Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Carl Froch: If Abraham Guards High, I'll Break His Ribs!

By Mark Vester

Former super middleweight champion Carl Froch is well aware of the high guard that Arthur Abraham uses to avoid being hit with punches. Froch has been training in the gym to target the body because he knows Abraham has a very tight defense. They are set to clash in the third stage of the Super Six Boxing Classic on October 2 in Monaco. Froch needs to win if he wants to avoid being knocked out of the semi finals.

“I am already five weeks into a 12-week camp and now that I have hit 30 I need to be in tip-top condition. Everything is going smoothly and I know that I will do a job on Abraham. I am confident and I have belief in myself to get back to winning ways. That’s where I have always been and if I cannot be a winner I don’t want to be in the sport hanging around," Froch told Sunday Mercury.

“I have the champion mentality and I know I should beat Abraham. He sits back and has a high European guard with his hands held high. If he does that then I will try and break his ribs."

Froch respects Abraham's punching power. Not known for having a good defense, Froch is working on being more elusive to avoid Abraham's big punches.

“Having said that his record shows that he can be tough and hard and I will respect his punching power. I have a granite chin but the best way to avoid danger is to make sure I don’t get hit. I have been working hard on that aspect of my game with my trainer Robert McCracken and the confidence is good. I am still planning on going through to win this competition,” Froch said.

 

[heyzel]

Shaw wants a different referee and judge in Pascal-Dawson rematch – News

By Jason Kim: Gary Shaw, the promoter for Chad Dawson, reportedly wants a different judge and referee for the rematch between Dawson and WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal. This after Dawson lost to Pascal by an 11 round technical decision last Saturday night in Montreal, Canada.


Judge Jack Woodburn, a Canadian, scored the fight 108-101 for Pascal, which differed from the much closer scores of 106-103 from the two non-Canadian judges for the fight. Additionally, Shaw wasn’t pleased with referee Michael Griffin either, saying in an article at Supersport.com, “The head butt [the one in the 11th that resulted in Dawson suffering a deep cut over his right eye] was intentional in my estimation. The ref should have let Chad fight the last two rounds. He had Pascal in trouble.”

Shaw feels that the fight should have been allowed to continue in the 11th, given that Dawson had Pascal hurt and looking like he was ready to be stopped. Shaw does have a point. The timing of the stoppage clearly helped Pascal, who looked like he might not have been able to make it out of the round. Pascal says he was just letting Dawson throw his shots and biding his time, but it didn’t look like that.

Pascal looked hurt and vulnerable. Its unclear how much pull Shaw will have in a rematch between Pascal and Dawson, because Pascal is the WBC champion and that will obviously give him and his promoter the more power in deciding the venue, the judges and the referee for the rematch. Dawson will clearly have to fight Pascal in Canada, but Shaw may be able to get Griffin and Woodburn replaced if he complains long enough.

Pascal said “I know for sure I’m not a dirty fighter and it wasn’t an intentional head butt. Why would I need to do that? I was leading the fight.” What Pascal says makes sense. However, in looking at it from Shaw and Dawson’s perspective, Pascal was hurt and taking punishment when the head butt occurred.

The timing of the head butt would make a lot of people suspicious because it came in a round where Pascal looked like he might have been ready to be taken out. Dawson was throwing mean looking punches and fighting ferociously for the first time in the fight.

Pascal didn’t look good and appeared to have been hurt badly by a big left uppercut from Dawson. And moments later, the head butt occurred. Of course, this is something that would make Shaw and Dawson suspicious. It’s only natural.

Dawson said “There were four or five head butts and the ref didn’t do anything. But we have a rematch clause and I will be back and I will bring the title back to the States.”

 

[heyzel]

Edgar Sosa Gets Medical Clearance For Erik Morales Card

By Jhonny Gonzalez

Former flyweight champion Edgar Sosa has received medical clearance to fight in the co-feature to Erik Morales' clash with Willie Limond on September 11 at Plaza de Toros in Mexico. Two weeks ago Sosa stopped Venezuelan José "Olympic" Varela in four rounds. He injured his left thumb during the victory and there was some doubt as to whether he could appear on the show. A doctor has officially cleared him to start training for the big card. Sosa will likely fight an opponent from Asia.

