Golovkin will mourn father, will not defend title against Andy Lee on April 26

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Robert Morales

Trainer Abel Sanchez told us just last week that middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin would likely be announcing his next title defense – April 26 against Andy Lee – this week. But over the weekend Golovkin decided to stay in his native Kazakhstan to observe a 40-day mourning period for the sudden loss of his father, Gennady Ivanovich Golovkin.

The elder Golovkin was just 68 when he died of a heart attack on Feb. 18.

“Everything in regard to Gennady’s boxing career is currently on hold,” said Tom Loeffler, an executive with K2-Promotions, which promotes Golovkin. “His priority is to spend time with his family and at the appropriate time he will advise us when he is ready to continue his boxing career.”

Golovkin is trained by West Covina’s Sanchez out of his gym in Big Bear.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. leaves no doubt this time in victory over Bryan Vera

Posted on March 1, 2014 by Robert Morales

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. of Mexico on Saturday night won a unanimous decision over Bryan Vera in the super middleweight main event at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Former middleweight champion Chavez won the 12-round bout televised by HBO by scores of 117-110 (Ruben Carrion), 117-110 (Max DeLuca) and 114-113 (David Sutherland). The fight came about six months after their first fight, where an out-of-shape Chavez was scored a unanimous-decision winner of a 10-round fight at StubCenter Center that most fans and reporters thought should have gone to Vera.

Chavez, who turned 28 on Feb. 16, is now 48-1-1 with 32 knockouts. Vera, 32, of Austin, Texas, is 23-8 with 14 knockouts.

Orlando Salido of Mexico won a 12-round split-decision over Vasyl Lomachenko in the semi-main event. Salido (41-12-2, 28 KOs) was scored the winner by judges Jack Reiss (116-112) and Oren Shellenberger (115-113). The other judge – Levin Martinez – gave it to Lomachenko by a 115-113 count.

Salido lost his featherweight title on the scales when he did not make weight Friday. He was not eligible to win it back Saturday. Only Lomachenko (1-1), of Ukraine, could have left with the belt. As it stands, that title will be vacant.

Zou Shiming comes through with first knockout of his professional career

Posted on February 23, 2014 by Robert Morales

Zou Shiming won a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympic Games and gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Games. But when the flyweight from China did not stop any of his first three opponents inside the distance, he had some wondering if that amateur success was going to translate to the professional level.

Shiming on Saturday finally came through with his first knockout as a prize-fighter, stopping Yokthong Kotietgym of Thailand at 2:09 of the seventh round in Macau, China. Their bout was slated for eight rounds.

Shiming, 32, is now 4-0 with 1 knockout. Kotietgym, just 19, is 15-4.

Their bout was televised on HBO2.

Promoter Bob Arum not sure what to think when it comes to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s weight

Posted on February 13, 2014 by Robert Morales

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. of Mexico on March 1 will fight a rematch with Bryan Vera at the Alamodome in San Antonio (on HBO). The fight is slated to take place at the 168-pound super middleweight limit.

Therein lies the intrigue. For their first fight, Chavez informed his promoter – Bob Arum – the week of that Sept. 28 bout at StubHub Center that he would not be able to make 168 pounds. The new weight was contracted for 173 pounds, two under the light heavyweight limit.

We asked Arum on Wednesday if he has heard any news out of Chavez’s camp regarding his weight and how he’s doing with it. Arum came with an interesting response.

“It’s like dealing with North Korea,” Arum said. “You don’t know what to believe.”

Chavez (47-1-1, 32 KOs) won an unpopular unanimous decision over Vera (23-7, 14 KOs) the first time. Vera is from Austin, Texas.

Mikey Garcia, Lamont Peterson get Saturday night victories in N.Y. and D.C.

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Robert Morales

Rivals Top Rank Inc. and Golden Boy Promotions on Saturday once again went up against each other with nationally televised shows on the same night.

Over at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Mikey Garcia of Oxnard retained his super featherweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Juan Carlos Burgos of Mexico. Garcia (34-0, 28 KOs) won by scores of 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109. Burgos is 30-2-2.

In the semi-main event, heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings (18-0, 10 KOs) of Philadelphia stopped Artur Szpilka (16-1) of Poland in the 10th round.

That Top Rank card was televised by HBO.

Over at DC Armory in Washington D.C., Lamont Peterson of Washington D.C. defended his super lightweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Dierry Jean of Canada. Peterson (32-2-1) won by scores of 115-13, 116-112 and 118-111. Jean is 25-1.

In the semi-main event, junior middleweight Jermell Charlo of Houston remained undefeated with a 10-round unanimous decision over tough Gabriel Rosado (21-8) of Philadelphia. Charlo (23-0) won by scores of 97-93, 99-91 and 100-90.

That Golden Boy Promotions card was televised by Showtime.

It’s good to see that Bryan Vera is getting another shot at Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Robert Morales

Monday’s news that a rematch between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Bryan Vera is a done deal for March 1 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas (on HBO) was good.

The two tangled Sept. 28 at StubHub Center in Carson with Chavez coming away with an unpopular unanimous decision. Vera fought the fight of his life, and Chavez was taken to task in a big way. Vera was the busier of the two, Chavez landed the harder blows.

