Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Dirrell hoping to be back in April

By Scott Gilfoid: With any luck, we may be seeing the amazingly talented Andre Dirrell (19-1, 13 KO’s) back in action in April against a still to be determined opponent. Dirrell, 27, is saying on his twitter that he plans on getting back in the ring in April, saying “I’m looking at April. Only time will tell, though, but it’s looking good.” The only think that Dirrell is waiting for is to be cleared by Dr. Shaw, his personal doctor who is overseeing his care after Dirrell was hurt by a shot while he was down on the canvas from a slip in March 2010 in a Super Six tournament fight against Arthur Abraham.


Dirrell was dominating that fight but after getting hit, he appeared to pass out for a few seconds until being revived. He was then rewarded with an 11th round disqualification victory. Dirrell subsequently began to experience a series of headaches and dizzy spells that possibly is related to the shot to the head in his last fight. Just to be safe, Dirrell decided to pull out of the Super Six tournament and take off some time from boxing to let the symptoms disappear.

Recently, Dirrell said that he’s feeling much better now and is ready to get back in the ring and resume his career. The only thing needed now is a clearance from Dr. Shaw and we’ve got Dirrell back in action and ready to storm the super middleweight division like never before. I’m really looking forward to this because Dirrell is an amazing talent and he’s got the skills to be one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in all of boxing if he can stay injury free.

Dirrell has a number of opportunities for nice paying bouts once he’s back against fighters like Carl Froch, Andre Ward, Mikkel Kessler, and Arthur Abraham. Those are just a few. There’s a lot more believe me.

Share and Enjoy:

 

[heyzel]

Sky and HBO preferred the Khan-Prescott rematch, but Khan chose McCloskey instead

By William Mackay: With both Sky Sport and HBO preferring that WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) step up to the plate and finally try and avenge his 1st round knockout loss to Colombian knockout artist Breidis Prescott from 2008, Khan instead took the safer path by continuing to avoid Prescott and fight the much weaker punching Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO’s). You can take it whichever way you want, but it looks like Khan decided to dodge the Prescott fight for an opponent that is less of a threat to him.


Strangely enough, Khan says that he could easily beat Prescott, but for some reason Khan doesn’t want to put that belief into practice. Another thing that doesn’t make sense is that the Prescott rematch would clearly drum up more interest than a fight against the little known McCloskey, meaning more money for Khan in terms of pay-per-view sales in the UK. And yet Khan still decided to take the McCloskey fight instead of the tempting bigger money against Prescott.

In an article by Dan Rafael at ESPN, he points out that both Sky and HBO preferred that Khan fight Prescott again, but instead Khan chose McCloskey. Now why would he do that? I can understand Khan avoiding a fight with Prescott immediately after being knocked out by him, but come on, it’s been three years now. What I Khan waiting for?

Khan said this about a rematch with Prescott in Rafael’s column today: “I’d love to fight Prescott again and its a fight the fans want to see as well. I promise you that fight will definitely happen. It’s unfinished business for me…The longer the fight waits the bigger the fight will be. That’s how I see it. As soon as I unify the division, the Prescott fight can happen.”

It’s doubtful that Khan is serious about fighting Prescott when/if Khan unifies the titles at light welterweight because he said earlier today that he plans on moving up immediately to 147 after unifying the titles and will go after Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Khan didn’t say anything about a fight against Prescott. I would venture to guess that Khan will have an excuse for not fighting him if he gets to that point, saying that he wants to take on the bigger fights and that he’ll get to Prescott after that. In other words, probably never.

 

[heyzel]

Haye’s manager slams Wladimir for fighting Chisora

By Jason Kim: Adam Booth, the manager/trainer for WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s), fired back on IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) after the Ukrainian heavyweight had said a day earlier that the July 2nd date is still open for Haye to step in and fight him. Haye walked away from a July 2nd fight with Wladimir after he chose to take a tune-up fight against Dereck Chisora on April 30th. Wladimir has over and over again assured Haye that he still wants to fight him on July 2nd, but Haye isn’t having any of it. He doesn’t trust that Wladimir will make the fight so soon after his April 30th bout against Chisora.


