RSSNikolai Valuev
Friday, March 02, 2007
EEC - March 2, 2007
The lighter weight classes dominate the big fights this weekend…
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- The venue for Nikolai Valuev’s mandatory title defense against Ruslan Chagaev on April 14th will be the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany…
Weekend Fights:
Friday -
Ricky Quiles vs Nate Campbell - Tampa Bay, FL - IBF Lightweight Eliminator (ESPN 2)
Elio Rojas vs Johnnie Edwards - Belterra, IN - Junior Lightweight (Showtime)
Devon Alexander vs Scott Bell - Belterra, IN - Welterweight (Showtime)
Mike Stewart vs Enrique Colin - Philadelphia, PA - Junior Welterweight (Telefutura)
Scott Gammer vs Danny Williams - Neath, Wales - British Heavyweight Title
Saturday -
Israel Vazquez vs Rafael Marquez - Carson, CA - WBC Junior Featherweight Title (Showtime)
Vic Darchinyan vs Victor Burgos - Carson, CA - IBF Flyweight Title (Showtime)
Miguel Cotto vs Oktay Urkal - San Juan, Puerto Rico - WBA Welterweight Title (HBO)
Allan Green vs Edison Miranda - San Juan, Puerto Rico - Middleweight (HBO)
Juan Manuel Lopez vs Levi Brea - San Juan, Puerto Rico - Junior Featherweight (HBO)
Chris John vs Jose Rojas - Jakarta, Indonesia - WBA Featherweight Title
Robert Stieglitz vs Alejandro Berrio - Rostock, Germany - IBF Super Middleweight Title
Sebastian Sylvester vs Alessio Furlan - Rostock, Germany - Middleweight
Alexander Povetkin vs David Bostice - Rostock, Germany - Heavyweight
Some Good Reads
ESPN: Boxing does not escape the specter of steroids
FOX Sports: Too light to be a big fight?
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Thursday, February 22, 2007
EEC - February 22, 2007
Woooooooo!
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- Lalia Ali will participate in the next edition of ABC’s Dancing With The Stars…
- Jim Lampley was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of violating a restraining order. He was also was ordered to stay away from Candice Sanders as well, a continuation of the restraining order.
- Joel Casamayor was stripped of his WBC Lightweight Title for discussing a fight between himself and WBO Lightweight belt holder Acelino Freias. David Diaz has now been named the WBC champ. Strict I know…
Casamayor and his promotional company released this statement
Santa Barbara Management strongly disagrees with the decision of the WBC to strip Joel Casamayor of his Lightweight Championship. Joel won his title the way a true champion should, in the ring. He has done nothing to justify this outrageous decision by the WBC and we are considering all of our options, legal or otherwise. Joel and everyone at Santa Barbara Management would like to thank all of the fans and others within the boxing community who have phoned and emailed us to show their support.
- Reports are coming out that Nikolai Valuev will make a mandatory title defense against Ruslan Chagaev on April 14th in Germany like we previously reported. Just another reason to stay on top of us for the latest news…
- Tommy Morrison will speak in an interview after his fight tonight according to Versus…
VERSUS will have a pre-taped interview with Tommy Morrison as well as a live interview during the telecast tomorrow night as part of its VERSUS Fight Night in collaboration with Top Rank Boxing at 9 p.m. ET from the Mountaineer Race Track & Gaming Resort in Chester, West Virginia.
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Saturday, February 03, 2007
Valuev Wouldn’t Break Rocky’s Record If “Two Ton” Was Around
Nikolai Valuev is a giant of a man. At 7’ 325 pounds. He is quite an imposing figure to say the least. They say he is a nice man and that may well be true, but… This nonsense of him tying or breaking the long standing 49-0 record of the great Rocky Marciano is beyond my realm of comprehension. Who has he beaten? Even after padding his record for years and then finally upgrading his competition, he beat who? He barely beat the limited John Ruiz to win the “title”.
I wish old Two Ton Tony Galento was around today. What a farcical match up that would be. The giant Valuev towering over the squat 5’ 9” Galento. Valuev would probably come in around 325 pounds while Tony would tip the scale at about 240. As usual Galento shows no fear. “I’ll moider the bum”. At the weigh in Valuev shows little emotion, almost disdain for his roly poly foe. Tony seems serenely confident. How many pre fight brews Tony has consumed is not known but he seems alert and ready for the task at hand.
