Wales’ Lee Selby stoked to be defending his title in ‘mecca of boxing’

Aron Martinez

Lee Selby/Photo courtesy of Premier Boxing Champions

 

All eyes Jan. 28 figure to be on the main event between Leo Santa Cruz of Lincoln Heights and Carl Frampton of Northern Ireland when they square off in a rematch for Frampton’s featherweight world title at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime). But there is plenty going on with the undercard, and another featherweight champion – Lee Selby of Wales – is stoked to be part of it.

Selby (23-1, 8 KOs) will defend his title against former champion Jonathan Barros (41-4-1, 22 KOs) of Argentina (on Showtime Extreme).

“It’s been a dream of mine since I was a young kid to box in a world-title fight in Las Vegas, the mecca of boxing,” said the 29-year-old Selby, who will be making his Las Vegas debut and will be fighting in the U.S. for just the second time. “I’ve seen UK fighters like Lennox Lewis, Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe and Amir Khan box in Las Vegas and I always knew that’s where I wanted to fight.”

Barros, 29, plans on spoiling Selby’s fun. Barros said, in part, “Selby has never faced anyone as dangerous as me and I plan on making it a long night for him.”

Santa Cruz (32-1-1, 18 KOs) and Frampton (23-0, 14 KOs) tangled July 30 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with Frampton winning a majority decision and taking Santa Cruz’s title.

 

 

 

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Showtime’s replays of ‘Britain’s Best’ good way to spend a Thursday night

Nigel Benn/Photo courtesy of BoxRec.com

 

Showtime Championship Boxing this month will continue its 30th anniversary celebration with a series of Thursday-night replays entitled “Britain’s Best” that will air on Showtime Extreme.

A total of five fights will be shown, the first of which will be the rematch between Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank that took place in October 1993 in England. It was a super middleweight title bout that ended in a draw and took place in front of about 42,000. They first tangled in a middleweight title fight in November 1990, Benn stopping Eubank in the ninth round in England.

That will air Sept. 1.

The other four fights are Prince Naseem HamedTom “Boom Boom” Johnson (Sept. 8), Ricky HattonKostya Tszyu (Sept. 18), Joe CalzagheJeff Lacy (Sept. 25) and Carl FrochJermain Taylor (Sept. 29).

 

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Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad Jr. and Joe Calzaghe inducted into Hall of Fame

Photo by Associated Press

Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad Jr. and Joe Calzaghe were inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday in Canastota, N.Y.

De La Hoya, 41, of East L.A., compiled a record of 39-6 with 30 knockouts and won world titles in six weight classes. De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, retired a few months after he was stopped by Manny Pacquiao after eight rounds in December 2008.

“I was fortunate enough to win an Olympic gold for my country, and winning world titles in boxing is great and not too many people can do that,” De La Hoya told USA Today. “But to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, it’s quite an honor, and I’m so grateful and blessed that I can be part of such a wonderful group, like (Felix) Trinidad and (Joe) Calzaghe.”

De La Hoya not long ago completed his second stint in a drug & alcohol rehabilitation clinic. Also, this past week his longtime CEO – Richard Schaefer – resigned from the company.

One of De La Hoya’s losses was to Trinidad. They tangled in a welterweight title-unification bout in September 1999 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. De La Hoya definitely out-boxed Trinidad, who was more interested in going toe-to-toe. But De La Hoya ran the last three rounds and lost the bout via majority decision.

Trinidad, of Puerto Rico, is 41. He compiled a record of 42-3 with 35 knockouts from 1990-2008. A longtime welterweight champion, he also won titles in the junior middleweight and middleweight classes.

Calzaghe, of Wales, will go down as one of the top super middleweights of his era. He went 46-0 with 32 knockouts from 1993-2008.

He won the super middleweight title in October 1997 and made 21 defenses, becoming a unified champion along the way.

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