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DeGale successfully defends his title with a Unanimous Decision victory over Bute

Published

9 years ago

November 29, 2015

JAMES DEGALE DEFENDS SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLE IN QUEBEC CITY THRILLER OVER HOMETOWN FAVORITE LUCIAN BUTE SATURDAY ON SHOWTIME^®

Eleider Alvarez Earns Right To Face WBC Light Heavyweight Champion

Adonis Stevenson, Who Calls Out Sergey Kovalev For June Unification

Adrian Granados Shocks Undefeated Amir Imam On SHO EXTREME

Catch The Replay This Monday At 10 p.m. ET/PT On SHOWTIME EXTREME

Photo From Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME

QUEBEC CITY, Canada (Nov. 29, 2015) – James DeGale defended his IBF Super Middleweight World Championship in a thriller over hometown favorite and former champion Lucian Bute on Saturday in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.

It was the first title defense for DeGale, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist from Britain who went on the road to Boston to win the title earlier this year and chose to defend in hostile territory.

Bute, who was attempting to win back the IBF belt he defended nine times between 2007 and 2012, put on an inspired and gutsy performance in an electric atmosphere to open the new Videotron Centre in Quebec City. But the unbelievable pace, as well as an arsenal of overhand rights, body shots and combos from the younger DeGale (22-1, 14 KOs) proved to be the difference as DeGale prevailed 116-112, 117-111 (twice).

“I’m young and I’m fresh. I’m peaking right now,” DeGale said. “I’m ready for the best in the world. Credit to Bute – he’s a great champion and believe me, he will be back.”

“Like I’ve said in the past, he is a world-class fighter. I’ve still got things to work on in the next three or four years and I’m going to be my best.”

Bute (32-3, 25 KOs) didn’t look anything like the fighter that lost to Carl Froch in 2012. But while the 35-year-old stalked the switch-hitting DeGale with a relentless attack, he couldn’t do enough to overpower the supremely active Brit, who threw 524 power punches compared to 278 for Bute.

“I think it was a great fight. I did my best tonight,” Bute said. “I think it was a close fight. He’s an Olympic champion, he’s a world champion. If the judges give him the decision I respect that. I’ll be back in the gym to work hard and continue to fight. I think it was a very close fight. I’m happy with my performance and I’ll be back in the gym to get back in the ring one more time.

“The last three years were difficult for me. After I lost to Carl Froch that was a very difficult period for me. I took a break, and now I’m back. I feel great, I feel healthy and now I have one more chance to be back on the top.

“Maybe a few rounds I waited too much and didn’t put the punches together and I let James fight me. When I pushed pressure and pushed back I won the round.”

In the opening bout on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, Eleider Alvarez earned the right to face WBC Light Heavyweight World Champion Adonis Stevenson with a close majority decision over Isaac Chilemba, scored 114-114, 118-110, 115-113.

Alvarez, ranked No. 2 by the WBC at 175 pounds, started quick and pocketed rounds against the No. 1 ranked contender Chilemba. But Chilemba weathered the storm and fought his way back in the fight as Alvarez couldn’t keep up the pace he established in the earlier rounds.

Both fighters came out with a sense of urgency in the 12^th and deciding stanza and if Chilemba had won the final round the fight would have been ruled a draw.

“I knew I had to finish the later rounds strong, but I believe I did enough to win the fight,” Alvarez said. “I’m ready to accept the challenge and face Stevenson. To be the world champion, you have to beat the champion. So that’s what I aim to do.”

Chilemba argued that Alvarez, who fights out of nearby Montreal, was the beneficiary of a “hometown decision,” although the judge who ruled the fight a draw was a local and the other two were from neutral territories.

“I thought I did enough to win it,” Chilemba said. “But it is what it is. I guess you can call it a hometown decision.”

After the fight, SHOWTIME Sports host Brian Custer sat down with Stevenson to get his thoughts on Alvarez-Chilemba and his future.

“It was a close physical fight,” Stevenson said. “He (Alvarez) won this fight but it was very close.”

“We talk about Kovalev because the WBC still ranks him the No. 1 contender. I want this fight to happen. The fans want it to happen. I said June is perfect for me. He said ‘OK, June,’ Kathy Duva said ‘No problem, June.’ Then she said on HBO. I said, ‘Forget about the TVs, let them talk.’ We want the fight to happen. Let the TVs work together and make it happen.

“I want to fight Kovalev. That’s the best opportunity for me because I want his titles. For sure, this fight will happen in June. I don’t have a problem; my team doesn’t have a problem. I want this fight in June.

Kovalev is scared. I talked to him, saw it in his eyes that he’s scared of me. It will happen, but I know Kovalev is scared. I want Kovalev. I’m very hungry to get his titles.”

Adrian Granados survived a first-round knockdown to shock undefeated super lightweight prospect Amir Imam in the opening bout of SHOWTIME BOXING ON SHO EXTREME with an eighth round TKO (2:34).

It was a crushing defeat for Imam, who entered the fight as the No. 1 mandatory challenger to WBC Super Lightweight World Champion Viktor Postol.

Imam looked like he was going to finish the fight early after a nice left-right combo floored the Chicago native. But after escaping the first, Granados dictated the tempo of the fight, worked the inside and prevented Imam – considered one of boxing’s most talented young contenders – from establishing his jab. With Imam unable to keep the fight at a distance, Granados picked apart the Don King-promoted fighter. After seven rounds of punishment and Iman gasping for air against the ropes Granados finished his opponent with a series of devastating combo shots.

An elated Granados (15-3-2, 10 KOs), who has losses to fighters with a combined record of 49-0, pleaded his case to become the mandatory challenger.

“I believe I should be the mandatory challenger,” Granados said. “He was in line and I stopped him. What does that mean? Come on. I was the underdog, but I just came to take it. I came to take it.

“It feels great. Once I had him wobbled I was like, ‘you’ve got to get him now. This time you’re not taking it from me.’ It was a flash knockdown. He caught with the right hand, but I was alright. I just popped right up and I knew he was going to try and finish me. We got out of it and went right back to work.”

Despite the demoralizing loss, Imam (18-1, 15 KOs) doesn’t regret taking a fight that will likely knock him out of title contention.

“I know people might say I shouldn’t have taken this fight, but I needed this fight in between as a tune-up for my next fight because I didn’t want to wait for the six to eight months for the world title shot.

“The key to the fight was my jab, I just didn’t use it enough,” Imam said. “But that’s the way it goes and I’m going to definitely come back stronger. I wasn’t thinking anything after that first-round knockdown. I’ve done that many times and didn’t think the fight was over. I wasn’t surprised at all by the way he came out. I know how he fights. He’s a good fighter and that’s all there is to it.”

In the opening bout of SHOWTIME BOXING ON SHO EXTREME, undefeated heavyweight prospect Oscar Rivas (18-0, 13 KOs) knocked out veteran Joey Abell (31-9, 29 KOs) at :46 of the second round.

Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast will re-air on Monday, Nov. 30 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME while the SHOWTIME BOXING ON SHO EXTREME will re-air on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Both telecasts will be available On Demand beginning this Sunday.

Mauro Ranallo called the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING action with Hall of Fame analyst Al Bernstein and former world champion Paulie Malignaggi commentating and Jim Gray reporting. In Spanish, Alejandro Luna called the blow-by-blow with former world champion Raul Marquez serving as color commentator. Barry Tompkins called the SHOWTIME EXTREME action from ringside with boxing historian Steve Farhood serving as expert analyst.

The executive producer of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is David Dinkins Jr. with Bob Dunphy directing.

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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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