Undefeated light middleweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (37-0-1, 29 KOs) will be looking to make a statement against Matt Vanda (39-7, 22 KOs) on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Chavez Jr., 22, the son of boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez, is hoping to look better than he did last time out against Vanda, a fight that turned out to be a grueling 10-round split decision victory for Chavez and one where he hardly impressed. In this case, Chavez had the excuse that he was sick with the flu, which, according to him, prevented him from fighting at his best against Vanda.

It’s unclear, however, why Chavez chose to fight Vanda while sick with the flu. Perhaps the smart thing would have been to cancel the bout rather than perform badly as he did. In fairness to Chavez, it’s hard to blame him though. Up until that fight, he had done relatively well against the fodder that had been served up to in his previous 37 fights, building up an impressive unbeaten record with zero quality opponents. Vanda, 30, a good C-level fighter, was figured to be slightly better than some of Chavez’s recent mediocre opponents. However, whether it be the illness that affected Chavez on that night, or the fact that he’s not much better than Vanda, it’s hard to say for sure. Read more…

By Jordan Taylor: As with most of the UK’s population, back in December 2007, we were rooting for Ricky Hatton to beat the great Floyd Matweather. Hatton up until that fight had had a fine run in the ring, taking his tally to 44 fights without loss, beating the likes of Juan Urango, Luis Collazo, Jose Luis Castillo and the great Kosta Tszyu on the way. He was a P4P fighter, and was named The Ring magazines fighter of the year back in 2005. Now it seems Ricky Hatton is associated with phrases like ‘past it, ‘over the hill’ or ‘over rated’. I personally find it quite irritating, and totally unjust.

Hatton now find himself at a pivotal point in his career. If (I am pretty confident he will) he beats Malignaggi, there are some monster fights waiting. Oscar De la Hoya looks pretty certain at Wembley stadium in front of 100, 000 fans, as does the fight with the Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao at the same venue. These two fights alone would generate so much interest, appealing to both Purists and the mainstream media. The later in particular, as the two fighters have such large fan-bases, and I believe will showcase a supreme meeting of 2 fighters. The magnitude of thee events can only be good for boxing, and money wise for all parties wise, you are looking at hundreds of millions in revenue. Read more…

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA – 29th October 2008. It was announced today by Optimum Sports Agency that Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion will make his ring return November 26th in Panama. The bout will be promoted by Rogelio Espino of Promociones y Eventos Del Istmo and it will take place at the Centro de Convenciones Atlapa, Panama City, Panama. Read more…

By Manuel Perez: Nearly two weeks ago, Kelly Pavlik (34-1, 30 KOs), who was then undefeated and considered by many to be one of the top fighters in all of boxing, was trounced by Bernard Hopkins in one of the most one-sided fights between top fighters in some time. The outcome stripped away the aura of invincibility from Pavlik while at the same time appearing to strip away many of his legions of fans in the process. Without a place to turn their attention, many of Pavlik’s fans - judging from the ring talk on internet boxing forums - have turned their attention to Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs), the WBA super middleweight champion who comes from Denmark.

Although Kessler isn’t undefeated like say Joe Calzaghe, he has only one loss, a unanimous decision defeat to Calzaghe in 2007, but in Kessler’s case, he fought well in losing, and made it gave Calzaghe perhaps his toughest fight of his career. The same can’t be said for Pavlik, who looked badly outclassed by the 43 year-old Hopkins in a way that suggest that Pavlik would never be good enough to defeat a fighter like him no matter how much work he put into it. Seeing Pavlik humbled in such a way, has had to have been a crushing blow to many of his boxing fans who identified with him and his blue collar worth ethic. Read more…

By Jim Dower: On November 8th, Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) will likely be stepping into the ring for the final time in his 15-year boxing career for a bout against Roy Jones Jr., a fighter that many people consider to be faded and washed up long ago. Calzaghe, 36, has taken heat for having fought almost the entirety of his long career in Europe against mainly European fighters, and only recently has he ventured into the U.S to fight the 43 year-old Hopkins, and now the 39 year-old Jones.

Quite obviously, when taken in as a whole with the lack of what people consider to be quality opponents in Calzaghe’s career, the fight with Jones would seem to be the fitting end to Calzaghe’s career. Instead of facing other more fitting opponents like Chad Dawson, Jermain Taylor, or Carl Froch, we will be seeing Calzaghe face another older fighter as he bows out of the game for good. It’s so sad. Calzaghe’s record looks good on paper, yet when you take a look at it under a microscope, it just doesn’t stand up in comparisons to other fighters like Jones and Hopkins, both of which fought superb opponents during their career. As you’re no doubt aware, Hopkins and Jones are considered all time greats of the sport, and that’s mainly because of the top quality fighters that they’ve proven their worth against throughout their career. Read more…

By Scott Gilfoid: Joe Calzaghe (45-0, 32 KOs) has had an amazing career, staying undefeated throughout his long 15 year career and holding his World Boxing Organization (WBO) super middleweight title for an incredible 10 long years without one opponent even coming close to beating him. Almost all of his bouts have taken place in Wales, having only recently come over to the U.S for his hard fought 12-round split decision victory over Bernard Hopkins.

