World Boxing News 2010-2013

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘B-Hop’ wants cruiserweight challenge in 2012 WBC light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins has been in contact with former opponent Antonio Tarver about the possibility of a second meeting between the two fighters up at cruiserweight. ‘The Exectuioner’ has a mandatory defence of his 175lb title against Chad Dawson on October 15 th at the Staples Center after which, ‘B-Hop’ is willing to move up to 200lbs for a rematch with the ‘Magic Man.’ The two fighters last met in 2006 at light-heavyweight, with Hopkins dominating over the twelve rounds to pick up IBO title in his first fight since moving up from middleweight and the Philadelphian is now hoping to do the same at cruiserweight to take Tarver’s newly acquired title at 200lbs. THEREALBHOP   BERNARD HOPKINS EX   @   @ AntonioTarver   aftr oct 15 LHW its cleaned up.. Ill b up there soon 29 Jul   AntonioTarver   MagicMan 5X Champ     by THER...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Irishman bounces back from Bute loss with Barboza win Former IBO super-middleweight champion Brian Magee has once against placed himself within reach of a major world title by travelling to Costa Rican to out-point home fighter Jaime Barboza. The 36 year-old southpaw had too much class for the less experienced Barboza and scored a 118-110, 117-111, 116-112 victory to take the WBA interim belt. Magee battled to his 35th win in 40 contests and is now in line to meet the winner of the Showtime Super-Six final, which takes place in October between WBC champion Carl Froch and WBA belt holder Andre Ward in Atlantic City. Barboza, 33, who looked out of his depth, drops to 17-5.

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘Magic Man’ blames ‘The Great’ for ongoing fued Former IBF light-welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi recently posted a video on his Twitter page that he says proves that the ongoing fued with Devon Alexander was started by the Saint Louis fighter. The 30 year-old Italian American has been embroiled in a heated one-sided argument on Twitter, which he now says dates back to October last year due to an Elie Seckbach video from around the time. “He was at 140 and im at 147 had no problem with him,” said Malignaggi. “I had no reason to say anything about him until that video got released.” Malignaggi had been accused by Alexander’s trainer Kevin Cunningham of starting the verbal war with his derogatory comments about Alexander on his Twitter account, which Alexander can’t respond to as he isn’t currently on Twitter. But Malignaggi now says this is the proof that it was Alexander who instigated the rift by calling him a ‘bum’ almost a year ago. “Y...

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(Video courtesy of  Elie Seckbach of  http://www.esnewsreporting.com/ )

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Briton among worlds best after Vegas victory Amir ‘King’ Khan has propelled himself into the world’s elite fighters with his impressive display against four-time world champion Zab Judah at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and is now the recognised WBA ‘super’ champion. The 24 year-old out-classed a world-renowned fighter in ‘Super’ Judah, dominating him for every round until a sweet body shot took him out in the fifth round. The down to earth lad from Bolton has secured himself a place in British boxing history by unifying the light-welterweight division and has years ahead of him to cement a lasting legacy in the sport. Khan, who just missed out on an Olympic gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, has never shied away from taking on the world’s best and is now reaping the rewards, along with the adulation he rightly deserves. The devout Muslim already has a fight plan mapped out by US promoters Golden Boy, who see him fighting in the States later th...

Amir Khan v Zab Judah ( WBA and IBF light-welterweight titles ) Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas 12x3                                                          Khan                         Judah              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                  Round 1                               10                               9              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------             ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Tyson picks off one-paced ‘Del Boy’ to take unanimous decision Mancunian Tyson Fury is the new British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion after a laboured display from Dereck Chisora paved the way for the unbeaten former English champion to score a one-side decision win at Wembley Arena. The 22 year-old used his jab and superior conditioning to out-work the Finchley fighter and deservedly gain a 118-111, 117-112, 117-112 victory tonight. The Irish descendant had a scary few moments in the second round when Chisora unloaded some of his customary bombs in an attempt to end the fight early and Fury was rocked on more than one occasion. He then took over the fight for the majority of the final ten rounds, picking off a tiring Chisora with regularity and racking up the rounds through the middle of the fight. Don Charles in Chisora’s corner had to continuously remind his man to work as ‘Del Boy’ looked for the swinging power shots in a vain effort to tak...

