Boxing News

Three years ago, the little known and lightly regarded German Middleweight Champion Felix Sturm took the world by surprise with an evenly matched effort against Oscar De La Hoya for the young fighter's WBO Middleweight title.

Even though Sturm, born Adnan Catic of Leverkusen, Germany, lost the title in a hotly contested decision, he had matched "the Golden Boy" jab for jab, hook for hook.

Many considered Sturm to have overshadowed De La Hoya throughout all twelve rounds, especially while in the center of the square circle. By losing such a dominate performance, Sturm had gained fame and notorioty on the night of June 5, 2004 in Las Vegas, Neveda and most fans at the MGM Grand did not approve of the decision.

Afterwards, many boxing pundits argued that the loss would most likely be Sturm's one and only shining acheivement, as he would go back to Germany into obsucrity.

That couldn't have been further from the truth. More...

As a fan of middleweight boxing, this writer feels it's due time that we all began to question the validity of our current Undisputed World Middleweight Champion's ascension. Before we go any further, you need to know that it was a bit hard to pen this piece as a former fan of Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor.

In the past, this writer has given the young Arkansas boxer chance after chance on top of more chances, in hopes that he would redeem himself of his recent questionable nature. He has yet to do so and the general consensus is that he most likely will not.

Again, as noted above, the words "former fan" apply best to this scribe, as many doubts have begun to arise regarding HBO's most highly marketed, and arguably, disappointing titlists of recent years.

The situation regarding Taylor wasn't always this dire. While Taylor was largely under the radar for the first part of his career, in 2002 he would begin to make some serious noise at 160 lb with an impressive string of knockout victories over some game opposition. More...

For those of you who have gone through hell and high water to defend "the Pride of Wales", it appears that your loyalty and stern resolve may finally be paying off.

Joe Calzaghe's hope of becoming a household name in the US seems to be coming to fruition at the able hands of boxing network giant HBO. The Welsh warrior will be seated ringside in Memphis as a spectator while universally recognized middleweight champion Jermain Taylor defends his WBC and WBO titles for the sixth time, against former 154 lb and 147 lb champion Cory "The Jinx" Spinks.

Seeing that most consider Taylor vs. Spinks to be a tune up for the middleweight champ, Calzaghe and his promoter Sports Network now seem poised to break the bank with a $4 to $6 million dollar offer in order to secure a shot with the budding young American star Jermain Taylor, in what this writer considers an easily winnable bout for the Italian Dragon.

With that being said, one must stop and smell the roses blooming further down the row, on the other side of the garden.

For almost the better half of a decade, Calzaghe has had his heart set on one thing, conquering the former middleweight king Bernard Hopkins. In the past, Hopkins has supposedly priced himself out of lucrative bouts with Roy Jones Jr., Calzaghe, and James Toney. More...

Vague Thoughts From A Fan Of Neither Fighter

Very rarely do we have fights that after all the sneak peeks and interviews, in which they start to simmer, boil, and then explode at press conferences do they ever meet up to the hype. Very rarely! They often reach a fever temperature so high that the mercury boils, the tea kettle whistles and we the fans are forced in the end to endure twelve rounds of purely boring posing matches.

Currently, a pen stroke away we have one turning the rumor mills that could blow away an atom bomb. There are all types of things that factor into making these earth shaking, nation riling explosions but in the end it is simply the two combatants.

One is the contender, the other the champ. Outside of those two is the general consensus that the champ is going to be the winner, that the contender is just a step below the champ. Very rarely are the roles reversed. This very well may be one of those situations. More...

Joe Calzaghe ladies and gentlemen, let's give him a hand!

9 years undefeated, 19 successful title defenses, and more criticism than ten men could handle. For those that do not choose to applaud the distinguished Welshman, for those that want to discredit him, this writer protests and also agrees with you whole-heartedly.

Curious? I hope so, hence the point of this article.

For years, this writer has been a die-hard fan of Joe Calzaghe. That's quite an uncommon thing. Even among Joe's circle of fans, there have been few diehards. It's even more of a rarity coming from an American boxing fan such as myself that grew up on the great Roy Jones Jr and the legendary, record breaking Bernard Hopkins. Let me go even further and state loudly and proudly; Joe Calzaghe is a phenomenon who is on the cusp of becoming a legend himself.

