Hatton can’t decide who he’d do better against – Khan or Kell Brook

Hatton can't decide who he'd do better against - Khan or Kell Brook By Michael Collins: Former two division world champion Ricky Hatton returns to the ring next month against former WBA World welterweight champion Vyacheslav Senchenko on November 24th in Manchester, England. If Hatton looks really good in blowing out Senchenko, he could find the pressure mounting for him to fight Amir Khan or Kell Brook in fights that would be positively huge in the UK. Hatton, 33, still wants to prove himself worthy of facing both of those guys by getting past Senchenko in style and perhaps some other fighters.

In an interview by Kugan Cassius of IFilm London, Hatton said “It’s really hard to say [who Hatton would do better against]. I’d have to sit on the fence and go right down the middle. If Amir Khan gets drawn into a fight, it goes to the blue corner. But if Amir sticks to his boxing ability and moves and uses his hand speed, then obviously you’d have to side with Amir by a slight edge. I really can’t split between the two of them.”

Hatton goes onto say that he has to prove himself against Senchenko before he’s mentioned with Khan and Brook. However, I just wonder how much Hatton will have proven even if he does blow out Senchenko.

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Broner vs. Burns in early 2013, says Warren

By Michael Collins: Promoter Frank Warren is interested in matching his guy WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) and American star Adrien Broner (24-0, 20 KO’s) if the two fighters can win their next upcoming fights this year. Burns will be fighting on December 15th, presumably against a top 10 lightweight contender, and Broner will be challenging WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco on November 17th in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Both Burns and Broner are expected to win their next fights, which could set up a mouthwatering fight between them in early 2013 in February or March.

Warren said to Frankwarren.com “Provided Rickster prevails, I have an understanding with Golden Boy [Promotions] for him [Burns] to lock horns with white hot U.S hope Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner in late February or early March…I’m more than happy for my man to meet, and beat, Broner in a little unifier on either side of the Atlantic.”

Golden Boy will snatch this fight up in a second because this would give Broner a great chance of picking up another world title and putting himself in the position where he’ll have half of the lightweight titles. The only lightweight titles that will be out of Broner’s clutches are the IBF and WBA titles, but Broner can capture those belts as well if he really wants to put the time in going after them.

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Miguel Cotto vs. Austin Trout: Will Junito be in trouble on Dec 1st?

By Joseph Herron – With less than two months until the highly anticipated face-off between three division world champion Miguel Angel Cotto (37-3, 30 KOs) and Austin “No Doubt” Trout (25-0, 14 KOs), many fight scribes and boxing fans are concerned that the Caguas warrior picked on the wrong Junior Middleweight title holder.

The current WBA Junior Middleweight Champ is quite certain the future Hall of Famer made a miscalculated decision in selecting him as an “opponent”.

“First of all, Miguel Cotto is a warrior who has never backed away from any challenge, and I’ve always had the utmost respect for him as one of the best representatives of the sport,” admits Austin Trout. “I am very grateful for the opportunity to fight him on December 1st at Madison Square Garden. But with that said…he messed up.”

“He shouldn’t have done it, because I’m going to win this fight. I honestly don’t see how I can lose against Miguel Cotto.”

Although the Las Cruces, New Mexico resident is always confident before a big fight, Austin seems eerily self-assured that he will indeed be successful on December 1st.

“Without taking anything away from Miguel Cotto, I just feel that I will be the faster, stronger, taller, and better technical fighter on fight night. I believe that I have better attributes on many different levels. I know he is a very good puncher and a smart fighter with a lot of experience in the ring, but he’s also 5’7” with a short reach.”

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Audley Harrison: Deontay Wilder punches like a mule, he could beat David Price

By Michael Collins: Former 2000 super heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Audley Harrison (28-5, 21 KO’s) figures he’s had the best preparation available for his fight next Saturday night on October 13th against British heavyweight champion David Price (13-0, 11 KO’s) at the Echo Arena, in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom.

Harrison, 40, just spent four weeks with unbeaten former 2008 heavyweight Olympic bronze medalist Deontay Wilder (25-0, 25 KO’s) taking him through some tough sparring sessions and Harrison sees himself ready to take anything that Price can give after surviving those four weeks with the big 6’7″ Wilder.

Harrison told Sky Sports News “I’ve found people that can match David Price and possibly beat David Price. Deontay Wilder. That’s the best sparring I can get for David Price…Deontay Wilder punches like a mule, and he’s fast. And I had four weeks of him, and some days he was catching me with clean shots. I know I’m going to be able to take [Price’s punches].”

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Khan vs Molina on Showtime on December 15th

By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) now has a venue, a U.S cable network carrier and a date for his next fight against lightweight Carlos Molina (17-0, 17 KO’s). Khan, 25, will be fighting Molina on December 15th on Showtime on in the U.S. a the Sports Arena, in Los Angeles, California. It’s a date the conflicts with a Top Rank card headlined by WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley possibly against light welterweight Lamont Peterson on HBO. As such, the audience for both fights will be much less than could be, not either of the main events are all that interesting.

One question you have to wonder about is whether Khan’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions attempted to sell the Khan vs. Molina fight to HBO first and were turned down? HBO is where Khan’s fights have been televised recently in the U.S, and there have been rumors that they previously turned offers of Khan vs. Joan Guzman and Khan vs. Humberto Soto. If so, then it’s not surprising that they might have turned down Khan-Molina because this fight would seem a much bigger mismatch than those fight.

