Boxing News

Mexico's IBF super bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez will lay his title on the line against undefeated challenger Art Simonyan of Armenia, currently fighting out of California, USA. The fight will take place on the 28th of December at the Sycuan Resort & Casino, El Cajon, California, USA. Fresh from his title winning effort against Jose Luis Valbuena, Vazquez will make a tough first defense against Simonyan in the hope of winning to move on to unification fights against the other super bantamweight champions. Vazquez already has a loss against current WBC champion at the weight Oscar Larios, the fight was for the WBC's interim title. Stay tuned for more details on this fight.

Jose Antonio Aguirre emerged as the winner of the battle of former minimumweight champions tonight at the Plaza Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. His opponent, Kermin Guardia certainly had his moments in the fight, most notably when he had Aguirre down on the canvas in the eighth round. Aguirre had to show some courage to survive Guardia's attempts to finish him off and it wa sa real struggle between the two that ended with a final tally that had Aguirre winning a razor thin split decision. the final scores read 96-93 for Guardia and tw judges cards read 95-94 for Aguirre. So Aguirre gets the win by the skin of his teeth and moves his record to thirty-three wins with two losses and a draw while Guardia drops to thirty-five wins and four losses.

Today at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera weighed in for their final fight. Morales' WBC and IBF super featherweight titles will be on the line as the Mexican duo do battle

once again, with the real title of being the greatest active Mexican fighter the one they seek the most. It all happens tomorrow night in Las Vegas and in the supporting bouts, Nedal Hussein of Australia challenges Mexico's Oscar Larios for the WBC super bantamweight title, Rafael Marquez defends his IBF bantamweight title against Mauricio Pastrana and undefeated WBO minimumweight champion Ivan Calderon defends his title against Carlos Fajardo.

Erik Morales weighed 130-pounds while Marco Antonio Barrera weighed 129.5-pounds.

Ivan Calderon registered at 104.5-pounds and Carlos Fajardo weighed 105-pounds.

British fight manager Frank Maloney's stable of boxers added another title to their credit as Southend's Danny Hunt defeated Salford's Lee Meager in a closely contested battle for the English lightweight title last Friday night in London, England. In a seesaw battle that raged back in forth for ten heated rounds, both fighters had their moments but when the smoke cleared it was Hunt whose hand was raised by the referee. Controversy erupted instantaneously, with sharply divided opinions among both fans and media members in attendance, arguing amongst themselves as to who really won the fight. The debate was fuelled further by the fact that the two fighters were backed by competing promotional firms; Sports Network for Hunt and Hennessy Sports for Meager. Frank Maloney, who also currently manages WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison and British lightweight king Graham Earl, agrees that the fight was close but feels that Hunt was justifiably declared the winner. More...

Tonight in Manchester, England, British light middleweight champion Jamie Moore squared up to Michael Jones in the hopes of landing himself the Lonsdale belt outright. Moore had already beaten Jones by a decision and sought a decisive performance to cap his Lonsdale winning effort not to mention his promised place in history for being the first man from his home city of Salford to do so for many decades. Jones came out intent to avenge his only loss by aggressively taking the fight to Moore but the opening round saw both fighters take the majority of punches on their guards with the only drama being Moore sustaining a cut due to a clash of heads. In the second, Referee Dave Parris had to call the fighters together to calm the action after some dirty tactics from Jones but Moore settled down, soon finding his range and beginning to land hard shots. In the third, defending champion Moore hit Jones with a hard shot that knocked out his gumshield followed by a low shot at which time Parris stepped in to stop the action; but Moore had already pulled the trigger on another shot that knocked Jones down. Confusion arose over whether Parris stepped in to stop the action because of Moore's first hard shot or the low blow. Moore appeared to have scored an impressive early win when suddenly, Parris disqualified Moore. Observers are outraged at the decision of the referee and it looks like another blatant mishap that will damage the career of one of British boxing's brightest stars. Stay tuned for more news on this story as it breaks.

Light middleweight Jamie Moore has won twenty of the twenty-two professional fights he's entered into but none of them come close to carrying the importance of tonight's contest at the Altrincham Leisure Centre in Manchester. In the opposite corner of the ring will be none other than Michael Jones, the man Moore decisioned a year and a half ago to take not only

the vacant British title but Jones' Commonwealth crown as well. While Moore lost the Commonwealth to injury and the efforts of Ossie Duran he not only still has the British belt, but has successfully defended it twice since defeating Jones. Now comes the all-important third defense. Should Moore defeat Jones a second time he gets to keep the symbol of the British title, the Lonsdale belt, forever. More...

