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NEWS ON: Cunningham-Fury, Quillin-Guerrero, Oscar Molina
THE “MECCA OF BOXING” TO HOST ANOTHER MEMORABLE CLASH – FURY VS CUNNINGHAM APRIL 20th – THE THEATER AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN NEW YORK –
Madison Square Garden, branded the “Mecca of Boxing” ages ago, will once again be in the spotlight the afternoon of April 20 when it hosts yet another important world class fight at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Undefeated Irish behemoth Tyson Fury, 20-0, 14 KOs, faces the stiffest test of his boxing career when he takes on former two-time champion Steve Cunningham, 25-5, 12 KOs, of Philadelphia, in a 12 round IBF Title Elimination Bout that is expected to be a classic conflict of styles guaranteed to produce fistic fireworks. The first live fight in the theater will begin at 1:15PM ET. The main event and co-feature fights will be broadcast on NBC beginning at 4PM ET.
The list of critical clashes in the Garden’s storied history boggles the mind. Every great fighter in the sport’s past has fought there, Dempsey, Louis, Marciano, Ali, Frazier, Tyson, Holyfield, Lewis, Klitschko and countless others. Chapter upon chapter of boxing history has been made at the legendary site.
Next month’s main event is just the latest entry on the venue’s stellar resume, further proving that MSG was, is, and always will be, the center of the boxing world. The venue tops the bucket list of every boxing fan, many of whom travel far and wide to watch a fight in the hallowed New York boxing arena. In addition to fans, the fighters themselves also dream of going to the “Mecca” and headlining their own show. “It’s something that I’ve dreamed about since I was a little kid,” Fury said. “Coming to New York, fighting at Madison Square Garden. It’s finally come true!”
Fury will make his American debut against Cunningham on April 20 with the whole world watching. The fight will be nationally televised by NBC on network TV, and beamed back to Europe where the 6′ 9″ Fury is a popular attraction, especially in England and Ireland. “Once I became a pro, I learned the significance of fighting at the Garden,” Cunningham said. “It puts the importance of the fight into perspective. Headlining at Madison Square Garden reminds me how important it is to work hard in camp and go out and win. This chance is something that doesn’t happen to everybody.”
With so much on the line, both Fury, the puncher, and Cunningham, the boxer, will be fighting hard to win the bout and write their own page of Madison Square Garden history. Only one of them can come away with their hand raised, but the fight will become part of the Garden’s story, and remembered forever by boxing fans.
APRIL 20TH FIGHT INFO: April 20th at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York features a 12-round heavyweight battle between Tyson Fury and Steve Cunningham in the main event. Curtis Stevens will take on Derrick Findley in the 8-round middleweight co-feature. Six additional bouts are planned for the undercard. The main event and co-feature will be broadcast 4PM ET on NBC as a special 2 hour afternoon presentation of NBC Sports Fight Night. The card is presented by Hennessy Sports and Main Events. The main event is an official IBF Heavyweight Voluntary Eliminator fight for the #2 position. The winner must meet #1 or the leading available contender to establish the mandatory challenger for Heavyweight King Wladimir Klitschko. Tickets are priced at $25, $50, $100, $250 and $500. Tickets are available at the Madison Square Garden box office, through Ticketmaster 866-858-0008 and at ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices include a $5 Facility Surcharge. Ticketmaster purchases are subject to a Ticketmaster Surcharge. Wheelchairs, companion seats, aisle seats and Assistive Listening Devices are available 212-465-6035. LOS ANGELES (March 26, 2013) – World Boxing Organization (WBO) middleweight champion Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (28-0, 20 KOs) puts his title belt and unbeaten record on the line April 27 in his much-anticipated first world title defense against challenger Fernando Guerrero (25-1, 19 KOs) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Quillin was originally schedule to defend against Guerrero on February 9, however, the entire show was postponed due to an injury suffered by headliner Danny Garcia. Fighting once again on Showtime Championship Boxing, Quillin vs. Guerrero could steal the thunder from Garcia and his challenger, Zab Judah, as Quillin did last October in the same venue against previously undefeated WBO title-holder Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, who was floored six times and eventually lost a 12-round decision (115-107, 115-107, 115-107), as well as his WBO crown. The powerful Quillin, who now lives in New York City (Manhattan) but trains for fights in Los Angeles, returns home to fight again in Brooklyn where he lived for several years. “I’m fortunate to have my fight shown around the world through Showtime and to be going back to fight in New York City where I built my name,” Quillin said. “There’s not too much else in my thought process other than working hard to defend my title belt. Everyone will see me at my best on April 27th because every camp is about getting better. “I love to challenge myself. I look in the mirror and honestly believe nobody can beat me. I still have a lot to improve, though, and I’ve gotten this far fighting through a lot of BS. I take what I do very seriously and anybody can see just that by watching what I put myself through at the gym.” Cuban-American favorite Quillin has a clear advantage in quality opponents fought compared to the WBO No. 9-rated Guerrero, a southpaw from the Dominican Republic who lives in Salisbury, Maryland. Quillin has defeated world champions N’Jikam and Ronald “Winky” Wright, as well as Craig McEwan, Jesse Brinkley, Fernando Zuniga, Dionisio Miranda and Antwun Echols. Guerrero’s victims include J.C. Candelo, Saul Duran, Ishe Smith, Ossie Duran and Gabriel Rosado. However, Guerrero’s lone loss as a professional boxer was to a then 40-year-old with 12-losses, Grady Brewer, nearly two years ago by way of a fourth-round technical knockout for the vacant North American Boxing Federation (NABF). “I’m expecting to fight the best Fernando Guerrero,” the 29-year-old Quillin added. “He lost to Brewer but there may have been things going on I don’t know about. I respect him (Guerrero) but, once we step in the ring, things will be different and I won’t have any respect for him, like anybody else I fight. I know he’s coming in the best of shape – he’d better – and we’re going to give fans what they want to see. “A lot of guys are told early in their careers that they’ll be world champions. All I was ever called when I was young was a juvenile delinquent or criminal. We’ve both overcome struggles. I’m not saying mine were tougher than his. Struggles make better fighters. He has said that I have power and speed, but I have a lot more — I’m good looking and tough with balls. I’ve got the whole package. I want to win this fight as much as my last one.” For more information about Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin go online to www.TheKidChocolate.com or follow him on Twitter @KidChocolate and Instagram@KidChocolate. Los Angeles (March 26) – Oscar Molina, one of only two Olympians representing Mexico in the 2012 Games in London, will go for his third straight victory this Saturday, March 30 in Guasave, Sinaloa, Mexico at the Estadio de Beisbol stadium and to be broadcast by Televisa. In his last fight on March 9th at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, CA, Molina (2-0, 1 KO) and his twin brother Javier (13-1, 5 KOs), fought on the same show for the first time as professionals and both came away with thrilling victories. The Los Angeles-born brothers and current longtime Norwalk residents shared the stage as Olympians, Javier for Team USA in 2008 and Oscar Team Mexico. This will be Molina’s second bout in Mexico since turning pro. He will be fighting in a 4-round bout.
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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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