Boxing News Thread

[heyzel]

Chad Dawson vs. Tavoris Cloud in early 2011

By Matt Stein: Former two-time light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (29-1, 17 KO’s) could be facing International Boxing Federation (IBF) light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (21-0, 18 KO’s) in early 2011, according to boxing news from Steve Kim. Kim says that Dawson and Cloud’s people are in discussion for this fight. This is a gutsy fight for both fighters, especially Dawson, who is coming off of a 11th round technical decision loss to WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal on August 14th. It was a fight that Dawson could have won had he been more aggressive and throwing more punches. But he looked timid, and rarely fought with any kind of sustained action until the 11th round.


Even then, Dawson let off with his shots to admire his work after starting the round with a nice flurry of punches. It was as if Dawson lacked awareness about what he needed to do in the fight and wasn’t just reacting naturally the way a fighter does when they’re fighting with confidence. It was as if Dawson was thinking too much in the ring, and his indecisiveness cost him the fight. Dawson probably needs a new trainer, one that can up his work rate and make him more aggressive on offense.

Cloud, 28, defeated 41-year-old Glen Johnson by a 12 round decision in August. Cloud showed a good work rate in that fight, but his defense is horrible. He needs to get a lot better in trying to pick off shots because he was hit far too much in that fight. He made what should have been an easy fight for him into one that was close at the end.

If Cloud fights the same way against Dawson, he’ll likely lose because he doesn’t have the hand speed to do the things that Pascal was able to do with Dawson. If Dawson doesn’t fear Cloud’s speed, he’s going to take a lot more chances and will control the fight from the outside. However, Dawson really needs help in increasing his work rate if he wants to beat a fighter like Cloud. He’ll get out-worked by Cloud if he fights the way he did against Pascal.

 

[heyzel]

Donaire vs. Montiel – News

By Jim Dower: A bout between WBC/WBO bantamweight champion Fernando Montiel (43-2-2, 33 KO’s) and Nonito Donaire will be taking place in early 2011, according to Michael Marley at Examiner.com. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum plans on matching Donaire and Montiel up, provided that they win their upcoming bouts. Doniare takes on Wladimir Sidorenko on December 4th at The Pond, Anaheim, California, and Montiel has a bout next month on October 30th against a still to be determined opponent.


Donaire, one of the most talented fighters in the sport, has been totally languishing away for the past three years since beating Vic Darchinyan. To say that Donaire has underutilized is an understatement. There’s so many fights that Donaire should have been in during that time and it’s disappointing that he’s still going to have to wait until early next year to finally get his first big fight since 2007.

Donaire recently stopped Hernan Marquez in the 8th round in July. Montiel, for his part, stopped World Boxing Council bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa in the 4th round in April, and then followed it up with a 3rd round stoppage of Rafael Concepcion in July.

This is the same Concepcion that Donaire struggled against a year in August, winning a 12 round decision but taking a ton of punishment from Concepcion along the way. Donaire will have to fight a lot better against Montiel if he wants to beat him, because he’s too powerful to keep in the fight for 12 rounds. Donaire needs to try and take him out before Montiel gets to him with his big power shots.

Share and Enjoy:

 

[heyzel]

Bute vs. Brinkley: Lucian needs to start facing better opposition

By Jason Kim: IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (26-0, 21 KO’s) will be making his 6th defense of his International Boxing Federation title on October 15th against American Jesse Brinkley (35-5, 22 KO’s) at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Canada. Bute, 30, is considered by many boxing fans to be the best fighter in the super middleweight division bar none. However, Bute, for all the accolades that are given him by fans and boxing writers, his competition has been decidedly weak for much of his career and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better as he ages.


In his five fights, Bute has faced William Joppy, Linrado Andrade (twice), Fulgencio Zuniga and Edison Miranda. That’s not good enough when you’ve got talented fighters like Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham, Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell and Allan Green in the super middleweight division. Those are the guys that Bute should be trying to fight, not 33-yea-old Brinkley, who has previously been beaten by Joe Spina, Robin Reid, Alfonso Gomez, and Sergio Mora. Bute needs to step it up with his career and stop wasting time fighting lesser fighters.

