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Ward-Abraham Likely Headed To Home Depot Center

Published

13 years ago

February 18, 2011

The Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, Ca will host the upcoming super middleweight championship bout between Andre Ward (23-0, 14 knockouts) and Arthur Abraham (32-2, 30 knockouts) on May 14th. I spoke with both Andre Ward and his promoter Dan Goossen on Thursday to confirm the venue which will not be officially announced until next week.

Los Angeles is perhaps the most logical choice for both combatants. Ward lives in Oakland, and has built a solid fan base throughout California, and Abraham, who is of Armenian descent, has a huge following in the Los Angeles area where many members of the Armenian community are located.

Dan Goossen said, “The way I look at it is, with Andre being a Californian and doing what he is doing in Oakland, it is about time to get him back out here to Southern Cal,” Goossen said. “I should know exactly what is happening by no later than Wednesday. But it is looking like L.A.”
Ward and Abraham are competing in the semifinal round of the Super Six World Boxing Classic presented by Showtime Championship Boxing. The undefeated Ward is the favorite to win the tourney. He is also the preferred choice to beat the once feared Abraham. The Armenian has lost two of his last three fights. On February 12th, Abraham won a tune up bout against Stjepan Bozic by second round TKO. He didn't look stellar in the abbreviated clash, which ended when Bozic couldn't continue because he hurt his hand.

Despite all of the signs pointing towards victory in his favor, Ward feels like he has plenty to prove on May 14th. He is already working out four days a week and looks forward to fighting away from his hometown for the first time since 2009.

On fighting in Los Angeles, Ward said, “I think it is good. He is going to have a large contingent of Armenian fans and I am going to have my fans. So it is going to be fun.”

Ward has fought three of his last four fights in his hometown of Oakland. And the champion has dominated some stellar competition in the process, including Edison Miranda and Mikkel Kessler. Ward says that he will embrace the potentially hostile crowd he might face in Los Angeles.

“You know, I could use this. Everybody says ‘Hey, Ward doesn’t want to fight on the road.’ But I think it is fun to fight on the road,” Ward said. “You have to learn how to fight under any circumstances. He might have a lot of fans over there. It is my job to go over there and quiet them down.”

The super middleweight champ said that he did not watch Abraham’s fight against Bozic last weekend but he will get around to it eventually. “I did not get a chance to watch it but my coach saw the fight,” Ward said.

He appears to be ready to get it on against Abraham on May 14th. Ward seems to have a chip on his shoulder, wanting to prove his worth by any means.

On being the favorite against Abraham, Ward said, “Everyone wants to give me this fight because he is coming off of two losses, but at the end of the day, he is going to fight hard. But I am trying to take my game to another level. So whether he comes in the same, or not the same, or he has more motivation to fight this time, or he is not motivated at all, I am not worried about none of that.”

What does he mean by ‘another level?’

“I am not satisfied with 2010. I am trying to get better in 2011. You know, I am thankful for everything that has happened to me, but there is work to be done. Everybody is talking about how bad he looked in his last big fight against Froch and he has to redeem himself. But I feel like I have to redeem myself because I was not satisfied with my last performance. I was not happy with it. So, I am trying to continue to grow. That is why I am not sitting around waiting for this date to come along. I’m working. And I am highly motivated.”

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Raymond Markarian

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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