Boxing News and Archives

[beefyfan]

3 atrocious decisions between Thursday and Saturday night. Boy, Herrera should actually be a candidate for Fighter of the Year. Instead, he's got 2 bullshit losses on his record. He beat Danny Garcia clearly and Benavidez even clearer.

I thought the Bradley vs Chaves decision was also bad, but not quite as bad as Herrera.

While I still thought Manny deserved the nod against Bradley the 1st time, I could at least find a path for the judges to score more rounds for Bradley. I believe Manny was out of shape for the 1st Bradley fight. To my eyes, Tim won about 2 minutes of every round. However, Manny won his minute much more convincingly.

I was extremely happy for Andy Lee. Korobov was too tough for his own good. He should have taken a knee and got his bearings back. Wow, was that a punch. Most guys would have been down for the count. I hope Andy milks a couple defenses before fighting GGG.

Showtimes card sucked. They are turning into what HBO had become. A showcase platform for their house fighters.

That was a nice win for Amir Khan, though. That's 2 good ones now at welterweight.

I'll go on record right now that if he fights Mayweather in May, he will win 7 or 8 rounds. Floyd doesn't punch hard or often enough to hurt Khan or discourage him. Khan is also bigger, fleeter of foot and dare I say faster. I like Amir Khan by decision. Floyd doesn't punch with guys. He shoulder rolls and does his own thing. That won't work against Amir Khan. In my opinion.

I'll also go on record that if Floyd fights Manny in May, Manny will either stop him early or hold on for a close decision win.

I'll go on record 1 more time and say that Floyd finds someone else besides Khan or Manny to fight in May.

I know it's not boxing, but the Junior Dos Santos and Stipe Miocic fight on FOX stole the show. That was a modern day UFC version of Foreman and Lyle.

[Dee]

From the fights i saw....

Bradley beat chaves by at least 3 or 4 rounds. chaves is a tough dude.....Bradley fought a good fight, hard to see many opponents lasting long with what he was doing against chaves.

Khan put on a great performance.....he has learned a lot from hunter, not enough to change his punch first mentality, but at least he moves more now and doesn't fall into his punches. that left hook over alexanders jab was a major weapon for khan, he took away devons jab....khan fought the fight on the back foot but hit first, which again, isnt what he used to do, but still was able to land awesome combinations.....and alexander is a top fighte at 140-147....Khan deserves a big big money fight now.....

Andy lee pulled it out again...he was losing this fight....that right hand in the midst of getting swarmed totally put koborov out on his feet. Lee was landing a lot of leather after that....might have been an early stop, but i dont think so....great win for him, i agree with you he should milk this for the money as long as he can.....first title win forhim, and he dedicated it to manny stewart...class move. stewart was like a father to him.

At this point, mayweather will fight mannyjust to keep the cinco de mayo date ( canelo vs cotto is making a play for the date...canelo wants the date back for the mexicans).....khan wont fight in the sept/oct months due to ramadan....mayweather usually wants sept. If he takes khan next would be a good fight....i think khan can win due to the points you mentioned, but mayweather is still fast enough to strike first....waiting to counter and pot shot against khan might not work, but if he can strike first, khan wont be able to counter with may's defense.....interesting fight nonetheless...

As the time passes, may's advantages over manny have declined....I think he would be able to box and move enough to make it 12 rounds and nip a close decision....He would have to pick up the offensive output to win rounds against manny...I could see a this fight being the most anticipated fight of all time, getting the most vews/buys/hype and then going to the scorecards and ending in a horrible decision...

[beefyfan]

To beat Manny, you need one of 2 things. Either you are an athletic freak with too much size for Manny to overwhelm, or you are willing to stay in the pocket and punch with Manny. This is why Juan Manuel Marquez had so much success against Manny.

It's a testament to Manny that going 1-2-1 against him is considered success. To these eyes, he is more like 1-3, but each fight was close and great.

Mayweather will have to come out of his comfort zone against either Manny or Khan. Khans size and speed is going to be a nightmare for Floyd. Manny's speed of hand and foot along with punch output will also be problematic.

[Ibarramedia]

Until I see the ring walk or go through the first round, i'm not buying Floyd wanting fight Manny. Even if they sign the agreements and go through the press conferences around the world and training camp and all that, he can still back out even if it means he pay a few million $$$ or claim he got injured. etc, etc. Seen all the excuses mounting from day 1 and it is what it is.

[Ibarramedia]

The History of Mayweather-Pacquiao Negotiations Clarified

The inability of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao to step in the ring has certainly been a black eye in the sport of boxing. Both sides are at fault to a certain extent, but the blame has been widely skewed towards the Mayweather camp. For years Pacquiao’s people informed the public, Mayweather is always making up new excuses. First it was the random drug testing, then the money split, then the PPV shares and so on. Due to Bob Arum and Pacquiao’s people constant interaction with writers, their quotes and side of the story are frequently headlined through various media outlets, and then get presented to the general public. Here’s a perfect example how Arum’s quotes headline an ESPN show, which gives the impression that Mayweather is scared, and avoiding the fight. Arum’s quotes on ESPN. Here’s another example of Pacquiao implying Mayweather is avoiding the fight in a Foot Locker commercial, which amounted to nearly four million views. Manny Pacquiao’s Foot Locker commercial.

Since Mayweather has subdued his interaction with the media in dealing with the Pacquiao negotiations for the past several years, people began believing he is indeed intimidated by Pacquiao. It also doesn’t help his manager, Al Haymon, who plays a major role in the negotiation process, remains an unknown figure to the mainstream audience due to his refusal to do interviews. This amounts to the perfect recipe for a one sided story to be spread amongst the boxing landscape.