"All year I have been saying that I wanted to be on a huge card that is part of the [Mexican Independence] bicentennial celebrations. The doctors have told me that it's okay to fight. I was given the green light and I am delighted to know that I will be part of that great celebration for all Mexicans," said Sosa.

"After two fights back [since my loss], I feel very good. I think that gradually I will get to a level where I can fight for the world title."

 

[heyzel]

Chavez Jr. vs. Cotto: Is Julio going to get destroyed or what?

By Chris Williams: I’ve been curious about the career of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (41-0-1, 30 KO’s), and have been wondering when his promoter Bob Arum would finally put him in with a good opponent after seven years of facing exclusively B level fighters. I figured that Arum would at least put Chavez Jr. in with a decent top tier fighter before throwing him to the dogs to be ripped apart. But instead, Arum is going to not take any risks and just throw Chavez Jr. in with WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KO’s) on December 4th, despite Chavez Jr. having faced no one worth mentioning other than B level fighter John Duddy.


That just makes me think that Arum has no faith in Chavez and doesn’t want to take a risk by putting him in with a good top tier fighter fighter like Alfredo Angulo, Kelly Pavlik, Roman Karmazin, Pawel Wolak, Kermit Cintron, Daniel Jacobs, or Gennady Golovkin. At least if Chavez had fought one of those guys, we’d know what he’s made of and would have a pretty good idea how he’d do against Cotto. Based on only the win over fringe contender Duddy, I think Chavez is going to get royally beaten to a pulp, and I can only imagine how much this fight will go for on pay per view.

Since it’s no doubt going to be a PPV bout, I would prefer that both fighters have cut their teeth on top level opposition during their career instead of just one of them (Cotto). Since Chavez Jr. is going from B level cuisine to top of grade, I don’t see how this fight can be a PPV bout. If it’s going to be a likely slaughter, I would prefer the fight be for free on regular HBO, if they’re interesting in show the fight. I guess HBO will want to show the fight so that they can take advantage of Cotto’s large fan base and the many fans of former boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez, who just happens to be the father of Chavez Jr.

Chavez Jr. didn’t show me anything in his win over Duddy that would make me think he can somehow beat Cotto or even be competitive with him. What I saw of Chavez Jr. in the Duddy fight was a plodder, with decent power, average hand speed, a fragile chin and horrible defensive skills. If Cotto opens up with anything hard in the early going, I see him blasting Chavez apart in no time flat. I know Freddie Roach is going to have Chavez running, but I don’t think he’s going to be able to run fast enough or long enough to keep Cotto from catching up to him and beating him up and sending him home to Mexico.

 

[naner12]

When is Canelo fighting again? They gonna put him up against JR or what? He'd destroy him, I'd like to see it happen...

They're working on getting JCC Jr in the ring with Cotto for his newly won belt. Canelo's gonna be fighting Baldomir on the Shane Mosley/Sergio Mora undercard.

 

[Lamberto Quintero]

^Right on, thanks for the heads up.

 

[REdRUM]

Dawson was a disappointment, but I think he was going to KO Pascal in the 11th. Just my opinion, but I was pissed they stopped the fight, but it was his own fault he let himself fall so far behind.

"The Nightmare"...lol. What a fucking bum. I was hoping that other dude knocked his ass out. Lazy son of a bitch.

 

[2-0-Sixx]

they should just change his nickname to Chris "The Lazy Fat Slob" Arreola

 

[REdRUM]

Man, I tried to root for the dude. Really. I wanted to be a fan of his.

But after trying and trying and trying...


...I tossed him into the bullshit pile, on top of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

 

[bigface]

Arreola just refuses to get his fat ass in shape. I don't care how much heart or skills you have, if you're not in shape you for no chance against the good or elite fighter.

