The final four: Floyd Mayweather’s last opponents

floyd#300By John Kelvin: Floyd Mayweather Jr. has four fights left in his six fight showtime deal. The first of these fights is expected to take place on the 3rd of May 2014 and the last is expected to take place sometime in September 2015. The question is, who will these four opponents be? There seems to be two names in the running for May 3rd, Amir Khan and Marcos Maidana.

Mayweather has in the last week encouraged the fans to decide who he is to face by taking part in a poll. Regardless of the results, many expect Amir Khan to be facing Mayweather on May 3rd, deserving or not. Khan has no fights at 147lbs, whereas Maidana has four consecutive wins at the weight and holds a championship. Khan has two knockout losses and has been knocked down numerous times, Maidana has never been stopped.

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Boxing Judging

By John Kelvin: Over the years boxing has been blighted by controversial and downright bizarre judging in major fights. Some of the most high profile controversies include Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez 2 and 3, Pacquiao vs. Tim Bradley, Tommy Hearns vs. Sugar Ray Leonard 2, Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Pernell Whitaker, Oscar De la Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad and De La Hoya vs. Shane Mosley 2 .

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Mayweather vs. Alvarez full card preview

floyd170By John Kelvin: This Saturday, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Floyd “Canelo” Alvarez clash in the biggest boxing event of the  year for the undisputed junior middleweight championship. The undercard also features Ishe Smith against top contender Carlos Molina and the highly anticipated match up between Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse at junior welterweight. Former British champion Ashley Theophane faces former world title challenger Pablo Caesar Cano to complete the meaningful fights on the card.

Predictions

Ashley Theophane faces a tough task in Pablo Caesar Cano in his first fight under the Mayweather Promotions banner. Cano has challenged for two world championships and is coming off a competitive loss to Sugar Shane Mosley.

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The Top Rank and Golden Boy feud is ruining boxing

By John Kelvin: A lot of people like to claim that boxing is dying and that casual fans are no longer interested in the sport. The huge pay-per-view numbers generated by Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather contradict these claims. However, the sport would be a lot healthier and popular if the current conflict between the top two promotional companies, Top Rank and Golden Boy was brought to an end. This conflict has and will continue to have a significant impact on the sport as the top champions will be unable to face each other to decide who is the very best in the division.

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Gennady Golovkin the best middleweight in the world?

golovkin5By John Kelvin: WBA World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin has received a lot of hype and attention over the last 6 months based on his victories over Grzegorz Proksa and Gabriel Rosado. With these wins he has been called the best middleweight in the world by many people and has also been labeled the most avoided man in the sport.

Golovkin is a strong fighter with good power but he has done nothing to deserve being called the world’s best middleweight. He has defeated no name opponents or faced any credible contenders. He has been a champion for 2 years but has yet to face fellow champions Peter Quilllin, Daniel Geale, Dmitry Pirog and Sergio Martinez or even contenders like Andy Lee, Martin Murray, Darren Barker and Matthew Macklin.

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Chris John should be in the top 10 pound for pound list

john453445By John Kelvin: Chris John is the longest reining champion in the sport today. He is the current WBA featherweight champion of the world and has held the title for 9 years making 16 defenses in total. John has defeated recent Manny Pacquiao conqueror and Mexican legend Juan Manuel Marquez as well as former champion Derrick Gainer.

He also holds victories over 5 time title challenger Rocky Juarez and top contenders Daud Yordan and Chonlatarn Piriyapino the latter of whom was 44-0 when he faced John.  John is an excellent fighter with great boxing skills who has defeated every man he has faced on the way to achieving an outstanding professional record of 48-0-2. 

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Is Joe Calzaghe an all time great?

calzaghe445574By John Kelvin: Joe Calzaghe is regarded by most fans and media as the greatest super middleweight of all time and an all time great fighter in general due to his 46-0 record. However on closer inspection of Calzaghe’s record he does not appear to be that great a fighter.

Calzaghe won his first title in 1997 against a faded past his best Chris Eubank and held the title for 10 years making 21 successful defenses in the process. That is an impressive number of defenses but who were those successful defenses against? Calzaghe’s first five defenses are as follows: Branko Sobot, Juan Gimenez, Robin Reid, Rick Thornberry and David Starrie.

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Adrien Broner vs Gavin Rees: Will Gavin throw Adrien off his game on February 16th?

rees5By John Kelvin: On February 16th Lightweight title holder Adrien Broner takes on former 140lb champion Gavin Rees in Atlantic City. This fight was made because both Broner and fellow lightweight champion Ricky Burns were unable to agree terms for a proposed unification.

Broner won the title from Antonio Demarco in a excellent display of boxing in his first fight at lightweight after previously holding a belt at super featherweight. Rees is a former 140lb champion who won the title in an upset victory over Souleymane M’baye in 2007 but lost it in his first defense against Andriy Kotelnyk.

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Winky Wright vs Vernon Forrest at 154lbs: Who would have won?

wright4646433By John Kelvin: Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright were two of the best boxers of the last 10 years. Winky was a southpaw who had an excellent right jab which he used to control his opponents as well as turtle like defense which few opponents were able to penetrate. Vernon Forrest was a member of the 1992 US Olympic team and had a great set of boxing skills.

Forrest also had a strong jab and an excellent right cross which was capable of sending most opponents to the canvas.  Both men had to wait a long time before being recognized and accepted as top fighters. Winky had to find fights in Europe before finally fighting for the title in France against Julio Cesar Vasquez where he lost a wide decision after rising from the canvas four times.

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Mayweather is the greatest boxer of the modern era

floyd82Floyd Mayweather has been a professional prizefighter for 17 years and has yet to suffer a defeat. He is the last remaining member of the 1996 Olympic team and is a five weight world champion. Mayweather is the closest thing to a perfect fighter, he has outstanding hand speed, mental strength and defensive skills.

Even though he is slightly slower and has been more hittable in recent years, his solid boxing foundation has allowed him to stay on top of the sport which is something Roy Jones could not do as he grew older and his speed started to decline.

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