Viktor Postol recalls big night when he knocked out Lucas Matthysse in 10th

Victor Postol celebrates his knockout victory over Lucas Matthysse to win the vacant WBC super lightweight title Saturday at the StubHub Center. (Photo by Gene Blevins)

Viktor Postol wears his new championship belt after winning the junior welterweight title with a 10th-round knockout of Lucas Matthysse on Oct. 3 at StubHub Center/Photo by Gene Blevins

 

You can bet that when Viktor Postol took on Lucas Matthysse for a vacant junior welterweight title this past Oct. 3 at StubHub Center in Carson, more fans expected Matthysse to emerge victorious than Postol.

But it was Postol who stunned the crowd by knocking out Matthysse in the 10th round to win the championship.

Postol, who will take on Terence “Bud” Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) on July 23 in a title-unification bout at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view), on Monday recalled that special night.

“The fight with Matthysse was my most challenging and memorable because it was my first world championship fight and I was fighting for the title against one of the strongest punchers in the division,” Postol said from the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, where he is trained by Freddie Roach. “The importance of this fight for my career and my life was not lost on me.”

Matthysse (37-4, 34 KOs) has a knockout ratio of 81 percent, so the thinking was if anyone was going to win by knockout, it would be him because Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) has a knockout ratio of just 43 percent.

Roach couldn’t say enough about his fighter’s work.

“It was a very good performance,” Roach said. “We were in charge of the fight the whole time. Viktor followed the game plan perfectly. I remember before the last round I told our corner that Matthysse was very tired and ready to go out. He was coming in with his head leaning down.”

 

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Keith Thurman retains welterweight title with close decision over Shawn Porter

Keith Thurman

Keith Thurman/Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

Welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman on Saturday night slugged it out with challenger Shawn Porter over 12 rounds and when the grueling bout was over Thurman had retained his title with a close, yet unanimous decision at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The fight was televised on CBS.

Thurman (27-0) won by three scores of 115-113, which seemed to be the right call. Both fighters had outstanding moments. Thurman just seemed to have more.

The action was terrific and could be in the mix for Fight of the Year, though we have still have six months left of 2016.

There were no knockdowns, but both fighters were cut.

The bout was originally to take place in March, but Thurman was in a car accident, in which he sustained whiplash.

:Porter is 26-2-1.

 

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Dominic Breazeale is stopped in the seventh round by Anthony Joshua

Anthony Joshua knocks out Dominic Breazeale in seventh round after Chris Eubank and George Groves win

Anthony Joshua’s hand is raised after he stopped Alhambra’s Dominic Breazeale in the seventh round Saturday in London/Photo courtesy of Getty Images

 

Dominic Breazeale of Alhambra was simply outclassed in his challenge to heavyweight world champion Anthony Joshua on Saturday at O2 Arena in Joshua’s native England.

Joshua appeared to have won ever round before decking Breazeale twice in the seventh round, the referee waving off the fight after the second knockdown.

The seventh-round TKO at 1:01 of the round was Joshua’s first title defense.

Breazeale (17-1) got in a few shots here and there, but there was never any indication he was going to take Joshua’s title

Joshua is now 17-0 with 17 knockouts.

 

 

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez will challenge Liam Smith for junior middleweight title

Saul Alvarez/Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

 

Former middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of Mexico will move back down in weight and challenge Liam Smith for his junior middleweight title on Sept. 17, Golden Boy Promotions announced Friday. The venue is not yet confirmed, but it could be MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The bout will be televised on HBO pay-per-view.

Golden Boy and K2 Promotions – which promotes middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin – met this week in Los Angeles and out of that came the news that a bout between Alvarez and Golovkin will not take place until September 2017 at the earliest. Golovkin would fight Alvarez this September, but Golden Boy does not want that.

Instead, we’re getting Alvarez-Smith. Smith, of England, is 23-0-1 with 13 knockouts. He has never fought anyone near the caliber of Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs). But Golden Boy and Alvarez are going to play it off like Smith is a real mean hombre.

“I am very pleased to announce my next fight against Liam Smith, a tremendous fighter with real knockout power, and the WBO junior middleweight world-title owner,” Alvarez said. “I have no doubt that this fight will be give and take, which will fill the expectations of the fans, and I will work with all the enthusiasm as I always do to get the upper hand.”

Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy, also played up this fight as a certain barnburner.

“This fight will be a slugfest between two heavy hitters, and I have little doubt that it will end with a 10-count,” he said.

Smith has stopped his past eight opponents inside the distance, and that is something we’re going to hear a lot about from Golden Boy. But the eight victims are anything but household names. One thing’s for sure, this is a terrific chance for Smith, though it’s unlikely he’ll be able to take advantage of it.

“This fight allows me to make my name in the U.S. and show just how good I am and this is the big stage that will enable me to do that,” Smith said.

