From the opening bell in this highly anticipated matchup between Josesito Lopez and Marcos Maidana one thing will be clear, both fighters will dig deep for a victory and have a win by any means necessary attitude. In what is yet another main event being billed as a possible fight of the year for 2013, a boxing year that has exploded from March to May it’s hard not to assume that this fight will live up to the lofty expectations placed on it by hardcore fans. These fighters managed to pull off upsets versus Victor Oritz, making him quit without a 10 count. The winner puts himself in great position to land a title fight at welterweight. Style and the mentalities of these fighters should make for an instant classic, something the Home Depot Center (now named StubHub) has become accustom to in recent years.
Golden Boy has been burnt twice by these guys in their quest to turn a popular young prospect into a full fledge star. In case you haven’t been paying attention I will break it down iller, see Oscar De La Hoya was a businessman and “El Chino” was the killer(note: 50 cent song explains that sentence). Although most people were calling him Madonna leading up the fight, Maidana went down early and often but returned the favor shocking the pro Ortiz crowd that night in June 2009 at the Staples Center.
Oscar De La Hoya thinks Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the same fighter now that he was when they fought in 2007. De La Hoya believes Mayweather is still essentially as good as he was back then, but the difference now is he’s fighting who De La Hoya feels is a better fighter than himself in Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on September 14th.
BERNARD HOPKINS, IBF Light Heavyweight World Champion
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is saying that he’s got an agreement from both Amir Khan and IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander for a fight on December 7th in Dubai. Schaefer is still working out the details of the fight and he still needs to iron out the venue, but he’s got the hardest part out of the way in getting both guys to agree to the fight.
Strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza is picking Floyd Mayweather Jr. (44-0, 26 KO’s) to beat WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) in their fight on September 14th on the Mexican Independence Day holiday. Ariza sees Mayweather’s experience being too much for the 22-year-old Canelo.
48-year-old IBF light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (53-6-2, 32 KO’s) says he’s going to go right after his opponent Karo Murat’s nose right off the bat on July 13th in their fight at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, USA. This will be Hopkins’ first defense of his title after beating Tavoris Cloud by a 12 round unanimous decision last March to take his title.
Undefeated heavyweight Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) is said to be in negotiations with three different opponents at one for his next fight. His promoter Mick Hennessey wants to match Fury against former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (26-2, 24 KO’s), and Fury has even dropped out of his planned fight against Kubrat Pulev just so that he can in the position to get a fight against Haye.