For many Americans, they were less than impressed with Calzaghe, in particular his slapping punches which looked pale in comparison to the hard, clean-landing shots from Hopkins. In the end, Calzaghe squeaked by with a narrow split decision due to Hopkins tiring out in the second half of the bout, and resorting to clinching and other such delaying tactics. Nevertheless, the slapping and lack of clean landing shots from Calzaghe made his U.S. debut more than a little disappointing, because fighters over here are usually expected to land harder punches in order to win. While Calzaghe was able to get the nod over Hopkins last time out, I have grave doubts that he will get a second win if he fights in a similar manner on November 8th against Roy Jones Jr. Read more…

By Cinquez: “Bad” Chad Dawson, the current IBO and IBF light-heavyweight champion, is arguably one of the most exciting fighters in any division at the moment. His dismantling of former champion Antonio Tarver was as compelling as it was a significant step in the development of a man who, at just 26, has many years left in boxing. Yet all the big names are reluctant to fight him. Jones Jr., Calzaghe, Hopkins, Kessler and Pavlik have all either been silent on the issue are said outright they have no desire to fight him.

With 27 victories and no defeats, this man lays claim to two of the most distinguished belts in boxing, at a time when there are still great fighters available to fight. Hopkins, Calzaghe and Jones Jr. only appear interested in fighting each other, and perhaps there is a significant reason as to why. Read more…

HOBOKEN, N.J. (October 27, 2008) – International Boxing Federation top contender and mandatory challenger, former U.S. Olympian and IBF light middleweight title-holder Raul “El Diamente” Marquez, says he will shock the boxing world November 8 when he fights unbeaten IBF middleweight champion “King” Arthur Abraham at Jako Arena in Bamberg, Germany. Read more…

By Chris Williams: I think we saw the fighter that can ultimately put Bernard Hopkins out of his misery last Saturday night when super middleweight Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs) destroyed Danilo Haussler in a 3rd round TKO in Oldenburg, Germany. This wouldn’t a case of Hopkins picking on a middleweight fighter like Kelly Pavlik, who at the end of the day, was just too small for the light heavyweight Hopkins. Kessler has the size at 168, the boxing skills, the movement and the speed to easily handle Hopkins and retire him from the sport.

As good as Kessler looked, I doubt that Hopkins will want to take the hook and seek out a fight with him. Hopkins wants a fight with Joe Calzaghe or Roy Jones Jr., either of which would bring in much more money without all the risk that Kessler would bring to the table. I realize that Kessler has been beaten by Calzaghe, but the fight was very close and in a rematch, I’m fairly certain he would beat him. That’s why Calzaghe probably doesn’t want to face him again. As far as Kessler-Hopkins, I don’t see any reason why this fight can’t place. Read more…

IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute (23-0, 18 KOs) got his win over Librado Andrade (27-2, 21 KOs) all right, but in the manner he gained it, I’m afraid to say that only his most diehard supporters are see it as an actual victory rather than what it appeared to be - a 12th round TKO loss. For those who may not have seen the fight and are not clear on what this is all about, let me enlighten you on the details of the bout. Bute, 28, was making his 2nd defense of his IBF title, fighting in front of his home audience in Montreal, Canada, and making a huge step up from the mostly soft opposition he had fought in his career.

He looked good early on, but began tiring by the 8th due to all of the running he was doing in the fight. He clinched often in every round, receiving no warnings from the referee. Nor Bute receive warnings for twice grabbing Andrade’s leg while he was attacking him and picking it up off the ground in a kind of wrestling move. I’ve personally never seen a fighter do that before to try and stop an attack, but it certainly should have led to a warning to Bute by the referee. It didn’t. Read more…

By Adam Laiolo: Passing of the baton, old guard replaced by new they said. Youth vs. Experience and the hope of a nation dreaming of seeing a new hero crowned. Kelly Pavlik, current middleweight champion, against Bernard Hopkins, former undisputed middleweight champion for ten years and future hall of famer. The favor was for a Pavlik whitewash, with the hype around him blinding people to one thing - he was fighting Bernard Hopkins. I mean Bernard thrives in these circumstances. What happened next was not in the script. From the first bell, Hopkins sliding around the ring getting a feel for Pavlik, hitting with flush shots and making him miss, counter-punching Pavlik with overhand rights and left hooks.