Mayweather has recently broken his quiet demeanor on the Pacquiao situation and told Fighthype.com, “They [Pacquiao’s people] have been lying to the critics, all the websites, the blogs, social media and everyone for years.” Mayweather also explained why he’s been relatively silent on the issue. He stated, “We never came out in public and spoke about the fight because a lot of times, I say certain things, but Manny Pacquiao, he doesn’t really understand when I’m speaking slang. When I do say certain things, it’s obvious whatever I’m saying gets under his camp’s skin, and then the next thing you know, I’m hit with a lawsuit for defamation of character just because I voiced my opinion or I was having fun talking trash. I think that’s a coward move.”
Mayweather has also went live on Showtime and expressed he’s been interested in fighting Pacquiao for years, and Arum has been lying to the public on the reason why the fight hasn’t happened yet.
It’s obvious both sides have their side of the story, but here’s a timeline on the downfalls of the negotiations to clear matters up.


Random Drug Testing 2009
According to ESPN’s Brian Kenny, he informed the public on why the mega fight didn’t occur. He explained everything was agreed upon, until Mayweather demanded random drug testing. Mayweather would accept testing up to 14 days prior to the fight, and Pacquiao would only accept testing three times but from 24 days until the fight itself, and right after the match. After a stalemate Arum waived off the fight due to the additional random drug testing clause, and Pacquiao went on to fight Joshua Clottey.
Mayweather received heavy criticism from the media for demanding random drug testing, which is becoming the norm in today’s world of boxing, and is currently helping to clean out the sport. Fighters such as Lamont Peterson and Andre Berto have been caught using illegal substances, due to the fact they had to undergo more stringent testing.
Mayweather at the time believed Pacquiao was on performance enhancing drugs due to his rapid rise in weight classes and increase in power that Pacquiao was experiencing around the age of 30. Mayweather was not the only one who was suspicious, boxing pundit Teddy Atlas, and fighters such as Paulie Malignaggi, Oscar De La Hoya, and Kermit Cintron along with other people expressed a similar opinion.


Teddy Atlas’ reaction on ESPN right after Arum waived off the fight

Teddy Atlas explained on ESPN, he is not saying Pacquiao is on PEDs, but stated the common man is thinking why would anyone turn down 30 million dollars just because they had to undergo random testing.


Paulie Malignaggi in 2010

In an interview with Round1Mag.com, Paulie Malignaggi explained he believed Pacquiao was on PEDs due to his power surge and refusal to undergo random testing.

Kermit Cintron in 2009

Kermit Cintron explained Pacquiao is definitely on something that’s not showing up in the testing procedures. According to the description box, Cintron stated this on ktfb860.com on Ring talk Radio.

Oscar De La Hoya’s opinion on Manny Pacquiao in 2009

Oscar De La Hoya expressed that now he has to wonder about Pacquiao. Why doesn’t he want to undergo random testing? Why is it such a big deal?

Freddie Roach explained to ESPN why Pacquiao didn’t accept more stringent testing up to 14 days before the fight. He stated, “The thing is everyone reacts differently by taking blood. He just doesn’t feel right for about three days. We are willing to work with commission and their rules. There’s no ounce of evidence that Pacquiao ever took steroids.”

Pacquiao’s camp apparently became infuriated by these accusations and filed a lawsuit against Mayweather for defamation of character.

According to the L.A. Times, Mayweather’s people issued a statement that read, “We wish to make it clear that they never intended to claim that Manny Pacquiao has used or is using any performance-enhancing drugs. Nor are they aware of any evidence Manny Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs. Manny Pacquiao is a great champion and no one should construe any of our prior remarks as claiming that Manny Pacquiao has used performance-enhancing drugs.”

The article was written in 2012, and it dealt with a case going back to 2009. They also reportedly reached a money settlement.
Testing Demands went from 14 days prior to the fight, to the day of the fight.

According to BBC Sport , in 2010, Pacquiao accepted the terms of having to undergo more stringent testing 14 days before the bout. When negotiations took place, Mayweather now insisted the fight would only happen if testing occurs up to the day of the fight.

People began criticizing Mayweather for changing his demands, and finding excuses not to fight Pacquiao. What people failed to realize is the fact USADA was in charge of the testing procedures. It doesn’t matter what Pacquiao or Mayweather says, if USADA is involved in the fight, testing will be issued up to the day of the bout. USADA is not part of the Nevada Commission, or Mayweather or Pacquiao’s camp, they are their own organization with their own regulations.

This is why the 14 day deal was never going to come into fruition. The negotiation process regarding random drug testing must have been in early works in 2009
.
The Money Split and PPV Revenue

On the program Costas Tonight aired on NBC Sports, Mayweather explained to Bob Costas what happened while negotiating with Pacquiao’s team regarding the money split, and PPV revenue. Mayweather explained he offered Pacquiao 40 million and was willing to wire him 20 million within 72 hours. Michael Koncz, Pacquiao’s adviser at the time, said he was in control and visited Mayweather to try and make the fight happen, but at the end Pacquiao’s people said they were going another route.

Costas explained Koncz view was yes they were offered 40 million, but they also wanted a share of the PPV revenue, which could possibly amount to 150 million dollars. Koncz reportedly offered a 50/50 split, or a 45/45 and the remaining 10 percent goes to the winner.

Mayweather replied, “How my deal is structured at this particular time in the sport boxing, I keep 100 % of the PPV revenue, so why would I give the guy 50/50 when I’m the highest paid athlete.”

Mayweather also stated in the interview, “If you have done your homework, in the past Pacquiao said, now go look at this it’s not too far back, Pacquiao said I will take less money but I didn’t want to do the drug testing, but now he’s saying I’ll do the drug testing but now I want 50/50.”

This is where the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations fell through, and the progress of making the bout came to a halt.

There were some reports of Pacquiao saying he’s willing to take the lesser amount of the revenue on ESPN, but Fighthype showed how Pacquiao’s statements conflicted to what his manager and promoter wanted. Bob Arum reportedly wanted the 50/50, and Koncz wanted a 45/45 with the winner getting the extra 10% along with PPV revenue according to Bob Costas.
Two arguments can be drawn from this situation.

