Errol Spence Jr. takes welterweight title from Kell Brook in his native England

Errol Spence Jr., right, lands a right hook on Kell Brook. Spence took Brook’s welterweight title via 11th-round knockout/Photo by Reuters via the Mirror

 

Errol Spence Jr. on Saturday took the welterweight title from Kell Brook via 11th-round knockout at Bramall Lane Football Ground in Brook’s native Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.

Spence, of Desoto, Texas, dropped Brook in the 10th round. Brook, with his left eye badly damaged, took a knee midway through the 11th and the fight was over.

Brook (36-2) was attempting to make the fourth successful defense of his belt. He was coming off a fifth-round TKO loss to middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin.

Spence (22-0, 19 KOs), a 2012 U.S. Olympian, was in his first world-title fight. He was up by one, three and five points at the time of the stoppage.

 

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Tickets on sale for Miguel Berchelt-Takashi Miura at Fabulous Forum

Miguel Berchelt/Photo courtesy of BoxRec.com

 

Golden Boy Promotions on July 15 will play host to a card at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood that will have super featherweight world champion Miguel Berchelt (31-1, 28 KOs) of Mexico defending his title against Takashi Miura (31-3-2, 24 KOs) of Japan in the main event (on HBO).

Berchelt took the title from Francisco Vargas in January, stopping Vargas in the 11th round at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio.

The semi-main event will feature Jezreel Corrales (21-1, 8 KOs) of Panama defending his super featherweight title against Robinson Castellanos (24-12, 14 KOs) of Mexico.

Also, Joe Smith Jr. (23-1, 19 KOs) of Long Island, N.Y., will take on Sullivan Barrera (19-1, 14 KOs) of Cuba in a 12-round light heavyweight bout. Smith in December ended the career of Bernard Hopkins when he knocked out Hopkins in the eighth round, sending him through the ropes and onto the concrete floor at the Fabulous Forum.

Tickets priced at $25, $50, $75 and $125 are on sale and can be purchased by calling Ticketmaster at 800-745-3000 or the Forum box office at 310-330-7300. They can also be purchased online at www.fabulousforum.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

 

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Miguel Cotto to fight in Southern California for just the second time

Canelo Alvarez delivers a blow to Miguel Cotto as he wins unanimously for the middleweight title.

Miguel Cotto, right, takes a left hook to the jaw from Canelo Alvarez in their November 2015 bout in Las Vegas/AP photo by John Locher

 

Miguel Cotto has not fought since November 2015. But when he returns Aug. 26 to take on Yoshihiro Kamegai of Japan, the two will be tangling for a vacant junior middleweight title at StubHub Center (on HBO).

That’s right. Cotto will have been out of the ring for 21 months, yet he gets a shot at another title upon his return. He’s stoked.

“I’m very excited to be back and showcase a high-level fight for the fans,” Cotto said in a news release distributed by Golden Boy Promotions. “Kamegai is a great, tough fighter. But I will be ready for him, and to capture the world title.”

Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs), of Puerto Rico, is right when he says Kamegai (27-3-2, 24 KOs) is a tough fighter. But Kamegai is anything but great. He comes forward, and offers no defense. But this should be a ring war, which is along the lines of many fights we’ve seen at StubHub.

“I fully understand who I am going to be in the ring against,” Kamegai said. “But Cotto’s record and history won’t matter once we are toe-to-toe.”

Cotto, who has won titles in four weight classes, will be fighting for just the second time in the Southland. He defeated Arturo Rodriguez via second-round knockout in July 2001 at Staples Center underneath the light heavyweight title fight between Roy Jones Jr. and Julio Gonzalez. It was just the sixth fight of Cotto’s career.

Cotto has not fought since losing a wide unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez in a middleweight title fight Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

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Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia weigh in on Errol Spence Jr.-Kell Brook fight

Errol Spence Jr

Errol Spence Jr./Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

 

There is been a lot of talk about Errol Spence Jr. and how good he might become. The boxing world will find out Saturday if Spence is indeed the real deal when he challenges Kell Brook for his welterweight title at Bramall Lane Football Ground in Brook’s native England (on Showtime).

Current welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman and former champion Danny Garcia this week were asked to handicap what figures to be an entertaining bout. They, too, are anxious to see what their fellow American can do in this one.

“This is an interesting fight,” Thurman said. “I have not followed Kell too much, but I have obviously seen Errol fight in the U.S. Errol is a tough, young fighter who is just getting into the public’s eye, and Kell obviously has the strength of the British crowd on his side.

“It should be a tough fight that really speaks to the strength of the welterweight division. Both fighters are men that I would be open to fighting as I continue to unify the division in 2018.”

Thurman in March won a split-decision over Garcia in a title-unification bout at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Garcia believes this fight is a tossup.

“I think this is a 50/50 fight,” he said. “I think the person with the better game plan is going to win. There’s a lot of pressure to go into someone’s backyard like Spence is doing, and he’s never faced a fighter in his prime before like Brook.

“It’s definitely a big test for him and a big step up in competition. If he is ready, he can do it.”

Spence, a southpaw out of Desoto, Texas, is 21-0 with 18 knockouts. Brook is 36-1 with 25 knockouts.

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Terence Crawford, Felix Diaz make weight for Saturday’s bout

Terence Crawford, left, hits Viktor Postol during their WBC-WBO junior welterweight title unification bxoing bout in Las Vegas on Saturday, July 23, 2016. (AP Photo/Chase Stevens)

Terence Crawford, left, lands a left cross on Viktor Postol during their title-unification bout in July 2016 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Crawford won a wide decision/AP photo by Chase Stevens

 

Junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford and Felix Diaz on Friday successfully made weight for their showdown Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York City (on HBO).

Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs), of Omaha, Neb., weighed in at 139.2 pounds. Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs), of the Dominican Republic, weighed 139.4; the limit is 140.

 

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Felix Diaz believes Terence Crawford has fought no one like him

FAIRFAX, VA - OCTOBER 17: Lamont Peterson punches Felix Diaz Jr. during their welterweight bout on the campus of George Mason University on October 17, 2015 in Fairfax, Virginia. Peterson won on judges decision. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Felix Diaz, right, covers up as Lamont Peterson swings on him during their fight in October 2015/Getty Images

 

Terence Crawford is undefeated and holder of two of the major junior welterweight belts. But none of that cuts any ice with Felix Diaz, who Saturday will challenge Crawford for his titles at Madison Square Garden in New York City (on HBO).

“With his style, I know I can beat Terence Crawford,” Diaz said this week during a conference call. “Crawford has fought no one like me. Stylistically, I can beat him.”

Diaz (19-1, 9 KOs) won the gold medal for the Dominican Republic in the 2008 Beijing Games. His only loss as a pro came to former junior welterweight and current welterweight champion Lamont Peterson via majority decision in October 2015.

Crawford, of Omaha, Neb., is 30-0 with 21 knockouts.

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Eric Gomez confirms Dodgers offer to host Golovkin-Alvarez on Sept. 16

May 6, 2017. Las Vegas NV. (C) Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya watches  (L-R)  Mexico’s Canelo Alvarez pose together for the first time with Gennady Gennadyevich Golovkin (GGG ) at a after boxing press conference Saturday at T-Mobile arena. Golden Boy Promotions made the official announcement of the long awaited  fight  that will happen in September this year with location still unknown.Photo by Gene Blevins/LA DailyNews/SCNG

Canelo Alvarez, left, and Gennady Golovkin pose after their fight was announced for Sept. 16 at a site still to be determined/Photo by Gene Blevins

 

Eric Gomez, president of Golden Boy Promotions, on Saturday confirmed a report that Magic Johnson and the Dodgers have made an offer to host the Sept. 16 middleweight title fight between champion Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan and Canelo Alvarez of Mexico at Dodger Stadium.
De La Hoya told the L.A. Times that he had a conversation with Johnson on Friday. Gomez said that talk came after he had three with Dodgers executive vice-president and chief marketing officer Lon Rosen.
“I had the initial talks with Lon and we set up a call with Magic and Oscar and Magic spoke with Oscar yesterday,” Gomez said Saturday afternoon. “They’re very interested.”

Gomez said he could not get into specifics about the proposal, “But it’s a very interesting offer. It’s something we’re going to explore. They’re very serious.”

Other strong contenders to host what figures to be a blockbuster event are AT&T Stadium near Dallas and T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Abel Sanchez: Canelo will have GGG in front of him, not Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

No one likes him: Gennady Golovkin slams 'boring' Canelo Alvarez after Chavez Jr win

HBO broadcaster Max Kellerman (center) speaks to Gennady Golovkin (left) and Canelo Alvarez after the Sept. 16 fight between Golovkin and Alvarez was announced following Alvarez’s victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. this past Saturday. Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez, stands between Kellerman and Golovkin/Photo by Getty Images

 

Trainer Abel Sanchez had just watched Canelo Alvarez of Mexico out-box and out-punch countryman Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Sanchez then sat on a makeshift dais inside the ring to discuss the Sept. 16 bout between his fighter – middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin – and Alvarez, which was announced immediately after Alvarez defeated Chavez by three scores of 120-108.

Sanchez was impressed with Alvarez’s work, but he reminded a reporter that Alvarez will be in with a different kind of beast when he challenges Golovkin at a site still to be determined.

“I think Canelo displayed great boxing skills,” Sanchez said. “But he’s not going to have Chavez in front of him (in September), it’s going to be Gennady Golovkin.”

Golovkin, 35, is 37-0 with 33 knockouts. He was on a string of 22 consecutive knockouts that was snapped in March when Daniel Jacobs went all 12 rounds with Golovkin in a hotly contested bout won by Golovkin by scores of 114-113, 115-112 and 115-112.

Alvarez, a former junior middleweight and middleweight champion, is 49-1-1 with 34 knockouts. At 26, he is nine years Golovkin’s junior.

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‘Tino’ Avila confident he can hang with South El Monte’s Joseph Diaz Jr.

Manuel Avila_02.jpeg

Manuel ‘Tino’ Avila is seen here during a recent workout in preparation for Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz Jr./Photo by Julio C. Sanchez/Team Tino

 

Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jr. of South El Monte is ranked No. 2 in the world at featherweight by one major governing body. He is therefore on the cusp o f a world-title shot. In order to get it soon, he’s going to have to defeat Manuel “Tino” Avila on Saturday on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. super middleweight main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view).

Diaz is 23-0 with 13 knockouts. Avila, of Fairfield, is 22-0 with eight knockouts. Avila is ranked No. 10, which means Diaz could be facing his toughest opponent to date. Avila sure believes that.

“My team and I have been working extremely hard,” a confident Avila said during a recent workout. “I’ve got all the right people in my corner helping me get to the top.

“I’m sparring with some really good fighters, I’ve taken my conditioning to new levels. I’m amped for this fight.”

Avila had a message for Diaz.

“JoJo Diaz, you better be ready for me on May 6,” Avila said.

Diaz is 24, Avila is 25.

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