Jermain Taylor vs. Sam Soliman fight could be televised by ESPN on October 8th

The upcoming fight between IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman (44-11, 18 KOs) and former IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO middleweight champ Jermain Taylor (32-4-1, 20 KOs), which had been scheduled for October 4th, could be moved to October 8th and be televised by ESPN on a Wednesday night special, according to Dan Rafael.

It’s unclear if HBO or Showtime made an attempt to televise the fight. Taylor, 36, has been out of the loop for five years since his knockout losses to Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham, so it wouldn’t be all that surprising if HBO and Showtime opted to pass up on the idea of televising the fight.

The newer boxing fans are likely not that familiar with Taylor, as he’s not done anything special since 2006. He lost Kelly Pavlik twice starting in 2007, and then suffered the back to back defeats in 2009 to Froch and Abraham.

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Deontay Wilder wants quick KO on Saturday against Gavern

This Saturday night #1 WBC Deontay Wilder (31-0, 31 KOs) will be putting his guarantee world title shot against Bermane Stiverne at risk when he faces 37-year-old high level journeyman Jason Gavern (25-16-4, 11 KOs) in a 10 round bout at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

If Deontay loses to Gavern, then he won’t be getting a shot at the WBC title later this year. You have to wonder what Stiverne is thinking about this fight. Is he hoping Deontay will lose or is he praying that he’ll get rid of Gavern so that the two of them can meet in November for a showdown?

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Porter looking to stop Brook and leave no doubts

IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15 KOs) doesn’t plan on letting challenger #1 IBF Kell Brook (32-0, 22 KOs) get any kind of confidence in their fight this Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Porter wants to get to Brook and hammer him into the canvas within the first 4 rounds, and he believes he’s got a good chance of carrying that off due to Brook’s stiff, straight up and down fighting stance. Porter sees Brook as someone he can hit early often with his best shots, because he doesn’t have the kind of pro style that would make him a difficult opponent to put hands on.

“I am going into the fight looking for that knockout. I told myself that going four rounds or less would be a beautiful night for me,” Porter said.

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Roach predicting Pacquiao KO win over Algieri

Trainer Freddie Roach doesn’t care that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has selected the hard to hit Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KOs) to be the next opponent for his superstar fighter WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KOs) to battle in a catch-weight fight at 144 pounds on November 22nd in Macao, China.

The catch-weight is designed to help Algieri, who is coming up from the 140 pound division to face Pacquiao. Algieri says he would have preferred to face Pacquiao at 147 without a catch-weight because he’s got the bigger frame and he can carry the weight without any problems.

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Dirrell: Bika can’t lay a hand on me when I box

(Photo credit: Hogan Photos) #6 WBC Anthony Dirrell (26-0-1, 22 KOs) plans on taking a page out of the playbook of his defensive-minded brother Andre Dirrell by strictly boxing WBC super middleweight champion Sakio Bika (32-5-3, 21 KOs) and not letting him hit him in their rematch this Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Dirrell made it easy for Bika the last time they fought by standing perfectly still in front of him during the fight. Later on in the second half of the action, Dirrell frequently was backed up against the ropes and took a lot of punishing body and head shots.

Andre Dirrell tried to give Anthony advice in between rounds by telling him to stay off the ropes and box Bika in the center of the ring, but Anthony stuck with his game plan of trying to beat Bika by out-slugging him.

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Jermain Taylor battles Sam Soliman on 10/4

Former IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (32-4-1, 20 KOs) is getting a miracle world title shot against IBF middleweight champion Sam Soliman (44-11, 18 KOs) in less than two months from now on 10/4. The venue hasn’t been decided as of yet.

Taylor is ranked at the bottom of the IBF rankings at #15, which would make him seem like an unlikely opponent for Soliman. But Soliman is obviously looking for a guy he thinks he can beat rather than someone than can give him a real test like Martin Murray and of course Golovkin.

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Khan says Alexander and Guerrero are in play for December

Amir Khan would like to be facing Floyd Mayweather Jr or Manny Pacquiao in his next fight in December, but neither of those fighters will be available to him at that time, so he wants to take the best fight possible against either Robert Guerrero or Devon Alexander.

Khan wants to pick up a big win over an opponent with a name so that it can catapult him into a fight against Mayweather next year. Khan believes that a big win will get him the fight that he’s been wanting for ages against Mayweather, who he believes he can beat at this point in his career.

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Groves: I think Brook can beat Porter

Few people are giving Kell Brook (32-0, 22 KOs) much of a chance of beating undefeated IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15 KOs) in their fight on Saturday at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

George Groves, a fellow Brit, believes that Brook has it in him to pull off the upset and bring Porter’s IBF strap back to the UK. Groves sparred with Porter a decade ago when both fighters were teenagers and he sees him as essentially the same fighter now as he was back then.

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Golovkin closing in on Chavez Jr on Froch’s Facebook poll

On Tuesday, IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch asked boxing fans on his Facebook account to pick out who they would like to see him fight from these three fighters: Julio Cesar Chavez, James DeGale and Gennady Golovkin. Froch initially asked fans if they wanted to see him fight DeGale or Chavez Jr. But a couple hours later, Froch added Golovkin’s name to the list.

As you would guess, Chavez Jr jumped out to a huge lead over the other contestants. However, now a day later, Golovkin has narrowed Chavez Jr’s lead considerably and is within striking distance of taking the lead.

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Brook has a great chance of beating Porter, says Hatton

Kell Brook (32-0, 22 KOs) is the underdog in his fight against IBF 147 pound champ Shawn Porter (24-0-1, 15 KOs) for their fight this Saturday night, but fellow Brit Matthew Hatton is giving him a great chance of going into the ring and taking Porter’s belt.

Hatton knows what kinds of skills that Brook has, because he lost to him a couple of years ago by a 12 round decision. Hatton took Brook’s best shots for the first 8 rounds, and fought well in the last four rounds after Brook gassed out. Brook has since taken care of his stamina problems by carefully monitoring his diet.

“I think he’s got a great chance going into this fight,” Hatton said to Skyboxing.com. “I believe Kell is a special fighter. I believe he can do it.”

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