 

[heyzel]

James Toney: 'Hopkins Fix Your Teeth, David Haye is Gay'

By Mark Vester

Former three division champion James Toney has fired back at Bernard Hopkins and WBA heavyweight champion David Haye. Both fighters have been very critical of Toney's entrance into the world of MMA. Toney has a huge task in front of him when he faces former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture on pay-per-view August 28 in Boston.

Haye called Toney "delusional" for making such a move. Hopkins said Toney will "get his ass kicked." Toney says both Hopkins and Haye will eat their words after he pulls off an impressive MMA debut in two weeks.

"I don't like neither one of them anyway so it don't matter," Toney told ESPN. "I don't care about the boxing community. I care about James Toney. It's about James Toney and Randy Couture. It's not about James Toney and boxing and James Toney and MMA.

"This is James Toney and Randy Couture so for Bernard he can go somewhere and get his damn teeth fixed. And David Haye, he's gay. I don't care about none of that. So they can just listen to all their bullsh*t."

 

[heyzel]

Dawson Pondered Fights With David Haye and Adamek

By Mark Vester

A lot has been written about Saturday's big upset in Montreal. WBC/IBO light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal shocked the world with an eleven round techincal decision win over one of the top pound for pound fighters in the sport, Chad Dawson.

Dawson thought Pascal's style was easily exploitable for a good boxer. There have been theories that Dawson may have overlooked Pascal. He was openly discussing a return to Montreal in the fall for a showdown with IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute.

Bute was not the only fight Dawson was pondering prior to the upset loss. He was also interested in following the same road as some of the light heavyweights of the past, by moving up to heavyweight in the not so distant future.

When speaking with BoxingScene.com's Lem Satterfield, Dawson named two heavyweights he would definitely fight. The first was Tomasz Adamak, considered at the moment as one the best heavyweights in the world, but Dawson dominated him several years ago at light heavyweight. The other fighter was WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, a smaller heavyweight who made the jump from cruiserweight two years ago.

"I mean, if Adamek said that he wanted to fight me tomorrow at heavyweight, I'd blow up, because I know what it takes to beat Adamek. I did it once, and I can do it again Or I would definitely fight David Haye," Dawson said.

 

[heyzel]

Moreno Wants To Be Part of Showtime's Tournament

By Jhonny Gonzalez

Fresh from his twelve round decision win over rival Nehomar Cermeno, WBA bantamweight champion Anselmo Moreno (30-1-1, 10 KO) is aiming to be a part of Showtime's planned bantamweight tournament. The Showtime network is putting together a Super Six style tournament with some of the top bantamweights being involved.

IBF champion Yonnhy Perez, IBO champion Vic Darchinyan, Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko are expected to participate in the tournament. Fernando Montiel, Nonito Donaire and Hasegawa turned down their invitations to be part of the tournament.

Moreno will take two to three weeks off to heal a cut that he suffered on his right eyebrow from a clash of heads with Cermeno. Once the cut is healed up, he will return to the gym and wants his management to get in touch with Showtime.

 

[heyzel]

Klitschko-Peter: Will HBO regret not showing this fight?

Dave Lahr: Last weekend we saw a fight on HBO that was as boring as anything you can imagine with WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal beating Chad Dawson by an 11 round technical decision. The fight was a dull match up even going into the fight. When I compare that fight with the IBF/WBO heavyweight match-up between champion Wladimir Klitschko (54-3, 48 KO’s) and former WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter (34-3, 27 KO’s), it seems like it would be only obvious that the Klitschko-Peter fight would be much more interesting for the average fan than watching Dawson hunt and peck against Pascal.


And yet, HBO decided to show the Pascal-Dawson fight and not show the Klitschko vs. Peter fight. What is up with that? Their last fight five years ago in 2005 was one of the most exciting bouts of the entire year, and now five years later, the rematch is likely to be just as exciting. Klitschko, 34, will be fighting Peter on September 11th at the Commerzbank-Arena, Frankfurt, Hessen, Germany. Peter has dedicated himself to training and has really slimmed down since losing back to back fights to Vitali Klitschko and Eddie Chambers.

