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Sunday, September 30, 2007
Valuev: “This is a New Start for Me”
Nikolai Valuev completed a successful return to the ring on Saturday night when he clinched a unanimous points victory over Jean-Francois Bergeron.
In his first fight since losing the WBA belt to Ruslan Chagaev, the Russian Giant cruised to an uncontested 118-111, 117-111, 118-111 verdict against the previously unbeaten Canadian.
Valuev strongly went for the kill in the last two rounds but Bergeron proved his heart and refused to give in.
“I am pleased with my performance tonight,” Valuev (47-1, 34 KOs) said. “I would have loved to win by knock-out but it wasn´t possible. It doesn´t matter, though. Going twelve rounds against a southpaw was a good test. This was a new start for me.”
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Thursday, September 27, 2007
McCline: “I Can Punch With Sam Peter”
NEW YORK—Heavyweight contender Jameel “Big Time” McCline (38-7-3, 23 KOs) will face newly crowned World Boxing Council interim heavyweight champion Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter (28-1, 22 KOs) at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Oct. 6.
McCline was supposed to meet Vitali Klitschko on Sept. 22 in Munich, Germany, but Klitschko pulled out less than two weeks before the fight. McCline subsequently agreed to fight DaVarryl “Touch of Sleep” Williamson for the North American Boxing Organization heavyweight title on Oct. 6.
The originally scheduled main event on the Garden card was supposed to have been WBC heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev defending against then-WBC No. 1-ranked mandatory challenger Peter; however, Maskaev’s promoter pulled the boxer out of the match on Friday (Sept. 21) due to a reported back injury.
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Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Is Mike Tyson an All-Time Heavyweight?
Where would you rank Mike Tyson in your list of top heavyweights? Would he make the top 10? That’s what Skip Bayless and company debated during a segment on ESPN’s First Take yesterday.
As usual Bayless was wrong in my opinion. Tyson came onto the scene during the second half of the 1980’s, a time where the heavyweight stars of the late 70’s and early 80’s were all going into retirement. Just bad timing I guess. Tyson beat just about every fighter that was put in front of him. Not only did he beat them, he knocked 44 of them out.
In case anyone is curious, my top 10. in no particular order however:
Muhammad Ali
Joe Louis
Rocky Marciano
George Foreman
Mike Tyson
Evander Holyfield
Larry Holmes
Lennox Lewis
Joe Frazier
Jack Johnson
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
WBC Names Peter Interim Champion
World Boxing Council heavyweight world champion Oleg Maskaev, from Kazakhstan-Russia, suffered a multiple disc herniation injury which will cause him to be inactive for at least for the next three or four months, according to his lawyer, which would lead the heavyweight division to 14 months without activity. Consequently, his fight against official challenger Samuel Peter from Nigeria, scheduled for October 6 at Madison Square Garden, will not take place.
To avoid the fact that the WBC Heavyweight division remains frozen, the WBC Board of Governors has conclusively voted to name Samuel Peter as the WBC heavyweight interim world champion.
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Monday, September 24, 2007
Maddalone Returns on October 18th
Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing today announced a spectacular fight card coming Thursday, October 18th to The Grand Ballroom at The Manhattan Center, NYC.
The main event features Vinny Maddalone 27-4, (19KO’s) returning to the ring after losing a bloody battle against legendary former Heavyweight Champion Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield in Corpus Christi, Texas on March 13, 2007.
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Friday, September 14, 2007
CES Signs Heavyweight Joe Mesi
PROVIDENCE – Classic Entertainment & Sports, Inc. (CES) has signed former world No. 1 heavyweight contender “Baby” Joe Mesi (35-0, 28 KOs) to an exclusive, multi-year promotional contract, CES president Jimmy Burchfield officially announced today.
The 33-year-old Mesi, the pride of Buffalo, will fight Shannon “Trouble” Miller (15-3, 9 KOs) on October 12 in the 10-round main event for the vacant WBC USNBC heavyweight title at Twin River Events Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island.