Ideally, Bute needs to fight WBC light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal or Chad Dawson. The Super Six tournament ends next year, which will enable Bute to fight the winner and/or Mikkel Kessler. Bute is lucky he didn’t get knocked out in his first fight with Andrade in October 2008. Bute was given an extended long count by the Canadian referee after getting knocked own by Andrade in the 12th. The extra time was enough for Bute to stagger back to his feet and spent the remaining seconds of the round leaning on the ropes instead of immediately walking towards the referee to show him that he could still walk without any problems.

 

[heyzel]

Chavez-Gomez, Soto-Antillon, Donaire-Sidorenko is official for 12/4 on PPV

By Jim Dower: Dan Rafael is reporting that the Top Rank pay per view card for December 4th, with Julio Cesar Chavez J. (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) vs. Alfonso Gomez (22-4-2, 11 KO’s) in the main event, is now official. The bout will be taking place at The Pond, in Anaheim, California. The following undercard matches will be shown: Humberto Soto vs. Urbano Antillon, Nonito Donaire vs. Wladimir Sidorenko, Brandon Rios vs. TBA, and Vanes Martirosyan vs. TBA. In a lot of ways, this card may actually be a better overall fight card compared to the November 13th fight card with Manny Pacquiao taking on Antonio Margarito, and Kelly Pavlik vs. Brian Vega on the undercard.


The December 4th card will likely go around $40 unless my guess, and it has a lot of potential depending on who they find for Rios and Martirosyan. There’s talk of Martirosyan being matched up against Pawel Wolak, and I’m not sure that I like that fight. I’d rather see Martirosyan matched up against a better fighter than Wolak, after seeing that Martirosyan was able to defeat Joe Greene without too many problems.

The Soto-Antillon fight is a decent bout, but I’d rather see Soto matched up against a better quality fighter like Roberto Guerrero, Miguel Vazquez, Ali Funeka, Miguel Acosta, Juan Diaz or Antonio DeMarco, to name just a small handful of fighters that I feel are better than Antillon.

It’s been ages since I’ve seen Soto matched up with a really good fighter, and I want to see him fight someone that actually has the talent to beat him. I don’t think Antillon has much of a chance in this fight. The Donaire-Sidorenko fight is okay, but I’d rather see Donaire finally get matched up with a quality opponent. He’s wasted the last three years of his career facing lesser fighters since beating Vic Darchinyan in 2007. It’s time Donaire steps up again against a quality fighter.

 

[heyzel]

Roach: “Amir’s the next boxing super star”

By William Mackay: Trainer Freddie Roach thinks that his fighter WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s) can be the next big star in boxing, but Roach end up having egg smeared all over his face if Khan is destroyed in his next fight against Marcos Maidana on December 11th, at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vevas, Nevada. Roach says “Amir’s the next boxing super star,” in an article at Philstar.com. “He listens very well, like Manny [Pacquiao, Roach's prized pupil]. He’s a good student. He’s got heart, speed, power and brains.” Roach may very well be right about most of those things, but what Khan may not have is a chin, and if he can’t take major shots, he won’t be boxing’s next super star.


I hate to break this to Roach, but Khan won’t make the grade if he keeps getting knocked out each time he faces a hard puncher. I know Roach can work wonders in matching up his fighters to keep them from facing dangerous threats, but sooner or later, Khan would have to face a big puncher and we’d be right back to where he was after he got knocked out by Breidis Prescott in 2008.

Khan has been able to be managed and maneuvered around a minefield of hard punchers for the past couple of years to win his last five fights, but once again Khan is facing the moment of truth and is looking at a big puncher again. This is so reminiscent of Enzo Maccarinelli, the way he was able to do really well against light punchers after having been stopped by a several hard hitters. Maccarinelli was able to succeed until he was finally put back in with a hard puncher in Alexander Frenkel and was destroyed in seven rounds.

We could be seeing the same exact thing happen with Khan. He’s done well being matched against five light hitters after his 1st round knockout loss to Prescott and now he’s back in with his first hard puncher in ages. It may not what Roach feels about Khan. If he can’t take a hard shot, then Roach is going to have to search far and wide for the next fighter for him to stamp with the “he’s the next boxing super star” label.”

