Earlier this week at a press conference held at Real Hypermarket in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Irish boxer Andy Lee confirmed to SaddoBoxing that he was ‘feeling great’ and ‘looking forward to Saturday night’ when he is scheduled to fight Latvian Olegs Fedotovs in an eight round middleweight contest at Veltins Arena.
A smiling Lee looked happy as he took time out to pose for photographers after the conference between headliners Wladimir Klitschko and Ruslan Chagaev, who will contend for three of the four major heavyweight titles on Saturday.
Southpaw Lee has an impressive 17 win record with 13 of those wins coming by way of knockout and just 1 loss.
Born in Limerick, Ireland, Lee now resides in Michigan, U.S.A. and trains under Emmanual Stewart.
Also on the undercard, British boxer Paul Butlin faces Johnathan Banks of Michigan in an eight round heavyweight contest and Michael Sprott of Reading, England faces Alexander Ustinov of Atlanta, Georgia.
Sprott has some impressive names on his record which includes Saturdays’ headliner Chagaev, who Sprott lost out to three years ago.
The heavyweights were once the glamour division of boxing but in recent years has come under harsh criticism for lack of talent, excitement and a true unified champion. Eastern European heavyweights currently dominate the division and the U.S. are pushing their best candidates forward with Eddie Chambers and Chris Arreola hoping they can get a piece of the alphabet titles.
The heavyweight division is in desperate need of new talent, a young fighter that can come up the ranks and be entertaining to watch. Enter Mark “The Dominator” De Mori from Perth , Australia . He’s a 27 years old orthodox fighter, 6’2”, 233 lbs and at first glance looks more like a body builder than a boxer, but don’t let his muscles fool you because in addition to his dominating right he can box well and is able to get very low as he bobs and weaves his way forward.
Admittedly De Mori was a one dimensional fighter early in the pro ranks, dominating his opponents most by knockout, but after suffering a knockout loss he took some time off to become a more complete fighter. The time off and on the job training has worked well for “The Dominator” as he improved his record to 15-1-2 (13).
SaddoBoxing had the privilege to get an exclusive interview with De Mori to get a closer look at this up and coming heavyweight. More...
In the ring, his actions are so accelerated, you wish there was slow motion control. It is the result of drive and agility and also how Robert Guerrero was dubbed "Ghost."
Since he was a child, he has been very swift when he boxes. Guerrero has a rare prowess on how he fights and prepares to fight.
Guerrero has been at Gio's Brooklyn Boxing Gym in Burbank, CA where he is in training camp for his main event fight on June 12th against Efren Hinojosa at the HP Pavilion in San Jose on ESPN.
SaddoBoxing: Do you face any challenges with boxing?
Robert Guerrero: "There are always challenges in boxing, anything can happen. I am ready all the time."
SB: Why did you move up in weight?
RG: "In the featherweight division, I was a two time IBF world champion. I had four champion defenses and 16 knockouts thus far. I moved up in weight and vacated my title to chase another. There is more competition at super featherweight. It is easier to make weight and I am stronger and faster." More...
Main Event Boxing Series will host their latest installment on Friday, April 24 live from The Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey with middleweight contender “Ireland’s” John Duddy, 26-0 (17), stepping into the ring against Billy Lyell, 18-7 (3).
Although the doors open at 8:00 PM, the fans will be treated to a multi-ethnic festival that begins at 6:00 PM at Entry Plaza, at the corner of Mulberry and Edison Streets. The Fan Festival will include Irish music and dancers, food and access to meet some of the fighters. The entertainment will continue throughout the night with the Irish bagpipe band "The Shots" performing throughout the evening.
SaddoBoxing had the opportunity to speak with John Duddy in an exclusive phone interview to discuss his upcoming bout.
SaddoBoxing: This Friday you will be stepping into the ring at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ against Billy Lyell; how was your training camp in preparation for the fight?
John Duddy: “Training camp went great; I had a short time between camps. Me and Patrick started where we left off after our last fight, we have been working hard on a lot of things leading up to this fight and we are just looking forward to fighting.” More...
SaddoBoxing went along to see St. Helens boxer Gary Davies yesterday as he makes his last minute preparations before Friday night's clash against Matthew Edmonds for the British Bantamweight title.
Pulling up to the Leisure Centre off the Warrington Road in Prescot, England, I looked around at the 5-aside football taking place and the ladies hockey team arriving to play on the outside pitches and mused that you’d never imagine there was a title contender working away inside the ‘tucked away’ boxing gym.
Trainer Peter McCormick, greeted me at the doorway of the gym where many young men were busy training. Pointing me in the direction of Davies, I wandered over to the treadmill where he was already clocking up some miles. More...
