By Jim Dower: Former IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KO’s) reportedly will be returning to the ring in May, and hopes to fight for the vacant World Boxing Council junior middleweight title that was recently vacated by Manny Pacquiao. One of the contenders for the vacant WBC title will tentatively be #1 ranked WBC contender Saul Alvarez. The WBC board will vote for the other challenger. However, Cintron, who’s ranked only #9 by the WBC, is likely not going to be the one that gets the opportunity.
Boxing News
Cruiserweight Super Six tournament could take place in 2011
By Dan Ambrose: A cruiserweight Super Six tournament similar to Showtime’s super middleweight Super Six tourney, could take place in 2011. Sauerland Promotions is currently interested in putting the tourney together and it would give them a great opportunity to market some of their cruiserweights. The contestants that are being mentioned for the tournament are Denis Lebedev, Marcos Huck, Yoan Pablo Hernandez, Steve Herelius, Krzystof Wlodarczyk, Steve Cunningham and Guillermo Jones. Either Hernandez or Herelius will be filtered out depending on how their fight goes this weekend.
Pacquiao’s WBC title now vacant, Saul Alvarez next in line
By Dan Ambrose: The WBC junior middleweight title is now vacant after the Manny Pacquiao, the WBC champion after defeating Antonio Margarito for the vacant strap in November, opted not to defend the belt.
Allan Green moves up to light heavyweight division
By Dan Ambrose: Following two consecutive humiliating losses in the Super Six tournament, the struggling super middleweight contender Allan Green (29-3, 20 KO’s) will be now fighting at light heavyweight to try and get a change of luck.
Dirrell hoping to be back in April
By Scott Gilfoid: With any luck, we may be seeing the amazingly talented Andre Dirrell (19-1, 13 KO’s) back in action in April against a still to be determined opponent. Dirrell, 27, is saying on his twitter that he plans on getting back in the ring in April, saying “I’m looking at April. Only time will tell, though, but it’s looking good.” The only think that Dirrell is waiting for is to be cleared by Dr. Shaw, his personal doctor who is overseeing his care after Dirrell was hurt by a shot while he was down on the canvas from a slip in March 2010 in a Super Six tournament fight against Arthur Abraham.
Maidana says he still hasn’t been offered a fight with Alexander but wants to fight him
By Dan Ambrose: Light welterweight Marcos Maidana (29-2, 27 KO’s) says he hasn’t been offered a fight against former WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander (21-1, 13 KO’s), but Maidana wants to fight him if possible. Alexander’s trainer recently said that they would like to face Maidana in the summer in June or July, but the fight will have to wait until the cuts that Alexander sustained in the Timothy Bradley fight heal. Alexander was badly sliced up by Bradley’s head during the fight and is going to need a lot of time for the cuts to heal up properly.
Who rules at 168-175lbs?
By Joe Met: Traditionally there has always been a close relationship between the super-middleweight and the light-heavyweight divisions. Many fighters over the years have chosen to take fights and challenge for titles in both divisions to improve their chances of success. Fighters such as Thomas Hearns, Roy Jones Jr and Joe Calzaghe even held world titles at both weights, and in the case of Hearns and Jones Jr, they held titles in several other weight categories too.
Chavez Jr. wants to fight De La Hoya after reading his twitter comments – Boxing News
By Dan Ambrose: #1 ranked WBC middleweight contender and current WBC Silver middleweight title holder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (42-0-1, 30 KO’s) wants to face 38-year-old Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KO’s) next after reading De La Hoya’s comments he made about Chavez in his twitter account, according to fightnews.com. De La Hoya happened to have seen the 24-year-old Chavez’s recent fight against Billy Lyell, and like a lot of boxing fans, couldn’t help noticing how weak and poor Chavez Jr. looked in that fight.
Flashback: Jack Johnson Profiled – Pt 3
By John F. McKenna (McJack): Finally a “White Hope” was found who was a legitimate threat to Jack Johnson’s reign as Heavyweight Champion. Jess Willard, a rugged, confident, hard working cowboy from Kansas, who had started his boxing career just six years prior, challenged Johnson for the title. Big Jess at 6’6”, 245 lbs had nowhere near Johnson’s skill as a fighter. What he did possess was a great deal of strength and stamina. The fight between Jack Johnson and Jess Willard was scheduled for 45 rounds and was held on April 5, 1915 (Johnson vs Willard – YouTube) in Havana, Cuba.
Flashback: Jack Johnson Profiled – Pt 2
By John F. McKenna (McJack): Johnson won the World Heavyweight Colored Championship in 1903, but his shot at the World Heavyweight Championship was still five years away. With over fifty fights under his belt, Johnson began in earnest to pursue the big prize. Finally in 1908 Johnson, after years of following Heavyweight Champion Tommy Burns halfway around the world, caught up to him in Sydney, Australia.