Pacquiao v Valero almost done deal
According to Bob Arum, Manny's promoter a deal to meet the unbeaten banger Edwin Valero is next up for the newly crowned WBC lightweight champion Paquiao.
In an overseas telephone conversation with the Manila Standard Today Bob Arum revealed that he was “pretty close to making a deal with Honda (Valero's promoter) and hopefully I will be able to finalize it tomorrow"
“I think we are in a position to close the deal with the phenomenal kid who has won every single fight by knockout.”
“everybody who knows anything about boxing can’t wait for that fight.”
Edwin Valero who is the reigning WBA super featherweight champion was reported to be having difficulty making the weight and so the Lightweight shoot-out with Pacman seemed the logical fight to make.
It will need full review by the Nevada State Athletic Commission before any fight featuring Valero will be signed off. This is due to him being banned from fighting on medical grounds, in every state apart from Texas, following a failed brain scan after motercycle crash which Valero was involved in, which occurred in 2001.
discuss in FORUM HERE
Hatton v Paquiao a step closer
Following Manny's successful fight at 135lb the Filipino looks set for a collision with Manchester's Ricky Hatton.
"Speed and power is what we trained for in this fight,'' said Pacquiao (47-7-2, 36ko's) "I'm very comfortable at 135 pounds. I feel strong."
"I think Diaz is toughest opponent I've had,'' Pacquiao said. "I was very surprised that he caught a lot of punches and didn't get knocked down in the early rounds."
"It's hard to fight a southpaw, that's why I wasn't very confident about this fight,'' Pacquiao said. "I was lucky tonight to win by knockout."
"He was just too f***** fast," Said Diaz whose record fell to 34-2-1, 17 KOs.
"I've seen him on tape, but I said I could deal with that speed. The power was what I was concerned about. But he was too F****** fast. I thought Freddie was in there hitting me too."
"I thought he had a knife in there with him,'' he said. "I thought he cut me with a blade. But he was just fast. I could deal with his power. I got beat by his speed."
"I'm not going to say he isn't the best. He beat me,'' Diaz said. "My hats off to him. His speed was just too much for me. But I went in there and gave it my all. To go in there with a guy like Manny Pacquiao, I think I'm doing pretty good."
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Carl Froch to fight Jermain Taylor
28.06.08
FROCH IN AMERICAN SUPER-FIGHT
Carl Froch has now got his hard-earned shot at the vacant WBC super-middleweight title against Jermain Taylor later this year but hopes his co-challenger doesn't bottle out of it.
Undefeated British champion Froch has been elected to fight American Taylor, the former undisputed middleweight champion, for the prestigious vacant WBC title after Joe Calzaghe vacated the belt rather than fight mandatory challenger Froch.
The WBC have ordered a private negotiating period between Froch’s promoter Mick Hennessy and Taylor’s promoter Lou DiBella. If there is no agreement then a purse bid will be held on Friday July 25, 2008, at the WBC Executive Offices in Mexico City.
‘Cobra’ Froch has challenged Taylor not to duck out of facing him in one of 2008's biggest global fights and also launched a stinging attack on Taylor’s promoter Lou DiBella after his recent comments on The Fight Network.
“I’m delighted to get the title fight and just hope Taylor shows a real fighting heart and goes through with this fight,” said Froch, who has stopped 19 opponents in 23 fights.
“I’ve heard he was talking about fighting Jeff Lacy next but that fight is a mismatch in my opinion.
“I would knock Lacy out in a round or two and it is an easy fight for Taylor, so I just hope Jermain doesn’t squirm out of this situation with me and I think the broadcasters shouldn’t allow him to either.
“I heard Lou DiBella has said ‘who the fuck is Carl Froch to American television', but he will know who the fuck the ‘Cobra’ is when his fighter is laying horizontal in front of him. Then I will ask him what does he know about boxing?
“In my opinion doing Taylor versus Lacy is just as bad as doing Kelly Pavlik versus Gary Lockett. It’s a mismatch and anyone who buys into that has got to be nuts in my opinion.
