Two of Boxing’s Good Guys Go at it Again

banks4By Chip Mitchell: Boxing history is packed full of bizarre characters, and the heavyweights are no exception. History shows us that fans have a love affair with off-the-wall fighters who reside in the Big Man’s division. The stranger the fighter, the more we seem to gravitate towards him. Whether it was Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe, Sonny Liston, or Jack ‘I can’t… I can’t… but I can…’ Dempsey, our lust for more drama has helped generate an abundance of cable subscriptions and sell numerous PPVs.

Well, how about those heavyweights with little or no drama in their lives? How come nobody gravitates toward the good guys? On February 16, two of boxing’s good guys step into the ring for a rematch as Johnathon “Mr.” Banks and Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell dance once again.

Some readers of this piece may or may not know who Seth Mitchell and Johnathon Banks are and if you consider yourselves boxing fans, shame on you. I’ll try to educate you about two of boxing’s good guys. In these days and times, we need stories of a few good men in the world of sports.

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Froch vs. Kessler 2 on May 25th at the O2 Arena in London, England

kessler343434By Michael Collins: Well, it looks like Eddie Hearn from Matchroom Sport has worked his magic and got a badly desired rematch for his fighter IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) against WBA 168 pound champion Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s) at the O2 Arena (Millenium Dome), Greenwich, London, United Kingdom.

The only thing that awaits now is the approval from the IBF for Froch to bypass his mandatory defense against Adonis Stevenson, but it looks like the IBF will grant Hearn and Froch permission to maneuver around that dangerous fight.

Froch believes that he should have won their previous fight back in April 2010 in Denmark.

Froch ended up losing by a 12 round unanimous decision largely because Kessler seemed to get the better of him during virtually every exchange they had. Kessler’s superior hand speed and better combinations enabled him to land the cleaner shots against the long-armed Froch. I don’t think much will change other than the fight now taking place in the UK, and perhaps Froch getting the benefit of the doubt if the rounds are close. We might see a controversial decision in this fight, and frankly I’d be surprised if we didn’t.

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Juan Manuel Marquez to continue fighting

marquez34By Bill Phanco: Former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO’s) has decided to continue fighting after meeting with his wife and children to help him make the decision, according to fightnews.com. Marquez, 39, wasn’t sure whether he should continue his 20-year pro career after knocking his old nemesis Manny Pacquiao out in the 6th round last month in their fourth fight.

But the lure of big money in a fifth fight with Pacquiao proved to be too much for Marquez, and he went with what many boxing fans would agree is the smart choice by continuing to fight at least for the remainder of 2013. Marquez made $3 million guaranteed for the fourth fight with Pacquiao, and he should make considerably more next time around.

Bob Arum of Top Rank is targeting September as the month that he’d like to put Pacquiao and Marquez back together again. However, if they choose September 14th it might hurt the pay per view numbers because Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez are scheduled to be fighting on that date, possibly against each other. It would be a disaster for all if Arum decides to put the Pacquiao-Marquez 5th fight on the same date.

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Khan considering Senchenko, Ortiz and Lopez for April fight; will be choosing this week

khan4343By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan says he’ll be making an announcement about his next opponent for April this week. He’s meeting with Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer in the UK to pick from one of the following fighters: Victor Ortiz, Josesito Lopez and Vyachaeslav Senchenko.

Khan said to Sky Sports “There are several opponents we’re looking at. A lot of people are talking about Josesito Lopez, Victor Ortiz, Senchenko, the guy that beat Ricky Hatton. There are few names that we have been put there. I’m one of those fighters that will fight anyone. I never said no to an opponent and I never will. Whoever they find for me, we’ll find out in the next couple of days. I have to meet with Richard Schaefer and we’re going to talk about an opponent. So the next couple of days we’re going to announce who I’ll be fighting.”

