Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado: Fighting for respect on October 13th

Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado: Fighting for respect on October 13th (Photo credit: Adrian Hernandez) By Joseph Herron: In the midst of making their final preparations for their highly anticipated October 13th showdown at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (30-0-1, 22 KOs) and “Mile High” Mike Alvarado (33-0, 23 KOs) have made it abundantly clear that winning the fight isn’t their lone objective.

“I want to make history on October 13th,” proclaimed Brandon Rios. “I want to make a statement in my fight with Mike Alvarado and show everyone a legendary battle. I’ve always wanted to be a part of a fight like Gatti/Ward. Hopefully my fight with Alvarado on October 13th is that fight.”

“I love to fight. I love hitting people in the face and I love to get hit. A heavyweight could punch me and I’d still love it.”

“The way I fight and the way he fights, it’s going to be a war. I know it’s going to be a tough fight but it’s going to be an exciting fight for the fans. We both have the same styles and I don’t change my style for anyone.”

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Donaire: My fight with Nishioka is #1 challenging to become the #1

By Dwight Chittenden: IBF/WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (29-1, 18 KO’s) has his mind made up that his fight against former WBC lightweight champion Toshiaki Nishioka (39-4-3, 24 KO’s) is a bout pitting the two best fighters at 122 going up against each other on October 13th at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California, United States. What’s interesting is how different Donaire sees this fight compared to the average boxing fan who have seen Nishioka fight recently. To many of them, this is just another one of Donaire’s fight against a guy that isn’t on his level, and hardly a fight against the number #1 super bantamweight fighter in the division.

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Khan to unveil his new defense against Carlos Molina in December

By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) will unveil his new defensive skills learned from his new trainer Virgil Hunter when Khan faces 5’6″ lightweight Carlos Molina (17-0, 7 KO’s) in December in a still to be determined date. December 15th is the most likely date for the Khan-Molina fight, and it’s still not official that the fight will be aired on Showtime in the United States, although that’s what’s being said.

Khan said to Sky Sports News “I’m going to work on a new defense, new tactics for the next fight…I think Virgil Hunter will bring out the best in me…I was winning the fight against Danny Garcia quite easily and then I started to getting into a fight with him which is not my stye.”

Hunter is a trainer that is known for his ability teach defensive techniques. He did a great job on building WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward from a young fighter to a champion. However, Hunter can teach things but Khan has to be willing to learn what he’s being told and apply in the ring. Teaching skills like defense takes a long time because a lot of fighters tend to fall back into their old habits when the going gets tough and they start getting hit.

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Broner: DeMarco won’t be able to touch me

By Rob Smith: Adrien Broner (24-0, 20 KO’s) isn’t worried in the least about the so-called huge power of his opponent WBC lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco (28-2-1, 21 KO’s) going into their fight next month on HBO at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The way that the 23-year-old Broner sees it DeMarco isn’t going to be able to land his big his big power shots in the fight because Broner will pick them off or make him miss entirely.

Broner said to RingTV “I don’t think that this guy [DeMarco] wll be able to touch me…He’s going to try to come in and do some different things…but at the end of the day once you get hit… you back to what you know.”

I really don’t see DeMarco doing anything different than what he’s always done. If DeMarco is going to try anything different in this fight it’ll probably be in trying to put more pressure on Broner by cutting off the ring and forcing him to fight in an all out war. That’s about the only thing that DeMarco can really tweak in his game. He’s not real fast and he’s not quick on his feet. His game is already 100% pure offense, and the only thing he can do any different is to fight harder or back off.

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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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