Freddie Roach has threatening message for Terence Crawford and his team

Viktor Postol/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach on Thursday had some rather threatening words for the Terence Crawford camp. Crawford and Viktor Postol, who is trained by Roach, will tangle in a junior welterweight title-unification bout July 23 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view).

During a conference call, Roach intimated Team Crawford might be taking a victory for granted.

“I think this is a great opportunity,” Roach said. “I think that maybe they (Team Crawford) are underestimating us a little bit. But they’ll pay for that.”

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

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Don’t look now, but Manny Pacquiao is going to fight again in the fall

April 9,2016. Las Vegas NV.  (in Wht/Yell tnks)/Manny Pacquiao  knocks down Timothy Bradley in the 9th round Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden hotel  Manny Pacquiao took the win by unanimous decision for the international  welterweight championship.Photo by Gene Blevins/LA Daily News

Manny Pacquiao connects to the face of Timothy Bradley in their April 9 fight at MGM Grand in Las Vegas/Photo by Gene Blevins, L.A. Daily News

 

Moments after he handily defeated Timothy Bradley in their rubber match April 9 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao was asked if he indeed was going to retire like he said he would.

“Yes,” he said. “I’m going to go home and spend time with my family and I want to serve the people.”

Pacquiao, 37, was running for a seat in the Senate in his native Philippines at the time. He won in May, and is now a member. With that out of the way, Pacquiao has decided to make his retirement a short one by fighting at least one more time.

That figures to be either Oct. 29 or Nov. 5 in Las Vegas, his promoter, Bob Arum, said Tuesday. Arum did not seem the least bit surprised that Pacquiao wants to lace up the gloves again.

“I always knew he wanted to fight if the Senate allowed it, and the president of the Senate told him he can fight if it’s after the 15th (of October) because that week they were voting on the budget,” Arum said via telephone Tuesday evening.

Arum was asked about the opponent, and he gave a long list.

Terence Crawford is possible,” said Arum, who is promoting the July 23 junior welterweight title-unification bout between Crawford and Viktor Postol at MGM Grand (on HBO pay-per-view). “Postol, if he wins, is possible. Jessie Vargas is possible, (Danny) Garcia is possible. They’re all possible.”

Even if Crawford or Postol were to insist Pacquiao fight at junior welterweight, that shouldn’t be a problem because Pacquiao is a small welterweight. Vargas and Garcia are both welterweight champions, so either of them work as well.

A venue is not yet secured, and Arum is working on all that now.

Another avenue that could be taken would be a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather, 39, announced his retirement after defeating Andre Berto this past September. But Mayweather could make it 50-0 with another victory over Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs).

Mayweather won a unanimous decision over Pacquiao in a welterweight title-unification bout in May 2015. Afterward, Pacquiao revealed he fought with a torn rotator cuff. Pacquiao had surgery, came back 11 months later and fought very well in winning a rather wide decision over Bradley.

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Terence Crawford is where he is because he stays true to the business

Terence Crawford is shown here after stopping Dierry Jean in the 10th round this past October in Crawford’s native Omaha, Neb. It was Crawford’s first defense of his junior welterweight title/Associated Press photo by LM Otero

 

Junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford on Tuesday from training camp was asked if Viktor Postol is going to be the toughest test of his career when they square off in a title-unification bout July 23 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view). Crawford’s response said a lot about the way he goes about his business.

“On paper you could make a case that Postol will be the toughest man I have faced inside the ring, but I won’t really know that until I fight him on July 23,” Crawford said. “When I go into camp, I always assume the opponent I’m training for will be my toughest test.  It’s the only way I know how to train. I respect any fighter who laces up the gloves and enters the ring to battle with me. I take no opponent for granted and I take nothing in training camp for granted. We are by the book in camp. We skip nothing in gym training or conditioning.”

Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) intimated he can’t achieve his goals by half-stepping. That’s why he’s fighting Postol.

“Against Postol, I’m not just defending my belt, I’m out to take his, too,” said Crawford, 28. “That’s the reason for taking such a tough fight. It is because I wanted to fight the best fighter out there, to beat the best fighter out there, to show that I am the best fighter in the division.”

Postol, of the Ukraine, is 32. He is 28-0 with 12 knockouts.