While the ghost of Naseem Hamed makes occasional tabloid appearances and idle threats through the Internet press to return and subject us to the reincarnation of his transparent personality and insubstantial ring performances, the featherweight

division continues to enjoy one of the richest talent periods in its history. On Saturday night, Las Vegas will see the final act of a trilogy of fights between Mexican legends Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales; a feud that has stormed through the super bantamweight, featherweight and lastly the super featherweight divisions. Even the most passionately articulated superlatives failed to summarize the seminal battle between the two, a fight that proportionately diminishes their successive encounter. Clearly, the dislike between the two men stretches beyond the generally accepted power struggle manifest by Barrera’s Mexico City allegiance and Morales’s Tijuana loyalties. As recently demonstrated by Jameel McCline and Chris Byrd, good friends can be involved in good fights, but logically enough, a clash between two fighters who simply cannot stand the sight of one another can make for an absolute classic. More...

WBO Featherweight Champion Scott Harrison is in Las Vegas for this weekend's epic third match between Mexican warriors Marco Antonio Barrera and arch nemesis Erik "El Terrible" Morales at the MGM Grand. Harrison has traveled from Glasgow, Scotland, along with his father/trainer Peter Harrison and manager Frank

Maloney, and plans on calling out the winner of this much anticipated third installment of one of the best fights in the last twenty-five years. "Scott Harrison believes, as I do, that he has the tools to beat either Erik Morales or Marco Antonio Barrera," said Maloney. "Scott would obviously have to step up in weight to face the winner but he's quite happy to do so. Scott has always been a very, very big featherweight and is unbelievably strong for the weight so it won't be a problem at all to go up to super feather. While we're in Vegas we'll be visiting Danny Williams as he trains for his heavyweight title fight against Vitali Klitschko and we hope to meet and greet the American press as well, but make no mistake; we mean business and plan on proving that Scott Harrison is the world's best fighter at 126 or 130-pounds."

Jamie Moore is the current British light middleweight champion and is certainly regarded as one of Britain’s hottest prospects for world domination. In the domestic light middleweight division, southpaw Moore has amassed a professional record of twenty wins with only two losses with thirteen of his victories coming

from stoppages and he’s a man on a mission to earn even more. Not only has he got his eyes on the European title, world titles and his domestic rivals but first and foremost in his mind, he wants to make history by becoming the first man from his home town of Salford to win and keep the coveted Lonsdale belt when he faces Michael Jones tonight at the Altrincham Leisure Centre in Manchester, England. Adding a little spice to the encounter is the fact that Jones is out for revenge being that his only career loss to date came in a previous fight against Moore. After losing his last fight to Ossie Duran thanks to an injury in training, Moore is keen to get back to winning ways and step up the pace in his career. Jamie Moore was gracious enough to take time away from his preparations so close to the fight to speak one on one with me for Saddoboxing.com. Read on for this essential exclusive. More...

Mexico's Jose Antonio Aguirre will fight Colombia's Kermin Guardia tonight at the Plaza Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV, USA. The fight is a flyweight contest between two former minimumweight champions of the world. Dieppa's last fight was a one round stoppage loss at the hands of Nelson Dieppa for the WBO light flyweight title while Aguirre has two wins in a row since losing his WBC minimumweight title to Eagle Kyowa in Japan earlier this year. The current flyweight champions of the world are as follows: the WBC's Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Lorenzo Parra of the WBA, Irene Pacheco of the IBF and Omar Narvaez of the WBO. Stay tuned for the result of this fight as it happens.

If the first round of a fight could be scored before a punch was thrown and the impact of the spoken word counted, then Argentina's Nazareno Ruiz has taken the first round 10-8 over Scotsman Alex Arthur. The two fighters are due to battle in Edinburgh on the third of December, but Ruiz has not the patience to wait for that night to come, he's started his verbal assault in anticipation. Ruiz has stated that, "beating Arthur up will be like carving a side of beef and I will enjoy doing it. Arthur has never faced a tough Argentinian or any Latino fighter before and it will be a painful experience for him. He got beat by a fighter claiming to be Hispanic (Michael Gomez) and now he will feel what it is like to fight a real one." Strong words indeed. Arthur has looked a vastly improved prospect since his loss to Gomez and will likely heed these words as inspiration for a stunning rebuttal inside the ring. However, Ruiz is not worried, further stating, "I have not had the luxuries Arthur has had. He's flashy and arrogant and I don't like him and I can't wait to beat him." It looks like December in Scotland will be hotter than usual this year.