The first argument is: Manny Pacquiao has earned the right to receive 50/50, or have a deal where the winner gets the larger share of the money along with PPV revenue, because he was accomplishing amazing feats at that particular time in the sport of boxing.

The counterargument is: Why would Pacquiao’s team demand more money when they already accepted the previous offer, but now want more revenue after random testing became involved in the negotiations?
(Note: Yahoo! Sports claimed to acquire a detailed contract from Golden Boy Promotions offering Top Rank a 50/50 split with random drug testing in 2009 on Mayweather’s behalf. But the article also mentions Richard Schaefer, the chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions, refutes ever sending a contract offering a 50/50 split).

The Cold War
The Cold War in boxing emerged. If one is not too familiar with these terms, it deals with Golden Boy and Top Rank’s refusal to do business with one another. Al Haymon who manages over 100 fighters, also took part in the Cold War by refusing to do business with Top Rank.

This not only furthered stalled the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight from happening, but also prevented many other great fights from occurring. This is the reason why Pacquiao was fighting opponents who were either on Top Rank, or who weren’t signed with Golden Boy or managed by Al Haymon.
It also explains why Mayweather only fought Golden Boy fighters, or other fighters who were managed by Al Haymon.
This is why possible matchups such as Keith Thurman vs. Timothy Bradley will never take place under these current circumstances.

Pacquiao’s Resigning with Top Rank
According to ESPN, Pacquiao’s contract with Top Rank had ended in 2014. This increased the possibility of a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight to finally come into fruition, until Pacquiao decided to resign with Top Rank for a two year extension. No one can blame Pacquiao for his decision to resign with Arum, because they have had a great history together.


Pacquiao Undergoes Random Drug Testing
After Pacquiao’s knock out loss against Juan Manuel Marquez, he took a year long lay off and fought Brandon Rios in his return. What stood out in this fight was not only Pacquiao’s return, but the first time he was undergoing random drug testing. Pacquiao agreed to undergo VADA testing, which is a drug testing program such as USADA, but specifically designed for combat sports.
The irony of the situation is according to USA TODAY Sports, Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, accused Juan Manuel Marquez of PED usage due to his increase in power and body size at an eccentric age. This is exactly the same reason why Mayweather and others accused Pacquiao of PED usage in the year 2009, but Pacquiao initially refused to undergo random testing, and Arum reportedly waived off the fight for that sole reason.
Nonetheless, Pacquiao had finally underwent random drug testing, and proved he is still an elite fighter in the sport of boxing while never testing positive for any illegal substance in his career.


Cold War Ended but Not Really
Recently Golden Boy and Top Rank have finally settled their dispute, but Al Haymon and Top Rank still haven’t settled theirs. This remains a large issue in the sport of boxing given the fact Haymon has over 100 fighters which includes Mayweather, and Top Rank still has Pacquiao with other stars in their stable. Even if a fighter is signed with Golden Boy, they still cannot face a Top Rank fighter if they are also under Haymon’s management.
An example would be Abner Mares who is signed with Golden Boy and Al Haymon at the same time, still has not competed against Nonito Donaire, a Top Rank fighter, even though the fight has been talked about for years.
It’s also been reported by various sources and sites, Top Rank fighters mainly fight on HBO, and Haymon fighters compete the majority of the time on Showtime. Because of this, the Showtime vs. HBO rivalry has stewed up, and since Mayweather has a contract with Showtime, this creates another obstacle in making the mega fight.


In an interview with Wall Street Journal Live, Mayweather stated Pacquiao would have to sign with Mayweather Promotions in order for the fight to happen. The media blindly listened to this statement, and said Mayweather is just making ridiculous demands, and he’s the one avoiding the fight. But if one sees what Mayweather was implying, it’s the fact that there are many political endeavors preventing the fight from happening (Cold War), and the fight would actually become a reality if Pacquiao and Mayweather were under the same stable.


Current Situation
Mayweather has recently informed the media, Pacquiao is his main focus. Supposedly there are small ongoing negotiations but nothing serious. Both fighters currently, and have always wanted to fight each other, but political barriers, and the demand for money have always been a huge obstacle.
There have been rumors and speculation on what’s occurring behind the scenes. This is the best attempt to at least get some of the basics down.

Mayweather and Pacquiao’s Status
Mayweather is widely recognized as the A side in the negotiations meaning he deserves the higher split. A 65/35 deal seems reasonable given the fact he is still the number one pound for pound best fighter in the world, and has more than doubled Pacquiao’s PPV buys against Chris Algieri in his last bout.

The Venue
The venue of the MGM Grand may be an issue given the fact Arum has a shaky relationship with the resort. Arum once criticized the MGM Grand for having posters advertising Mayweather-Maidana while the Pacquiao-Bradley event was merely a few weeks away.
If the MGM Grand has no issues with Arum, the fight will take place there, as that has been Mayweather’s favorite venue to fight in. The reason why Mayweather prefers this venue is because it’s only a 10 minute drive from his house, and they have a great relationship together due to their history and all the revenue he’s created for the resort. The MGM Grand has been known to give Mayweather luxury gifts as a token of their appreciation. In a Fighthype video, Mayweather discusses the 1.6 million dollar Bugatti, and the 400,000-dollar watch he received from the MGM Grand.

HBO and Showtime will have to come to a compromise.
As stated before Mayweather is affiliated with Showtime, and Pacquiao works with HBO. According to Yahoo! Sports, Arum expressed, “If the fight occurs before the end of 2015, it could be on both Showtime and HBO, as was the 2002 pay-per-view match between Mike Tyson, who was then exclusively with Showtime, and Lennox Lewis, who was exclusively with HBO.”
It’s also been said that CBS is trying to negotiate for a deal as well.

