Ajose Olusegun: “I don’t want to worry about anything with Danny Garcia or Erik Morales, I’ve got a better fight with this guy in front of me”

Exclusive Interview by Geoffrey Ciani – I was recently afforded an opportunity to speak with undefeated junior welterweight contender Ajose Olusegun (30-0, 14 KOs) who is scheduled to face Lucas Matthysse (31-2, 29 KOs) on Saturday night for the interim WBC championship. The 32 year old Olusegun has been the WBC mandatory for a number of years now, but has been consistently overlooked when it came to getting his opportunity—until now. Olusegun spoke about his upcoming fight, and also shared his opinion on the October 20 rematch between Erik Morales and Danny Garcia. Here is what Olusegun had to say.

Audio:

GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello everyone. This is Geoffrey Ciani from East Side Boxing and I am joined here today by junior welterweight contender, Ajose Olusegun. How is everything going today, Ajose?

AJOSE OLUSEGUN: Yeah everything is alright. Thank you. I’m doing well.

CIANI: Good, good to hear. Now you have a big fight coming up this Saturday against Lucas Matthysse. How has training and preparations gone for this fight?

OLUSEGUN: Training and preparations have gone well. It’s gone the way I wanted it to go. I did some preparation in New York, I did some in Nigeria, and I did some in Vegas. So training has been okay and the preparation has been perfect.

CIANI: Great. Now Ajose, you’ve been the WBC mandatory for over three years, and during that time seven other guys have gotten to fight for the title. This is for the WBC interim title. How do you feel about all of the circumstances and the long wait you’ve had to go through?

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Golovkin will be watching Chavez Jr-Martinez fight with great interest, hoping to get the winner

By Marcus Richardson: WBA World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (24-0, 21 KO’s) will be watching the September 15th fight between WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KO’s) and Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KO’s) with great interest, as Golovkin wants to fight the winner of that bout. Golovkin, 30, fought for the first time in the United States last Saturday night in destroying #3 WBA Grzegorz Proksa in five rounds in a three knockdown performance from Golovkin. The win has suddenly made Golovkin one of the top fighters in the division in the minds of boxing fans, although the hardcore fans already knew how good Golovkin was going into this fight.

Golovkin said to RingTV “For the fight on September 15 between Chavez Jr. and Martinez, I think it’s a 50-50 fight. Sergio has better skills, but Chavez Jr. is younger and seems to be getting stronger with each fight. I look forward to viewing the Chavez Jr-Martinez fight.”

Golovkin would be a serious threat to either Chavez Jr. or Martinez due to his huge power, excellent inside fighting skills and pinpoint accuracy with his punches. Unlike most of the 180 pound Chavez Jr’s opponents, Golovkin would be able to compete with Chavez Jr. on the inside despite giving away 15+ pounds in weight. Chavez Jr. is a dangerous to the body, but he doesn’t have the power that Golovkin has when punching on the inside to the head and body. Chavez Jr. would have to deal with a lot of powerful head and body shots, and it would very tough for him to be able to take those kinds of shots for 12 rounds.

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Amir Khan: Has The King Lost His Crown?

By Mark Klimaszewski – Olympic-silver medallist. Former two-time world champion. Former unified world champion. Arguably a top 15 / top 20 pound-for-pounder (depending on who you ask, of course).

Several “fight-of-the-year” type battles (and some solid names) on his resume. A consistent desire to fight the best. A warrior’s heart. A glaring vulnerability (the much derided ‘punch resistance’, or lack of, that arm chair critics are always so quick to point to) which makes him exciting to watch. Seldom in a dull fight.

On paper, Amir “King” Khan sounds like the type of fighter who should receive unprecedented adulation from fight fans. Yet he attracts more hate than almost any other active fighter today. It is a surprising fact; but a true one. Many people who I speak with about the sweet science all share a desire to see Khan get knocked out again. Many fans on internet message boards and what have you, wish nothing more than to see Amir taste bitter defeat once again and leave the sport for good!