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather-Khan: Schaefer is Dead Serious on This One

By Robert Morales

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Schaefer recently talked about the possibility of a fight between super lightweight champion Amir Khan, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. He said that is a fight he really wants to make. It would only remain a plausible matchup if Khan gets by hard-hitting Marcos Maidana in December.

"At the end of the day it's going to be up to Mayweather and what he wants to do," Schaefer said to BoxingScene.com. "It's in that same sense of putting big fights together. If you have Amir Khan who is going to clean up the 140-pound division and be the last man standing there, with his speed and power I can imagine that is a fight fans want to see.

"And if the TV networks are going to support it, then of course that is going to be a fight I want to put together. Any big fight which can be made, I'm going to try and get made. That is the only way you can keep the momentum going in boxing and I do think we have the momentum. What you are going to see in November and December is the best fight lineup we have seen in 20 years."

Schaefer rattled off the matchups between Margarito and Pacquiao, Paul Williams and Sergio Martinez, Juan Manuel Marquez and Michael Katsidis, Khan and Maidana, Bernard Hopkins and Jean Pascal, Vic Darchinyan and Abner Mares, Yonnhy Perez and Joseph Agbeko, Andre Dirrell and Andre Ward and Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch - all of which are slated for November and December.

That's not to mention Juan Manuel Lopez-Rafael Marquez, scheduled for Nov. 6. And to a lesser degree Zab-Judah-Lucas Matthysse that same night.

Of course, if Mayweather gets locked up because of his legal issues, considering him for a fight against Khan would be a moot point.

 

[heyzel]

David Haye Says Harrison is a "Paranoid Schizophrenic"

Sky Sports have officially confirmed that the WBA world heavyweight title showdown between David Haye and Audley Harrison on Saturday, November 13, will be the world's first ever boxing match televised live in 3D.

Fight fans purchasing the clash on Sky Box Office are set to witness a 'three-dimensional beating', claims champion Haye.

“This is great news for British boxing fans, but terrible news for Audley Harrison,” said Haye, 24-1 (22 KO) in his professional career.

“Audley was going to have a hard enough time keeping up with me as it is, but now he's got no chance in 3D. He's going to feel like he's just walked in mid-way through Inception. He'll think he's being surrounded.

“For a man as mentally delicate as Audley, the added pressure of 3D could tip him over the edge. The last thing a paranoid schizophrenic wants is things jumping out at him.”

Belt-holder Haye has been vocal in his belief that Harrison will be swiftly dispatched when the pair meet at Manchester's M.E.N. Arena, but now, with the addition of a third dimension, is even more excited about a potential knockout.

“This fight is going to be a three-dimensional beating of a one-dimensional challenger,” warned Haye. “In addition to the 3D glasses, fight fans ordering this bout should be given a sick bag and an inhaler. They won't just be watching a beat-down on screen, they'll now be able to feel every punch, thanks to the beauty of 3D.

“I can assure everybody that watches the fight in 3D that, at some point during the fight, Audley Harrison will land on your lap in a crumpled heap.

“I have no doubt Audley will be seeing three of me once I land my right hand on his jaw - and that's got nothing to do with the glasses.”

 

[heyzel]

Mayweather-Pacquiao; Drug Testing No Longer an Issue

Michael Marley

Amidst all the Sturm und Drang of the on then off, on then off Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super fight negotiations, the most contentious issue on the table, under the table and behind the table has been a consistent one.

The Mayweather side has always maintained that it thinks Pacman is a drug cheater and thus it's one persistent, nonflexible demand was always for totally random drug testing.

If you recall, Pacquiao would only OK a prefight drug test up to 14 days before the fight with the mandatory postbout blood being drawn in their respective lockerrooms immediately thereafter.

The negotiations crashed twice when the hopes of fight fans worldwide were running high and the two sides started spitting at each other again. Even a self-imposed gag order did not get them to the contract stage in the second go-round.

When Pacquiao was in New York a few weeks ago to hype his Nov. 13 bout against Antonio Margarito, he quietly but firmly told me he had aceded to the random testing demand. No ifs, buts and no candy or nuts if you know what I mean.

