By Sevak Sarkisian: On July 5th fight fans will be treated to an exciting fight card from Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford Connecticut. This will be the first fight card that 50 Cents promotional company (SMS Promotions) will be putting on by themselves without other co-promoters.
It will be aired live on ESPN 2 9pm ET. The main event will feature former world featherweight titlist Billy “The Kid” Dib (35-2-21KO’s) against the experienced Mike Oliver (25-3-8KO’s).
By Allan Fox: We may be seeing a rematch between former IBF featherweight champion Billy Dib (35-2, 21 KO’s) and newly crowned IBF champion Evgeny Gradovich (16-0, 8 KO’s), as Dan Rafael is reporting that the 27-year-old Dib had a rematch clause in his contract with Gradovich, although it’s not an immediate rematch.
Gradovich can defend the title once before having to face Dib in a rematch, if Dib chooses to face him again. It’s hard to imagine him choosing not to fight Gradovich again if for no other reason than to get a good payday.
However, the odds of Dib beating Gradovich in the rematch are remote at best because Gradovich proved clearly last Friday night that he’s simply a superior fighter than Dib in beating him by a 12 round split decision.
By Jim Dower: Promoter 50 Cent’s fighter IBF featherweight champion Billy Dib (35-2, 21 KO’s) took a real pounding tonight by #11 IBF Evgeny Gradovich (16-0, 8 KO’s), in losing by a 12 round split decision at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort, in Mashantucket, Connecticut, USA.
The final judges’ scores were 114-112 for Gradovich, 114-112 for Dib and 114-112 for Gradovich. It’s hard to imagine which fight the judge was watching that scored the fight for Dib by 114-112 score because it seemed like a clear cut win for Gradovich.
Both fighters were docked a point by referee Eddie Claudio in the 8th for what he felt was too much holding. It didn’t seem like it was that bad, but the referee was really getting in the way of the inside fighting all night long.
By Scott Gilfoid: IBF featherweight champion Billy Dib (35-1, 21 KO’s) spent a little time today trying to get a fight against former WBO super featherweight champion Adrien Broner (24-0, 20 KO’s) in a back and forth discussion on twitter today.
By Scott Gilfoid: 50 Cent did a great job of adding two quick talented fighters Andre Dirrell and Yuriorkis Gamboa to his TMT Promotions stable recently. I mean, those two fighters are a strong foundation that 50 Cent [Curtis Jackson] and Floyd Mayweather Jr. can use to create a talented stable. However, 50 Cent now has reported signed IBF featherweight champion Billy Dib (35-1, 21 KO’s) to the TMT Promotions team, and I think he missed by a mile with this pick.
By Jim Dower: IBF middleweight champion Daniel Geale (27-1, 15 KO’d) held onto his title by beating a game but limited Osumanu Adama (20-3, 15 KO’s) by a decisive 12 round unanimous decision on Wednesday night at the Dervwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
By Ian Aldous: Billy ‘The Kid’ Dib (33-1) became IBF World featherweight champion in July and looks to build on his successful career with big fights in the future. The 26 year-old spoke with me this week about winning the title and what some of those big fights might be.
By Dan Ambrose: Making his first defense of his IBF featherweight title, champion Billy Dib (33-1, 20 KO’s) easily beat #8 ranked International Boxing Federation challenger Alberto Servidei (31-1-2, 7 KO’s) by a 1st round knockout on Saturday night at the Homebush Sports Centre in Sydney, Australia.
By Jim Dower: Former two-time World Boxing Association (WBA) super middleweight champion Anthony Mundine (40-3, 24 KO’s) defeated fellow Australian Ryan Waters (20-3-2, 12 KO’s) by a 10th round TKO on Wednesday night in a WBA junior middleweight title eliminator bout at the Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Mundine, 35, hurt Waters with a flurry of shots at the end of the 9th round, and then at the start of the 10th, Mundine put him away with storm of punches that left Waters on the canvas.
By Nate Anderson: Featherweight contender Billy Dib (22-1, 11 KOs) defeated Davey Browne (15-1-1, 4 KOs) by 8th round technical decision on Wednesday night for the IBF Pan Pacific Youth featherweight and interim WBC World Youth featherweight title at The Cube, Campbelltown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Dibs, 23, using his unorthodox style of boxing reminiscent of a slightly poor version of Naseem Hamed, used his boxing skills and a lot of movement to control most of the fight.