It goes without saying that Lucian Bute vs. Jean Pascal is the fight that boxing fans everywhere in Canada have been waiting to see for a long time now.

Even if there is no title belt on the line for this fight, both fighters have been vocal in the past few years that they are the best boxing product out of the great white north. On May 25th, both fighters will try to prove that they are the true champion of Canadian boxing.

Hall-of-fame boxer turned television analyst, Roy Jones Jr., was in Montreal on Tuesday to help promote the bout for HBO. According to Jones Jr., this fight will be explosive because both fighters hail from the same city, and that usually leads to a more explosive battle because of the hometown rivalry.

"It's like two brothers in a household. Nobody fights harder than two brothers," said Jones Jr.

During the press conference, both Jean Pascal and Lucian Bute spoke about the possibility that this fight might surpass in terms of popularity, the famous bout between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran held in Montreal in June 1980.

Both fighters were extremely humble in their speeches regarding who is considered to be the favourite going into this fight. Both fighters actually joked around that they consider themselves to be the underdog for this fight.

Out of the two fighters, Bute has faced more world level competition. He holds victories over the likes of Sakio Bika, Librado Andrade, Edison Miranda and Glen Johnson. The only loss of his career was via fifth round TKO to Carl Froch, an opponent that Bute and Pascal has both faced and lost to.

Bute has not been the same fighter he once was after the KO from Froch. His key to victory against Pascal will be to push Pascal into aggression, as Hopkins did, and make Pascal into a one dimensional fighter which will be easy for the technical Bute to constraint. More...

Two of the elite fighters in the Super Featherweight division, Devis Boschiero and Ermano Fegatilli, are continuing to cross paths after a heated July 2012 battle.

The 31 year old Boschiero (33-1-0 16 KO's) has since edged Antonio De Vitis in a close skirmish, and impressively derailed overmatched Frenchman Samir Kasmi over ten rounds. Boschiero is the reigning European champion, the title he won in the questionable triumph over Fegatilli.

The 28 year old Ermano Fegatilli (26-4-0 5 KO's) now prepares to settle the score against the hardened Karim Chakim, also of France.

Fegatilli dominated Michael Carrero in an easy September return straight after the defeat to Boschiero. Ermano is pumped for the opportunity to set the score straight, he lost to Chakim in 2006, back when he was "just a kid". All of his losses besides the one to Boschiero came before age 25.

In the case of Boschiero-Kasmi, Boschiero once again showed his poise, "search and destroy" style. If you speak Italian you'd know this guy can talk the talk and usually walk the walk. Kasmi was placed on the retreat for 10 rounds, Hopelessly outclassed, he finally fell apart to the pressure in round 10. But Fegatilli "didn't deserve" a rematch.

Fegatilli-Chakim III is important in the state of revenge. Although Fegatilli tips his hat and denies any harsh feelings, one can be assured this is a very important victory for him.

This bout is hoped to measure out his massive improvements in the last 7 years, and keep on improving prior to an eventual European title, or perhaps world title opportunity. More...

Recently, it has been announced that Adrien Broner, the current WBC Lightweight Champion, will jump up two divisions to face off against current WBA Welterweight titleholder Paulie Malignaggi on the 22nd June at a venue yet to be announced in the United States.

The announcement of this title fight will have sprung a considerable surprise to fight fans around the world with Broner’s constant calling out of Britain’s WBO Lightweight fighter Ricky Burns on various social media platforms.

This new development will have stopped a clash with Broner happening unless the 29 year old Burns ends up going up the weights as well.

But also it springs a surprise that Broner has never weighed more than 10 stone [140 pounds] for a fight in his 26 fight unbeaten career and has yet to fight beyond the 10th round in his career to date, in a questionable decision against the Mexican legend Daniel Ponce de Leon.

These two things makes this match up a very risky contest in the eyes of many a knowledgeable observer of this sport.

The 32 year old Malignaggi is a brash New York stylist with excellent footwork, and hand speed but possesses very little knockout power having only scored seven stoppages in a 36 fight career that has seen him become a two-weight world champion and has scored wins against the likes of former Lightweight champion Juan Diaz, Lovemore N’Dou and most recently the Ukrainian Vyachslav Senchenko.