Dereck Chisora v Tyson Fury ( British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles ) Wembley Arena 12x3                                                         Chisora                         Fury              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                  Round 1                                9                                10              -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------          ...

ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and ESPN Classic will reair the main event of July 15’s edition of  ESPN’s Friday Night Fights  on July 20 and 22 .  The special will be the first non-regularly scheduled reair for  ESPN’s Friday Night Fights . The main event featured former welterweight world title challenger Delvin Rodriguez (25-5-3, 14 KOs) and  Ring Magazine’s No.7-ranked junior middleweight Pawel “Raging Bull” Wolak (29-1-1, 19 KOs) in a 10-round majority draw. The much anticipated fight originated from New York City's Roseland Ballroom, where  Joe Tessitore  and  Teddy Atlas  described the action. “These two fighters exemplified what professional boxing athletes should be: conditioned, determined and passionate about their sport,” said Doug Loughrey, ESPN director of programming and acquisitions. “These boxers gave 100% of themselves by consistently over-coming adversity not only for those in attendance, but a worldwide audience on ESPN’s ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor Pingo” ready for Staples Center title defence WBO flyweight champion Julio Cesar Miranda feels no pressure to move up to the super-flyweight division anytime in the near future. The Mexican’s sole focus is a successful fourth defence of his belt against Hawaiian former two-time world light-flyweight champion Brian Viloria in California tonight. The 30 year-old (35-5-1, 28 KO’s), is on a five-fight stoppage streak, with all five coming at title level, including four world title fights and is in the best form of his life. “Pingo” is just enjoying his time as a world champion and concentrating on beating Viloria, also 30, who is isn’t taking lightly. “I have seen Viloria fight many times,” Miranda told World Boxing News. “His performances to win the light-flyweight title against Eric Ortiz in 2005 and his first defence against Jose Aguirre were impressive. “I also watched his fights with Omar Nino, Edgar Sosa, Carlos Tamara and Archie Solis, so I h...

An opponent has been chosen for  Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson 's professional boxing debut on August 13 at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma, and he is  Springfield, Missouri 's  James Wade ( 0-1). The two will meet  in the four-round   heavyweight main event of a Gary Shaw Productions and Tony Holden Promotions night of boxing. Wade l ost his debut in January of this year, but will be looking to make history in his second fight. "Just like in MMA, Kimbo Slice is walking around with bull's-eye on his back. His opponents know they can make themselves known to the world if they can take him out," said  Jared Shaw, Team Kimbo Promotional Advisor.  " To Kimbo it's a pro boxing debut. To James Wade, this is a world championship fight." According to Shaw, Slice's goal in his first fight will be to prove with his performance that he always belonged in a boxing ring. Tickets for the professiona...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor (Picture from The Brisbane Times) Youngster shares ring with IBO champ Jai Opetaia, cousin of Everton Football Club’s star soccer player Tim Cahill, is a sixteen year-old amateur fighter who is deep in preparations for the forthcoming world youth championships.  Recently the youngster was given the opportunity to spar with Australia’s IBO world light-heavyweight champion Danny Green as he prepares to take on Antonio Tarver and gain valuable experience before his trip to Europe. Opetaia, who hails from Watanobbi, has already taken former world champion Anthony Mundine a few rounds in sparring and has added another world renowned boxer to the list in 38 year-old Green. The Australian amateur team departs for the championships in Kazakhstan this Tuesday and Opetaia thinks the gym time with the Aussie boxing starts will stand him in good stead as he looks to claim gold at the under 80kg category. “It feels pretty special,” Opetaia told the Central ...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘Punisher’ can’t be judged on his last three fights It wasn’t long ago that boxing fans and pundits alike were raving about how good Paul Williams was after his two-year purple patch in which he beat Antonio Margarito, Carlos Quintana (in a rematch), Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright and Sergio Martinez between 2007 and 2009. Since then, the former WBO welterweight champion has out-boxed Kermit Cintron in a farcial four-rounder, lost spectacularly to a sweet overhand left by Sergio Martinez and look laboured and disinterested in losing to Erislandy Lara last Saturday night. It now seems that the 29 year-old Georgian is ready for the scrap heap after the lost at least a four-round decision to Erislandy Lara at the Boardwalk Hall and people are even talking about retirement for a man that has two (should be three) losses in 42 bouts. Granted it was a poor performance by Williams, who had been out of the ring a full eight months since his shocking second round loss...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘Suavecito’ ready for Cuban interim champion Newly crowned WBA super-bantamweight champion Rico Ramos has told WBN that he was in control of his world title fight with Akifumi Shimoda despite being behind on the scorecards when he pulled out a world-class left hand to lay the Japanese champion out for more than minute. “I wasn’t worried about being behind on the scorecards because I knew he had started to slow down after the fifth,” Ramos told World Boxing News. “My plan was to the pressure him from rounds six through twelve and it worked earlier than I expected.” The 24 year-old Californian has now been linked with a fight against hard-punching Guillermo Rigondeaux, who holds the interim title to Ramos’ WBA belt and ‘Suavecito’ has no qualms in giving the 8-fight former amateur star a shot if the Cuban come through his next fight which is scheduled for August 19th in the US. “I don’t know whether my first defence is a mandatory or not, but I foun...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘Suavecito’ scores 20th straight win over Shimoda Undefeated Californian Rico Ramos produced a world-class left hand in the seventh round of his WBA title challenge against Japan’s Akifumi Shimoda to rip the belt away from the older southpaw in his first defence. The 24 year-old looked far from a world champion in the first five rounds, only gaining a foothold in the fight in round six, but ultimately produced the equalizer in the seventh to take the crown. Shimoda, 26, will be furious with himself as he bossed the majority of the fight and was up five rounds to one on my card going into the seventh round. One lapse in concentration with only thirty seconds left in round seven and Shimoda hit the canvas. The champion tried to get up at the count of nine, but stumbled over and the referee counted him out. The now former champion stayed down for a full minute before being helped to his feet and realising he no longer held the WBA belt. Also on the card i...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor ‘Bam Bam’ show bad intentions with stoppage WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios proved his world class credentials at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California last night with a crushing third round stoppage of rugged challenger Urbano Antillon. The 25 year-old made a successful first defence of the title he claimed in February against Miguel Acosta and wowed the home crowd with a stunning performance. Both men never took a backward step for the first two rounds, with Rios edging both with the classier punches, catching Antillon with one two combinations that started to tell on the face of Antillon, 28, by the end of the second round. The two fighters squared up to each other at the end of the round and the genuine distain for each other could be felt as both boxers went to their stools. Rios came out in the third round with bad intentions in his eyes and put Antillon down within seconds with a crushing right hand. The Mexican seemed to it shake...

