Articles

Hopkins Says Dawson Will Throw, He Will Connect

Published

13 years ago

October 5, 2011

Bernard Hopkins, WBC and Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight World Champion

“I chose to continue to fight and defend what I worked so hard to get. So why not get all of the benefits of what I've been doing for 20-something years and then walk away when it's time?

“I think that it'll come down to who is the better fighter. The better fighter, the better person, the better strategist and who wants it the most.

“It really would be gratifying to me and happy for me to sit back in my 60's and hear commentators say, “This guy is four fights away from beating Bernard Hopkins' record.

“In today's world where, unfortunately, most athletes, either don't stay as focused long enough after they get a taste of what we call success in life, or just run into the wrong match, the wrong person. So I'm going to have fun in the second half of my life.

“Well, Chad Dawson said something that made sense. He's going to be throwing a lot of punches, but I'm going to be connecting a lot of punches. He's going to throw all the punches he wants, but I'm going to be connecting more than he is throwing.

“I'm coming in there with an aggressive game, but a smart game. If people think that the last two fights of my career were the old Bernard Hopkins from the Blue Horizon to Atlantic City days in the early 90's, then I'm saying that they should watch this fight.

“The bottom line is they are going to see a better, a more aggressive, smart fighter in me when I beat Chad Dawson.

“When you look at my résumé compared with his [Dawson's] résumé, you must say, or must agree, that my résumé is a Ferrari and his is a Mercedes.

“Keep an eye on [Danny] Garcia. He's got a fight coming up [on October 15] that'll prove he belongs in the pound for pound contender's bracket.

“At the end of the day, what Dewey did is beyond anything that I've done in the ring; it is beyond anything I accomplished outside of the ring in my personal [life].

“I want my gray to be in the ring. I want Chad Dawson to see I have gray hair. I want to look like his father-well, I could be his father. I'm not, but I could be! That age difference is appropriate for me to look like I'm gray and I have gray, because realistically, if you do the math, he could be my son.

“There are a lot of people that are 46 and younger that feel lousy today that never took a punch. Well, change your lifestyle. Change what you do. I did it years ago, so I'm ahead of the game. I'm not feeling like I'm 26 every day. I always say if I have to put a number on myself, the way I feel today, I feel like I am 36. So if I'm 36 to 46, that means I'm 10 years ahead of the game.”

Danny Garcia, Top Undefeated Junior Welterweight Contender

“I feel blessed, just for being recognized that I have the talent. [For Hopkins to] recognize my hard work and dedication. I'm just blessed now, and it's motivating me more to shine on October 15.

“I never rely on my power because that can't win you a fight. I rely on my skills. I think I use my brain, and I break my opponent down and land the big shots. So my power is just my last resort.

“I know I got more mature since I turned pro. I'm a lot smarter and it's a chess game in there. So now when I feel like a guy's kind of outsmarting me a little bit, I stay relaxed and I just try to figure it out.

“It was definitely a growing process. I learned how to be a smart fighter and not go in over anxious and just set the pace.

“I just feel strong, and we had a great camp. I'm just anxious to show the world what I can do. I'm ready. I wish it was tomorrow.

“I watched Kendall Holt's last fight and I said to my dad, 'I am going to fight the winner of this fight.' So I feel like I predicted my future a little bit.

“Holt isn't going to touch me like he did to his last opponent. You can't hit what you can't see.

“I feel like I took my time. I have had 21 fights; I never rushed and was like, 'Yeah, go ahead and put me on HBO,' or begged for it. It came to me when they thought I was ready. I know I am ready, so we took the opportunity and we trained hard.”

Dewey Bozella, Top Undefeated Junior Welterweight Contender

“When I was young, I was bitter because I never thought I'd get out of there [prison]. I thought I'd die in there.

“I came to Bernard Hopkins' camp and I was approved to fight. Thank God for that. I worked hard and it paid off.

“I'm not going out to lie down; I'm going out to fight. I'm not going to let this guy come and whip my butt.

“[On being able to have his first professional fight] it's just like getting out of prison. It is a new experience.

“I always thought I had a chance to get out. People said, 'Ah, it'll never happen, it'll never happen,' but it did happen.

“I want to get this [fight] over with and then I want to open my own gym.

“My goal is to help young kids as well as adults to help turn their lives around and keep out of trouble.
“[My gym is going to be for] whoever comes in, but it's going to be for the kids.

“I am a professional fighter. I'm here.

“[On earning bachelor's and master's degrees in prison] I always said, 'How can I give something back to society if I have nothing to offer?

“I knew I was getting out of prison. Either I was going to die in there and go out in a box, or I was going to walk out of there.”

Naazim Richardson, Hopkins' Trainer

“You can't underestimate Dawson in any way, shape or form.

“Pascal and Pavlik were supposed to be the guys running the sport. I said if you can beat these kids, you can beat anybody.

“I love boxing. I love the sport. And this guy [Hopkins] is boxing.”

# # #

“Believe It Or Not!: Hopkins vs. Dawson” is a 12-round bout for Hopkins' WBC and Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight World Championship Titles taking place on Saturday, Oct. 15 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Calif. and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT. The event is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Gary Shaw Productions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T and Ripley's Believe It or Not. In addition to this championship main event showdown, the televised pay-per-view undercard will also feature Antonio DeMarco vs. Jorge Linares in a 12-round fight for the vacant WBC Lightweight World Title, Kendall Holt vs. Danny Garcia in 12-round bout for the vacant NABO Junior Welterweight Title and Paulie Malignaggi vs. Orlando Lora in a 10-round welterweight bout. DeMarco vs. Linares is presented in association with Teiken Promotions.

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The Sweet Science

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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Articles

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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