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Khan combing NY looking for a new trainer; rules out Joan Guzman as opponent for December 15th

By Michael Collins: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan says he’s going to be checking New York to try and find a trainer and possibly a mentor to get his sagging career back on track following consecutive losses to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia. Khan wants a trainer that can fix his defensive flaws to try and turn things around for him before he gets whipped again.

Khan said to the Manchester Evening News “I’ll be going to New York to speak to a few coaches.”

Khan then oddly compared himself to Manny Pacquiao, saying “If we had the defense we should have had we would be the best fighter in the world. That’s the downfall of me and Manny Pacquiao. We’re both offensively the best fighters in the world, but defensively we’re not the best.”

That’s a bit too much coming from Khan. The best in the world? I think Khan is dreaming here. I think he would be a lot better fighter if his defense was tighter, but that wouldn’t save him from getting knocked out by the likes of Danny Garcia and Breidis Prescott. The shots that Khan got hit with in those fights were punches that even the best defensive fighter would get hit with.

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Vitali defends his WBC title on Saturday against Charr

By Rob Smith: 41-year-old WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (44-2, 40 KO’s) will be defending his World Boxing Council title on Saturday night against the unbeaten and highly ambitious #7 WBC Manuel Charr (21-0, 11 KO’s) at the Olimpiyskiy, in Moscow, Russia. Vitali has picked out an opponent with an unbeaten record but with little real substance to it. Charr is unbeaten but he’s not fought anyone in the top 15, and he struggled badly against a past his best Danny Williams and also against journeyman Zack Page.

With this possibly being Vitali’s last fight of his career it’s disappointing to see him pick out the 27-year-old Charr to fight instead of someone a little more talented like Denis Boytsov or Kubrat Pulev. Never the less, Vitali’s German fans watching the fight on television, as well as the Russian fans in Moscow, likely won’t care that Vitali is taking a soft touch in the incredibly slow Charr to beat up instead of someone that can give him a decent fight.

There’s a possibility that if Vitali gets past Charr in one piece without struggling he could end up facing former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye in late December or early 2013. The chance is there but it’s still more likely that Vitali hangs up his gloves and goes into politics in Ukraine.

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Wilder-McCreary on Saturday

By Kenneth Davis: Unbeaten heavyweight prospect Deontay Wilder (24-0, 24 KO’s) will be making a quick return to the ring on Saturday night against 5’11”, 39-year-old Damon McCreary (14-0, 10 KO’s) in a 10 round bout a The Hanger in Cosa Mesa, California. Wilder last fought a month again in wiping out Kerston Manswell in one round. However, because Wilder’s fights are over with so quickly without him sustaining any real punishment, he’s able to fight more often than normal fighters typically do.

Wilder should get past McCreary in one or two rounds as long as nothing goes wrong in there. Wilder will be back in the ring later on this month against an opponent still to be determined. Before he does that, Wilder will spent some time sparring with Audley Harrison to fine tune him for his October 13th fight against David Price.

At this point Wilder badly needs to get some rounds in so that he can work on developing his skills and stamina. He’s knocking guys out so quickly that he’s not able to pick up much from the fight because his opponents are caving in so quickly. In an ideal situation, it would be great if McCreary can stand up to Wilder’s huge shots long enough for him to get at least 8 good rounds in. However, for that to happen McCreary will have to take some wicked shots that will really test chin. If he can take them then all the better for Wilder, but it’s highly unlikely that McCreary will last long with Wilder teeing off on him.

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Golovkin may have problems trying to get the other 160 lb champions to fight him

By Michael Collins: WBA World middleweight champion Gennady Golovin (24-0, 21 KO’s) is in a situation now where he may find it difficult to get the other top middleweights to face him due to in part to his crushing 5th round knockout victory over #3 WBA Grzegorz Proksa last Saturday night in Verona, New York. The other middleweight champions were obviously already keenly aware of how good Golovkin was before the Proksa fight, but after no doubt seeing him reduce a good fighter in Proksa to a pile of rubble, it’s possible that Golovin may find himself ignored by the other champs in the division.

