I was shocked when I heard that Floyd Mayweather Jr had refused to pay the WBA sanctioning fee for his battle with Shane Mosley on May 1st in Vegas. I thought it had everything it needed to be one of the greatest fights of all time, and now its all about 'legacies'.
So Mayweather wins he adds Mosley to his long list of achievements and if Mosley loses he gets to defend his title against the next challenger, with another big pay day I might add. So you could call it a win win situation for Shane.
Certain rumours around the sport is that Mayweather is in some financial difficulties at the moment and has been told to curve his spending after he was hit with an estimated tax bill of $5.6million and considered he took 18 months off the expenditure was greater than his income, I find this hard to believe as he paid it off in full with no appeal but whether its true or not, Floyd has never been a WBA champion at any of the 5 weights he has dominated and we all the know the WBA and WBC are the gold at the end of the boxing rainbow.
Mayweather said " I did not want to fight for the WBA title, At this point its all about enhancing my legacy".
May 1st Vegas
Live on Sky Sports
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Kessler Captures the Cobra's belt
The Viking Warrior Mikkel Kessler beat Carl Froch with a unanimous points decision in Herning Denmark last night with what could be a contender for fight of the year and captured the WBC Super-Middleweight title.
The Super 6 has been dis-credited by alot of people associated with the sport but what a cracker this was and the credit goes to the organisers and the fighters, Kessler and Froch put on one hell of a show last night.
Kessler dominated the rounds 1-5 putting Froch on the back foot and his work rate was double that of the champion. Froch clawed his way back in rounds 6, 7, and 8 but Kessler matched him round for round in 9, 10 and 11 and 12 was the unbelievable toe-to-toe action you wont have seen since the Corales / Castillo fights. Gripping action which left both men badly cut and bleeding heavily. Froch was hit with some telling shots and showed his chin is made of titanium as he never looked like dropping but his head movement and low guard made him look vulnerable and sloppy.
Froch blamed the decision afterwards on the biased Denmark crowd but it was more down to the fact that Kessler is the best opponent he has ever fought and he couldn't dictate the fight like he could against some of the spoon fed fighters he has faced in Nottingham, real world champions can fight in any country and under any pressure and I would advise Carl Froch to go back to the drawing board because Arthur Abraham won't be a push over and was in the crowd last night to see all Froch's weaknesses.
Kessler was a true gent in the ring wishing Froch and partner best wishes on the news that she is pregnant. Was fun to see Peter Schmeichal as the commentator too.
Looks as if Joe Clazaghe was right all along and that Froch wasn't worth fighting as he couldnt' beat a man he ripped apart in 12 rounds. Froch clearly isn't in the same league as Calzaghe and probably won't even be if he triumphs and wins the Super 6.
The Super 6 has been dis-credited by alot of people associated with the sport but what a cracker this was and the credit goes to the organisers and the fighters, Kessler and Froch put on one hell of a show last night.
Kessler dominated the rounds 1-5 putting Froch on the back foot and his work rate was double that of the champion. Froch clawed his way back in rounds 6, 7, and 8 but Kessler matched him round for round in 9, 10 and 11 and 12 was the unbelievable toe-to-toe action you wont have seen since the Corales / Castillo fights. Gripping action which left both men badly cut and bleeding heavily. Froch was hit with some telling shots and showed his chin is made of titanium as he never looked like dropping but his head movement and low guard made him look vulnerable and sloppy.
Froch blamed the decision afterwards on the biased Denmark crowd but it was more down to the fact that Kessler is the best opponent he has ever fought and he couldn't dictate the fight like he could against some of the spoon fed fighters he has faced in Nottingham, real world champions can fight in any country and under any pressure and I would advise Carl Froch to go back to the drawing board because Arthur Abraham won't be a push over and was in the crowd last night to see all Froch's weaknesses.
