Current WBC 140 lb title holder Junior Witter, 36-1-2 (21), can be described as anything but ordinary. Just ask him and he will be the first to tell you exactly how good he is.
In fact, ask anyone who has ever spent time interviewing Witter or attended one of his press conferences and more than likely, they will tell you that Witter never stops talking about himself, although, in all fairness, Witter has earned some bragging rights.
Witter has not tasted professional defeat in almost eight years and that was a unanimous decision loss in 2000 to a young, dangerous Zab Judah, who at the time reigned as the 140 lb IBF world champion and was steamrolling anyone brave enough to step into the ring with him.
Following the loss, Witter went on a 15 bout KO streak, and those he did not KO, he defeated rather easily, eventually picking up the division’s vacant WBC belt when he faced DeMarcus Corley in September of 2006.
After two defenses of the strap since that time, one being an impressive seventh round stoppage over highly regarded former WBA titlist Vivian Harris, Witter now feels it is his time to shine as the divisionʼs premier star.
But Witter has company in the division who seem to be much in the spotlight. One of these is the undefeated brash and even more self praising IBF titlist Paulie Malignaggi, a man who, with or without a belt, talks so much it is hard not to look his way.
The other fellow is a man that Witter seems to feel has been standing in the way throughout his entire career, Ring Magazine Champion Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton. More…
American box-puncher Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley could never be accused of lacking confidence. The 24 year old light-welterweight from Palm Springs, California, may never have fought outside of his home state, let alone his home country, but he is confident that he will take possession of the WBC title in Nottingham, England, this weekend when he tackles champion Junior “The Hitter” Witter at the Trent FM Arena.
Bradley, 21 – 0 (11), has certainly been talking a good game in the run up to this fight, stating his intentions are to unify the division after beating Witter and going onto say he intends to become a ring legend like Ali, Leonard and Robinson but, the truth is, on the evidence of the names on their resumes, this Saturday’s combatants are worlds apart.
Before winning his title, Junior Witter had been a British, Commonwealth and European champion. Add that detail to the fact that the Bradford trickster has defeated four world titlists and you have a very accomplished 140 pounder.
Bradley, on the other hand, has not really fought anyone of note, with almost 50% of his victories coming against pugs with losing records and the rest made up of lowly rated fighters floating around the southern California club scene, so a win on away turf and in a clash of this magnitude looks an extremely tall order.
Despite this, Bradley should not be taken lightly. He has decent speed and can dig, eight of his eleven knockout victims not making it past the fifth, and Witter is not a fighter known for keeping his chin well guarded.
If the Bradford native comes into this bout looking at it as merely a stepping stone in this quest for a battle with Ricky Hatton, then he could be made to pay.
One similarity between the two combatants is that they are both returning to the squared circle on the back of lengthy lay offs (8 months for Witter and 10 for Bradley) and it will be interesting to see how they shake off the proverbial rust. More…
Tonight at the Home Depot Centre in Carson, CA, light middleweight Oscar De La Hoya makes a rare appearance in the ring when he takes on Steve Forbes over a scheduled 12 rounds.
De La Hoya, 38-5 (30), will be fighting for just the third time since being stopped by World Middleweight Champion Bernard Hopkins in 2004 and will be looking to improve upon his 2-3 mark since 2003.
At 35 years of age and a successful boxing promoter, “The Golden Boy” is coming off a major loss to Floyd Mayweather last May and this contest against Forbes is clearly a tune up bout for another crack at Mayweather later this Autumn.
Forbes, 33-5 (9), is a former IBF Super Featherweight Champion who’s career has been on the downside since losing his title to Carlos Hernandez in 2003. More…
There are three European title fights taking place across the continent tonight and we start off at Lotto Arena in Antwerp, Belgium where that country’s top boxer, Jackson Osei Bonsu, meets undefeated Ukrainian Viktor Plotnikov over twelve rounds.
