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Arce Promises KO On Saturday

Published

14 years ago

May 6, 2011

Young Vasquez is favored going in to the Saturday clash. Who thinks the vet Arce can utilize his experience, show the kid how the oldster does it? (Tom Casino)

ROACH, RICHARDSON ROUNDTABLE, UNDERCARD FINAL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES:
WILFREDO VAZQUEZ, JORGE ARCE, KELLY PAVLIK, ALFONSO LOPEZ, MIKE ALVARADO, RAY NAHR

Thursday, May 5
MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada

LAS VEGAS (May 5, 2011) – The trainers for Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley, Freddie Roach and Naazim Richardson, respectively, and the fighters who will compete on Saturday’s undercard met with the press Thursday at MGM Grand.

This Saturday, May 7, at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena, eight-division world champion Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs), of General Santos City, Philippines, will defend his WBO welterweight title against three-division world champion Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs), of Pomona, Calif., in the main event of a four-fight telecast produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV® beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

The eagerly awaited event also will be available online at www.toprank.tv, http://sports.SHO.com, and www.sports.yahoo.com.

Those who buy the event online will get features unique to the digital platform through NeuLion’s technology. The enhanced and unique viewing offers a four-shot, multi-angle dynamic player that will allow viewers to interact and feel an enriched experience. The online pay-per-view is exclusive to U.S. viewers. Select cable and satellite TV systems will also be offering the pay-per-view live stream.

Closed circuit tickets, priced at $50, are on sale and available at all Las Vegas MGM Resorts properties.

WBO junior featherweight champion Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (20-0-1, 17 KOs), of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, will make his Las Vegas debut and third title defense when he faces five-time world champion Jorge Arce (56-6-2, 43 KOs), of Los Mochis, México, former world middleweight champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs), of Youngstown, Ohio, meets undefeated WBC Continental Americas super middleweight titleholder Alfonso “El Tigre” Lopez (21-0, 16 KOs), of Cut and Shoot, Texas, in a 10-round super middleweight battle; and Mike Alvarado (29-0, 21 KOs), of Denver takes on “Sugar” Ray Narh (25-1, 21 KOs) of Accra, Ghana, in a 10-round super lightweight match.

The mega-event is promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions, Sugar Shane Mosley Promotions, Tecate and MGM Grand.

The trainers discussed Saturday’s main event in a separate roundtable session with the media Thursday while the fighters spoke at a press conference hosted by Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank.

What the participants said Thursday:

FREDDIE ROACH

“Manny will be Shane’s toughest opponent. Shane cannot stay on his toes for long and move. From Day 1, Manny’s attitude for this training camp has been spectacular.

“Normally when he runs, we start out on the flats and work our way up to the hills. This time he started with the hills. His attitude has not changed since the first day.

“The key to Manny’s success in a fight is keeping himself in position. We have a gameplan and he will stick with it. Shane is the best fighter with speed and punching combinations that Manny has ever fought, but Manny’s going to beat him down the middle and with overhand rights followed by the left hook.

“I encourage Manny to knock out more of his opponents. I tell him that because there is more money in it for him if he knocks out his opponents. Too many times he makes friends with his opponents during a fight and he avoids knocking them out. He does just enough to win the rounds.

“When he was beating De La Hoya, he came back after a round and I knew De La Hoya was ready to go. I told Manny it was ‘your job to KO him.’ And I still believe that. It’s his job to KO his opponents when he can.

“Manny would have been perfect in the golden era of boxing — fighting twice a month in 15-round bouts. He’s better now and works harder than he ever has in his career.

“I have a great deal of respect for Naazim Richardson. He knows how to get through to his fighters.

“Manny’s message (of working hard, don’t give up) appeals personally to me. I didn’t give up with all my problems (Parkinson’s disease). You work through it, make the best of it. I chose this profession. I don’t resent what boxing did to me.’’

NAAZIM RICHARDSON
“You get the opportunity to face Pacquiao, you take advantage of it. Anyone or anything that Shane can hit, he will hurt.
“I grew up in an era in Philadelphia where trainers would talk to each other. But there are only a limited amount of jobs at this level, and the trust level now isn’t what it was years ago.
“If we could get sparring partners like Manny Pacquiao, he wouldn’t be sparring with us, he’d be defending his title. Pacquiao is not just a guy off the streets. He is a legendary athlete. The last fighter I saw like Pacquiao was Aaron Pryor.
“But he’s never been hit by anybody like Shane.
“Shane has to do what he does best. We have a great gameplan. You can’t match what Pacquiao does unless you’ve been doing it your entire career. So Shane has to play to his own strengths. Shane was one of the legendary boxers of his area. He is very smart and knows what he wants to do.
“Shane is a gladiator and will be prepared for everything, and his experience is a great strength. Pacquiao starts fast, almost abnormally fast, but Shane can adapt and will. He’s ready to fight 12 hard rounds.’’

WILFREDO VAZQUEZ JR.
“I’m very happy to be fighting on a big show like this. Arce is talking about a knockout? He is crazy – I’m ready for him.??“Arce is a great fighter, a great champion and he has a lot of guts. But the knockout is not going to happen. I fight for my family and I’m going to win on Saturday night.”

JORGE ARCE
“I know that everyone will be watching on Saturday night because Manny Pacquiao will be fighting. I don’t know what will happen but only one thing is for sure – I’ll win by knockout.”

KELLY PAVLIK
“The story has been done, everything has been written. But what hasn’t been talked about is how zeroed in I am for this fight. This is a hungry kid, he’s undefeated and he’s looking to make a statement in his career. We didn’t take him lightly. He’s a tough kid with a lot of knockouts and he’s a great opponent to come back to. ??“The energy level of this training camp is the best I’ve had in my career. I’m ready to show the boxing world that we’re back and we’re ready to make our stamp in this division.”

ALFONSO LOPEZ
“What an amazing event to be a part of. I had a great camp. This is going to be a tough fight. Pavlik is a great champion. He’s very strong and we all know what he can do in the ring. I’m just ready to get in there and fight.”??MIKE ALVARADO
“I need to win this fight to get to the next level for all the great champions in front of me. Saturday night is going to be a very explosive and intense fight. I’ve had a great camp and I’m ready to go.” ??RAY NARH
“I’m here to take care of business. I can’t lose. He brings everything to the table and that’s what I like. It will bring the best out of me. I know he’s going to come ready to fight but I’ll be the one with my hand raised at the end.”

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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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