Chris Carlson

Kovalev vs. Agnew & Dulorme vs. Mayfield: The Return of the Crusher and bigger fights await the winner of the co-feature matchup

Kovalev vs. Agnew & Dulorme vs. Mayfield: The Return of the Crusher and bigger fights await the winner of the co-feature matchup

Photo by Rich Graessle/Main Events – This Saturday night’s HBO Doubleheader marks the return of knockout artist Sergey Kovalev, who crushed his way to the top of the light heavyweight division in 2013. His opponent is Cedric Agnew, a fighter who is both undefeated and untested.

The co-feature pits a fighter who recently reached contender status, Karim Mayfield against Thomas Dulorme, a former prospect to be reckoned with now trying to find his way back to the big leagues after his T.K.O. loss to Carlos Abregu.

Cedric Agnew and his sterling record of 26-0 with 13 KO’s, certainly looks the part to a person who just happens to be at home, channel surfing right around the time the ring announcer is giving introductions.

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Garcia vs. Herrera: Can Mauricio spoil the Garcia Klan’s homecoming?

Garcia vs. Herrera: Can Mauricio spoil the Garcia Klan’s homecoming?

This Saturday night from Bayamon, Puerto Rico Danny Garcia faces Mauricio Herrera on Showtime in what will be a homecoming of sorts for the Garcia Klan.

The fighting pride of Puerto Rican roots runs deep in the sport of boxing. The once proud and best pound for pound island for producing champions has recently hit a rough patch of fighters to support at the world level.

Miguel Cotto will no doubt fill the Mecca of boxing to the rafters when he takes on lineal middleweight title holder Sergio Martinez the eve of the Puerto Rican parade at the Garden.

The promising prospect Felix Verdejo is knocking on the door of stardom and soon enough will kick that door down in an attempt to fill the void left by Juanma Lopez’s once promising career.

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Weigh-In Video – Burns vs. Crawford: Is the Rickster ripe for the pickings?

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The reeling Rickster hopes to rebound from the run of fights in which he’s struggled to look right. After passing the eye test Terence Crawford gets his first title opportunity versus two weight champion Ricky Burns.

Ricky Burns entered the world seen when a hardnosed body punching Roman Martinez from Puerto Rico was denied a win by the Scot who after a shaky start managed to dust himself off to earn a victory.

Having faced Martinez and Katsidis, Ricky has show he can deal with pressure fighters. In this fight it will be the first time he faces a guy like Terence Crawford who can box and come forward with a deeper layer of skill than say a past opponent such as Kevin Mitchell or Paulus Moses.

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Chavez vs. Vera 2: A more focused Junior makes the rematch a can’t miss fight

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They say the apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, but telling that to Mexico’s legendary fighter Julio Cesar Chavez would be downright disrespectful.

No, young Julio isn’t cut from the same cloth as his father Chavez Sr. Honestly speaking the same could apply to the majority of the modern day fighters in contrast to the 200-300 fight warriors from days of old.

That said becoming a boxer is not exactly the easiest profession and for all the crap that’s been shoveled on him, most of it deserved, when in shape Junior is a solid chinned entertaining fighter that has challenged with limited success late in his fight, the lineal legitimate world titleholder and pound for pound member Sergio Martinez.

Before it was lack of competition that fans would drag Chavez Jr. through the coals for, now it’s his issues outside the ring that surfaced in the winter of 2012.

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Stieglitz vs. Abraham: Will the rubber match bring closure to this rivalry?

Stieglitz vs. Abraham: Will the rubber match bring closure to this rivalry?

The fate of each fighter’s legacy is at stake this Saturday night when Robert Stieglitz takes on Arthur Abraham in what could be the final installment of a trilogy from the GETEC Arena in Germany.

Legacy is a word used quite often in sports. Peyton Manning’s legacy was the key talking point for pundits and fans alike in the lead up for the Super Bowl.

Nearly every time Lebron James looses a game in the playoffs or displays greatness, King James legacy is always being question and debated in the mainstream.

The legacy of boxers comes in all shapes and sizes. Some men go down as hall of famers, few become the best fighters of their generation, if remembered most boxers are seen as warriors respected for being a tough S.O.B.

