By James Stillerman: Super bantamweight fighter, Luis “KO King” Rosa Jr. (12-0, 6KOs) looks move up in his weight class as he takes on the always dangerous, Jhovany Collado, (4-6-2, 1KO) in a eight round bout at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT on Friday March 1st. His fight is on the undercard of the main event of Billy Dib vs. Evgeny Gradovic and will be televised on ESPN Friday Night Fights.
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Lamont Peterson: Price trumps cost
By Marc Livitz: Washington, D.C. has experienced its fair sum of sporting heartbreak over the years. The hot air which surrounds the views of many concerning the home of United States politics can sometimes get in the way of a good night at the fights. Alas, heat rises and eventually settles. The same can be said for the state of a practitioner of the sweet science who is just a hanging chad away from eventual stardom in his own right and in his own light. Lamont Peterson recently made his case to get back on the road to a championship this past Friday in the little town on the Potomac. He had to wait over a year to get back into the ring after winning the light welterweight title from Amir Khan in late 2011.
Peterson, of course had his WBA title stripped away from him last year and saw his lucrative payday in the form of a May 2012 rematch with Khan go up in flames after he tested positive for synthetic testosterone.
Khan vs. Diaz & Judah vs. Garcia in split-site doubleheader on April 27th on Showtime
By Jeff Sorby: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) will be facing Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) on April 27th as the co-feature for the Zab Judah vs. Danny Garcia fight in a split-site card on Showtime, according to RingTV. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer came up with the idea to increase the strength of the two fights put lumping them together.
The Khan-Diaz fight will be tape delayed from the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. That fight will take place earlier in the day U.S time, but be then televised later in the evening on Saturday night in the U.S on Showtime. The Judah-Garcia fight will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Canelo could pull out of May 4th PPV card if he doesn’t receive Mayweather fight guarantee
By Kevin Chittenden: Floyd Mayweather Jr’s May 4th card could take a big hit if WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) chooses to pull out of the card and fight on another date. Canelo was supposed to be the co-main event in a fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout, but Canelo reportedly wants a guarantee from Mayweather that he’ll fight him on September 14th.
Canelo won’t sign for the May 4th fight date unless he receives that guarantee, and it doesn’t look like Mayweather is going to go that. It was thought that Mayweather would fight Canelo in September, but maybe he has other ideas or possibly he doesn’t like the idea of Canelo trying to force the fight instead of letting Mayweather select him.
Roach sees Bradley having problems with Provodnikov’s power on 3/16
By Bill Phanco: WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (29-0, 12 KO’s) will finally get back in the ring to make his first defense of his title against ESPN fighter Ruslan Provodnikov (22-1, 15 KO’s) on March 16th at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California.
Wladimir Klitschko vs. Francesco Pianeta on May 4th in Mannheim, Germany
By Jeff Sorby: It looks like IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (59-3, 50 KO’s) has decided to defend his title against the unbeaten sleepy-eyed Francesco Pianeta (28-0-1, 15 KO’s) on May 4th at the SAP-Arena in Mannheim, Germany.
This is an optional title defense for the 36-year-old Wladimir, so it was a given that he was going to face a weak opponent, but it seems like Wladimir’s last three title defenses have been optional because the opponents have been so weak. Pianeta, #9 WBO, #12 WBA, is technically undefeated, but his resume is incredibly poor and without one quality opponent among his 28 victories.
Mayweather V Guerrero: Time For An Upset, Or A Blatant Mismatch?
By Mark Klimaszewski – This May 4th, “Cinco De Mayo” weekend once again plays host to a boxing extravaganza featuring none other than undefeated pound for pound great, Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Hoping to take his crown is multi-weight ‘world’ champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero. In many people’s eyes this should be Floyd’s toughest test since Oscar De La Hoya lost to him by a split decision, which incidentally was also on Cinco De Mayo weekend in 2007.
The Ghost has certainly seen his stock rise recently with a decent win over then-undefeated, but unheralded, Selcyk Aydin of Turkey and a thrilling but messy win over previous Welterweight WBC Champ Andre Berto; the fact he had to jump up two weight classes from 135lb to 147lb before pulling off these wins makes them even more impressive.
But is it a step too far to suggest Guerrero poses more of a threat than Miguel Cotto did last May? Indeed, Cotto was certainly past his best. Yet he put on a superb, skilled and hugely spirited performance against Mayweather, giving him his most hard-fought victory since his controversial win against Jose Luis Castillo in 2002. Also, that was at 154lb, a weight Cotto was more comfortable at than Mayweather. Yet the man known as “Money” still managed to end the night with a wide points win.
Is Floyd Mayweather Getting Exactly what he wants??
Robert Jackson: Floyd ‘Money ‘ Mayweather’s announced jump from HBO to Showtime has sent a shockwave throughout the fight world. Just like his previous announcement of Olympic style drug testing for every fight, which has now taken hold with other fighters namely Nonito Donaire – who requires testing for all of his bouts. Mayweather always the showman has eclipsed that announcement with a 6 fight Showtime deal, paying him a reported $250M.
Fight fans were in the least waiting and anticipating who Floyd would fight next for his May 2013 return to the ring and Floyd pulled a fast one on us all by announcing that Devon Alexander was the leading candidate for the assignment, when all were expecting Robert Guerrero to get the nod. Floyd’s silence and then the Alexander proclamation was just the 1st shocker, and then again…silence. Was Floyd really going to fight Devon Alexander?? Of course he wasn’t, but the real shocker was yet to come!
David Price – Typical British Heavyweight?
By Barry Freeman
So it’s happened.
David Price (15-1-0), arguably the most exciting British Heavyweight prospect since Audley Harrison, has suffered his first defeat. Like so many British Heavyweights before him Price was saved by the referee from punishment at the hands of an American.
Tony Thompson’s (36-3-0) crunching right hand put the first blemish on Price’s ledger as referee Steve Gray had no choice but to stop the fight after Price bravely managed to beat the count but couldn’t regain control of his legs to satisfy the referee that he wouldn’t suffer further punishment. So is he to join the long list of British Heavyweights who couldn’t quite make the step and at one point prevented us from having a Heavyweight Champion for nearly 100 years?
Floyd Mayweather Jr – I think he’s got it!
by Paul Strauss: Over the years, Floyd has been the brunt of a lot of criticism. Some have criticized him for the careful management of his career, which is a nice way of saying he’s avoided certain fighters, because they might prove damgerous. He also has been criticized for his style of boxing. Many consider it a less than fan friendly. A translation would be he’s not willing to take chances, which means less excitement for the fans. He is often methodical and calculating, setting his opponent up, willing to win by decision. He also has been criticized for engaging in double talk, having at times given the impression (leaked misinformation) he was planning to do this or that, only to later deny having said any such thing. And, of course he has been strongly criticized for allegedly being involved in soap opera like episodes outside of the ring ranging in everything from shootings to charges of abuse and assault. Apparently our legal system felt there was some truth to these allegations, because, he was incarcerated for a short time.
In recent months, those types of criticism have quieted, primarily because he has remained out of the limelight. There have been rumors about him possibly fighting this fighter, or that fighter especially come this May. However, until recently those rumors haven’t been much more than that, rumors. That has changed. Now contracts have been signed by him and Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero. Out of all this manuevering and intrigue, Mayweather has made something clear. He stated unequivacably that he will not fight Manny, unless Manny avenges his two most recent losses. Those of course were to Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez (JMM). The first one was a controversial decision loss to Bradley. Everyone knows Pacquiao won that fight, but the fact remains, on paper Bradley got the “W”. The second loss was the unbelievable kayo he suffered at the hands of JMM in their fourth fight.