Boxing and the new age of Mixed Martial Arts

There was a time when we referred to the World Heavyweight Champion of boxing as the baddest man on the planet. The days when Mike Tyson ruled the roost knocking out all comers in brutal fashion. We relish in fights like the Thrilla in Manila with Ali and Frazier, and watching Marvellous Marvin Hagler go up against Tommy “Hitman” Hearns in probably one of the most exciting fights ever in the history of boxing.

Kickboxers had to take a backstage even back then. We had many great kickboxing champions like Benny “The Jet” Urquidez , Joe Lewis, Don “The Dragon” Wilson and Dennis Alexio (ironically best known for his role in the 1988 movie “Bloodsport” with Van Damme rather than his real prowress in the ring). Many B-grade boxers made the jump to kickboxing and found success. In fact, Zab Judah’s father ,Yoel Judah was a boxer turned kickboxer and enjoyed moderate success after leaving professional boxing.

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Knockout Kings II Final Press Conference: Berto – Soto Karass, Figueroa-Arakawa and Thurman-Chaves

Knockout Kings are back in San Antonio, TX!

Showtime Championship Boxing returns to the culturally-rich city of San Antonio, TX to host a tripleheader that is sure to produce fireworks. “Knockout Kings II” will feature Keith Thurman VS. Diego Chaves, Omar Figueroa, Jr., VS Nihito Arakawa and Andre Berto VS. Soto Karass as the headliner.

The final press conference for the event was held on 07/27/13. The title for this card has the word “knockout” in it for a reason: all the fighters in the televised tripleheader have the ability and desire to end it via KO rather than going to the scorecards. One reason is perhaps the fact that Oscar De La Hoya will indeed grant a bonus to the fighter who will score the most spectacular knockout of the evening. This can only be a good thing for fight fans attending and watching the fight nationwide. With every fighter looking at scoring that extra bonus, it’s hard to pick which fight will steal the show.

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Soto Karass plans on punishing Berto this Saturday

berto4 Former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto (28-2, 22 KO’s) has a real fight on his hands this Saturday night against the tough Mexican fighter Jesus Soto Karass (27-8-3, 17 KO’s) at the AT&T Center, in San Antonio, Texas. Berto, 29 is in a weakened position having lost two out of his last three fights.

Berto is coming off one of his poor performances of his 9 year pro career in losing by a fairly wide 12 round unanimous decision to Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero last November. Berto is now facing a carbon copy of Guerrero’s fighting style in 30-year-old Soto Karass and thing could go badly for Berto on Saturday unless he can find his way back to his prime years of his career back in 2010.

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“KNOCKOUT KINGS II: Andre Berto vs. Jesus Soto Karass” Final Press Conference Quotes

OSCAR DE LA HOYA, President of Golden Boy Promotions

“I want to acknowledge a person that is doing a tremendous job in bringing boxing back to the masses, that is Stephen Espinoza, SHOWTIME is bringing you the best fights and the best fighters.

“San Antonio really knows how to stand behind the sport of boxing and support boxing and Saturday’s event is going to be no exception. This is going to be a tremendous lineup.

“These are the KNOCKOUT KINGS for a reason, you have explosive fighters from top to bottom, fighters who understand what hard work is all about, fighters who go out there and fight for the fans, for the public and for the recognition of being called a “KNOCKOUT KING”.

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Gennady Golovkin vs. Curtis Stevens possible for November 2nd

#9 IBF, #10 WBC, Curtis Stevens (24-3, 17 KO’s) is a strong possible opponent for WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s next fight on November 2nd in New York, according to Steve Kim. Golovkin’s promoters at K2 are interested in matching him against Britain’s Martin Murray, but that fight likely won’t happen.

If Murray can’t take the fight, then the 28-year-old Stevens could be the guy that faces Golovkin in a fight that will likely be televised by HBO unless they turn down the fight.

Kim said:

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Anthony Joshua makes his pro debut on October 5th in London

British heavyweight Anthony Joshua, 23, will be making his pro debut on October 5th on the Lee Selby vs. Ryan Walsh and Kevin Mitchell vs. Gary Sykes card at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Joshua, the 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist from Britain, signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport promotional company.

It was a big decision for the 6’6” Joshua to turn pro, as he had previously set his sights on capturing a second Olympic gold medal in the 2016 Olympics. However, instead of taking that big risk and possibly ending up with nothing, Joshua decided to turn pro and take the sure thing money fighting in the UK in front of what will likely be huge audiences no matter who he faces.

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Matthysse predicting win for Diego Chaves over Keith Thurman

Keith “One Time” Thurman (20-0, 18 KO’s) will be losing this Saturday night in his fight against #1 WBA Diego Chaves (22-0, 18 KO’s) in their battle for the interim WBA welterweight title, according to Lucas Matthysse.

Matthysse thinks Chaves has the skills to defeat the hard-hitting Thurman and bring the interim WBA 147 lb. title back to his home country of Argentina.

Chaves and Thurman will be fighting at the AT&T Center, in San Antonio, Texas, USA.

Matthysse said to RingTV “I know that Diego is an excellent boxer, and we’re hoping and expecting that he will come back to Argentina with the title. I have a lot of pride in him.”

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Roach says he has a great plan for Pacquiao to beat Rios

roach1 Freddie Roach thinks he’s got the perfect airtight strategy for his fighter Manny Pacquiao (54-5-2, 38 KO’s) to end his two-fight losing streak and beat former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) on November 23rd at the Cotai Arena, Venetian Resort, Macao, Macao S.A.R., China.

Roach isn’t saying what this so-called perfect strategy is, but you can imagine it’ll be something similar to what Mike Alvarado used to defeat Rios by a 12 round unanimous decision last March in their rematch in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Bellew poised to get title shot against Stevenson-Cloud winner

Tony Bellew (20-1, 12 Ko’s) failed the last time he got a title shot against WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly in losing a 12 round majority decision to him two years ago in October 2011. Bellew, 30, is now on the cusp of getting another world title shot, this time against the winner of the Adonis Stevenson vs. Tavoris Cloud fight.

Bellew is tentatively scheduled to fight the winner of that bout on November 30th, which just happens to be Bellew’s birthday. I seriously doubt it being his birthday is going to help him beat either Stevenson or Cloud, because those guys are a step up from Bellew’s recent opponent Isaac Chilemba. We just saw Bellew struggle badly against Chilemba twice and look terrible both times.

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Cleverly vs Kovalev: “I’ll leave Kovalev Shaken and Stirred” – Nathan Cleverly

BOXING WBO World Light-Heavyweight Champion Nathan Cleverly says he’ll leave KO machine Sergey Kovalev “shaken and stirred” when they clash on Saturday 17th August at Cardiff’s Motorpoint Arena.

The Welsh hero met with the media today at the Grosvenor Casino in Cardiff Bay looking debonaire in a tuxedo in the role of James Bond as he counts down to his own Russian roulette showdown with the unbeaten Kovalev.

Cleverly, 26, is relishing his East versus West super-fight against the iron-fisted “Krusher” who has anniahlated 19 of 21 victims with a staggering 18 coming inside three rounds and is confident he’ll finish off the seemingly invincible Kovalev.

“His record is scary reading, it’s just KO after KO, but the more I look at it the more I’m motivated to really take this guy out and prove that I’m not afraid to meet anybody, no matter what their reputation is because that is what a champion does, he faces his challenges,” Said Cleverly.

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