Ward v. Kovalev 2: Duva Justified, Lampley and Kellerman Get It Wrong

06/19/2017 by Jab121481

Image: Ward v. Kovalev 2: Duva Justified, Lampley and Kellerman Get It Wrong

By Joshua Blessman: Over this past weekend, Andre “SOG” Ward (32-0, 16 Kos) was declared victorious over Sergey “The Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KOs) in a controversial finish. This was their second meeting in the ring, with Ward winning the first fight by a very slim margin, only 1 point on all three judges’ score cards. Two huge issues have emerged in the second fight, whether or not the punch that led to Ward’s TKO stoppage of Kovalev was an illegal low blow under the unified rules of boxing and whether Tony Weeks, the referee of the bout, failed to make the correct call.

Gennady Golovkin should stop Ducking Canelo and Fight!

03/02/201703/02/2017 by Jab121481

By Joshua Blessman: Is middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin ducking Canelo? Yes, resoundingly in my opinion. Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy has most recently offered Golovkin $15 million plus some share of the pay-per-view. The previous offer was $10 million. Could Golovkin make anywhere near this amount of money fighting someone else? No way!

His only PPV fight brought in disappointment numbers against David Lemieux. Plus, he has yet to face an A-fighter in a prime or any elite fighters for that matter. Daniel Jacobs will be a step up, but Jacobs is not elite. Golovkin is fighting Jacobs on March 18 on Sky Box Office pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden, New York.

Pacquiao calls Mayweather’s bluff: Floyd won’t agree to his own terms

01/25/201501/25/2015 by Jab121481

By J Bless: Today, FightHype posted an interview with Showtime Sports Executive Stephen Espinoza that supposedly sets the record straight regarding Bob Arum’s alleged lies concerning a Pacquiao–Mayweather agreement.

However, rather than set the record straight, it seems that Espinoza exposed that Mayweather will not agree to his own terms.

In the interview, Espinoza specifically says that “terms have been negotiated,” but that “neither CBS or Showtime or Mayweather, [adviser Al] Haymon or even HBO for that matter, have agreed.”

Floyd Mayweather Jr: A Reply to the Critics

09/18/2014 by Jab121481

By Joshua Blessman: I recently wrote an article on Boxing News 24 entitled “Floyd Mayweather Jr: The Best Ever and Why the “O” Matters.” In it, I contend that Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26 KOs) is truly The Best Ever (TBE) because he is the most extraordinary athlete the sport has ever seen and the only elite fighter in the history of boxing to face the top level-opposition of his time and remain undefeated. As anticipated, my position was met with criticism in the form of comments. Many of these comments are the same that I have heard in different media outlets. While these criticisms may seem valid, they lack serious merit.

Below are my responses to common criticisms of Mayweather that have been presented by boxing commentators in various media forums.

Floyd Mayweather Jr: The Best Ever and Why the “O” Matters

09/15/2014 by Jab121481

floyd21 By Joshua Blessman: There have been some great fighters. Many of them beat top opposition. However, what separates Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) from other great fighters is that he is unbeaten and has influenced the sport and its followers more than any other boxer in history.

Unlike his predecessors, Mayweather faced the best boxers of his time and remained undefeated. Boxing pundits may argue that today’s opposition is not as tough as it was in previous eras. This is undoubtedly true when discussing fighters like Sugar Ray Robinson and Henry Armstrong, who both had over 180 fights. However, this argument does not hold when discussing the fighters of the “middle” era, who had a similar amount of fights as Mayweather.