By Scott Gilfoid: #1 IBF contender Lee Selby (20-1, 8 KOs) has a big fight on Saturday against IBF featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich (19-0-1, 9 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Selby, 28, says he wants to go after the other world champions if he defeats Gradovich.
Nicholas Walters
Nicholas Walters vs. Miguel Marriaga on 6/13 on HBO
By Allan Fox: WBA Super World featherweight champ Nicholas Walters (25-0, 21 KOs) will be back inside the ring next month to defend his WBA title against unbeaten #8 WBC, #13 IBF, #14 WBO Miguel Marriaga (20-0, 18 KOs) in a fight on HBO World Championship Boxing from Madison Square Garden in New York.
Walters, 29, is fighting for the first time since destroying former four division world champion Nonito Donaire in six rounds last year in October.
Crawford vs. TBA, Walters vs. Rodriguez on 3/21
By Dan Ambrose: Terence Crawford (25-0, 17 KOs) will be fighting on HBO against an opponent still to be determined on March 21st. It’ll be the 27-year-old Crawford’s first fight in the light welterweight division, as he’s moving up from lightweight where he holds the WBO 135lb title at this time.
Crawford wants to get bigger fights in the light welterweight division. As of now there still isn’t a venue for the fight, but it could take place in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
Arum wants Lomachenko and Nicholas Walters to fight in 2015
By Allan Fox: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says that he’d like to setup a fight between WBA Super World featherweight champion Nicholas Walters (25-0, 21 KOs) and WBO featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (2-1, 1 KOs) in 2015.
Walters recently obliterated one of Arum’s most popular fighters in Nonito Donaire in stopping him in the 6th round last October in a pretty much one-sided fight. Now that Donaire is out of the unofficial featherweight tournament that Arum has going, it’s now Lomachenko and Walters that need to face each other.
Golovkin-Rubio brings in 1.3 million viewers on HBO, a huge hit!
(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Dan Ambrose: If Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez needed the motivation to fight WBA Super World middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) then all they need do is look at the huge ratings his fight against Marco Antonio Rubio (59-7-1, 51 KOs) generated last Saturday night on HBO Championship Boxing from the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
The Golovkin-Rubio fight averaged 1,304 million viewers, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN, which makes it the 2nd most viewed fight of the year. That’s not bad for a fighter who can’t get Canelo and Cotto to fight him.
Nicholas Walters takes his chance and shows his class
By Daniel Hughes: The chief support at the StubHub Center, in Carson, California, this past Saturday was the WBA Super World featherweight title fight between Nonito Donaire and Nicholas Walters. It was a fight that looked to be action packed from the start, and it did not disappoint in that regard. Walters moved to 25-0 (21 KO’s) via a 6th round KO. Walters was younger man taking his chance, and stepping up in class and performance against Donaire (33-3 (21 KO’s).
Donaire, of course, came to fight, he always does. He came up against a bigger, stronger, and younger opponent who unheralded before will now certainly be a force at featherweight. The fight was a real advertisement in a division that that boasts many good match ups and potential unification fights. Walters is now in the mix.
Donaire won’t fight Walters again, moving down to 122, says Nonito Sr
By Chris Williams: Former four division world champion Nonito Donaire (33-3, 21 KOs) will be moving back down to the super bantamweight division (122 pounds), says his trainer/father Nonito Donaire Sr. This was something that Donaire hinted at following his 6th round knockout loss to WBA World featherweight champion Nicholas Walters (25-0, 21 KOs) last Saturday night at the SubHub Center in Carson, California.
Donaire was planted onto the canvas by a big right hand shot by Walters. After crawling back to his feet, Donaire wasn’t allowed to continue fighting due to the sad shape he was in. Donaire would have been destroyed immediately if the referee Jack Reiss had allowed the fight to continue.
Diaz says featherweight division is too tough for Nonito Donaire
By Chris Williams: Joel Diaz, the trainer for Tim Bradley, thinks the featherweight division is too tough for former four division world champion Nonito Donaire (33-3, 21 KOs) after watching him get taken apart by World Boxing Association (WBA) World featherweight Nicholas Walters (25-0, 21 KOs) last night in 6 rounds at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Donaire, 31, was knocked down twice in the fight, and stopped in the 6th after he was dropped by a right hand from the stronger Walters.
Donaire to consider his career options after loss to Walters
By Allan Fox: 31-year-old Nonito Donaire (33-3, 21 KOs) took a beating tonight in losing by a 6th round knockout to WBA World featherweight champion Nicholas Walters (25-0, 21 KOs) at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Donaire was on the canvas twice in the fight. He came into the fight having never been knocked down before, but he’d never faced a guy as big and as powerful as Walters. Donaire was knocked down by a hard right uppercut in the 3rd. In the 6th, Donaire was flattened by a right hand by Walters.
Walters did a job on Donaire’s face, as both eyes were swollen up and he was cut over his right eye.
Prediction: Donaire will lose tonight against Nicholas Walters
By Chris Williams: With three less than impressive performances in his last three fights, WBA Super World featherweight champion Nonito Donaire (33-2, 21 KOs) has a very real chance of losing tonight against unbeaten knockout artist Nicholas Walters (24-0, 20 KOs) in their co-feature bout on the “Mexican Style” fight card on HBO Championship Boxing from the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Donaire hasn’t lost a fight since last year when he was beaten by the tough Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux by a 12 round decision. Donaire was on his way to losing to Vic Darchinyan last November when Donaire scored a knockout in the 9th. Darchinyan was ahead on the scorecards 78-74 and 78-74 by two of the judges.