Brandon Rios to face Mike Alvarado on October 13th in Carson, California

Brandon Rios to face Mike Alvarado on October 13th in Carson, California By Marcus Richardson: On October 13th, former WBA World lightweight champion Brandon Rios (30-0-1, 22 KO’s) will be facing unbeaten light welterweight contender Mike Alvarado (33-0, 23 KO’s) at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, according to the 26-year-old Rios. The Alvarado-Rios fight will be taking place on the same card as Nonito Donaire against possibly Toshiaki Nishioka.

Rios commented on his twitter yesterday “Spoke to my manager and it’s official. I’m fighting Mike Alvarado 10/13 at HDC in Carson, CA. Same card as @ Filipoflash. See you there.”

A fight between Alvarado and Rios will be an in house Top Rank promoted fight, as both guys are with Bob Arum’s Top Rank stable. It’s a good fight for Rios, and a risky one for Alvarado, because Rios just won a fight over Cuban Richard Abril by a 12 round split decision last April and he didn’t look like he deserved the win. Top Rank has a lot of hopes for Rios, and they were almost dashed by that performance.

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Deontay Wilder ready to step up against better opposition

By Michael Collins: It’s unclear whether his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions wants to move him up yet against better opposition, but 6’7″ heavyweight prospect Deontay Wilder (24-0, 24 KO’s) says he’s ready to start facing the best fighters in the heavyweight division finally after obliterating 35-year-old Kertson Manswell (22-6, 17 KO’s) in a 1st round TKO last Saturday night at the Exposition Hall in Mobile, Alabama. Wilder’s power was too much for Manswell, as he was knocked down three times before the referee gave Manswell the hook to spare him another knockdown.

Wilder told RingTV after the fight “It’s just about telling Golden Boy, ‘let’s do it.’ Tell Golden Boy that I’m ready to fight anybody and everybody that’s out there. I’m ready. I’m ready for the world, and my time is coming.”

Wilder wasn’t ready a year ago, because he was still pretty much a fighter completely dependent on his right hand do everything for him. But in the last year, Wilder has vastly improved his left hook and jab and now he’s an all around threat to anyone in the division.

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Naseem Hamed – Where Does “The Prince” Belong Amongst the Best Featherweights In History?

By James Slater – I can vividly remember Emanuel Steward, who was training featherweight sensation Naseem Hamed at the time, telling an interviewer that Hamed would, in time, go down in history as the greatest featherweight of all-time. I was shocked by those words, coming as they did from a highly knowledgeable and respected trainer. No way did I agree then (the statement was made by Emanuel just prior to the Barrera fight, back in 2001) and no way do I agree now.

Just where then, does “The Prince” rank amongst the very best in featherweight history? Many will disagree, but to my mind he does not belong in a list of the top ten finest featherweights of all-time. In fact, when Steward made his amazing statement I fully believe the likes of Sandy Saddler, Henry Armstrong and Salvador Sanchez were turning over in their graves! And as for the truly gifted featherweight boxers from yesteryear who are still with us, along with quite a few from more recent years – some of whom are still active-they too must have at the very least raised an eyebrow or two upon hearing the lavish praise Emanuel was bestowing on his fighter at the time.

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Former Heavyweight Champ Mike Weaver: The Man They Called Hercules!

By James Slater – Today, long since retired, former WBA heavyweight champ Weaver says Larry Holmes was the best fighter he ever met. Weaver and Holmes had a great action fight in 1979 (as well as a rematch many years later, when both were coming towards the end) and it was during this losing battle that Weaver, a former Marine, made his name. Later on, in a real career turnaround, the man Ken Norton called Hercules stunned John Tate and the boxing world to become champ.

But as great as Holmes was and as special as the win over Tate was, the name Bernardo Mercado sticks uppermost in 61-year-old Weaver’s mind – as I discovered when speaking with the Texan recently

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Wilder stops Manswell in 1st round!