Born in Ghana, the 27 year old Bonsu, 27-1 (23), nicknamed “Sugar The Ball Brains”, won the European Welterweight title last year with an eight round KO of French Champion Nordine Mouchi and has since stopped Cristian De Martinis and Mouchi again before posting a rare twelve round appearance in defeating another Frenchman, Brice Faradji, this past January.
Bonsu has the reputation as one of the top pound for pound sluggers in the world today and will hold a massive advantage when he defends against Plotnikov, 19-0 (9), who has never fought outside of his native Ukraine.
Plotnikov has seen the competition stepped up over his last three appearances and has risen to the occasion by winning the IBF Eastern European/Central Asian and GBU belts against the likes of Eugenio Monteiro, Carlos Donquiz and Marat Khuzeev but Bonsu represents a much higher grade of opposition and Plotnikov must pull off a performance of a lifetime if he is to walk away with the European crown.
In neighboring France, European Cruiserweight king Johny Jensen will be making his maiden defense when he meets local hero Jean Marc Monrose at the Palais des Sport in Marseille. More…
If prizes were handed out for being humble and keeping your feet on the ground, then Leicester ’s European Super Bantamweight Champion Rendall “Two Tone” Munroe would have a trophy cabinet larger than Manchester United’s.
Just eight weeks ago, the stylish southpaw outlclassed Kiko Martinez to take the hard hitting Spaniard’s prized EBU strap and he hasn’t allowed the success to go to his head. Every morning, come rain or shine, Munroe gets out of bed and goes to his day job as a bin man and the only treat he’s allowed himself since his career best victory is the purchase of a second hand motorbike.
“I’m a humble type of person,” he told the BBC recently. “I keep myself to myself, and don’t go around thinking I’m anything special.
“A lot of people say the binman is a down and out person’s job, but I think more people are realising now that any job that you do can be just as respectable as the top job.”
This Friday evening, Munroe, 14-1 (6), returns to the scene of his title winning tilt when he takes on the tough Frenchman Salem Bouaita at the Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre in Nottingham, England.
The victory over Martinez in early March was seen as something of shock at the time. The Spanish puncher was undefeated, ranked number eight in the world by Ring Magazine, and was riding high after stopping the highly touted Irishman Bernard Dunne in 86 one sided seconds last August. More…
There is a big show at Freiberger Arena in Dresden, Germany tonight as WBO Light Heavyweight ruler Zsolt Erdei and WBO Light Middle kingpin Sergiy Dzinziruk put their title belts at risk on a Universum promotions bill.
Hungarian Erdei, 28-0 (17), will look to make his tenth title defense after a close call against Panama’s Tito Mendoza last November. “The Firebird” will be facing 35 year old American prospect DeAndrey Abron, 15-1 (10), from Youngstown, Ohio who won the WBO NABO title last September by turning back the previously undefeated Shane Benfield.
This will be Abron’s first bout outside the US and he’ll be taking a big step up in facing Erdei, who has yet to suffer defeat over the course of a seven year pro career. More…
Tomorrow night, Saturday, April, 26, Steve Woods of VIP Boxing is staging what’s sure to be another action-packed night of boxing at the Robin Park, Wigan, England.
The main event sees Lancashire boxer, Mark Thompson, face Polish man Maurycy Gojko in a ten round welterweight contest. But also on the bill, popular Blackpool light middleweight Brian Rose is looking for a good win this time, having earned a draw in his most recent outing against Manocha Salari.
Trainer Bobby Rimmer spoke to SaddoBoxing this morning and confirmed that after a last minute substitute, Rose is now fighting ‘Gypsy Boy’ - Ernie Smith of the Midlands, who was originally scheduled to fight Alex Matvienko on the same bill.
‘Brian is absolutely fantastic!’ Rimmer enthused, ‘he’s feeling very confident and, as usual, training has gone absolutely great!’
Interbox stages a show tonight at the Repentigny Arena in Repentigny, Quebec which sees middleweight Renan St. Juste, 16-1-1 (11), square off with Elkeana Ali Saunders, 8-1-1 (4), of The Bahamas over ten rounds.
Also on the bill are Quebecois prospects Benoit Gaudet, and Sebastien Gauthier.