However, the New Yorker has four defeats on his resume which included one against Diaz in their first fight and against Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto, plus he has also been stopped by British stars Amir Khan and Ricky Hatton, both in the 11th round. More...

Back in December last year I, wrongly, thought that Miguel Cotto would be too big, too strong, too experienced and generally better in all areas than Austin Trout. As we all now know, Trout won the fight decisively and unanimously.

Trout looked impressive in that victory, he didn’t allow Cotto to put the pressure on him that Cotto was once renowned for. The game plan of ‘stick and move’ was well executed, but let’s not forget the fact that he was dealing with a far from prime Cotto.

However, when Trout faces Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, 41-0-1 with 30 KO’s, on 20th April, he will not have a gutsy warrior who has been through the mill on more than one occasion. Despite the fact that Alvarez has had 41 fights, those 41 fights have all gone his own way.

Trout has a 26-0-0 record with 14 KO’s to his name; Cotto is by far the best scalp he has taken.

Because Alvarez has had everything his own way does not mean he has had it easy. From a family of boxing brothers, he started in the sport at 13 years of age.

After several Mexican amateur championship wins, he turned pro at 16 and since then has built up win after win. Obviously there’s a draw in there too but then, hey, we all have bad days.

Recent victories during last three years over opponents such as Josesito Lopez, Shane Mosley, Kermit Cintron, Ryan Rhodes, Matthew Hatton, Alfonso Gomez, Lovemore N’Dou and Carlos Baldomir, show Alvarez's calibre. More...

On April 20th, Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez will take on Austin Trout for the WBC light middleweight title and the WBA Super light middleweight title. According to Canelo, the Trout fight is a personal matter.

"Of course it is personal. He is a great fighter, an undefeated world champion, a difficult opponent who won't be easy [to beat]... I'll be ready and I'll fight him perfectly for the victory," said Alvarez, talking about his upcoming fight with Trout.

To understand why the undefeated rising star of Mexico has such a stake in this bout we must look back to February of 2011. It was then that Austin Trout defeated Rogoberto Alvarez, Canelo's older brother, in Guadalajara, Mexico. This fight will give Canelo an opportunity to avenge his brother's loss.

"He defeated my brother and, honestly, I really liked this fight... That's why I wanted Austin Trout because this is something personal," said Canelo.

To prepare for this fight that will be held at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Canelo has said that he will be sparing with Oscar de La Hoya and he will be looking at the previous Trout vs. Cotto fight which will help his camp come up with a strong game plan come this April.

This fight will be a showcase for Canelo who hopes that the American public will embrace him as the Mexican fans already do. It will be a tough battle for Canelo however as Trout is a speedy strong undefeated fighter who has surprised many good fighter.

One thing is for sure, this fight will be dynamic and have great external elements as Floyd Mayweather Jr. will surely be watching this bout closely.

You can purchase this fight on pay-per-view.

On Friday, March 15th, GoFightLive heads to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania for a staggering bill where, in the main event, top local prospect Naim Nelson (9-0-0 1 KO) will face Georgian born warrior Georgi Kevlishvili (12-4-0 3 KO's) over eight potentially thrilling rounds.

Kevlishvili, 31, is much better than his record proclaims. Saichion Sotornpitak and Anthony Flores learned the hard way in upset defeats to the veteran. And top prospects Casey Ramos and Ronny Rios were forced to escape with edgy split decisions that many ringside observers dispute.

Nelson, 22, could be the next Philadelphia prodigy. With crafty boxing skills, he has handily outclassed every opponent he had to step in with.

But Kevlishvili is by far his toughest challenge to date, and he will have to endure the pressure that will be put on him March 15th. It's time to make or break!

In the co-headliner, we have an equally anticipated crossroads as veteran contender Harry Joe Yorgey (25-2-1 12 KO's) looks to rebound from a tough loss to rising star Jermell Charlo, facing the tough Julius Kennedy (7-3-1 3 KO's) in an exciting throwdown.