Phil D. Jay WBN Editor “The Punisher” returns after eight months out Former WBO welterweight champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams (39-2, 27 KO’s) will return to the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City tonight eight months since his one-punch knockout defeat to Argentinean pound for pound middleweight king Sergio Martinez. The 29 year-old was knocked out cold by the former WBC middleweight champion last November at the same venue and has kept a low profile since the devastating loss. The Georgian is primed to get back in the ring against unbeaten Cuban Erislandy Lara and will be keen to show everyone that the defeat was just a lucky punch. Williams had originally chosen to move back down to the welterweight limit for the contest after spending two years moving up the weight divisions, but has decided to come back at light-middleweight initially. A rematch with Sergio Martinez has almost certainly been ruled out just on the fact that Williams is intent on moving down the weights,...

Saturday 25th June Devon Alexander  bt Lucas Matthysse   (SD ) ( 96-93, 95-94 ,93-96) (light-welterweight) Cornelius Bundrage bt  Sechew Powell  ( UD ) ( 119-109, 117-111, 115-113 ) (IBF light-middleweight title) Tavoris Cloud bt  Yusaf Mack  ( TKO ) ( 8th round ) (IBF light-heavyweight title) Bermane Stiverne  bt Ray Austin  ( TKO ) ( 10th round ) (WBC heavyweight title  eliminator) Cory Spinks  bt Shakir Ashanti  ( UD ) ( 100-90, 100-90, 100-90 ) (light-middleweight) Felix Sturm bt  Matthew Macklin  ( SD ) (113-115,  116-112, 116-112 ) ( WBA 'super' middleweight title ) Manuel Charr  bt Danny Williams  ( TKO ) ( 7th round ) (heavyweight) Humberto Soto  bt Motoki Sasaki  ( TD ) ( 11th round ) ( WBC lightweight title ) Roberto Ortiz  bt Antonio Lozada Jr.  ( TKO ) ( 4th round ) (WBC silver light-welterwe...