Super Six predictions on Froch vs. Kessler
NEW YORK (April 22, 2010) –- The four entrants not fighting this weekend have weighed in with predictions for this weekend’s Super Six World Boxing Classic Group Stage 2 matchup between undefeated WBC Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) and Mikkel Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs). Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell, and Arthur Abraham predict a victory for the hometown fighter, Kessler while Allan Green sees the win going to Froch. The fight will air this Saturday, April 24, from the sold-out MCH Arena, in Herning, Denmark, on SHOWTIME® at 9 p.m. ET/PT (same-day coverage).
Entering the second of three Group Stage 2 matches in the Super Six World Boxing Classic on SHOWTIME, hometown fighters are 4-0 in the tournament. Froch, who is in a three-way tie for second place with two points, can overtake Abraham for the top spot on the tournament scoreboard with a “W”. Kessler, who has zero points, is desperate for a win and to keep his chances alive in the tournament.
Mayweather vs. Mosley – A Throwback to the Rich History of American Fights and the Welterweight Division
LOS ANGELES (April 21) Check your almanac: On the night of September 16, 1981, time stopped for one hour while welterweight champions Sugar Ray Leonard and Thomas Hearns traded punches in Las Vegas. That’s how big a fight it was. On May 1, welterweights Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley will clash in the biggest bout of 2010. The mega-matchup of multi-division champions, pound-for-pound kings and future Hall of Famers summons memories not only of Leonard-Hearns, but also of the rich history of American welterweights.
In recent years, boxing’s headlines have been made largely by foreign-born fighters like Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao, Joe Calzaghe and Juan Manuel Marquez. At welterweight or otherwise, there have been precious-few all-American matchups. In that sense, Mayweather-Mosley is a throwback fight.
East Coast favors Mayweather, West Coast picks Mosley
LOS ANGELES (April 21) – The internet is buzzing about Mayweather vs. Mosley and everyone is asking “Who R U Picking?” Several polls have been posted charting the opinions of a diverse cross-section of people who are clicking and picking who they think will be victorious on May 1 when Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley meet in the ring at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in a mega-fight which will be produced and distributed live by HBO-Pay-Per-View® beginning at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST. Fans seem to be split down the middle with some interesting variations between males vs. females, West Coast vs. East Coast and between the top cities in the United States, but one thing the public agrees on is that this evenly matched bout could go either way.
The West Coast seems to be firmly behind Sugar Shane Mosley, while the East Coast seems to back up Floyd Mayweather:
| Mayweather | Mosley | |
| East Coast | 62% | 38% |
| West Coast | 48% | 52% |
The War for Four – Vazquez v. Marquez May 22
Following three epic battles, Vazquez and two-division World Champion Rafael Marquez will face off in the fourth installment of what is perhaps the greatest boxing trilogy of all-time on Saturday, May 22, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, live on SHOWTIME® at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). In the co-feature, Yonnhy Perez will defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) Bantamweight World Title against unbeaten top contender Abner Mares.
The historic SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader is co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Gary Shaw Productions, Espinoza Boxing Promotions and Zanfer Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate.
Tickets, priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25 will be available starting Friday, March 19 at 10:00 a.m. PT online at ticketmaster.com, via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (800)745-3000. Tickets will also be available starting Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. PT at the STAPLES Center Box Office.
Closed Circuit Tickets On Sale Today For Mayweather vs. Mosley At Seven Las Vegas Casinos
LAS VEGAS (April 21) – Seven of the MGM MIRAGE properties on The Strip will host closed circuit viewing of the upcoming mega-fight between Floyd “Money” Mayweather and Sugar Shane Mosley. The resorts include MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, The Mirage, Monte Carlo, Luxor and Circus Circus. The bout is set to take place on Saturday, May 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and will be produced and distributed live by HBO-Pay-Per-View® beginning at 6 p.m. PST/9 p.m. EST.