SaddoBoxing caught up with Liverpool boxer Gary Davies today, ahead of his British Bantamweight title fight on April 3 at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, London, England.
Davies faces Welshman Matthew Edmonds of Newport in what promises to be an all-action contest.
Davies was impressive last time out when he fought former British Champion Martin Power at Dublin University in December. Seriously ‘fired-up’ for the bout - a determined Davies scored a second round TKO over the Londoner - proving he was ‘Too Much’ for Power.
Now Davies has his sights set on a title and it seems there’s no stopping his determination. More...
This past weekend, SaddoBoxing had the opportunity to speak with Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz in an exclusive interview as he completes his preparation to face the Ring Lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez on February 28 at the Toyota Center in his hometown of Houston, Texas.
In 2008, Diaz, 34-1 (17), suffered his first loss, losing the WBA, WBO and IBF Lightweight titles via split decision to Nate Campbell. Consequently in his first title defense, Cambell lost the belts this past weekend, not in the ring but on the scales, unable to make the 135 pound weight limit.
The bout with Campbell was the Houston native’s last contractual fight with promoter Don King, who also promoted Nate Campbell.
After signing with Golden Boy Promotions, the "Baby Bull" charged back from his first loss refusing to take an “easy” comeback fight, winning a split decision victory against hard-hitting Michael Katsidis last September.
Although Diaz’s upcoming fight with Ring Lightweight Champion Marquez, 49-4-1 (36), is against the biggest name he has faced in his career, Diaz doesn’t seem to be phased. He is able to work harder than ever before, still take his college courses and is scheduled to graduate in May. More...
On Friday, January 23, 2009, at the Fenton Manor Sports Complex in Stoke-On-Trent, England, Frank Maloney and Impact Boxing will be staging an exciting fight night for the Stoke fans which sees local-man Chris Edwards topping the bill.
Entitled ‘Stoking the Fire’ - it will be a double-whammy for Edwards as he takes a drop in weight to challenge for the British and Commonwealth Flyweight titles.
His opponent - Grimsby boxer Wayne Bloy - hasn’t fought since his loss to Andy Bell 12 months ago, ironically, the same Andy Bell that Edwards lost to last time out.
SaddoBoxing went along to the Impact Boxing Gym in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, today to see how Edwards was shaping up. More...
Daniel Edouard, 21-2-2 (12), like every fighter, wants to be a world champion, middleweight champion of the world to be exact, and so far, he has had an impressive start towards his goal.
In just under six years as a professional, Edouard has captured a fair share of minor titles including the USBA Middleweight and currently holds the WBA Fedecaribe Light Middleweight, WBA Fedecentro Light Middleweight and WBA Fedelatin Middleweight titles.
While the majority of titles "The Haitian Sensation" holds are regional Caribbean and Latin belts, the fact that he holds them all simultaneously sends out a message of “There is a new fighter on the rise and he is serious!” More...
Yesterday, at ‘The Real Fight Club’ in London, England, promoter Frank Maloney invited press to attend the last training session of newly signed Darren Sutherland ahead of his pro debut in Dublin next Thursday.
Sutherland faces Bulgarian opponent Georgi Illiev, at Dublin City University, Ireland, on a ‘bill’ which features three ‘title’ fights.
Irish Olympic boxer Sutherland, lost out to Britain's Gold Medallist James DeGale in Beijing earlier this year to take the Bronze Medal and Maloney was quick to see Sutherland's potential, promptly signing up the Irishman.
Apart from the growing number of ‘white-collar boxers‘ attending the club - ‘The Real Fight Club’ has great facilities to provide world-class boxing training for professional boxers and also raises a lot of money for charity. More...
Last week during the conference call hosted by Roy Jones Jr, I had asked him if he were to compare his upcoming fight with Joe Calzaghe to the Roman Coliseum, who would he be? The exotic animal or the gladiator and why?
"I am the gladiator in this fight," Jones stated, "I am the gladiator because the gladiator is the underdog, and people doubt me."
Wednesday, at the final presser in Manhattan, I had followed that up with Joe Calzaghe. I asked him "Joe, I asked Roy last week who he would be considered in this fight if it was during the Roman Coliseum days; the exotic animal or the gladiator - who would you be?"
Calzaghe stated, "I am the gladiator, " to which I replied, "No, Roy said he is the gladiator." Calzaghe laughed and shot back "Hey that's not fair, you gave him a choice, and I am stuck being the animal?" More...
