Nonito Donaire vs. Toshiaki Nishioka: Too much risk for the reward?

Nonito Donaire vs. Toshiaki Nishioka: Too much risk for the reward? (Photo credit: Adrian Hernandez) By Joseph Herron: On October 13th, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, pound for pound fighter and IBF/WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18 KOs) will attempt to acquire the WBC Diamond distinction when he faces WBC Champion Emeritus Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KOs).

Although die-hard boxing fans and fight scribes in “the know” recognize the dangers in facing a world class fighter and versatile boxer/puncher like the Tokyo, Japan resident, most casual fans who aren’t familiar with Nishioka won’t appreciate how daunting of a task earning a decisive victory will be.

Although the 18 year ring veteran has been inactive for almost a full calendar year, Toshiaki Nishioka is one of the more intelligent fighters in boxing, displaying the ability to adapt to his opponent’s strengths and exploit their weaknesses.

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Bellew to fight Bolonti on Froch vs. Mack card on November 17th

By Michael Collins: Making his first defense of his WBC International Silver light heavyweight strap, Tony Bellew (18-1, 12 KO’s) has a fight coming up against Argentinian Roberto Bolonti (30-1, 19 KO’s) on November 17th on the undercard of the Carl Froch – Yusaf Mack fight at the Capital FM Arena, in Nottingham, England. According to the 29-year-old Bellew this was the highest ranking contender that was willing to face him on short notice like this. The fact that Bolonti so readily agreed to take the fight suggests that he sees something in Bellew’s fighting style that makes him believe he can win this fight.

In an interview at IFilm London, Bellew said “I think his [Bolonti] weakness is his defense, and the way to get to him is to pressure him. It’s another step up the ladder.”

Bellew is coming off of two good victories over Danny McIntosh and Edison Miranda in his last two fights with both victories coming by knockout. Before that, Bellew lost a controversial 12 round majority decision against WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly last year in October in a fight that appeared to be a draw at the least, if not a victory for Bellew. However, Bellew needed to put in an especially strong effort if he wanted to get a win because he was after all the challenger.

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News: Arum already has Pacquiao scheduled for April 20th next year

By Dwight Chittenden: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has already penciled in his number #1 money fighter Manny Pacquiao for April 20th of next year against a still to be determined opponent. Arum scheduling Pacquiao ahead of time isn’t really anything new, but it is perhaps an indication that Arum isn’t all that interested in putting Pacquiao in with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

It’s either that or Arum just doesn’t think a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao is attainable by that date. Arum would likely know, as it’s pretty clear that Pacquiao won’t be getting a 50-50 deal with Mayweather if they fight next year. Arum has always insisted that Pacquiao deserves nothing less than a 50-50 deal. But by setting a date in early 2013, you could interpret as a signal that Arum is trying to give Mayweather the brush off because this move will surely do.

Arum said to the Manila Bulletin “I have talked with Manny and we agreed to hold this fight on April 20th.”

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Arum gushing about Donaire’s power, calls him “Unbelievable”

By Rob Smith: Promoter Bob Arum is practically tripping over himself with his happiness at how good his fight IBF/WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18 KO’s) is looking as he prepares for his October 13th fight against 36-year-old former WBC super bantamweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KO’s) on HBO at the Home Depot Center, Carson, California.

Speaking with Manila Standard, Arum said that the 29-year-old Donaire is displaying “Unbelievable strength” in getting for their fight for the vacant Diamond super bantamweight strap, which the World Boxing Council has conveniently put on the line for this fight, as if the bout didn’t already have more than enough titles up for grabs. Not only happy with Donaire’s strength, Arum gushed about the interest in the fight, saying “A lot of interest, real grassroots interest in the fight, and everybody is excited while while ESPN is giving him [Donaire] a lot of coverage.”

That’s kind of weird, because I can’t see any threads about the Donaire-Nishioka fight at any of the major boxing forums. It’s as if the fights not taking place at all. Usually when there’s an important fight taking place in a week like the Donaire-Nishioka fight on October 13th, the boxing forums have multiple threads daily. But I can’t find one thread in any of the sites, which kind of tells me that Arum screwed up by matching Donaire against the guy from Japan Nishioka.