Continue reading "Valuev Wouldn’t Break Rocky’s Record If “Two Ton” Was Around"
Monday, January 29, 2007
EEC - January 29, 2007
Well we weren’t around on Sunday but we are back today with a recap of this weekend’s action…
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- As of this past weekend Oscar De La Hoya has still not found a trainer. As always, Floyd Mayweather Sr. was very vocal about the situation:
“It’s obvious the man is super tight,” Mayweather Sr. said of De La Hoya. “What comes first in this particular situation, greed or the fight? But he can do what he wants. I make money. Money don’t make me. I’m going on with my life.
“Oscar’s fired every trainer he’s had. He’s had all the so-called greats and he’s fired every one of them, but has he fired me? No. And that should tell you something.”
Just like Jack Mosley, Shane Mosley, and Freddie Roach, yet another canidate has thrown his hat into the ring now - Wayne McCullough.
- Some Mikkel Kessler news for you courtesy of Dan Rafael...
American boxing fans anxious to finally see Mikkel Kessler (38-0, 29 KOs) in action will get their wish. The Danish star and unified super middleweight champion was seen on HBO in brief highlights knocking out Markus Beyer in their October unification bout. Now, Kessler will star in his own edition of “Boxing After Dark” (same-day tape) by making his fourth defense against dangerous mandatory challenger Librado Andrade (24-0, 18 KOs) on March 24 in Copenhagen.
- HBO will air a four-part mini-series covering De La Hoya and Mayweather Jr.‘s training up until the night of the fight during the weeks leading up until the fight.
- Jameel McCline underwent successful left knee surgery last Tuesday we just found out to repair the damaged tendon he suffered when his knee gave out during his fight with Nikolai Valuev. McCline is expected to be out of action for about six weeks.
Weekend Results:
- Zsolt Erdei remained undefeated and retained his WBO Light-Heavyweight crown after stopping Danny Santiago in the second round.
Santiago actually won the first round on the judges’ scorecard but he fell into trouble at the beginning of the second round, being knocked down by a right hand a couple minutes in and then stunned by another right as soon as he got back to his feet, forcing the referee to stop the bout.
- Jorge Arce defeated Julio Ler by unanimous decision on Saturday evening. The most interesting thing about the bout? Well it was probably Arce’s entrance as the flyweight round to the ring on a horse.
- Kelly Pavlik dropped Jose Luis Zertuche in the eighth round of their bout on Saturday night, continuing Pavlik’s quick rise to the top ranks of the middleweight division. The fight was a slugfest, especially the first three rounds where the fighters exchange numerous punches, not stopping for anything.
Pavlik took control in the later rounds however - stunning Zertuche in the sixth and then knocking him out with one final right in the eighth round.
Some Good Reads:
Boxing Scene: Teddy Reid - A Warrior’s Career Comes To A Close, Squandering Jorge Arce
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Wednesday, January 24, 2007
EEC - January 24, 2007
Not much today so bear with me. I’m trying to have KO Corner’s official rankings up by the end of the week at the latest…
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- Juan Lazcano and Vivian Harris will battle in a WBC Super-Lighyweight elimination bout on February 10th as part of the undercard of Shane Mosley vs Luis Collazo…
- The latest on Nikolai Valuev and Ruslan Chagaev per Boxing Scene:
Next up for WBA heavyweight champ Nikolai Valuev is the mandatory defense against Ruslan Chagaev. The WBA will call for purse bids on February 9 if no agreement is reached before that and wants the fight to go ahead no later than April 15.
- Stevie Johnston will take on Tyrone Harris for the vacant IBA Lightweight tile this Friday in Orlando, Florida.
- Rocky Balboa did not receive a Razzie nomination for one of the worst movies of 2006, the first time in years that Sylvester Stallone or a movie of his hasn’t been nominated apparently…
- Dominick Guinn has a taken a fight on extremely short notice and will take on Zuri Lawrence on February 2nd as part of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.
Some Good Reads:
ESPN: Reid’s a mean one, a la Grinch
Eastside Boxing: Is Inactivity Killing The Heavyweight Division?
Boxing Scene: Barrera-Marquez - A Beautiful Bastard Child
The Sweet Science: Weird Boxing Endings
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Tuesday, January 23, 2007
EEC - January 23, 2007
More on the whole Mayweather-De La Hoya training situation and what the recently victorious Valuev may be up to next…
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- Freddie Roach has come up as a strong possibility to be De La Hoya’s trainer for his fight against Mayweather Jr.
