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Jul 24, 2005
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Malignaggi not fighting Devon Alexander next

By Dan Ambrose: For boxing fans that care, former IBF light welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (29-4, 6 KO’s) says he won’t be fighting Devon Alexander next. Malignaggi dismissed the idea of fighting Alexander on his twitter page today, although he still didn’t say who he will be fighting next.

There has been a lot of back and forth bickering between Malignaggi and Alexander on twitter, leaving many boxing fans thinking they would be fighting in the near future. Malignaggi hasn’t fought since beating Jose Miguel Cotto by a lopsided 10 round decision on April 9th in an exciting fight.

That was only the 2nd fight for Malignaggi at welterweight, and he’s looking a lot better at this weight than he did at light welterweight. However, Malignaggi still hasn’t taken on a top tier opponent yet. He could crumble if he’s put in with someone that can punch and fight. Malignaggi has lost three out of his last seven bouts in the last few years. At 30, Malignaggi can afford to sit idle for too long for fear that he could start losing his skills.

Alexander is coming off another poor performance, this time against Lucas Matthysse. Alexander got the win, but few fans think he actually beat Matthysee. Alexander is moving up to the welterweight division and wants to chase the big fights against the likes of Amir Khan, Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao.

Malignaggi still looks good and would give a lot of the welterweight contenders problems as long as he doesn’t face anyone with power like Mike Jones, Andre Berto or Victor Ortiz.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Salido-Lopez II rematch won’t happen until 2012

By Dan Ambrose: The rematch between former WBO featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez (30-1, 27 KO’s) and the current World Boxing Organization champion Orlando Salido (36-11-2, 24 KO’s) will have to wait until the early part of 2012, because Salido injured his right hand in his dominating win over Japanese challenger Kenichi Yamaguchi on July 23.

Salido completely destroyed Lopez last April in an 8th round beat down that left Lopez swollen around his entire face with bloody lips and looking slightly disoriented. Salido might actually be helping Lopez by not taking the rematch now, because even with a bad right hand, I’d pick Salido by an easy 9th or 10th round knockout. It’s not just the power of Salido that makes him so much better than Lopez, it’s his boxing skills and his overall toughness.

Salido is just a much more polished fighter. He’s a complete fighter with few weaknesses, while Lopez is just a harder puncher with fast hands but a questionable chin and poor stamina. A rematch would be the same. Lopez would pour it on in the first four to five rounds, then run out of gas and take a terrifying beating until the referee likely steps in and halts the fight to save Lopez from taking any more punishment.

With the fighting being put off until early 2012, this will help Lopez because he can take a badly needed tune-up to shake the cobwebs off before facing his doom in a rematch against Salido next year. Lopez needs someone that will give him some rounds. However, they can’t make it someone too good like Rogers Mtagwa, because he had Lopez out on his feet in the 12th round in their fight in October 2009. Had there been another 20 seconds in that fight, Lopez would have likely been knocked out. Lopez needs someone with a good chin, but who doesn’t throw punches back at him so that Lopez can work on his stamina without the risk of getting pummeled again.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Roger Mayweather:, "FLOYD IS PUNISHING SPARRING PARNERS

by Chris Robinson

While at the Cosmopolitan Resort on Friday night in Las Vegas , Nevada for the Lamont Peterson-Victor Cayo scrap, I ran across renowned trainer Roger Mayweather. Often in a joyful mood despite his coarse demeanor, Roger could be seen taking pictures with fans and conducting a few random interviews with the media.

During a break in the action I asked Roger how training was coming along for his nephew Floyd Jr., who faces off with WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on September 17th at the MGM Grand.

“Floyd’s just being Floyd,” Roger would tell me. “Aint much changed. Aint much changed in the boxing or sparring. He’s just putting in work.”

Floyd has been a professional for nearly 15 years and has been in bigger fights than the Ortiz duel. Asked if the preparation for the dangerous southpaw has seen them do anything special, Roger played such thoughts down.

