RSSMiddleweight
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Say What? Jermain to Meet Mora
I’ll bet Kelly Pavlik the unbeaten middleweight contender from Youngstown, Ohio is fit to be tied. Kelly who is eager and very much deserving of a title shot is still on the waiting list. Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor will defend his crown against one time Contender show winner Sergio Mora. What is Mora ‘s claim to fame? He has two wins over Peter Manfredo Jr. Sergio has never fought let alone beaten a legitimate top ten or even top twenty worthy boxer. He deserves a shot at Taylor about as much as Manfredo deserves a crack at Joe Calzaghe’s super middleweight title.
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Thursday, February 22, 2007
Miranda Advises Parents to Keep Children From Watching Fight Against Green
Edison ‘Pantera’ Miranda is taking his next fight with Allan Green personally. The two meet on March 3rd in San Juan, Puerto Rico and the fight will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing. After the fight was signed, Green stated that ‘Miranda is stupid’ and a ‘one dimensional fighter’. He said many other derogatory comments that were for the most part ignored by Pantera.
However, it quietly gave Pantera a huge injection of strength, hunger, and determination. ‘I’d like to thank this kid for saying these stupid things. If he only knew how much it helped me during camp. You can be assured that it will be hanging in my locker room before the fight, and that I will remember all of this in the ring. You can also be assured that he will never be saying these things before a fight again - that is if he can fight again. I will punish him for these stupid comments!”
Miranda now lives and trains in Puerto Rico and is very excited to be fighting in his hometown. “I am very thrilled to put on a show for all my friends in Puerto Rico. They have been very good to me since I chose to live here in 2005, and I will pay them back by making it an exciting fight. However I advise you to put your children to sleep early. Don’t let them watch this fight. With Green’s lack of defense, he is going to get brutally beat up and I don’t want the young children to be traumatized.”
Pantera will be fighting on the under card of Miguel Cotto as he defends his WBA welterweight title against Oktay Urkal. The fight will take place at Coliseo Roberto Clemente and will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing at 9:45 PM ET on March 3rd. Miranda’s promoters, Warriors Boxing and Main Events, would like to thank Top Rank for making this fight possible.
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Saturday, February 03, 2007
Kirkland, Bradley Triumph Convincingly
SANTA YNEZ, Calif. – Undefeated junior middleweight James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland and unbeaten junior welterweight Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley each answered an important question during their decisive victories Friday on “ShoBox: The New Generation “:
Southpaw Kirkland (18-0, 16 KOs) showed he could go past four rounds; Bradley (18-0, 10 KOs) proved he may have a future in television after all.
Making his seventh start in nine months, Kirkland, of Austin, Tex., thoroughly dominated a courageous Billy Lyell, of Warren, Ohio, en route to winning by eighth-round TKO in the main event of a doubleheader that aired on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). It was promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, from Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif.
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Friday, February 02, 2007
Kelly Pavlik Is No Pretender
When Kelly Pavlik of Youngstown, Ohio recently halted rugged Jose Luis Zertuche he sent a clear message to the middleweight division: he’s for real. Don’t doubt it for a minute. The trouble is, where does he go from here? There was talk of him meeting the brutal punching Edison Miranda. That will have to be put off since Miranda is fighting undefeated Allan Green on March 3rd. Of course Kelly could take on the winner of that bout. Champion Jermain Taylor has not shown a major interest in a match with Kelly. To the best of my knowledge Winky Wright has shown no inclination to meet Pavlik either. Of course there is the remote possibility of a match with the game Arthur Abraham for the IBF title belt.
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Report: Hopkins, Wright Agree to Terms for July 21 Clash
John Cotey of the St. Petersburg Times is reporting that Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright have agreed to fight on July 21st at a catch-weight of 170 lbs.
The fight will be broadcast on HBO PPV.
“It’s going to be interesting,” Wright’s adviser and attorney Jim Wilkes said. “When Winky wins, he will have beaten all the guys that beat Oscar (De La Hoya). Maybe that will convince Oscar he should fight Winky later this year. “
Wilkes also said that the contracts have not yet been signed but the deal is just about done.
A venue for the fight has not yet been found either but sources say the top two choice are Madison Square Garden in New York City and the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas…
So whatever happened to Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr?
Well that was the original plan but the two sides never agreed on the financial terms of the contract despite multiple attempts. Finally they just decided to call it off and pursue other options…
EEC - February 2, 2007
Happy Groundhog Day everybody! We have a busy weekend ahead of us…
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- The WBC announced yesterday that it has stripped the WBC Flyweight Title from Omar Nino because Nino has tested positive for methamphetamine according to post-fight testing results done after his November 18th bout against Brian Viloria.
Ironically Viloria and Edgar Sosa will fight for the title in the coming months. The winner of that bout will then have to face Nino who has been giving number one contender status since he was unaware that the drug had been put into his system.
“In light of the fact that the WBC believes that Nino did not voluntarily commit this infraction and considering that his clean record has won him the trust of this organization ... we are declaring that Nino will be the challenger for whoever is the new champion,” a WBC statement said.
