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Diet Tips From James Kirkland, Paulie Malignaggi, Jose Cotto

Published

14 years ago

April 1, 2011

The Sweet Science

APRIL 9 “ACTION HEROES” CAMP NOTES

Part 4 – Training Camp Winding Down; Fighters Firing Up

Las Vegas, Nev. (March 31)…The April 9 “Action Heroes” fight week festivities kick off in less than one week and the excitement continues to build with new fights added to the card including James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland vs. Nobuhiro Ishida and Paulie “Magic Man” Malignaggi vs. Jose Miguel Cotto. They join Erik “El Terrible” Morales vs. Marcos “El Chino” Maidana and Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero vs. Michael Katsidis “The Great” in what promises to be an action-packed night of boxing. As the fighters' respective training camps wind down, each has something to say about their last days of preparation for “Action Heroes” at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nev. which will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View®.

QUESTION: How are you feeling now that camp is winding down?

Morales: “I am very calm and ready. We had our last sparring session yesterday and I did close to 192 rounds total during camp.”

Maidana: “I am feeling great! It has been a great camp with changes for me with a new training camp and trainer, but I have the rest of my usual team with me, so I feel very comfortable.”

Guerrero: “I feel very motivated and excited for fight night.”

Katsidis: “It feels good because the fight is drawing near. We are enjoying what's left of camp and, of course, the real enjoyment will come when the fight is over and I come out victorious.”

QUESTION: Do you feel as prepared as possible?

Morales: “I am ready and have no problems with my weight. The junior welterweight division gives me the opportunity to eat well and to make weight without sacrificing my body like I had to in the past.”

Maidana: “I am definitely prepared and hungry for this fight. I want to be a world champion again and move past the frustration I have felt since my fight with Amir Khan. I worked hard and will keep working hard until I come out with a win on April 9.”

Guerrero: “Since I was able to go away for training camp as opposed to the past when I had to stay close to home for personal reasons, I'm tremendously prepared for this fight.”

Katsidis: “I feel as prepared as I ever will be.”

QUESTION: Is there anything you haven't worked on yet in camp that you have been saving for the last few days?

Morales: “The last thing to do is review everything we worked on and put it to use the day of the fight and of course use my experience in the ring.”

Maidana: “All I save is my punching power, which I will reserve exclusively for Morales on April 9.”

Guerrero: “No, nothing has changed; I'm moving full steam ahead with the game plan we have in place.”

Katsidis: “We are working on the enjoyment side of it now. We are almost done with the hard work we need to do.”

QUESTION: What do you think the outcome of changing your camp location has been?

Maidana: “The altitude of Mexico City was great for me, as well as my sparring partners. It was a breath of fresh air for me to change camp and I saw that I have a lot of fans in Mexico, which surprised me. However I am now in Las Vegas, where I've come to train for my last four or five fights, so I feel at home here. In all, both locations have been great for me.”

Guerrero: “It has given me the ability to be focused 100 percent on boxing.”

QUESTION: Would you change camps again?

Maidana: “Yes, why not? The routine of boxing preparations can get a little boring sometimes and you have to change things once in a while. On top of that, you learn new things when you go to new places and that's exactly what I did.”

Guerrero: “God willing everything continues to stay the way it is at home and I'll definitely come back out to Las Vegas for camp again.”

QUESTION: Where are you training?

Kirkland: “I am training at the Pound 4 Pound Boxing Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada.”

Malignaggi: “I'm training at Wildcard Boxing Gym in Hollywood, CA.”

Cotto: “I am training in Caguas and Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, near my home. I am comfortable training here.”

QUESTION: Who is your trainer and how long have you trained with them?

Kirkland: “My new trainer is Kenny Adams and his assistant is Chris Rodriguez. I have been with him for my past two fights.”

Malignaggi: “I'm working with Eric Brown and this is our second training camp together.”

Cotto: “My trainer is Armando Alamo, one of the best young trainers from Puerto Rico. My brother Miguel Cotto is also with me. I have been with Armando for two years and we have chemistry like I have never experienced before. Having my brother in my corner gives me profound confidence and tranquility.”

QUESTION: Do you have any new training techniques that you are trying this time around?

Kirkland: “I'm working on better head movement and defense. I want to be in great shape, so I'm also working on getting my weight down to 158 pounds.”

Malignaggi: “The fans will have to wait until the fight. We don't want to spoil any surprises.”

Cotto: “Yes, but I cannot say. You will see them implemented during the fight.”

QUESTION: What is your diet like?

Kirkland: “I eat a lot of salads, fruit and vegetables. I also like fish, chicken and pasta.”

Malignaggi: “My diet is a mix of chicken, fish and veggies, plus a lot of fruit as well.”

Cotto: “I eat healthily and sensibly. All of the good stuff!”

QUESTION: What are you concentrating on most now that you've been added to the April 9 “Action Heroes” fight card?

Malignaggi: “We are always working hard, but because we are on the 'Action Heroes' card, we are making sure all super-powers and action techniques are sharp and we'll be full speed ahead on April 9.”

Cotto: “On winning and having a great performance!”

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 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

9 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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2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 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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