Articles

Arum Would “Love” To Make Pacquiao vs. Algieri

Published

10 years ago

June 4, 2014

Promoter Bob Arum, in his patented unfiltered and combustible and sometimes profane manner, held court at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, at a press round table. The Vegas based deal maker was asked about how he thinks the Golden Boy splintering will play out. Will it be a win for the fans, for those craving some of those fights that haven’t been getting made to be fashioned?

“I have no idea where the chips are gonna fall,” he told me. The press still isn’t asking the right questions, or grasping the real issue correctly, he maintained. He said that Richard Schaefer, who resigned from his GPB on Monday afternoon, tried to deflect attention from what Arum says was mismanagement, by focusing on Oscar De La Hoya’s attempt to reconcile with ex promoter and then bitter enemy Arum.

Arum said most writers craft stories around “the word according to Schaefer” but he is of the mind that Schaefer didn’t do Oscar any favors, and the stories should reflect that. Arum says we must all wait to see which fighters are actually signed to GPB, and only then will Oscar see what the value of his company is, beyond the name. Arum, a lawyer by trade, said the lawyer in him wants to to know if Schaefer did Oscar dirty.

“But the fans…” I started to ask, and Arum exploded, before letting me finish my thought, that most fans do not care about this insider-y stuff, and just want to see the best fighting the best.

“Eff the fans, this is a legal issue!” he bellowed, meaning that hardcore legal issues have to play out before we can focus on grass roots stuff, like making fights.

“When will Mayweather fight Pacquiao, that is irrelevant as far as a court of law is concerned,” he said.

So, could we be more likely to see a Canelo fight a Top Rank guy next, because of this move by Oscar, to retake power? “Abso-effin-lutely,” Arum said…if Canelo is signed to Golden Boy and isn’t contracted to only fight on Showtime.

I shifted the topic, and asked Arum if he will be watching the June 14 card at Barclays extra hard, because Roach said he thinks the headliner Ruslan Provodnikov is the lead dog in the race to find Manny’s next foe. “Let me tell you something, the fight I would love to do, and think I am going to zero in and try to do, is Pacquiao against Chris Algieri, after Algieri beats Provodnikov. I think Algieri has a good shot with his style to beat Provodnikov, I think it is a better fight than a lot of people think.”

I told Algieri about the Arum statement. His reaction? “Love it. June 14 first and foremost though. Arum said it is a better fight than people think, he is right. The man knows boxing. I am not surprised by this in the slightest, just happy to be recognized.”

The promoter repeated that he has indeed been talking some to De Le Hoya, socially, and they have talked on the phone. No specifics, Arum said, because Oscar has to figure out which fighters are his. When he does that, then darn right they can do business together.

Arum said in his mind, the crux of the issue is whether or not Schaefer violated his fiduciary responsibilities to Oscar. He does not know if he did or did not, he made clear.

Bottom line: Arum is saying the Golden Boy situation needs to be sorted out more before we can plain theorethical matchmaker….Also, he is giving Algieri more of a chance than 98 percent of the others out there.

Follow Woods on Twitter

https://mobile.twitter.com/Woodsy1069/tweets

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Michael Woods

Articles

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.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

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.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

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

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!