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News Wrap: On Pacman, Khan-Garcia, Spinks-K9, Afolabi, Et Al

Published

12 years ago

June 5, 2012

The Sweet Science

pac-brad MANNY PACQUIAO & TIMOTHY BRADLEY MGM GRAND ARRIVALS

Today!Tuesday, June 5 at Noon PT

PACQUIAO AND BRADLEY FANS INVITED TO ROOT FOR THEIR FAVORITE CHAMPION

LAS VEGAS, NEV. (June 5, 2012) – IT’S FIGHT WEEK!

Fighter of the Decade Congressman MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO and undefeated world junior welterweight champion and Top 10 pound-for-pound fighter TIMOTHY “Desert Storm” BRADLEY will make their Grand Arrivals, in custom-designed buses displaying their images, Today! Tuesday, June 5, at the MGM Grand porte cochere and inside the main lobby. Bradley will arrive at Noon PT followed by Pacquiao at approximately 12:30 p.m. PT. With only five days to go before their world championship collision, these warriors are approaching the boiling point!

Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs), boxing’s only eight-division world champion and the lone congressional representative from the Sarangani province in the Philippines, will be defending his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight championship crown against WBO junior welterweight champion Bradley (28-0, 12 KOs), of Palm Springs, Calif., Saturday, June 9, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev. The Pacquiao-Bradley world championship fight will be produced and distributed Live by HBO Pay-Per-View®, beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with MP Promotions, Tecate, AT&T and MGM Grand, remaining tickets to Pacquiao vs. Bradley are priced at $1,200, $900, $600 and $400. Ticket sales at $1,200, $900, $600 and $400 are limited to 10 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster (800) 745-3000. Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

An all-new edition of HBO’s all-access reality series 24/7 PACQUIAO/BRADLEY debuts on Friday, June 8 (8:00-8:30 p.m. ET/PT), the night before the welterweight title showdown.

For Pacquiao-Bradley fight week updates, log on to www.toprank.com and www.hbo.com.

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QUOTES FROM MONDAY'S AMIR KHAN VS. DANNY GARCIA

PRESS CONFERENCE IN LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

Amir “King” Khan, Former Unified Super Lightweight World Champion

“I have seen him fight and he has a dangerous style. He is tough, but he has never faced anyone like me.

“When I beat your son, am I still going to be overrated? Maybe it's Danny who is the one who is overrated. (Speaking to Danny Garcia's trainer and father Angel Garcia in response to be accused of being overrated.)

“I promise you this is going to be a good fight. This is going to be a legendary fight.”

Danny “Swift” Garcia, WBC Super Lightweight World Champion

“Khan is a great fighter. I'm a great fighter. When you put two great fighters together, you have to fight your best to get the win.

“This is a big fight, but every fight is a big fight for me.

“I bring blood, sweat and tears. Literally I brought tears at my last fight.

“You haven't seen the best of Danny Garcia.”

Oscar de la Hoya, President of Golden Boy Promotions

“Khan has proven himself over and over against champions and legends. He is now the most popular fighter in the U.K. and Danny Garcia is a champion who recently fought a legend in Erik Morales.

“You have to take your hat off to both fighters because they didn't have to take such a tough fight.

“It will be an exciting night at Mandalay Bay.”

Freddie Roach, Khan's Trainer

“This is a big fight. It's the best fighting the best.”

Angel Garcia, Garcia's Father/Trainer

“We are having a great camp.

“Khan is an overrated fighter. We are coming out here to fight the best. You want young fighters to come out and fight to prove themselves and that's what we have on July 14.

Tony Walker, Director of Affiliate Relations of HBO Sports

“We are delighted to put together such a high profile fight.

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CORNELIUS BUNDRAGE VS. CORY SPINKS II TO HEADLINE
SPECIAL SATURDAY EDITION OF SHOBOX ON JUNE 30

FANTASY SPRINGS RESORT CASINO TO HOST
IBF JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
INDIO, CALIF., June 4 – After nearly two long years, former Two-Division World Champion Cory Spinks will finally get the chance to even the score with IBF Junior Middleweight World Champion Cornelius “K9” Bundrage, when the two will meet up in an intriguing title fight rematch that headlines a special Saturday night edition of ShoBox: The New Generation on June 30 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif.

In their first fight on August 7, 2010, Bundrage stunned Spinks in front of his hometown fans in St. Louis, seizing the IBF 154-pound title with a 5th round technical knockout victory. Spinks will look to exact revenge on neutral ground in Indio on June 30.

