World Boxing News 2010-2013

LEGENDARY BACKYARD BRAWLER KIMBO SLICE TO MAKE BOXING PRO DEBUT AUGUST 13 Forget the kicking and wrestling, Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson will soon be where he should have been all along... busting heads in a boxing ring. On Saturday, August 13, legendary street brawler Kimbo Slice will make his long-awaited professional boxing debut in the four-round main event of a Gary Shaw Productions and Tony Holden Promotions boxing extravaganza at Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. Slice became the Internet's first street-certified action hero by smashing down a series of opponents in brutal backyard fist fights. The announcement is good news for fight fans, as he will surely administer a much-needed shot of adrenaline into the American heavyweight scene. "Kimbo was always meant to be in the ring," said Jared Shaw, Team Kimbo Promotional Advisor. "He's one of the hardest punchers in the world and on August 13, his journey to becoming America's...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘Money’ could have ten more fights, including 'Pacman' Five-weight world champion Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather spoke candidly earlier today at the first of two press conferences to be held this week to promote his first fight in over a year. The undefeated pound for pound star takes on WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz at the now-confirmed MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas in what has now been branded as ‘Star Power.’ The former ‘Pretty Boy’ has an awesome record of 41-0, and was billed as the ‘Biggest Star in Boxing” in the pre-conference promo and the Star in ‘Star Power’ even though he has almost as many knockouts a ‘Vicious’ Ortiz has victories. Title holder Ortiz, 24, was billed as the ‘Power’ and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer emphasised that point on my than one occasion, stating Ortiz had put his last four opponents on the canvas. Through all the niceties and back-patting though, Mayweather did touch on his treatment by the media and a pos...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Easy decision for the former British champ I was under no illusions when former world title challenger Danny Williams announced his German comeback under the new name of DPW on the back of a Latvian boxing license as the Londoner has looked a shot fighter for the best part of four years. The 37 year-old has continued on, and in flashes has looked a decent domestic fighter, but his 2009 Prizefighter defeat to Carl Baker really should have had the alarm bells ringing in Williams’ head. ‘The Brixton Bomber’ returned in March after a ten-month absence with a victory over a man who came in 68lbs lighter than he did and is really a cruiserweight. He followed that up with a first round win over Laszlo Toth, who was overweight and under-classed as a heavyweight and really shouldn’t have been in the ring with Danny. Those two poor victories must have given Williams a delusional thought that he could still cut it on the European heavyweight scene as he then signed ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘K9’ retains world title in first defence IBF light-middleweight champion Cornelius ‘K9’ Bundrage is still the champion after retaining the title he ripped away from Cory Spinks last August. The 38 year-old has blossomed late in his career and after suffering two defeats as part of The Contender TV series, has remained unbeaten since and looks every inch the world champion. In a rematch to their amazing 22 second fight in 2005, which Bundrage lost, both were intend on trading heavy blows from the off, with the champion looking the classier fighter and taking a unanimous decision victory to retain his title in his maiden defence. The score’s read 119-109, 117-111 and 115-113 as Bundrage kept his title in a tough battle. Powell looked in trouble in the fourth round as both men loaded up on their punches, but came back towards the later stages of the round to give Bundrage as good as he got. With Bundrage just having that little bit more experience it ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘The Great’ seals ten round victory in Missouri Former unified light-welterweight champion Devon Alexander got back to winning ways last night as the 24 year-old ground out a tough ten-round decision win over Argentinian hard-man Lucas Martin Matthysse in Saint Charles, Missouri on a huge world title night at the Family Arena. Alexander, who has both held the IBF and WBC titles at 140lbs, scored his 22nd career win in his 23rd contest despite suffering a fourth round knockdown. The American had used his lateral movement to stay away from Matthysse’s power with some success until the first few seconds of the fourth round when Matthysse caught Alexander flat-footed with a straight right hand and dropped him to the canvas. The former world champion, who sufferd his first defeat in his last bout with Timothy Bradley, got straight back up and continued on after an eight count but wouldn’t make the same mistake again for the remaining six rounds. Alexander s...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor German takes split decision in ‘Fight of the Year’ contender WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm clung to his title tonight in a close battle with Irishman Matthew Macklin in Cologne. The 32 year-old scored his 36th career win with a split decision to defend his belt for the twelfth time since claiming the title in 2006. Macklin, the younger man by three years started fast, throwing over 80 punches in the first round and kept up the pressure on the champion for the first six rounds. The challenger focused on Sturm’s body for the majority of his attacks and noticeably reddened Sturm’s midriff through the early part of the fight. ‘Leonidas’ was still catching Macklin with classy counters and some of the rounds could easily be scored either way, although Macklin did pressure the home fighter relentlessly throughout the twelve rounds. Sturm changed tactics midway through the fight and tried to take the fight to the outside after the first six rounds were...

