De La Hoya: Why not Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson in Washington, D.C?

10/07/2014 Bill Phanco

Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions floated the idea today of Amir Khan facing IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson in Washington, DC. Khan previously fought Peterson in that city three years ago in Khan losing by a 12 round split decision after being docked points in the 7th and 12th rounds for shoving Peterson.

The referee working the fight Joseph Cooper had repeatedly warned Khan to stop shoving Peterson, but Khan had no other alternative because he was getting worked over by him on the inside and he didn’t have any other way of keeping Peterson off of him other than by shoving him.

continue

Kell Brook to fight in February

10/07/2014 Bill Phanco

IBF welterweight belt holder Kell Brook (33-0, 22 KOs) has targeted February for his next fight date against an opponent still to be determined. Brook was stabbed last September while on holiday in Tenerife, and he’ll be coming back from that injury. Brook wants to fight either Floyd Mayweather Jr or Amir Khan, but those opponents will probably not be in the cards for the 28-year-old Brook.

We’ll likely see Brook facing one of the names that his promoter Eddie Hearn was previously mentioning for him to fight on December 6th before Brook was stabbed and unable to fight on that date. Hearn was talking about matching Brook against a fighter that Americans would recognize like Brandon Rios, Andre Berto or Josesito Lopez.

continue

Rubio will give Golovkin problems with his Mexican blood, says Robert Garcia

10/06/201410/06/2014 Bill Phanco

While many boxing fans see WBC interim middleweight champion Marco Antonio Rubio (59-6-1, 51 KOs) as a lamb being led to the slaughter by WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (30-0, 27 KOs) on October 18th, Rubio’s trainer Robert Garcia thinks that Rubio, with his Mexican style, will give Golovkin all kinds of problems.

Garcia thinks it comes down to Rubio having real Mexican blood while Golovkin is just someone that is attempting to adopt the Mexican style of fighting. In other words, Rubio is the real thing while Golovkin is just trying to copy what he sees instead of what’s inside of him.

continue

Kessler: I’m sitting by the phone waiting for Froch to call; I want to fight him in a decider

10/06/2014 Bill Phanco

35-year-old Danish fighter Mikkel Kessler (46-3, 35 KOs) says he’s waiting by the phone to get a call from IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (33-2, 24 KOs) to be his next opponent on January 31st next year in a fight that would be staged in London. Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn is saying that he’s looking to match the 37-year-old Froch against either Kessler or James DeGale, Froch’s IBF mandatory challenger.

“I am sitting by the phone, hoping something is going to happen soon – I want a decider with Carl,” Kessler said to Ringside.

The problem with matching Froch against Kessler is that it’s a fight that some boxing fans would see as a rip-off considering that Kessler hasn’t fought since May of 2013 when he was beaten by Froch.

continue

Hearn interested in matching Burns against Katsidis-Coyle winner

10/06/2014 Bill Phanco

Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn is kicking around the idea of pitting his fighter Ricky Burns (37-4-1, 11 KOs) against the winner of the October 25th fight between Michael Katsidis (30-6, 24 KOs) and Tommy Coyle (19-2, 8 KOs). Hearn wants to bring the 31-year-old Burns back to Glasgow, Scotland for his next fight.

Last Saturday night, Burns labored to an 8 round points decision victory over Alexandre Lepelley (17-2-1, 3 KOs) at the First Direct Arena, Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. It was Burns’ first and possibly his last fight at light welterweight. Immediately after the fight, Burns talked about wanting to move back down to lightweight. It’s a move that Burns pretty much has to make because he doesn’t have the frame to be fighting at light welterweight nor the power as well.

continue

Dawson’s loss to Karpency in showcase fight puts his career in a bad position

10/06/201410/06/2014 Bill Phanco

Last Saturday night former IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (32-4, 18 KOs) was surprisingly beaten by former world title challenger Tommy Karpency by a 10 round split decision in what was supposed to be a showcase fight for the 32-year-old Dawson at the Foxwoods Resort, in Mashantucket, Connecticut, USA.

Dawson was in shock after the fight, as he felt that he should have been given the decision despite the fact that he clearly injured his left arm in the 7th round. Dawson claimed the injury occurred in the 3rd round. However, he was still using his left arm up until the 7th.

continue

Bellew-Cleverly 2 tickets sell out quick

10/04/201410/04/2014 Bill Phanco

Perhaps Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn knew what he was doing by making the November 22nd rematch between Tony Bellew (22-2-1, 14 KOs) and Nathan Cleverly 28-1, 14 KOs) a pay-per-view fight on Sky Box Office from the Echo Arena, in Liverpool, Merseyside, United Kingdom. The fight card, which includes the likes of James DeGale, Anthony Joshua, Callum Smith, Stephen Smith, Scott Quigg, and Jamie McDonnell, sold out in just 48 hours after the tickets went on sale.

That’s pretty impressive. The Bellew-Cleverly 2 fight is a decent one, but hardly what you’d call a great one. Neither of these guys have the talent to win a world title at cruiserweight in my view, but that still didn’t stop their fans from quickly buying out the tickets in just 2 days.

continue

Paul Smith feels confident Arthur Abraham will give him a rematch

10/01/201409/29/2014 Bill Phanco

Britain’s Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) says that WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) gave him a handshake when he asked him at the post-fight press conference if he’ll agree to give him an immediate rematch. Smith, 31, interpreted the handshake from Abraham to mean that he’ll get his badly needed rematch with the 34-year-old German based champion.

Last Saturday night, Smith lost a 12 round unanimous decision to Abraham by the scores of 117-111, 117-110 and 119-109. Many people who saw the fight felt that Abraham did enough to get the victory. Some fans felt that it should have been a draw while a smaller minority felt that Smith won the fight. However, because of the scores being so wide, Smith and his promoter Eddie Hearn feel that a rematch is warranted.

continue

Abraham defeats Smith; Macklin decisions Yebes

09/28/201409/27/2014 Bill Phanco

Paul Smith (35-4, 20 KOs) fought the fight of his life on Saturday night in losing a 12 round unanimous decision to WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (41-4, 28 KOs) by a set of scores that were far too wide at the Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Smith deserved a victory or at least a draw out of the fight because he was the one making the fight in many of the rounds. The judges scored the fight 117-111, 117-111 and 118-109

Abraham uncharacteristically went on the attack mode early in the fight in taking the fight to Smith. But after several rounds, Abraham slowed way down and spent much of each round covering up behind his high guard while Smith carefully landed shots to his head and body.

Abraham did a good job in throwing powerful jabs that frequently caught Smith while he was in punching range. But Smith was the one landing many of the cleaner shots. By the 8th, Smith appeared to be in control of the fight. Abraham was taking rounds off and letting Smith control the fight.

continue

De La Hoya: Canelo wants to be the face of boxing

09/27/2014 Bill Phanco

Former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has a lot of people with HBO and Golden Boy Promotions excited about his potential in the sport after he recently signed a 3-year, 3 fight deal with HBO this week. HBO Sports president Ken Hershman believes that he’s got a fighter who will be a huge success for his network with his big fights.

Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya believes that Canelo will become boxing. In other words, Canelo will rise up to the biggest star in the sport.

continue