In Boxing News: Calzaghe Warns Lacy, Reyes Gets Shot Of Lifetime & More

In Boxing News: Calzaghe Warns Jeff Lacy

Joe Calzaghe has dismissed outright Jeff Lacy‘s claim that he will stop the Welshman when they meet. World Boxing Organization (WBO) super-middleweight champion Calzaghe meets International Boxing Federation (IBF) champion Lacy on March 4th in Manchester, England: A lot of American fighters challenging for my title have come over here before shooting their mouth off but they have come off second best and Lacy will be no different … Lacy’s talking big at the moment with Gary Shaw behind him but it will just be me and him on the night and lets see how brave he gets then. I look forward to seeing what he brings to the ring and if he can back up what he’s saying because I’m ready for this toe-to-toe fight that he wants, only I will be sharper, faster and more powerful. I’ve made 17 title defences and Lacy will be notch number 18.

Rolando Reyes is definitely the happiest man in Oxnard. Diego Corrales‘ misfortune has turned into the opportunity of a lifetime for Reyes. While training for his third go-round with Jose Luis Castillo, Corrales sustained an injury to the soft tissue in his rib cage, forcing his withdrawal. Now Reyes meets Castillo on Saturday night on Showtime. Despite Reyes viewing it as the opportunity of a lifetime, Castillo remains confident: I think it will be a hard and difficult fight because of Reyes’ boxing style, but I really do not expect a tough fight like I had before. I do not think that I am overconfident that I will win this fight, but I am very confident that I can win.

According to a report by BBC today, Nikolay Valuev’s next fight will not be against the winner of this month’s bout between Danny Williams and Matt Skelton. Earlier in the week, a spokesman for promoter Frank Warren told BBC Sport he was in talks with Valuev‘s camp about a possible match.

Today, here at TheSweetScience.com writer Robert Mladinich relates the story of a fighter you may not have heard of … Charles Mooney knows all too well that there is a thin line between fame and obscurity. As a member of the much lauded 1976 Olympic team that competed in Montreal, Mooney went home with a silver medal while teammates Sugar Ray Leonard, Howard Davis, Leon and Michael Spinks, and Leo Randolph all took gold. The 55-year-old Mooney realizes now that he could have been a terrific pro, but concedes that he didn’t realize it then: I saw guys that I stomped in the amateurs getting big fights as pros. Willie Pep offered me a deal where he said I’d make $100 a round. In 1977 that was decent money, but my wife said it wasn’t enough.

Emanuel Steward is fighting to save Kronk gym from closure by the city of Detroit. Steward is running a black tie benefit boxing show tonight at the Fisher Theatre with tickets starting at $250 and scaling up to $2,500 to raise funds to keep the red door open. Former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis, who trained at Kronk for several fights, will be there. So will Roger Penske and Lady Soul herself, Aretha Franklin. Eminem, a Detroit native, has also pledged to help. Says Walter Smith, a fixture at Kronk for decades and one of Steward’s assistant trainers for many years: How can they close this place? House of dreams, man. House of dreams.

(As always … more Boxing News Links at TheSweetScience.com)