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Adrien Broner Meets Gavin Rees on Feb. 16

Published

12 years ago

January 10, 2013

Adrien Broner Meets Gavin – Atlantic City, January 10 – Boxing’s brightest star and one of the sport’s most eagerly anticipated rematches will both take center stage on Saturday, February 16 when HBO World Championship Boxing telecasts a doubleheader from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey featuring the WBC Lightweight World Championship fight between Two-Time and Two-Division World Champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner and former World Champion Gavin “The Rock” Rees and the second showdown between heavyweights Johnathon Banks and Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell.

This event marks Golden Boy Promotions’ return to the boardwalk after a stellar card on November 17, 2012 that saw Broner capture the WBC Lightweight World Championship with an eighth round stoppage of former World Champion Antonio DeMarco and Banks scored one of the biggest upsets of the year with a second round technical knockout over previously unbeaten Mitchell.

Broner vs. Rees, a 12-round fight for Broner’s WBC Lightweight World Championship will take place Saturday, February 16 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and R&R Promotions, sponsored by Caesars Atlantic City, Corona and AT&T and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT. The co-main event will be a 12-round heavyweight clash between Johnathon Banks and Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell for Banks’ NABO and WBC International Heavyweight titles.

Tickets priced at $200, $100, $50 and $25, plus applicable taxes and service charges, go on sale on Friday, January 11 at 12:00 p.m. ET and will be available for purchase at the Boardwalk Hall box office, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 736-1420 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

“We’re pleased to bring fans another exciting night of boxing live from Atlantic City in the beginning of 2013,” said Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya. “We are witnessing the emergence of Adrien Broner as a superstar in the sport and now he faces his next test in Gavin Rees who, with his ring experience and already proven tenacity, should give Adrien a very tough fight. With Johnathon Banks vs. Seth Mitchell we are going to see if Seth can overcome defeat and disappointment and avenge his loss to Johnathon in the same ring they fought in this past November. I’m looking forward to a great night of fights and a great show.”

“Atlantic City here we come again and it will be great to have my first fight of 2013 in the same ring and place as my last fight of 2012,” said Broner. “I see the outcome of this fight against Rees being similar to my last fight as I plan to knock him out in too. I am a two-time world champion now, feel great at this weight and can’t wait to show the world why I am the best boxing has to offer. A new year, a new era and it starts on February 16.”

“I didn’t think twice about taking this fight,” said Rees. “Broner is a fantastic boxer and a huge talent, but I am confident I can upset the odds on February 16^th and become a Two-Division World Champion. I’ve got the edge when it comes to experience and under my trainer Gary Lockett, I have a new lease of life. I believe that besides DeMarco, I am the toughest opponent he’s faced and I think I will cause him plenty of trouble, especially if he underestimates what I can do. This is a massive opportunity for me and it would be a dream come true to do it in the United States. I am going to be putting it all on the line to make my dream a reality.”

“Here we go again. Same thing, different day,” said Banks. “I’m looking forward to putting on another terrific performance for the fans in Atlantic City and those watching on HBO. I will prove again that I’m the best at what I do.”

“I’m very excited and motivated for this rematch against Johnathon Banks,” said Mitchell. “My training is going well. This is the first time I’ve been away from my family during training camp. I’m very fortunate and blessed to be back on this stage for my next fight.”

“We are excited to launch an all new season of World Championship Boxing with Adrien Broner meeting Gavin Rees in a 135-pound title showdown in Atlantic City,” said Kery Davis, senior vice president, programming, HBO Sports. “Along with the rematch between Johnathon Banks and Seth Mitchell as the opening bout in a high-stakes heavyweight fight, it is a night fight fans are going to enjoy.”

“Caesars Atlantic City is once again pleased to work alongside Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and elated to sponsor an event-card of this magnitude,” said Daniel Brockdorf, Regional Vice President of Marketing for Caesars Entertainment Atlantic City. “Last November, I had the pleasure of seeing, first hand, the level of excitement a fighter like Adrien Broner generates. This February 16th world-class event at Boardwalk Hall is proof that championship boxing is not only alive and well in Atlantic City, but thriving.”

Breaking into the spotlight in a big way in 2012, Adrien “The Problem” Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) made statements in two weight classes last year en route to a 3-0 record. Kicking off 2011 with a fourth round technical knockout over previously unbeaten Eloy Perez in February, the Cincinnati native ended his championship run at 130 pounds with a fifth round stoppage over former world title contender Vicente Escobedo in July. He closed the year at Boardwalk Hall with a dominant November win over former World Champion DeMarco that earned him his second divisional world title. On February 16, the charismatic 23-year-old plans on extending his five-fight knockout streak against Rees.

One of the United Kingdom’s top competitors, 32-year-old Welshman Gavin “The Rock” Rees (37-1-1, 18 KO’s) is unbeaten in 11 fights since the lone loss of his career in 2008 against former World Champion Andriy Kotelnik. Now firmly established at 135 pounds after years of fighting bigger opponents, Rees, a former WBA Super Lightweight World Champion, has proven with European and British lightweight title winning victories that he’s clearly in the best form of his 14-year professional career. All that’s left is to bring another world title back home to Newbridge.

The owner of one of boxing’s most inspirational stories, perennial contender Johnathon Banks (29-1-1, 19 KO’s) captured the imagination of fight fans around the world last fall. After losing his mentor and trainer with the passing of Emanuel Steward, Banks took over for the legendary Hall of Famer as the trainer for World Champion Wladimir Klitschko (who was also trained by Steward) for his title defense win over Mariusz Wach in November. One week later, the 30-year-old from Detroit stepped into the ring himself and stunned the boxing world with a second round technical knockout win over the hot and then-undefeated contender Mitchell. On February 16, he’ll look to do it again.

A thrill a second heavyweight with the power to end a bout with a single blow, Seth “Mayhem” Mitchell (25-1-1, 19 KO’s) is eager for the opportunity to avenge his only professional loss against Banks. A former standout linebacker at Michigan State University, Mitchell tore through his opposition in the boxing ring for over four years, most notably beating Taurus Sykes, Timur Ibragimov and Chazz Witherspoon, all by knockout. Now he’ll have to show the resilience of a champion as he attempts to even the score on February 16.

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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”.

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