 

 

 

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

So-called verbal agreement for ‘Canelo’-Golovkin means very little at this time

Gennady Golovkin

Gennady Golovkin/Photo courtesy of K2 Promotions

 

OK, so promoters Oscar De La Hoya and Tom Loeffler apparently met at De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions offices in Los Angeles on Wednesday to talk about a fight between middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and former middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, according to several publications.

It’s no secret that the boxing world was hopeful that fight would happen this September. But Alvarez recently vacated his WBC title rather than sign to fight Golovkin under the duress of a deadline set forth by the WBC.

Well, the only thing that apparently came out of Wednesday’s meeting was that the sides verbally agreed to make the fight – in September 2017. That means virtually nothing because there is no contract. And this is boxing, where so much can happen in 15 months.

Before everyone who so badly wants to see this fight goes off the deep end in celebration, chill out. Golovkin is likely still going to be a monster in 15 months, and we’re not sure De La Hoya will ever want Alvarez to tangle with him.

Golovkin, of course, would have happily fought Alvarez this September. It’s De La Hoya, Alvarez’s promoter, who seems reluctant to put his man into a fight with the beastly Golovkin at this point in time. We’re going to hear how De La Hoya wants this fight to marinate and how this extra time will allow Alvarez to mature into a full-fledged 160-pound middleweight, instead of one that toils at a catch-weight of 155.

If this fight happens at some point, terrific. But as a story on Yahoo.com points out, Loeffler – Golovkin’s promoter – said nothing has been signed. So there is really nothing to celebrate.

The feeling here is, we’ll believe it when we see it.

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Sugar Ray Leonard will host meet and greet at July 15 Golden Boy card in Indio

Sugar Ray Leonard/AP photo by Darron Cummings

 

All-time great Sugar Ray Leonard on July 15 will spend an hour with fans during a meet and greet at a Golden Boy Promotions card at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio that will feature Pablo Cesar Cano  (29-5-1, 21 KOs) of Mexico taking on KeAndre Gibson (15-0-1, 7 KOs) of St. Louis in the welterweight main event.

Fans with tickets to the card will be able to mingle with Leonard from 6 to 7 p.m. in the Special Events Center.

Cano-Gibson will be televised live on Estrella TV beginning at 7.

 

 

 

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Deontay Wilder sees Anthony Joshua-Dominic Breazeale as a ’50-50′ fight

Dominic Breazeale

Dominic Breazeale/Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

 

Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder holds one of the four championship belts, and he’d love to get the rest of them. That means he’ll be an interested observer Saturday when Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) defends his title against Dominic Breazeale (17-0, 15 KOs) of Alhambra at O2 Arena in Joshua’s native England.

Wilder this week gave his thoughts on that fight, which be televised at 2:15 p.m. (Pacific time) on Showtime.

“I definitely see the fight as a 50-50,” said Wilder, who July 16 will defend his title against Chris Arreola of Riverside at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. (on Fox). “You’ve got two big heavyweights, and the challenger wants what the champion has, and the champion wants to keep what he has.

“It’s going to be interesting because we’ve seen Breazeale in a lot of wars. He’s almost been taken out by some of the smaller heavyweights. He’s been punched around, but he has always survived.  We’ve seen Joshua (get) busted up as well, but he has kept his composure, and this fight is in his backyard amongst his people.”

It sounded like Wilder won’t be surprised if Breazeale emerges victorious because, “I think he really wants it.”

 

 

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Chris Arreola, on title shot against Deontay Wilder, ‘Third time’s the charm’

Chris Arreola

Chris Arreola/Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

 

LOS ANGELESChris Arreola of Riverside would love to become the first fighter of Mexican descent to win a major heavyweight world title. He’s already had two bites at the apple, but came up short in TKO losses to Vitali Klitschko in 2009 and Bermane Stiverne in 2014.

He’s going to get one more shot when he challenges undefeated knockout artist Deontay Wilder for his title July 16 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. (on Fox).

“It is now or never,” Arreola told this newspaper before Tuesday’s news conference at the Conga Room formally announcing the bout. “Title shots don’t come that often. This is my third time, man. Third time’s the charm, man. I’ve gotta make this happen.”

A victory – especially considering Arreola will be a heavy underdog – would mean everything to Arreola.

“The main thing is history. That’s it,” he said. “I’m going to be remembered.”

Wilder, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., won the title with a wide unanimous decision over Stiverne in January 2015. Wilder has defended his belt three times and was supposed to make his fourth defense against Alexander Povetkin of Russia on May 21.

However, Povetkin tested positive for the banned substance meldonium and that fight was scrapped. It was time to look for another opponent, and Wilder believes Arreola was the right choice for a fight that was made June 13, just more than a month before it will be contested.

“We know that Chris comes to fight,” said Wilder, who at 6-foot-7 is some four inches taller than Arreola. “We know that whether he’s in shape or out of shape, he’s going to give a hundred percent. And he’s going to sell tickets because of the toughness.”

Wilder said that to him, all of Arreola’s fights have been exciting.

“That’s what we need,” Wilder said. “And when you’ve got two guys that are hard-hitters that fight with their heart, and they try to get you out of there as soon as possible, what a great fight it makes for short notice. It’s going to be crazy, so I definitely think we picked the right person for this.”