Yorgey, 35, a veteran of 28 fights, holds astounding wins over top opponents Jason LeHoullier, Ronald Hearns and Zain Shah. He is highly popular locally in Bridgeport, PA.

His brawler style excites fans from the first bell and despite a crushing loss to the highly talented Charlo, Yorgey feels empowered to make another run at the top. More...

There was a high level of excitement from boxing enthusiasts when the announcement was made that Nonito Donaire would meet Guillermo Rigondeaux in the ring on April 13.

However, none of us expected this fight to bring boxing out of the dark ages and into a modern infrastructure where fighter should be tested by independent doping agencies.

Top Rank announced that the bout would take place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, putting on the line the WBO super bantamweight title and the WBA super world super bantamweight title.

With so much on the line for both fighters, there was a decision made with the support from both camps that the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association and the United States Anti-Doping Agency would be involved in keeping this fight clean.

When the disccussions first began, Rigondeaux reportedly wanted to have USADA test both fighters while Donaire reportedly favoured VADA. There was also a disagreement regarding the time frame when these tests should be administered.

Regardless of all the disputes that occurred during the negotiations surrounding the testing, the fight is going to happen. Both fighters have now agreed on the fight and reportedly the contracts includes USADA and VADA testing. More...

As you may already be aware, Dibella Entertainment, K2 Promotions and Golden Gloves boxing are heading down to the Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo for a packed bill featuring the Kazakhstan born fan favorite Gennady Golovkin (25-0-0 22 KO's) facing off against tough Japanese spoiler extraordinaire Nobuhiro Ishida (24-8-2 9 KO's).

Also on the bill, Belarus born British mauler Sergey Rabchenko (22-0-0 16 KO's) takes on battle hardened Italian Adrian Ricci (20-3-2 9 KO's) and in the featured attraction, the two quartar finals to the big "Super Four" tournament.

And while Golovkin-Ishida, Rabchenko-Nicci and the rest of the bill provide sensational entertainment, the "Super 4" Tournament is what everyone is coming for - And it won't disappoint.

The quarter finals pit top up and coming fighters Edwin Rodriguez (22-0-0 15 KO's) of America by way of the Dominican Republic) and Ezequiel Maderna (19-0-0 13 KO's) in a career-defining collision plus veteran combatants Zsolt Erdei (33-0-0 18 KO's) of Hungary and Denis Grachev (12-1-1 8 KO's) of Russia.

Rodriguez, 27, is known as the "Boxer" in the ring. And at a solid 6'0, he has the ability to keep his range, while down the stretch homing in his picture-perfect right hand down the pipe.

And with his sharp aim and leverage, he often torments his opponents into later-fight stoppages. He is hoping to pry away at Maderna to that form of success the same way. More...

After much speculation both on internet forums and within the trade press, the identity of Matchroom Sport’s latest signing has been revealed, and it comes in the shape of the unbeaten Super-Middleweight prospect George Groves, who joins the burgeoning Matchroom Sport, headed by Eddie Hearn.

The 24 year old Hammersmith Super Middleweight, who is a former British and current Commonwealth and European Champion is unbeaten in 16 fights with 12 knockouts since turning professional back in 2008 and is ranked in the top 10 by three of the alphabets organizations.

Groves becomes the latest in a string of high profile signings for Matchroom Sport, joining the likes of British Light-Middleweight champion Brian Rose and popular Liverpudlian Light-Heavyweight Tony Bellew.

The status of Hearn has grown since becoming the sole promoter to deliver live boxing on Sky Television through his stable of fighters and the ever popular PrizeFighter series.

Groves will, at four days notice, feature on Hearn’s forthcoming “London’s Finest” Bill tonight as a 10 round special attraction against Argentine Dario Balmaceda.

Should Groves come through his Matchroom debut intact, he will then appear as potentially chief support to Carl Froch’s WBA and IBF unification grudge match against Mikkel Kessler at the O2 Arena on the 25th May .