Top Rank and Al Haymon must negotiate
Top Rank and Al Haymon must be willing to do business with one another. This may be one of the biggest issues given the fact that Haymon has been known to block deals with other promotional companies. The most infamous case is Haymon choosing to not do business with Roc Nation in the two instances when they were trying to promote a bout with Peter Quillin, and Deontay Wilder.
Bob Arum has also bad-mouthed Haymon in the past, but they will have to come to an agreement in order to make the biggest fight in boxing finally happen.

USADA or VADA
Then there’s also the decision if either USADA or VADA is going to do the testing. Both are really solid anti-doping programs, but unfortunately USADA’s reputation has been tainted for some hardcore boxing fans when an article written by Gabriel Montoya on Maxboxing.com was released, criticizing the program of being mischievous. The unfortunate part is the article was misleading and contained false information. It’s hard to decipher if the false information was accidental or purposely made but it did affect some people’s perception of USADA. Here’s an article pointing out the false information in Montoya’s work. Boxing’s Criticism of USADA Finally Debunked. The good thing is the decision of undergoing either program will probably not be a big factor.

May 2^ND Date
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has made it clear he wants to fight Pacquiao on May 2^nd, which is the same date Canelo Alvarez desires to fight Miguel Cotto. This may seem as a big issue but Oscar De La Hoya has stated via twitter, if the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight gets made, then Alvarez will fight on another date.

The Small Things
Then there are the petty decisions such as deciding on the ring and glove size, which should be sorted out relatively quickly.

In conclusion
It’s not solely up to Mayweather and Pacquiao wanting to fight each other. HBO, Showtime, CBS, Top Rank, Al Haymon, and the MGM Grand, all have to come to an agreement. Whether all these forces can come to an alignment and deliver the biggest fight in boxing on May 2^nd 2015 remains to be seen.


http://thaboxingvoice.com/the-histor...larified/37334

[Ibarramedia]

'Floyd may be using Pacquiao to get Cinco de Mayo'

Floyd Mayweather Jr. may only be using Manny Pacquiao as a ''pawn'' to get the May 2 fight date which coincides with the Mexican holiday ''Cinco de Mayo,'' according to HBO color commentator Max Kellerman.

Kellerman said the Cinco de Mayo weekend is important for Mayweather because the most popular boxer traditionally fights on that date.
“Cinco de Mayo, that weekend is the signature of the biggest fighter in boxing,” Kellerman said in Tha Boxing Voice.

Kellerman thinks Mayweather was already aware that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Miguel Cotto are fighting on the Cinco de Mayo weekend when the American boxer demanded that his super fight with Pacquiao take place on May 2.

“I believe the reason Floyd is so seriously engaging with the Pacquiao talks now is [he doesn’t want to lose the date to Cotto-Canelo], otherwise Floyd, for the first time in six or seven years, can get bumped by a bigger fight. So if he fights Pacquiao he bumps them,” speculated the analyst.

But Kellerman said Mayweather is likely to fight another boxer on May 2. He thinks “Money Mayweather” will be saving Pacquiao for a latter date for lengthier promotion time.
“I do not believe he will fight Pacquiao in May, it’s too soon to get the promotion going the way [it needs to be done], he’ll fight like Amir Khan or someone like that in May, but have that date for him using Pacquiao as leverage to scare the other fight off,” he said.
''Then, I believe Floyd and Pacquiao, if they both win their next fights, will fight in September [of next year].''

[Ibarramedia]

Adonis Stevenson takes out Dmitry Sukhotsky, eyes Sergey Kovalev

Adonis Stevenson didn’t have a great 2014 but he certainly ended it on a high note.
Stevenson, the RING light heavyweight champ, squandered the momentum he established in 2013 by failing to make fights against fellow 175-pound stars Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev this year. Instead, they fought each other.
And Stevenson received a stiffer test than expected against Andrzej Fonfara in May, his only other fight in 2014.
All that gave Stevenson’s title defense against Dmitry Sukhotsky on Saturday in Quebec City a fairly high degree of urgency: It was his last chance to make a strong statement before the end of the year.
He made it.
Stevenson put Sukhotsky down four times, once in the second and three times in a brutal fifth from which Sukhotsky never emerged.
The official end came at 2:42 of the round but it started about a minute earlier, when Stevenson, a southpaw, landed a straight left that put Sukhotsky on his butt and hurt him. The Russian went down again, got up and seemed to recover to some degree but then ate another vicious straight left that finished him off.
Referee Michael Griffin waved off the fight with Sukhotsky on his back and helpless, giving Stevenson the fourth successful defense of his RING and WBC titles. Sukhotsky (22-3, 16 KOs) had never been knocked out.
Stevenson aptly described it afterward: “A beautiful knockout.”
The question now: Where will it lead?
Stevenson was named THE RING Fighter of the Year after 2013, when he knocked out in succession Darnell Boone, Chad Dawson, Tavoris Cloud and Tony Bellew. And it appeared that the likes of Kovalev or Hopkins – or at least Jean Pascal in a big Canadian fight – were awaiting him in 2014.
Didn’t happen. Stevenson backed out on a deal to fight Kovalev, moved from HBO to Showtime to fight Hopkins but couldn’t make it happen and ended up with Fonfara and Sukhotsky instead.
Stevenson wouldn’t say much about his future immediately after the fight, indicating only that he would defer to promoter Yvon Michel and advisor Al Haymon, with whom he signed in February.
However, in the days leading up to the fight, he had plenty to say about a possible showdown with Kovalev if the Russian beats Pascal in March.
“Nothing is easy but I know that I’m the only guy that can beat Sergey Kovalev. I will fight him in 2015,” Stevenson said. He went on: “Look, Pascal and Hopkins got to fight Kovalev; so what? I know Kovalev still has to prove that he’s the best in the division and the only way that he can do that is by fighting me.”
Stevenson blamed his inability to fight his rivals on money, saying they demanded too much of it during negotiations. He expects more of the same from Kovalev if they enter talks.
What other choice does Stevenson have, though? Hopkins isn’t as viable an opponent after being shut out by Kovalev in November. And Pascal, who lost to Hopkins, is given little chance of beating Kovalev on March 13.
There are no other marquee 175-pounders and it’s doubtful a big-name super middleweight would step up and face a fighter with so much punching power.
Stevenson is 37 and more or less wasted everything he built in 2013. Common sense says he should pull out all stops to make the Kovalev fight happen, even if that means accepting a smaller share of the profits than he would like.
Otherwise, he might be forced to fight more opponents like Fonfara and Sukhotsky and further lose relevance. The clock is ticking.
And who knows? Maybe he really is the only one who can beat Kovalev.