“Well we’re not really working on nothing. What Floyd has to do, nobody knows. Floyd knows what he’s got to do anyways. He can adapt; the whole object of boxing is to learn how to adapt,” Roger continued.

Floyd started camp on July 18th and still has several core weeks left until the fight goes down. I asked him if Floyd had begun sparring by this point.

“Yeah, he’s sparring. He’s sparring that one kid, what’s his name? Kassim Ouma,” he stated.

Ouma is a notable name, as he was a former title holder at 154 pounds and has claimed victories over Kofi Jantuah, Verno Phillips, and Sechew Powell while coming up short against Vanes Martirosyan, Cornelius Bundrage and Jermain Taylor, amongst others. The hard-headed Ugandan was last seen giving a spirited effort in his 10th round TKO loss to WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin in Panama this past June.

Outside of the 32-year old Ouma, a seasoned and proven veteran in his own right, Roger confirmed that Floyd had been working with four other partners. I asked him if Lil’ Floyd has been putting a beating on them and his response was simple.

“Oh yeah, he is,” Roger replied.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Pavlik threatens to pull out of fight

by Lem Satterfield
Aug 2nd, 2011
| More

Kelly Pavlik has threatened to pull out of Saturday's fight against Darryl Cunningham over the offer he received to face IBF super middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute in his next fight, RingTV.com has learned.

A source familiar with the negotiations said Pavlik (36-2, 32 knockouts) is upset because he has been offered far less by his promotional firm, Top Rank, than Mikkel Kessler was offered to face Bute. Kessler turned down the offer.

The Cunningham bout is part of a package deal that is to lead to a fall match up against Bute.

"Kelly had heard that Kessler was being offered something like $3.5 million, and that he turned that down. So Kelly wasn't really happy with the $1.1 million that Top Rank was offering him," the source said on Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

"So I would say that right now, I don't think that (Saturday's) fight's going to happen. Unless, of course, Top Rank comes back with something (better)."

Pavlik, the former middleweight champion, pulled out of a fight with Paul Williams last year because of a staph infection in his hand.

"This had nothing to do with an injury," the source said.

Showtime is scheduled to televise the Pavlik-Cunningham fight.

the fight is off
danrafaelespn Dan Rafael
Was told by @ToddDuboef that Kelly Pavlik pulled out of Saturday's Showtime fight vs. Cunningham. Card is off. No real reason given. #boxing
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Ward says 'I don't feel that I'm getting my just due or respect'

by Lem Satterfield
Jul 31st, 2011
| More

RingTV.com caught up with WBA super middleweight titlist Andre Ward for this Q&A to discuss his clash with WBC counterpart Carl Froch in the final of Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic on Oct. 29 in Atlantic City, N.J.

Ward (24-0, 13 knockouts) is coming off of a unanimous-decision beat down of former middleweight beltholder Arthur Abraham in May in the tournament semifinals. The 27-year-old from Oakland, Calif., won every round on one card and all but two on the other two.

The 34-year-old Froch (27-1, 1, 20 KOs) scored a majority decision over ex-world titlist Glen Johnson in his semifinal bout in June in Atlantic City, and looks to be Ward's most-difficult challenge to date.

Ward has fought only twice on the East Cast, when he stopped Glenn LaPlante in Tampa, Fla., in 2005 and KO'd Andy Kolle in Mashantucket, Conn., the following year.

RingTV.com: Are you ready to come East?

Andre Ward: Yeah, we're ready to do it, man. We're ready to come East. I am up for the challenge, and I'm fit for the challenge. I'm ready to do it. I've fought in Florida and Connecticut. Those are the only other times I've been East.

RingTV.com: Will the venue, being on the East Coast, be different for you?

AW: You know what? It's not really a big deal. There are certain differences where sometimes it's a little harder because you have to find gyms to work out in leading up to the fight, but we have some connections on the East Coast.