Speaking with Sky Sports News, Booth said “I haven’t heard from their [the Klitschkos] camp since December. Wladimir has got to stop deceiving boxing fans and not take on 14 fight novices [Dereck Chisora]. ”

Klitschko faces Chisora, a British fighter with little experience and only 14 fights on his resume. However, Chisora is unbeaten and is perhaps the 2nd best heavyweight in the UK behind Haye. Wladimir disagrees with Chisora being the second best fighter in the UK, and feels that Chisora is a better fighter than Haye. Whatever the case, Chisora is certainly a very solid choice for Wladimir to fight because Chisora is seemingly better than the vast majority of heavyweight contenders in the heavyweight division. It’s unclear how Chisora would do against fast and powerful heavyweights like Odlanier Solis, Alexander Povetkin, Denis Boytsov and Samuel Peter. But you would have to give Chisora a good chance to compete with them as long as he doesn’t get hit with anything too hard.

 

[heyzel]

Khan says he wants Mayweather or Mosley after he beats Bradley for unification bout

By Dan Ambrose: WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (24-1, 17 KO’s) doesn’t plan on sticking around in the light welterweight division for much longer. Khan, 24, revealed in a Sky Sports News interview that he plans on beating Paul McCloskey (22-0, 12 KO’s) on April 16th, and then take on and beat WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (27-0, 11 KO’s) in the Summer in a unification bout.


Following that, Khan doesn’t plan on sticking around and trying to defend the unified titles against the likes of the hungry lions Marcos Maidana and Lucas Matthysse. Instead, Khan says he wants to move up to the welterweight (147 lbs) division and go after Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley. It’s unclear whether Khan will then retire after he gets the cash out fight against one of those two or if he’ll continue to try and fight in the welterweight division. If Khan gets a fight against Mayweather, he will almost surely lose and lose badly.

Khan isn’t in Mayweather’s league and never will be. That’s a mismatch. Khan might be able to beat Mosley, but even as shot as Mosley is now, that’s a big ask. Mosley can punch and is fairly accurate. He would force Khan to fight the kind of fight that Maidana was putting him through in the 10th through 12th rounds in Khan’s last fight last December. I don’t think Khan would do well in that kind of fight against a still fast, power and dangerous puncher like Mosley.

Khan might get knocked out even by Mosley. Khan may need to consider moving back down to the light welterweight division once he’s beaten by one or both of those two unless he’s just looking to cash out and retire from the sport prematurely rather than risking his neck against other fighters like Andre Berto, Saul Alvarez or Mike Jones at welterweight. I don’t like Khan’s chances against any of those guys because they can punch even better than Maidana and they would almost surely catch up to Khan and put a big dent in his chin, even if Khan were running and holding a lot like he did in the Maidana fight.

Khan had this to say in an interview with Sky: “I want to unify the division [after McCloskey bout] in the summer against Bradley, and after that move up to 147 pounds and fight for a pound-for-pound title. There are a lot of great fighters out there – Floyd Mayweather, Shane Mosley – and I think fighting one of them would me one of the best fighters in the world. My dream is to be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”

Khan had this to say about fighting Mayweather: “That’s a fight that could happen in Wembley Arena. It’s a fight people would want to see across the world. I’m a big fan of Mayweather, but sometimes you have to share the ring with one of your heroes. It would be massive.”

I agree it would be massive – a massive mismatch. Khan wouldn’t stand a chance against Mayweather. And beating the soon to be 40-year-old Mosley will hardly make Khan a great fighter. Mosley should have lost his last two fights and will definitely lose to Manny Pacquiao on May 7th. So in effect, Khan would be facing a 40-year-old Mosley, who be coming off of two losses out of his last three fights, and Khan wants to be considered great for beating Mosley?

 

[heyzel]

Chris John vs. Daud Cino Yordan on April 17th

By Jim Dower: WBA Super World featherweight champion Chris John (44-0-2, 22 KO’s) will be putting his unbeaten record and World Boxing Association title on the line against Daud Cino Yordan (27-1, 21 KO’s) on April 17th at the Jakarta Trade Expo, in Jakarta, Indonesia. This figures to be a very tough fight for the 31-year-old John, as Yordan, ranked #6 WBA and #8 WBO, brings a lot of the same things that Rocky Juarez brought to the table in his tough fights with John.


But Yordan, an excellent pressure fighter with good power, is a better puncher than Juarez and a better inside fighter. This is going to be a hard fight for John and he may have wished that he took it easy until getting a good money fight against Yuriorkis Gamboa or Juan Manuel Lopez. Yordan, 23, is more than capable of beating John. The good thing that John has going for him in this fight is that it will be taking place at home in Jakarta.

Yordan has a lot of talent, and although he was beaten by the much taller and big punching Celestino Caballero last year in April 2010, Yordan remains one of the best young fighters in the featherweight division. Yordan was giving Roberto Guerrero all he could handle two years ago in a 2nd round no contest that was stopped after Guerrero was cut over right eye.