Pacman made the statement with agent Michael Koncz standing behind him. Koncz did not seek to correct or modify Congressmanny's plain assertion.

On Tuesday, as Oscar de la Hoya visited Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn to plug Golden Boy's new relationship with Barclays Center in that boxing conscious borough, I nearly had a cardiac event when I mentioned what Manny said to GBP CEO Richard Schaefer.

Two or three other scribes were within earshot. I don't know if they were as astounded as I was by Richie Rich's quick response.

I expected a "no comment" or other form of demurral.

I mean, it's not like we were in a deposition or RRS was under oath on cross examination.

But no such disclaimer or correction was forthcoming.

Instead, Schaefer co-signed Pacquiao's statement regarding accepting the at any given time blood testing for drug use.

"If Pacquiao said that, then I'm sure he wouldn't lie about it," Schaefer said without blinking.

It's not Schaefer was intoxicated with truth serum or anything.

But I did not have him across the table, under oath in a deposition or on the witness stand undergoing cross examination.

I inquired about Mayweather and Schaefer took a pass.

"I'm not talking about Mayweather right now," Schaefer snapped.

If boxing fans have any strand of hope for Floyd-Manny to happen in 2011, I say this is it.

Random drug testing is a non-issue now and both sides have said so.

If they can't reset and, Antonio Margarito permitting, then make Floyd-Manny for next May, then I'll be compelled to write a book about their idiocy.

I wonder if can borrow John Kennedy O'Toole's title for his great New Orleans novel.

That's right. "Confederacy of Dunces

 

[2-0-Sixx]

Watch out 154 pounds!




James Kirkland Released From Prison, Returns 11/6

By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com has confirmed that earlier this morning, undefeated junior middleweight James Kirkland (25-0, 22KOs) was released from Bastrop Federal Prison in Bastrop, Texas, and is now driving to a halfway in Austin. Kirkland is going to spend several months at the halfway house to finish up the remainder of his sentence. Kirkland has been imprisoned since April 2009 after pleading guilty to a charge of gun possession by a convicted felon.

BoxingScene was told that Kirkland will begin training immediately for planned ring return on November 6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The event will be an HBO televised doubleheader with Zab Judah (38-6, 26 KOs) facing Lucas Matthysse in the main event. Kirkland's return will not be televised but HBO is expected to show clips of his non-televised fight.

 

[Rumpelstiltskin]

More meaningful fights have come out of this tournament than would have normally @ 168. Take away the Green/Johnson fight and both the other match ups as meaningful as you can ask for minus anything with Bute.

I don't care about the tournament or it's format but it can't be denied that it brought plenty of meaningful fights in a division that was seriously needing clarification after Calzaghe's departure.

Yes, the meaningful fights have already happened.
We got enough meaning already. No need to continue a faulty tournament.

Here is what we learned.
JT is not what he once was.

Abraham got beat by speed and got DQ'd to get out.

Froch lost all 3 fights, but was given a gift in his home town and KO'd JT at the last second.

Green is a loud mouth who can't back it up when fighting top level comp.

Ward won't leave home and no matter how much Bay area fans on here back him I still won't.

Dirrell is the real deal.

What else do we need to know? The match ups from here on out could be made without the brackets. Plus we can throw other fighters in the mix who weren't initially invited.

 

[naner12]

Yes, the meaningful fights have already happened.
We got enough meaning already. No need to continue a faulty tournament.

Here is what we learned.
JT is not what he once was.

Abraham got beat by speed and got DQ'd to get out.

Froch lost all 3 fights, but was given a gift in his home town and KO'd JT at the last second.

Green is a loud mouth who can't back it up when fighting top level comp.

Ward won't leave home and no matter how much Bay area fans on here back him I still won't.

Dirrell is the real deal.

What else do we need to know? The match ups from here on out could be made without the brackets. Plus we can throw other fighters in the mix who weren't initially invited.

The tournament is ensuring the matchups to happen rather than disband the tournament and "hope" they happen. I'll take assurance over resting my hopes on promoters. And Froch already fought 3 fights? That's interesting.

Here's what's left to find out..

We can see how for real Dirrell actually is and if Ward truly is the cream of the crop in the division.

