Haye: I want to KO Vitali Klitschko in 2013

haye213By Brad Cronick: Former two division world champion David Haye has hitched his wagon to WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, as that’s the only fight that Haye wants before he retires. Haye is waiting to see if the 41-year-old Vitali will fight him or choose to retire.

If Vitali retires, then Haye plans on getting out of boxing as well because he doesn’t want to fight any of the smaller names despite the fact that he can still make very good money against them. Haye wants the huge money that would come with a fight against the big 6’7” Vitali.

Haye also wouldn’t mind getting a rematch against Vitali’s brother IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, but he has no interest in fighting Haye again after easily beating him by a 12 round decision in July 2011.

Haye said to the Evening Standard “I want to knock Vitali Klitschko out in 2013. The contract for the fight has been agreed and is there ready to sign. Were it simply up to me, I’d be training to fight right now. Nobody seems to know if Vitali wants to set foot again in the ring, let alone face somebody as dangerous as me.”

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Abel Sanchez: “A third fight between Marco Huck and Ola Afolabi is coming” – Huck/Afolabi 3

Ola Afolabi vs Marco HuckBy Joseph Herron – With the prospect of Denis Lebedev defending his WBA Cruiserweight title against former Heavyweight title challenger “Fast” Eddie Chambers in 2013, many fight scribes and boxing fans alike have been pondering the possibility of potential opponents for WBO Champion Marco Huck.

Trainer Abel Sanchez recently visited “The Pugilist KOrner” and made an intriguing declaration concerning the hard punching German based title holder.

“My fighter, Ola Afolabi, will be facing Marco Huck for a third time on March 2nd in Germany,” insists Big Bear Lake based fight trainer. “I just spoke with Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions and he stated that the deal is 99.9% completed.”

Seven months ago, the two powerful Cruisers met in the ring for a second time and treated the fight fans in attendance to an entertaining slugfest and fight of the year candidate. Because the competitive sequel ended with an inconclusive majority draw verdict, most die-hard fight fans have been clamoring for third pairing between Huck and Afolabi.

Abel Sanchez is hoping that a third fight will indeed be the charm for Ola Afolabi.

“Both previous fights were very competitive and entertaining. So it just makes sense to do it again. The first bout resulted in a very close win for Huck, and the second was an entertaining majority draw. So hopefully the third bout will finally end in my fighter’s favor.”

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Sergio Martinez says Martin Murray won’t make it past 8

martinez123By Steve Mabbott: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) doesn’t see his opponent unbeaten British middleweight Martin Murray (25-0-1, 11 KO’s) going the distance with him when they face off on April 27th at the Club Atletico Velez Sarsfield, Distrito Federal, Argentina.

Martinez said as quoted by the Sportsmole.co.uk “It’s great that he should want to give his all and I was the same but the fight won’t go past the eighth round.”

Murray has good power and a lot of heart, but he’s not special. He was staggered by Felix Sturm in their fight last year, and he’s mighty lucky that Sturm didn’t have more time to work on him in the 12th because he probably would have knocked him out. Most of the opponents that the 30-year-old Murray has faced in his career have been nothing special. The difference in experience against quality opposition between the two fighters is monstrous.

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Donaire to move up in weight if he doesn’t get Rigondeaux or Mares in March or April

donaire2334By Rob Smith: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20 KO’s) will be fighting in March or April, 2013, and he wants to unify the 122 pound titles in fights against WBA World super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux or Abner Mares.

The Mares fight is something that will have to wait for a little while longer, however, because Donaire’s promoter Bob Arum is reportedly interested in matching Donaire with Rigondeaux in an in house Top Rank fight.

It makes a lot of sense for Arum to do this because it’s not a difficult fight to put together like it would be if he tried matching Donaire with the Golden Boy promoted Abner Mares, and Rigondeaux has been asking for the Donaire fight for a long time. At least this way Arum will give Rigondeaux what he wants while at the same time giving boxing fans a good fight.

Donaire said to Philstar.com “That’s [Donaire-Rigondeaux] the fight I want to happen, but I know not to wait for anyone. If they can’t make the fight happen, then I’ll move up in weight [to featherweight].”

Donaire has been saying recently that it could be difficult to set up a fight with Rigondeaux because of what the Cuban fighter might ask for in terms of money for the fight. It doesn’t look like Donaire is going to be patient with Rigondeaux like he was with the much more popular – and far less dangerous – Jorge Arce.

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Khan to fight in April; thinks he’ll be fighting for title

By Michael Collins: Amir Khan says he’ll be fighting in April in a title fight against one of the world champions at 140. Which champion is still unknown, but he thinks he’s going to be facing one them and he plans on then taking on WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia after that with the belt that he wins in his April bout.

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Can Amir Khan make it back to the top?

By Jacob Roberts: Last Saturday Amir Khan gained his first win for nearly 18 months with a TKO victory against overmatched Carlos Molina. It was a must win fight for Khan, who’s reputation was in tatters after successive defeats in the last year. Forced into a rebuilding process, he is now remoulding his style with the help of new trainer Virgil Hunter.

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“Fast” Eddie Chambers graciously accepts Denis Lebedev’s post-fight challenge

chambers54353By Joseph Herron – On December 17th, at the Crocus City Hall in Myakinino, Russia, WBA Cruiserweight Champion Denis Lebedev (25-1, 19 KOs) impressively dispatched Santander Silgado in just four rounds, giving the fight fans in attendance a devastating knock-out of the year candidate to remember.

After the successful title defense, the hard punching Russian fighter precariously issued a post-fight challenge to perennial Heavyweight contender turned Cruiserweight pugilist, “Fast” Eddie Chambers (36-3, 18 KOs).

The versatile Philly based fighter recently appeared on this week’s edition of “The Pugilist KOrner’s: Weekend Wrap” to graciously accept Mr. Lebedev’s proposal.

“The idea of competing for the WBA Cruiserweight Championship in my first bout within this talented division sounds awesome,” admits Eddie Chambers. “I didn’t think most Cruisers would want to give me the opportunity right away, but I guess my body of work in the Heavyweight division precedes me.”

Although the 30 year old fight veteran is a little surprised about being targeted by a current title holder, “Fast” Eddie can see why a hungry and driven fighter like Denis Lebedev would pursue a former Heavyweight title challenger.

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