By John Calderon: 22-year veteran referee Tony Weeks has suffered the brunt of a tremendous backlash from the boxing public over last Saturday night’s rematch between IBF/WBA/WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Andre “Son of God” Ward (32-0, 16 KOs) and former Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs).
By J. Calderon: WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) technically out-classed a frustrated and ineffective Viktor “The Iceman” Postol (28-1, 12 KOs), last Saturday night, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, in front of over 7,000 fans. Both Crawford and Postol are technical fighters, and Crawford was simply the better chess player of the two.
Postol might have done better if he would’ve applied more pressure and use his superior size to push Crawford into a corner, or at least against the ropes, but that’s just not his style, and he is just too lean and long to bully the much-sturdier and muscular Crawford.
By J. Calderon: It appears that former WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KO’s) is on track to replace retired former five-division world champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. (49-0, 26 KO’s), not as the next PPV attraction, but as the biggest villain in boxing.
Alvarez, 25, has been barraged relentlessly this week by boxing fans and critics alike, after Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya announced that they will be going after the weakest link in the 154 lb. division: WBO light middleweight champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KO’s). Some argue that this could be a cherry-pick gone wrong for Oscar, others are perplexed by the baffling and unwarranted rumored purchase price of $70, arguing that they wouldn’t tune in if this was a free fight.
By J. Calderon: We get it, WBC/WBA/IBF/IBO middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KO’s) is presumably the best at 160. What we don’t get, is why GGG continues to beat at a dead horse in a stubborn attempt to unify the middleweight division. GGG now has three of the four major organizational belts, thanks in part to a giving and generous former WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KO’s) who seemed happy to oblige with Gennady’s ultimatum: “Give me my belt, hey, I need my belt.”
The last remaining belt is in possession of WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KO’s), who insists that he is willing to face GGG, but the money has to be right. An eerily similar response was heard from another highly desired Golovkin opponent, WBA (regular) middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs (31-1, 28 KO’s).
By J. Calderon: WBA Welterweight Champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (27-0, 22 KO’s) successfully defended his crown from a hungry and relentless young lion in former IBF Welterweight Champion Shawn “Showtime” Porter (26-2-1, 16 KO’s) via unanimous decision in front of a roaring crowd at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
The closely contested action-packed fight was scored 115-113 for Keith Thurman on all three judges’ scorecards. It was televised for free on Premier Boxing Champions on CBS, in what has to be seen as the most successful and competitive matchup in the series thus far. The crowd was visibly unhappy with the decision, but Shawn and Keith both had each other hurt throughout the bout, with Keith out-landing Shawn in power punches 203 to 177 and Shawn out-landing Keith in jabs 59 to 32 respectively.
By J. Calderon: In an utterly predictable move, Golden Boy Promotions announced that former WBC Middleweight Champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be facing WBO Jr. Middleweight Champion Liam “Beefy” Smith on Sept. 17. Already, there has been a massive backlash on social media, with fans bombarding Canelo’s page with GGG memes and claiming to have abandoned ship.
Now, the point of view of Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya and Vice President Eric Gomez is simple: maximum reward for minimum risk. “Canelo” has already denied being a full-fledged middleweight, so moving back to 154 lbs. and fighting for a Jr. Middleweight title makes perfect sense. However, “Canelo” has claimed to be unable to make 154 lbs since his win over a weight drained Alfredo Angulo in 2014.