“Lacy seems scared of his own shadow at the moment and Taylor will also be a chicken if he swerves me.
“DiBella says American TV isn’t interested in me but believe me they are. Once I knock out Taylor, I will do the same to Kelly Pavlik.”
Froch’s promoter Mick Hennessy has been in talks with DiBella and is confident the ‘Cobra’ will be the new undisputed No 1 of the super-middleweight division.
“Carl would have taken out Calzaghe in style but now he will do it to Jermain Taylor instead. He is the new star of world boxing,” said Hennessy.
“I’ve been speaking with Lou DiBella for a while now and I just hope they don’t start opting for easier fights for Jermain. This could be a massive fight.”
Pavlik v Abraham fight in January
27.06.08
Reports of interim meetings to discuss the inevitable match-up between Youngtown's WBC and WBO middleweight champion Kelly 'the Ghost' Pavlik and current IBF middleweight, the German based Arthur Abraham are under way.
Top Rank and Sauerland Events, the two fighter's promoters are currently reportedly looking at a date in the first quarter of 2009. Venue details are still to be clarified but it looks to be inevitably staged at either NYC or Las Vegas, with the PPV backing of HBO or Showtime, depending on which sites and TV company offered the best deal for the co-promotion.
Pavlik, who dispatched his last opponent Gary Lockett within 3 rounds looks to fight a another opponent in September to keep busy, whilst Abraham will meet his IBF mandatory obligations and fight Raul Marquez this winter time at the beginning of October.
Both American Pavlik and the Armenian born Abraham have unblemished professional records. 6'2 Pavlik's record stands at 34 wins and 30 KO's wheras 5'10 Abraham's is 27 wins and 22 KO's.
Both have KO wins over Edison Miranda (Pavlik in 7, Abraham in 4)and Pavliks other best wins include a knockout and points victory over Jermain Taylor wheras Abraham holds wins over Howard Eastman, Elvin Ayala, Kingsley Ikeke and the UK's Wayne Elcock.
Should both come through their respective fights, this match up looks to be a sure fire blockbuster.
discuss in FORUM HERE
Sinan Samil Sam vs Paolo Vidoz live stream 4th July
27.06.08
LiveFight.com presents LIVE Heavyweight Boxing Championship with Sinan Samil Sam vs Paolo Vidoz.
Sinan is aiming to recapture "his" European Heavyweight Championship Title LIVE from Büyük Anadolu Hotel in Ankara, Turkey.
Six years ago the "Bull from Bosporus" could win the belt by beating Poland’s Przemyslaw Saleta by tko in the 7th. Two years later Sinan felt that the belt was stolen from him in a very controversial decision loss against Luan Krasniqi. Now Sinan is back at the top of the European ranking but the title fight in front of his home crowd will be no walk it the park.
Live boxing streaming HERE
Kessler to fight Danilo Haussler next
2.06.08
Following Mikkel Kessler's successful win over Dmitri Sartison at the weekend, he will now be ordered to face 32 year old Danilo Haussler.
Haussler, from Frankfurt Germany, has not fought since his December Euro-title draw against Italian Cristian Sanavia. The 5'10" Orthodox German's record currently stands at 29-3-1 (7ko's)and is promoted by Sauerland Events.
Under the WBA ruling, Haussler is entitled to a 40% share of the purse when the fight is made with Kessler, which is likely to be contested by Kessler's promoter, Team Palle.
discuss in FORUM HERE
Calzaghe splits from Warren amid problems
24.06.08
Joe Calzaghe has sensationally split from Frank Warren it was revealed earlier today.
"I am now a free agent with no contract and intend to be self-managed from now on," the 36-year-old Calzaghe said in the South Wales Argus.
"My intention is to fight Roy Jones Jr, a four-weight world champion fighter," said Calzaghe.
"That would be a special event for me against a legend of the sport"
But Calzaghe hinted at a potential problem with Warren than had prompted the split.
