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Sergio vs Chavez Jr…WHO DO YA LIKE?

Published

12 years ago

July 10, 2012

LASVEGAS, NEV. (July 10, 2012) – Who really deserves to wear the World Middleweight Champion’s crown?Undefeated World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion and the Son of the Legend, JULIO CÉSAR CHÁVEZ JR., and SERGIO MARTINEZ, the two-division world champion with matinee idol looks, will settle that question in their long-awaited middleweight battle, Saturday, September 15 – Méxican Independence Day weekend – at the Thomas & Mack Center, located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The Chávez Jr. vs. Martinez World Middleweight Championship event 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, Zanfer Promotions and DiBella Entertainment, in association with Wynn Las Vegas, AT&T and Tecate, tickets to the Chávez Jr. vs. Martinez World Middleweight Championship Event will go on sale This Thursday! July 12 at 3:00 p.m. ET / Noon PT. Priced at $600, $400, $200, $100, $75, $50 and $25, they can be purchased at the Thomas & Mack Center box office and Town Square Las Vegas Concierge. Tickets can also be purchased online at www.unlvtickets.com.To charge by telephone call (702) 739-FANS.

“This is the fight I've always wanted,” said Chávez Jr. “Martinez has said a lot of bad things. Let's see if he wants to go to the center of the ring and fight like a man.”

“I’m very excited for the opportunity to headline a live pay-per-view event in Las Vegas and to be able to take back what is rightfully mine, and that is the WBC middleweight championship belt,” said Martinez. “We have been working very hard with my team through the years for this moment and I will make sure to leave Las Vegas September 15^thas the winner.Chavez Jr. has shown some improvement in his last fight, but that will not be enough to defeat me September 15^th.”

“This is the big fight that the boxing world has been clamoring for such a long time,” said Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum. Julio César Chávez Jr., after his latest victory, is ready to go. He will make all Méxicans proud, just like his father used to do.”

“This is one of the biggest fights that can be made in boxing, between Julio César Chávez Jr., a terrific young champion and the son of a legend, and Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez, one of the great pound-for-pound fighters in the world. This is a fight for both middleweight supremacy and pound-for-pound status,” said Martinez promoter Lou DiBella.

“We are pleased to be part of such a monumental match-up between two talented fighters,” said Alex Pariente, executive vice president of international and domestic marketing for Wynn Las Vegas. “The long-anticipated championship fight between Martinez and Chávez on Mexican Independence Day will add to the celebration of the holiday and the history of the storied middleweight title that includes greats such as Sugar Ray Robinson, Tony Zale, Carlos Monzon and Marvelous Marvin Hagler.”

“Julio César Chávez Jr. versus Sergio Martinez is one of the premier and most anticipated matchups in boxing today,” said Mark Taffet of HBO Pay-Per-View. “It has all the makings of an extraordinary event — major league boxing skill in the ring; a spirited rivalry that has simmered for years; the fast-rising new star versus the elite warrior; enthusiastic fan bases; and a celebration of Mexican Independence Day. It will be an evening that every fight fan will want to experience live on HBO Pay-Per-View.”

Chávez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KOs), of Culiacán, México, making his first appearance in Las Vegas since 2009, is the son of Mexico’s greatest fighter Julio César Chávez. Chávez, 26, took up the “family business” in 2003, winning a four-round decision in his professional debut. Eight years later, the reigning World Middleweight Champion and superior gate attraction is poised to make his own mark in the boxing world. He took a major step toward that goal by enlisting legendary trainer Freddie Roach to take him to the next level.Their first fight together was a gigantic success, a dominant 12-round unanimous decision victory over top-10 contender John Duddy (29-1, 18 KOs) in June 2010 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. After his January 29, 2011 unanimous decision win over Billy Lyell, Chávez Jr. became the second family member to win a world title, dethroning undefeated World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion Sebastian Zbik via a majority decision. That June 4, 2011 slugfest took place at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles just a few blocks north of the Olympic Auditorium where the legendary Julio César Chávez won his first world title. Chávez Jr. has successfully defended his title with a fifth-round knockout of Top-Five contender Peter Manfredo, Jr., November 19, 2011, followed by a hard-fought unanimous decision on February 4 over No. 1 contender Marco Antonio Rubio. He enters this fight fresh from one his biggest victories, a seventh-round knockout of No. 2-rated contender Andy Lee on June 16.

Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KOs), of Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a consensus Top-Three pound-for-pound fighter, will be making his first appearance in a Las Vegas ring since 2000. He first made his presence known to the boxing world in 2007 by knocking out Saul Roman in the fourth round of their WBC super welterweight title elimination bout. One year later, Martinez captured the WBC interim super welterweight title with an eighth-round stoppage of Alex Bunema. He was elevated to WBC world super welterweight champion in the latter half of 2009. Martinez captured his second world title in as many divisions, in 2010, moving up in weight to challenge and upset defending middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik.Martinez enters this fight riding a two-year, five-bout winning streak, including knockout victories of Paul Williams, Sergiy Dzinziruk, and Darren Baker. In his last fight, on St. Patricks’ Day at Madison Square Garden, Martinez stopped Matthew Macklin in the 11th round.

The Chávez Jr. vs. Martinez world championship telecast, which begins at 9:00 p.m. ET / 6:00 p.m. PT, will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 92 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View, a division of Home Box Office, Inc., is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. Follow HBO Boxing news at www.hbo.com and at www.facebook.com/hboboxing. Use the hashtag #ChavezMartinez to join the conversation on Twitter.

For Chávez Jr. vs. Martinez updates log on to www.toprank.com, www.dbe1.com or www.hbo.com.

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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”.

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