Lara vs. Rodriguez and Beterbiev vs. Johnson tonight on PBC

1-5H6A1201By Allan Fox: WBA junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (20-2-2, 12 KOs) will be looking to put on a virtuoso performance tonight on Spike TV against Delvin Rodriguez (28-7-4, 16 KOs) at the UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Rodriguez, who is not young at 35, is going to need to roll back the years to have a chance of winning this fight.

Lara, 32, isn’t invincible, as we saw in his fights against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Vanes Martirosyan, but it takes a better fighter than Rodriguez to make him look mortal.

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Lara-Rodriguez & Beterbiev-Johnson make weight

5H6A1225(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) By Allan Fox: A very thin looking WBA World junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (20-2-2, 12 KOs) made weight on Thursday for his title defense on Friday against #12 WBA Delvin Rodriguez (28-7-4, 16 KOs) at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

Lara weighed in at 153.6 pounds for the fight, and as I said, he looked very thin to the point where he was weight-drained. Rodriguez weighed in at 153.4 pounds and looked pretty good. Judging by Rodriguez’s appearance, I don’t think he’s going to put a lot of weight on overnight before the fight.

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Beterbiev not worried about facing southpaw Johnson on Friday on PBC

5H6A1237(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) By Allan Fox: Light heavyweight Artur Beterbiev (8-0, 8 KOs) isn’t too worried about facing the southpaw Alexander Johnson (16-2, 7 KOs) this Friday in their fight on Spike TV on Premier Boxing champions from the UIC Pavilion, in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Beterbiev will have a huge advantage in punching power, boxing skills, and past amateur experience. Beterbiev doesn’t have much experience as a pro, but he’s a two-time Olympian from Russia and he’s beaten Sergey Kovalev in the past when the two fighters were fighting in the amateur ranks.

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Artur Beterbiev signs with Al Haymon

beterbiev5By Allan Fox: Undefeated light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev (8-0, 8 KOs) has reportedly signed a contract with adviser Al Haymon in a move to help guide the career of the talented fighter. Beterbiev, 30, is promoted by Yvon Michel of Groupe Yvon Michel. Beterbiev fought in the Olympics twice for his native Russia.

Due to his lengthy amateur career, Beterbiev is getting a late start in professional boxing. That’s one of the reasons why he’s being moved up so quickly. Another reason is because he picked up a lot of experience in the amateurs in facing high level competition, and he doesn’t need to burn through six to seven years like a lot of fighters tend to do in facing lower level opposition instead of moving their career a long at a faster pace.

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Artur Beterbiev vs. Alexander Johnson on 6/12 on Spike in Chicago, Illinois

beterbiev66By Dan Ambrose: #2 IBF, #4 WBA, #4 WBC, #5 WBO light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev (8-0, 8 KOs) will be facing replacement opponent Alexander Johnson (16-2, 7 KOs) on June 12th on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV in a 12 round bout at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

The 33-year-old Johnson replaces Doudou Ngumbu for the fight. It’s not much of a change, as both fighters are roughly the same in talent. Beterbiev will likely have as easy a time beating Alexander Johnson as he would if he’d faced Ngumbu.

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Lara-Rodriguez & Beterbiev-Ngumbu on Spike TV on June 12th

laraBy Dan Ambrose: WBA World junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (20-2-2, 12 KOs) has a title defense coming up in 10 days from now against Delvin Rodriguez (28-7-4, 16 KOs) on June 12th on Spike TV on Premier Boxing Champions from the IIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.

The undercard has a very good fight between the highly ranked light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev (8-0, 8 KOs) and Doudou Ngumbu (34-6, 13 KOs). This fight could turn out to be even more entertaining than the main event because Lara and Rodriguez.

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Boxingnews24 knockout mailbag: Beterbiev/Alvarez, Khan/Thurman/Brook, Rigo/Morales and more

beterbiev1022By Sebastian Mora: This is the second mailbag. I answered 5 questions this time, if your opinion or question is not here I will try my best to answer it on the next Boxingnews24 knockout mailbag.

Kelly: I have seen  your article regarding Artur Beterbiev. I agree with most of what you said. I only have one question. 

What would Eleider Alvarez do that other opponents have not done? I feel that hes overrated, has conditioning problems, and does not have the best technique. I think Cloud and Campillo (Sorry if I dont spell his name correctly) are still better than Eleider Alvarez. If I was Beterbiev manager, I would be trying to put him against Pascal or Chilemba! 

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Artur Beterbiev to return to the ring in May

beterbiev1022By Allan Fox: #7 WBC, #12 WBA, #13 IBF, #13 WBO light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev (8-0, 8 KOs) will be back in the ring next month in May against an opponent still to be determined. Beterbiev, 30, will be making a quick return to the ring after dispatching former WBA light heavyweight champion Gabriel Campillo (25-7-1, 12 KOs) last Saturday night in a 4th round knockout at the Pepsi Coliseum, in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

Beterbiev blasted Campillo out with a left-right combination that knocked him clean out at 2:22 of the 4th. Referee Marlon Wright didn’t even have to count after seeing how badly Campillo was hurt.

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Artur Beterbiev and his future

beterbiev63By Sebastian Mora: First of all, I will start by saying that I though Gabriel Campillo was going to atleast give Artur Beterbiev a solid 7 or 8 rounds. Gabriel Campillo is a fighter that lost a split decision to Beibut Shumenov (Boxer Hopkins got huge credit for beating) which many people thought could have gone either way.  

After that, he went on to fight and BEAT Karo Murat, (Another boxer Hopkins got huge credit for beating) although it was a split draw, anybody that watches that fight knows that it was mostly a hometown decision. No disrespect to Karo Murat of course.

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Beterbiev defeats Campillo in impressive performance

beterbiev5By Allan Fox: #7 WBC, #12 WBA, #13 IBF, #13 WBO light heavyweight contender Artur Beterbiev (8-0, 8 KOs) proved that he’s ready for a world title shot today with a fourth round knockout victory over ring veteran Gabriel Campillo (25-7-1, 12 KOs). Beterbiev, 30, knocked Campillo out with a right-left combination in the 4th round that left Campillo flat on his back and seemingly out cold for a moment.

The fight was stopped at 2:22 of the 4th round by referee Marlon Wright on Saturday at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. What’s interesting about the knockout is that Beterbiev had Campillo out on his feet after hurting him with a big right hand to the head in the 4th.

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