People, once again, made a big deal bout me getting to fight in my home down of Oakland, Calif., but I have ample stamps on my passport. I've traveled abroad. I haven't had the opportunity to fight in Atlantic City as a professional.
But I've fought in England, I've fought in London, I've fought in most places in Ireland, been to Greece. I've put in my time. Fighting abroad is fighting abroad, but you've still got to get it done.


RingTV.com: What are your feelings being in Atlantic City for the first time?

AW: Well, I haven't talked to many people, but I've talked to a lot of the greats who have fought in those arenas in Atlantic City, and it's going to be a great opportunity for me. It's an honor and a privlege. I want to be in top form to be able to perform at the level.

RingTV.com: Given the fact that Froch just fought in Atlantic City, do you see that as any sort of advantage for him?

AW: Well, I think that it is an advantage. And I'll give him that, because everybody wants to talk about the advantages that I've had fighting in Oakland, so there you go. Froch has fought in Atlantic City once. I've never been there. Now the ball is in his court. He has the advantage, so now, Andre Ward is at a disadvantage going into a fight.


RingTV.com: Is that your way of making yourself the underdog?

AW: Absolutely. [Laughs.] Absolutely. Every fighter needs something to motivate him. Obviously, the hardware is on the line, the legacy is on the line. There's a lot of things on the line. Those things should motivate us. But you can also use other intricate things that are shared or done.


RingTV.com: For example?

AW: For example, Aaron Pryor and Alexis Arguello. Aaron Pryor was already motivated, and Alexis Arguello was already motivated. But Aaron Pryor took one thing -- the announcer announcing Alexis Arguello as "Mr." Arguello, and just announcing him as "Aaron Pryor." For Aaron Pryor, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. And that's when he looked at Alexis Arguello and said, "I'm going to get you." That was all that it took. So that's what it takes.

RingTV.com: Are you concerned about the judging in Atlantic City given Paul Williams' recent controversial decision there over Erislandy Lara?

AW: Absolutely, we're concerned. Absolutely. But to Paul's credit, I didn't fully watched the fight. I taped the fight. It was late. I watched the early rounds. I fast-forwarded and skipped half of the fight just to see who won. I saw before they announced the decision, Harold Lederman's official card, and I said, 'Wow, Ok." Lara must have dones something in those last six rounds.

And then they read the scorecards, and everybody had an uproar about it. So I honestly haven't gone back and watched it and judged it that closely. I've just read the post-fight commentary. But with that being said, before the referees got suspended, I took mental notes of their names. Because, obviously, and with all due respect, I wanted to avoid getting those guys again in my fight. But being that the commission responded the way that they did, it's good. I don't think that there is going to be a problem for us moving forward.


RingTV.com: You have said that this is the fight that you and the fans wanted, the best against the best, the American against the Englishman. Can you address the match up from a patriotism standpoint, and in terms of excitement and style?

AW: I think that, obviously, because of the fact that it's the United Kingdom and the United States of America that they have had a running rivalry for a number of years. Obviously, I have the U.S.A. on my back for this one. Carl Froch, you know, he tries to spice things up with some of his one-liners that he likes to use. So like I've mentioned before, let's hope that he sells us a few more tickets with that.

As far as stylistically, Froch has been tagged as a warrior and as being fearless and they like to say that about him. People think that I'm more of a slick boxer and that I kind of try to stay off of the ropes. So I guess that they're looking at the notion of, "Can I outbox Froch and can I stay away from him. Can I stay away from him enough that I can avoid taking punishment, and can I avoid being bullied by him."

I guess that that's the line that most people are using in the way that they're viewing this fight. But, you know, me personally, I disagree with that. I'm just looking forward to being able to talk on October 29 for the last time in this tournament, because Ive been fortunate enough to do very well throughout this tournament. I think that this fight sells itself from the standpoint that we've been battling for a year and a half, two years, and everyone is excited about this as a whole.