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/3...sergey-kovalev

[Ibarramedia]

W. Klitschko to fight in Brooklyn

Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko is coming back to New York -- Brooklyn to be exact.
Klitschko, whose 18th title defense will take place on April 25 in the second fight of his three-fight HBO contract, will fight at the Barclays Center in what will be the first heavyweight championship bout at the 2-year-old arena, which has already hosted more than a dozen fight cards.
Klitschko's opponent is not signed yet, but his team is far down the road in negotiations with unbeaten Philadelphia contender Bryant Jennings and the deal is expected to be wrapped in the next couple of weeks.
"The fight will be at the Barclays Center and we are very, very pleased," Bernd Boente, Klitschko's manager, told ESPN.com on Wednesday night. "The contract is not signed yet but we have a handshake deal and we are getting everything finalized. It's a really good deal for both sides. We are all looking forward to a big event."
Boente said that if the deal with Jennings (19-0, 10 KOs) is not finalized, Klitschko (63-3, 54 KOs) would still fight at the Barclays Center but against a different opponent.
Boente had also been in talks with the Barclays Center's rival New York arena, Madison Square Garden. Klitschko, who is from Ukraine but a huge star in Germany, where his fights usually take place, has not fought in the United States since unifying two belts with a one-sided decision victory against Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden in 2008.
Klitschko, however, has wanted to fight in New York again and the new deal with HBO, which began with his fifth-round knockout of Kubrat Pulev on Nov. 15 in Germany, made it more feasible.
"The Barclays offer was better (than Madison Square Garden's)," Boente said. "We really like the people at the Garden. I really like Joel Fisher (executive vice president of MSG Sports). We had fights with Wladimir and (older brother) Vitali there, but the overall cooperation is better with Barclays. They are putting huge marketing money into this and that is important."
Boente and Brett Yormark, the Barclays Center CEO, held talks about the arena hosting a Klitschko defense as the arena's first boxing event in 2012, but it fell through because, at the time, the arena had an exclusive deal with Golden Boy Promotions to put on boxing events and Klitschko was not interested in cutting it in when it had nothing to do with his career. Now that Golden Boy is no longer exclusive, Boente said he and Yormark made a deal.
"They really want to have this event. I had meetings with the Garden and Barclays and Brett really wanted a Klitschko fight," Boente said. "Remember, they wanted to open the arena with one of Wladimir's fights. We are really excited to go there. I've been through the whole arena. It's fantastic, a great arena. It's one the best arenas I've seen."
Klitschko typically trains in the Austrian mountains for his fights but Boente said that Klitschko, who resides in Hollywood, Florida, will train there, which will keep him closer to his fiancé, actress Hayden Panettiere, who gave birth to their first child, a girl named Kaya, on Dec. 9.
"A review on the year: The birth of my daughter, two successful championship defenses and many other achievements on the way," Klitschko wrote on his Instagram account on Monday. "It was a great year and I'm looking forward to 2015. I'm ready to take on new challenges!"
The fight will take place just days after Klitschko will have begun his 10th year with a world title, second-longest in heavyweight history. Klitschko, the lineal champion and owner of three major alphabet belts, began his second title reign by knocking out Chris Byrd in the seventh round on April 22, 2006 in Germany, and is chasing Joe Louis' all-time record of 11 years, 8 months, 8 days as heavyweight champion.
Klitschko's 17 consecutive title defenses are third-most in heavyweight history behind only Larry Holmes (20) and Louis (25, which is an all-time record for any weight class).

[Ibarramedia]

Manny Pacquiao watched by 48 million homes in China; May 2 should be for Canelo-Cotto not Pacman-Mayweather, says Bob Arum

Bob Arum reveals that 48 million homes watched Manny Pacquiao in China event, and that the boxing legend will judge Miss Universe in January 2015. But Arum believes May 2, 2015, in Las Vegas should feature Mexican fighters.
Manny Pacquiao's defence of the World Boxing Organisation welterweight crown in Macau, China, in November was watched by 48 million homes in China, promoter Bob Arum has revealed, and he insisted that the proposed May 2 date for Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather is "disrespectful to the Mexican people".
Arum believes May 2, 2015, is not the best weekend to hold Mayweather-Pacquiao. "May 2, that Cinco De Mayo weekend, is a Mexican holiday. It is a big Mexican-American holiday. It's a fight date being talked about for Mayweather, Pacquiao, even Cotto, but they're not Mexicans or even Mexican-Americans," Arum told The Telegraph.
"The only Mexican who is a draw on that date is Canelo (Saul Alvarez)," added Arum. It has been proposed that Miguel Cotto – a Puerto Rican – fights Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas on that date, the same date Mayweather has suggested he would fight Pacquiao.
"I think it's disrespectful to the Mexican people not to have Canelo fight on their holiday," Arum added, telling The Telegraph, "I see Mayweather as poaching on a Mexican holiday and being disrespectful to the Mexican people."
"Everybody agrees with that, except Mayweather. He is putting his ego before respect for people. April or June would be fine for that fight (Mayweather-Pacquiao). What difference does it make?"
Meanwhile, Arum has revealed that Pacquiao's landslide 12 round decision in the headliner in Macau against the American Chris Algieri – 119-103, 119-103, 120-102 – draw a massive viewing audience from mainland China.
"It was a huge success. Forty-eight million homes watched it," Arum said. "That's effectively over half the population of the UK. Boxing is becoming a major sport in China. I want to build the audience as much as possible before we even think about pay-per-view."
The Chinese population were also tuning in for the double Olympic Games champion Zou Shiming, who is now promoted by the octogenarian American promoter. Is Pacquiao a bigger draw than Shiming ?
"That is not the case. They are interested in Manny Pacquiao more than any other international fighter, but it does not surpass or even equal their interest in their own boy Zou Shiming. He is number one."
Arum will turn his attention to Pacquiao's plans for 2015 imminently. "A lot of it is working around Freddie Roach's schedule (for Pacquiao). He has Zou Shiming March 7 fighting for a title. Then he has Miguel Cotto and he's got to schedule his fight, probably May 2. So Manny will be either in April or June."
Meanwhile, Pacquiao is back in action in January – as a judge – not of boxing, but of beauty. "The only thing we're planning with Pacquiao (early in 2015) is that he's going to be a judge at one of these beauty contests – Miss World or Miss Universe, the one in Miami, in January," added Arum.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/sport/g...says-bob-arum/