Pavlik had nothing, no answer and when Bernard busted Pavlik’s nose early on, I knew this fight was over. The later rounds was thought to be a factor with Hopkins being 17 years his senior and I was waiting for something from Pavlik to show he actually could hurt Hopkins, but nothing. Constantly plodding forward, not even landing a scrape on Hopkins, yet getting constantly caught flush only frustrated him more, forcing him into making mistakes. I don’t remember, even after re-watching the fight, a meaningful spell of dominance, not for ten seconds. Read more…

By Cinquez Samuel Peter (30-2, 23 KOs) came in for the Vitali Klitschko fight looking clearly overweight, and his laboured performance on the night left many observers questioning just how had been out of the ring for the last four years. Constantly looking short of breath (along with ideas, the Las Vegas - based fighter now needs an urgent re-think of strategy. Peter looked to have turned a page when defeating James Toney in the re-match (Until we factor in the small detail of Toney being a previous middleweight fighter).

However the subsequent fights with Jameel Mccline and Oleg Maskaev were both far from impressive. Before beating Mccline, he was famously dropped three times from mediocre shots, and in the Maskaev fight he was rocked by some decent shots before overcoming the 39-year-old Russian national in Mexico.

Perhaps then, the warning signs were there for Peter, but his coaches have not done their job. Peter’s boxing skills still appear rudimentary at best, his conditioning poor and his power still questionable. Read more…

By Jim Dower: Undefeated light middleweight Ronald Hearns (21-0, 17 KOs) put himself in line for an early 2009 fight with undefeated middleweight John Duddy on Saturday night by stopping an overwhelmed Canadian Paul Clavette (14-2-1, 2 KOs) in the 6th round of a scheduled 10-round bout at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Hearns, 29, the son of former boxing champion Tommy “Hit Man” Hearns, knocked Clavette down in the 6th round with a hard combination. He got up and continued to sustain punishment from Hearns, who staggered him with a powerful combination leading to a standing eight count.

Following that, Hearns unloaded on him with a handful of more power right hands, causing referee Michael Griffin to step in and halt the fight at 2:37 of the 6th round with Clavette badly hurt, yet still on his feet. Hearns, not a big puncher in comparison to his famous father, still showed good enough power in volume to cause Clavette all kinds of problems. Read more…

By Scott Gilfoid: With a blistering display of punching power, former heavyweight contender Dominick Guinn (29-6-1, 20 KOs) destroyed Canadian Jean Francois Bergeron (27-2, 19 KOs) in the second round. Guinn, 33, staggered Bergeron with a big right hand early in the second, then followed up with a flurry of shots ending with a left-right combination that deposited Bergeron on the canvas. He staggered to his feet, but was unable to stand without leaning on the ropes.

Referee Gerry Bolen did the right thing and stopped the fight at 2:40 of the round. It’s unfortunate that Guinn hasn’t fought like this in the recent past, as he looked more than impressive when he was letting his hands go against Bergeron in the fight. The TKO was especially impressive because Bergeron had fought 12-rounds with Nikolay Valuev, in a losing effort last September. Guinn, however, didn’t seem to want to wait around like Valuev did, and immediately pounced on the huge 6’5” Bergeron from the outset of the fight. Bergeron, 35, hardly had a chance to get started before Guinn started launching howitzer shots at him with both hands. Read more…

By Erik Schmidt: Undefeated light welterweight prospect Sergey Fedchenko (22-0, 10 KOs) destroyed Juan Alberto Godoy (22-12-1, 8 KOs) in a 4th round TKO on Saturday night at the Budivelnik, in Cherkasy, Ukraine. Fedchenko, 28, also known as “The Professor,” knocked Godoy down three times in the fight, twice in the 3rd and a final time in the 4th round. After the third knockdown, referee Yuri Koptsev stopped the one-sided bout. Fedchenko, a Ukrainian, jabbed Godoy frequently in the first round, and hammed him with power lefts and rights to the head. Fedchenko rarely threw combinations in the round and instead appeared to be loading up for quick, powerful shots that would often catch Godoy unaware.

For his part, Godoy found it difficult to land his own punches in the opening round, as when he would attempt to land a shot, Fedchenko would quickly move away to the outside leaving nothing but air in between the two fighters. In the second round, Fedchenko hurt Godoy with a hard left to the body in the early portion of the round, making Godoy grab to his side and wince in pain. Read more…

By Manuel Perez: Super bantamweight Antonio Escalante (19-2, 12 KOs) was too much for Mike Oliver (21-2, 7 KOs), knocking him down four times in total and stopping him in the 3rd round of a scheduled 10-round bout on Friday at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, in Cabazon, California. Escalante, 23, appeared way too powerful and big for the weaker, slightly smaller 28 year-old Oliver, who just appeared too small for Escalante from the opening moments of the fight. Oliver, a fighter with over 300 amateur fights, looked smooth in the first round and landed well with hooks to the head.

