By Jack Scales: Amir Khan’s most recent performance against Julio Diaz, was in some respects typical of the Amir we have grown to know and appreciate over the years. As usual he displayed tremendous valor and the fans were treated to an engaging contest that provided terrific value for money.
Complimenting this was a new found maturity that revered trainer Virgil Hunter has instilled in Khan. This was evident in his uncharacteristic reaction to the knockdown he suffered in round four. Instead of his usual response, which has typically been to bounce back up immediately and engage in a costly brawl, on this occasion he maintained his composure and boxed sensibly.
Nigerian-born cruiserweight Olanrewaju Durodola (15-1, 14 KOs) defeated Victor Barragan on April 20 in Saint Joseph, Missouri to capture the vacant WBC Continental Americas cruiserweight title. I was recently afforded a chance to catch up with the Kansas City resident to speak about his boxing career and future aspirations. Durodola, who goes by the ring moniker “God’s Power”, also discussed how his former profession in law enforcement and his Olympic boxing experience helped him develop as a boxer. Here is a complete transcript from the interview:
US based Ghanaian fighter, Samuel Kotey Neequaye takes another step towards championship glory when he faces Guillermo Sanchez in a Welterweight contest scheduled for 10 rounds on June 7 at the Turning Stone Resort Casino, Verona, New York.
Unbeaten welterweight contender Kell Brook (29-0, 19 KO’s) will get a second shot at proving that he’s the better fighter than American Carson Jones (35-9-3, 25 KO’s) when they face each other on July 13th in a rematch at the Craven Park Stadium, Hull, Yorkshire, UK.
Earlier today news came out about former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye suffering an injury to his left hand will prevent him from facing Manuel Charr on June 29th at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, UK. At the time, Haye wasn’t saying about whether the fight was cancelled or postponed.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says his money fighter Manny Pacquiao is going to be facing a potentially big career decision if he were to lose to Brandon Rios on November 23rd in their fight in Macau, China.
#11 WBA, Matthew Macklin (29-4, 20 KO’s) will be getting a title shot next month against WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (26-0, 23 KO’s) on June 29th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Macklin is mostly known to U.S casual boxing fans for his spirited effort in dragging Sergio Martinez into the 11th round last year in March before getting stopped by him.
For some reason the World Boxing Council (WBC) has dropped Amir Khan from their top 15 welterweight rankings after his struggle to defeat 33-year-old Julio Diaz last month on April 27th. Before that fight the WBC had elevated Khan to #2 in their welterweight rankings despite the fact that Khan had never fought at welterweight before and had lost two out of his last three fights.
After seeing how exhausted WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez looked in his fights against Austin Trout and Shane Mosley, I think Miguek Cotto (37-4, 30 KO’s) has a good chance of beating Canelo in September if he ends up being the one that faces him, and right now it’s looking like Cotto could be the guy that gets picked.