Groves has world title ambitions and wishes to be kept active, which will certainly happen under Hearn if he remains injury free and has eyes on a world shot with a potential crack at the winner between Robert Stieglitz and Arthur Abraham for the WBO version of the 12 stone title in his sights.

However, Groves must first show that he is one of 'London’s Finest'.

Super-Middleweight Prospect – Craig Willshee - is looking forward to his first professional outing this year and took time out from training to talk to Saddoboxing.com

The twenty-four year old from Swadlincote started boxing at his local amateur boxing club with older brother Dean when he was just twelve years old. But only now, twelve years later and under new trainer Paul Webb, has Craig got the motivation and ‘drive’ to finally enter the professional ranks.

“I had 15 amateur fights in total with Burton ABC. I boxed in Jersey for the midlands squad at the age of 16 and boxed twice in the ABA's, the first time at 15 when I won the junior Staffordshire golden belt but lost in the midlands final. More...

Recently, it has been announced that current Southern Area Champion and three time British Heavyweight title challenger John McDermott will face off in a rematch against former British, Commonwealth and European title challenger Matt Skelton for the currently vacant English Heavyweight title at the historic York Hall on the 15th March.

This English title bout will be a rematch of a British title fight seven years ago in which the 45 year old Bedford born Skelton succeeded in bombing McDermott in just 79 seconds at the Excel Arena in London.

The 32 year old Essex Heavyweight returns to the ring one year after defeating Lativan journeyman Pavels Dolgovs with a fourth round technical knockout which came a month after getting bombed out in just 82 seconds by David Price in a British Heavyweight title final eliminator.

While Skelton’s return to the ring is a lot quicker after also suffering at the hands of the current British and Commonwealth champ, which lasted a round longer than McDermott’s appointment with the giant Scouser before a left hook to the body ended Skelton’s challenge for his old titles at the Aintree Equestrian Centre in Liverpool.

While McDermott is the younger man at 32 in comparison to Skelton, who has recently turned 46 years old, it is important to recognise that Skelton only turned professional at 35 years of age after a lucrative career in mixed martial arts.

During his 11 year professional career, in which he has been engaged in the same number of professional bouts as the previously conquered McDermott, Skelton has boxed as far the much higher level having unsuccessfully challenged Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA Heavyweight title back January 2008.

Skelton has been victorious with a European title, picking up a 9th round retirement stoppage over the Italian Paolo Vidoz over in Lombardia Italy. More...

Bernard ‘The Executioner’ Hopkins faces Tavoris ‘Thunder’ Cloud next Saturday, 9th March, for the IBF Light Heavyweight Championship at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York.

During a media conference call this week – Hopkins was asked about Welshman Nathan Cleverly, who defends his WBO Light-Heavyweight title against Robin Krasniqi on March 16th at Wembley, UK.

Cleverly is said to have stated that if Hopkins beats Cloud – there could be a unification fight in the pipeline. Hopkins agreed with him and said he was glad that Cleverly was thinking along the same lines.

“I'm very aware of him (Cleverly), but right now it's Tavoris Cloud, 'Thunder', and that's what's on my mind right now and that is my focus,” said Hopkins.

“I’m all about unifying the championship, and that's what it's all about. I've done it in the Middleweight Division. I tried to do it when I had the title in the Light Heavyweight Division, twice, I had the title in the Light Heavyweight Division, and this would be the third time come March 9th.

“Anybody that fights in the Light Heavyweight Division makes more money with me, fighting a Hall of Famer, fighting a guy that did it all, and if you can get past Bernard Hopkins that's a notch on anybody's belt in the Light Heavyweight Division."
Quotes taken from media conference call transcript via Swanson Communications.

The Hopkins v Cloud IBF Light-Heavyweight Championship at the Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York, is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Don King Productions.

The Cleverly v Krasniqi – WBO Light-Heavyweight Title takes place at Wembley Arena, London, on Saturday 16 March and is promoted by Frank Warren.

Hennessy Sports have announced that undefeated British heavyweight hope Tyson Fury will make his stateside debut against the former two time IBF Cruiserweight Champion and Philly native Steve “USS” Cunningham at the Madison Square Gardens Theatre on the 20th April in an event that will be co-promoted by Duva Entertainment.