The Yordan vs. John match-up will see both fighters in an appealing Indonesian fight, which is going to be huge for the country. Yordan will likely be an underdog in this one but I can see him giving John a lot of problems and possibly beating him.

 

[heyzel]

Wladimir Klitschko, David Haye Continue The Public Battle

Wladimir Klitschko has again challenged David Haye to face him in a potential heavyweight unification bout on July 2.

The Germany-based Ukrainian will take on Dereck Chisora for his IBF and WBO titles in a rescheduled fight on April 30, which means WBA champion Haye must also take on the mandatory challenger for his title, Uzbekistan's Ruslan Chagaev, before any fight with Klitschko can take place.

Klitschko told BBC Sport: "I think after talking so much nonsense (Haye) has to show up in the ring. He has been trying to be smart but eventually he put himself in a corner. He's talking about legacy - I don't see the legacy with him, to be honest with you.

"I think that it's not only my opinion but the opinion of a lot of fans. I know the British fans are looking forward to this fight and I'm looking forward to satisfying as well the British fans and to fight David Haye. I'm right here and I'm confirming that July 2, as I've said before, that's the date for the fight. Either David Haye takes it or he just leaves the whole thing there.

"We were agreed on the money, so that we split everything 50-50 and of course there is a lot of money to make, but money is not the issue right now. As I said, I can confirm the date - July 2 - and the answer from David Haye was 'I don't want you to fight before' and however. The date is confirmed. Germany or the UK? It doesn't matter."

Haye stands by his intention to retire from the sport when he turns 31 in October, and last month spoke about his determination to take on Wladimir Klitschko.

"Fight fans just want to see the best against the best - if only it was that simple," Haye said.

"Very rarely in boxing do you get a situation where you have all the pieces of the puzzle, all the politics have been smoothed over.

"Then all of sudden he announces he is fighting Chisora, knowing I have to then fight Chagaev.

"To then fight me after is impossible - it is a shame he has now shown his true colours.

"He is scared of getting knocked out and does not want to lose, fighting people on a good run.

"What is wrong with now? Nothing. It does not make sense, especially after all the public campaign to get me in the ring.

"This would be a once-in-a-lifetime fight. Once I retire, people will always ask him 'why did you not fight David Haye?' and he will have to live with that.

"If it does not happen now, it never will."

Haye's trainer Adam Booth later dismissed suggestions that Klitschko had offered the Londoner a July 2 date to unify the belts, claiming he has not had any contact with the Ukrainian's team this year.

"I haven't heard from their camp since December," Booth told BBC Sport

 

[2-0-Sixx]

According to another source there are some problems with JMM and Golden Boy.

Looks like this is accurate. For the people who want Marquez-Pacquiao, looks like it can happen now.






Did Marquez Avoid The Erik Morales Fight For Free Agency?


by Jhonny Gonzalez

There are multiple reports in Mexico which suggest that WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez avoided finalizing an agreement for an April 9 fight with Erik Morales in order to become a promotional free agent. One report, speaking to an anonymous source, was quoted as saying that Marquez's contract with Golden Boy Promotions expires in the near future, and the fight with Morales would have given Golden Boy a multi-fight extension on Marquez.

There is now speculation among the Mexican press that Marquez is possibly going to follow the same path as former champion Shane Mosley, who left Golden Boy to secure a major fight with Manny Pacquiao on May 7. Marquez has been chasing a trilogy fight with Pacquiao since their 2008 rematch. Pacquiao is promoted by Golden Boy's business rival, Top Rank, and the two companies have not done business with each other since 2009. Members of Marquez's camp refused to comment on the situation.

The source was quoted in one report as saying - "He is very, very unhappy with them. They have painted his picture incorrectly. He is willing to sign to fight Morales, but they want him to be hooked in to a long-term promotional deal, and he doesn't feel that that's right. He doesn't want to do it and that's where they've come to a parting of the ways. Because his contract with Golden Boy will be over at the end of the month."

 

[2-0-Sixx]

this is a tough one to fully understand:

Canelo Alvarez named official challenger for Pacquiao's WBC belt.

yup, Manny's WBC Superwelterweight belt is now vacant by a WBC voting and the Silver champ Saul Alvarez is the challenger with the opponent to be voted next.

-fight news​

WBC and their fucking "silver" and "gold" and regular and super champions worse then the WBA.

But, if they were smart they'd try to get a Alvarez vs Chavez jr. Put that at dallas stadium or in Mexico. Would be crazy. Plus chavez would get raped.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Oh yeah!