We can see how hard Abraham can crack Froch or if he should go back to 160 where his power matters more.

Knocking something that is guaranteeing steady fights between top 10 talent in a division is silly anyway you try to slice it.

 

[heyzel]

Guinn wants a shot at Wladimir Klitschko

By Jim Dower: You can add 35-year-old journeyman heavyweight Dominick Guinn (33-6-1, 22 KO’s) to the list of fighters that want to get a crack at IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (55-3, 49 KO’s) in his next fight on December 11th. It seems like they’re coming out of the woodwork now that Klitschko is actively searching for an opponent to fight. Normally, Klitschko has someone in mind immediately from fight to fight and doesn’t have a long time to decide upon his next opponent.


Guinn, a one time heavyweight contender, has made a remarkable comeback since suffering defeats to Monte Barrett, Sergei Liakhovich, James Toney, Tony Thompson, Eddie Champions and Roberto Hawkins between 2004 and 2007. Guinn has won his last five fights against B level fighters Jean Francois Bergeron, Gabe Brown, Johnnie White, Charles Davis and Terrell Nelson in the past three year. Guinn now feels he’s ready for a title shot, even though he still isn’t ranked in the top 15 in the division.

In an interview at Boxingtalk.com, Guinn says “I want to fight you Wladimir Klitschko. Are you scared to fight me?” I doubt Wladimir is afraid to fight Guinn. He’s probably more concerned with making sure that his next opponent is one that the boxing public are interested in seeing him fight, and someone that will attract a crowd in Germany where he fights most of his bouts.

Guinn has been fighting mostly obscure 2nd tier fighters since his loss to Chambers in 2007, and that probably doesn’t help him much. Guinn has some nice wins in his 10 year pro career, beating Michael Grant, Derrick Banks, Duncan Dokiwari, Phil Jackson, Audley Harrison, Zack Page, Zuri Lawrence and Bergeron. But unfortunately for Guinn, those wins have come in the past and he hasn’t been beating any named fighters recently.

He needs to start trying to take on some contenders and if he’s successful in beating them, he’ll likely get a shot at a title in the future. His advanced age isn’t a problem, because WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko is facing 38-year-old Shannon Briggs on October 16th. The problem for Guinn is that he needs to start facing better fighters and soon before he starts losing his skills through the natural aging process.

 

[heyzel]

Arum: Mayweather Must Beat Legal Issues To Get Pacquiao

By Michael Marley

It may be symptomatic of boxing's many ills that the Biggest Fight That Can Be Made remains in limbo.

Nothing is happening, there is no move for a third round of Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super bout negotiations.

In the runup to Pacman's Nov. 13 Cowboy Stadium bout against Antonio Margarito and the troubled Mayweather's Las Vegas criminal court arraigment on felony and lower level charges related to the alleged assault on his girlfriend, the sounds you hear are the sounds of silence.

It may be the one and only subject that Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, can agree on as their respective companies keep conducting nuclear blasts at each other in the fight for promotional supremacy in the cuththroat world of pro boxing.

Schaefer told me on Tuesday at Gleason's Gym that "now is not the time to talk about Floyd Mayweather Jr."

Arum was quick to agree to that on Wedneday.

"There's nothing, nada, zippo," Arum said. "What can there be to discuss? Let Mayweather clean up his own house so to speak. Manny's got his hands full with Margarito and Floyd has his whole legal situation.

"It's Mayweather who is sitting in limbo. Mayweather's first prioritry has to be clean up his legal situation and, unless and until he does that, Mayweather does not exist."

Arum became the third person to confirm to me that the random drug testing issue was overcome during the most recent talks although the Top Rank chief says Schaefer's knowledge could be characterized as hearsay.

Both Pacquiao and Schaefer have told me to my face that the drug testing hurdle was removed when the Pinoy Idol agreed to fully random testing procedures and dropped his 14 day cutoff stipulation.

"That's true, the issue has been solved but you've got to understand that, on their side, only Haymon knows that directly because they kept Schaefer out of it.

"But, past the drug testing, the issue was if Floyd would fight again this year, that was the biggest issue. Now we know he won't do that."