In a contest that is officially billed as an IBF eliminator for the number 2 spot with the Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev the immediate target for the winner of this elimination contest.

24 year old Mancunian giant Fury, who is 20 fights unbeaten with 14 knockouts and has already held the English, Commonwealth, Irish, British Heavyweight titles and is the current WBO Inter-Continental Heavyweight champ, faces his sixth American opponent having defeated Nicolai Firtha and then Vinny Maddalone, the tough come forward brawler to clinch the aforementioned trinket.

Both of these wins for Fury were by stoppage. In his last contest in December, Fury then defeated former World title challenger Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast in a WBC eliminator bout in front of the Channel 5 cameras.

Earlier in his career, Fury scored a points win over durable American journeyman Zack Page in Quebec and also Rich Power, which were both eight round fights.

The bout against the brash American heavyweight Johnson. who went 12 rounds with Vitali Klitschko, was a mature and extremely measured performance against the shorter, more experienced American.

Standing tall, Fury was working off his ever improving left jab and switching effectively between Johnson’s head and body to keep his opponent at long range and backing Johnson up against the ropes. Many fans in attendance were disappointed that Fury’s dominant performance was not completed with a knockout. More...

Last week, several sources broke the news that former world champion Jean Pascal's camp, Groupe Yvon Michel, and Lucian Bute's camp, Interbox, were working on a possible fight that would take place at the Bell Centre in Montreal on May 25th.

This is an intriguing thought as both boxers had separate bouts scheduled for this spring. First and foremost, Jean Pascal was scheduled to fight Chad Dawson for the WBC Light heavyweight title on May 25th. The Canadian new agency QMI was first to break the news that the Pascal vs. Dawson II fight scheduled to air on HBO was postponed because of injuries.

As for Lucian Bute, this fight against Pascal makes more sense at the moment than a rematch with Carl Froch because of the financial reward involved. This is an ironic twist because in the recent past, Pascal has accused Bute of dodging him in favour of bigger paydays against the likes of Carl Froch and a potential matchup with Andre Ward.

For this fight, both Bute (31-1, 24 KO) and Pascal (27-2-1, 16 KO) should earn around $2 million each.

"Everyone here [in Canada] has wanted the fight for a long time. It will be the biggest event in boxing history in Canada," said Jean Bedard of Interbox in an interview on February 18. More...

While this weekend was surely eventful, and an enlightening time for prosperous underdogs Tony Thompson, Alejandro Perez and Ishe Smith, the boxing blackout continued with few elite fighters stepping into the ring on larger stages, but that doesn't stop Saddoboxing.com for getting you your weekend fight fix!

In a stunning performance, one right hand by American Tony Thompson sliced away future title hopes for British crusher David Price.

It wasn't an overly dramatic performance by Thompson, more of one sweeping shot on an unbalanced and overconfident Price that sparked the unthinkable as promoter Frank Maloney fainted ringside, viewing his 2012 prospect of the year's 15 fight knockout spree get shattered by a determined opponent.

Maloney made it to the post-fight press conference to emphasize that Price will rebound from this defeat, siting this as only a mere setback.

The skyscraping British champion surely needs to consider working on defense and physical endurance, however, as he never regained his stability despite reaching his feet during his shocking defeat to Thompson.

Consecutively in the United States, contender Ishe Smith used swift skills and a compact right cross to swipe up a raw Cornelius "K9" Bundrage's IBF title belt over a 12-round split decision. An emotional Smith became the first Las Vegas born world champion.

Smith is the first world champion to come out of an encouraging Floyd Mayweather's promotional stable. J'Leon Love, another one of "Money"'s rising fighters, grabbed a unfaltering shutout victory over a determined but outmatched Derrick Findley in the co-headliner.

Also that night, heavyweight Malik Scott crashed the international fight scene using precise timing and superb boxing skills to outbox Ukrainian fighter Vyacheslav Glazkov but was forced to settle for a well disputed draw, although most observers boldly felt he had done enough to edge it. More...