outside of golf, I never played individual sports. It was definitely a change not to have any teammates to rely on, but I welcomed it. I enjoy having everything start and stop with me in the ring. I think not having any safety valves to the left or right, as is the case on a team, brings out the best of me.

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Allan Green & Blake Caparello clash for the vacant IBO Light Heavyweight World Title

The vacant IBO Light Heavyweight World Title fight between American Allan Green 32-4 and Australian Blake Caparello 17-0 will take place in Australia, October 17 at the Melbourne Pavilion.

Green will start red hot favourite for the title despite travelling to Australia for the contest. Green had a stellar amateur career winning 4 regional Golden Glove tournaments and the 2002 National Golden Glove tournament finishing with an amateur record of 55-5. In stark contrast Caparello had only 9 amateur fights before turning pro.

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Dereck Chisora-Denis Boytsov for European crown on September 21st – who wins?

Dereck Chisora will be back in action again next month, just over two months after his stoppage win over the previously unbeaten Malik Scott, and “Del Boy” will look to take away another top level fighter’s perfect record on September 21st as he is set to face Russia’s Denis Boytsov in a bout that will contest the European heavyweight belt.

According to the web site of UK trade paper Boxing News, Chisora-Boytsov will take place on Frank Warren’s show at the Copperbox Arena in London.

“That’s a good show,” Warren said to BN. “[Chisora’s] got to get the European and hopefully he can get himself into a good position. I watched Pulev and Thompson at the weekend. We certainly wouldn’t worry about fighting either of those.”

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Double Olympic Champion Vasyl Lomachenko Turns Pro at 25 years of age

Vasyl Lomachenko will fight Jonathan Oquendo in a 10 round featherweight bout on the undercard of Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on October 12. If you are wondering why a newcomer is rushed into a 10 round fight on his debut instead of a four or a six rounder, it’s because of his outstanding amateur pedigree and unique skill set.

Lomachenko is a double Olympic champion, a double World champion and he boasts a record of 396-1 in the amateur ranks. He brings over 1000 quality rounds of experience and this is something money can’t buy. His style is a complete package and you have to see him in action to appreciate a power plant of skill and athleticism. To make things even bleaker for his opponents, he is also a southpaw with power in both hands.

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Cecilia Braekhus Interview: “It will be a dramatic and exciting night of boxing”

Pound-for-pound number one Cecilia Braekhus (22-0, 6 KOs) will defend her WBA, WBC and WBO Female Welterweight Titles against WBO Female Light Middleweight Champion Oxandia Castillo (12-0-2, 9 KOs) at the Nordic Fight Night in Frederikshavn on September 7. Here is the latest from the First Lady prior to the clash of champions.

Q: It´s not long until the fight, how has the training been going?

CB: “Everything is going fine. We are training twice a day at the Max-Schmeling-Gym, normal training in the morning and then sparring in the afternoon. That´s very exhausting but just what I need to be in top shape. I need to be at my very best to beat an opponent like Oxandia.”

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Left-Hook Lounge: Mayweather/Canelo “ALL ACCESS”, Mares/Gonzalez, Guerrero/Thurman, & Russell Jr.

Martin N. (Philadelphia, PA): You have been consistent from day one about Canelo’s better-than-average chances against Floyd Mayweather in September. Did you see anything on All-Access to sway your opinion one way or the other?

Vivek W. (ESB): I wouldn’t say that I saw anything in the “All Access” episode one to really give me a reason to adjust my position. What I will say is that I saw a few things that did in fact solidify the position I’ve held from day one, though. One of the most intriguing highlights of this episode was when Floyd openly acknowledged something I’ve talked about for quite some time. That was the fact that to a degree, Canelo has been an “understudy” of him, who actually employs many of his same ring strategies, and will inevitably attempt to use them on him. Years ago, I said the fighter I see having a real shot at Floyd will be a guy like Floyd. Hard to hit, a thinking fighter, a strategy swapper (mid-fight when necessary), and a tough S.O.B. who can take a lickin’ and keep tickin’!

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Hometown Throwdown

by Earl Orr VNewz: It was an exciting night of fights at the Las Vegas Sports Center last night, as Pochiro Promotions put together their first card, entitled “Hometown Throwdown”. The event was one of what is expected to be many more in the near future. It featured six bouts, with referees Tony Weeks and Robert Byrd alternating as the third men in the ring.

In the first fight, Bronson Stultz (Henderson, NV) scored the sole knockout of the evening over Eric Goodall, who put up a good fight until the accumulation of body punches thrown by Stultz eventually weakened and diminished him in the third round.

Next up, Cameron Krael (3-4-2, 0 KO) of Las Vegas, NV won a unanimous decision over Wilber Lopez in a four-round bout. Krael put up a good showing by walking Lopez down and pinning him against the ropes multiple times. He was also able to avoid many of Lopez’s power punches.

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Jhonny goes tap tap tap, then bam

jhonny Jhonny Gonzalez was supposed to be on the way down. After all, hadn’t he lost an 8th round TD to Daniel Ponce DeLeon, a fighter that Mares stopped? The odds makers thought so, and so did most boxing analysts; although, most qualified their opinions by saying he had a puncher’s chance. They would go on to describe how well Mares successfully dealt with different styles to remain undefeated. Abner was more versatile than Jhonny. Well, it took Jhonny less than a round to fool Mares and prove all the detractors wrong.

The fight started with a relative calm. Jhonny moved in a circle around his shorter foe. Abner appeared to be studying, probing, looking for openings. The trio of Showtime announcers: Mauro Renallo, Al Bernstein and Paulie Malagnaggi discussed Jhonny’s remarks made in the pre-fight meeting. Apparently Jhonny remarked tat he needed to get his jab working against Mares, and that would be his key to victory. Saturday night at the Stubhub Center in Carson, CA, it didn’t look like Jhonny was following his own advice. The announcers pointed that out, explaining that Jhonny was just tapping out with his jab. There was no power or snap to it. It was not a jab that would keep Abner away.

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Braehmer and Abraham take decision wins in Schwerin, Pulev new IBF mandatory!

Juergen Braehmer took another step towards another crack at a world title. On Saturday, the 34-year-old beat Stefano Abatangelo by unanimous decision (119:108, 119:108 and 115:111) in front of a sold-out home crowd at the Sport- und Kongresshalle Schwerin, Germany. “It was difficult to showcase my skills against Abatangelo as he has an awkward style,” said the light heavyweight contender who defended his European as well as his WBO International Title. “Still it was good for me to get some more rounds under my belt which will definitely help me in my next fight.” Braehmer is the mandatory to WBO Champion Sergey Kovalev.

Arthur Abraham had also to work hard to get his hands raised in Schwerin. Before a crowd of 5,600 spectators inside the arena, Abraham got the decision against durable Willbeforce Shihepo to win the WBO Intercontinental Title. The scores read 116:112, 116:113 and 117:111 in favor of the man from Berlin, Germany. This bout also marked the 10-year-anniversary of the former middleweight and super-middleweight champion’s professional career.

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