However, Escalante followed him around the ring, hitting him with huge left hooks to the body and head. Near the end of the fight round, Escalante hurt Oliver with a big left-right to the head, dropping him to the canvas. He got up but was immediately sent back down against with a left uppercut. Again, Oliver got up and was hit with a powerful right hand to the body, and staggered with a right to the head. Escalante then dropped him for the third time in the round with a left tot eh head. The round ended just in time for Oliver, who clearly would have been knocked out had it gone any longer. Read more…

By Jason Kim: Undefeated WBA featherweight champion Chris John (42-0-1, 22 KOs) defeated his Japanese challenger Hiroyuki Enoki (27-1, 19 KOs) by a 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday night, at the Korakuen Hall, in Tokyo, Japan. For John, 29, it was his 10th successful title defense of his WBA belt which he won in September 2003 with a win over Oscar Leon. John, from Indonesia, dominated the entire fight with his speed, movement and superior boxing skills over his Japanese opponent. The final judges’ scores were 118-110, 118-110 and 117-111, all for John. Read more…

By Nate Anderson: In a decision that seemed way out of whack, Italian cruiserweight contender Giacobbe Fragomeni (26-1, 10 KOs) defeated Rudolf Kraj (14-1, 10 KOs) by an 8th round technical decision after Fragomeni, 39, received a nasty cut over his left eye from an unintentional head butt in the 7th round, leading to the fight being stopped by the ringside doctor in the 8th. The fight outcome then went to the judges’ scorecards, all which saw Fragomeni winning by the scores of 77-74, 77-74 and 77-74. However, it appeared to me that Kraj had easily won the fight by at least a five rounds to three score, if not more than that.

Fragomeni, fighting in front of his home audience in PalaLido, in Milan, Lombardia, Italy, did little punching in most of the rounds, just following the much taller Kraj around and getting hit. I’m not sure if it was because of Fragomeni’s advanced age or just a case of him having an off night, but whatever the case, he was getting out-punched by at least a three to one margin from what I saw, and rarely throwing anything back. When he would attempt a punch, even the ones that missed, the Italian crowd would go crazy, applauding like mad as if he had just scored a knockout or something rather than just one punch. Read more…

By Aaron Klein: Cruiserweight contender Yoan Pablo Hernandez (17-1, 10 KOs) survived a 7th round scare in which he was knocked down by his opponent, American journeyman Michael Simms (20-10-1, 13 KOs), but ultimately did enough to win an eight-round majority decision on Saturday night at the Weser-Ems-Halle, in Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany. Hernandez, 23, a former Cuban amateur star who now fights out of Germany, controlled most of the fight excluding the 7th round. He did, however, have problems with Simms’ big power shots that he would land sporadically throughout the fight, nailing Hernandez ever once in a while. In between those rare offensive flashes from Simms, Hernandez was busy building up a lead, landing hooks to the body and head and keeping Simms under a steady rain of punches.

Hernandez’s stamina problems once again seemed to resurface, as he began to tire by the 3rd round, sweating profusely, looking tired and worried. Simms was totally calm, and not wasting any energy whatsoever as he slowly walked Hernandez down. Whenever Hernandez would let up on his own shots for a second, Simms would wind up and hit with him with some tremendous shots to the head and body. After getting a good taste of a number of left hands from Simms, Hernandez seemed to think it was a good idea to try and continue throwing punches as much as possible to keep Simms on the defense. Read more…

By Erik Schmidt: Making his first defense of his WBA super middleweight title, champion Mikkel Kessler (41-1, 31 KOs) easily stopped his number #1 mandatory challenger Danilo Haussler (29-4-1, 7 KOs) in the 3rd round of scheduled 12-round bout on Saturday night at the Weser-Ems-Halle, in Oldenburg, Niedersachsen, Germany. Kessler, 29, landed a three punch combination in the third round, ending with a hard left hand that put Haussler down on the canvas. He rolled over and tried to get up but was quickly counted out by referee Stanley Christodoulou at 1:08 of the 3rd.

At the time that Kessler landed the left hand, Haussler was trying to throw a left hand of his own and probably never saw Kessler’s punch coming. Haussler’s left eye was badly swollen up, and if the fight had gone on much longer, it very likely would have closed completely from all the punches he was getting hit with. Kessler, who normally likes to mix his punches up well, largely threw almost exclusively jabs for the entire three rounds. Every so often, he would add in a left hook to the body or a right hand to the head or midsection, but for the most part he seemed dialed in on his jab. That’s all he really needed, however, because Haussler, though ranked #1 in the WBA super middleweight division, looked totally limited as a fighter, and nothing like a typical top ranked challenger. Read more…