Boxing News

As we continue our segment of “This Week in Boxing,” we will see a familiar face back in action, yet again. On Thursday, Yory Boy Campas just can’t seem to stop; he will headline a card in Burbank, California against newcomer Rigoberto Placencia. Expect a lot of fireworks from the two Mexican middleweights. As we fast-forward to Friday, April 8th, we make a quick stop in Midlothian, Scotland. Sports network is promoting a show that features action in the super featherweight and welterweight division. The top two Scottish prospects in the super featherweight division, Alex Arthur and Craig Docherty are set to wage war against each other in what is sure to be one compelling and intriguing match up. American recognition and future big money fights would be the compensation for the winner. On the under card you can expect to see action from Kevin Mitchell who takes on the virtually unknown and inexperienced David Bailey. Also fighting on this spectacular under card is the upcoming English welterweight Gary Young. Gary puts his undefeated record on the line as he faces the always tough and persistent journeyman Viktor Baranov. More...

Great fly on the wall photos from last weekend's Showtime card...

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After a terrific weekend in boxing behind us now, we can look forward to another exciting week of action packed fights. Our latest installment of “This week in Boxing” kicks off this Tuesday (April 5th) with the Venezuelan WBA flyweight champion Lorenzo Parra, who is making

his fourth title defense. Lorenzo Parra is undefeated and sports a very impressive record of 25-0 with 17KOs He faces the relentless Yo Sam Choi (26-5 with 15KOs) in a rematch that many felt was inevitable. Choi went the distance with Lorenzo the first time around in September of last year. Many felt that the fight was a lot closer then the scorecards read. Both fighters pack grenades in their gloves and this fight is sure to be one for the ages. I am going to tell you like I keep telling everyone else “don’t sleep on the little guys.” As we move over to Merauke City, Papua Province, Indonesia, Muhammad Rachman (49-7-3 21KOs) makes the first defense of his IBF minimumweight title that he won when he beat Daniel Reyes back in September of last year. Rachman faces a very tough opponent in Fahlan Sakkreerin. Sakkreerin sports an impressive record of 54-4-2 with 23KOs. Although he is coming off a knockout loss to Jose Victor Burgos, expect Fahlan to come back strong. Again look for another action packed fight from the little guys. More...

The first bout of the night featured “Honey Boy” Lou Del Valle against the well-traveled journeyman Dan Sheehan. In an eight round match-up that was nothing more than a snooze fest, Del Valle won via a unanimous decision. The scores on the judge’s scorecards read 78-74, and 79-73 twice.

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Usually the first fight on most under-cards turn out be the most exciting fight of the whole night, for the simple fact that they are trying to be recognized as well as trying to steal the spotlight from the main event. I assure you that this was the total opposite. Although he struggled, Lou Del Valle improves to 35-3-1 and Dan Sheehan falls to a pitiful 10-32 record. Yes, you read it right 10-32. My assessment is very simple; someone of the caliber of Lou Del Valle should be fighting much better opposition than Dan Sheehan. There were several fights that could have been made. The first one that comes to my mind is a bout between Lou and Daniel Judah. A Brooklyn-Bronx match up could prove to be very interesting. However, he took the easy way out against Dan Sheehan. From being the first person to ever knock Roy Jones, Jr. down to this is unexplainable. To sum up Lou’s performance last Saturday night in one word, I say pathetic.

Do not miss this exclusive coverage from Saturday night's huge boxing event in Worcester, Massachusetts, brought to you by our very own Edwin Gonzalez who was there at ringside. More...

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Jean-Marc Mormeck: "Two years ago I came to America to sign with Don King and I thank him for the opportunity. I always told Don King I could do it and I am now the unified cruiserweight champion. Months and months I have been working to accomplish this and I know I can improve further."

Wayne Braithwaite: "I give all credit to Jean-Marc Mormeck. I make no excuses but it wasn't my night tonight. I'll be back and I plan to knock out every opponent I face."

Luis Collazo: "I won early and the last couple of rounds I won big. I only had two weeks to prepare for him and I beat him [Rivera]. I was brawling with him in rounds seven and eight and then I wanted to display my stick and move boxing skills down the stretch. I worked the body, I boxed him, I showed it all."