We all know that Mayweather Sr. wants $2 Million in order to train Oscar to defeat his son and De La Hoya’s camp isn’t prepared to give him anything close to that. Apparently De La Hoya offered Mayweather Sr. $500,000 to train him and another $500,000 if they won last year but Mayweather Sr. rejected the offer.
Roach has informed The Boston Herald that he has been approached by De La Hoya to train him for this fight. He didn’t sound very confident that he would be training him however…
“Oscar did approach me about training him for the Mayweather fight,” Roach said. “But then he’s spoken to me about training him for his last three fights before that, too, and nothing ever came of it.”
Roach then went on to blast Mayweather Sr. for his recent behavior:
“Exactly who did he ever train?” Roach asked. “Oscar was already a finished product when Floyd got him, and the whole time Floyd Jr. was developing as a boxer, his uncle Roger (Mayweather) trained him because Floyd was in jail.”
- Mikkel Kessler’s WBC and WBA Super Middleweight title defenses against Librado Andrade on March 24th may actually have to be rescheduled in the coming weeks. Denmark, where the fight is supposed to be held, plays Spain in a soccer game that same night on live TV. Officials are speculating that because of this the bout may be pushed back…
- It is almost certain that WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev will have to make his mandatory defense against Ruslan Chagaev in his next fight.
Some Good Reads:
FOX Sports: Hatton, Castillo revive 140, Hatton figures to have a tougher time in next Vegas visit
The Sweet Science: Very Superstitious…..
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Sunday, January 21, 2007
Valuev Retains Title After McCline Injury
WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev retained his belt on Saturday night when Jameel McCline’s left knee collapsed on him during the third round.
McCline missed with a right hook and fell to the mat with torn ligaments in his kneecap. McCline was unable to even stand up and the referee immediately stopped the bout.
“He was in terrible pain, literally screaming,” said Scott Hirsch, McCline’s manager. “He thought he was fighting well—what a crazy end to a fight.”
Even though the match was stopped early, Valuev was confident that we would have still won regardless…
“He is a big man and it’s very important for a 120-kilo [260-pound] man to keep his balance, but he couldn’t,” Valuev said. It’s terrible the way this ended, but it could have been worse,” Valuev said. “I got used to his style. If this injury hadn’t happened, I would have knocked him out by the sixth or seventh round.”
McCline was obviously distraught about the whole situation:
“I’m disappointed. I will remember this my whole life,” McCline said.
Valuev’s next opponent will be Ruslan Chagaev who will receive his mandatory title shot. After that, reports are saying that Valuev is interested in unifying teh titles with IBF title holder Wladimir Klitschko.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
EEC - January 18, 2007
Another birthday wish goes to Ali. There won’t be any recap news or anything like that in this edition, I think we covered everything in our giant post yesterday…
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- Want to see Mayweather-De La Hoya on May 5th? I’m not kidding, there are still tickets left, about 4,000, well that’s all that’s left after every sponsor, celebrity, fighter, politician, promoter, employee, and official related to the fight took what they needed. (They needed 12,832 tickets by the way…)
The tickets go on sale January 27th at 10 AM. The prices? Tickets are priced at $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, $750, $350 and $150 and the tickets that are priced from $350 down are limited to only two per person. Everything else can be purchased to a maximum of six tix per human being.
- How about an update on this drama involving Floyd Mayweather Sr. and whether or not he is going to train De La Hoya for his fight against Mayweather Jr. No deal has been made between the two sides yet but there is an interesting twist that has been revealed.
The New York Daily News is reporting that Jack and Shane Mosley would be interested in helping De La Hoya train for the bout:
Jack Mosley stated. “I’ve got the plan to do the job. I can tell him what he needs to do. I can show him. If I can’t show him, then Shane can definitely show him. He’ll have two people who can advise him.”
- Anyone need a car? Frank Bruno is selling his...
For the price of $42,318, you can be the lucky owner, assuming we don’t beat you to the punch, of former heavyweight champion of world Frank Bruno’s BMW X5. The 2002 model SUV is powered by a 4.4-litre V8, producing 320bhp and 324 lb/ft of pulling power. It accelerates from 0 to 60 in 7.8 seconds, useful if one is being chased by rapid fans or belligerent creditors, and has a top speed of 137 mph for quick getaways.