Renan St. Juste: 160 lb
Elkeana Ali Saunders: 158.6 lb
Benoit Gaudet: 135.9 lb
Pedro Javier Torres: 135.9 lb
A fight that has been years, not months, in the making finally takes places this Saturday at the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Its a fight at light heavyweight between two men with a combined 41 successful defences of their world titles.
Welshman Joe Calzaghe will be attempting to stop a disappointing run of results in Camp Calzaghe. After world title defeats for stablemates Gavin Rees and Enzo Maccarinelli, the undefeated World Super Middleweight Champion will be desperate not to make it third time unlucky.
Bernard Hopkins stands between Joe and a place in boxing history. A pro now for 20 years, Hopkins won the middleweight title at the third attempt, stopping Segundo Mercardo in seven back in 1995, having lost and drawn previous title attempts. More…
The next Steve Woods/VIP Boxing event takes place on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at the Robin Park Arena in Wigan, England. Please note the change of venue - which was originally to be held at the GH Carnall Centre in Davyhulme, Manchester.
Featuring nine fights - this is sure to be another action-packed night of boxing!
The main event sees popular welterweight Mark Thompson fighting for the vacant Masters International title and promising Blackpool light middleweight Brian Rose, both against opponents to be announced.
A week before the big Calzaghe vs. Hopkins light heavyweight showdown, Sheffield’s Clinton Woods defends his IBF title against Antonio Tarver in Tampa, Florida.
For Woods, this is his well deserved spot in the big league, topping an American bill as champion. A pro since 1994, Woods has won titles at domestic, Commonwealth and European level at super middleweight and light heavyweight.
In his first tilt at world honours, Woods had the misfortune to run into Undisputed World Light Heavyweight Champion Roy Jones Jr, then at the peak of his powers, losing in six rounds in September 2002. After a draw and a points loss verdict to veteran Glencoffe Johnson, Woods finally made it fourth time lucky, stopping American Rico Hoye in five in March 2005, wining the vacant IBF title. More…
Barry Hearn of Matchroom Sports chaired the final press conference yesterday for the ‘PrizeFighter’ Boxing show which takes place at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, tonight.
Eight British Heavyweight Boxers will be competing in 3-round contests, the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final - all taking place in one exciting night of boxing.
The ‘brainchild’ of Mr. Hearn - this revolutionary new style of Boxing Tournament is hoped to raise the profile of British Heavyweight Boxing.
The Boxers competing tonight are Billy Bessey (Portsmouth) Paul Butlin (Melton Mowbray) David Dolan (Sunderland) David Ferguson (North Shields) Alex Ibbs (Stoke) Colin Kenna (Southampton) Darren Morgan (Swansea) Martin Rogan (Belfast).
Yesterday at Sofrito Puerto Rican Cuisine in New York City, Top Rank hosted the final press conference for their World Welterweight Championship Double Header which will take place this Saturday, April 12 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ .
“Two World Championships…One Night” features WBA Welterweight Champion, Miguel Cotto, 31-0 (25), against Contender star, Alfonso Gomez, 18-3-2 (8). The co-feature will be the highly anticipated rematch featuring IBF Welterweight Champion, Kermit Cintron, 29-1 (27), who will look to avenge his only loss against former Welterweight Champion, Antonio Margarito, 35-5 (25).
The first time Cintron and Margarito met in the ring in April 2005, their roles were reversed; Margarito was the WBO Welterweight Champion and Cintron was the challenger. Margarito had literally broke down Cintron over five rounds, cutting him over the right eye in the third round and dropping him twice both in the fourth and fifth rounds before the fight was stopped.
Cintron looked like he may not recover from the devastating loss, but rebuilt his career with the help of trainer Emanuel Steward, winning all five fights since his loss to Margarito by KO and picking up the IBF strap in the process. More…
This morning - the live draw took place for the ʽPrizefighter Seriesʼ, which takes place this coming Friday, April 11 at the York Hall, Bethnall Green, London.