Felix Sturm v Matthew Macklin (WBA 'super' world middleweight title) Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany 12x3 rounds                                                     Sturm                           Macklin ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------            Round 1                                 9                                 10  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------            Round 2     ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Light-middleweights meet again six years on from their amazing first fight Cornelius “K9” Bundgrage will defend his IBF 154lb title for the first time tonight in Missouri in a rematch with former opponent Sechew “Iron Horse” Powell. The two Americans first met in May 2005 in an unbelievable bout that lasted only 22 seconds, but included a double knockdown with both fighters’ first punches. Immediately after their fight at Foxwoods Resort in Connecticut, Bundrage, 37, entered The Contender tournament, where he reached the semi-finals, whilst 31 year-old Powell has been on the brink of a world title shot ever since, only to lose when the chance of a title bout was just one victory away from being a reality. After becoming number one contender to the IBF title in 2007 with a victory over Terence Cauthen, New-Yorker Powell was pencilled in to meet IBF champion Cory Spinks in the summer of 2008, only for Spinks to lose his title to Verno Phillips in March an...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Challenger confident in ability to take German's belt Former European middleweight champion Matthew Macklin is under no illusions about the size of the task in front of him when the Irishman tackles WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm on June 25th in Cologne and will be looking to add to his winning record against German opposition. The 28 year-old, who faces the three-time world champion in his first shot at a version of the world title, is expecting a tough fight against the man four years his senior and aims to become the first boxer to beat the titleholder since July 2006 when Javier Castillejo stopped him in ten rounds. “I rate Sturm highly,” Macklin told World Boxing News. “Apart from [Sergio] Martinez, who leads the pack because of his win against [Kelly] Pavlik, if u looked at the top ten middleweights in the world, Sturm is the name that jumps out at you as he has been a dominant force for almost eight years or so.” The Birmingham b...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘Next Generation’ aims for second win in five Three-time world champion Cory Spinks will step back in the ring tomorrow night on the undercard of Devon Alexander’s match-up with Lucas Matthysse at The Family Arena in Saint Charles, Missouri. The 33 year-old has held the unified welterweight titles and the IBF 154lb title twice in his fourteen-year career and looks to claim his 38th career victory over Shakir Ashanti. Spinks was devastating stopped last August by former Contender Series star Cornelius ‘K9’ Bundrage, who picked up the IBF title in the process and also defends it on the night in a rematch with Sechew Powell. Southpaw Spinks has fought just four times in four years, winning just one and will need to string some victories together to get back into the title mix.

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Tom picks up his 2010 Amateur Boxer of the Year award Thomas Stalker was born in Liverpool in 1984, where a life in boxing seemed a million miles away. As young lad, he would get himself into scrapes, which eventually escalated, as he got older. In his teenage years, Tom got in with the wrong crowd and was involved in petty crime, a life that is all too common in the Huyton area of Liverpool where Tom grew up. At 18, with a pregnant girlfriend and with no real direction in his life, Tom decided he needed to find a better outlet for his energy and opted to go down to a local gym which he and his two brothers frequented, St Aloysius ABC. Tom was instantly hooked on the sport and would always be one of the last people to leave the gym; he had his first amateur bout a year after he first walked into the gym as it became clear he had real natural talent. He spent the next couple of years training religiously, gaining experience and harnessing all he s...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor (Picture by Jacklyn Sia) Rustico Torrecampo returns with knockout win after 14 year absence On February 9th 1996 in the Philippines, the great Manny Pacquiao, destined to be one of the greatest boxers of all time, suffered his first professional defeat in his twelfth contest at the age of 18 against an enigma of a man by the name of Rustico Torrecampo. Fellow Filipino southpaw Torrecampo was 24 at the time and had a chequered record of 11-4-4,with 3 KO’s. Torrecampo knockout out the youngster in three rounds and at the time it was just another flyweight prospect losing his unbeaten record against another, little did we know what was to follow from the teenage “Pacman.” Torrecampo lost four of his next seven fights after defeating the future seven-weight world champion and retired at the age of 25 in 1997 with an unfulfilled career behind him. He is now 38 and after a fourteen-year retirement, got back in the ring in February to knockout Jovanie Bua...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor After a chance meeting with Frank Warren in a pub Islington, London, The enigmatic cuts man “Mick the Knife” has attended to every boxer’s nightmare for what seems like an eternity. When asked about his first boxing match as a cornerman, even he cannot remember his first fight “I do not know when it was but I had brown hair,” he joked. It was 1981, and when Frank Warren needed an extra cornerman, he called on Mick to help him out, he obliged and a couple of years later, with help from Danny Holland and Ernie Fossey, Mick learned the cuts trade and has gone on to master his art. The London cabbie has been nursing of the likes of Ricky Hatton and David Haye in a lengthy career, which has earned him the adulation of being widely known as the best cuts man in the business.  Ricky Hatton would almost certainly have lost to John Thaxton in 2000, but by his own admission, the worst he’s dealt with was in early 2010 in Liverpool, when he saved Paul Smi...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Old heavyweight rivals help promote fight card Former world heavyweight champions were out in force on Friday night as three-time title holder Mike Tyson met up with former conquerer James ‘Buster’ Douglas to help promote fight nights in Cincinnati. Nate Tubbs, brother of former WBA heavyweight champion Tony, drafted in the pair to help him draw attention to the six-bout card at the Grand Victoria Casino. 44 year-old Tyson and Douglas, 41, met for the first time since 1990, when Douglas became the first man to beat Tyson and made himself a household name in the process. ‘Buster’ would lose the unified titles just eight months later against Evander Holyfield and would subsequently retire for six years, before making an unsuccessful three-year comeback in 1996. Tyson’s fortunes over the years that followed that night in Tokyo have been much publicised since then, but it shows the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ has mellowed over the years and is willing to give...

