Archive for January, 2009

By Sean McDaniel: Supposedly, Ricky Hatton has changed a lot since taking on new trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., no longer madly bum rushing his opponents and leaving himself open for punches on the way in. Let’s hope that’s true for Hatton’s sake, because I think that tactic might not be effective against Manny Pacquiao on [...]

By Manuel Perez: Shane Mosley proved one thing last week on January 24th, namely that he can beat Antonio Margarito when he’s clinching him often from eight to ten times per round. When Mosley was draped all over Margarito, Shane proved that he’s a better fighter than him at that style of non-fighting. But Mosley’s [...]

By Jason Kim: Undefeated light middleweight John Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) stands a good chance of getting a title shot against WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (34-1, 30 KOs) later on in 2009, just as long as both Duddy and Pavlik win their upcoming fights on February 21st. Duddy, 29, has reportedly been assured that [...]

By Jim Dower: IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (52-3, 46 KOs) still hasn’t forgotten the photo that former cruiserweight champion David Haye (22-1, 21 KOs) was showing to the media in which Haye was pictured holding the severed head of Wladimir. In a news conference this week, an unusually aggressive Wladimir had this to say [...]

By Sam Gregory: According to The Contra Costa Times, the 27 year old wife of Manny Pacquiao’s driver, Joseph Jose, has been arrested by the Los Angeles police last Monday for stealing more than $89,000 from the Wells Fargo, Sunset Boulevard bank account of Manny Pacquiao.

By Nate Anderson: Undefeated BBBofC British welterweight champion Kell Brook (19-0, 12 KOs) was too much for Stuart Elwell (12-4, 1 KOs) on Friday night, knocking him down twice and stopping him in the 2nd round of a scheduled 12-round bout at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, in London. Brook, 22, making his 2nd defense [...]

By Matt Stein: Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik has a lot to prove on February 21st against Marco Antonio Rubio, starting with whether Pavlik has moved beyond his last fight – an embarrassing one-sided loss to Bernard Hopkins on October 18th, 2008. Nothing was lost in the fight in terms of titles for Pavlik, aside from [...]

By Sam Gregory: In a very evenly matched action packed fight on ESPN’s Friday Night Fight’s in Montreal, Miami based Columbian Juan Urango won the vacant IBF Jr welterweight title in a unanimous decision over local favorite Herman Ngoudjo. Urango improved his record to 21 wins with 16 knockouts and only losing one. The [...]

By Chris Williams: In weighing the pluses and minuses of each fighter, I can’t find too many areas where Ricky Hatton matches up well with Manny Pacquiao. However remote Hatton’s chances are to win, I can’t see him coming up with a lottery winning performance in this fight. He’s too simple, crude, one-dimensional and terribly [...]

By Jim Dower: Former heavyweight champion Ingemar Johansson has reportedly passed away as of 11:55 PM tonight. Johansson, 76, known for his powerful right hand, he shocked the world in June 1959, knocking champion Floyd Patterson down seven times en route to stopping him in the 3rd round to win the world heavyweight title at [...]

By William Mackay: Just looking at Roy Jones Jr’s recent fight against Joe Calzaghe in November, it’s pretty clear that Roy needs to move up to at least the cruiserweight division to give that a try rather than continuing to waste time campaigning as a light heavyweight. Although Jones, 40, is still one of the [...]

By Nate Anderson: Unbeaten lightweight Liam Walsh (4-0, 3 KOs) stopped journeyman Shaun Walton (4-42-3, 1 KOs) in the 1st round tonight at the York Hall, in Bethnal Green, London. Using a fierce body attack, Walsh, 22, trapped a badly outgunned Walton up against the ropes late in the 1st round and worked him over [...]

By Simon Hirst: Defending British Welterweight Champion Kell Brook improved his record to 19-0-0 (12) as he blew away Stuart Elwell in two rounds forcing the referee to stop the contest. Elwell, who stepped in late for Mark Lloyd, was simply could not cope with Brook’s superior hand speed and power and was dropped twice [...]

Hall of Fame boxing trainer Emanuel Steward will return to Cincinnati with one of his prize pupils, super middleweight prospect Aaron Pryor Jr., this Saturday night, January 31st at “HOMECOMING” an outstanding evening of world class professional boxing at the U.S. BANK ARENA.