The ʽbrainchildʼ of Barry Hearn of Matchroom Sports, it will see eight heavyweight contenders slug it out in a tournament-style fight night in which the quarter, semi and final will take place all in one night of exciting boxing.
It will be a case of ʽthe last man standing - takes the prize!ʼ - the prize being a cheque for £25,000
Bookies’ favourite, David Dolan faces Darren Morgan and their three-round contest will be the last of the quarter-finals.
The quarter-final match-ups are:
Dave Ferguson (North Shields) vs. Bill Bessey (Portsmouth)
Alex Ibbs (Stoke) vs. Martin Rogan (Belfast)
Paul Butlin (Melton Mowbray) vs. Colin Kenna (Southampton)
Darren Morgan (Swansea) vs. David Dolan (Sunderland)
Norwich switch-hitter Jon “Jono” Thaxton makes a long overdue step up to European class tonight at Bethnal Greenʼs York Hall in London when he challenges Belarusian champion Yuri Romanov on a Hennessy Sports promotion.
While Thaxton, 33-7 (18), may only have won his prized Lonsdale belt in late 2006, the Norwich buzzsaw had been on periphery of genuine title class for over a decade and many people may not realise that he was once regarded Britainʼs top fighter at light-welterweight.
Back in February 1996, Thaxton, coming in as a late substitute, took just 138 seconds to knock cold the previously undefeated British and Commonwealth supremo Paul “Scrap Iron” Ryan. It made him the country’s top man but, because the fight was made four pounds over the ten stone limit, it was a non-title affair and Thaxton never acquired the spoils such a victory deserved.
Almost four years after the Ryan victory, Thaxton eventually got his long awaited shot at the British crown but was stopped by Jason Rowlands in the fifth round. When Rowlands vacated a year later, Thaxton was handed a second domestic title tilt, this time against a young prospect from Manchester called Ricky Hatton.
Despite opening a serious cut above Hattonʼs left eye early in the opening round, Thaxton found “The Hitman” too much that night and conceded a wide verdict on the card of referee Paul Thomas.
It seemed that “Jono” was going to just miss out on being British Champion and in 2002, his career was over after a shoulder injury sustained in a car accident forced him to hang up his gloves. More…
Yesterday at BB King’s Blues Club Restaurant in New York City, Top Rank held a press conference to announce the first title defense for WBC and WBO Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, 33-0 (29), who will face the #1 rated WBO Middleweight contender Gary Lockett, 30-1 (21).
Also on the card will be another title fight featuring WBO Super Bantamweight champion, Daniel Ponce De Leon, 34-1 (30), against Juan Manual Lopez, 21-0 (19). Both championships will take place on Saturday, June 7, 2008 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ .
Before introducing Lockett, Top Rank’s Bob Arum reminisced with the media about some of the great middleweights that have come out of England such as Alan Minter and Tony Sibson, “One thing about the English middleweights is when they’re good, they’re real good and they come to fight; they are brave warriors.” More…
Tonight at the Barnsley Metrodome in Barnsley, England, super flyweight Andy Bell aims to succeed where fellow Doncaster native Jamie McDonnell failed by beating Chris Edwards to become the first British champion to hail from the South Yorkshire town since Jon Jo Irwin was the domestic featherweight ruler back in the late 1990s.
The bill has dubbed “Northern Rock” by promoter Frank Maloney and is televised live by Sky Sports.
31 year old Edwards, from Stoke, won the inaugural 115 Ib Lonsdale belt last December by narrowly squeezing past McDonnell and it was a result that greatly astounded Andy Bell.
He told local press: “To be honest I thought that Jamie would beat Edwards and I was surprised that he didn’t. I went to Wigan on the night and I felt Jamie boxed the wrong fight. Apart from experience, Jamie looked to have everything in his favour. But Edwards was in the great shape and he kept going for the full 12 rounds.”
Edwards, a pro fighter for almost ten years, didn’t have the greatest of starts in the paid ranks. After winning by second round knockout out on his debut, the little man from the Potteries didn’t taste victory again for over two and a half years.