Frank Warren Promotions http://www.frankwarren.tv Nicky Cook has warned English rival Ricky Burns that he'll be on the wrong end of a Cockney revival on July 16. The pair meet for the Scotsman's WBO World Super-Featherweight title at the Liverpool Echo Arena, live on Sky Sports 1HD. Cook says he'll be bringing the world title back to east London - and Mitchell will win his big fight against John Murray. A week earlier, Cook's former gym-mate Mitchell will attempt to reignite his career with a win against John Murray at the Excel in London. And Cookie is promising a spectacular against-the-odds double for the east end. "I'm concentrating on my world title fight against Burns and I'm sure Mitchell will do the job against Murray," said Cook. "I fancy Kevin's chances, and there is only one winner in my fight with Burns as far as I'm concerned," "This is my opportunity to set the record straight after my loss to Roman M...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor (Picture courtesy of Boxing Scene) Alvarez retains world title in dominant win WBC light-middleweight champion Saul Alvarez (37-0-1) showed maturity beyond his 20 years in a convincing twelve round stoppage over Britain’s Ryan Rhodes to successfully defend his belt for the first time. The unbeaten title holder was able to pick and choose his attacks throughout the fight as the challenger had no answer to his power and speed. The Mexican got into his stride after a tentative first round and seemed to be in full control of Rhodes, who found it hard to get his shots off and seemed worried about Alvarez’s power and rightly so. ‘Canelo’ put Rhodes down in fourth round after a three-punch combination and used his uppercut with great accuracy in the later rounds to wear Rhodes down. Alvarez was able to pick and choose his attacks at times and never seemed worried about what Rhodes had to offer. His combinations were sickening at times as he ground the Briton ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Scouser says no British title shot for Maccarinelli Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion Tony Bellew (15-0, 10 KO’s) is hoping to add the British title to his belt collection on July 16th in a rematch with Derby’s Ovill McKenzie (18-10), but has no intention of defending it against the new 175lb fighter on the block, Enzo Maccarinelli. The Liverpudlian, who fights in his home city at the Echo Arena on the undercard to Ricky Burns’ world title defence against Nicky Cook, has become great friends with the Welshman over the years and has no desire to step into the ring with the former cruiserweight world champion now that he has moved down. “That fight isn’t happening,” said Bellew. “Me and Enzo are friends and I think he is racing me to Nathan Cleverly anyway.” The 28 year-old almost secured a last-minute world title challenge against WBO champion Cleverly in London last month, only for weight problems to scupper his plans. Bellew now hopes to p...

Frank Warren Promotions http://www.frankwarren.tv WBO World Super-Featherweight champion Ricky Burns wants to beat Scott Harrison's Scottish record of seven successful world title defences. Coatbridge hero Burns makes the third and hardest defence of his title on Saturday 16th July at Liverpool's Echo Arena against the former Champion Nicky Cook, live on Sky Sports 1HD. Although Burns is very much taking his career one fight at a time, he can't help but have an eye on the bigger picture. That includes becoming even more successful than Harrison, who enjoyed two reigns as WBO World Featherweight king and to step up a division and do the same there. "I grew up watching Scott when I was a young professional, and he was an inspirational figure," said Burns. "There were some great nights for Scottish boxing when he defended his world title at the Braehead Arena and I featured on the undercard which was a great learning experience. "He had so mu...