Sounds to me like Round Three won't commence until January but I'm only an impartial observer

 

[heyzel]

• Abraham: Floyd Mayweather Would Beat Manny Pacquiao

By Ruslan Chikov

Former champion Arthur Abraham was asked for his opinion on the most anticipated battle in boxing, Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao. Abraham discussed his feelings on the fight and which of the two boxers will come out with his hand raised in the contest. He is a big fan of both boxers.

"Mayweather would win. He is simply abnormal, in a good sense of the word. The boxer is very fast and sees everything perfectly in the ring. I think he will win and I want the fight to happen. I'm a big fan of Mayweather, but I love Pacquiao too. But, the American is a class above [Pacquiao]," Abraham told Alexander Pavlov.

Pacquiao is fighting on November 13 against Antonio Margarito for the vacant WBC title at 154-pounds. Mayweather has yet to announce his next fight or opponent

 

[heyzel]

Margarito: After Pacquiao, Mayweather Has To Fight Me!

By Lem Satterfield

Ex-champion Antonio Margarito has not forgotten about Floyd Mayweather Jr. For the better part of 2006 to 2007, Margarito chased Mayweather but wasn't able to secure the fight. Margarito's promoter Top Rank made several offers, which Mayweather either ignored or turned down. On November 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Texas, Margarito will face Manny Pacquiao for the vacant WBC 154-pounds title. If Margarito comes away with a win, he would like to fight Mayweather next.

If Mayweather doesn't want the fight, Margarito will target the other champions in his division.

"Well, after Manny Pacquiao, you know, of course I would like to fight Floyd Mayweather. That's the first name that is on my mind and the first name that I think of. But after that, any champions. Any fighter, any champion I would like to fight after that. You know, any big names. No names in particular, but any body out there," Margarito said.

Margarito has no idea why Mayweather turned him down, but he's confident that a win over Pacquiao will force Mayweather into a fight.

"I don't know the reasons why Floyd Mayweather didn't take the fight with me. The fight was offered, and he didn't take it, and, instead, he fought Oscar De La Hoya. I'm sure that he had his reasons for doing that ,but I know that he's not scared or else he wouldn't be in this sport. So I'm not saying that he's scared. He must have had other reasons," Margarito said.

"I think that Floyd is going to have to fight me with me, of course, being victorious over Manny Pacquiao. Floyd has always talked about fighting Manny Pacquiao, but that won't happen after I beat Manny Pacquiao. And after I fight Manny Pacquiao and beat him, Floyd Mayweather will have to fight me.

 

[heyzel]

Frank Warren: Amir Khan Fighting Mayweather is Crazy

By Mark Vester

Promoter Frank Warren thinks Golden Boy Promotions is crazy to match Amir Khan with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Warren had promoted Khan for his entire carreer before the Bolton star left him for Golden Boy earlier this year. He doesn't think Khan is physically ready to jump in with one of the best fighters in the world.

Khan himself is confident, stating during a recent interview that he would "end Mayweather's unbtean" run. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer would like to match Khan against Mayweather by the end of next year. Khan must first win on December 11 when he defends his WBA junior welterweight title against Marcos Maidana.

"Talk of Amir Khan fighting Floyd Mayweather is crazy. Khan is making a name at light-welterweight but it is a good division and he has not proved he is number one yet. To fight Mayweather he might have to go to light middleweight, which would put him at a severe disadvantage. Khan's had only five fights since he lost to Breidis Prescott at lightweight and needs more before giving weight away to Floyd," Warren said.

 

[heyzel]

Glen Johnson will likely be weight drained and won’t be effective against Allan Green

By Dan Ambrose: The choice of picking 41-year-old light heavyweight Glen Johnson (50-14-2, 34 KO’s) to square off with Allan Green (29-2, 20 KO’s) in the 3rd stage of the Super Six tournament is going to be a bad one, as far as I can tell. Picking a fighter as old and as big as Johnson to replace WBC super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler strikes me as both short sighted and desperate. Clearly, Showtime chose Johnson because he was better known than some of the other options that they could have selected due to Johnson’s fights against Chad Dawson.


However, Johnson hasn’t fought at 168 for 10 long years, and he’s now having problems just making the 175 pound limit. He made the weight in his last fight against International Boxing Federation light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud in August, but Johnson immediately went up to 190 after the weigh-in and looked terrible throughout the fight with his lack of power.

