The “Atomic Bull” keeps raging: Oliver McCall upsets Polish prospect Rekowski to notch up 70th pro bout!

It was a big night of boxing in a number of countries last night, yet flying somewhat under the radar was a card that took place in Poland. In action was former WBC heavyweight champion Oliver McCall – a fighter and a man who has been through just about as many ups and downs as can be imagined during his 48-years – and the old “Atomic Bull” proved his is amazingly not quite finished yet.

Facing the much younger and unbeaten, 12-0(10) coming in, Marcin Rekowswki, McCall dropped his man in the 3rd-round and ultimately won an eight-round split decision (77-75 twice, with the loser getting a 76-75 nod on the third card) – this after the result was initially and erroneously announced as a win for the Pole. McCall, in improving his astonishing record to 57-13(37) boxed his 70th pro fight. An added bonus for the tough old geezer (McCall has never been close to hitting the mat, in the ring or in the gym and has never been legitimately stopped in almost 30-years of paid fighting) came in the form of revenge, as Rekowski had previously beaten Oliver’s fighting son, Elijah.

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Photos: Golovkin stops Adama

(Photo/Courtesy Sumio Yamada) Monte Carlo (February 1, 2014) In front of a packed house of cheering boxing fans in Monte Carlo and millions watching around the world on Saturday night, WBA/IBO Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin stormed to a seventh round stoppage of Ghana’s Osumanu Adama at the Salles des Etoiles.

The knockout, Golovkin’s sixteenth in a row and tenth world title defense improved Golovkin’s record to 29-0 (26KO’s) and boosted his knockout ratio to 89.66, the highest among the active world champions and the highest in the history of boxing’s glamour division. With the loss Adama fell to 22-4 (16KO’s).

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Selby stops Munroe; Buckland defeats Rees; Joshua destroys Darch

British featherweight champion Lee Selby (18-1, 7 KO’s) had an easy time defeating former World title challenger Rendall Munroe (27-4-1, 11 KO’s) by a 7th round stoppage on Saturday night to win the vacant European featherweight strap at the Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. The fight was one-sided, but the stoppage was somewhat controversial due to referee Ian John Lewis halting it while Munroe was still upright and not quite out of it.

The official time of the stoppage was 1:31 of the round. Munroe wasn’t going anywhere even if he had survived the round, because he couldn’t handle the speed, power and size of Selby. Munroe was a very good fighter at one time, but he didn’t look it tonight. He looked like a fighter past his prime facing someone much too good for him. Leading up to the stoppage, Selby hurt Munroe with a right hand that sent him backwards into the corner where he was taking shots until Lewis stopped the fight.

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Golovkin defeats Adama by 7th round quick stoppage

(Photo/Courtesy Sumio Yamada) WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26 KO’s) did what he said he was going to do by going out and halting challenger Osumanu Adama (22-4, 16 KO’s) in the 7th round in a three knockdown performance at the at the Salle des etoiles, in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Golovkin knocked Adama down with a jab in the 7th. Shortly after that, Golovkin hit Adama with a left hook square in the jaw that staggered Adama, sending him backwards a couple of steps.

The referee Louis Pabon quickly stopped the fight at that point rather than waiting to see if Adama would recover from the shot. The official time of the stoppage was 1:20. It’s hard to say if Adama would have made it through the round, because he had been staggered several other times in the fight and he’d been able to recoup from the punches.

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Virgil Hunting for Trainer of the Year

Virgil Hunter began his career as a boxing trainer by coaching youth from probation centers. In order to grow as a trainer, Hunter sought the mentorship of trainers like Bobby Warren, Jimmie Simmons, Charlie Smith, and Tiger Floyd. He has associated himself with the likes of Barry Hunter, Leon Lawson, Tony Morrison, Kevin Cunningham, and Nazim Richardson. Virgil’s growth as a trainer first became evident to me based on the rise of his star fighter, Andre Ward. Virgil’s work with Ward have helped put his name on the map. As a result, Virgil has became the hunted trainer as three big names in boxing have solicited his services in the last 2 years.