Tonight at Madison Square Garden, Brooklyn favorite Dmitriy Salita, 28-0-1 (16), will face Derrick Campos, 17-5 (10), for the vacant IBF Inter-Continental Light Welterweight title on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones, Jr.
It is a night that Salita hoped he would be fighting for the WBA Light Welterweight title but unfortunately for him it’s something that he has only been “close to signing” on a couple of occasions, but has never come to fruition.
Salita is ranked number three by the WBA; looking back a little over a year ago he was hoping to line up a title match against then champion Gavin Rees. Rees lost the title to the WBA number one ranked Andriy Kotelnik in March of this year.
Kotelnik went on to win a voluntary defense of the title in September and was close to signing a contract to face Salita but withdrew due to an apparent rib injury. After hearing of the news, Salita issued an open letter to Kotelnik, “Last week it was your rib, and this week it's the money, make up your mind which excuse will be used not to take the fight. It is obvious to me that you don't want to fight me.”
Forced to find another opponent, Salita remains upbeat and is focused on the task at hand knowing that he needs to keep winning regardless of the opponent to get his title shot. More...
This Saturday night Emanuel Augustus will step into the ring at Madison Square Garden for the first time in his career to fight on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe and Roy Jones, Jr. He will face local New York favorite Francisco Figueroa 19-2 (13) as a late replacement for Figueroa’s original opponent Gavin Rees who pulled out of the fight last week due to a broken nose.
Augustus 38-29-6 (23) has one of the most deceiving records in the sport of boxing and has made a career out of taking fights on short notice. He has had his share of being on the wrong side of bad decisions and losing close battles, but win, lose or draw he is always entertaining. Floyd Mayweather was quoted as saying, “Augustus was the toughest opponent that he has faced in his career.”
In 2001 Augustus received the honor of Ring magazine’s “Fight of the Year” for his battle with Micky Ward in which over 2000 punches were thrown during the fight in back and forth action. Although the fight was very close Ward received a unanimous decision.
The most heinous decision he received in his career was his 2004 split decision loss to Courtney Burton. In the fourth round Augustus landed two solid body shots that put Burton on his knees which the referee ruled a low blow and provided Burton with five minutes to recover. More...
One of the best boxers on the planet at any weight, IBF Cruiserweight Champion Steve Cunningham, took the time out from his busy schedule to speak with SaddoBoxing about a variety of subjects as he prepares for a title defense against dangerous former WBC Light Heavyweight Champion Tomasz Adamek at Newark NJ's Prudential Center on December 11, 2008.
SaddoBoxing: Although you were a Golden Gloves Champion, you only had 55 fights as an amateur. Given that amount of amateur experience, what was it that allowed you to compete with and defeat such proven operators as Sebastiaan Rothmann and Guillermo Jones before you even had 20 professional bouts?
Steve Cunningham: First, my faith and trust in God and Jesus name. It helps me to do all things in the name of Christ which strengthens me, so that right there is the ultimate.Second is the hard work, that I got from growing up in Philly, you know, fighting on the streets and then there's the hard work, you know, the extra hard work I got at boot camp in the Navy and working in the Navy.
It gave me drive, made me work harder towards being the best. I know that nothing can stop me when I'm right, training and working hard, I always do extra, I push myself. Basically that's it. The Lord and dedication to my training. More...
This evening, Bobby Rimmer informed SaddoBoxing that sadly, he and Michael Gomez have parted company. “It’s all very amicable,” Rimmer says, “and I wish Mike all the best - I really do”.
Irish-born Gomez, a two-time British Super Featherweight Champion, has been with Rimmer for 12 months and the two had struck up a good friendship. Always the character - Gomez has never been short on words. I saw him at Wigan last week when he was there to support stable-mate Jack Arnfield and Mike, as always, enjoyed a bit of banter with the media in attendance. For me - he is a ’likable rogue’.
In June of this year, Gomez was stopped in the fifth by Amir Khan when they fought for the Commonwealth Lightweight title but before being stopped, Gomez managed to ‘rattle’ the Bolton boxer. More...
Saturday night at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, former lightweight champion Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz, 33-1 (17), will face Michael Katsidis, 23-1 (20), after suffering his first career loss to Nate Campbell in March of this year. Coincidentally, Katsidis also enters the ring for the first time since his first loss against Joel Casamayor which took place only a week apart from Diaz’s bout with Campbell .
Since his loss in March which was his last contractual fight with Don King, Diaz has signed with Golden Boy Promotions and is looking forward to what he feels will be a better working relationship.
SaddoBoxing had the opportunity to speak with Diaz in an exclusive phone interview to discuss the difficult time he had with his last bout with Don King as well as his upcoming return to the ring. More...