Rather than fighting at super middleweight, which I see as impossible for Johnson, he needs to move up in weight to cruiserweight and finish out his career up there. He can no longer win a title at light heavyweight and I don’t see him doing anything in the Super Six tournament. Johnson needs a knockout of Green to have a chance at making it to the semifinals, but there’s no way a weight drained Johnson will knock out Green.

That’s not going to happen. Green has a good chin and those slapping shots that Johnson was landing in the Cloud fight won’t bother Green one bit. It may annoy him, but it won’t stop him. Most likely, Johnson may win a decision if he can outwork Green, but it will be sloppy, ugly, boring and not the outcome that he needs. Showtime might not care, since all they did in choosing Johnson was find someone that really has very little chance of making it into the semifinals.

I suppose it could have been anyone that took Kessler’s place, but with Johnson, Showtime has picked and old war horse who has name value for some casual boxing fans. Still, it seems like a bad pick because Johnson will likely balloon up to 190 after melting down to 168, and will be weak and look horrible.

Green also will probably be weight drained and we could have to weak weight drained fighters pawing at each other and throwing slapping punches all night long.

 

[heyzel]

By Dan Ambrose: The choice of picking 41-year-old light heavyweight Glen Johnson (50-

By Dan Ambrose: The December 18th fight between 45-year-old Bernard Hopkins ((51-5-1, 32 KO’s) and World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal (26-1, 16 KO’s) still doesn’t have an undercard to go along with this fight. You have to wonder who they’re going to lump with this fight. Likely, it will be a few Canadian prospects, but hopefully someone decent like middleweight David Lemieux or someone of that caliber.


As or the Hopkins-Pascal fight, this seems like it could turn out to be a dull affair if Hopkins fights the way he did in his last two fights against Enrique Ornelas and Roy Jones Jr. In both of those fights, Hopkins looked sluggish and seemed to need frequent rest breaks before he would be able to start punching again.

It’s hard to imagine Hopkins being able to beat a speedy fighter like Pascal, even though the Canadian based fighter is badly flawed and very beatable. It’s just that Hopkins appears to have deteriorate to the point where he doesn’t have what it takes to beat a fighter like Pascal.

With his punch and grab technique and his flopping around after getting hit with low blows or head butts, I don’t think Hopkins is going to be effective using those techniques to spoil his way to a victory. For Hopkins to win, he has to slow the fight down to a crawl and hope that he can keep Pascal pinned to the ropes fighting on the inside for the entire fight. I can’t see Pascal being that stupid and lazy to let himself be pinned and mauled.

Unless a fighter voluntarily decides to fight like that, I think Hopkins is going to find himself having to actually fight Pascal if he wants to beat him. When Hopkins goes to land a shot and then immediately follow it with a customary grab, I see Hopkins getting tagged hard on the way in and being foiled. He may still be able to grab Pascal, but he’ll have already been hit hard on the way in.

Also, Pascal won’t just let Hopkins maul him. He’ll break free and probably give Hopkins a lot of problems with his hand speed and power. I think Pascal is going to make Hopkins look old. This won’t be Hopkins beating Kelly Pavlik and proving people wrong. Pascal isn’t Pavlik, and this is an older Hopkins. He’s not the same fighter he was back in 2008. That Hopkins is gone

 

[heyzel]

Marquez wants Chavez Jr. to step it up a level in competition

By Dan Ambrose: WBA/WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez thinks it’s high time that unbeaten middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) start facing better opposition, saying in an article by Ricardo Lois at Examiner.com, “He [Chavez Jr.] has the ability to be a world champion, but, it is time they put him in with a name fighter and a fighter who will show us what he is made of.”

It’s difficult to imagine the great Marquez being brought along as slowly as Chavez has been in since he turned pro in 2003. Marquez


It looks like Chavez’s promoters aren’t willing to take that risk of matching Chavez Jr. just yet, as he’s being put in with a welterweight Alfonso Gomez in his next fight on December 4th at The Pond, in Anaheim, California. Gomez is a bad fighter, but he is at least two divisions below Chavez in weight and isn’t a huge puncher. It seems as if Top Rank doesn’t want to match Chavez tough for some reason at this point in his career.