Bundrage vs. Spinks, a 12 round fight for the IBF Junior Middleweight World Championship, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions. The ShoBox: The New Generation telecast will air live on SHOWTIME at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

Tickets, priced at $25, $35 and $45, are on sale now and available for purchase at the Fantasy Springs Box Office, by calling (800) 827-2946 or online at www.fantasyspringsresort.com.

Hard-hitting Cornelius Bundrage (31-4, 18 KO's) didn't have an easy road on his way to the top, but with determination, an aggressive style and fight-ending power, he earned championship gold. A former star of NBC's hit boxing reality show 'The Contender,' the Detroit native used his notoriety from the series to propel himself into the top ten and beyond, defeating Chris Smith, Kassim Ouma and Grady Brewer to earn a title shot in 2010. Despite the odds against him, Bundrage defeated the hometown hero and after defending his title (and avenging an earlier loss) by beating Sechew Powell in 2011, the 39-year-old is ready to meet Spinks again.

One of the top boxers of this era, St. Louis' former Undisputed Welterweight World Champion Cory Spinks (39-6, 11 KO's) is a slick boxer who possesses an impressive defensive game along with a will to win that is second to none. A member of one of boxing's first families, along with his father Leon and uncle Michael, Spinks joined them among the roll call of world champions in 2003 when he defeated Michele Piccirillo for the IBF Welterweight World Title. Spinks defended his belt three times before losing it to Zab Judah in their 2005 rematch, but by 2006 he was a champion again, beating Roman Karmazin for the Junior Middleweight World Title. After losing and regaining the belt in 2008 and 2009 respectively, Spinks lost his title to Bundrage in August of 2010, but after back-to-back wins on the comeback trail, the 34-year-old has his sights set on capturing a world championship yet again.
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LOS ANGELES, CA (June 4, 2012) WBO Interim Cruiserweight World Champion Ola Afolabi watched with interest on Saturday night as cruiserweight contenders Antonio Tarver and Lateef Kayode squared off in a twelve round bout on SHOWTIME from The Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

“It was a somewhat entertaining fight as they’re on similar levels, but both of my world title bouts with Marco Huck were much better fights. Marco is considered the best champion and we are truly world-class cruiserweights, competing at a higher level than either Tarver or Kayode,” said the Los Angeles resident Afolabi. “I would be very interested in the opportunity to defend my WBO title in this country against either of them on SHOWTIME.”

Afolabi and Huck battled in a ”Fight of the Year” candidate on Saturday, May 5th in Erfurt, Germany, a sensational action packed fight that was scored a draw at the conclusion of the memorable twelve round clash.

Said Tom Loeffler, managing director of K2 Promotions, “We all thought Ola beat Huck, it was a war and a huge event in Germany. I commend SHOWTIME for showing this cruiserweight fight as the main event of their show, I know Ola would fight either Lateef or Antonio.”

Originally from London, United Kingdom, Afolabi has trained in recent years at the Wild Card Boxing Gym.

“Ola has shown his interest in fighting the best cruiserweights in the world and has traveled all over Europe in the last four years to do so. It would be great to have him fight in the US again, now that the Cruiserweights have been showcased and caught the attention of the US boxing fans.”
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ALBUQUERQUE, NM (June 4, 2012) – Officials have been named for the Fresquez Productions-presented “The Reckoning,” featuring the International Boxing Association (IBA) and WBAN rematch between light welterweight champion Anne Sophie Mathis (26-1, 22 KOs) and nine-time World Champion Holly “The Preacher's Daughter” Holm (30-2-3, 9 KOs) to determine the mythical women's pound-for-pound championship, June 15 Route 66 Casino Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The judges, all from Las Vegas, will be Duane Ford, Dave Moretti and Lisa Giampi with Jon Schorle (El Dorado Hills, CA) as the referee.

“We wanted to insure fairness to both fighters, as well as eliminate any potential controversy, by having three of the most high-respected judges and referee working Mathis-Holm II,” said Tom King, New Mexico Athletic Commission. “They are all among the most qualified officials in boxing.”

Moretti and Giampa were judges for last December's initial fight between Mathis and Holm, in which Mathis won by seventh-round knockout.

Ford and Moretti have been judges for 35 years apiece. Ford has judged a 160-reported world title fights including Sugar Ray Leonard-Tommy Hearns I, Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield II, Larry Holmes-Muhammad Ali and Salvador Sanchez-Wilfredo Gomez. Moretti has scored 110 world title matches including Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor, Bernard Hopkins, Oscar de la Hoya, Marvin Hagler-John Mugabi, and Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II.

Giampa has judged seven world title fights in her five years, while Schorle has refereed 27 title fights in his 20 years as an official.

Go online to www.FresquezProductions.com or www.rt66casino.com for more information about “The Reckoning.”

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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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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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