Ashley Theophane http://ashleytheophane.com On Tuesday I was offered a slot on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr’s long awaited comeback fight against WBC World champion Victor Ortiz. Floyd announced his comeback fight on his Twitter page at 12pm and a few hours later I was notified that Golden Boy Promotions had enquired if I was available to fight on September 17th, as part of the televised portion of the show. It was a huge opportunity and I was hoping for a big name – but when I was told Jessie Vargas, I turned it down instantly. To me it felt like it could have been the Danny Garcia fight all over again, with Vargas not having a world ranking and me having nothing to gain from a win, but everything to lose. The fight is over eight rounds and that was not appealing to me. But just to get the call that they wanted me on the show was a good feeling, as the event will be televised in one million homes across America. Unfortunately that alone does not make it I fight that...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Former Unified lightweight champion of the world Juan 'Baby Bull' Diaz has retired from boxing just over two weeks after announcing his intention to fight David Torres on July 29th in Las Vegas. The 27 year-old has decided to step away from boxing to concentrate on his home life and this is part of the statement that Diaz released. "The 20 years of boxing started taking its toll on my body," Diaz told World Boxing News. "The hunger's there, but the wear and tear on my body told me it's time to move on to bigger and better things. Law school's right around the corner, and I think that's my future. I want to be one of those good guys, one that retires on time and not because I'm forced out." "In a perfect world, I would have fought the lightweight champion, beat them fair and square, maybe have another title defense as my farewell fight and then retired," he added. Diaz leaves the sport with a 35-...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Kevin Kelley was born in Brooklyn, New York before moving to Flushing, Queens where he grew up and acquired the nickname the “Flushing Flash.” He turned pro in 1988 after winning two New York Golden Glove titles and just losing out on a place at the Seoul Olympic Games in a box-off against Carl Daniels. After an easy KO victory against Willie Barnes in September 1988, Kevin quickly showed his potential by despatching his next 35 opponents in just over five years, proving his power with 13 KO’s in the first two rounds. He picked up the WBC Continental Title along the way and was finally given his chance to win a world title in December 1993 against Gregorio Vargas, who was making his first defence of his WBC title. Kelley outworked the rugged Mexican over the twelve rounds and took a three and four round decision from the judges to be crowned WBC Featherweight Champion of the world. A successful defence followed five months later against Jesse Benavi...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Tyson earns Hall of Fame Induction honour After dominating the heavyweight scene in the mid to late eighties, Michael Gerard Tyson has finally claimed his rightful place among the greats of the sport of boxing, an honour the youngest ever heavyweight champion thought would never come. Tyson turned pro in 1985 and ripped his way through the heavyweight division with un-nerving viciousness until he claimed the WBC Title as a 20 year-old in 1986, demolishing champion Trevor Berbick in just over five minutes. He unified the heavyweight division within a year, the first man in history to hold three belts simultaneously and defended his titles with the same ferociousness until that fateful night in 1990, when his wild lifestyle caught up on him and his boxing career would never recover. After losing the titles in a controversial fight to James “Buster” Doulgas, a 33/1 underdog, Tyson fought four more times, until his life outside the ring saw him ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Five-weight world champ to visit Britain for exhibition Future Hall of Famer Floyd Mayweather Jr is set to bring his preparations for his upcoming fight with WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz to Great Britain. The 34 year-old eight-time world champion takes on the new title holder in September at a venue yet o be decided and will make a visit to the UK one of his top priorities. ‘Money’ has made no secret in the past of his love for the UK fans and has posted tweets in the past weeks declaring his love for the European island. The Las Vegas resident is now planning to give his British fans a glimpse of one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. “We’re getting a press tour together,” Mayweather told fighthype.com. “Me and Ortiz will be having a press conference in the UK and I will also be doing a training exhibition over there.” @FloydMayweather Floyd Mayweather My favorite fans in the world are in the UK. I love everyone in the UK. God...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Thai legend Wonjongkam has 80 victories on his record WBN pound for pound number eight fighter in the world Pongsaklek Wonjongkam isn’t one for resting inbetween world title fights at 112lbs, he gives young boxers from his homeland in Thailand and surrounding countries, the chance to step in the ring with a legend over six rounds. The 33 year-old southpaw has beaten the cream of the world’s talent at his own weight in the last two years, including current world champions Julio Cesar Miranda and Koki Kameda and his Apollo Creed-style “give a underdog a chance” seems to go un-noticed, or maybe he likes to keep it that way. In his last three fights, since successfully defending his WBC belt by out-pointing former WBC Asian champion Suriyan Sor Rungvisai, “Sitkanongsak” has given two, three and four-fight novices the chance to become boxing stars, by claiming the biggest scalp at flyweight, with similar stoppage results in the champions favour every time...