Kessler was a true gent in the ring wishing Froch and partner best wishes on the news that she is pregnant. Was fun to see Peter Schmeichal as the commentator too.
Looks as if Joe Clazaghe was right all along and that Froch wasn't worth fighting as he couldnt' beat a man he ripped apart in 12 rounds. Froch clearly isn't in the same league as Calzaghe and probably won't even be if he triumphs and wins the Super 6.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Edwin Valero - Murder and Suicide
Edwin Valero has committed suicide by hanging himself while on remand. Inmates claim he took his own life by tieing his clothing together and hanging himself from his cell ceiling.
Valero had been detained by police after he admitted to killing his wife Jennifer, stabbing her 3 times in a hotel in Valencia. Valero still showed signs of life but the doctors were unable to revive him.
He was on the road to greatness but he self destructed. He was a ring general and had 27 successive KO victories and was on the verge of hitting the big time, even being touted to step up and face the winner of Mosley vs Mayweather.
Thoughts and Prayers to Jennifer Valero's family.
Valero had been detained by police after he admitted to killing his wife Jennifer, stabbing her 3 times in a hotel in Valencia. Valero still showed signs of life but the doctors were unable to revive him.
He was on the road to greatness but he self destructed. He was a ring general and had 27 successive KO victories and was on the verge of hitting the big time, even being touted to step up and face the winner of Mosley vs Mayweather.
Thoughts and Prayers to Jennifer Valero's family.
Sunday, 18 April 2010
Martinez, He Saw, He Stepped Up, He Conquered.
Sergio Martinez stepped up from light middleweight, got up off the canvas to claim a unanimous points decision over WBO and WBC champion Kelly 'The Ghost' Pavlik.
Martinez dominated the ring and threw more punches early on but ran out of ideas as Pavlik changed his game plan and started to dominate from round 5 onwards, by round 7 Martinez looked disorientated and was put down by some accurate punching from Pavlik, this was the kick up the ass he needed. Martinez showed heart and composure and began throwing more punches that seemed to land in the same place as he split Pavlik round both eyes, and was bleeding quite badly, but not enough for the doctors to intervene, which I guess is more to do with the politics of title fights as opposed to the fighters safety.
As the fight drew to a close, Martinez was landing shots working the damage to Pavliks eyes and the champion who suffered his first result looked like he was struggling to see let alone block punches the double lefts in particular which Martinez threw excellently.
Martinez became a two-weight champion with scores of 115-112, 115-111, 116 - 111.
Pavlik said "He wasn't hurting me or nothing, he was catching me with punches and it looked bad. There is nothing you can about that"
I expect a re-match within 6 months.
Martinez dominated the ring and threw more punches early on but ran out of ideas as Pavlik changed his game plan and started to dominate from round 5 onwards, by round 7 Martinez looked disorientated and was put down by some accurate punching from Pavlik, this was the kick up the ass he needed. Martinez showed heart and composure and began throwing more punches that seemed to land in the same place as he split Pavlik round both eyes, and was bleeding quite badly, but not enough for the doctors to intervene, which I guess is more to do with the politics of title fights as opposed to the fighters safety.
As the fight drew to a close, Martinez was landing shots working the damage to Pavliks eyes and the champion who suffered his first result looked like he was struggling to see let alone block punches the double lefts in particular which Martinez threw excellently.
Martinez became a two-weight champion with scores of 115-112, 115-111, 116 - 111.
Pavlik said "He wasn't hurting me or nothing, he was catching me with punches and it looked bad. There is nothing you can about that"
I expect a re-match within 6 months.
Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Wlad calls out Haye - Its on!
Wladimir Klitchsko called out David Haye in a straight talking video post. Saying its time to make the fight happen and that the Hayemaker cant run forever.
I personally think that's a bit rich coming from a champion who missed out on fighting all the heavyweight greats of his generation and so far pays the bills of fighting mediocre lumps.