What really steamed many was two scorecards that seemed well out of line. Carla Caiz had Chavez winning 96-94. But Marty Denkin and Gwen Adair had Chavez winning by scores of 97-93 and 98-92, respectively.

This was on the heels of Chavez being so unprofessional as to tell his camp the week of the fight that he could not make the 168-pound limit. Just like magic, Chavez and his team – including co-promoters- Bob Arum and Fernando Beltran – came up a new weight of 173. (Only in boxing, right?). Vera did make extra cash for agreeing to the change. But whatever joy he might have gotten from that quickly turned to misery when the scorecards were read following his gallant effort.

Glad this rematch is happening because Vera deserves it. By the way, the contracted weight for this fight is again 168, the super middleweight limit. Let’s see if Chavez, the former middleweight champion from Mexico, can train hard enough so we don’t have to see boxing embarrassed again when he comes up with another new weight.

Vera, 32, is from Austin, Texas. He is 27-3 with 14 knockouts. Chavez, 27, is 47-1-1 with 32 knockouts.

Report: Miguel Cotto turns down $10 million to fight ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, eyes Sergio Martinez

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Robert Morales

Former three-division world champion Miguel Cotto has turned down an offer of over $10 million to fight former junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a fight that would have taken place in March, according to a report on ESPN.com.

Cotto apparently did so because he wants to instead pursue a fight with middleweight champion Sergio Martinez. According to the story, Cotto wants to fight June 7 in New York City on the weekend of the Puerto Rican Day parade, and he wants to fight for the middleweight title. Those two things out-weigh the notion that he will not get as much money to fight Martinez. If Cotto and Alvarez were to fight, it would have to be in March and no title would be up for grabs.

Golden Boy Promotions would have been lead promoter in the case of a Cotto and Alvarez fight as Golden Boy promotes Alvarez; it would have been televised on Showtime pay-per-view. If Cotto and Martinez is made, Top Rank will act as Cotto’s promoter, the story said, and the fight would be on HBO pay-per-view.

Lou DiBella, who promotes Martinez, said that while there have been talks for a fight with Cotto, the fight is not a done deal. DiBella also said Martinez wants the fight.

At question would be the weight. The fight presumably would be for Martinez’s 160-pound middleweight belt. The story suggests Cotto will be asking Martinez to meet him somewhere between junior middleweight (154) and middleweight.

Cotto has won titles at junior welterweight, welterweight and junior middleweight.

Guillermo Rigondeaux, Joseph Agbeko make weight for Atlantic City clash

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Robert Morales

Super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba and Joseph “King Kong” Agbeko of Ghana both made weight for their title fight Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

Rigondeaux, who holds two of the major titles, tipped the scales at 121 pounds, one under the limit. Agbeko, a former bantamweight champion, came in at 121.6 pounds.

Rigondeaux, 33, is a two-time Olympic gold-medal winner who did not turn pro until May 2009, when he was already 28. He is 12-0 with eight knockouts. Agbeko, also 33, is 29-4 with 22 knockouts.

The fight will be televised on HBO along with two other fights. James Kirkland (31-1, 27 KOs) will take on Glen Tapia (20-0, 12 KOs) in a junior middleweight bout and Matthew “Mack The Knife” Macklin (29-5, 20 KOs) will square off with Lamar Russ (14-0, 7 KOs) in the middleweight division.

Kirkland and Tapia are actually fighting at a catch-weight of 156, two pounds over the junior middleweight limit.

Adonis Stevenson continues to display his worth in the ring to the world

Posted on December 1, 2013 by Robert Morales

Adonis Stevenson has become a much-talked about fighter these days. The light heavyweight champion from Canada on Saturday gave people even more to talk about with yet another defense that ended inside the distance.

Stevenson, 36, stopped Tony Bellew of England in the sixth round of their main event in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

That gives Stevenson a record of 23-1 with 20 knockouts; he has a knockout ratio of 83.3 percent.

The fight was televised by HBO.

Another light heavyweight champion – Sergey Kovalev of Russia – also defended his title in impressive fashion in the semi-main event. Kovalev knocked out Ismayl Sillakh (21-2) of the Ukraine in the second round.

Kovalev, 30, is now 23-0-1 with 21 knockouts. He has a knockout ratio of 87.5 percent, leaving one to wonder what a fight between Stevenson and Kovalev would produce.

Catch tonight’s replay of Manny Pacquiao-Brandon Rios and judge for yourself

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Robert Morales

There were differing opinions as to just how good Manny Pacquiao fought last Saturday when he easily defeated Brandon Rios over 12 rounds, really battering Rios’ face along the way in Macau, China. Some thought Pacquiao looked great. Others thought he looked good but perhaps was shy about finishing off Rios inside the distance. Pacquiao, of course, was coming off a crushing 6th-round knockout loss at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez in December 2012.

Tonight, fans who did not purchase last week’s pay-per-view can judge for themselves when HBO shows a replay of the fight. It is part of a telecast that will also have two light heavyweight title fights from Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Adonis Stevenson (21-1, 19 KOs) of Quebec will defend his title against Tony Bellew (20-1-1, 12 KOs) of England. In the other, Sergey Kovalev (22-0-1, 20 KOs) of Russia defends his belt against Ismayl Sillakh (21-1, 17 KOs) of the Ukraine.

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