The set of wheels is fully-loaded with sat-nav, front and rear TV screens, DVD player, a PlayStation, you name it. Other features include full leather interior, climate and cruise control and huge 22-inch AC Schnitzer alloy wheels.
- WBC President Jose Sulaiman stated earlier today that Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao will most likely fight after everything in court is settled after the summer…
- Undefeated WBA Heavyweight Champion Nikolai Valuev is determined to break Rocky Marciano’s ancient record of 49 straight wins. He gave his thoughts when asked about the possibility of going after the record at a news conference today promoting his fight with Jameel McCline this weekend…
“I definitely want to break his record,” the undefeated WBA champion vowed at today´s press conference in Basle. “If there´s the chance to get your name in the history books with such a great record, it is of course my aim to accomplish it. But that does not mean I will fight weak opponents.”
Some Good Reads:
ESPN: Hatton finds Las Vegas stage is his calling
FOX Sports: Hatton makes big sacrifices, Valuev, McCline set for clash of titans
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Monday, January 15, 2007
EEC: January 15, 2007
As you probably noticed by the lack of posts yesterday, it was a pretty slow day in the boxing world. Even so, I still think I found some interesting tidbits to share with everyone…
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- Floyd Mayweather Sr. told the Grand Rapids Press this past weekend that there still isn’t a deal in place for him to train Oscar De La Hoya for the May 5th mega-fight against his son, Floyd Jr.
What’s the most amazing thing about all of this? Mayweather Sr. hasn’t signed a deal to train Oscar yet not because his is unsure whether or not he wants to train De La Hoya against his own son, but rather because he wants $2 Million because the figh purse is so high. Remarkable…
- This weekend is highlighted by three big fights, one of which isn’t being televised. It’s a heavyweight title bout of all things. I realize that Nikolai Valuev and Jameel McCline might not put on that great of a fight, but the ramifications are still huge for the division and boxing itself.
- Joel Casamayor’s next opponent is said to be down to two canidates: Juan Diaz and Acelino Freitas
- Jermain Taylor’s next title defense may happen on the weekend of April 21 in Atlantic City to coincide with the annual Boxing Writers Association of America dinner which always has a big boxing match take place the day after. So far no possible opponents have been thrown out there…
- Rising Star Delvin Rodriguez has signed with Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing according to ESPN. Rodriguez’s manager says the contract is a three-year deal with has multiple extension options based on Rodriguez’s performance in the ring. Rodriguez became a free agent last week after voiding his contract with Northeast Promotions. Don King and Golden Boy Promotions also made offers but were turned down surprisingly.
Some Good Reads:
Some pimpage is in order for The Sweet Science and their daily This Day in History post which has become a daily routine for me.
So what did happen today in history?
On this day in 1983, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) declared that boxing should be banned in all civilized countries.
The notion of banning boxing was discussed even during the sport’s golden age. However, this was the first occasion that the American Medical Association (AMA) had made such a statement. George D. Lundberg, the editor of JAMA, cited the high prevalence of brain damage in professional boxers who have had a substantial number of fights as part of the basis of the AMA’s position.
Since then, other medical organizations have supported this position and the AMA and Lundberg have revisited this issue several times since 1983. An argument could be made that the initial report helped lead to some boxing reforms, such as shorter fights and quicker referee stoppages.
However, it is highly unlikely that boxing will ever be banned in the United States.
Some other nice articles for you…
Doghouse Boxing: A View from the Galaxy: The Road Back for Antonio Tarver
Maxboxing: No More in 2007
Boxing Scene: Jose Luis Castillo: Such Is Life
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Thursday, December 14, 2006
Valuev-McCline: Largest Bout Ever, Literally…
We all know that the WBA title bout between Nikolai Valuev and Jameel McCline on January 20th is going to be huge already. However things are really bigger than we think…
The bout between the two will be the “largest bout in history” according to boxing experts as almost 600 lbs will be in the ring at the same time.
The average weights for the two are 330 lbs for Valeuv and 265 for McCline - That adds up to 595 lbs.
But wait just one second… I bet you all of the money in my pocket they forgot about the referee. Yes people, if there is an over/under on the amount of total weight in the ring during his fight, I suggest you take the over…