Peter is now quick and very lethal, better than he was in the past. There’s a lot of boxing fans who aren’t giving Peter any chance of beating Wladimir, perhaps because they remember Peter’s losses to Chambers and Vitali Klitschko. But Peter is much lighter now and facing an opponent with a weak chin in Wladimir. We saw Peter knock Wladimir down three times in their previous fight in 2005, and that was done with Wladimir hanging all over Peter like a Christman ornament in his attempt to try and prevent Peter from hitting him.

The clinching from Wladimir slowed Peter down, there’s no question about that. But Peter was still able to knock Wladimir down three times and had him within a eyelash of being knocked out in the 11th. Wladimir came back in the 12th, fighting for his life and was able to stagger Peter with a hard left hook to the head. It was a great shot but Wladimir looked too afraid to follow up with any additional shots after that.

I think HBO blew it big time by not taking this fight, because this is going to be much better than Pascal-Dawson and even better than Devon Alexander vs. Andriy Kotelnik. I think we’re finally going to see Wladimir get knocked out and it’s going to be good to have a new champion.

 

[bigface]

Wladimir is going to win a boring ass decison like always. Peter has to be in shape to do anything in this fight. I'm rooting for Peter but i think he's going lose. But please Peter KO that jab, jab, hold bum Wladimir please!!

 

[2-0-Sixx]

I'm simply not interested in any Klitschko fight not involving David Haye or Odlanier Solis.

 

[naner12]

Wladimir is going to win a boring ass decison like always. Peter has to be in shape to do anything in this fight. I'm rooting for Peter but i think he's going lose. But please Peter KO that jab, jab, hold bum Wladimir please!!

Peter couldn't KO Klitschko when he looked visibly terrified of taking a punch, was knocked down 3 times and almost got KO'd himself at the end. This is a different Klitschko that he's fighting and I don't see Peter making it to the end. If I recall correctly Wlad hasn't had a fight go to the cards in quite some time.

 

[heyzel]

Cloud: No Surprise With Dawson, I Want Pascal in Canada

By Rick Reeno

IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (21-0, 18KOs) was not surprised when Jean Pascal retained his WBC title with an upset win over Chad Dawson last Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Last year Cloud was in line for a mandatory shot at Dawson. The fight never took place after Dawson vacated the IBF title to take a rematch with Glen Johnson. Cloud decisioned Clinton Woods last August to win the vacant belt.

"I don't like to kick a man when he's down, but I always said that if me and Chad Dawson were to fight, I would come out victories. All you have to do is look at his resume, [Adrian] Diaconu with the WBC belt that he had. He didn't fight Diaconu, he vacated and went to fight Tarver. With the IBF he vacated and went to fight someone else. He vacated world title belts to go fight lesser fights. It's finally catching up with him," Cloud told BoxingScene.com.

Cloud tells BoxingScene that he's no stranger to Dawson. The two sparred in the amateurs. Even back then, Cloud was a light heavyweight. Dawson was fighting at super middleweight at the time. After a few rounds of sparring, Cloud roughed Dawson up.

"Me and Chad. He won't admit it. We were on the under-19 team together. We fought in Budapest, Hungary in the training camp that we trained in. We had a sparring match for a couple of rounds and Chad Dawson ended up with a black eye and couldn't spar for the rest of the camp. During that trip in the world games, I saw him get knocked out with amateur gloves on. I know these things about Chad Dawson. He probably won't admit it for a good reason...he don't want to be exposed. Like I always said, time will tell," Cloud said.

Two weeks ago Cloud won a twelve round decision over Glen Johnson. Last Saturday Pascal beat Dawson. Cloud thinks it's time for the two best light heavyweights to fight it out. No issue with the venue, Cloud is ready to travel out to Montreal for the fight. He was recently offered a fight with Diaconu, but doesn't see the point in beating a fighter that Pascal already beat, twice. He wants the unification with Pascal.

