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NEWS ON: GGG-Geale Special, Floyd ESPY Noms, DiBella Undercard

Published

10 years ago

June 25, 2014

The Sweet Science

ROAD TO GOLOVKIN/GEALE

PREMIERES SATURDAY, JULY 12 ON HBO^®

June 25, 2014 – HBO Boxing presents “Road to Golovkin/Geale,” an exhilarating special examining the upcoming middleweight title fight between undefeated champ Gennady Golovkin and former two-time champ Daniel Geale. In a highly anticipated 160-pound showdown set for the big stage at Madison Square Garden in New York on Saturday, July 26, Golovkin and Geale will finally meet in the ring. The encounter will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing^®.

The “Road to Golovkin/Geale” special will premiere Saturday, July 12 at 12:05 a.m. ET/PT on HBO. It will preview the long awaited meeting between two accomplished warriors who have been on a journey to confront each other in the ring. The special will provide all-new content including portraits of both fighters’ path to this significant summertime showdown on boxing’s leading television platform.

Golovkin, who had spectacular breakout year in 2013, brings a perfect 29-0 record with 26 KOs into the showdown. Geale, enormously popular in his native Australia, sports a professional ring record of 30-2 with 16 KOs. This marks his second fight in the United States.

The 15-minute special will also be available on the HBO On Demand^® service, HBO GO^® and at www.hbo.com/boxing as well as various other new media platforms that distribute the series.

Other HBO playdates: July 12 (12:05 a.m.), 14 (9:45 a.m.), 16 (2:15 p.m. & 10:45 p.m.), 20 (11:45 a.m.), 22 (12:00 p.m. & 2:55 a.m.), 25 (5:30 p.m. & 1:00 a.m.), and 26 (8:45 a.m.).

HBO2 playdates: July 13 (6:15 p.m.), 15 (9:15 p.m.), 17 (5:45 p.m.) 19 (7:15 p.m.), 21 (2:50 p.m.), 23 (11:30 p.m.) and 25 (11:10 p.m.).

All times are ET/PT.

BOXING’S POUND-FOR-POUND CHAMPION

FLOYD “MONEY” MAYWEATHER EXCITED ABOUT 2014 ESPY AWARDS DOUBLE NOMINATION

Las Vegas (June 25) – Eleven-Time World Champion and boxing superstar Floyd “Money” Mayweather continues to rack up career accolades as it was announced yesterday that he has been nominated for the 2014 ESPY Awards for “Best Male Athlete” and “Best Fighter.”

While Mayweather has won the ESPY for “Best Fighter” five times, he is the first boxer in the history of the ESPYs to be nominated for “Best Male Athlete.” Mayweather is coming off of two wins in the last year, including a dominant, record-breaking performance against Canelo Alvarez last September and a thrilling victory in May against Marcos Maidana.

Fans can vote now at http://espn.go.com/espys/2014/. Voting closes on Wednesday, July 16 prior to the ESPYs telecast on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET.

“It’s been a great year for me and I’m very excited to receive these nominations,” said Mayweather. “I know I wouldn’t be here without the fans and I’m grateful for the support I’ve received from them over the years. I appreciate everyone that has already voted for me and those that haven’t still have time.”

Mayweather is also nominated for the BET Award for Sportsman of the Year, which will be announced this Sunday, June 29 at the BET Awards in Los Angeles. In addition to being nominated for these prestigious awards, Mayweather was also recently named the highest-earning athlete in the world by Forbes and Fortune/Sports Illustrated magazines

“Floyd is at an incredible place in his career, both from a performance and recognition standpoint,” said Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions. “Winning the ESPY for ‘Best Male Athlete’ would be another indicator of Floyd’s stardom.He shows love to all the fans and now they have the opportunity to continue to show their support by taking the time to vote for him and once again prove that he is ‘TBE’.”

Mayweather is nominated alongside Miguel Cabrera (Detroit Tigers), Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder) and Peyton Manning (Denver Broncos) in the “Best Male Athlete” category and Jon “Bones Jones”, Manny Pacquiao, Ronda Rousey and Andre Ward in the “Best Fighter” Category.

New York, NY / St. Charles, MO (6/25/14) – This Friday night, DiBella Entertainment and Rumble Time Promotions, in association with Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing, will present that week’s edition of ESPN’sFriday Night Fights/ESPN Deportes’ Noche de Combates from the beautiful Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, MO.

Headlining the card will be red-hot lightweight contender Ivan “El Terribel” Redkach (16-0, 13KO’s) putting his undefeated record on the line against former title challenger Sergey “The Surgeon” Gulyakevich (41-2, 17KO’s) in the 10-round main event of the evening.

In the eight-round co-feature bout, WBA #11-rated junior lightweight Ryan Kielczweski (19-0, 4KO’s) puts his undefeated record on the line against once-beaten Ramsey Luna (12-1, 4KO’s).

Opening up the card will be promising hometown favorite Stephon Young (9-0, 4KO’s), from nearby St. Louis, MO, looking to improve to a perfect 10-0 when he squares off against Vicente Alfaro (6-3, 1KO) in a six-round junior featherweight showdown.

Also seeing action on the card in separate six-round middleweight bouts will be newly signed middleweight DBE prospects Eduardo Alicea (6-0, 3KO’s) and Paul Littleton (8-0-1, 4KO’s). Alicea, who is co-promoted by Rumble Time Promotions, is set to square off against Demetrius Walker (7-4-1, 4KO’s), while Littleton will take on heavy-handed Skylar Thompson (12-12, 10KO’s).

Making his much-anticipated pro debut will be DBE’s Ukrainian amateur superstar Ivan Golub in a special attraction four-round middleweight bout as he squares off against St. Louis-native Javon Wright (1-2). The 25-year-old Golub had an astounding amateur career, which saw him become a five-time Ukrainian National Champion, win a bronze medal at the junior world championships in 2006 and bronze at the world championships in 2009, amassing a record of 270-32 in the process. Now Golub is ready to his pro career underway when he takes on Wright.

Rounding out the card will be undefeated local favorites Derrick Murray, Kent Cruz and Samir Simpson Bey, all in separate four-round bouts. Murray (6-0-1, 3KO’s) is set to take on fellow St. Louis-native Joseph Mueller (pro debut) in a four-round featherweight matchup. Cruz (5-0, 3KO’s) squares off against the fellow undefeated Guy Smith Jr. (2-0) in a four-round junior welterweight showdown while St. Louis’ Bey (2-0-1, 2KO’s) takes on Devon Hostler (1-4) from nearby St. Joseph, MO, in a battle for neighborhood bragging rights.

The ESPN Friday Night Fights card is promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Rumble Time Promotions, in association with Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing.

ESPN will begin live coverage at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN2 , ESPN Deportes and WatchESPN.

Tickets are currently on sale and are priced at $80 for ringside and $40 for general admission. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1(800) 293-5949 or by visiting www.metrotix.com . Doors open at 5 p.m. CT with the first bout scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

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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”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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