International Boxing Federation light welterweight champion Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi (23-1, 5 KOs) defends his title on January 5th against once beaten challenger Herman Ngoudjo (16-1, 9 KOs) at Bally’s Hotel & Casino, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Ngoudjo, 28, represented Cameroon in the 2000 Olympics, getting eliminated quickly in the first round, is coming off a very controversial split decision victory over Randall Bailey in June, a bout in which Ngoudjo trade knockdowns with Baily, and appeared to lose five the six final rounds of the fight.
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Will Taylor Be Improved For His Rematch With Pavlik?
With the rematch fast approaching for former middleweight Jermain Taylor (27-1-1, 17 KOs) against undefeated knockout artist Kelly Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs) on February 16, at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada, the big question is whether the 29 year-old Taylor will have a better game plan this time around to counteract Pavlik’s slugging style and knockout power. To be sure, last time around, Taylor played directly into Pavlik’s hands by going right at him, trying to match him punch for punch and attempting to out-slug a known slugger.
Even then, Taylor, a vastly talented fighter, came within an eyelash of knocking Pavlik out in the 2nd round when he dropped him with a series of huge, lightning fast shots. However, in doing so, Taylor got a little over anxious and punching himself out while trying to score the knockout.
Will Hopkins Be Calzaghe’s Last Fight?
According to the latest boxing news, undefeated WBO/WBC/WBA super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe could be fighting for the last time when he takes on Bernard Hopkins in April 2008. Apparently, Calzaghe doesn’t see many other big names fighters to fight in the near future, besides the soon to be 43 year-old Hopkins, and figures that if he can’t land a big mega fight, he would be better off retiring from boxing.
Marquez Looking Forward To Rematch With Pacquiao
World Boxing Council super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (48-3-1, 35 KOs) is getting ready for his March 15th rematch with Manny Pacquiao, whom he fought to a controversial 12-round draw with in May 2004. Marquez, 34, was knocked down three times in the first round of the fight, but from then on he rallied back, appearing to win most of the remaining rounds of the fight behind his sharp counter-punching style.
Despite the many knockdowns, it appeared that Marquez had done enough to earn the decision to many people that saw the bout. Afterwards, Marquez was eager for a rematch, but he was unable to reach agreement with Pacquiao and the fight never came off. Now, three years later, Marquez wants to prove that he is the better fighter once and for all, and is training hard to make that happen.
“He’s (Mayweather) Afraid To Lose” – Bob Arum
In the latest boxing news, World Boxing Council welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. has recently stated that he plans on competing in the MMA, and will perhaps be signing on with his billionaire friend, Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and HFNet Fights, a MMA promotional company.
Cintron Wants Rematch With Margarito
Once beaten International Boxing Federation welterweight champion Kermit Cintron (29-1, 27 KOs) made it public yesterday his desire to meet up with Antonio Margarito as soon as possible to get revenge for his previous defeat to him, a one-sided 5th round TKO loss in April 2005.
Apparently, Cintron, 28, feels that he wasn’t ready last time out against Margarito, saying “I was coming off a 9 month layoff, hand surgery, and had only 4 weeks to prepare. I’m not going to make any more excuses, but I know that fight was a fluke. When I fight Margarito again, the fight will once again end in a knockout. Only this time, it will be Margarito lying on the canvas.”
What Cintron fails to remember, however, is that he was out-gunned in virtually every second of the bout, lacking both the handspeed and the punching output to contend with Margarito.
Gulyakevich Decisions Kirakosyan, Wins EBU Super Featherweight Title
Super featherweight Sergey Gulyakevich (24-1, 12 KOs) defeated the power-punching Leva Kirakosyan (26-5, 17 KOs) by 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Datch Forum (Sala Gallery), in Assago, Milano, Lombardia, Italy, to win the European Boxing Union super featherweight title. Gulyakevich, 26, from Minsk, Belarus, easily won virtually every round of the fight, befuddling Kirakosyan the whole time. The final judges’ scores were 115-113, 120-108 and 118-110, for Gulyakevich.
Solis Decisions Long
Looking oddly similar to a fat Monte Barrett, undefeated heavyweight prospect Odlanier Solis (6-0, 4 KOs) struggled in winning a 8-round unanimous decision over 7′ foot Julius Long (15-9, 13 KOs) at the Halle an der Saale, in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. Solis, 27, the 2004 Cuban Olympic Gold medallist in the heavyweight division, had a lot of problems dealing with Long’s 13 inch height advantage, and spent much of the fight either cautiously studying Long or making wild charges at him in an effort to hit him with a punch.
It was an especially unimpressive performance for Solis, since Long has previously been stopped by heavyweights such as Tye Fields, Samuel Peter and Audley Harrison. Solis, though, appeared just too small and lacking in the power department to have much of an effect on Long. The final judges’ scores were 80-71, 80-72 and 80-71, all for Solis. In the 5th round, Solis knocked Long down with a sweeping right hand that connected to the back of Long’s head, sending him down. The punch, and Solis’ fighting style, reminded me of Samuel Peter, albeit without his considerable power.
Hide Obliterates Nasyrov
Earlier tonight, former World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Hernie Hide (41-4, 40 KOs) totally destroyed his previously unbeaten Russian opponent Mikhail Nasyrov (19-0, 13 KOs) in the sixth round, knocking him down five times in the process, at the Maritim Hotel in Halle/Saale. Nasyrov, 25, was knocked down four times in the 2nd round, causing many in the audience to began laughing. By the forth knockdown, Nasyrov’s right knee was red from having hit the canvas so many times.
Rodriguez Decisions McGee
Undefeated Mexican heavyweight prospect David Rodriguez (27-0, 25 KOs) struggled last night in the process of winning a eight-round unanimous decision over journeyman Marcus McGee (19-15, 9 KOs) at the Dickerson’s Event Center, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The 6’4 242 lb Rodriguez, 30, looked average despite winning seven of eight rounds of the fight. Though he was able to outwork McGee, a trial horse for up and coming fighters, over the course of the bout, Rodriguez looked badly tired after only the 3rd round, and took an abnormal amount of punishment from the light-hitting 36 year-old McGee.