Pacquiao responds to Mayweather Tweet, calls him uneducated

WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao has responded to WBA/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr’s latest tweet by calling him an “uneducated person” after Mayweather had said that Pacquiao is desperate and that his PPV numbers are a joke.

“I’m not angry at him,” Pacquiao said to gmanetwork.com. “I still feel sorry for him, because he acts like an uneducated person. It’s pitiful to me and I pray for him.”

Pacquiao actually got the ball rolling in taking a shot at Mayweather first last week in Tweeting the following remark: “Floyd Mayweather’s testimony on All Access authenticity tells me everything I need to know about his desire to fight me.”

Kalle Sauerland open to Abraham-Smith rematch if the money is right

If Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn is interested in getting a rematch for his fighter Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) against WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) then Hearn will need to open up his pocketbook and come up with a lot of cash because Abraham’s promoter Kalle Sauerland says he’s only going to let Abraham fight Smith again if the interest is there and the money is good enough.

Hearn will need to dig real deep for cash if he wants to have Abraham travel to Liverpool to fight Smith at home in the UK. Sauerland doesn’t want to put his fighter at a disadvantage unless it’s a substantial offer from Hearn. Abraham has a large following in Germany, so there’s really no point in him traveling to Liverpool to fight Smith, a fighter he just defeated by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night in Germany.

Artur Beterbiev – clear and present danger for Sergey Kovalev’s light heavyweight dominance

Artur Beterbiev, a former amateur standout from Russia who turned pro last year, needed 3 minutes and 38 seconds to stop Tavoris Cloud. He knocked Cloud down three times in round one and there was no 3 KD rule in effect so Cloud made it to the second round when he went down again and did not beat the count.

Abraham retains WBO title with unanimous points decision

Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) retained his WBO World Super Middleweight crown with a unanimous points decision against Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) in Kiel, Germany. After twelve rounds of non-stop action in front of a sell-out crowd at the Sparkassen-Arena the judges scored the fight 117-111, 117-111 and 119-109 in favour of the defending champion.

‘’It was a tough fight,’’ said Abraham. ‘’Paul Smith was by no means an easy opponent and he made me work hard for the win. I was pleased with my performance. I feel that I have proved to myself, to my coach Ulli Wegner and to my fans that I still have what it takes. I’m not in decline and I look forward to more successful defences of my WBO title.’’

Beterbiev knocks Cloud down 4 times in 2nd round stoppage

Two-time Russian Olympian Artur Beterbiev (6-0, 6 KOs) completely dismantled former IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (24-3, 19 KOs) on Saturday night in knocking him down 4 times en route to stopping him in the 2nd round at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Cloud, 32, was down 3 times in the 1st round, and 1 time in the 2nd round. The fight was stopped by referee Michael Griffin at 0:38 of the 2nd.

Lebedev destroys Kolodziej; Drozd defeats Wlodarczyk

WBC challenger Grigory Drozd (39-1, 27 KOs) did a good job of outworking World Boxing Council cruiserweight champion Krzysztof “Diablo” Wlodarczyk (49-3-1, 35 KOs) on Saturday night to beat him by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Dynamo Palace of Sports in Moscow, Russia.

Wlodarczyk was waiting too long to let his shots off in each round, and this enabled the much busier Drozd to win rounds based on being busier.

In the past, Wlodarczyk was able to win many of his fights simply by overpowering his busier opponents, but that didn’t work tonight. Drozd was able to take the best shots from Wlodarczyk and keep coming forward to land his own punches. Wlodarczyk was knocked down in the 8th round. Drozd did a good job of shutting Wlodarczyk down in the last half of the fight when he was trying hard to score a knockout.

Abraham defeats Smith; Macklin decisions Yebes

Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) fought the fight of his life on Saturday night in losing a 12 round unanimous decision to WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) by a set of scores that were far too wide at the Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Smith deserved a victory or at least a draw out of the fight because he was the one making the fight in many of the rounds. The judges scored the fight 117-111, 117-111 and 118-109

Abraham uncharacteristically went on the attack mode early in the fight in taking the fight to Smith. But after several rounds, Abraham slowed way down and spent much of each round covering up behind his high guard while Smith carefully landed shots to his head and body.

Abraham did a good job in throwing powerful jabs that frequently caught Smith while he was in punching range. But Smith was the one landing many of the cleaner shots. By the 8th, Smith appeared to be in control of the fight. Abraham was taking rounds off and letting Smith control the fight.

Abraham vs Smith: Smith’s Crowning Moment?

On the morning of the Merseyside Derby, you would be forgiven for the thinking that an Everton away victory would be the rarest of occurrences, having not won since 1999, in this sports crazy city.

You’d be wrong.

Not since Paul Hodgkinson’s reign as WBC Featherweight Champion, between 1991-1993, has Liverpool been the home to a legitimate world champion. So, when Paul Smith faces Arthur Abraham (40-4 28KO’s) for the WBO Super-Middleweight World Title in Kiel, Germany this evening, he will aim to redress the balance and return with a title this city has been missing for far too long.