This is all important when you think about being at the right place at the right time. However, in the case of Virgil Hunter, that cliche is too simple to describe a man who has worked hard to put himself in the right place at a crucial time in his career. The three boxers are Amir Khan, Alfredo Angulo, and Andre Berto. The first two hired Virgil in the fall of 2012 while the latter hired him in June of 2013. These three, along with Andre Ward are the key ingredients that can elevate Virgil Hunter to 2014 Trainer of the Year.

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Golovkin – Adama: Photos and Weights From Monte Carlo

Gennady Golovkin, 159.2 vs. Osumanu Adama, 159.2
Ilunga “Junior” Makabu, 193.5 vs. Ruben Angel Mino, 199.3
Max Bursak, 159.72 vs. Jarrod Fletcher, 159
Nkonsinathi Joyi, 106.9 vs, Rey Loreto, 107.6
Roman Belaev, 146.2 vs. Dean Byrne, 146

Gennady Golovkin is hoping his outstanding 2013 can push him to even greater heights in the new year by beating the biggest names in the middleweight division.

The unbeaten Kazakhstani assassin has become one of boxing’s most feared punchers after brutally blasting his way past all four challengers last year to amass a record of 28 wins with 25 knockouts.

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Blake Caparello, Luis Rosa, Dusty Harrison Win On ESPN

New York, NY / West Orange, NJ (1/31/14) – In his US debut, Australian light heavyweight contender Blake Caparello scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Elvir Muriqi to headline ESPN’s Friday Night Fights at the Richard Codey Arena, in West Orange, NJ. Caparello was very consistent fighting out of the southpaw stance as he landed hard shots to the head and body. Muriqi was precise with his right hand at times, but it was too few and far between the work rate of the Aussie. Caparello, 174.5lbs., of Victoria, Australia, won by scores of 100-90, and 98-92 twice, and is now 19-0-1. Muriqi, 171½lbs., of New York, NY, is now 40-6.

“It was a tough fight,”said a victorious Caparello. “I used my angles and quick hands. I love that I was fighting in America. The fans were all against me, but it was an awesome experience.”

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Two Rights Leave One Left Out – Collazo KOs Ortiz

Events at Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY build up nicely for the shortened main event. First Gary “Mr” Russell, Jr. 24-0-0 (KO 14) proved he is better than most even when he’s not feeling well. He let that slip at the pre-fight meeting with the media. Any questions Fox Sports1 announcers Barry Tompkins, Paulie Malignaggi and Bernard Hopkins about how he would perform were quickly answered. Gary demonstrated he is deserving of serious consideration in the feather and super featherweight divisions by making short work of veteran Miguel “Yaqui” Tamyo. 15-8-2 (KO13) Russell gave up height and reach, but you wouldn’t know it.

He is so smooth and such a good manager of distance that he seems always to be in range, that and the fact that Yaqui cooperated as well. Unfortunately for him, it really didn’t matter whether he tried to be aggressive, either at short range or from a distance. For Gary, Yaqui was always within range. His speed, power and accuracy were just too much for Yaqui. He would try to block the shots and counter, but it was quickly apparent he was getting beat down.

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Luis Collazo wows hometown crowd with second round knockout over Victor Ortiz; fight night results

BROOKLYN, N.Y. (January 31) – It’s a super week in New York City and several of the five boroughs’ finest boxing talent showed their super skills Thursday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The action culminated with a surprising second round knockout of former WBC Welterweight World Champion “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (29-5-2, 22 KO’s) as a result of a right hook thrown by WBA International Welterweight Champion and Brooklyn native Luis Collazo (35-5, 18 KO’s).

“I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to win,” said Collazo. “I went through hard times and maybe I wasn’t ready before, but I was ready today.

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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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