In all truth, fight fans on this side of the pond have rarely uttered Joe Calzaghe's name. Joe had quite often been regarded as a hometown hero in Britain and a protected paper champion to most Americans in the know. Not often was he mentioned among casual boxing fans, especially here in the United States. But that never stopped Joe and his father, Enzo Calzaghe, from screaming loudly and proudly that Joe was boxing's best kept secret; an unseen modern tactical marvel touted as "the One True World Champion of 168 lbs". More...

Well, my fellow boxing enthusiasts, we're off to another fine year of middleweight boxing in 2006. Things are going to get hot in the next two to three months as scores will be settled, hearts will be broken, records will be lost, and titles will be shuffled. The turmoil of another sleepless insomniac’s night has gotten the brain churning again and the fingers following slowly behind.

In the wake of Bernard Hopkins’ retirement from the middleweight division, by way of Jermain Taylor, this writer's mind began stirring at around 11:05 p.m. and I sprang out of bed heading straight for the PC for what the wife calls another trip down obsession lane.

She's dead on the money: the obsession never seems to pass and the wife never ceases to remind me of how my compu-chair is going to forever be grafted to my backside. I'm sure those with wives or lady friends know and share my plight. Every single member of the boxing community has suffered the same roll of the eyes, the same huffs and puffs, the same scorn that this writer/fan generally gets en route to the comforts of my keyboard and flat screen monitor. More...

IBF Heavyweight Champion Chris Byrd's first title defense and fight from under Don King's promotional thumb will be a rematch in Germany with Wladimir Klitschko, scheduled to take place on April 22 at the SAP Arena in Mannheim.

This is very curious. One has to wonder what is going on within the mind of Chris Byrd, but in all honesty to focus solely on the lawsuit is old hat and in the end to do so will only detract from Byrd's career and that is an insult to a great boxer. Yes, indeed loyal reader, you heard that right - a great boxer. For those that don't know enough about Chris Byrd, I urge you to actually watch his work the ring. Despite the opinions of television commentators or those of boxing pundits worldwide, Byrd is a fantastic fighter that has fallen prey to some unfortunate incidents and circumstances.

The most unfortunate circumstance of them all may have come from within his own boxing team, i.e., his promoter. Byrd has only had four fights in the last three years and for a professional prize fighter that is disturbing. One wonders how Byrd finds the means to put food on his table, pay trainers and gym fees, along with putting clothes on his family's backs. More...

David Rodriguez is a six foot five, 28 year old heavyweight prospect working his way up through the ranks. The native of El Paso, Texas is undefeated in 20 fights, 19 of which were finished inside the distance and 18 of those were in the first round but right now few fans outside of the American Southwest know about Mr. Rodriguez. That should change soon as he's made enough noise in the last two or three years to be heard for years to come if he can keep steamrolling his opposition.

SB: You hold the Texas and New Mexico State Heavyweight titles but such belts are not generally recognizable to most boxing fans abroad and some people may try discounting your record due to the level of opposition that you have faced. What would you say to such people? More...

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Born Avetik Abrahamyan, 25 year old German Orthodox middleweight Arthur Abraham has stormed into the middlweight division and is furiously blowing away all the competition each and everytime that he steps up. To label Arthur as a prospect would be insulting, so let's just say that he's one of the better new

generation of undefeated middleweights. Yanks and Brits alike, are unfamiliar with Abraham due to the fact that most of his fights have taken place in Germany, but that should not be viewed as a detraction due to the fact that he's taken every challenge that comes banging on his backyard door. In doing a little research, you will find that Arthur Abraham is just the type of fighter that could be knocking on our doors as the next middleweight champion of the world. He's just that good. More...

After besting Raymond Joval in 2004, a fighter that Fernando Vargas had some issues with quite a few months ago, Australia's Sam Soliman secured the IBF's number one contender position by way of a wide twelve round unanimous decision against Fernando Zuniga back in July. The man from Melbourne is now on a waiting list to face Jermain Taylor but waiting

is not really part of Soliman's game, as he is accustomed to taking on all comers and refuses to turn anyone of merit down. Taking the largest step up in his career, he will be going against defensive master and tactician Ronald "Winky" Wright this Saturday in an official IBF title eliminator. We were fortunate enough to be able to speak with slippery Sam and present this exclusive SaddoBoxing interview. More...