Arreola has fought three journeymen since losing to Stiverne via 6th-round TKO at USC’s Galen Center in May 2014. He beat Curtis Harper over eight rounds and had a draw with Fred Kassi. Arreola then won a split-decision over Travis Kauffman this past December in San Antonio, only to have that changed to a no-decision when Arreola tested positive for marijuana.

This is hardly awe-inspiring stuff, but Wilder scoffed at the notion Arreola is not worthy of this chance.

“People said Arreola doesn’t deserve the shot, but who are they to say things about a man who every time he gets in the ring, fights with his heart?” Wilder said.

Arreola has taken a lot of heat over the years. Particularly, he’s been hammered about coming into fights out of shape. Against Kauffman, he weighed 236 1/2 pounds, his lowest since 2011.

But his effort in training and subsequent victory were wasted with the positive test. He was asked how fans can be sure he won’t have another dirty test that would disallow what would be a shocking victory over Wilder.

“Because (trainer) Henry (Ramirez) doesn’t let me out of his sight, you know what I mean?” Arreola said. “But in all honesty, man, I do have to take this serious and I have taken this serious.”

Arreola, 35, is 36-4-1 with 31 knockouts. Wilder, 30, is 36-0 with 35 knockouts.

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Viktor Postol does not want to hear that he’s underdog to Terence Crawford

Viktor Postol/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

Terence “Bud” Crawford is a top 10 pound-for-pound fighter. Viktor Postol is not – not yet, anyway. That means that Crawford will likely be picked by more experts to win when he squares off with Postol in a junior welterweight title-unification bout July 23 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view).

Postol, of the Ukraine, couldn’t care less.

“I do not consider myself an underdog in this fight,” he said. “Terence Crawford’s fans might consider me as the underdog, but that does not bother me. I’m 100 percent confident in myself and in my victory on July 23 and the reasons are simple:

“I work harder in training camp than my opponents because I have to.  Because I want to. I have the best trainer working with me and his name his Freddie Roach. He has been named Trainer of the Year a record seven times and he is in the Hall of Fame.”

Postol, speaking from his camp in Hollywood, dug deeper.

“Crawford has no one like that on his team,” he said.

Roach spoke in equally feisty tones.

“I do not feel that Viktor is an underdog going into this fight,” he said. “Why should I?  In his two toughest tests – Lucas Matthysse and Selcuk Aydin – he didn’t just knock them out, he took their will to fight away.  He broke them down brick by brick.”

Postol stopped Aydin in the 11th round at the Fabulous Forum in May 2014 and he knocked out the hard-hitting Matthysse in the 10th round in his most recent fight in October at StubHub Center.

“His experience against blue-chip opposition has been great preparation for his fight with Terence Crawford,” Roach said. “Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Crawford. He has a lot of talent.  But I think this is going to come down to resumes and I think Postol has fought tougher and better opponents than Crawford.

“Postol even spent an entire training camp with Manny Pacquiao in 2014 when Manny was preparing for Chris Algieri. Viktor more than held his own against Manny. Crawford is going to find out that defending a title against Hank Lundy and Dierry Jean is a lot different than fighting a fellow undefeated world champion like Viktor Postol.”

Crawford, who also has won a title at lightweight, has made his two junior welterweight title defenses against Lundy (TKO 5) and Jean (TKO 10).

Crawford, 28, is from Omaha, Neb. He is 28-0 with 20 knockouts. Postol, 32, is 28-0 with 12 knockouts.

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail

Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford stoked about headlining in Las Vegas for first time

Terence Crawford/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

Terence “Bud” Crawford has become one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. But the two-division world champion has never headlined a big card in Las Vegas.

That will change July 23 when he takes on Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) of the Ukraine in a junior welterweight title-unification bout at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view).

Crawford, of Omaha, Neb., on Monday talked about his big moment from his camp in Colorado Springs.

“It is an honor to fight in Las Vegas, especially at the MGM Grand where so many historic fights have taken place and so many great fighters have made their mark, said Crawrod, who sports a record of 28-0 with 20 knockouts. “It’s the same way I felt when I headlined my first card at Madison Square Garden earlier this year.”

Crawford this past February defended his junior welterweight belt for the second time with a fifth-round TKO of Hank Lundy at the Madison Square Garden Theater.

“Many fighters dream of fighting on such a big stage, but it’s something you have to earn,” said Crawford, 28. “I have worked very hard to get to this point in my career – to earn the right to headline my first pay-per-view event. I can’t think of a better place to do it than in the fight capital of the world. It’s very exciting, but I need to keep my eye on the ball.

“There will be a lot of hard work to do in training camp to make my pay-per-view debut successful. This isn’t just opening night for a new phase of my career. I want this to be the beginning of a long run as boxing’s next pound-for-pound star and a worthy successor to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

 

Twitter Facebook Pinterest Reddit Tumblr Email Snailmail