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.

 

 

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Associated Press: TV part of Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. deal a go

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is shown here at a Clippers game in 2013/Staff photo by Michael Owen Baker, Los Angeles Daily News

 

By Tim Dahlberg, Associated Press

HBO and Showtime have agreed on how they would broadcast a fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, promoter Bob Arum said Thursday, leaving only two remaining issues to be settled before the much anticipated May 2 fight can be signed.

Arum told The Associated Press that the rival networks have come to terms on an announcing team and other details for the pay-per-view blockbuster, and that talks this week have narrowed the remaining differences between the Mayweather and Pacquiao camps.

“We had four issues and we resolved two,” said Arum, who promotes Pacquiao. “Now we’re working on resolving the other two. Unless something else comes up at the last minute, that’s what my take is.”

Arum declined to say what those two issues are, saying he didn’t want to sabotage the negotiations just as they are reaching a critical juncture. And it was not clear whether the Mayweather side views the negotiations the same as Arum, or even if Mayweather will agree to the fight.

Mayweather’s adviser is Al Haymon, who reportedly has been doing the negotiating on his fighter’s behalf. But Haymon doesn’t talk to the media, and Mayweather communicates almost exclusively through social media.

Mayweather’s latest postings showed him enjoying a trip on a private jet to the Caribbean and getting a fish pedicure. He did post on social media last week that a media report the fight was a done deal was a “lie.”

Arum said the major financial points of the fight have been agreed to, including a reported 60-40 split in the purse in Mayweather’s favor. Based on the fight doing a record $200 million or more in revenue, Mayweather’s payday could be at least $120 million.

“There’s a lot of devil in the details and that’s what we’re sorting through now,” Arum said. “The remaining issues are obviously important to the participants, and are things we have to work out.”

Mayweather’s representatives have dictated most of the terms of the fight, and Arum said Mayweather will be the one to announce it if it is made.

Mayweather fights under contract to Showtime and Pacquiao to HBO, and there was speculation the two networks could hold up the fight by not coming to terms themselves. But talks between top executives have been ongoing for weeks, and HBO issued a statement Monday saying it was not an “impediment” to the fight.

“We stand ready to go,” the statement said. “The principals need to agree to terms and come to a deal.”

An HBO spokesman declined comment Thursday, and Showtime executives were not immediately made available for comment.

While Mayweather has been vacationing, Pacquiao was heading home Thursday to the Philippines after a trip to the U.S. and England. While in Miami for the pageant, Pacquiao attended a Miami Heat basketball game the same night Mayweather was there and the two fighters exchanged numbers and discussed the fight.

They later met for an hour, and Arum said the meeting convinced him that Mayweather wanted to make the fight.

Before heading home, Pacquiao also met in Washington with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and on Thursday attended the National Prayer Breakfast, where President Barack Obama spoke.

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Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez leaves Showtime to re-join HBO

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez/Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

 

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on Tuesday signed an agreement to return to HBO beginning with his next fight in December, the interested parties announced.

Alvarez, an ultra-popular former super welterweight champion from Mexico, fought seven times on HBO between 2010 and 2012. He moved over to Showtime after his promoter – Golden Boy Promotions – and HBO had a falling out and HBO said it would no longer work with Golden Boy.

That edict eased when HBO signed on to televise the upcoming light-heavyweight title fight between Golden Boy’s Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev on Nov. 8 in Atlantic City.

Alvarez has fought his five most recent fights on rival Showtime. Terms of his new agreement with HBO were not disclosed.

“For all of my career, I have wanted to fight on HBO for one main reason –  I believe it will allow more of my fans to see me in action,” said Alvarez, who is 44-1-1 with 31 knockouts. “Today marks a huge milestone for me, and I look forward to a long and successful partnership with HBO.”

Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy, was stoked.

“I’m thrilled to be part of this historic agreement between ‘Canelo’ Álvarez and HBO Sports, an agreement that marks another major step in Golden Boy Promotions’ primary goal to give boxing fans the fights they want to see,” he said.

Ken Hersham, president of HBO Sports, seemed equally jazzed.

“Everyone at HBO is excited to welcome back ‘Canelo’ Álvarez to the HBO family, and we can’t wait to re-introduce him to our subscribers,” Hershman said. “At only 24 years old, ‘Canelo’ has already established himself as one of the boxing world’s brightest stars, and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship as we embark on this new chapter together.”

Alvarez last fought in July and won a split-decision over Erislandy Lara at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Alvarez lost his two super welterweight world titles to Floyd Mayweather jr. via majority decision in September 2013.