 

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VIDEO: HBO takes a look at world champion Terence Crawford

Terence Crawford/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

Terence Crawford (28-0, 20 KOs) and Viktor Postol (28-0, 12 KOs) will square off in a junior welterweight title-unification bout July 23 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view). As a prelude to the bout, HBO has produced “Terence Crawford: My Fight.” It’s an in-depth look at one of boxing’s top pound-for-pound fighters.

Check it out here.

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Thomas Karpency, Oleksandr Gvozdyk to tangle underneath Crawford-Postol

Thomas Karpency/Photo courtesy of BoxRec.com

 

When the super middleweight title fight between champion Gilberto Ramirez of Mexico and Dominik Britsch of Germany slated for July 23 fell out because of a hand injury sustained by Ramirez this week, that left promoter Bob Arum looking for another fight to fill out the HBO pay-per-view event at MGM Grand in Las Vegas that will be headlined by the junior welterweight title-unification bout between Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol.

That spot has been filled with a 10-round bout between light heavyweights Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Thomas Karpency. It will be one of four bouts on the pay-per-view feed.

Karpency, of Adah, Pa., is 26-5-1 with 15 knockouts. Gvozdyk, of the Ukraine, is 10-0 with eight knockouts.

Ramirez-Britsch was to be the semi-main event on this card. That now will be Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 KOs) of Mexico taking on Matias Rueda (26-0, 23 KOs) of Argentina for a vacant featherweight title.

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Gilberto Ramirez out at least five months after tearing hand; defense against Dominik Britsch postponed

Gilberto Ramirez/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

Fresh off making history by becoming the first from Mexico to win a world title at super middleweight, the blossoming career of Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) hit a roadblock this week when he sustained a hand injury that will prevent him from making his first defense July 23 against Dominik Britsch of Germany.

They were to square off underneath the junior welterweight title-unification bout between Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view).

The following is a statement from hand specialist, Dr. Steven Shin, who examined Ramirez:

“Gilberto Ramirez sustained an injury to the third knuckle of his right hand after a punch to the head of his sparring partner, July 5, 2016.  I examined Gilberto later that day, and ordered an MRI of his right hand. The MRI revealed a complete tear of the ulnar sagittal band at the 3rd metacarpophalangeal joint (knuckle) of his right hand, a region of the hand that is commonly injured in boxers.  Gilberto will undergo surgery this Friday for repair of this injury.  We anticipate that the soonest he will be able to fight competitively will be in approximately five months.”

Top Rank Inc. is promoting this card. Company spokesman Fred Sternburg said promoter Bob Arum is still trying to put together another semi-main event. It could be that another fight already scheduled on the card will fill that spot.

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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.”

 

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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.

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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.

 

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‘Canelo’ Alvarez may have balked, but Bob Arum would pit Gilberto Ramirez against Gennady Golovkin

Gilberto Ramirez

Gilberto Ramirez/Photo courtesy of Top Rank Inc.

 

Oscar De La Hoya may not be keen on his fighter – Saul “Canelo” Alvarez – fighting middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. But promoter Bob Arum said Tuesday he would love to pit his fighter – super middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez – against Golovkin sometime next year. It would mean Golokvin moving up to the super middleweight limit of 168 pounds, something his team has always said he could do if the right fight came along.

“This is not just talk,” Arum said at the Conga Room in Los Angeles before he played host to a news conference announcing the undercard to the July 23 junior welterweight title-unification fight between Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on HBO pay-per-view); Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) will make his first title defense against Dominik Britsch (32-2-1, 11 KOs) in that semi-main event.

Arum said he has had more than one meeting with Tom Loeffler, general manager of K2 Promotions, the banner under which Golovkin fights.

“If the fight happens, we’re pretty well agreed on terms and we feel that with ‘Zurdo’ fighting in July and Gennady probably fighting in September because ‘Canelo’ won’t be available, then we need to do one more fight for ‘Zurdo’ and then plan the fight for next year.

“And I think Loeffler’s pretty much on that page. That’s not to say that if he could get ‘Canelo’ this year (for Golovkin), he wouldn’t do it. But I don’t think he’s going to.”

A call to Loeffler was not immediately returned.

Ramirez, a 6-foot-2 1/2 southpaw, is from Mexico. He made history on April 9 by becoming the first Mexican to win a world title at super middleweight when he took the title from Arthur Abraham with a unanimous decision on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley III.

Ramirez is just 24.

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