[PTB]

Nice homework Ibarramedia!!

[Ibarramedia]

WBC boss proposes some big changes for boxing

Some of the most common complaints in professional boxinginvolve bad judging, too many champions, mismatches in the ring, and drug abuse outside of it.
Mauricio Sulaiman, who presided over his first annual convention as president of the World Boxing Council this week, left Las Vegas with what he hopes are solutions for what ails the sport.
Sulaiman, 44, was elected earlier this year to succeed his father, longtime WBC President Jose Sulaiman, who died in February.
The son wasted no time trying to implement some changes in a sport that has been slow to change.
Sulaiman, who had worked the conventions behind the scenes with his father for 40 years, preparing materials, being a gofer and "looking after every single detail and running around everywhere," was running the show this week and laid out his organization's proposals:
--A tournament of champions for each weight division, with the winner from among the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO champions being the only one who can rightfully be called a "world champion." Sulaiman said all but the WBO are currently on board .
"It's just a matter of time, we're doing things to go in that direction," Sulaiman told USA TODAY Sports this week. "We're trying to bring everybody on board. Each organization has their mandatories and their own situations they have to clear before going into such a tournament, but there are some divisions that are much easier to begin with."
--Rating of ring officials, something that is already being implemented. In light of a rash of bad decisions by ringside judges the last few years, including one last week in which the Timothy Bradley-Diego Chaves fight was scored a draw, after HBO's Harold Lederman and much of the media at ringside scored Bradley as the clear winner.
Bradley, of course, was involved in perhaps this era's most infamous judging decision when he was scored the winner over Manny Pacquiao in 2012 in a fight that seemed to be one-sided in Pacquiao's favor.
Sulaiman said there are 167 countries affiliated, divided into 10 continental federations. Each federation submits the list of their officials with their classification. There is continuous training in seminars and conventions, and seminars available online. There is online scoring to monitor each judge's and referee's performance, and after each fight, a score is given for the performance of the official.
"Officiating will always be controversial, because there is no scoring (system)," Sulaiman said. "There is no way of putting in numbers, so whatever (a judge) sees, he scores.
"However, there are things that can be done to prevent (bad officiating). Ring officials should be appointed to a specific fight. In championship fights, we call for neutral nationalities, to have officials from neutral countries not belonging to either boxer. That's a natural way of being as fair as possible.
Sulaiman says judges, like baseball players, can have slumps.
"Concentration is a key. If one has personal problems, he's not going to be able to concentrate," Sulaiman said. "It is just a matter of being in close contact with your officials and having the possibility of working with the local boxing commissions to appoint the best officials to a given fight."
--A mismatch prevention system. Sulaiman said they have designed such a system with Boxrec, one of the sport's record-only web sites.
Fighters worldwide are assigned levels, which has two intentions, Sulaiman said. "To prevent mismatches, which are very risky for the health of fighters, and to give the fans action-packed, quality fights.
"This proposal is intended to help matchmakers, to look at fights that are being set, and to raise the quality of fights," Sulaiman continued. "We're going to use it for our WBC affiliated championships and we will not accept fights that do not fall into this system. For example, a fighter in level 8, and a good prospect on level 3 or 4, cannot fight. The only fights that will be approved are one level up or one level down."
Beginning on Jan. 1, 2015, the WBC will begin a program with VADA (Voluntary Anti-Doping Association) to do year-round random drug-testing.
"This is new and very exciting," Sulaiman said. "We're going to be working very hard around the world to basically have an awareness and prevention program for young athletes. We have learned that using human growth hormone (HGH) shrinks your brain. That is a tremendous side effect for those people who take it. Later in their life they will suffer terrible consequences."
Accordingly, the state of boxing today, Sulaiman said, is "wonderful, and at the same time, challenging.
"There's so much confusion. There's a war going on between some promoters, and TV networks. There are fights that should be made that the public wants to see. There are some certainties that will happen," he said. "But quality-wise, I see great activity in several countries, I see great champions, future stars, a heavyweight division that is coming back to the interest, a middleweight division that is full of so many great matches that can be done.
"I think it should be a great year, but we have to keep very active and keep young people interested in boxing (through social media)."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...xing/20645739/

[Ibarramedia]

Fighter of the year: Terence Crawford

Unbeaten lightweight titlist makes leap from contender to rising star in 2014

In 2013, lightweight Terence Crawford gave fight fans a glimpse of what was to come when he fearlessly moved up to junior welterweight to take an HBO-televised fight on short notice against dangerous puncher Breidis Prescott.
While there were some on Crawford's team concerned about the fight, his first scheduled 10-rounder and first significant television exposure against easily his best opponent, Crawford was cool as could be. And on fight night he delivered a dominating performance in a near-shutout decision win. He had announced his arrival and went on to win two more lopsided fights last year to move closer to the top of the 135-pound division.