Haye on the other hand has only had a handful of heavyweight fights and has captured the WBA crown by defeating Valuev, who was dodged by both the Ukranian brothers I might add. Also defending his crown in style against veteran John Ruiz. Both his heavyweight bouts with Valuev and Ruiz have been bigger and better spectacles than anything the Klitchsko's have had in all the years they have carried their titles.
I must admit I wasn't a fan of Haye throughout his cruiserweight career but I am certainly warming to him now, especially after his self-criticism after the Ruiz defence were he looked genuinely disappointed at certain aspects of the fight where he claimed he got caught to much and was trading when he shouldn't have been.
Looking at the potential fight of Haye vs Wlad Klitchsko (which I have heard today is going to be Vegas bound) I think he has the greatest weapon of all in Adam Booth his manager/trainer. He equipped him beautifully for the Valuev fight and Haye seemed to be firing on all guns from the first bell up to were the fight finished, normally Haye has looked spent by the middle rounds and relies on his ability to drop bombs, he looked exciting and his accuracy was immense.
I don't think Haye will have anything to worry about fighting either of the Klitchsko's and if he gets Wlad first then it will suite him as Vitali is the more calculating and cunning brother, beat his younger sibling and straight away you have the upper hand. If this is a ploy to get Haye interested in the brothers and then for Wlad to pull out as Haye did through injury last time round and then Haye ends up fighting Vitali first he will need to watch every one of Vitali's fights and he will have to be more focused than ever but again if David is victorious then the advantage of then fighting Wlad will be that the younger Klitchsko who knows in his own head that the better brother has been beaten, he will be there for the taking.
It wont be easy and I don't expect for one minute that it will be an exciting affair but I hope it happens and this stage in the talks I am going to guess around September / October for the showdown and I hope Valuev who is contractually tied to a re-match with Haye will take step-a-side money and then get a shot at the winner, surely this would make sense as the purse fighter the winner of Klitchsko / Haye will be substantially greater than if the fight was to happen beforehand.
Vegas or Wembley would be ideal, and August as opposed to September would be better for the boxing calender.
I personally think that's a bit rich coming from a champion who missed out on fighting all the heavyweight greats of his generation and so far pays the bills of fighting mediocre lumps.
Haye on the other hand has only had a handful of heavyweight fights and has captured the WBA crown by defeating Valuev, who was dodged by both the Ukranian brothers I might add. Also defending his crown in style against veteran John Ruiz. Both his heavyweight bouts with Valuev and Ruiz have been bigger and better spectacles than anything the Klitchsko's have had in all the years they have carried their titles.
I must admit I wasn't a fan of Haye throughout his cruiserweight career but I am certainly warming to him now, especially after his self-criticism after the Ruiz defence were he looked genuinely disappointed at certain aspects of the fight where he claimed he got caught to much and was trading when he shouldn't have been.
Looking at the potential fight of Haye vs Wlad Klitchsko (which I have heard today is going to be Vegas bound) I think he has the greatest weapon of all in Adam Booth his manager/trainer. He equipped him beautifully for the Valuev fight and Haye seemed to be firing on all guns from the first bell up to were the fight finished, normally Haye has looked spent by the middle rounds and relies on his ability to drop bombs, he looked exciting and his accuracy was immense.
I don't think Haye will have anything to worry about fighting either of the Klitchsko's and if he gets Wlad first then it will suite him as Vitali is the more calculating and cunning brother, beat his younger sibling and straight away you have the upper hand. If this is a ploy to get Haye interested in the brothers and then for Wlad to pull out as Haye did through injury last time round and then Haye ends up fighting Vitali first he will need to watch every one of Vitali's fights and he will have to be more focused than ever but again if David is victorious then the advantage of then fighting Wlad will be that the younger Klitchsko who knows in his own head that the better brother has been beaten, he will be there for the taking.