By Rob Smith: Heavyweight Deontay Wilder (24-0, 24 KO’s) stayed unbeaten tonight with a 1st round knockout win over a badly overmatched Kertson Manswell (22-6, 17 KO’s) at the Exposition Hall in Mobile, Alabama. The 26-year-old Wilder had Manswell on the canvas exactly three separate times before the bout was finally halted at 2:10 of the 1st round.

The 6’7″ Wilder caught Manswell with a long chopping right hand followed by a left hook to score the 1st knockdown. The 35-year-old Manswell got back to his feet groggily, shaking his head as if trying to clear the cobwebs from it. When the action resumed, Wilder connected with another big left hand that put Mansell on the canvas. Manswell got back to his feet and Wilder jumped on him hitting with a right hand followed by a left hook to put Manswell down for the third and final time. Manswell looked like he could have continued fighting but given how easily Wilder kept knocking him down, the referee opted to halt the fight at that point.

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A muscular Mayweather will be impossible for Pacquiao to beat

By Michael Collins: If you’ve had the chance to see the muscle that Floyd Mayweather Jr. has put on during his jail term at the Clark County Detention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, it’s hard to look at him and imagine Manny Pacquiao being able to compete with him now. Mayweather Jr. looks a lot more muscular in the shoulders and arms, and I’m now wondering whether he can even make 147 in the future without having to drain himself in the process.

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Adamek vs. Walker: A good test for Tomasz or another one of his mismatches?

By Rob Smith: Former two division world champion Tomasz Adamek (46-2, 28 KO’s) faces 6’4 1/2″ Travis Walker (39-7-1, 32 KO’s) next month on September 8th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The reaction to this fight is mixed with many Adamek supporters seeing the 33-year-old Walker as being a good test for the 35-year-old Adamek, whereas others see it just another one of Adamek’s many recent fights against 2nd tier opposition.

It’s difficult to look at Walker’s poor record of success in the last two years against decent opposition and think it’s a good test for Adamek. Walker has lost pretty much every time he’s stepped it up against better opposition and in some cases, he’s even getting beaten by 2nd tier quality opponents. In the past two years, Walker has lost to Johnathan Banks, Alex Leapai, Ruslan Chagaev and Kubrat Pulev.

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Dawson: I’m going to use my superior boxing skills against Andre Ward

WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KO’s) doesn’t foresee himself having any problems whatsoever in making weight for his fight against WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (25-0, 13 KO’s) next month on September 8th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Dawson, 30, will be moving down seven pounds from light heavyweight to fight Ward at 168 in Ward’s home city of Oakland.

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Deontay Wilder looking to make a statement against Manswell tonight

Unbeaten heavyweight Deontay Wilder (23-0, 23 KO’s) will be looking to impress and win over new boxing fans tonight in his 10 round bout against Kertson Manswell (22-5, 17 KO’s) at the Exposition Hall, in Mobile, Alabama. First and foremost the 6’7″ Wilder will be looking to KO the 35-year-old Manwell in their Fox Sports televised fight. However, Wilder would like to get some rounds in so that he showcase his skills and show off his new jab to boxing fans.

The 26-year-old Wilder told RingTV “What I really want to display the most is my jab. I want to show the world that jab as well as the speed of my punches. I’ve got the best footwork in the business.”

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Steward may not be able to help Amir Khan

Recently there’s been talk of trainer Emanuel Steward being in the running for the position as new trainer for former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s), if Khan decides to boot current trainer Freddie Roach. However, I’m skeptical about Steward being able to help Khan’s game in any real way.

If Khan’s fragile chin can’t take a healthy shot without him getting blasted out then I think even Steward would be a fail for him. Steward does well with giant heavyweights that have a built in height and reach advantage over their opponents. Khan, 5’10”, is taller than the average light welterweight but not that much taller to where he can just stay on the outside without ever getting his fragile chin touched.

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