A lot fighters would have turned in the game but, in the mould of Steve Robinson and Johnny Nelson, he’s shown great determination and achieved things that many people thought would be simply beyond him. He’s going to have to give his all tonight if he wants to hang on to the position he has worked so hard to acquire. More…
American literary great Mark Twain once said “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog”. Well, that sentence perfectly sums up the performance Newbridge’s Gavin “The Rock” Rees gave when he ripped the WBA light-welterweight title from tough Frenchman Souleymane M’Baye last summer.
Despite conceding 6.5 inches in height, “Little” Gavin put on a boxing masterclass at the Cardiff International Arena last July, as he dazed and confused the French champion with in and out movement and lots of aggressive flurries to the head and body. So in control was the Newbridge native that he often dropped his hands and did Joe Calzagheesque showboats.
For Gavin, the victory was extra sweet as it didn’t just make him the first Welshman to ever hold a WBA strap, it also proved the doubters, that had written him off only a couple of years earlier, wrong.
Back in late 2004, the pint-sized puncher’s career appeared to be in tatters as he was given 100 hours community service and banned from boxing for one year, due to his involvement in a punch up at a funeral. Things could have been worse as there was talk that the British Boxing Board of Control were going to hand him a lifetime ban, thankfully the board didn’t see their threats through.
Even when the rejuvenated and refocused Rees returned to the ring in early 2006, it seemed highly unlikely that he would ever reach the lofty heights of the world title class. But, after some solid six round performances at lightweight against seasoned journeymen, his promoter Frank Warren handed him an unexpected chance and he seized it with both hands.
This Saturday evening the undefeated 27 year old returns to the scene of his greatest boxing moment when he makes the first defence of his crown against the tough, Hamburg based Ukranian Andreas Kotelnik. More…
Birmingham middleweight Matthew Macklin looks to start a new chapter in his life at the National Stadium in Dublin, Ireland tonight when he tackles the battle tested, but now considerably past his best, former IBF Light Middleweight king “Yory Boy” Campas.
For Macklin, 20-2 (16), the bout will be his first with new trainer Buddy McGirt in his corner, after a split from long time mentor Billy “The Preacher” Graham at the end of 2007.
“Iʼve really enjoyed working with Buddy and being out in Florida was a great experience,” Macklin said via press release this week. “It was just what I needed for this fight. I learned a lot from my time with Billy but felt it was the right time to move on. I need to get back to using my boxing skills a bit more and I think Buddy is the perfect trainer for that.”
25 year old Macklin, who despite being a Brummie, fights for the Emerald Isle due to his Irish parentage, is best known to most boxing fans as the man who engaged in a thrilling toe to toe war when challenging for the British 154 pound crown against Jamie Moore in September 2006.
That night, at the George Carnall Leisure Centre in Manchester, both men gave their all as they continually rained blows on each other for ten rounds until Salford southpaw Moore landed two cracking rights, punctuated by a flush left that dropped Macklin face first to the canvas.
It was one of the greatest British fights in recent memory and deserves to be remembered in the way that Benn vs. Eubank and Lewis vs. Bruno will be. Unfortunately, due to it being aired only to hardcore boxing fans on a subscription network (Sky Sports), that seems unlikely. More…
Four years after their Fight of the Year in 2004, Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao renew their rivalry over 12 rounds in Las Vegas this Saturday night. At stake at the Mandalay Bay is Marquez’s WBC Super Featherweight World Championship.
Their first fight in May 2004 was an absolute classic. Marquez, the gritty smart champion at featherweight, survived three first round knockdowns against his buzzsaw opponent, battling his way to a drawn verdict and keeping his featherweight belts.
Their rematch is at four pounds heavier and to be honest, the rise in weight hasn’t affected either man so far.
Marquez the champion has defeated all-time great Marco Antonio Barrera and credible challenger Rocky Juarez over 12 rounds. Pacquiao has twice beaten Mexican legend Erik Morales and decisioned the aforementioned Barrera, scoring his second win over the “Baby Faced Assassin”. More…