It wont be easy and I don't expect for one minute that it will be an exciting affair but I hope it happens and this stage in the talks I am going to guess around September / October for the showdown and I hope Valuev who is contractually tied to a re-match with Haye will take step-a-side money and then get a shot at the winner, surely this would make sense as the purse fighter the winner of Klitchsko / Haye will be substantially greater than if the fight was to happen beforehand.
Vegas or Wembley would be ideal, and August as opposed to September would be better for the boxing calender.
Friday, 9 April 2010
A-Force 1
Tonight I couldn't believe my eyes. Audley Harrison became the European Heavyweight Champion by beating Carl Sprott with the bomb of all bombs in the 12th round to stun the judges, crowd and more importantly me who thought his money had gone down the drain along with Audleys career as a professional heavyweight.
At 38 years of age and nearly 10 whole years since he captured Olympic gold in Sydney he has never fulfilled his full potential, along the way becoming something of a outcast as the public never really warmed to him. You cant blame the fans for that though, he talked the talk and never walked the walk, losing to the likes of Danny Williams and the famous KO he suffered from Sprott in their first encounter you could never see him trading with the likes of Klitchsko's, Arreolas and now David Haye (who he has taunted prior to his title fight).
He come out of the Olympics with a gold medal but went solo in his quest to be self managed and promoted which back fired big time leading him to move to Vegas were he spent more time in the casino's than the boxing ring, he had a war of words and finances with Frank Warren who is very good at what he does and Audley lost both as he became untouchable - as in no-one would fight him not that no-one could fight him.
Now operating out of California and putting in some decent performances more notably winning prizefighter on sky sports he landed a shot at the euro heavyweight title. Going into the fight as heavy favourite.
Sprott lost the first round as Harrison looked business, but round 2 saw Harrison take an uncomfy lean as though his shoulder jarred and from that Sprott took risks and forced Harrison on the back foot. Audley didn't look comfy when Sprott came forward pouncing to frequently into a hold or grapple. Sprott worked in flurry's and Harrison had no answer, Harrison showed hints of a decent heavyweight working his left hand, and in round 7 landed 7 or 8 unanswered shots but failed to capitalize and again had him throwing wildly and being countered. Into round 12 and Sprott was ahead by 5 rounds on my score card, they started to trade in the neutral corner Sprott dropped ready to unload and Audley landed a hammer from heaven right into the jaw and it was goodnight Sprott, sprawled on the canvas as both Harrison and his corner looked stunned.
Hats off Harrison was finished until he landed that blow, he showed heart and at times a glimmer of what he could do but he needs to co-ordinate his weapons instead of relying on his weak jab.
Haye vs Harrison I would just love to see.
At 38 years of age and nearly 10 whole years since he captured Olympic gold in Sydney he has never fulfilled his full potential, along the way becoming something of a outcast as the public never really warmed to him. You cant blame the fans for that though, he talked the talk and never walked the walk, losing to the likes of Danny Williams and the famous KO he suffered from Sprott in their first encounter you could never see him trading with the likes of Klitchsko's, Arreolas and now David Haye (who he has taunted prior to his title fight).
He come out of the Olympics with a gold medal but went solo in his quest to be self managed and promoted which back fired big time leading him to move to Vegas were he spent more time in the casino's than the boxing ring, he had a war of words and finances with Frank Warren who is very good at what he does and Audley lost both as he became untouchable - as in no-one would fight him not that no-one could fight him.
Now operating out of California and putting in some decent performances more notably winning prizefighter on sky sports he landed a shot at the euro heavyweight title. Going into the fight as heavy favourite.
