Klitschko-Povetkin & Cotto-Rodriguez this Saturday on HBO

By Boxing News - 10/02/2013 - Comments

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, HBO Sports’ flagship boxing series, presents a dynamite split-site triple-header headlined by the return of two of the sport’s biggest stars on SATURDAY, OCT. 5. The action begins at 3:30 p.m. (live ET) with the heavyweight title fight WLADIMIR KLITSCHKO VS. ALEXANDER POVETKIN from SC Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow. Following a replay of the fight later that day at 9:45 p.m. (ET/PT), the doubleheader MIGUEL COTTO VS. DELVIN RODRIGUEZ AND TERENCE CRAWFORD VS. ANDREY KLIMOV will be presented from Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. (live ET/tape-delayed PT). The HBO Sports team of Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman and Roy Jones Jr. will call all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.

Other HBO play dates: Oct. 6 (8:00 a.m.) and 7 (11:30 p.m.)

HBO2 play dates: Oct. 6 (4:00 p.m.) and 8 (11:30 p.m.)

Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko (60-3, 52 KOs), 37, who has held his heavyweight title for seven years, defends his crown for the 15th time against 34-year-old Russian Alexander Povetkin (26-0, 18 KOs), a challenger many regard as a formidable test. The Moscow venue of 12-round clash – Klitschko’s 18th appearance on HBO – will draw enthusiastic fans of both men, adding to the excitement of the contest.

The main event pits superstar Miguel Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs), 32, from Caguas, Puerto Rico against intriguing challenger Delvin Rodriguez (28-6-3, 16 KOs), 33, of the Dominican Republic in a 12-round super welterweight battle. Making his 19th appearance on HBO, Cotto looks to reignite his hall of fame-caliber career after two tough setbacks last year. Though he trained in Orlando for his last three fights, Cotto now holds camp at the famed Wild Card in Hollywood under the supervision of legendary trainer Freddie Roach. Rodriguez, who now calls Danbury, Conn. home, seeks to pull off a major upset.

In the opening bout from Orlando, fast-rising lightweight prospect Terence Crawford (21-0, 16 KOs) of Omaha, Neb. meets Russia’s Adrey Klimov (16-0, 8 KOs) in a ten-round contest. Crawford, 26, has recently been on the fast track in the 135-pound division and will look for a big effort against the 31-year-old Klimov.

Immediately following the action from Orlando, the second episode of the all-access reality series “24/7 Bradley/Marquez” debuts at approximately 12:30 p.m. (ET/PT).

Then, the 15-minute show “Face Off with Max Kellerman: Alvarado/Provodnikov” debuts at approximately 1:00 a.m. (ET/PT), spotlighting junior welterweights sluggers Mike Alvarado and Ruslan Provodnikov as they join Kellerman to size up their highly anticipated Oct. 19 fight on HBO.

Follow HBO boxing news at hbo.com/boxing, on Facebook at facebook.com/hboboxing and on Twitter at twitter.com/hboboxing.

All HBO boxing events are presented in HDTV. HBO viewers must have access to the HBO HDTV channel to watch HBO programming in high definition.

The executive producer of WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is Rick Bernstein; producer, Jon Crystal; director, Marc Payton.

® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.

Mario Barrios Signs With Decubas Jr. and Santos

October 2, 2013 – Local San Antonio TX, amateur boxing phenom, Mario Barrios, who stands 6’0 tall and fights at super-bantamweight, has signed an exclusive management deal with Luis Decubas Jr. and Bob Santos. Barrios joins a highly touted stable of fighters which include six-time and four division world champion, Robert Guerrero, WBA light middleweight champion Erislandy Lara, cruiserweight contender BJ Flores, undefeated heavyweight contender David Rodriguez, rising prospect Miguel Flores and many more. Barrios had over 100 amateur fights winning the National Pals three times and two times runner up at National Silver Gloves. Barrios plans to be making his pro debut very soon.

“I’m excited about my future,” said Barrios. “Decubas and Santos have done a tremendous job with all their fighters and I’m hoping to live up to their standards. I’m ready to take my God given talents to the professional ranks and show the world what I’m made of.”

Arthur’s Gym

Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jamie Arthur says that his amateur boxing club is thriving after he entered 12 of his boxers in to this year’s Welsh ABA Novice Championships.

The only other club to enter as many boxers was the established and hugely successful Splott ABC, Arthur insists that the size of his Arthur’s ABC’s squad in just its second season is testament to the hard work of his coaches and support from the community.

He said, “We’ve got boxers bursting out of our building every evening and we’re just as busy as any other club in Wales. When we started, we started from literally scratch and now we’re producing boxers left, right and centre. Not just as they boxers, they are well disciplined and respectful young people.”

“There are social reasons why youngsters are so energetic in this area and I’m lucky to have a good team of coaches to help me channel that energy. The local community show a lot of support and that’s what we do around here, we make the best of what we have.”

In its first year, Pontypridd based Arthur’s Gym saw immediate achievement with three boxers reaching the Welsh ABA Novice Championships finals. Light-heavyweight Sparky Price and bantamweight Robbie Evans won their finals, Arthur says it inspired their gym-mates and he expects more to follow in their footsteps this year.

He said, “The boys give the gym and all of our boxers a real confidence boost last year, I honestly think that we can get a few more titles this year and that’s what we’ve been working towards. We go in to win every bout with every boxer but whether we win or lose, I’ll make sure the boxers learn the lessons that they need to improve and develop in the long term.”

Arthur enjoyed a successful amateur career which included numerous Welsh titles and international acclaim. With 12 years of experience in all levels of amateur boxing, Arthur believes that the nurture and education boxers receive in their novice years is the most important of their career.

He said, “It’s essential that any boxer is taught the basics well and that has to be the first part of their education. It’s not just the boxing; they have to learn about nutrition, healthy living and safe weight making.

“We have a lot of boxers here and many of them are in the novice stage, this is where we must give them a good grounding in what boxing is all about because these lessons will stay with them for the rest of their time in boxing.”