- The Saint Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that Felix Trinidad will be at ringside to watch Cory Spinks fight Rodney Jones this weekend. He’s just going to see a decent bout, right? Not exactly…
Spink’s trainer, Kevin Cunningham, has confirmed that Trinidad will be at ringside with Don King to scout Spinks as a possible opponent in the near future…
“Don’s bringing Felix Trinidad in for this fight,” Cunningham said. “He might come out of retirement. Fernando Vargas is another possibility. But my thing is this: We want to keep chugging away, keep grinding. And eventually that big marquee fight will be there for us. And hopefully we can bring another big fight back to St. Louis.’‘
- Paulie Malignaggi will be the in-studio guest for ESPN’s Friday Night Fights this evening…
Weekend Fights
Friday -
Zuri Lawrence vs Dominick Guinn - Rochester, New York - Heavyweight (ESPN 2)
James Kirkland vs Billy Lyell - Santa Ynez, California - Junior Middleweight (Showtime)
Timothy Bradley vs Manuel Garnica - Santa Ynez, California - Junior Welterweight (Showtime)
Saturday -
Tomasz Adamek vs Chad Dawson - Kissimmee, Florida - WBC Light Heavyweight Title (Showtime)
Jesus Chavez vs Julio Diaz - Kissimmee, Florida - IBF Lightweight Title (Showtime)
Cory Spinks vs Rodney Jones - Kissimmee, Florida - IBF Junior Middleweight Title (Showtime)
Laila Ali vs Gwendolyn O’Neil - Kempton Park, South Africa - Women’s Super Middleweight Title
Sunday -
Naoufel Ben Rabah vs Lovemore Ndou - Sydney, Australia - IBF Junior Welterweight Title Eliminator
Paul Briggs vs Andre Thysse - Sydney, Australia - Light Heavyweight
Sakio Bika vs Rupert Van Aswegen - Sydney, Australia - Super Middleweight
Some Good Reads
Boxing Scene: Chasing Marciano’s Ghost: What’s in a Record?
MaxBoxing: Friday Night Fights Shuffle
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Kirkland-Lyell, Bradley-Garnica Quotes
Undefeated southpaw James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (17-0, 15 KOs) and unbeaten Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley (17-0, 10 KOs) meet Billy Lyell (14-3, 2 KOs) and Manuel Garnica (22-6, 12 KOs), respectively, in the co-featured bouts Friday, Feb. 2, on “ShoBox: The New Generation.” Showtime will televise the action at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).
The well-regarded Kirkland and the upset-minded Lyell will collide in a 10-round junior middleweight match. The promising, world-ranked Bradley will box Garnica in an eight-round junior welterweight fight in the opening half of a doubleheader promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, at Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif.
Note: Weights—Kirkland and Lyell each weighed 155 pounds at Thursday’s weigh-in; both Bradley and Garnica tipped scales at 140.
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Thursday, February 01, 2007
Cauthen-Frank Declared No-Decision
The New York State Athletic Commission overruled Raul Frank’s 7th round TKO win over Terrance “Heat” Cauthen today by declaring the fight a no-decision. The bout took place last Thursday January 25th, at the Paradise Theater in the Bronx.
After a meeting with representatives of Team Cauthen, Team Frank and Star Boxing CEO Joe DeGuardia regarding the bout, the NYSAC ruled that the bout ended as a result of an unintentional headbutt, and not a punch.
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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Mayorga, Harrison Arrested
Two boxers arrested in one day? Impossible…
Former WBC Junior Middleweight Champion Ricardo Mayorga was arrested on Tuesday in Nicaragua on charges of fraud.
Mayorga was picked up by police while he was boarding a plane that was headed for the United States.
He was arrested for apparently failing to pay back Ramiro Sandino, a popular used car salesman in the country, $56,000 for four cars Mayorga has purchased in December 2005. Mayorga had promised to pay the full amount for the vehicles right after his fight with Oscar De La Hoya on May 6th of last year. However months went by and Mayorga never gave Sandino the payment.
Guess who else was arrested? That’s right, former WBO Featherweight Champ Scott Harrison was arrested AGAIN on drug charges in Scotland.
Harrison has a busy week ahead of him - He will have to appear in court tomorrow to deal with his newly acquired drug charges and on Friday again in Spain for charges of grand theft auto.
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Unbeatens Kirkland, Bradley In Friday’s ShoBox Co-Features
NEW YORK - Undefeated southpaw James “Mandingo Warrior” Kirkland (17-0, 15 KOs) and unbeaten Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley (17-0, 10 KOs) will take on Billy Lyell (14-3, 2 KOs) and Manuel Garnica (22-6, 12 KOs), respectively, in the co-featured bouts Friday, Feb. 2, on “ShoBox: The New Generation.” Showtime will televise the action at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). The well-regarded Kirkland and the upset-minded Lyell will collide in a 10-round junior middleweight match. Even though both are making their network debut, the spotlight will be on Kirkland.
“Kirkland is a must-see for fight fans,” said “ShoBox” color commentator Steve Farhood. “He has an intensity that can only be described as ‘Tysonesque.’ He is a legitimate power hitter who tries to crush his opponent with every shot. I have been looking forward to his “ShoBox” debut for months. Even though he still has a lot to prove, Kirkland is going to be fascinating to watch in the meantime.”
Offered Doug Fischer of MaxBoxing.com, “Kirkland is one to watch and one of the most exciting young fighters in the sport. He matches Andre Berto’s speed, power and explosiveness, but he’s got more of a killer instinct than the 2004 Olympian. Kirkland’s take-no-prisoners attitude in the ring is something all fans of ring action must see.”
Bradley will box Garnica in an eight-round junior welterweight fight in the opening half of a twin bill promoted by Gary Shaw Productions, LLC, at Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, Calif.
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