"There are issues to be resolved with my former promoter Frank Warren and I hope they can be done so amicably."
The last remark indicates that something is amiss between Calzaghe and Warren. More news to follow.
discuss in FORUM HERE
Backlash for Calzaghe
24.06.08
A feeling of disappointment is swelling amongst the boxing community as Joe Calzaghe swerves the first top 5 'pound for pound' unbeaten opponent of his career in Kelly Pavlik.
Pavlik, the 26 year old blue collar fighter from Youngstown Ohio, is regarded as one of the biggest middleweights of all time. Kelly stands at nearly 6'3 and is unbeaten in his 34 fight career, with 30 of those wins coming by bonecrushing knockout. Those wins include a points win and a devastating knockout, of Bernard Hopkin's nemesis and former WBC champion Jermain Taylor.
Joe Calzaghe has long since maintained that he craves the big fights with the big American names, citing that they all avoided him and his offer's of a fight in his hometown of Cardiff over the years. Now it would appear that his split decision win over Bernard Hopkins has made him more marketable to the USA and subsequently offers from the likes of Antonio Tarver and now Kelly Pavlik have landed on Calzaghe's doorstep.
However, rather than delight in the fact that Calzaghe's 'dreams' are materialising at last - it would appear that it was all a bluff. Joe has gone on record to state that he will not fight Kelly Pavlik and has turned down his offer of travelling to Cardiff to fight the Welshman in his hometown. This turn of events has rattled even the most staunchest of Calzaghe fans.
To compound the situation further, Calzaghe has highlighted his desire to fight Roy Jones Junior, a former star from late 1990's and who has lost 3 of his last 6 fights. Of those 3 losses he suffered, 2 were by KO by Antonio Tarver and Glencoffe Johnson respectively.
Roy Jones will have almost a year of rust to shake off should he step in the ring in November as proposed. His last victory was at the weight of 170lb against a Welterweight star in Felix Trinidad who himself was having only his 2nd fight in 4 years.
"Talks are ongoing about me facing Roy Jones, a genuine legend of boxing and a previous four-weight world champion. That is a fight that I think can be made. I think Jones is the right fight for me at the moment." Joe recently stated to the press.
However, in Calzaghe's autobiography, he is reported as speaking truthfully about a potential Roy Jones match up. Talking frankly about Jones, he states that he is now a 'shadow of his former self' and that he stands to gain nothing from a fight now.
Calzaghe mentions how Jones was a great fighter in his day, but that he's been knocked out twice and he would prove nothing new to the boxing world by knocking him for a third time as everyone knows he is now shot.
Pavlik's trainer has also been miffed by the suggestion that their fighter does not really want to fight Calzaghe in another attempt to derail the fight that the public clamour for :-
"I'm ticked off as he's telling us that we don't want to fight him. But yes, we do want to fight Joe Calzaghe. He doesn't want to fight Kelly Pavlik." Lowe Stated.
"There's no way he'd beat Kelly, he's just a slap-happy Welshman."
Gary Lockett, trained by Calzaghe's father Enzo, was destroyed by Pavlik inside three rounds earlier this month, and Loew said "Jones Jnr is a smarter fight for Calzaghe.
"This is what happened: his dad went back and said 'don't fight this killer, he is gonna knock you out'.
Perhaps this is all a ruse to hype the fight up? in the same way that David Haye denounced a fight with Enxo Macarinelli ealier this year. Haye stated he could no longer make the weight, when in reality he could and was setting a trap to get Big Mac into the ring. However Pavlik has not shirked the challenge at any point and has made it clear he wants the fight and wants talk to take place.
It would seem the ball is firmly now in Joe's court.
Does he fight a true pound for pound opponent in unbeaten Pavlik? or does he choose the shot fighter in Roy Jones, a man in his own words he states that 'he would prove absolutely nothing by beating ?
Jones knocked out over 4 years ago by Glen Johnson :-
discuss in FORUM HERE