Monthly Archives: May 2013

A fight between stablemates Mikey Garcia and Nonito Donaire would be emotional

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Robert Garcia trains his brother, featherweight champion Mikey Garcia, as well as former super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire. The two fighters are managed by the same guy – Cameron Dunkin – as well. Heck, they are even promoted by the same guy – Bob Arum.

With all that, it’s difficult to imagine Mikey Garcia and Donaire ever fighting. However, since quality opponents for them are limited because Top Rank does not do business with rival Golden Boy Promotions, they may at some point have no choice but to square off.

Arum does not like the idea one bit.

“It doesn’t seem to me that there is a chance that it can happen,” Arum said. “They are not only trained by the same guy, they’re managed by the same guy.”
Arum said that used to be a no-no.
“You couldn’t have fighters managed by the same guy, no less guys trained by the same guy, fighting each other,” Arum said. “That never was allowed to happen. Now, apparently, nobody gives a (expletive) anymore. I just think it shouldn’t be allowed. It’s a conflict of interest. Can a lawyer represent both sides in a litigation?”

It was suggested to Arum that perhaps Robert Garcia  could train his brother for that fight and Donaire could use someone else.

“I suppose that would be OK,” he said. “That wouldn’t be the same as two guys being trained by the same person and two guys managed by the same person.”

Robert Garcia really wants no part of this. But he said if the respective fighters wanted it, he would not stand in their way.

“In that situation, it would have to be Donaire’s and MIkey’s decision,” said Robert Garcia, a former super featherweight champion from Oxnard.

Robert Garcia conceded that at some point, the fight may have to happen.

“In that case the best thing to do would be for Donaire to be trained by someone else, Mikey trains with my dad (Eduardo) and me, just go and watch the fight,” said Robert Garcia, who said he and Donaire are also like brothers. “It wouldn’t be easy for me or for Cameron Dunkin. Mikey would be in great hands with my dad, so I wouldn’t worry about that.
“But I would worry about Donaire. Maybe we’re going to get to a situation where there isn’t anything else out there and that fight is going to be a big favorite and Nonito and Mikey agree. I’m not going to force them to not fight each other.”

Mikey Garcia (31-0, 26 KOs) will defend his title against former champion Juan Manuel Lopez (33-2, 30 KOs) on June 15 at American Airlines Center in Dallas (on HBO). Donaire most recently lost a unanimous decision to Guillermo Rigondeaux in a super bantamweight title-unification bout on April 13. Donaire is expected to move up to featherweight.

 

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Champ Andre Ward will be part of Saturday’s HBO telecast of Froch-Kessler

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Super middleweight champion Andre Ward has started to make quite a name for himself as a commentator on boxing telecasts, most recently with HBO.

Ward, whose expertise and smooth style make him easy to listen to, will be part of Saturday’s broadcast team for the super middleweight title unification bout between Mikkel Kessler of Denmark and Carl Froch of England from O2 Arena in London.

This is a rematch of a fight that took place in April 2010 in Denmark. It was won by Kessler via unanimous decision.

Froch, 35, is 30-2 with 22 knockouts. Kessler, 34, is  46-2 with 35 knockouts.

Ward is rehabilitating his right shoulder following surgery on it in January.

 

 

 

 

 

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Report: Three-division champion Miguel Cotto set to return in September

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Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico is expected to return to the ring Sept. 28, according to a story on ESPN.com.

Cotto, who has won world titles in the junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight divisions, has not officially named an opponent. The fight is expected to take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Cotto has a huge following in New York City.

Cotto, 32, most recently fought Dec. 1 at Madison Square Garden, where he lost a unanimous decision to Austin Trout.

Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs) is an eventual lock for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has a record of 17-4 with 14 knockouts in championship fights.

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Bob Arum agrees Juan Manuel Lopez needs to do well against Mikey Garcia

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Juan Manuel Lopez is 33-2 with 30 knockouts. He won his first 30 fights and he has won world titles in two weight classes. But at 29, the former super bantamweight and featherweight champion is faced with a must-look-good scenario in his challenge to featherweight champion Mikey Garcia on June 15 at American Airlines Center in Dallas (on HBO).

Lopez, of Puerto Rico, doesn’t necessarily need to beat Garcia. But if he gets routed, it will be difficult for his promoter, Bob Arum, to get him back on HBO. It might not seem fair, what with Lopez’s accomplishments, and Arum agrees. But …

“No, but life isn’t fair,” Arum said. “And also, there are a limited number of network dates and you can’t blame them that they want to go with the best attractions, the guys who haven’t lost or if they lost, people want to see them again.
“If Juanma (Lopez) and Mikey have a ferocious fight and it’s just a slugfest, a Fight of the Year candidate, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses. But if Mikey blows out Juanma, not good for Juanma.”

Lopez is 3-2 in his past five bouts. But the two losses – to Orlando Salido in 2011 and 2012, were via technical knockout.

Garcia, of Oxnard, is 31-0 with 26 knockouts. He is trained by his brother, former super featherweight champion Robert Garcia.