I’d pick Guzman and Soto to beat Molina every day of the week. I rate them as much better fighters than Molina. Not even close. The only thing that I can see that Molina has going for him is an unbeaten record but those wins have come against weak opposition, so it’s really not surprising that he still has an unbeaten record.

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Cotto says he wasn’t offered $13 million for Pacquiao rematch

By Michael Collins: Former WBA World junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto is saying that he was never offered the $13 million to fight Manny Pacquiao in a rematch, according to ESPN. Cotto claims that he was given the exact same deal as he did when he fought Pacquiao at a catchweight of 145 lbs back in 2009. Because the offer was the same for a rematch, Cotto decided not to fight Pacquiao a second time. Cotto also didn’t like the idea of fighting Pacquiao at a catchwweight of 150 pounds, which would have likely benefited more than Cotto.

Cotto said in an interview by Dan Rafael at ESPN “The only offer Top Rank ever made us was the same money as in 2009. [Arum] made the same offer he made in 2009, and we found it kind of funny. That was the reason we decided not to face Pacquiao. That, and they also wanted me to go down to 150 pounds and given him the same advantage that they gave Pacquiao in 2009.”

The last time it was a catchweight of 145 lbs, but now it’s a little higher at 150. However, Cotto has filled out since then and it’s a lot harder for him to boil down to make weight. It’s not all that surprising that Cotto didn’t want to have to deal with another catchweight after the bad experience he had the last time he fought Pacquiao.

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Pacquiao starts training camp on October 15th; Marquez already training in Mexico

By Rob Smith: Manny Pacquiao will be starting his training camp on October 15th with trainer Freddie Roach at the Wildcard Gym in Los Angeles, California. Pacquiao and Roach plan on trying to take Pacquiao back to where he was in his earlier days when he was a seek and destroy fighter. For whatever reason Pacquiao has evolved into a slow plodder that moves with great effort, can’t cut off a ring very well, and who only fights hard for the last 30 to 40 seconds of every round. Pacquiao thinks he can get back to the form of his early youth by working out harder.

Pacquiao is currently being put through his paces by one of his team members Buboy Fernandez, but this isn’t the official start of his training camp.

As for Marquez, he’s already busy working out in the mountains of Mexico and is reportedly training at the 15,354 foot Nevado de Toluca, in the mounts of Mexico to work on his conditioning. According to the Manila Bulletin, Marquez plans on working at high altitude for 10 days to build up his endurance for the Pacquiao fight.

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Chavez Jr. denies smoking marijuana

(Photo credit: Adrian Hernandez) By Rob Smith: In an interesting development former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) is now coming out after nearly three weeks to comment on his positive marijuana test result for his last fight against Sergio Martinez last month on December 15th. Believe it or not, Chavez Jr. is saying that he never actually smoked the marijuana that he tested positive for. Instead of smoking it, Chavez Jr. says he drank with his tea.

Chavez Jr. said this as quoted by the Record.com.mx “In California it is legal cannabis (marijuana), so I was told, it would help me sleep and relax, and when I checked with the doctor told me that the only problem was the smoke, so I made a tea or few drops … and that’s what I took, but I have never smoked marijuana…I have problems with nerves…I am not a drug addict.”

A doctor? So we’ve got another fighter that is under the doctor’s care for a banned substance. We had IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson come and say he was under a doctor’s care when he tested positive for synthetic testosterone while training for a rematch with Amir Khan.

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Corrie Sanders – Days of Glory: A Sniper is Laid To Rest

By Phenyo Molefe: Corrie Sanders’ life was celebrated as more than a thousand friends, family and sports personalities from various disciplines gathered on Monday to bid him farewell in a ceremony held in Pretoria, South Africa.

Just over a week ago one of boxing’s own sons sustained fatal gunshot wounds while attempting to shield his daughter from harm. Speculation has flared an investigation into claims his death could have been averted had he not been turned away from first hospital he was sent to. His murderers made their first court appearance earlier this week and remain incarcerated. The coming weeks or months may give us greater detail pertaining to events leading to his death however the details pertaining to his boxing career remain clear to us.

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Jorge Linares attempts to jumpstart his career on October 6th

By Joseph Herron: Almost three years ago to the day, a young talent from Venezuela was the toast of the boxing world. Despite fighting almost exclusively in Tokyo, Japan, throughout the first five years of his professional career, Jorge Linares had already become a two division world champion and had entered the elite level discussion among fight scribes at the tender age of 24.

The heralded young fighter was making his second WBA World Super Featherweight title defense against tough Mexican prospect Juan Carlos Salgado, who was undefeated with a 20-0-1, 15 KO record. Although Salgado was a respected young fighter, he wasn’t considered to be a legitimate threat to the “Golden Boy’s” crown.

Jorge’s combination of natural athleticism and technical brilliance made him the favorite in most proposed match-ups at 130 pounds, and his title defense on October 10th, 2009, was no exception in the eyes of the boxing world.

At 27-0 with 19 knock-outs, the sky was the limit for the fighter most affectionately known as “El Nino de Oro”.

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