I don’t care to see Khan fight Josesito Lopez. I’m not that interested in seeing Khan fight a guy that was just destroyed by WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. I don’t care that Lopez beat Victor Ortiz, I still don’t like the idea of Khan fighting someone that was beaten as badly as Lopez was. I’d prefer to see Lopez rebuild his career before fighting someone because it’s just off putting to see Khan get fed a guy coming off of a knockout loss.

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Adrien Broner, Gavin Rees, Johnathon Banks and Seth Mitchell Media Conference Call Transcript

broner56Oscar de la Hoya Thank you very much. We’re extremely, extremely excited to once again return back to Atlantic City where first and foremost we were able to raise a big amount of money that went towards the Boys and Girls Clubs there in Atlantic City.

In our last outing with Adrien Broner, with Banks, also with Seth Mitchell, so it was an exciting, exciting event and a very successful event in terms of giving back to Atlantic City.

The main event, as you know Adrien Broner vs. Gavin Rees will be at WBC Lightweight World Title fight and we also have the co-main events, which will be a 12 round, NABO and WBC Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship fight, which will feature Johnathon Banks vs. Seth Mitchell. This event is being promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and sponsored by Caesars Atlantic City, Corona and AT&T.

We are very pleased to be televising this event live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. eastern time and the tickets are priced relatively cheap, with ringside being at $200, going down to $150 and you can watch this incredible event for only $25.

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Judah: I’m going to take Garcia’s ‘O’ away on February 9th

By Bill Phanco: Former two division world champion Zab Judah (42-7, 29 KO’s) sees himself beating WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (25-0, 16 KO’s) on February 9th in Brooklyn, New York and handing him his first defeat of his still young career. In analyzing Garcia’s game, Judah feels that all Garcia has is a left hook and he sees him as a fighter that has been over-hyped by boxing fans.

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Pacquiao’s April fight still heading for Asia

pac62By Rob Smith: It still looks like Manny Pacquiao’s April fight will be staged in Asia, although Manila has been ruled out according to Philboxing.com. Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz says they’re interested in putting Pacquiao’s fight in one of the following countries: Abu Dubai, Macau and Singapore.

There still isn’t an opponent picked out but Top Rank has 9 guys they’re looking at with the leading candidate being Vyacheslav Senchenko. The other notable fighters under consideration are Top Rank fighters Jessie Vargas and Brandon Rios. Senchenko is ideal because he was recently stopped by the light hitting Paulie Malignaggi, who was able to stop him by jabbing him all night long.

What Pacquiao probably doesn’t need is an opponent that will test his chin in any way and possibly KO him. A loss to in this tune-up fight would likely make it difficult for Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to sell a rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez this September. Pacquiao was knocked out viciously by Marquez last December in a fight where Pacquiao was knocked unconscious in the 6th round from a right hand from Marquez.

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Donaire’s wife pregnant, he doesn’t want to fight June, July or August

By Jeff Sorby: WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux may not like this news. WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire said on his facebook page his wife is pregnant and that he doesn’t fight in June, July or August because he wants to be with her during this time. Said he’d turn down even millions of dollars if it were offered to him.

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Roach: Pacquiao doesn’t need a tune-up fight in April

roach33By Rob Smith: Trainer Freddie Roach doesn’t see the point of Manny Pacquiao taking a tune-up fight in April against a still to be determined opponent. Roach believes that Pacquiao is fighting at such a high level now that a tune-up fight would serve no purpose in helping him.

Roach said in an interview at fighthub.tv “They’re talking about a fight in April in Macau right now, a tune-up with Manny. I really don’t want a tune-up right now. I don’t think a fighter like Pacquiao needs a tune-up fight. Manny was fighting the best fight [against Juan Manuel Marquez] I’ve seen in a long time.”

Roach sounds like an old school trainer. I’m not sure that he fully understands how badly Pacquiao was knocked out by Marquez last month in Manny’s 6th round knockout loss. Pretty much anyone that saw that knockout would have serious concerns about Pacquiao getting back in the ring only four months later.

A knockout like that could lead to Pacquiao getting hurt easier in his next fight, and you kind of want to take the cautious approach.

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