Tickets for the closed circuit telecasts at all venues are priced at $50, not including applicable service charges and handling fees, and go on sale today, Wednesday, April 21 at 10 a.m. PST. All seats will be general admission and will be available at each individual property’s box office outlets and at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers and Ritmo Latino). To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000, or visit www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket sales are limited to 20 per person.
Arreola, Adamek, Angulo and Julio public workout
Arreola, Adamek, Angulo and Julio will participate in an open public workout on the Tuesday prior to the “Ring of Fire” fight card featuring the IBF International and NABO Heavyweight Championship bout between Cristobal Arreola and Tomasz Adamek on Saturday, April 24 at The Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario CA, live on HBO (11:15 p.m. ET/PT). The main event is promoted by Goossen Tutor Promotions and Main Events in association with Ziggy Promotions and sponsored by San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino and Corona.
Kessler gets ready for Froch
Photo By: Tony Brochner
Former WBA 168-pound Champ Mikkel Kessler participated in a light workout on Monday in Herning, Denmark, just five days before his Super Six World Boxing Classic showdown with WBC super middleweight champ Carl Froch on Saturday, April 24 onSHOWTIME® (9 p.m., ET/PT, same-day coverage) from MCH Arena, in Herning, Denmark.
Denmark’s Kessler will be counting on the support of his home fans when he challenges Nottingham, England’s Froch for the WBC 168-pound crown, a title he previously held before losing it to the retired Joe Calzaghe. Kessler is hoping that home-field advantage prevails for the fifth straight fight in the super middleweight tournament.A packed crowd filled the Shopping Centret Herning, one of the biggest shopping centers in Denmark, located just a few kilometers from the site of Saturday’s world title fight.
After one round in the tournament, Froch (26-0, 20 KOs) has two points, while Kessler (42-2, 32 KOs), who has never lost a fight in his hometown of Denmark, needs a victory to get on the board. Froch would become the tournament points leader with a win over Kessler.
The fight will be shown this Saturday, April 24 onSHOWTIME® (9 p.m., ET/PT, same-day coverage) from MCH Arena, in Herning, Denmark.
Israel Vazquez visits the track
BENOIT PHOTO (April 17, 2010) - Boxer Israel Vazquez rides the equcizer training device in the jockeys' room at Santa Anita Park.jpg
Vazquez, the former two-time world super bantamweight champion, presented the trophy for the $100,000 San Simeon Handicap, visited with the starting gate crew and stopped by the jockeys’ room to meet Rafael Bejarano (who led Santa Anita’s jockey standings for the third straight year) and have some fun on the jockeys’ horse simulator exercise equipment, called an equicizer.
Following three epic battles, Vazquez and two-division World Champion Rafael Marquez will face off in the fourth installment of what is perhaps the greatest boxing trilogy of all-time on Saturday, May 22, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, live on SHOWTIME® at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). In the co-feature, Yonnhy Perez will defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) Bantamweight World Title against unbeaten top contender Abner Mares.
The historic SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader is co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Gary Shaw Productions, Espinoza Boxing Promotions and Zanfer Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate.
Tickets, priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25 will be available starting Friday, March 19 at 10:00 a.m. PT online at ticketmaster.com, via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (800)745-3000. Tickets will also be available starting Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. PT at the STAPLES Center Box Office.
Saturday Nights Results. Bute & Martinez Win!
In the main event, Sergio Martinez out classed Kelly Pavlik over 12 rounds to capture the middle weight championship. Martinez proved to be too much for Pavlik, as he came out strong, using his jab and speed to control the fight. Pavlik made a slight comeback in the middle rounds, but it was short lived.
Earlier in the night, Lucian Bute solidified his position as one of the top Super middleweights in the world with a crushing knockout victory over power pucher Edison Miranda. Both fighters came out early trading short jabs. The fireworks began in the 3rd round when Bute let his hands go, landing two Uppercuts, the first to stun Miranda and the second one to knock him down. Miranda attempted to beat the count to no avail.
