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Wladimir Klitschko To Fight Francesco Pianeta
Wladimir Klitschko defends titles against Francesco Pianeta in Mannheim, Germany
IBF/WBA/WBO/IBO and “The Ring Magazine“ World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko will defend his titles against Francesco Pianeta at the SAP arena Mannheim, Germany on May 4.
Francesco Pianeta was born in Cosenza (Italy) and moved with his parents to Gelsenkirchen, Germany at the age of 6. He is 28 years old, undefeated and 6´3”. Southpaw Pianeta was WBC Junior World Champion and EBU Champion. In his eight-year-career he beat former WBC Heavyweight Champion Oliver McCall and four-time world title challenger Francois Botha. However, his most difficult fight Pianeta had outside the ring: When cancer was diagnosed in 2009 he was forced to stop his sports. After overcoming the illness he had a tremendous comeback in the ring in 2010. Pianeta is ranked # 9 in the WBO and # 12 in the WBA and IBO. He has a fight record of 28-0 wins with 15 KOs and one draw.
Francesco Pianeta: “I was in Wladimir’s camp as a sparring partner last year. I saw his weaknesses and will use them for me. I know many experts see me as the underdog but I like this role and will shock the boxing world when I knock out Klitschko!“
For 36-year-old Wladimir Klitschko it is his first appearance in the boxing ring in 2013. Last year he defended his titles three times successfully. The professional record of the 1996 Olympic Gold medalist is 59 wins (51 KOs) with only 3 losses. It will be Klitschko’s 23rd World Championship fight.
Wladimir Klitschko: “I have a lot of respect for Francesco Pianeta. He is young, a southpaw and has an immense fighting spirit. He will do anything to reach his goal. I am warned and will prepare myself very intensively. Mannheim is a special place: I started my second career there with my victory against Chris Byrd in 2006. It is my fourth fight in the arena and the atmosphere has always been great.”
In Germany, Klitschko vs. Pianeta will be broadcasted on RTL, EPIX will show the fight in the U.S.
“Francesco Pianeta fought and knocked out cancer in 2009, so we think he might well have the stuff to push Wladimir Klitschko to the limit on May 4. EPIX is proud to continue to showcase the talents of the Klitschko Brothers. I wouldn’t want fight fans to miss this fight, because one day, one of these underdogs, like Pianeta, is going to shock the world,” said Travis Pomposello, EPIX Sports chief creative officer. |
Tickets available on www.saparena.de and via phone under +49-621-18190-333. Prices range from 57 Euro to 700 Euro.
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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura
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
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
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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