Abraham defends WBO 168 lb title against Bouadla on Saturday

Abraham defends WBO 168 lb title against Bouadla on Saturday Photo: Udo Dreier — By Bill Phanco: WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (35-3, 27 KO’s) isn’t taking any chances that he might get beaten in his first title defense of his newly won World Boxing Organization 168 pound title, so he’s dipped down low in the WBO rankings to find Frances’ Mehdi Bouadla (26-4, 11 KO’s) for a nice easy win this Saturday night at the Arena Nürnberger Versicherung, Nuremberg (Nürnberg), Bayern, Germany. Abraham considers a strong test, and it’s hard to understand what he’s talking about because Bouadla didn’t look good in getting destroyed last year by Mikkel Kessler in a 6th round knockout defeat.

Abraham must have felt like he was in a meat grinder when he tested his skills against the very best in the super middleweight division in the Super Six tournament. Abraham was beaten left and right by almost every fighter he faced, and when the tournament was over Abraham left licking his wounds and was dismissed by a lot of boxing fans as a finished fighter. However, his promoters have rejuvenated him by matching him against a couple of fringe level contenders and then arguably the weakest of the champions Robert Stieglitz, and presto, Abraham’s career has been turned around.

It’s hard to see it that way, though. It just looks like one paper champion has been switched for another, although Abraham still has talent to give a lot of fighter problems on any given day. It’s just that he doesn’t have the size or the talent to beat the really good fighters at super middleweight.

continue

Arce tailor-made for Donaire

By Rob Smith: If you’re a big fan of 5’4” Jorge Arce (61-6-2, 46 KO’s), you might not want to tune in to watch him fight on Showtime this Saturday night against WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (30-1, 19 KO’s) because he’s going to probably get beaten pretty badly in this fight at the Toyota Center, in Houston, Texas, USA. Most boxing experts are picking Donaire to win, and they’re unanimously picking him to win by a knockout.

continue

Deontay Wilder battles Kelvin Price on Saturday night

By Michael Collins: Heavyweight prospect Deontay Wilder (25-0, 25 KO’s) takes the next step in his career on Saturday night against a very good heavyweight in unbeaten Kelvin Price (13-0, 6 KO’s) for the Vacant WBC Continental Americas title in a fight televised by Showtime on the undercard of Amir Khan vs. Carlos Molina at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California. The late Emanuel Steward was very high on the 6’7” Wilder before Steward passed away, and he saw the 27-year-old as the number #1 heavyweight in the United States, and the heavyweight prospect with the best chance of winning a world title.

That says a lot about Wilder because there are a lot of good young heavyweights out there like David Price and Tyson Fury, and Wilder has been kind of hidden away compared to those press and the hype those guys have received.

Wilder is facing a tall fighter on Saturday in 6’7” Price. Wilder has been accustomed to being the much bigger guy in his fights, but that won’t be the case when he faces Price. He’ll have someone looking him straight in the eye and it’s going to be a real test of Wilder to see how he responds in a fight like this.

continue

Let’s Get Ready For Donaire-Arce: Media Workout In Houston, TX

By Steve Lopez: As the Pacquio-Marquez IV aftermath begins to slowly fade, we have another fight that will portray that Philippines-Mexico rivalry. The two Filipino and Mexican fighters are set to take the center stage this December 15, 2012 in Houston, TX: WBO Jr. Feather Champion Nonito Donaire and challenger Jorge Arce.

On Tuesday, both fighters were scheduled to take part in media/public workouts to begin the fight week festivities. Although neither fighter partook on mitt work or shadow boxing to say the least, both were open to answer many questions from the media. I had the privilege to be part of the workout, capture visuals and ‘Q & A’ transcripts from the day.

Wednesday will be the official Final Press Conference. Coverage and visuals will be provided as well.

Jorge “Travieso” Arce was beaming with Mexican confidence. Here are his answers to some of the questions posed to him by media members and fans:

continue

Bernard Hopkins to fight on March 9th in Brooklyn, Cleverly, Shumenov and Cloud possible opponents

By Bill Phanco: Former two division world champion Bernard Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KO’s) will be fighting on March 9th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The possible opponent will be picked from one of these fighters: Nathan Cleverly, Beibut Shumenov and Tavoris Cloud.

It’s safe to say that Cleverly won’t be the one getting the fight because he has a mandatory title defense coming up against his mandatory challenger Robin Krasniqi in February, and he’s got to take that fight if he doesn’t want to risk getting stripped by the World Boxing Organization for failure to defend against his mandatory.