Rafael's fighters of the year

2014: Terence Crawford
2013: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
2012: Nonito Donaire
2011: Andre Ward
2010: Sergio Martinez
2009: Manny Pacquiao
2008: Manny Pacquiao
2007: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
2006: Manny Pacquiao
2005: Ricky Hatton
2004: Glen Johnson
2003: James Toney
2002: Vernon Forrest
2001: Bernard Hopkins
2000: Felix Trinidad


As good of a year as he had in 2013, Crawford, known as "Bud" to his hometown fans in Omaha, Nebraska, had an even better 2014 campaign and established himself as the world's No. 1 lightweight. Back down at 135 pounds, he won all three of his fights in impressive fashion, beat three quality opponents, won a world title, engaged in a fight of the year candidate, became a bona fide ticket seller in Omaha and positioned himself for huge future business, including as a possible Manny Pacquiao opponent.


The 27-year-old Crawford truly arrived. For his tremendous campaign, he is the 2014 ESPN.com fighter of the year.
In March, Crawford (25-0, 17 KOs) did something very difficult as he went on the road to Glasgow, Scotland, the hometown of lightweight titleholder Ricky Burns, who received some close calls on home turf. But Crawford put on a dazzling performance and rolled to the clear decision and took Burns' world title.


Top Rank promoter Bob Arum fulfilled his promise to Crawford by putting on his first title defense in Omaha in June. A wild crowd of 10,943 turned out for the first world title fight in the city in 42 years, since Joe Frazier defended the world heavyweight title against Omaha's Ron Stander in 1972. And Crawford didn't face a low-level opponent as some fighters might do in a first defense, especially at home. Instead, Crawford faced a serious foe in undefeated former unified featherweight titleholder Yuriorkis Gamboa, the superfast 2004 Cuban Olympic gold medalist.


It turned out to be a fantastic and dramatic fight, but one that Crawford ultimately took over as he dropped Gamboa four times en route to a thrilling ninth-round knockout.


In November, Crawford once again defended the title in Omaha, this time in front of 11,127 as he took on worthy mandatory challenger Raymundo Beltran, who had gotten ripped off in a draw in Scotland against Burns in the fight before Crawford beat him. While some may have considered Beltran to be the uncrowned titleholder going into the fight with Crawford, there was no such discussion by the time it was over. Crawford put on a boxing master class in a virtual shutout decision.


Crawford, now firmly established as an HBO cornerstone fighter, is set to move up to junior welterweight in 2015, where big bouts await him. He had a helluva 2014 and had an idea he would be in the fighter of the year running.


"After the Gamboa fight people were saying, 'You just went over to Scotland and beat Ricky Burns and then you beat a tough opponent in Gamboa, and now you're taking on another tough opponent in Beltran,'" Crawford said before facing Beltran. "Some guys might take a smaller fight but I'm fighting good guys back-to-back-to-back and I had people telling me I'll be fighter of the year if I keep it up. It put a smile on my face but it's just talk."


Other contenders


[+] EnlargeEd Mulholland/USA TODAY SportsSergey Kovalev put himself in the conversation with three victories, including a shutout of Bernard Hopkins in their November unification fight.


2. Sergey Kovalev: Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KOs), the 31-year-old Russian destroyer, made three dominant light heavyweight title defenses in 2014, all in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There was a one-sided seventh-round destruction of previously undefeated Cedric Agnew in March followed by a second-round blowout of Blake Caparello in August, both relatively unknown opponents. But Kovalev is here because of what he did in his next fight in November. He was hoping to face world champion Adonis Stevenson, but Stevenson backed away from the fight, so Kovalev instead took on a legend in Bernard Hopkins, who was 49 but a unified titleholder and still one of the best in the business. In fact, many picked Hopkins to win in what was one of the most significant fights of the year. Kovalev, however, dominated Hopkins as nobody had ever done in his Hall of Fame-worthy career. He dropped Hopkins in the first round and battered him en route to a clean shutout decision for a huge victory.


3. Manny Pacquiao: The Filipino legend, boxing's only eight-division titleholder, fought just once in 2013, a lopsided decision against Brandon Rios as he made his comeback from the big knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez at the end of 2012. But despite the easy win against Rios, there were many who still questioned what Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs), 36, had left in the tank. He showed that it was still a lot in 2014 as he notched a pair of dominant wins and regained a welterweight world title. In April, he faced Timothy Bradley Jr. in a rematch of Bradley's massively controversial split-decision win that gave him Pacquiao's welterweight belt in 2012. The second time around Pacquiao dominated Bradley about as much as he appeared to the first time. The difference this time was the judges in Las Vegas gave him the clear decision victory. Pacquiao returned in November in Macau, China, to face junior welterweight titleholder Chris Algieri, who was moving up in weight one fight after claiming his belt from Ruslan Provodnikov. But Algieri proved to be no match at all as Pacquiao scored six knockdowns in as dominant a win as he could have had without recording a knockout.


4. Miguel Cotto: Cotto had lost both of his fights in 2012 and then rebounded to win his only fight of 2013, a third-round knockout of Delvin Rodriguez. Although Cotto looked great against Rodriguez in his first pairing with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, he was not facing an A-level opponent. What would happen if Cotto faced an elite foe and did so moving up to middleweight? We found out in 2014 as Cotto took on perennial pound-for-pound-ranked Sergio Martinez, the legitimate middleweight world champion. Although Martinez had been dealing with injury issues, especially to his knee, Cotto's domination cannot be underestimated. They met in June in front of Cotto's crowd at New York's Madison Square Garden and Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs), 34, put on a brilliant performance in his lone outing of the year. He dropped Martinez three times in the first round and again in the ninth round en route to a one-sided 10th-round stoppage that made Cotto the first Puerto Rican fighter to win world titles in four weight classes. It was a performance as brilliant as it was historic.