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Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer wants to make Garcia-Matthysse

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With the way Lucas Matthysse took care of Lamont Peterson – decking him three times and stopping him in the third round Saturday  at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City – there figured to be a call for Matthysse now to fight Golden Boy Promotions stablemate Danny Garcia.

Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, said Tuesday he absolutely wants to make that fight. Garcia (26-0, 16 KOs), of Philadelphia, holds two of the four major belts at 140 pounds. Matthysse, of Argentina, has an interim title. But the belts almost don’t matter here. With the explosive power of Matthysse (34-2, 32 KOs) and the dynamite combination of talent and courage of Garcia, it’s almost a can’t-miss hit.

“It is obviously the two best 140-pounders fighting each other,” Schaefer said. “For many reasons, many people think that Matthysse would win. And there are many reasons why some people think Garcia would win.”

Which makes any fight more intriguing, when it’s difficult to predict the winner.

 

 

 

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Negotiations ongoing for fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Saul Alvarez

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Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, told this newspaper Tuesday that negotiations are ongoing for a fight between welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. and super welterweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of Mexico. The fight would take place Sept. 14 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Schaefer was asked if he is confident it will get done.

“Yes,” he said. “I’m a positive-thinking guy. But you never know. With these big, big fights, sometimes they don’t. The only thing I can do is keep working and see what happens.”

Schaefer said the word should come soon.

“The good thing is I don’t think we have to wait too long to find out because there are certain deadlines which have to be met because Sept. 14 is not that far away,” he said.

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Karo Murat believes he has the recipe to take Bernard Hopkins’ title

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Karo Murat has never fought in the U.S. up to now and has fought more than half of his fights in his native Germany, so he is not exactly a household name. But he claims he’s going to be the fighter who finally convinces Bernard Hopkins it’s time to hang up the gloves.

Hopkins, 48, is the oldest man to win a world title. When Hopkins takes on Murat on July 13 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn (on Showtime), he’ll be making the first defense of the light heavyweight belt he won with a decision over Tavoris Cloud in March.

Murat apparently is unfazed by stepping into the ring with a boxing legend.

“It’s like a dream come true,” Murat said.  “I’m so happy to have this opportunity.  Bernard Hopkins has nothing else to prove and this will be the first fight in my career where I have nothing to lose.  I can only win against Hopkins and I plan on retiring him. His biggest strength is his experience, but I will reveal his weaknesses at Barclays Center in front of his own fans. I will be in the best shape of my life and will snatch his belt from under his nose.”

Hopkins is 53-6-2 with 32 knockouts. Murat, 29, is 25-1-1 with 15 knockouts.

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Report: Devon Alexander broke hand during TKO win over Lee Purdy

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Welterweight champion Devon Alexander of St. Louis confirmed he broke his left hand in the first round of his fight Saturday against Lee Purdy at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, according to a report on ESPN.com.

Alexander still managed to stop the overmatched Purday after seven rounds. The report quotes Alexander’s trainer, Kevin Cunningham, as saying that Alexander “hit Purdy on top of the head in the first round, and that’s when it happened.”

Alexander’s title was supposed to be on the line in the fight, but Purdy was a pound over at Friday’s weigh-in. Had Purdy won, he would not have been able to take the title, and Alexander would nevertheless have walked away as champion. But it still went down as a title defense for Alexander, who won the title with a unanimous decision over Randall Bailey in October 2012 in Brooklyn.

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Olympic bronze-medal winner Taras Shelestyuk showing well early

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Taras Shelestyuk is 27 and only has three professional fights, so he certainly has not had an early start to his pro career. But he is destroying the competition, which bodes well for the 2012 Olympic bronze-medal winner from Sumy, Ukraine.

Shelestyuk this past Friday  defeated Mario Angeles of Mexico via second-round technical knockout at Doubletree Hotel in Ontario on a Thompson Boxing Promotions card.

Shelestyuk is now 3-0 with three knockouts. He is co-promoted by Banner Promotions and Thompson Boxing.

“We are very happy with Taras,” said Arthur Pelullo, CEO of Banner Promotions. “He had an outstanding performance and he is moving at a great pace. He has fought three times in less than two months and he continues to get better with each fight.”

Shelestyuk trains out of the Wild Card gym in Hollywood.

 

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Catch Lucas Matthysse’s big TKO of Lamont Peterson on replay Tuesday

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Lucas Matthysse of Argentina is rapidly becoming known as one of the hardest hitters in boxing, pound-for-pound. He again showed that this past Saturday when he decked Lamont Peterson three times and stopped him in the third round of their bout at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

It caused Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, to proclaim to reporters afterward, “We have a new Manny Pacquiao. He’s from Argentina and his name is Lucas Matthysse.” Matthysse is promoted by Golden Boy.

Matthysse, 30, holds an interim junior welterweight title. He is 34-2 with 32 knockouts. You can catch the replay of Saturday’s bout Tuesday at 9 p.m. on Showtime Extreme.

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