 

 

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Adrien Broner to take on Emmanuel Taylor on Sept. 6 on Showtime

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Adrien Broner/Photo courtesy of Golden Boy Promotions

Former world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner of Cincinnati will fight at home for the first time in over two years when he takes on Emmanuel Taylor in the super lightweight main event on Sept. 6 at U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati (on Showtime).

Broner last fought at that same venue in July 2012 when he defended his junior lightweight title against Vicente Escobedo via 5th-round TKO.

“It’s always good to fight at home,” Broner said. It’s overdue. I will not disappoint my Cincinnati fans. I’ll make sure to put up a good show for them. Taylor is a young, talented fighter, but he’s not ready to solve this ‘Problem.’ ”

Broner, 25, is 28-1 with 22 knockouts. He has won titles at junior lightweight, lightweight and welterweight.

Taylor, of Edgewood Arsenal, Md., is 23. He has a record of 18-2 with 12 knockouts. He has victories over Victor Manuel Cayo and Karim Mayfield.

“This is the biggest fight of my career and I won’t let it get away from me,” Taylor said.  “All of those hours in the gym were for a moment like this, and I can’t wait to show the world what I can do in the ring.”

 

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Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero, Yoshihiro Kamegai make weight for Saturday’s fight

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View GuerreroKamegaiWeighIn_Hoganphotos.jpg in slide show

Photo by Gene Blevins – Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions

Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (pictured left) and Yoshihiro Kamegai on Friday both made weight for their welterweight showdown Saturday at StubHub Center

Weighing in at the DoubleTree Hotel in Carson, Guerrero weighed in at 146 pounds, a pound under the 147-pound limit. Kamegai came in at 146.8 pounds.

The semi-main event fighters also made weight. Gary Russell Jr. and Vasyl Lomachenko both weighed 125.4 pounds for their featherweight world-tltle fight; the limit is 126.

Showtime will televise both bouts on the Golden Boy Promotions card.

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Showtime video previewing undercard of ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-Erislandy Lara on July 12

This Showtime video previews the undercard for the July 12 junior middleweight showdown between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of Mexico and Erislandy Lara of Cuba at MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Showtime pay-per-view. Just click on the link.

http://youtu.be/5neyd-mr_Do

 

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Adonis Stevenson goes for 11th consecutive knockout Saturday night in Montreal

Hard-hitting light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson of Canada will be the favorite Saturday night when he defends his belt against Andrzej Fonfara of Chicago via Poland from Bell Centre in Montreal.

The two figure to square off about 8-8:30 p.m. Pacific time in a fight that will be televised lived by Showtime.

Stevenson, 36, is 23-1 with 20 knockouts. He has won his past 10 fights via knockout, three of those knockouts coming in the first round. Fonfara, 26, is 25-2 with 15 knockouts.

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HBO’s Jim Lampley apologizes for confusing Norwalk’s Carlos Molina with Chicago’s

HBO’s Jim Lampley on Monday issued a formal apology for the mistake he made in this past Saturday’s version of “The Fight Game with Jim Lampley.”

Lampley was previewing the May 3 card in Las Vegas featuring Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana in the main event (on Showtime pay-per-view), when he came with this: “On his undercard Amir Khan is facing Luis Collazo and Adrien Broner fights Carlos Molina.  Collazo is regarded as dangerous for Khan, but Molina has spent the bulk of the past few months in jail.”

Unfortunately, the Carlos Molina who has been in jail is a junior middleweight from Chicago. The Carlos Molina who is slated to fight Broner in the junior welterweight division is from Norwalk, and he has not been in jail.

“Saturday night on the latest edition of ‘The Fight Game’ on HBO, I made an embarrassing mistake,” Lampley said in a statement. “I confused light welterweight contender Carlos Molina of Norwalk, CA  with 154-pound fighter Carlos Molina of Chicago.  Los Angeles native Carlos Molina has an important fight on May 3 versus Adrien Broner in Las Vegas.  None of the legal issues confronting Carlos Molina of Chicago have anything to do with the younger Molina.  I apologize to Mr. Molina for confusing the matter as he prepares for his important prizefight next month.”

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Amir Khan and Luis Collazo will tangle on Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Marcos Maidana undercard

Golden Boy Promotions on Monday announced that former junior welterweight champion Amir Khan of England will take on former welterweight champion Luis Collazo of Brooklyn on May 3 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view).

They will tangle on the undercard of the welterweight title-unification bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana.

 

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