Early indications are that fans around the world are eager to get their hands on tickets for THE boxing event of 2009, which pits five-division world champion MANNY “Pac Man” PACQUIAO against Ring Magazine and IBO World Junior Welterweight champion RICKY “The Hitman” HATTON in a world title battle that will go down in boxing [...]

By Alistair Tinsley: Many boxing fans will want to know what the hell Frank Warren is doing putting his baby-faced charge against such a formidable opponent as Marco Antonio Barerra? But is it as clear cut as a 3 weight world champion crushing an inexperienced journeyman? Khan is coming off an emphatic KO loss to [...]

By Matt Stein: Ricky Hatton still has an urge to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr., mentioning in an interview today that he wants a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. if Ricky successfully defeats Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd. Saying that he’d like to fight Mayweather and that he wants to pick the ref, likely a slap [...]

By Manuel Perez: With MMA breathing down the neck of Boxing, I think it’s high time that clinching be disallowed in professional boxing because it’s taking away from the sport. If professional boxing is to compete with Mixed Martial Sports, boxing has to follow amateur boxing and prevent clinching tactics that are used to prevent [...]

By Scott Gilfoid: In an interview today on Sky Sports, Ricky Hatton seemed to be thinking beyond his fight with Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd, saying “There’s only one thing left to achieve, and that’s to become the pound for pound top fighter in the world. And with hard work and perseverance, and believing I’m [...]

By Jim Dower: In a bit of bad news for Antonio Margarito (37-6, 27 KOs), the word is that his license to fight has been suspended by the California State Athletic Commission as of Wednesday due to a plaster-like substance was found on his hand wraps just prior to his fight with Shane Mosley on [...]

By Sam Gregory: During an interview regarding his up-coming fight with the WBA Interim super flyweight champ Jorge Arce on February 7th, undisputed super flyweight champion Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan made the following statement to the press, “I can’t get enough of Mexican fighters. They bounce real good off the canvas when I hit [...]

ARENA’s fast rising featherweight superstar Yuriorkis Gamboa (13-0, 11 kos) will be back in action again on February 20th at the University Center Arena in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Only six weeks after stopping Roger “Speedy” Gonzalez in round 10 at his last ESPN appearance “El Ciclon” is ready to shine again on the next “Friday [...]

Welterweight hot-shot Kell Brook is backing Michael Jennings to beat Miguel Cotto on February 21 – so he set up a huge all-British showdown with his rival. Jennings will face Cotto in Madison Square Garden in New York on February 21 for the vacant WBO World title, and Brook will be keeping a close eye [...]

Two of boxing’s biggest stars will meet in the ring for what could be the year’s biggest pay-per-view event. Five-division world champion MANNY “Pac Man” PACQUIAO and Ring Magazine and IBO World Junior Welterweight champion RICKY “The Hitman” HATTON, will rumble for Hatton’s World Junior Welterweight Championships Saturday, May 2 at MGM Grand in [...]

World rated light heavyweight Joey “KO Kid” Spina, former USNBC and IBF Intercontinental champion, has rededicated himself for his loyal fans as he prepares for his next fight February 6 at Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

By Manuel Perez: Let me go on record by saying that I see Antonio Margarito being cleared of the wrap gate controversy that surrounds him at this time. Margarito is a true warrior and would never resort to adding hardened substances like plaster of paris to his gloves to get an added advantage. This guy [...]

By Eric Thomas: Despite what the Klitschko brothers are saying about World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev not wanting to fight him, Valuev’s promoter Wilfried Sauerland begs to differ, saying that they’ve not been approached by the Klitschko brothers with a serious offer by them nor have them had contact in them in a [...]

By Matt Stein: If there’s anyone whose stock was increased this past weekend, it was Miguel Cotto (32-1, 26 KOs), who with his previous 12-round unanimous decision over Shane Mosley in November 2007, has to be seen as the fighter to beat in the welterweight division. Cotto, 28, may have lost by an 11th round [...]

By Sam Gregory: In recent years the welterweight division has been in the spotlight of professional boxing. And for good reason, much of the talent in today’s boxing is in the 147 pound weight class. But just 12 pounds south of the welterweights is the division that has historically been home to some of the [...]

By Sam Gregory: Juan Manuel Marquez comes from a strong boxing pedigree. His brother, Rafael Marquez, is a former world champion who has won world titles at the bantamweight and super bantamweight divisions. Marquez had an amateur record of 35-1 that included two Golden Glove tournament wins. He made his professional debut at the age [...]