In his last fight, hard-hitting middleweight Willie Gibbs, of West Philadelphia, fought in his backyard for only the third time in his 20 pro fights & it was just what the fans needed! On 10-28-2005 Willie "the Gladiator" Gibbs (19 fights, 18 wins with 15 ko's, & only 1 loss) gutted it out against Super Middleweight Marcos Primera (31 fights, 19 wins with 12 ko's, 10 losses, & 2 draws) once again to establish his name in bold letters & regain his spot in the middleweight division after his loss to Daniel Eduord.

Prior to defeating Primera, you might remember Gibbs 2nd round TKO over Andres Pacheco this past April, but more remember the hard fought battle against Edouard that took place last year on ESPN2 at the Mohegan Sun Casino. In a matter of 4 rounds it was fast becoming a fight of the year candidate as both men battered each other from corner to corner. It was almost a done deal until Gibbs got dropped & did'nt pass the refs approval the second time around. That did'nt stop Gibbs image from skyrocketing across the sky or the discussions getting cranked up around the U.S. at water coolers. More...

Born Robert Joseph Guerrero on March 27th, 1983...he's a powerful  5 foot 10 inch, twenty two year old southpaw, & he is undefeated in 17 pro fights. To say that boxing is in his blood would be a worn out cliche' to use, due to the fact that he started lacing up his gloves at about age nine in the gym with his family.

Robert has an amazing amateur career behind him, as he began conquering opponents at a very young age. At only 15 years old he had the honor of competing in the Junior Olympics & compete he did. He walked away with the National Junior Olympics gold medal. After that, he then entered the United States 2000 Olympic trials & is still to this day the youngest boxer to ever do so. Although, he lost at the trials to 21 year old Clarence Vinson, Guerrero kept the faith & turned pro at age 18.

Folks, that's not to shabby for a teenager. More...

On Saturday night at Charlotte, North Carolina's Cricket Center, Main Events staged a homecoming of sorts as the southern city's favorite son and surging heavyweight contender Calvin Brock put his undefeated record on the line against well respected journeyman David Bostice. Coming into this fight, many observers agreed that Bostice, 35-9-1 (15), didn't have much of a chance to beat Brock, 26-0 (21) coming into the contest.

Click for larger image © Michael Jarvis SaddoBoxing.com

As the fight progressed, it developed into twelve rounds of give and take action but with more of the giving done by Brock. Most of the early rounds were back and forth, featuring a few hard shots that rocked the likely future champion Brock, but the crowd favorite was determined that by the end of the fight he would strap on the IBA Continental Americas belt. And that's just what he did at the end of the night.

Brock opened the first round with a few double jabs, two straight rights and a left hook that made quite a statement early on. It was that left hook that would control Bostice throughout the remainder of the night. Brock was calm and collected, even after a head butt cut him at the end of the second round. Brock's constant body work early on in the fight was another factor in giving him the upper hand as Bostice clearly appeared winded from about the eighth round onwards. More...

For the past twelve years Bernard Hopkins has broken records as the reigning pound for pound undisputed middleweight champion of the world but that all changed July 16th, 2005. Bernard faced Jermain Taylor and had his belts handed down via a twelve round split decision. Thus we

come to the end of the year and one of the most anticipated rematches of the year.

Hated by networks, promoters, fans and the media, Bernard Hopkins has been scorned, but amazingly he has commanded and recieved respect from fighters across the globe. He's defeated every mandantory opponant that has come his way. He's also blasted out some of the more respected tacticians that the division has had to offer, not to mention two of the best fighters in the world who thought that they could move up and outbox Hopkins in order to try and take from him what he values most; his titles and his reputation. They failed. No one that he has every faced can say that they have actually beaten Hopkins outside of Roy Jones Jr and in review that fight was'nt as one sided as HBO's commentators want you to think that it was. More...

On November 19, 2005 Calvin Brock will be coming back to his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina for what we all hope to be another step up the ladder in securing his shot at one of the four major heavyweight championship titles of the world. His opponent? David Bostice. Bostice brings to

the table a few things for Brock: hopefully another exciting fight for Brock, but a slightly easier assignment than the last outing; Brock's chance to strap on the IBA Continental America Heavyweight belt.

Calvin, being the busy man that he is, was generous enough to lend me his fingers for a few questions regarding life, boxing and the sport from his perspective. Here's what the proud, undefeated heavyweight contender had to say More...