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Thursday, December 13, 2007
Hawkins Replaces Butler Against Guinn
Undefeated heavyweight prospect Alonzo “Big Zo” Butler suffered a detached retina during training and had to withdraw from his fight at River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Colombia, on December 28.
He has been replaced by Robert “Big Philly” Hawkins, 22-10 with 7 knockouts, of Philadephia, Pennsylvania, who will now fight Dominick Guinn , 28-5-1 with 19 knockouts, of Houston, Texas, in the 10 round heavyweight main event.
Hawkins is a veteran who has fought many of the best heavyweights in the world, including current WBC heavyweight world champion Oleg Maskaev and WBC interim champion Samuel Peter. Although he hasn’t beaten the top fighters in the division, Robert does have several impressive wins to his credit against a number of heavyweight up-and-comers.
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Saturday, November 17, 2007
Abell Wins, Ward Remains Undefeated
Joey Abell (right) connects with a punishing right hand to the head of Teke Oruh (left) en route to a 10-round majority decision. Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime
ST. LUCIA – Two previously undefeated fighters were handed their first loss on Friday night in paradise.
In the main event, hard-hitting heavyweight Joey Abell (18-1, 1 NC, 17 KOs) of Minneapolis, won a 10-round majority decision over previously undefeated Teke Oruh (14-1-1, six KOs) of Nigeria.
The judges at ringside scored the bout 98-92, 96-94 and 95-95 in favor of Abell, who was a last- minute replacement for Mexican heavyweight contender Chris Arreola. Two weeks ago, Arreola withdrew from the fight after his close friend was shot and killed.
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Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Lawrence to Replace Williams Against Rahman
Former world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman of Baltimore, Md. will take on Zuri Lawrence of Wappingers Falls, N.Y. at the Sovereign Center in Reading, Pa.
Rahman, 44-6-2, was scheduled to fight Sherman Williams but he came down with a very bad sore throat and flu-like symptons earlier this week. Lawrence has a record of 23-12-4. He has three straight wins and a year ago defeated contender Jameel McCline in Hollywood, Ca.
Rahman and Lawrence will weigh in today 3 pm at the Abraham Lincoln Wyndham Hotel, 5th Ave., Reading, Pa. The undercard will weigh at the hotel on Friday, 9 am.
This is an important bout for Rahman who is looking for a major bout in early 2008.
“The Rock has three straight wins, this fight tomorrow night against Zuri Lawrence and then Rock is looking for something major. We have some ideas which will we soon discuss with Bob Arum at Top Rank,” said Steve Nelson, the long-time manager of Rahman.
Rahman, trained by Marshall Kauffman, has looked strong and powerful while training at Kings Gym in Reading, Pa.
“I’ve taken Rock back to the basics - working on his jab, his right hand, right uppercuts, left uppercuts,” said Kauffman. “I am trying to incorporate a better defense for Rock. For example, I want him to roll from punches, catch his left hooks more and get back to continually working on the jab to set up his right hand. The biggest key is to just be consistent.”
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Prospects Abell and Oruh Clash on ShoBox
One of boxing’s hottest young heavyweights, Joey Abell (17-1, 1 NC, 17 KOs) will bring his devastating knockout power to ShoBox when he faces unbeaten heavyweight Teke Oruh (14-0-1, six KOs) at the Beausejour Cricket Ground in beautiful Gros Islet, St. Lucia on Friday, Nov. 16, 2007.
The 10-round heavyweight bout will headline an attractive fight card from the Eastern Caribbean Island airing live on the Showtime acclaimed series ShoBox: The New Generation, at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).
The event is being promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions in association with the St. Lucia Tourist Board.
Abell, who was added to the fight card 10 days before the scheduled fight, isn’t worried about taking this match-up on such short notice.
“This is a great opportunity to fight on Showtime in St. Lucia,” said Abell, a southpaw from Minneapolis, Minn. “I had been looking forward to watching it on television, and the next thing I know, I’m fighting in the main event. I promise to give the fans a show they won’t forget.”
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Monday, November 12, 2007
Williams Hopes to Derail Rahman
Big time boxing returns to the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA on Thursday, November 15th when Top Rank Promotions presents “Downtown Showdown,” featuring former two-time heavyweight champion Hasim “The Rock” Rahman against veteran Sherman “The Tank” Williams in a ten round main event.
The fight will be televised nationally on Versus “Fight Night Live,” hosted by Wally Matthews and Nick Charles.
