By Jeff Aranow: Trainer Virgil Hunter doesn’t like the catchweight that Saul Canelo Alvarez is using for tonight’s fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in their fight on HBO PPV. Hunter thinks that Canelo’s habit of requiring that his opponents fight him at catchweights will keep him ultimately from becoming a great fighter in the future.
By Allan Fox: Light heavyweight champion Andre Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter is guaranteeing that his rematch with former 175 pound champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs) will be a different fight when the two of them go at it on June 17 on HBO pay-per-view at the Mandalay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Ward-Kovalev II rematch was announced last Tuesday after a lot of time spent in negotiating the fight. Ward, 32, has taken a lot of heat from boxing fans for winning a questionable 12 round unanimous decision over Kovalev on November 19 last year.
By Dan Ambrose: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) and his promoters at Golden Boy are seen a smart in choosing the ring rusty Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KOs) for his next fight on May 6, and getting him to agree to fight at a catch-weight of 164 ½ pounds. Trainer Virgil Hunter thinks Canelo and Golden Boy could be making a big mistake in picking out the 31-year-old Chavez Jr
By Allan Fox: WBA ‘regular’ middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs is using the gym of Andre Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter in Hayward, California to get ready for his fight on March 18 against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) on HBO pay-per-view.
Hunter feels that Golovkin has never been in the ring with anyone at the pro level with the talent of the 29-year-old Jacobs, and he feels that anything can happen in this fight. Hunter notes that on paper, Jacobs is the underdog to Triple G, but he still believes that he has a chance of beating the Kazahstan fighter when the two battle it out at Madison Square Garden in New York next month.
By Jeff Aranow: Trainer Virgil Hunter says he wants to see IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) get bored in the ring against Danny Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) and give him a free shot in their fight on March 18. Hunter is daring Golovkin to let Jacobs hit him like he’s done in the past fights against different opponents when he gets bored or when he doesn’t respect his opponent’s punching power.
That was the case in Golovkin’s last fight against Kell Brook last September. Golovkin was facing a pumped up welterweight in Brook, and he didn’t care if he was hit by him in the fight.
By Dan Ambrose: Virgil Hunter, the trainer for IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Andre Ward, is going to be helping out with the training for WBA World middleweight champion Danny Jacobs get ready for his fight against Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) on March 18 at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Jacob (32-1, 29 KOs) will be training at Hunter’s King Boxing gym in Oakland, California. Jacobs’ normal trainer Andre Rozier will be the lead trainer, and Hunter will be there for advice, according to RingTV.com.
By Allan Fox: Trainer Virgil Hunter is sending a warning out to IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) that his fighter Andre “SOG” Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) has got the punching power to knockout anyone in the 175lb division and he means ANYONE. Ward will be looking to rip Kovalev’s three light heavyweight titles from him this Saturday night on November 19 on HBO pay-per-view from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
If Ward can beat Kovalev, he’ll likely see himself crowned as the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in boxing today. The win might not do much as far as creating a huge match against a star like Gennady “GGG” Golovkin though, because he’s not showing interest in moving up to 175 to fight the guys in that division.
By Allan Fox: Trainer Virgil Hunter thinks Andre Ward (30-0, 15 KOs) won’t get credit if he beats IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) in their fight on November 19. Hunter thinks that people in the boxing world will give Isaac Chilemba credit for creating the blueprint in how to beat Kovalev in their fight last July.
Chilemba lost the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision, but he showed that it was possible to hit Kovalev with pot shots while he was coming forward. Unfortunately for Chilemba, he couldn’t stop Kovalev from coming forward, outworking him, and landing the harder shots.
By Allan Fox: Andre Ward got past the small and old fighter Alexander Brand (25-2, 19 KOs) that his promoters at Roc Nation Sports lined up for him last Saturday night in his showcase fight on HBO Boxing.
Ward is now facing the real thing in IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev on November 19 in his next fight. Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter thinks that Kovalev will be wondering about whether Ward will be switching to southpaw during their fight on November 19.
By Allan Fox: Trainer Virgil Hunter sees IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) dealing with a lot of pressure in his next fight against welterweight Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs). Hunter sees Golovkin as having spoiled the fight fans with him scoring so many knockouts.
It’s to the point now where if one of his fights go the distance or if he wins by a close decision, he’ll be scrutinized by the boxing fans in the same way that IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev is now being scrutinized after his tougher than expected 12 round decision win over Isaac Chilemba.