[+] EnlargeCourtesy Tom Hogan With three more knockout victories, middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin continued his march toward stardom in 2014.


5. Gennady Golovkin: Golovkin did not get a chance in 2014 to fight the elite opponents he so badly wants to, but that did not stop him from continuing to terrorize the middleweight division by destroying anyone willing to get into the ring with him. Three men did and they paid dearly as Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs), 32, of Kazakhstan -- and now living in Los Angeles -- ran his knockout streak to 18 in a row and increased his knockout percentage to 90.3, the best among active titleholders. In February in Monte Carlo, he scored three knockdowns en route to a seventh-round knockout of Osumanu Adama. In July, he mowed down former world titleholder Daniel Geale, scoring two more knockdowns in a third-round destruction as he played the main arena at New York's Madison Square Garden for the first time. In October, Golovkin made a much-anticipated West Coast debut as he sold out the StubHub Center and authored a resounding second-round knockout of longtime contender Marco Antonio Rubio to add an interim belt to his collection.


6. Roman Gonzalez: Gonzalez had impressive title reigns at strawweight and junior flyweight before moving up to flyweight and winning the lineal championship in 2014. The 27-year-old former protégé of the late, great Hall of Famer Alexis Arguello won all four of his fights by knockout, beginning with a sixth-round stoppage of Juan Kantun in February in Mexico. In April, he blew out Juan Purisima in the third round in Japan. The reason the big-punching Gonzalez (41-0, 35 KOs), 27, of Nicaragua, is on the list, however, is for what he did in September. He went back to Japan and knocked out champion Akira Yaegashi in the ninth round of a tremendous performance. In November, also in Japan, Gonzalez made his first defense in a one-sided sixth-round knockout of Rocky Fuentes.


http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id...d-fighter-year

[Ibarramedia]

Amir Khan is promised £4.5m to take Wembley 'superfight' against Kell Brook

Brook's promoter Eddie Hearn says he has booked stadium in June but Khan brands him 'desperate'

Amir Khan could earn more fighting Sheffield’s IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook in a blockbuster at Wembley Stadium next summer than a Las Vegas meeting with Floyd Mayweather, promoter Eddie Hearn has claimed. Hearn, Brook’s promoter who was in Las Vegas for Khan’s majestic win against Devon Alexander, told Telegraph Sport: “We’re just waiting on the [decision over the] Mayweather versus Khan fight. I think everyone knows it's either Mayweather or Brook for Khan.”


Hearn stayed in the United States for meetings with Al Haymon, Khan’s business adviser, and for the World Boxing Council annual summit but says he is yet to speak to Khan and his family.

“The Khan fight is probably made by the end of January if it's going to happen. The only conversation I've had is with Al Haymon, who loves the fight [between Khan and Brook].”


Hearn believes the soundings he has had from Mayweather’s team suggested to him that they are wary of fighting Khan. “I asked Haymon if he thought that fight would happen and he didn't seem overly confident. But I think they know that stylistically Khan is not great for Mayweather. They knew that before and the Devon Alexander performance just emphasised the point.”

Hearn is convinced Khan can make more money fighting Brook at Wembley than he would facing Mayweather in Las Vegas.

“Floyd's doing 800 or 900 thousand buys per pay-per-view event. That's the standard number. Khan [v Mayweather] only does 800,000 buys. If Khan was creating PPV numbers of say 2 million, they would take the fight with him straight away.And Mayweather could lose that fight. They're very clever in who they fight and I just can't see them going for Amir next,” Hearn said.

“I just feel that if Amir doesn't fight Floyd Mayweather he has to fight Kell Brook. What were his numbers against Alexander - 700 or 800 thousand dollars? Obviously there was a little bit of UK money. Let's call it one and a half million US dollars. He'd make minimum five and probably more like six or seven million US dollars (£4.5m) to fight Kell Brook.”

Nonetheless, Khan could make huge sums appearing on pay-per-view channel Sky Box Office against Mayweather. In 2007, Ricky Hatton reportedly made upwards of £12 million for his contest with Mayweather.

Hearn has already ‘booked’ Wembley for June 13, four days before Ramadan begins, and is prepared to let Khan take the lead in the promotion. “If we have to give away concessions in terms of who promotes it and who walks into the ring first, we will,” explained Hearn.

“Khan is a bigger name than Kell Brook, absolutely no doubt about that. But Kell Brook is a world champion.
“So you have to give him some respect, both as a fighter and when you're talking about the split. They're both the draw in that fight. Without Kell Brook, Amir Khan can't fill Wembley.

“He can't fill Wembley against anyone else other than Floyd Mayweather. He did six thousand against Julio Diaz in Sheffield.”
Khan said that he will pursue a fight with Mayweather first. “They've not spoken to me. If he doesn't know what's happening in my career, he can't go booking places like that,” said Khan.

“I think that's a little disrespectful really. It's very desperate. It's like me saying to Floyd, 'Look, I've booked Wembley Stadium and you have to come and fight me now.' I can't believe Kell's rushing into this big fight with me.
"He's just come off a big, major injury and I'm sure he'd want an easy fight just to get a feel back into boxing. It will be huge in the UK and it's not a fight I'm saying no to. I'd love that fight. Stylistically, I'd beat Kell Brook and school Kell Brook.”

Hearn is looking to give Brook a warm-up fight on March


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oth...ell-Brook.html

[Ibarramedia]

Chaves on Controversial Draw with Bradley

[Ibarramedia]

CRYSTINA PONCHER TALKS ANDY LEE WINNING WBO CROWN & TIMOTHY BRADLEY v DIEGO CHAVES ENDING IN A DRAW