Up next, Kelly Pavlik vs. Sergio Martinez…
Middleweight Prospect Fernando Guerrero To Headline ShoBox This Friday On SHOWTIME
NEW YORK (April 13, 2010) – Undefeated middleweight prospect and hometown favorite Fernando Guerrero will put his undefeated record on the line against Michael Walkerof Chicago in a 10-round bout in the main event of ShoBox: The New Generation on Friday, April 16, live on SHOWTIME ® (11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from Wicomico Youthand Civic Center in Salisbury, Md.
In an exciting co-feature, promising, unbeaten Shawn Porter (13-0, 10 KOs) of Cleveland, Ohio, will face hard-hitting Colombian Raul Pinzon (17-4, 16 KOs) in a junior middleweight eight-round tussle.
The doubleheader is co-promoted by DiBella Entertainment and Prize Fight.
The power-punching Guerrero (17-0, 14 KOs), of Salisbury, Md., by way of the Dominican Republic, has scored all 14 of his knockouts inside of four rounds. The No. 12-rated World Boxing Organization (WBO) contender at 160 pounds, Guerrero is coming off a thrilling fourth-round TKO victory over Jessie Nicklow on Dec. 18, 2009 on ShoBox.
Prior to the Nicklow TKO, the 23-year-old Guerrero, a former Jr. Olympian, earned a career-best win, a hard-fought 10-round majority decision over former British Commonwealth welterweight and junior middleweight champion Ossie Duran on Oct. 10, 2009.
A southpaw who spars with brothers Anthony and Lamont Peterson, Guerrero is trained by Barry Hunter, who likes his fighter’s chances against Walker.
“I never underestimate anybody, but based on what I saw, it wasn’t like I saw anything special about Michael Walker,” said Hunter, who also trains the Petersons. “He’s a basic guy, a strong guy, straight-ahead, straightforward. I think he will fall right into Fernando’s style of fighting, because he (Fernando) has got the option: he can box or he can bang.
“The way I see it, at the rate Fernando’s going, next year, about this time or a little later, I figure he should be fighting somebody for one of those belts. He’s getting to that point where I want to step it up in competition a little bit more.”
If he wants to challenge for a world title next year Guerrero will first have to get by the dangerous Walker (19-3, 12 KOs). The 31-year-old Walker is coming off of two consecutive losses, but he has worked as a sparring partner with Kelly Pavlik and Miguel Cotto and knows he needs a victory to remain relevant in the middleweight division.
“This is kind of a do-or-die fight for him,” said Tyree Ortiz, Walker’s manager. “He’s been training really hard and he’s looking good in the gym and he’s confident. He wants to be the first one to beat Fernando Guerrero. It should be an exciting night.”
The 22-year-old Porter had a stellar amateur career, winning the 2007 National Golden Gloves title and serving as alternate on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. Porter holds amateur wins over current pro prospects the April 16 headliner, Guerrero, Danny Jacobs, Shawn Estrada, Demetrius Andrade and Edwin Rodriguez.
Porter has been active as a professional, fighting 14 times in 18 months. He has sparred with
pound-for-pound champion Manny Pacquiao, Pavlik and Chad Dawson.
Porter and his manager, father and trainer, Ken Porter, are starting to transition the 5-foot-7, 154-pounder down to welterweight, where he’ll be a similar height to others in the weight class and likely be more powerful.
“We’d like to see him in a fight at 147 pounds by mid to late summer,” the elder Porter said. “I want to see it happen soon. He’s 22 years old, and he’s not going to get smaller as he gets older — he’s going to get bigger. I want to see how he’s adjusting to it, how his body is reacting to it. The last fight, we came in at 152 (pounds), and we feel like we can get down lower.”
Porter is coming off a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Russell Jordan on Feb. 19. Porter didn’t look particularly strong or powerful against an opponent some felt he should have dominated, further reinforcing his camp’s decision to start a move down to 147.
The 30-year-old Pinzon has scored knockouts in all but one of his wins, albeit against less talented opponents than he’ll be facing in Porter.