RingTV.com: Can you discuss the perception of you as the lamb as opposed to your belief that people eventually will recognize the dog or the wolf in you -- your ability to be a tough, versatile fighter who can "fight" and go to the head and body with power?

AW: This is the thing. As a young man, I've learned this and I'm still learning this. That element of naysayers and the element where people are doubting the different things that you're capable of doing. You need that. That keeps you humble and it keeps you on your game. I can't be concerned about whether anybody's talking well about me or whether they have anything good to say.

When you look at guys like Bernard Hopkins, this is a guy who is only just now getting his just do. How many countless times has he been written off as too old, too slow or had people say that he just doesn't have it? Floyd Mayweather is 41-0. This guy has not been beaten, but yet, still doesn't get his just do. That element is always going to be there. So to answer your question, no.

I still don't feel as though I'm getting the just do or the respect that I need, but to a degree, that is the way that I like it. Because I continue to reach, even though I feel blessed to have accomplished some things in my career. But I'm still reaching because that's my source of motivation
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Sulaimán - The WBC didn't strip Bradley of his title; he's 'champion in recess

August 2, 2011 – Mexico City. From the office of World Boxing Council (WBC) President Dr. José Sulaimán:

As president of the WBC, I feel that I should make a brief press note in answer to several criticisms received from some writers in regards to the Timothy Bradley case.

Bradley is a great fighter and a pride of the WBC. We gave him first the opportunity before any other even noticed him, and he has won the WBC title twice. The WBC is a not-for-profit organization that has its rules, which should be abided by, if any boxer wants to become a WBC Champion.

There are traffic laws that are respected: if you don’t stop at a red light, you are violating the law and will be fined. If you don’t have a driving license you should not drive, or you will be fined. If you issue a check without funds, that is fraud.

Our rules for champions state that each champion should defend the title at least three times a year and when you reach six months of inactivity, the title might be withdrawn, The WBC wrote three times to Timothy, and neither he nor his representatives wrote back, nor have they announced at any time any scheduled fight at all to defend his title. They seemed not to care that there are many other classified boxers who wish to contend for the title, which the champion has frozen.

However, the WBC did not “strip” Bradley. We declared him still “champion in recess” so that he will have the doors of the WBC opened for when he is able to return, while we declared the active championship vacant with the new champion to fight Bradley when he returns to boxing.

As simple as that.

****

The following is one of the weekly “Hook to the Body” columns by WBC President Dr. José Sulaimán that are published in El Universal every Sunday. From July 31, translated from Spanish:

HOOK TO THE BODY

By José Sulaimán

The WBC Reason for Intermediate Divisions.

Even when it was an unexpected honor in my life, my election as president of the WBC, back

on December 5, 1975, I placed as a condition the committment of the affiliates to change our goals for a priority for safety, as there was nothing else at those times than a medical exam during weigh-ins of the blood pressure, heart rate, open your mouth, and God bless you, which was enthusiastically accepted, for the starting of the WBC's efforts for the protection of the boxers that has taken almost four decades with countless modifications of the boxing rules.

During my early youth I had the biggest boxing hero, and later my closest friend, Raul “Ratón”

Macías, a bantamweight champion of the world, who was always forced into inhuman sacrifices to reduce weight for all of his fights, which reduced the size of his stomach with the passing of time. He did not want to move to the featherweights, as there were more than 5 kilos - 11 pounds - and he was short in height, so he decided to retire from boxing at the age of 24.

This, of the many problems that I had through the many years in boxing, made me ask the doctors of the WBC Medical Board to help us in regards to weights. The super bantamweight division was born at 122 pounds, and it produced one of the greatest champions in history with the Puerto Rican Wilfredo Gómez, who won his 18 defenses of the superbantam title by knockout.