“I’ve been interested in signing Joe Mesi since he scored a devastating knockout on one of my undercards in 2000 at Rhodes-on-the-Pawtuxet in Cranston (RI),” a delighted Burchfield explained his longtime relationship with Team Mesi – Joe, his father/manager Jack and agent Bob Spagnola. “Joe Mesi is what boxing needs today. He’s already a great commentator and he’s going to be a great promoter, but boxing is what Joe Mesi does and what he wants to continue doing. Joe feels that his life is incomplete until he captures the heavyweight championship of the world.
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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Maskaev-Peter Workout Quotes
World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Oleg Maskaev will make the second defense of his title against WBC No. 1-ranked mandatory challenger Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter at Madison Square Garden, Saturday, Oct. 6 on Showtime (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast) in a highly anticipated championship match scheduled for 12 rounds. The event is being promoted by Don King Productions and Duva Promotion in association with Madison Square Garden.
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Ibragimov Management Furious With Chagaev
Boris Grinberg, manager of WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov, couldn?t believe it when the news hit on Tuesday that WBA titlist Ruslan Chagaev was getting ready to go back into training, with his sights set on a title defense before the end of the year.
?This is disgraceful,? said Grinberg, whose fighter, Ibragimov, was scheduled to unify the heavyweight title with Chagaev on October 13th in Moscow before Chagaev pulled out of the fight with an unspecified ailment. ?We were led to believe that this so-called champion was suffering from some severe sickness that was going to keep him out of action indefinitely, and despite the fact that we put a lot of time, effort, and money into making this fight happen, we believed his excuse. But now that we heard that Chagaev is coming back so soon, it?s obvious that his ailment wasn?t ?an acute inflammation of the body,? but really just a complete
lack of heart, and that he has no intention of fighting the premier heavyweight in the sport, Sultan Ibragimov.?
Grinberg, along with Seminole Warriors Boxing, jumped quickly into action after Chagaev?s withdrawal, and legendary heavyweight Evander Holyfield and his promoter Main Events eagerly accepted the fight with Ibragimov, which will still be held at the Khodynka Arena in Moscow on October 13th, and that will be televised in the United States on DirecTV pay-per-view.
?Holyfield lives up to everything that has been said of him in the past, which is that he is a true warrior who will fight anyone at anytime and place, not like the other ?Champions??, said Grinberg. ?Sultan Ibragimov is the same way and it?s why this fight on October 13th will be a great one. As for Chagaev, he could learn a few lessons from Ibragimov and Holyfield about how a real fighter should act.?
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Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Arreola Returns on September 21
After winning his first 21 professional fights, rising Mexican heavyweight, Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola is stepping up to main event status in familiar surroundings – and close to home.
The 26-year old author of 19 knockout victories, and the #10 world rated WBC heavyweight contender will headline Goossen Tutor Promotions’ inaugural boxing show on the Spanish-language network, Telefutura, on Friday night, September 21, 2007.
In the scheduled 10-round bout, the 6-4 Arreola (21-0, 19 KOs) will take on once-beaten Thomas Hayes (26-1, 18 KOs) at a venue where Arreola recorded four knockouts in succession early in his career – the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California.
“I am real excited about this opportunity to fight on Telefutura, especially near my home and in front of the many fans that saw me in my first few professional fights,” Arreola exclaimed. “Ontario is less than 15 minutes from Riverside, so all of my friends and family will be there screaming and yelling for me.”
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Friday, August 24, 2007
Klitschko to Face Winner of Tournament
Dan Rafael of ESPN is reporting that Chris Byrd, Alexander Povetkin, Eddie Chambers, and Calvin Brock have all agreed to participate in a “three-fight box-off” to determine who will receive a title shot against Wladimir Klitschko when he recovers from an injured left hand next year:
In the first elimination fight, former titlist Byrd (40-3-1, 21 KOs), who has already lost twice to Klitschko, will face 2004 Russian Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist Povetkin (13-0, 9 KOs), one of the hottest prospects in the world. They will meet Oct. 27 in Germany.
In the second eliminator, Chambers (29-0, 16 KOs) will meet Brock (31-1, 23 KOs) on Nov. 2 on Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation” at a site to be determined.
The winners of the two fall fights will meet in early 2008, with that winner earning a shot at Klitschko.