Hopkins vs Dawson II
Chad Dawson vs _____ on the undercard

Worked out perfectly! (although ideally it should be Tavoris Cloud vs Dawson but we all know chad is too scared of that man)

Pascal-Hopkins rematch imminent

by Doug Fischer
Feb 8th, 2011


Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins are close to agreeing to an anticipated rematch of their first bout, which ended in a controversial draw. The rematch could take place on HBO in May.



The anticipated rematch between RING light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal and former champ Bernard Hopkins is getting closer to being finalized, Hopkins’ promoter Richard Schaefer told RingTV.com.

Pascal-Hopkins II will be televised on HBO (in the U.S.) and take place in May at a location to be determined, according to Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. Due to the controversial nature of the first fight, the site of the rematch is one of the final sticking points in the negotiations between Golden Boy Promotions and Pascal’s promoter Yvon Michel.

Hopkins, who turned 46 in January, almost became the oldest boxer to win a major world title when he held Pascal to a majority draw in the champion’s home province of Quebec, Canada in December. Hopkins (51-5-2, 32 knockouts) got up from two early knockdowns to soundly outwork Pascal (26-1-1, 16 KOs) over the second half of the bout and win the Showtime-televised fight in the eyes of most observers including official judge Steve Morrow.

However, two judges scored the bout a draw, including Claude Paquette of Canada. Hopkins was upset with the bout’s referee Michael Griffin, also of Canada, who counted the first knockdown after the veteran took a blow to the back of the head.

“Bernard is on board with the terms (of the rematch), as is Yvon Michel; everybody is on the same page, but the location of the bout still has to be settled,” said Schaefer. “We are willing to go back to Canada for the rematch if the Canadian Boxing Commission agrees to have neutral judges and referee.

"Bernard doesn't mind going back to Canada. He was warmly welcomed there and the fans treated him well after the fight. However, Bernard is a legend and with his quest to become the oldest linael champion in boxing, maybe in all of sports, we think the rematch would sell well anywhere."

Given drama and controversy of the first fight a rematch was a natural conclusion, however, Pascal owed Chad Dawson a return bout.

The 28-year-old Haitian won the vacant RING title with an 11-round technical decision over Dawson last August. But there was a rematch clause in their contract. Pascal was allowed to have one interim bout (Hopkins) but then he had to tangle with Dawson once more provided HBO, the network that televised Dawson-Pascal, was interested in the rematch.

It turns out HBO is more interested in Pascal-Hopkins II, as was Showtime, however, HBO had an earlier date for the match available.

“Showtime had no dates available for the fight until late July,” said Schaefer. “Hopkins is at a stage in his career where he doesn’t want to sit around and wait.”

HBO also had a slot for Dawson, who is tentatively scheduled to fight in the televised co-feature to Pascal-Hopkins II, Dawson’s promoter Gary Shaw told RingTV.com.

Dawson’s purse and opponent still need to be worked out but Shaw is confident that a deal will be reached with the network. The two front runners for Dawson’s opponent are super middleweight contender Librado Andrade, who is well known in Quebec, and former light heavyweight beltholder Adrian Diaconu, according to both Shaw and Schaefer.

Both Schaefer and Shaw say the winners of Pascal-Hopkins and Dawson’s fight will face each other.

“That’s the plan,” said Schaefer, “it will almost be like a little light heavyweight tournament.”

 

[bigface]

I like B-Hop vs Pascal 2 with Chad fighting on the undercard and getting a shot at the winner.

 

[heyzel]

I hope this goes does down because it look like will have 2 main event fights on the same card

 

[heyzel]

Haye wants Chagaev, Povetkin or Boytsov for 5/21, then Vitali Klitschko for September

By Sean McDaniel: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) has narrowed his choices for opponents for his next fight on May 21st to top contenders Ruslan Chagaev, Alexander Povetkin or Denis Boytsov. Chagaev is first choice, obviously, given he’s the #1 mandatory challenger. However, if he’s not given the okay by the British Boxing Board of Control to enter the UK due to a past case of hepatitis B, then Haye will choose between Povetkin and Boytsov.


Povetkin has more experience against quality opposition, so there’s a possibility he may be the one that Haye ultimately faces. In other big news, WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is rumored to be the Klitschko brother that Haye will fight in September shortly before retiring from boxing on his 31st birthday. Haye wanted to fight IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko but hasn’t had much luck in getting him into the ring.