Jose Rivera: "I'm still the champ. He ran for twelve-rounds and got a split decision. I pushed the whole fight and was effectively aggressive. I'm not sure if I was rusty but I never got into my zone. I never had any respect for his power, I was much stronger. I was excited at the beginning but I never really heard the crowd once the fight started. I want him again."

Roman Karmazin: "I'm ready for Kassim Ouma. I have waited a long time for this and now I'm ready to win a world title. I won the Russian title, the European title four times, and now I won an IBF junior middleweight elimination bout. Now I want a world title."

“I can guarantee that I am going to beat him up. If the knockout is there, I will take it. I am going to do what I do best, and that’s box. I am going to win, mark my words!”-Luis Collazo.

Brooklyn’s own Luis Collazo is ready to embark on history. The outspoken Puerto Rican has made it abundantly clear, that April 2nd will be a huge night for the entire group of New York boxers fighting on the night of the cruiserweights. Luis was making references to Elio Rojas, Lou Del Valle, himself as well as Wayne “Big Truck” Braithwaite. Tune in to hear Luis’ thoughts just before the most important fight of his career, as well as his plans for the future.

SaddoBoxing: Luis, you aren’t ranked in the top ten and you have never fought for a minor title. Inform the readers on why you’re the best fit for the job as a replacement opponent against Jose Antonio Rivera?

Luis Collazo: I have been extremely underrated for some time now. I feel that a lot of people have been sleeping on me. My time is definitely due, and after April 2nd, the public will have no choice but to give me the respect and recognition I feel has eluded me. You will see a new star born tomorrow night. After tomorrow, the boxing public is going to have to give me my “props” whether they like it or not.

You do not want to miss the rest of this exclusive interview with fired up world welterweight title challenger Luis Collazo, only at SaddoBoxing.com More...

Last Saturday in Corpus Christi, former two-time junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas returned to the ring in a big way. Coming off a fifteen-month layoff, the ex-champion earned a well-fought decision over the always-gritty Raymond Joval. Although I felt that Vargas was shot as a fighter and 160-pounds would be too much weight for him to carry, sure enough he made me eat my words. Under the tutelage of Danny Smith, Vargas was fighting in the “pocket.” He was also tucking his chin when he threw a jab. Yes, you read correctly, a jab. At the end of the fight Vargas was quoted as saying that, “I didn’t even know I had a jab.” As impressive as he looked, let’s remember that he was in there against Raymond Joval, although he is never easy but lacks steam on his punches. This was very evident throughout the fight. How would Fernando fare against the big boys at 160? You know the Tito’s, the B-Hop’s, the Jermain Taylor’s and just recently the Winky Wright’s of the world of boxing. More...

Forget Bernard Hopkins, he fought several no name opponents’ en-route to his twenty title defenses. Also, he never took the initiative to move up in weight to challenge himself; he opted to stay in a division that was very weak. Floyd Mayweather, the best young fighter in the game has taken the top spot on my pound-for-pound list. Although his last four opponents (Victoriano Sosa, Philip N’dou, Demarcus Corley, and Henry Bruseles) have not been of top shelf quality, his resume is extremely impressive. Here is an interesting fact I feel many of you supposed boxing fans are overlooking: Floyd has victories over Diego Corrales, Carlos Hernandez, Jesus Chavez, and Jose Luis Castillo twice. Do you see a pattern here? These are all former and current world champions. More...

1st round: A very competitive round, both fighters had their moments. However, Manny got the better part of Erik, as a result of a mounted attack to the body. 2nd round: Morales began to impose his size. He weathered

the early storm; Erik showed he had a tremendous chin. Manny seemed to be a bit surprised that Morales was able to absorb such punishment, especially at close range. Erik boxed very well and avoided going down.

3rd round: Tremendous back and forth action from both fighters. Both fighters traded on the inside. However, Erik was picking his spots carefully. Although Manny was very fast in working the body, Morales neutralized “Pacman’s” speed by boxing and using his jab effectively.

4th round: It seems that Pacquiao is running out of steam. His punches were beginning to lose pop. Erik became the aggressor, while Manny was backing up. More...