Sprott lost the first round as Harrison looked business, but round 2 saw Harrison take an uncomfy lean as though his shoulder jarred and from that Sprott took risks and forced Harrison on the back foot. Audley didn't look comfy when Sprott came forward pouncing to frequently into a hold or grapple. Sprott worked in flurry's and Harrison had no answer, Harrison showed hints of a decent heavyweight working his left hand, and in round 7 landed 7 or 8 unanswered shots but failed to capitalize and again had him throwing wildly and being countered. Into round 12 and Sprott was ahead by 5 rounds on my score card, they started to trade in the neutral corner Sprott dropped ready to unload and Audley landed a hammer from heaven right into the jaw and it was goodnight Sprott, sprawled on the canvas as both Harrison and his corner looked stunned.
Hats off Harrison was finished until he landed that blow, he showed heart and at times a glimmer of what he could do but he needs to co-ordinate his weapons instead of relying on his weak jab.
Haye vs Harrison I would just love to see.
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
De Gale ready to rumble?
Olympic champion James De Gale is going to fight against Sam Horton on May 15th at Upton Park, London for the WBA Interim Super-Middleweight after just 6 professional fights. Now De Gale hasn't been passed 4 rounds as a pro and they were easy victories as he hasn't fought anywhere near the Olympic level let alone the world level in which he is aiming for.
In all honesty I think Frank Warren will work his magic and develop De Gale like he did Amir Khan but like Khan I expect De Gale to suffer a loss and in style, like Khan against Prescott and like Naseem Hamed against Barrera, but I expect somewhere along the lines he will be a world champion.
So far all I have seen is De Gale spoon fed opponents and run his mouth about being a soldier and being ready, being ready isn't about Olympic gold (although I'm glad he did his country proud) its about having the heart and agility to win the crowd and win a world title and then once the prize is around his waist its about proving his worth and defending it, being knocked down and getting back up and fighting toe to toe for 12 rounds against true and worthy opposition, only then once he has bled and spilt blood will James De Gale be ready for the riggers of the world stage.
Beating his chest and kicking out his ghetto lingo won't win the crowd and wont win the respect champions deserve, take Ricky Hatton for example, he is no where near the best boxer on the world stage but he talks sense with alot of admiration for the sport and his opponents, very rarely does he become brash and hyped up and never will he be conceited.
Lets see if De Gale can cut it with the likes of Andre Dirrell, dance with Andre Ward, go toe to toe with Mikkel Kessler and maybe an all British battle with Carl Froch.
Good Luck for May 15th - chase the dream of becoming a champion, don't chase the money that comes with being a champion, it takes more to build a legacy than it does to destroy one.
Whether you like James De Gale, whether you dis-like him or whether you have no idea who he is, let me here you opinions and who you might like to see fight him in the not so distant future.
In all honesty I think Frank Warren will work his magic and develop De Gale like he did Amir Khan but like Khan I expect De Gale to suffer a loss and in style, like Khan against Prescott and like Naseem Hamed against Barrera, but I expect somewhere along the lines he will be a world champion.
So far all I have seen is De Gale spoon fed opponents and run his mouth about being a soldier and being ready, being ready isn't about Olympic gold (although I'm glad he did his country proud) its about having the heart and agility to win the crowd and win a world title and then once the prize is around his waist its about proving his worth and defending it, being knocked down and getting back up and fighting toe to toe for 12 rounds against true and worthy opposition, only then once he has bled and spilt blood will James De Gale be ready for the riggers of the world stage.
Beating his chest and kicking out his ghetto lingo won't win the crowd and wont win the respect champions deserve, take Ricky Hatton for example, he is no where near the best boxer on the world stage but he talks sense with alot of admiration for the sport and his opponents, very rarely does he become brash and hyped up and never will he be conceited.
Lets see if De Gale can cut it with the likes of Andre Dirrell, dance with Andre Ward, go toe to toe with Mikkel Kessler and maybe an all British battle with Carl Froch.
Good Luck for May 15th - chase the dream of becoming a champion, don't chase the money that comes with being a champion, it takes more to build a legacy than it does to destroy one.
Whether you like James De Gale, whether you dis-like him or whether you have no idea who he is, let me here you opinions and who you might like to see fight him in the not so distant future.
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