Boytsov, 24, has a record of 28-0, 23 KO’s but hasn’t taken on anyone nearly as good as Haye. However, Boytsov, even without a lot of experience, would be a huge step up in class for Haye compared to his fights against a series of heavyweights in their late 30s. Haye’s best opponent during his three years in the heavyweight division has been seven foot Russian heavyweight Nikolay Valuev. However, Valuev isn’t comparable to Boytsov in terms of power, speed and work rate. Haye could have problems with Boytsov if he’s unable to knock him quickly or dominate him the way that Haye has been doing against the older heavyweights he’s been in with.

Povetkin, Haye’s number #3 contender, has a high work rate and decent power. He could be problems if he’s able to withstand Haye’s early attacks and force him into a war. Haye’s not used to getting hit a lot and in a fight against Povetkin, Haye will have to get used to getting hit because of Povetkin’s pressure.

The fight against Vitali is the most interesting of the bunch, but it’s one that may not take place if Haye can’t get by his next opponent. It’s a fight that hinges on Haye winning his May bout. It’s hard to imagine that Haye will take the fight with Vitali. I can see Haye deciding to fight someone else in September and then retiring on that note rather than risking a beating against Vitali in the last fight of his career.

 

[heyzel]

Haye says Wladimir has proven that he doesn’t want to fight

By William Mackay: WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (25-1, 23 KO’s) believes that IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) is stalling doesn’t truly want to fight him in the future. Haye is heated about Wladimir’s recent comments to the BBC, saying that Haye can still fight him on July 2nd. Haye has to defend his World Boxing Association title soon, possibly in May against number #1 challenger Ruslan Chagaev. Haye doesn’t believe this gives him enough time to get ready for a fight against Klitschko so soon after.


Haye said this to thesun.co.uk: “Does he honestly think the WBA, the organization whose title I hold, are going to hang around waiting for him? It’s total arrogance on his part to put up this date in July when he knows I have my own site defense scheduled. Firstly, I have to successfully defend my title. Secondly, I have to come through that defense without injury, and it is just nine weeks before this July 2nd date has has pulled out of the air. He has proved time and again he doesn’t want to fight me by stalling, moving the goalposts and coming out with utter c**p like this trying to fool those stupid enough to listen.”

I think kind of agree with Haye on this one. Wladimir has put Haye in a bad position by taking the fight with Dereck Chisora on April 30th, because it made it necessary for Haye to defend his WBA title against his mandatory instead of just waiting for the smoke to clear between Wladimir and his tune-up opponent Chisora. Haye would have much preferred to do nothing and just wait, but the tune-up makes it necessary for Haye to defend his title. It would have been better for Wladimir to forget about Chisora and look to fight Haye next. Wladimir could have always fought Chisora after he dispatched with Haye and sent him into his much talked about retirement

 

[2-0-Sixx]

yep. And I see HBO is coming to their senses they passed on Pascal - Hopkins 1 and that fight ended up being the highest rated boxing event for Showtime in several years.

It's basically a four man light heavyweight tournament but really tavoris cloud is getting shafted again, dude is undefeated and has the same belt that chad dawson vacated in order not to fight him.

 

[heyzel]

agreed but you can't go wrong with Andrade or Diaconu being chad opponents it all about putting asses in seats and tavoris cloud needs to keep grinding his payday is coming

 

[2-0-Sixx]

if its in canada you have a point. If it's in the US then it really needs to be cloud. HBO could force dawson to fight him if they really wanted to.

Another option is Zsolt Erdei. Erdei recently called out Dawson and made it known that if Dawson-Pascal doesn't happen he would like to fight Dawson. I think that's also a much better fight than Andrade or Diaconu. I mean these two guys yeah there pretty durable and tough but tailer made for dawson - slow, come forward guys that dawson is just going to box circles around for 12 rounds.

 

[heyzel]

if it comes down to money this fight is happing in canada, I see them selling out this fight in less than a hour

 

[2-0-Sixx]

canada is hot right now for fights (boxing & mma)

 

[bigface]

Like Heyzel said already Cloud just needs to stay busy, keep winning and he'll get the big fights. I just want to see some good fights. 2-0-Sixx, watching the Mora fight last Friday got me to thinking that Manny is going to have a very hard time with Mosley. Mora is big as hell and Mosley was bullying him around easier then Vera was..

 

[2-0-Sixx]

it's hard to lean much from mosley vs mora, I agree. Mora is a lot bigger than mosley. Also vera is bigger than mora, they are about the same height but vera has been fighting at super middleweight for most of his career and mora typically fights at 160 or occasionally 154.