I really don’t know what to make of this situation, but it is just crazy. This matter truly befuddles me and if I didn’t comment on it, I wouldn’t be true to myself. One can never accuse Oscar de la Hoya of ducking anyone. This man has fought nothing but the best, check his resume: Pernell Whitaker, Ike Quartey, Tito Trinidad, Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosley twice, and just

recently Bernard Hopkins was added to the list. I mean this is a real who’s who of boxing’s elite. However, for some strange reason he never received the adulation of the boxing public and most importantly, his people. For example, writer Michael Katz calls him “chicken” De La Hoya, and the Mexican fans don’t want to claim him as being one of their own. Often I would find myself in arguments with a few of my Mexican comrades, over how “sick” De La Hoya was, their rebuttal was that he didn’t fit the typical description of your quintessential Mexican fighter. You know the kind that I am talking about, one that makes every fight into a slugfest. For example, Erik Morales and Fernando Vargas are but two of many. But who cares, in my eyes, I’d say that the name of the game is to hit and not be hit. Whenever anyone asked me how I felt about De La Hoya’s unwillingness to slug it out more often with some of the bigger punchers, my response was that he is smart. To me he was doing what he had to do to make sure he has a career after he was done boxing, meaning starring in commercials, making movies, and getting huge endorsement deals. You get the idea. More...

Erik Morales vs. Manny Pacquiao, wow! Asking me to pick between the two is like asking me, what came first the chicken or the egg? I don’t know. For once in my life, I am at a loss for words. Both fighters are evenly matched. Let’s take a closer look at the two fighters and compare what each has accomplished in the past year. Over the past year, Erik Morales claimed two-thirds of the super featherweight crown (W.B.C./I.B.F). On his road to glory, Erik proved to the skeptics that the first Guty

Espadas fight was a fluke. He then cruised to victory with two unanimous decisions over Jesus Chavez and the always-gritty Carlos “El Famoso” Hernandez. However, the “El Terrible” express was derailed when he suffered a split decision lost to his archenemy Marco Antonio Barrera, in their rubber match. More...

Although I am disgusted that this isn’t a unification bout, I am glad it is still happening. This Saturday, we have Top Rank stable mates Jose Luis Castillo going head to head with the former (stripped) I.B.F. champion Julio “The Kidd Diaz”. This is the typical match up of boxer versus puncher. Julio Cesar Chavez protege Jose Luis Castillo falls into the category of a “banger.” Castillo fits the description

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of the quintessential Mexican fighter. He takes a few good shots, to give one good one. Julio Diaz on the other hand is more of a complete fighter. In this bout against Castillo, you could say Diaz would be the professor of the “sweet science.”

Jose Luis Castillo’s fight with Juan Lazcano proved what many believed, the only other lightweight better than him is Floyd Mayweather. Well guess what, Floyd is at 140-pounds now, leaving Castillo to prove his case against Diaz, then hopefully “Chico” Corrales. Castillo beat Lazcano to a pulp to capture the vacant W.B.C. belt. More...

SaddoBoxing.com managed to get in a few words with super middleweight contender Dorian Beaupierre. Dorian headlines this Friday’s “Showbox” fight card in his bout against Kelly Pavlik. Tune in to hear Dorian explain to us his thoughts and feelings heading into Friday’s showdown. He also goes in deep detail about everything that had to happen to make this day materialize, as well as his plans for the future and much, much more.

SaddoBoxing: For those of us that don't know who Dorian Beaupierre is, please tell us a little bit about yourself, as well as describing your style as a fighter?

Dorian Beaupierre: “First and foremost, I would like to thank my trainer Lenny Dejesus, my manager Andre Kut, and my man Normon Meiagy for sticking with me through thick and thin. They made all of this possible. Well, Dorian Beaupierre is a hungry fighter that wants it all. I am married with two kids, and I work real hard for my family. I take care of what I got to do to set a great example for my kids, as well as be a good role model. My style as a fighter, I would have to say boxer first, then puncher. I like to handle my business and take my time. I like to use my jab and move around. I never go into a fight rushing for a knockout. If it comes it comes, if it doesn’t then it doesn’t.” More...