The intermediate divisions have become very important in professional boxing and they have produced champions of the highest caliber like Gómez, Alexis Argüello, Julio César Chávez, Oscar de la Hoya, Joe Calzaghe, Eric Morales, Jung Ku Chang, Chiquita González, and even Evander Holyfield in the cruiserweight division.

This one step, of the many others that the WBC has brought into boxing, raised furor back in 1982 when this step was taken, among some of the writers, especially in the north east of the USA, who have found a Mexican to keep blasting during the almost 36 years of my presidency.

It seems that us Mexicans have no right to lead a world organization. However, nothing has stopped the WBC from continuing the struggle to lead boxing to its highest goals of safety, for the sake of protecting the health and lives of boxers as the human beings that they are.

I have the highest esteem, admiration, and respect for the press of the world, including the USA, the country of my father’s family and the country where my sons, now my grandsons, and even myself have had and are having our educations. I deeply respect many of the writers in the world and I read with attention their positive articles even of criticism as they lead me to restudy our steps to confirm or modify our actions, but all those written by those who get up in the morning and as a good morning to themselves, they swear when they look at themselves in the mirror ………. of those, I never, ever, read their columns, as they are people who write without the slightest knowledge of what and who they are writing about, and they love to express their negativity as their way of life. I follow President Lyndon Johnson’s saying: “He who doesn’t like heat should get out of the kitchen,” and i have decided to stay in. Heat is good; it shows if you have the guts or not to do well what you are doing.

I was under heavy artillery when we withdrew recognition of Leon Spinks for not fighting his committed fight against Ken Norton. The artillery was as heavy when we approved Ray Leonard coming back to fight Marvin Hagler, after he successfully passed the medical exams required by WBC rules, of the three highly respected ophthalmologists on his retina which had had surgery.

We were also attacked when we authorized No. 6 Julio César Chávez to fight Mario Martínez for the vacant super featherweight title, the first of his 37 world title fights ! The same happened when they also blasted us for authorizing Sal Sánchez to fight Indian Red López, who he KOd for his first title, later to become one of the greatest Mexicans ever.

And to go on with my polemic style, I was even taken to a TV jury for supporting Saúl Álvarez to go for the title, which he won, and the same thing happened for going in favor of Julio César Chavez Jr., a title that he also won.

So, my dear friends, what am I going to do ? The WBC is a great group of distinguished citizens from all over the world who are not afraid to step forward to reform, and we do it with passion, perseverance, and determination, and we are proud to belong to those coming from the 20th Century who have done the very best, in the best way that we know, for the accomplishment of the goal of our ideals, and we shall continue for as long as our Great God keeps us in this land.

Thank you for reading my thoughts, and until next week…
 

Timm

Banned
Sep 16, 2008
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Andre Ward is a great dude and great fighter, but I gotta root for my boy COBRA. Froch/Ward is going to be one of the fights of the year I think man. Watch Froch/Pascal, Froch/Taylor, Froch Dirrell. I'm definitely a fuckin cobra fan
 
Feb 3, 2006
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Froch is an asshole that earned my respect in the ring. I like the Corba he backs his shit talking up, plus he's never in a boring fight. But I think Ward is going to work him over, Ward has a chip on his shoulder and he's fighting for respect.
 
May 13, 2002
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Seattle
www.socialistworld.net
This seems pretty cool. More boxing the better


DiBella's Take on HBO New Series For Rising Prospects


By Mike Coppinger

Starting in January 2012, HBO plans to introduce a new proving ground for boxing prospects in the form of a new series similar to ShoBox: The New Generation.

Each month, there will be at least one tripleheader aired, with four major promoters – Top Rank, Golden Boy, DiBella Entertainment and Gary Shaw Productions – each being assigned three months with which to stage bouts on HBO 2, according to a report by Dan Rafael of ESPN.com.

BoxingScene.com caught up with Lou DiBella at his Broadway Boxing show in Brooklyn, N.Y. this past Saturday to get his thoughts on the new series.

