Roach says Pacquiao’s right hand is now “stronger than his left!”

03/18/2016 James Slater

Superstar Manny Pacquiao began working at the Wild Card gym of his equally famous trainer, Freddie Roach on Monday, and Roach liked what he saw from Pac-Man in sparring. Getting ready to face Tim Bradley for a third and final time – Pacquiao repeatedly stating how the April 9th fight will be his final ring appearance before saying adios – the future Hall of Famer is also overcoming the shoulder injury he carried with him into the “Fight of the Century” against Floyd Mayweather Junior last May.

But, as Dan Rafael reports on ESPN.com, there are no concerns about the shoulder. Not for Roach anyway. Roach, who has said a few times he believes his southpaw dynamo will score a KO over Bradley this time, has been amazed at the strength of Manny’s right hand. Pacquiao tore his rotator cuff, a quite common injury for boxers, and had to undergo surgery to repair it. Roach is praising his fighter’s doctor, who, he says, has worked a near miracle!

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GGG promoter Loeffler: Khan-Golovkin would be a huge fight

03/18/2016 James Slater

Tom Loeffler, the promoter of middleweight sensation Gennady Golovkin, has strongly suggested the unbeaten terror known as GGG could have not one but two fights in the UK, against British opposition, this coming summer. As has previously been reported, Billy Joe Saunders is a very real possibility for Golovkin at a big stadium in the UK this summer (provided Saunders gets past Max Bursak in April and Golovkin gets past Dominic Wade also next month), but Loeffler, in speaking with Sky Sports, also has his eye on a possible Amir Khan fight.

Khan, if he manages to beat Canelo Alvarez in May, would be in the exact position Canelo is in right now: mandated to fight Golovkin. And Loeffler says he feels a Khan challenge of GGG would be a big fight in both the UK and the U.S.

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Bombs Away? David Lemieux to face Glen Tapia on Canelo-Khan card

03/18/201603/17/2016 James Slater

As has already been reported, the supporting card for the big Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Amir Khan clash in Las Vegas on May 7th is beginning to take shape. One fight that is set for the pay-per-view event looks like an exciting if possibly short affair. Numerous sources (including Boxrec) have said how former IBF middleweight champ David Lemieux will face Glen Tapia at The T-Mobile Arena.

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Huck wants to go to war with Glowacki for a second time, convinced he can gain revenge

03/18/201603/17/2016 James Slater

Back in August of last year, cruiserweight champ Marco Huck, defending the WBO crown he won way back in 2009, went to war with unbeaten Polish hard man Kryzsztof Glowacki in his American debut. To the surprise of his fans, Huck was stopped in dramatic fashion in the 11th-round – but not before a great fight, which featured some incredible two-way action, was fought.

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Billy Joe Saunders says he believes he will fight Gennady Golovkin this summer

03/17/2016 James Slater

Recently, top British promoter Frank Warren was quoted as saying how he feels there is only one middleweight in the world that has a chance of beating the dangerous, seriously talented and avoided Gennady Golovkin, and that is his fighter, reigning WBO 160-pound king Billy Joe Saunders. Warren also spoke, at a recent press conference to promote Saunders’ next fight, set for April 30th against Max Bursak, of how the Saunders-Golovkin fight had to happen at the right time.

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Canelo-Khan card could be a real blockbuster – a number of possibilities in the works for May 7th bill

03/17/201603/16/2016 James Slater

Let’s face it, many numbers of fight fans are likely to buy the May 7th Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan fight; perhaps even close to a million fans in the U.S alone. The fight has, and is, attracting plenty of attention, opinion and excitement, and a smash hit is likely. But, in wanting to guarantee fans a spectacular show, Golden Boy are currently working on making the under-card one that will give value for money.

According to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, there are a number of interesting possibilities for the card that will take place on Cinco de Mayo weekend. The most exciting possible match-up that could support the main event is a Luis Ortiz-Alexander Ustinov fight that would see Cuban southpaw Ortiz fulfil his WBA mandatory obligation to defend against the Russian giant. Rafael reports how talks are ongoing between Golden Boy and Frank Warren, who promotes Ustinov.

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Bellew to face Ilunga Makuba for vacant WBC title (Drozd is now “Champion in recess”)

03/16/201603/16/2016 James Slater

Liverpool’s Tony Bellew will get a second chance to become a world champion this summer, as his promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed Bellew will face Ilunga Makuba for the vacant WBC cruiserweight title. Grigory Drozd was supposed to defend against Makuba but pulled out of the April fight injured and will now become either “Champion in Recess” or will be stripped of the title completely.

So Bellew and Makuba get their chance. There is no date or confirmed venue yet, but the word is June 4th is likely and Bellew wants the fight in Liverpool. Bellew, a former challenger of WBC light-heavyweight ruler Adonis Stevenson (“Bomber” losing inside six-rounds in 2013) has won six in a row since moving up to cruiserweight where he says he feels more comfortable and more powerful. Bellew has some good cruiserweight wins on his record, most notably a revenge points win over Nathan Cleverly and a EBU title win over Mateusz Masternak, which came in the 33-year-old’s last fight in December.

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Khan compares his upcoming fight with Canelo to Sugar Ray Leonard’s challenge of Marvelous Marvin Hagler

03/16/201603/16/2016 James Slater

Not surprisingly, Amir Khan says that if he manages to beat Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in their hugely intriguing May 7th fight, it will be the biggest and best thing he has ever done in his boxing career. The former 140-pound champion, in talking to Sky Sports, said it would be a “dream come true to be called the middleweight world champion.”

And Khan, who has been bulking up with weights as well as strength and conditioning training yet claims he is just as fast, with both his hands and his feet, is looking at an exceptional fighter’s exceptional achievement as inspiration going into the 155-pound clash: Sugar Ray Leonard’s fabulously unforgettable (and also controversial) points win over Marvellous Marvin Hagler in 1987.

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Shannon Briggs arrives in UK, says he may not leave – “might just stay here and just knock people out!”

03/16/201603/15/2016 James Slater

Former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs arrived in London today, and he says he is looking to fight, “Whoever the British people want me to fight.” Briggs may be well into the veteran stage of his long career and he may be way past the force he once was, but the New Yorker remains both a good talker and a fan attraction.

It’s no secret Briggs wants a big fight with Britain’s David Haye – and he today told Sky Sports how he has “been looking for him [Haye] everywhere” – but the man who once beat the great George Foreman and gave the also great Lennox Lewis a helluva fight says he is open to fights with any of the big-name British heavyweights, including Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.

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Tyson Fury posts his wish-list: wants Klitschko rematch, then Martin-Joshua winner, then Wilder-Povetkin winner

03/15/2016 James Slater

If heavyweight champion Tyson Fury gets his way, the heavyweight division will see some huge and potentially thrilling match-ups take place in the coming months. Fury must first defeat former champ Wladimir Klitschko – in a return fight that has dragged on and on in terms of being officially announced; maybe the two fighters will clash in a secret location on a secret date! – but after that he wants more big names.

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