The visit to my hand doctor turned out to be more than just a follow up. I had the pleasure of meeting a fellow patient of Dr. Melone's, light welterweight Joel "Joelo" Torres.
Hailing from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, this young fighter was only in town for a night to follow up on his recovering tendon that he ruptured from his last fight, in May, against Christopher Fernandez.
We, 'we' being my twin sister and Tommy, who is also apart of his team, then arranged a meeting and met with Torres and his manager, Ricardo Figueroa, to talk boxing. Torres is just learning English and so Figueroa had to translate.
Torres is a humble 25 year old, with a lingering focus in his eyes. His presence is mellow, while his early memoir is anything but. At eight years of age, his brother was murdered. His mother passed away shortly after due to heartache and depression. More...
Next week at the Morongo Casino Resort in Cabazon, California lightweight prospect Dominic Salcido, 16-0 (8), will put his unbeaten record to the test as he steps up in competition to face 2004 Olympian Vincente Escobedo, 18-1 (11).
Although Salcido has only been a professional fighter since 2003 he went through a period of inactivity having to take off eleven months to heal a broken right hand after delivering a technical knock to Odilon Rivera in March 2006. He quickly made up for lost time returning to the ring in February 2007 and competing in seven fights last year.
SaddoBoxing had the pleasure to speak to Dominic Salcido in an exclusive phone interview to discuss his big upcoming fight and his career.
SaddoBoxing: Next week you will be facing 2004 Olympian Vincente Escobedo; how do you feel about getting into the ring with someone with that much experience?
Dominic Salcido: “It’s a great opportunity, a big step for me; it’s a big opportunity for me to face a former Olympian. He was a great fighter at 130, it’s a big fight for me, a really big step, and I’m excited.”
SB: How did the fight come about for you?
DS: “The matchmaker called me and asked if I wanted this fight and I did, I took it right away. I always wanted to fight Escobedo since the amateurs. We never got a chance to meet up in the amateurs.” More...
Last month when SaddoBoxing got the opportunity to meet with the U.S. Olympic boxing team at a workout session at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York, I have to admit I did a little research on the various fighters to get myself more familiar with the team. I, of course, knew the East Coast amateurs pretty well, but needed to brush up on the rest of the team.
After reading up on all the athletes, one of the more publicized media highlights was that Luis Yanez had been dismissed from the team. The particular workout session I attended was just after he had been dismissed from the team and before his return, so he was not available for an interview, not to mention unavailable to sign a boxing glove the rest of the team signed, but I digress.
The background story was that Yanez left the Olympic training facility in Colorado Springs and did not return. He was originally leaving to attend his high school graduation and never returned, breaking off all communication with his coaches. Yanez was kicked off the team on July 1 after missing three weeks of mandatory training and refusing to respond to a letter from USA Boxing that insisted he return or risk expulsion.
Yanez was reinstated two weeks later with an agreement that overturned the decision to dismiss him from the team. Yanez released the following statement, “I want to thank USA Boxing for its understanding and sense of forgiveness. I sincerely apologize to head coach [Dan] Campbell , to my teammates, and to USA Boxing for not only breaking the rules of the Athlete Code of Conduct, but also for my lack of candor regarding the circumstances of my absence from the Resident Program.”
In the agreement, Yanez had to meet specific stipulations including a financial penalty for his absence. Although he was reluctant to specify a reason for his actions, he later stated he had been caring for his sister and her four children while she was undergoing medical treatment. More...
Deontay Wilder was born on October 22, 1985 and lives in his hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He began boxing in 2005 and is coached by Jay Deas. He has a two-year old daughter, Naieya, who suffers from the medical condition Spina Bifida and serves as his biggest influence and motivation.
Wilder, who has only been boxing for less than three years, has already accomplished a lot by winning several local and national amateur titles. His career highlights include: two-time Alabama Golden Gloves Champion, Southern Golden Gloves Champion, Nation Golden Gloves Champion, Southeastern District Champion and National Champion.
To qualify for the U.S. Olympic boxing team, he not only had to overcome his opponents but also being under the weather. “Every major tournament I went to, I seemed to get sick; I caught the flu or something,” said Wilder. “At the second qualification, I said I’m claiming it right here no matter what happens.” More...
Earlier this week at a press conference held at Real Hypermarket in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Irish boxer Andy Lee confirmed to SaddoBoxing that he was ‘feeling great’ and ‘looking forward to Saturday night’ when he is scheduled to fight Latvian Olegs Fedotovs in an eight round middleweight contest at Veltins Arena.
