Tony Bellew: Perched on the Edge

bellew42 By Padraig Ivory: Liverpool’s Tony Bellew is coursing the perimeter of the light heavyweight division’s elite. The past 12 months have proven a successful exercise in raising the profile of the 30 year old fighter. Matchroom boxing promoter Eddie Hearn has insured Tony is a regular feature on Sky Sports TV as the path to a second world title challenge unfolds.

This year has incorporated three successful outings for the rangy orthodox Bellew. April brought a TKO win as Danny McIntosh failed to grapple the British light heavyweight from the Liverpudlian. The build up to this bout had enthralled the boxing public as the pair traded verbal jabs throughout. When the time for combat arrived it was the 6’2 frame of Bellew that lived up to the pre-fight bravado as McIntosh met the canvas in round 4 and decisively once more in round 5.

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Mike Tyson Interview Transcript

MIKE TYSON: Hey Guys

Is there anything you don’t like to talk about in the show? Something that hurts you to talk about.

MIKE TYSON: You went right to the hurt part, huh? I speak about my daughter towards the end of the show and that’s kind of not a pretty sight.

Did you have to be pushed to talk about everything?

MIKE TYSON: I talk about everything that everyone knows about. They have seen them in the press and they don’t know the underlying factors – I am expressing that.

MIKE TYSON: They know it all so I have to talk about it or they would say, ‘that’s bull’ because they know it. What they don’t know it how i got started and what caused the altercation. They just know about the altercation. I am expressing the underlying story.

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Transnational Boxing Rankings December Update!

by Matt McGrain: Another busy month for boxing has seen fewer changes to the Trans Boxing Rankings than November but drama abounded at the top of more than one division, not least lightweight where a new #1 contender was installed. Adrien Broner isn’t to everyone’s taste as a man, but as a fighter he was deemed deserving of the #1 spot after his one-sided domination of former #1 Antonio DeMarco on the 17th of last month.

DeMarco slips to fourth and everyone below him drops a spot with Mercito Gesta’s tenancy of the #10 spot limited to just a month as he makes way for Broner’s sensational entry at #1. With Ricky Burns sticking at #2 the mooted meeting between these two would crown a new Champion at the weight.

Also vacating a #10 spot is Diego Magdaleno at Junior Lightweight, pushed out by a resurgent Yuriorkis Gamboa who is introduced at #7 after his win over Michael Farenas. The other mover below lightweight is Juan Francisco Estrada who debuts at #10 based upon his worthy effort versus Roman Gonzalez.

Above lightweight, the big news was at welterweight and junior –middleweight. At 147lbs. Robert Guerrero overhauls Zaveck, Ortiz and Lopez to gatecrash the top 5 whilst Juan Manuel Marquez batters his way into the #2 spot just as he battered perennial rival Manny Pacquiao to the canvas this past Saturday night. He also replaces Pacquiao as the only fighter that can crown a genuine welterweight Champion in a contest with Floyd Mayweather, although there may be no appetite for that rematch based upon the one-sided drubbing Floyd handed Juan Manuel in their original meeting. Pacquiao drops to #3.

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Final Press Conference: Donaire VS. Arce, Rigondeaux VS. Poonsawat

by Steve Lopez– Photo: Chris Farina – Top Rank- The stage is set for Saturday’s Jr. Featherweight showdown between highly favorite WBO Champion Nonito “Filipino Flash” Donaire and Jorge “Travieso” Arce. Wednesday marked the final press conference where fighters addressed the members of the media and to reinforce what to expect in their performances. The co-featured bout will feature Cuba’s up and coming rising star Guillermo Rigondeaux against Thailand’s Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym.

To show boxing’s global presence with fighters and fans, Wednesday’s conference featured a rather interesting mix of fighter backgrounds: Mexico, Cuba, Thailand and the Philippines. It was no surprise that each fighter, with the exception of Donaire, required a translator to get their points across. I had the privilege to attend the conference and captured some visuals and quotes from each fighter:

Guillermo Rigondeax was a man of few words ready to fight.

“Nothing much to say. We’re ready to get this going.”

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Rigondeaux matched tough against Poonsawat on Saturday

By Bill Phanco: Fighting on the undercard of Nonito Donaire vs. Jorge Arce on Saturday will be WBA World super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8 KO’s) in a really tough fight against 32-year-old Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym (48-2, 33 KO’s) at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. This is a fight that is a lot tougher than the one that Donaire will have against Arce. Poonsawat is the type of fighter that throws of shots with a really good power, and he could give Rigondeaux all he can handle in this fight unless Rigondeaux can find a perfect shot to take Poonsawat out.

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Kessler defeats Magee: Herning with Desire

By Padraig Ivory: Denmark’s sole remaining Viking Warrior, Mikkel Kessler, laid siege on Brian Magee’s World championship belt last Saturday night. Unlike his seafaring ancestors, Mikkel enjoyed the comfort of familiar terrain as he looted the Belfast man’s crown in front of a mob of blood thirsty Danish boxing fans.

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Roach prefers Pacquiao wait until September before fighting again

By Rob Smith: Freddie Roach doesn’t want Manny Pacquiao to take any chances by coming back too early from his knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez. Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, is mentioned wanting him to be back in the ring in April in either a rematch against Marquez or a fight with Brandon Rios. However, Roach thinks April is far too soon for Pacquiao to be getting back in the ring after the way he was knocked out by Marquez last Saturday night in Las Vegas. Roach thinks Pacquiao would be much better off if he waited until September next year before he gets back in the ring.

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Malignaggi vs. Mosley possible for April 27th

By Ed Patrick: Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is looking to match 41-year-old former three division world champion Shane Mosley (46-8-1, 39 KO’s) against WBA World welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO’s) on April 27^th for Malignaggi’s next title defense, according to RingTV.

Schaefer said to RingTV “Paulie Malignaggi…and it might be, if we can get it done, what is being discussed is the return of Sugar Shane Mosley.”

This isn’t the big fight that Malignaggi was hoping to get against Ricky Hatton, but this is probably the best that Malignaggi can get in terms of a well-known opponent that the casual boxing fans are familiar with. Malignaggi obviously wants to keep his World Boxing Association 147 pound title for a little while longer, and that’s not going to happen if they match him against a decent welterweight. Malignaggi almost lost to what was supposed to be a very beatable Pablo Cesar Cano last October.

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Hopkins doesn’t think Pacquiao will ever be the same after his KO loss to Marquez

By Rob Smith: Bernard Hopkins came out tonight on the Jim Rome show and gave his thoughts on whether Manny Pacquiao will be the same fighter after being knocked out viciously in the 6^th round last Saturday night by Juan Manuel Marquez. Hopkins doesn’t see Pacquiao being the same fighter after that knockout. Pacquiao was unconscious for close to two minutes, face down on the canvas from Marquez’s right hand.

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Cotto could be back in the ring on June 8th

By Steve Mabbott: Former three division world champion Miguel Cotto (37-4, 30 KO’s) could be back in the ring on June 8^th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, according to RingTV. Cotto, 32, lost his last fight against WBA World junior middleweight champion Austin Trout in a failed attempt to capture his title at Madison Square Garden earlier this month on December 1.

Cotto was beaten pretty badly in this one-sided fight, and the loss removed any hope of Cotto facing WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a unification bout. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer still didn’t rule out a Cotto-Alvarez fight taking place on May 4^th, but then Alvarez came out and said he was no longer really interested in facing Cotto, so this leaves Cotto looking for a fight on June 8^th.

Schaefer told RingTV “We’re definitely going to be working with Miguel Cotto on that date [June 8^th] as a fighter.”

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