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Can Kevin Johnson throw a wrench in the plans for a Fury vs Chisora rematch stadium fight?

Can Kevin Johnson throw a wrench in the plans for a Fury vs Chisora rematch stadium fight?

This Saturday night from the Copper Box Arena in London Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury will be featured in stay busy fights on Box Nation.

Ok so maybe that’s not how long time U.K. promoter Frank Warren would want it phrased but that’s exactly what this card is and for those who are hardcore enough (or just bored) it will be televised here in the states by Intergrated Sports with an asking price starting at 24.99.

I can hardly blame any boxing fan for not wanting to put his or hers hard earned duckets down for this PPV.

It’s worth mentioning that in the past Intergrated Sports have at least tried to put on entertaining undercard fights to make up for a non pay per view worthy main event or co-features in this case.

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Is Top Rank moving Mikey Garcia too quick for a fight with Manny Pacquiao?

Is Top Rank moving Mikey Garcia too quick for a fight with Manny Pacquiao?

Much has been said of late about the plans laid out by Top Rank C.E.O. Bob Arum for Mikey Garcia’s in 2014. All signs point to Yuriorkis Gamboa as the next opponent for Mikey on May 17 according to widely reported stories from Bob Arum and just today 50 cent was on twitter saying it’s basically a done deal.

With Gamboa’s recognizable name in and around the featherweight and lightweight divisions it makes a lot sense.

It doesn’t hurt that the two fighters have been going toe to toe for a while now on twitter which will only help the hype in the lead up for this much talked about matchup.

Another interesting element is that Gamboa can match Garcia in skill and will certainly have the speed advantage come fight night.

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Garcia vs. Burgos: Is Burgos just a stepping stone for Mikey’s big plans for 2014?

Garcia vs. Burgos: Is Burgos just a stepping stone for Mikey’s big plans for 2014?

Fresh off a banner year for boxing in 2013 this Friday and Saturday will be the busiest fight weekend so far for 2014. And since the rematch between Jhonny Gonzalez and Abner Mares is postponed due to injury this will also be the last major network (not HBO2 Macua) championship fight card until March, when the boxing year will really heat up.

Normally one of the major network premium channels will take advantage of the bye week on the Saturday a little over a week before the Super Bowl.

Shane Mosely vs. Antontio Margarito was the biggest fight that I recall of late that filled a void from the overdose of hype before the big game.

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Peterson vs. Jean/Rosado vs. Charlo: Showtime fights this Saturday feature “real” matchups

Peterson vs. Jean/Rosado vs. Charlo: Showtime fights this Saturday feature “real” matchups

by Chris Carlso, photos © Paul “Paparazzi” Jones/ESB — Counter programming was the norm last year and this Saturday night marks the first battle in the ongoing war that turned cold between HBO a.k.a. Top Rank and Company and Golden Boy now in exclusive cahoots with Showtime who is broadcasting their event from the nation’s capital city Washington D.C.

Showtime who may not lead HBO in subscribers had clearly been the better network pound for pound the last 2 years.
The two fights that top the bill are very legit with the main event between Lamont Peterson and Dierry Jean basically a 50-50 type fight on paper. Peterson comes in a slight favor according to the betting websites yet more and more fans and scribes are leaning towards the challenger Dierry Jean.

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Pascal vs. Bute: A Canadian Super Fight

Pascal vs. Bute: A Canadian Super Fight

For many boxing fans stateside and abroad this Saturday’s HBO fight between Jean Pascal and Lucian Bute will be just another fight that should produce some form of entertainment.

To the fans that put the North in North America this fight might as well be their version of Sugar Ray Leonard versus Marvelous Marvin Hagler or Oscar De La Hoya versus Floyd Mayweather.

This is not just a run of the mill crossroads type battle to the loyal Canadian boxing rube. For them it’s a legacy fight with winner going down in history as the best and most popular fighter of the last five or six years.

Obviously Adonis Stevenson, who has a solid fan base but his past keeps him from being beloved, surely will have something to say about legacy before it’s written in the Canadian history permanently.

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