Articles

Boxing Back on Terrestrial TV…In England; Bernstein Will Call Fury-Chisora

Published

13 years ago

July 14, 2011

HOBOKEN, N.J. (July 14, 2011) – Boxing’s back on terrestrial television in the United Kingdom, starting July 23 with the worldwide broadcast of “The Big Brawl” event, which will be anchored by award-winning boxing announcer Al Bernstein, Channel 5 and promoter Hennessy Sports announced today.

British and Commonwealth heavyweight Champion Dereck “Del Boy” Chisora (14-0, 9 KOs) puts his belts on the line Saturday night, July 23 against undefeated challenger Tyson Fury (14-0, 10 KOs) in the 12-round main event at Wembley Arena in London.

“The Big Brawl” will air live in the UK on Channel 5, the UK’s premier terrestrial network. “Boxing is a new venture for Channel Five and we want to create the very best impression,” said Mark Sharman, Executive Producer, S3 Media Ltd. “Fury v Chisora is a great match-up between two unbeaten heavyweights with world title aspirations, so we want a world-class expert to call the fight. They don’t come any bigger than Al Bernstein and I know the viewers will enjoy the benefits of his insight and expertise.”

Sports fans in United States will also be able to watch the “The Big Brawl” event on PPV, distributed in the U.S. by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 3 PM/ET – 12 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, and Avail-TVN, for a suggested retail price of only $24.95. (Check with your PPV provider for same day replay times.) The telecast is also available in Canada to all Super Channel network subscribers.

Bernstein, a highly respected boxing authority for more than three decades, will join blow-by-blow announcer Mark Pougatch at ringside for “The Big Brawl” call. He was a boxing analyst for ESPN from 1980 to 2003, covered boxing for NBC during the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, and has been a popular boxing announcer since 2003 for Showtime Championship Boxing.

“”While this fight certainly resonates for British boxing fans,” Bernstein commented, “it now has wider implications and interest. The winner has an excellent chance of fighting for the heavyweight title. But, that aside, perhaps the most salient part of this match is that it will very likely be an exciting shootout – something we don't often see in the heavyweight division. A lot is at stake and the styles of these two fighters should make it an entertaining match.”

The headliner showcases a pair of undefeated heavyweights, sporting nearly identical professional records, fighting in hopes of rising from prospect to contender, especially with world title shot implications for the winner of this clash to settle it all.

Zimbabwe-native Chisora (14-0, 9 KOs), rated No. 12 by the World Boxing Organization, fights out of London. He has twice had scheduled World Boxing Organization (“WBO”) title fights cancelled against champion Wladimir Klitschko, who will be at ringside for “The Big Brawl.” “Del Boy” has twice stopped Sam Sexton, winner of “The Prizefighter Heavyweight Tournament,” as well as Mike Tyson-conqueror Danny Williams.

Fury is a 6’ 9” 260-pound Irishman born in Manchester and lives in Cheshire, England. His rapidly growing fan-base is spreading across the Atlantic to America. Named after “Iron” Mike Tyson, the World Boxing Council’s No 21-rated Fury is the cousin of world middleweight contender Andy Lee. In his last action this past February, the mammoth 261-pound Fury knocked out previously unbeaten Narcelo Luiz Nascimento (13-0) in the fifth round. Other notable United Kingdom heavyweights defeated by Tyson include John McDermott and Scott Belshaw. Fury, only 22, has dedicated his fight against Chisora to the memory of former world heavyweight title challenger and European champion, Sir Henry Cooper.

The 12-round co-feature showcases British Boxing Board of Control (“BBB of C”) Light Welterweight Champion Ashley “Treasure” Theophane in his first title defense against Welsh champion Jason “The Power” Cook.

Theophane (29-4-1, 7 KOs), rated No. 14 by the International Boxing Federation, captured the BBB of C light welterweight championship in his last fight by winning a unanimous 12-round decision against Lenny Daws (21-1-2) this past February in London. Ashley’s most significant victories to date have been versus Delvin Rodriguez (DEC10) and former world champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley (DEC8).

The 5’ 9” Cook (28-3-1, 14 KOs), a former International Boxing Organization and European lightweight champion, has lost only three times in 32 pro fights, the last in 2009 to former World Boxing Association champion Gavin Rees by three-round decision in the semi-finals of “Prizefighter” tournament.

The full PPV card will soon be announced. All fights and fighters subject to change.

for more information about “The Big Brawl: Chisora-Fury” PPV event. Follow Integrated Sports Media on Twitter @IntegratedPPV.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

The Sweet Science

Articles

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.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

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.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

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

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!