"When young guys get together, we can expect things like this...upsets and things we've never seen before. If Pascal wants to do another unification, I'm ready to fight him. We can do it in Montreal. We can do it in the United States. It don't matter. They says he's number one. I'm number two. Let's get it on. I'm ready to fight Pascal in Montreal. He has a similar style to mine. We have a similar body build. I think I'm more of an inside fighter than he is. I think it would make for a great fight," Cloud said.

Last Friday on ESPN's Fright Night Fights, Bernard Hopkins told the viewers that he saw Johnson as the winner in the fight with Cloud. If Hopkins wants a shot at the title, Cloud is ready to give him the opportunity.

"Bernard Hopkins is just pulling for the over-40 crowd. Let him keep talking. If Bernard Hopkins wants to fight, and the money is right....if he don't want all the money - let's fight. Let's see if he can get the decision," Cloud said.

Cloud's trainer, Al Bonani, watched Pascal's win over Dawson. He wasn't impressed with either fighter. If a fight is made with either Dawson or Pascal, Bonani says Cloud will put on an overwhelming performance. He hopes HBO will back a unification between Pascal and Cloud by expressing their willingness to pick up the fight.

"Well, I thought neither one of them could shine Cloud's shoes. Could is a better fighter. And not because he's mine. I think he's a throwback fighter. He punches and takes the fight to guys. I think the fight was not really a fight. You had one guy running around and jumping in, and another guy not wanting to get hit. I didn't like the fight. What we like to do is what I call controlled violence. We like to take control of the fight and then punch as violently as possible to knock the other guy out," Bonani told BoxingScene.com.

 

[heyzel]

Roach: Khan Beats Maidana, Bradley, Alexander in 1 Night

By Lem Satterfield

Trainer Freddie Roach is feeling very confident after watching the recent performances of unbeaten 140-pound champions Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander. He believes his horse, WBA junior welterweight king Amir Khan, is capable of beating Bradley, Alexander and Marcos Maidana in the same night. Roach would love to see Khan get in the ring with any of the three.

"Any one of those guys out there -- Maidana, Bradley, Alexander. I feel like Amir Khan could beat them all in one night," said Roach. "It doesn't really matter. They're not the best guys out there. Amir Khan is."

Khan returns on December 11 in either the United States or England. The likely opponent is WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez. However, a fight with Marquez could be in doubt after the WBO recently ordered the Mexican champion to defend his title against mandatory Michael Katsidis. Marquez is said to be seriously considering the option of fighting Katsidis in the fall.

 

[heyzel]

Pascal: 'I Won't Chase Lucian Bute, I'm The Boss in Town'

By Mark Vester

Last Saturday, WBC/IBO light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal crushed Chad Dawson's future plan for a clash with IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute. Pascal upset Dawson with an eleven round techincal decision after a clash of heads opened up a bad cut above Dawson's right eye and the fight was sent to the cards.

The biggest boxing event in the history of Canada is now a possibility. Pascal told BoxingScene.com's Bill Emes that he won't chase Bute for an all-Montreal showdown. If Bute wants the fight, Pascal wants him to issue a challenge.

"I don't need to chase Lucian Bute. I'm one of the best in the world. I'm the boss in town. If he wants to show the world that he belongs to be the best in Montreal, to be the best in the world, then he has to challenge me. I don't need to chase nobody," Pascal told BoxingScene.com.

Dawson has a rematch clause. He will likely exercise that clause. Pascal doesn't know what to expect in the rematch because Dawson will take him a lot more seriously the second time around.

"Dawson knows now about Jean Pascal. I got speed. I got power. I'm a clever fighter. The most important thing, I got the best fans in the world. It will be really tough to win a fight in Montreal because I got the best fans and I'm one of the best in the world," Pascal said.