Former champion Hasim Rahman (44-6-2, 35 KOs) is continuing his quest for another world title shot, having won his last three fights (two by knockout) since switching to Reading-based trainer Marshall Kauffman. With a win, Rahman is hoping to gain a shot at IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
In 2001, Rahman captured the undisputed heavyweight title with a spectacular 5th round knockout of Lennox Lewis, only to lose the title in the rematch. Tough ring veteran Sherman Williams (33-10-2, 19 KOs) has won his last eight bouts in a row, including three by knockout. A native of the Bahamas, he has only been stopped once in his career.
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Monday, October 29, 2007
Rahman Returns on November 15 Against Williams
READING - Big time boxing returns to the Sovereign Center in Reading, PA on Thursday, November 15th when Top Rank Promotions presents “Downtown Showdown,” featuring former two-time heavyweight champion Hasim “The Rock” Rahman against veteran Sherman “The Tank” Williams in a ten round main event.
The fight will be televised nationally on Versus “Fight Night Live,” hosted by Wally Matthews and Bob Papa.
Former champion Hasim Rahman (44-6-2, 35 KOs) is continuing his quest for another world title shot, having won his last three fights (two by knockout) since switching to Reading-based trainer Marshall Kauffman. With a win, Rahman is hoping to gain a shot at IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
In 2001, Rahman captured the undisputed heavyweight title with a spectacular 5th round knockout of Lennox Lewis, only to lose the title in the rematch. Tough ring veteran Sherman Williams (33-10-2, 19 KOs) has won his last eight bouts in a row, including three by knockout. A native of the Bahamas, he has only been stopped once in his career.
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Tuesday, October 16, 2007
McCline to File Official Protest to WBC
WBC #9 rated contender Jameel McCline plans to file an official protest with the WBC later this week.
“After watching the fight on tape, not only do I think I won, but I think that I would have stopped Peter if the referee (Mike Ortega) did not give him so much time to recover from the knockdowns in round three. Also, Judge Bill Costello had the fight 10-2 in rounds, which is absolutely ridiculous.”
As a result, McCline is going to petition the WBC to order an immediate rematch.
According to manager Scott Hirsch, “this is no different to the first Peter/Toney match except that Jameel knocked Peter down three times and two judges had Toney behind by wider margins. It’s not our goal to overturn the decision; it’s simply to get a rematch where Jameel and Sam can settle this issue in the ring. We have a tremendous amount of respect for Jose Sulaiman and the WBC and will abide by any decision they make regarding this matter, but I have full confidence that the WBC will do the right thing.”
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Liakhovich Clarifies Situation
WBA #2-rated former WBO Heavyweight Champion Sergei “White Wolf” Liakhovich (23-2, 14 KOs) and his manager, Ivaylo Gotzev, say they’re enraged at the “weak attempts” being made by former WBA Champ John Ruiz and his people to discredit Liakhovich’s hard-earned reputation.
Responding to a press release issued today, in which Ruiz’s legal advisor, attorney, Anthony Cardinale, tries to paint Liakhovich as a reluctant warrior for his refusal to face Ruiz this Saturday in Chicago, Gotzev paints a clearer picture of the situation.
The original offer, until a few days ago, was for two ex-champions to fight each other without any guarantees that it would be for any kind of improved position in the rankings. The most we could have won (by facing Ruiz) was to remain WBA number two. There was nothing to gain other than two ex-champions fighting off-TV. We are in a position in the rankings to fight for a championship soon if we don’t take any stupid offers like this one.”
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Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Samuel Peter Workout Quotes
A public workout was held at Madison Square Garden featuring hard-hitting, recently crowned WBC Interim Heavyweight Champion Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare’’ Peter (28-1, 22 KOs) who will be defending his title against Jameel “Big Time’’ McCline (38-7-3, 23 KOs) Saturday, Oct. 6, on Showtime live at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). Here are some of the notable quotes stemming from the session.
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Thompson Ready for Title Shot
Following his impressive victory over Cliff Couser last Thursday at the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, California, Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (31-1, 19 KOs) declared himself ready for his WBO World Heavyweight Championship Challenge early in 2008.
“I’m looking forward to the winner of (Sultan) Ibragimov and (Evander) Holyfield taking on his mandatory fight with me,” said Thompson, who gives the undefeated Russian (21-0-1, 17 KO) a slight edge to retain his WBO World Heavyweight Title against the former undisputed champion in Moscow on October 13.