We may already be seeing that with IBF/WBA middleweight champion Daniel Geale possibly taking a lesser fight against #2 IBF Sam Soliman in December, which will result in Geale getting his WBA by the World Boxing Association for failing to fight Golovkin by December 31st. It’s surprising that Geale would go through all that trouble to win the WBA title but then turn around and just give it up without a fight in the ring against Golovkin.

The Geale isn’t really that interesting, though, compared to facing the winner of the September 15th fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Sergio Martinez. Getting the chance of fighting one of those guys would be ideal for Golovkin, because he could immediately nail down the number #1 position int he middleweight division if he were to fight the winner of that bout. Geale obviously would still be remaining for Golovkin to fight at that point, but that would be the easier fight compared to taking on Chavez Jr or Martinez, both of which are bigger punchers than Geale.

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Cleverly has to settle for Uzelkov after Froch, Bellew, Shumenov and Hopkins fights failed to materialize

By Marcus Richardson: WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (24-0, 11 KO’s) is having to settle for a fight against #9 WBO Vyacheslav Uzelkov (27-2, 16 KO’s) on October 27th instead of much bigger fights against Carl Froch, Bernard Hopkins, Tony Bellew and Beibut Shumenov. Cleverly’s promoter Frank Warren attempted to line up a fight between Cleverly and each of those fighters but they either showed no interest in facing him or they backed out.

Warren said to thesun.co.uk “A huge purse was put to Froch to move up a weight division — which he turned down — and Bellew rejected the offer of a rematch. It’s proved frustrating. We had Hopkins lined up and then he pulled out, while Shumenov didn’t want to come over.”

Cleverly and the 33-year-old Uzelkov will be meeting up at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It’ll be a home fight more or less for the 25-year-old Cleverly, although he probably won’t need the cheering from his fans in order to get past Uzelkov. All it’ll take is a good chin to hold up under Uzelkov’s occasional big right hand shots and a steady workrate to beat him down.

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Khan expected to make an update on his next opponent this week; will also talk about trainer situation

By Marcus Richardson: Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) says he’ll be giving an update this week about his next fight in December, and will talk also about his search for a new trainer to possibly replace his existing one Freddie Roach. The rumors are that Khan will be fighting unbeaten light welterweight contender Joan Guzman next on December 15th. It’s perhaps not the best choice because HBO might not be interested in taking a risk in putting on a fight between Khan and the 36-year-old Guzman when Guzman has failed three times in the past to make weight in important fights.

Khan said on his twitter page “Updates on my career, opponents and coaches, in next few days. Stay tuned.”

The 25-year-old Khan revealed yesterday that he’s actively looking to get a new trainer and he’s still in the looking stage of the process. Khan has to choose wisely because he’s lost his last two fights and another defeat at this time would be a crushing blow to his career. He’s made excuses for his defeats to Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia, but the excuses will wear thin if he takes yet another loss.

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Dawson will have to go to war to beat Andre Ward on Saturday in Oakland, CA

By Michael Collins: Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KO’s) is going to have to abandon his safety first style of fighting and let his hands go to beat WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (25-0, 13 KO’s) on Saturday night in their HBO televised fight at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. It’s not going to work for the 30-year-old Dawson unless he goes to war with Ward and is willing to fight him toe-to-toe at times.

The big 6’2″ southpaw Dawson has gotten away from what made him such a spectacular fighter earlier in his career when he was able to throw combinations and fight hard without losing concentration. Dawson seems have changed from the fighter that totally dominated Tomasz Adamek in 2007 and has become the equivalent of an automobile that’s not firing on all cylinders. Dawson will fight well for a round and then disappear for two to three rounds at a time like his mind is not focused.

Dawson will be looking to box Ward from the outside to keep him from crowding him to try and force it into a rough inside war. Dawson did a good job of preventing Bernard Hopkins from going inside last April, but Hopkins didn’t really put in a strong effort to force Dawson to brawl in close. Hopkins wasted a lot of time circling the ring, conserving energy rather than taking the fight to Dawson to try and war him down.

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