He’s probably not improving a lot by being matched against B level fighters time and time again, but at this point it would probably be fatal for Chavez if they suddenly matched him against a good middleweight contender. Chavez could possibly be put in with WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto next year. That will probably be a nice blowout loss for Chavez Jr. unless I miss my guess. He’s now being trained by Freddie Roach, who seems to think very highly of him.

Of course, Roach generally thinks very highly of all his fighters and it’s hard to get an accurate gauge of how good Chavez Jr. is. In looking at his recent win over fringe middleweight contender John Duddy, Chavez looked like a good bottom 15 ranked fighter. However, the WBC has Chavez Jr. ranked number #1 over guys like Paul Williams, Matthew Macklin and David Lemieux. You have to wonder about what the WBC was thinking when they decided to rank Chavez at that position without him having any substantial wins in his seven year pro career, other than the victory over Duddy.

At 24, it’s hard to figure out what Top Rank is waiting for before they finally match Chavez Jr. against a good fighter. Putting him in with a smaller fighter like welterweight Gomez will only put off what will likely be a serious beating once Chavez finally is put in with a good middleweight.

If they want him to fight at junior middleweight, which I doubt he will be able to do much longer because of his struggles to stay under 160, they’re going to have to continue to match him carefully to keep him from getting exposed. The junior middleweight division has too many quality fighters like Alfredo Angulo, James Kirkland, Erislandy Lara, Paul Williams and Sergeii Dzinziruk.

 

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Malignaggi: Weight Hurt Me With Khan, I'm Ready For 147

By Lem Satterfield

Former junior welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi is far from finished in the sport of boxing. After suffering a bad knockout loss in May to WBA champion Amir Khan, and later breaking ties with longtime promoter Lou DiBella, Malignaggi's career appeared to be in limbo. Last week Malignaggi officially signed with Golden Boy Promotions and is now looking forward to a fresh start in the welterweight division.

"I'm going to be moving up to the welterweight division, and I'm going to take it slow," said Malignaggi. "I mean, not too slow, but I want to get comfortable at the new weight. It's a weight where I feel that I'll be much more comfortable, because making 140 pounds for so many years, you know, it just got to be too much to deal with."

Prior to facing Khan, Malignaggi knew that a leap in weight was necessary. There were stuggles over the last two years, but he barely made his body make the weight for the fight with Khan.

"Definitely for the Amir Khan fight. I mean, making weight for the Diaz fight was no picnic either. But the Amir Khan fight, I don't know. I think that I just got to the point where my body was just growing and fill out more," said Malignaggi.

"It was getting harder and harder every training camp, even though I was fighting just about every three or four months. Every time, getting my weight down, it was harder, to the point where, for the Amir Khan fight, it was like, 'I've got to make this weight or die trying.'"

About six weeks prior to facing Khan, Malignaggi knew he was in trouble when his strength trainer measured his body fat percentage at six percent while he still weighed 160 pounds.

"I knew that I was in trouble, and that it was going to be a big problem. In the past year, my walking around weight has gone up to about 170, 171 pounds. But those last few days, I think I was literally on my reserves for liquids and I didn't know if I was going to die of dehydration," said Malignaggi.

"Taking nothing away from Amir Khan, I mean, I don't want to say that the weight was the difference. That was a difficult fight, and I'm not trying to put that out there as an excuse. But I don't ever want to struggle like that or go through that again."

Malignaggi hopes to return at the end of year or early 2011. It depends if a spot opens up on a current Golden Boy show. He wants to stay very busy and plans to take the first available spot.

"We want to get into a pretty good fight by the end of the year, but I understand that a lot of the Golden Boy shows are all booked up. I have the option of either waiting until next year or in the meantime and try to jump into a big fight, or taking a tune up and trying to stay busy. And I'm leaning toward that, even if the pay isn't that great," said Malignaggi.

"I feel like this is a fresh start and that this is a new opportunity. So whether it's a big fight or a smaller fight, I want to get back into the ring. Because in a wierd way, I feel like boxing keeps me sane and keeps me from going crazy