Hopkins will be turning 48 in January, and that’s pretty old for a fighter still looking to compete at the world class level. Hopkins looked like he’d lost something from his last two fights with Chad Dawson. He was beaten by Dawson last April by a 12 round majority decision, and before that Hopkins had fought to a 2nd round no contest with him in October last year.

continue

Pacquiao a Fallen Hero – Sadness and Disappointment

By Paul Strauss: For fear of being maudlin, there are plenty of us out there with feelings of sadness and regret. It’s the kind of feeling we get when one of our hero’s does something we thought impossible. They lose. It’s often unexpected and painful. We knew all along it was possible, but still we refused to believe it. It’s the kind of feeling that overwhelmed people when Gene Tunney beat Jack Dempsey, or when Rocky Marciano beat Joe Louis. “It can’t be!” That is the thought that flashes across our mind’s eye. It won’t go away. It like the image is stuck on “play”! We want to awaken from the nightmare, but reality has just given us another smack up side the head.. There’s no way to shake it off. Our hero is human after all.

Saturday night at the MGM Grand, Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, NV, Manny Pacquiao was the victim of a sensational kayo at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez (JMM). It was a decisive finishing blow that ended a sensational fight. Referee Kenny Bayless saw no need to administer a count. Some so called experts thought the fight shouldn’t occur. They boo hoo’d it, fearing it might prove to be less than thrilling. What foolishness. We can only hope they’re ashamed of themselves for even thinking such thoughts…

The fourth and greatest of their fights was action packed from beginning to its dramatic conclusion. The end was in doubt right up until JMM’s final punch landed. It was a powerful short right landing flush on the nose and chin of Pacman.

continue

As it Unfolded, As it Evolved: Pacquiao vs. Marquez 4

By Phenyo Molefe: We all bore witness to what transpired on Saturday evening, to that which shook boxing and those who grace its pastures. I took account of the fight as it unfolded before us but have decided to treat the bout to further review and flee from any hurried assumptions, unveiling how it truly unfolded. Having watched all three previous meetings between these combatants just hours before their fourth encounter, I was further shocked by that which has evolved.

Seldom have I heard an audience voice itself as charged as what the masses did, Marquez has found favour with those seeking his redemption.

Round 1:

Although respect is abound Pacquiao and Marquez both have something to prove. The bout begins with some jousting and notable movement by both fighters as they size each other up. Manny throws the jab and quickly follows through with his left, seeking Marquez’s head. Marquez looks to counter Manny as he has done in previous contests and has already begun paying attention to Manny’s body. It looks like this is going to be a better start than what we saw in their second encounter and may very well surpass their third meeting.

continue

Hatton advising Pacquiao to retire

By Steve Mabbott: Ricky Hatton wants Manny Pacquiao to retire from boxing due to the bad KO loss that Pacquiao suffered last Saturday night at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez. Hatton doesn’t see any point in Pacquiao dragging out his career at this point.

continue

Khan doesn’t mind if he’s boring on Saturday against Molina

By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) plans on fighting with a lot more self-control when he steps inside the ring on Saturday night against unbeaten Carlos Molina (17-0, 7 KO’s) in Los Angeles, California. Khan knows he can’t afford to lose another fight after losing his last two, so he’s going to be looking to fight a completely disciplined fight where he takes zero changes of getting hurt.

Khan said to thesun.co.uk “It’s all about minimum risk. I will beat up my opponent until they quit. I don’t have to go in there and knock them out. I do that I could start making mistakes and maybe get caught.”

It sounds like Khan is going to focus on throwing a lot of jabs and single power shots instead of the flashy combinations that he liked to throw in the past to try and KO his opponents and impress the crowds. That could work for him but Khan would still be presented with opponents that will walk through his guard to get in close enough to work him over in the same way that Lamont Peterson did.

That’s going to be a problem for Khan because he’ll either be forced to run, shove, hold or fight. We found out already that Khan can’t run for 12 rounds, so he won’t be able to use that for a long fight. Khan also can’t shove because most referees won’t put up with that and will warn Khan and then likely take points off.

continue

Pacquiao got too greedy against Marquez

By Brad Cronick: If you want to pick out the #1 reason why Manny Pacquiao lost to Juan Manuel Marquez last Saturday night it’s probably due to Pacquiao’s greed. He had Marquez hurt in the 5th round from a hard combination, and he had been working him over in that round and in the 6th. Marquez bleeding, his nose looked broken, and clearly wasn’t going to be able to last very much longer with the pounding he was taking from Pacquiao. But instead of staying patient in the last seconds of the 6th round, Pacquiao rushed Marquez and got hit with a perfect right that knocked Pacquiao completely out. The rest is history.

continue