“I think it will be a very good platform, because HBO needs a feeder system and they need to develop fighters,” said DiBella, who was the Head of Programming at HBO Sports for 10 years. “ShoBox might be the best series to my mind right now in boxing and I think it’s a good opportunity for HBO to develop some kids.”

Even with the changing of the guard at HBO Sports, DiBella is certain that the series will go on as planned, stating that HBO has “already committed that they’re doing it.”

Mike Coppinger is a regular boxing freelancer for USA TODAY and Ring Magazine. He’s a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, the Ring Ratings Advisory Panel and the Yahoo! Sports Boxing Panel. Follow him on Twitter: @MikeCoppinger.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Andre Ward is a great dude and great fighter, but I gotta root for my boy COBRA. Froch/Ward is going to be one of the fights of the year I think man. Watch Froch/Pascal, Froch/Taylor, Froch Dirrell. I'm definitely a fuckin cobra fan
I like Ward by UD.Froch looked beatable against Johnson, Dirrell, Taylor, AND Kessler.Froch earn my respect in this tournament
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Pavlik walks away from a possible 40-60 deal with Bute

By Dan Ambrose: According to Dan Rafael, former WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik’s Top Rank promotional company was working on a deal where the 29-year-old Pavlik could have received a 40% cut for a fight against IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute for November. Pavlik pulled out of this Saturday’s fight with Darry Cunningham. Pavlik was unhappy with the money that he’ll be receiving for Cunningham and Bute fights.

Pavlik was supposed to get a minimum of $1.35 million to fight Bute. Pavlik would have made even more if the fight were to do well, and chances are it would have. Pavlik didn’t like learning that Bute’s promoters had offered Mikkel Kessler more money for a fight against him.

Pavlik may have hurt himself by pulling out of the fight because right now he needs to rebuild his name after getting beaten by Sergio Martinez last year. Pavlik also didn’t shine in his recent fight against Alfonso Lopez, which Pavlik barely won by a 10 round decision last May. Pavlik needs to get wins under his belt so that he can make boxing fans forget how awful he looked in those two fights. Cunningham would have been a good start, and a win over Bute would have brought Pavlik all the way back to where he was before the Martinez loss. Now it looks as if Pavlik totally blew it and is back to square one.
 
Jul 24, 2005
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Matthysse-Morales could be a better fight than Mayweather-Ortiz

By Sean McDaniel: The September 17th fight card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, headlined by Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Victor Ortiz, just got a lot better with the addition of Erik Morales vs. Lucas Matthysse. This is a really good fight, much, much better than the one Golden Boy Promotions had listed before with Morales facing 35-year-old Jorge Barrios.

Matthysse is one of the top fighters in the light welterweight division and is destined to be a world champion. Whether Morales still has enough left to hold him back is the big question. I like Morales a lot as a fighter and give him a lot of kudos for his losing performance against Marcos Maidana last April, but I don’t know if Morales can turn back a young warrior like Matthysse. This guy can do it all – box, slug and move. He’s got the whole package in his game.

Matthysse isn’t as fast as guys like Amir Khan, but he makes up for his lack of hand speed by having excellent power and a really good chin. He’s one of those tough Argentinian fighters in the same mold as Sergio Martinez and Marcos Maidana. Indeed, Matthysse has even sparred with Martinez and does a lot of the same things he does in the ring.

I like the Mayweather vs. Ortiz fight a lot, but I have a feeling that Mayweather is going to use a lot of movement as soon as he starts getting hit hard by Ortiz. Mayweather will turn the fight into a pure boxing match and end up winning a boring decision over the slugger Ortiz. This is where the Matthysse-Morales fight saves the card from being a big disappointment. Morales likes to stand and slug, and if you put him in with a fighter with the same kind of style, he’s happy as a clam. This is a fighting style that he thrives against. However, I don’t know if Morales has enough left in him to beat a nonstop puncher like Matthysse. I just don’t see it happening for Morales.