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Khan-Peterson Is On For Dec. 10, In DC

Published

13 years ago

October 6, 2011

WASHINGTON DC, October 6 – With two wins over Paul McCloskey and Zab Judah already in the books this year, Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Amir “King” Khan will look to end 2011 with a bang on Saturday, December 10, when he travels to Washington, DC for “Capital Showdown,” a 12-round unified championship fight against mandatory IBF challenger and hometown hero Lamont “Havoc” Peterson at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, which will be televised on HBO’s World Championship Boxing in the United States. In a featured undercard attraction, undefeated heavyweight contender Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell of Brandywine, Maryland will return to the DC-area for the first time since April of 2010 to face an opponent to be determined.

“I’m looking forward to returning to the United States to face a worthy challenger like Lamont Peterson,” said Khan. “I always said that I wanted to be active and a true World Champion and I will prove it again on December 10. I know Lamont is a strong contender but it doesn’t matter that I’m fighting him in his backyard, I’m coming in as the champion and will leave as the champion.”

“I’m very happy for my chance to fight for a world title again,” said Peterson. “I’m sure Khan will train hard to defend his titles, so I will train harder to take his titles. Winning a world title in my home town is a dream come true.”

“We are excited to bring this big night of boxing to our nation’s capital and to feature a young, powerful and hungry world champion like Amir Khan against a top-flight contender such as Lamont Peterson who will have his hometown fans cheering him on towards reaching his championship dreams,” said Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “This is going to be a great fight and a fantastic way to end the 2011 championship boxing season.”

“Amir has always been adamant that he wants to face the very best in his division and in Lamont Peterson, he is doing just that by taking on an extremely dangerous opponent in his own backyard,” said Asif Vali of Khan Promotions. “I have no doubt Amir will be more than ready for this challenge and will put on yet another glittering display for all of his fans.”

“Amir Khan is one of the most spectacular fighters in the world and we’re thrilled to see him return on World Championship Boxing,” said Kery Davis, HBO Sports Senior Vice President of Programming. “This showdown with Lamont Peterson in the nation’s capital will be an exciting night on the network. It’s a thrill for HBO to be back in Washington for the first time since 1993.”

“Capital Showdown: Khan vs. Peterson,” a 12-round Unified Super Lightweight World Title Fight for Khan’s WBA World Super Championship and IBF World Championship, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Khan Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate, AT&T and DeWalt Tools. The HBO World Championship Boxing telecast begins at 9:45 p.m. ET/ 6:45 p.m. PT.

One of boxing’s best, Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Amir “King” Khan (26-1, 18 KO’s) has gone from amateur sensation to approaching the top of boxing’s pound for pound list in the span of just seven years. A Silver Medalist for England at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the pride of Bolton’s began his professional journey in 2005 as one of the most visible athletes in the United Kingdom. He handled the attention and pressure with grace, winning all but one of his first 20 bouts. In March of 2009, he made his first inroads on the international scene with a five round win over Mexico’s future Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera and in his next fight just four months later, he became a world champion with a decision victory over Andriy Kotelnik that earned him the WBA Super Lightweight World Title. After stoppages of Dmitriy Salita and former World Champion Paulie Malignaggi, Khan engaged in the 2010 Fight of the Year, when he decisioned Marcos Maidana on December 11. The 24-year-old champion has been just as impressive so far in 2011, defending his title in April with a win over previously unbeaten Paul McCloskey in front of a packed house at the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, and then added the IBF crown to his trophy case with a fifth round knockout over former World Champion Zab Judah. Khan knows the only way to stay at the top is to keep facing the top talent out there, and that is exactly what he will get in number one rated contender Peterson on December 10.

Lamont “Havoc” Peterson (29-1-1, 15 KO’s) is a supremely skilled boxer with the fighting heart that allowed him to not only win 29 of 31 professional bouts, but also survive a harrowing childhood that left him and his brother Anthony homeless on the streets of Washington, DC. By the age of 10, the Petersons found refuge in a local boxing gym and Lamont quickly showed the talent that has led him to this championship bout. A 2001 National Golden Gloves champion and a National Amateur Champion in 2003, Peterson turned professional in 2004 and impressively won his first 27 bouts. In April of 2009, he won the WBO Interim Junior Welterweight World Title with a technical knockout over Willy Blain, but eight months later he would lose his only fight when he was decisioned by undefeated Timothy Bradley. In December of 2010, Peterson battled future Welterweight World Champion Victor Ortiz to a 10 round draw, and on July 29 of this year, the 27-year-old earned a shot at Khan with a 12th round knockout over Victor Manuel Cayo in an IBF elimination bout. He is ready for the challenge Khan will bring, but is confident his hometown crowd will give him the extra push to take Khan’s crown.

Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell (23-0-1, 17 KO’s) is the jolt of energy and excitement that the division has been looking for. Since his last bout in the area in April of 2010 (a third round technical knockout over Ryan Thompson), the 29-year-old former Michigan State college football standout has gone from rising star to top contender, winning seven bouts in a row, all by knockout. In 2011 alone, Charles Davis (second round technical knockout), Evans Quinn (first round knockout) and Hector Ferreyro (third round technical knockout) have all tasted defeat at Mitchell’s hands and he expects to make another statement on December 10 in front of his hometown fans in Washington DC.

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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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