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Can Virgil Hunter help Khan’s return?

by Robert Jackson: News Flash – Amir Khan has left the Freddie Roach camp and now trains under Andre Wards’ trainer Virgil Hunter. Also part of the Hunter camp are fighters Mike Dallas Jr, and Alfredo Angulo – both of whom turned to Hunter after ‘falling hard’ under their previous trainers. Last time we saw Khan in the ring he was getting KO’d by WBC 140lb Champion Danny Garcia. During that fight Khan abandoned his boxing pedigree showing a lot of heart to engage in an exciting street fight, to his own disadvantage.

Also during that fight Freddie Roach was unable to get Khan to follow the game plan and was unable to tell Khan anything in the corner that Khan would obey. Instead Khan threw caution to the wind and engaged in the type of battle that gave Garcia the advantage. After that loss Khan’s team approached Roach with new terms which included making Khan his TOP priority demoting other Roach fighters including Manny Pacquiao to lower priority to make Khan the TOP dog. To this Roach refused.

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Roach still wishes Pacquiao had chosen Bradley to fight rather than Marquez

By Rob Smith: Trainer Freddie Roach says he wished that his fighter Manny Pacquiao had selected WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley to fight next instead of facing Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time when they meet on December 8th. Roach has made it clear in the past that Marquez is a really tough fight for Pacquiao and he doesn’t see anything to be gained from fighting him yet another time after having already faced him three separate times.

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Few tickets left for Pacquiao-Marquez 4 bout

By Rob Smith: While the hardcore boxing fans might be incredibly sick of seeing Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fight endlessly, the casual boxing fans are clearly not bored as they’ve purchased nearly all of the 16,800 tickets for the Pacquiao-Marquez scheduled for December 8th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of Monday morning there were only 3000 tickets left with 13,00 having been sold over the weekend. By now the 3000 remaining tickets are probably reduced to even lower numbers.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum is pretty excited about this, saying to ESPN “We are ecstatic with the response.”

I bet Arum is. The last Pacquiao fight was against Tim Bradley and it reportedly didn’t do well on pay per view. This is one of the reasons why Bradley didn’t get a second chance to beat Pacquiao again.

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The right fight at the right time

By Anthony Loy: How many times have we heard it? Or better yet “doesn’t make financial sense”. Boxing is plagued by quotes like this but sadly a large percentage does hold up under scrutiny.
It was announced last week that Kell Brook turned down a fight with Tim Bradley; this news was met by anger and ridicule in some sections but not by me because when you break it down its perfectly logical.

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Donaire vs. Nishioka; power vs. quickness

by Robert Jackson: Quickness is in the mind, speed is in the body. Quickness is that quantity where ones perceptions – in response to events going on around him/her, are analyzed by the mind in a very short time and a solution is come to very rapidly. Speed is rapid mechanical movement produced by the body. Examples of these would be a sprinter who’s quickness is in play upon hearing the starters gun to rapidly respond and leave the starting blocks, and whose speed motors him/her down the track to the finish line.

Power in mathematical terms is the force (strength) x velocity (speed), where either affects the absolute output. With more force and less speed the power that is produced will exhibit itself as a forceful PUSH. Increase the speed along with that force and the power produced will look like a punch with a lot of pop on it, the kind that produces knockouts. So, depending on the sport you’re engaging in the type of power you want is specific. For example an NFL offensive lineman will develop the force component of power to a very high level to forcefully push defensive linemen and linebackers out of his way to make a running lane for a following halfback. While a boxer will develop force to a optimum level while simultaneously developing speed to a optimum level to have the necessary pop on his punches to KO his opponent rather than just deliver a forceful push.

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Edwin Rodriguez vs. Kelly Pavlik: Expert trainer analysis

By Joseph Herron: On Saturday night, at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, Connecticut, Super Middleweight contender Edwin “La Bomba” Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) made a major statement to the rest of the talent enriched 168 pound weight class by stopping the previously undefeated Jason Escalera (13-1-1, 12 KOs) in impressive fashion while making his first headlining appearance on HBO Boxing After Dark.

After the sensational performance, Rodriguez was very clear in stating that he wanted to tangle with former universally recognized Middleweight Champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik in the near future.

Though it’s clear this bout would be considered a potential fight of the year candidate by most boxing fans and fight scribes before both men ever entered the ring, it’s uncertain which fighter would eventually hold their arm up in victory.

To give fight fans and boxing enthusiasts a closer examination of this fan friendly match-up, master fight strategist James Gogue analyzes the head to head pairing.

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