Mayweather picks Donaire to defeat Rigondeaux

04/05/2013 Jeff Sorby

donaire22 Floyd Mayweather Jr. is going with WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20 KO’s) to get past WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (11-0, 8 KO’s) next week in their fight on April 13th at the Radio City Music Hall in New York, New York. Mayweather is picking the 30-year-old Donaire to defeat by knockout.

Mayweather said on his twitter: “People won’t like this but I’ll put it out there @filipinoflash (Donaire) will win VIA KO (knockout).”

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Lederman sees Canelo obliterating Trout on 4/20

04/05/2013 Jeff Sorby

alvarez346 HBO broadcaster Harold Lederman doesn’t see WBA light middleweight champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s) having much of any chance this month in his fight with WBC light middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 32 KO’s) on April 20th at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Lederman thinks the 22-year-old Canelo will overpower Trout and get an easy knockout win. I imagine Lederman is putting Trout in the same class as light welterweight Josesito Lopez, who Canelo just annihilated in five rounds last September.

Lederman said to Hustleboss.com “I hate to say this but I think Canelo’s going to destroy him…Canelo’s something special…Canelo is a star. He can box, he can move, he can punch…he fights like a veteran that’s 35.”

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Audley: It’s over if I lose to Deontay Wilder

04/05/201304/04/2013 Jeff Sorby

harrison564 Heavyweight Audley Harrison (31-6, 23 KO’s) says it’ll be over for him if he loses to the 27-year-old Deontay Wilder (27-0, 27 KO’s) on April 27th on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs. Julio Diaz fight at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Audley, 41, has talked about retiring in the past but he always sticks with it after he gets knocked out.

Audley said to Sky Sports “Deontay is fast, dangerous puncher, but he has not been tested as a pro. Lose and it’s over, win and I’m in the top 10 for sure, eligible to challenge for the world title. Biggest risk for the biggest reward. It can’t get any bigger than that.”

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Canelo vs. Trout: 31,000 tickets already sold for April 20th bout

04/01/2013 Jeff Sorby

canelo11 Tickets are still going fast for the April 20th unification bout between WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) and unbeaten WBA junior middleweight champion Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s) at the Alamodome, in San Antonio, Texas, USA. 31,500 tickets have already been purchased for the fight.

Mike Battah of Battah Promotions said to the elpasotimes.com “We’ve sold 31.500 tickets at this point. We’re currently building a new section that will seat 3,000. We’re considering opening up some of the higher levels as well. And, we might still open up seats to view the fight on a big screen.”

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Arum: No Rios-Alvarado rematch; they should fight other guys

04/01/201303/31/2013 Jeff Sorby

rios2 rios2 Despite last night’s fight between Brandon Rios (31-1-1, 23 KO’s) and Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) on HBO being incredibly exciting for boxing fans, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is saying no to the idea of them facing each other in an immediate rematch.

Arum wants to put them in with other fighters first, and then match them up at some point in the future. This is no doubt a risky move because if one of them gets beaten badly it could take some of the interest in seeing them fight again.

Alvarado defeated Rios by a 12 round unanimous decision last night by the scores of 115-113, 115-113 and 114-113.

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Bellew battles Chilemba tonight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK

03/30/2013 Jeff Sorby

bellew44 WBC Silver light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew (19-1, 12 KO’s) will be looking to keep alive his hopes for a world title shot against WBC 175 lb. champ Chad Dawson by taking on Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba (20-1-1, 9 KO’s) in a fight in Bellew’s home city at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. Bellew, #1 WBC, needs the win to keep his ranking to get a possible shot at Dawson’s title either this year or next year depending on how long Dawson strings it out before facing him.

Bellew, 30, hasn’t faced any really quality light heavyweights other than WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly, who beat Bellew by a 12 round majority decision two years ago in Liverpool.

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Audley Harrison: I have agreed to the terms for Deontay Wilder fight

03/29/201303/28/2013 Jeff Sorby

harrison323 Heavyweight Audley Harrison (31-6, 23 KO’s) says he’s agreed to all the terms for his April 27th fight against unbeaten American heavyweight Deontay Wilder (27-0, 27 KO’s) at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Audley is now ready to sign the contract to get the fight confirmed.

Audley said on his twitter: “My side has agreed all points. Waiting to sign on the dotted line. Here is my logic for accepting this fight. Take the biggest risk, 4 the biggest reward. Lose 2 any1 from this point on it’s over. Here we go.”

It’s a win-win situation for the 41-year-old Audley in taking this fight with the 27-year-old Wilder.

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Price-Thompson II on 7/6 in Liverpool, England

03/28/201303/27/2013 Jeff Sorby

price46 price46 Heavyweights Tony Thompson (37-3, 25 KO’s) and David Price (15-1, 13 KO’s) will be doing it again in four months for a rematch on July 6th at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. Price and his promoter Frank Maloney didn’t walk away from Price’s February 23rd 2nd round TKO loss to the 41-year-old Thompson without trying to avenge the defeat and show that it was just a fluke thing and not a true indication of how strong Price’s chin is.

Price and Maloney blame the loss on Thompson landing a shot to the side of Price’s head in an area that he’s not used to getting hit. The punch, a fight hand, dropped Price to the canvas, and he was too hurt to continue fighting despite getting back to his feet.

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Mayweather-Guerrero: Will Robert’s pressure/high punch volume work against Floyd?

03/26/201303/25/2013 Jeff Sorby

guerrero34 WBC interim welterweight champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KO’s) really only has one way to beat WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s) on May 4th and that’s by using the same game plan that he employed in his recent fight against Andre Berto last November in throwing a lot of punches.

Guerrero, 29, was able to overwhelm Berto with nonstop punches, and give him a real beating in the process of winning a 12 round unanimous decision. To be sure, Guerrero was helped immensely by Berto’s decision to use the shoulder roll defense for the first time in his career, and by choosing to fight with his back against the ropes instead of staying in the center of the ring.

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Adonis Stevenson to challenge Chad Dawson on June 8th in Montreal

03/26/201303/24/2013 Jeff Sorby

stevenson22 Having finally avenged his defeat against journeyman Darnell Boone by stopping him in the 6th round last Friday night, super middleweight contender Adonis Stevenson (20-1, 17 KO’s) will now set his sights on WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (31-2, 17 KO’s) for a title challenge on June 8th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. Stevenson’s promoter Yvon Michel hopes to have negotiations completed between Stevenson and Dawson this week.

This is definitely the right time for the 35-year-old Stevenson to be fighting the 30-year-old Dawson because he’s coming off of a 10th round TKO loss to WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward last September, and the chances are that Dawson’s confidence will be at an all-time low after that defeat.

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