In watching the broadcast of the recent “Winky’ Wright-Shane Mosley contest, HBO showed highlights from the recent heavyweight card that featured wins by Chris Byrd, Hasim “Rock’ Rahman and John Ruiz. It also showed highlights of Larry Donald's one sided decision victory over Evander Holyfield. This fight prompted the New York State Athletic Commission to level an indefinite suspension on Holyfield. HBO commentators Larry Merchant and Roy Jones Jr. praised the action of the commission. I'm not so sure. I could not agree more that something needs to be done to protect the fighters, I just did not feel that the NYSAC went about it in a proper manner. Even if the suspension is upheld, what is to stop Evander from boxing in a state that does not honor the ruling? Aaron Pryor did this when he fought in Wisconsin some years back. Some states are not that strongly regulated. More...

What is it that defines a fighter? Sometimes a fighter is defined by his achievements, sometimes he is defined by an outstanding fight-or fights-he has participated in, sometimes he is defined by an opponent, someone who brought out the best in him, someone who mixed with him to elicit a

sense of euphoria within the crowd. And sometimes, every once in a while, he is defined by all three. Both Erik “El Terrible’ Morales and “The Baby Faced Assassin’ Marco Antonio Barrera fall into that rare category. Due to their many achievements, they will both go down as legends regardless of the outcome this Saturday. It is still true, however, that they will go down in history almost as a twosome. In the future, people will find it hard to speak of one without mentioning the other in the same breath; however, given that they can’t stand each other, neither fighter is likely to be thrilled with that fact. On that rather sour note, let’s look forward to this Saturday’s “rubber match.’ More...

Reports are circulating that former heavyweight champion of the world 'Iron' Mike Tyson is planning to fight in Ireland in a bid to resurrect his career that currently lays in tatters. Tyson was knocked out in four rounds by English heavyweight Danny Williams in June of this year, Williams headed directly for a title shot againt Vitali Klitschko and

Tyson headed for oblivion once more. Before Williams stepped in and obliterated Tyson's hopes, the Brooklyn bad guy was looking to fight Irish heavyweight Kevin McBride. That fight, which McBride was still convinced he would participate in right until the last minute could be revealed as a possbility in the ever-unpredictable world of Mike Tyson.
Saddoboxing.com will bring you the latest on this situation as it happens.

Former IBF lightweight champion Paul Spadafora will undergo elbow surgery in a couple of days. Spadafora is still undefeated and has transferred from the lightweight division to the light welterweight class but during this year a myriad of public misdemeanors have brought him legal woes that kept

him out of the ring. Most disturbingly, Spadafora was accused of attempting to shoot his girlfriend. Before his personal turbulence, Spadafora's highest profile bout came in his home town of Pittsburgh in the United States where he fought to a highly disputed draw with now retired former WBA lightweight champion Leonard Dorin. Many people thought that Dorin had done enough to unify the titles against Spadafora. Stay tuned for more news about Paul 'The Pittsburgh Kid' Spadafora as it happens.

Puerto Rico's heavyweight hope 'Fast' Fres Oquendo is set to make his return to the ring after two consecutive losing efforts in heavyweight title fights. Previously beaten by IBF champion Chris Byrd and most recently, WBA champion John Ruiz, Oquendo still remains hopeful that he can become a factor in the hevayweight division and that more title shots await him. With twenty-four wins and only three losses, the other of which came against New Zealand slugger David Tua, Oquendo is preparing to come back and make an impact on a division that is desperately in need of a defining champion to unify the titles. We will bring you more updates on Oquendo and the state of the heavyweight division in the near future.

On the fourth of December, Jermain Taylor makes his return to the ring for the first time since stopping and ultimately retiring veteran and former IBF champion Raul Marquez. Taylor, one of the stars of the Olympic class of 2000 has been accused of fighting opposition predominantly much lighter than himself. But in Joppy he comes up against a legitimate 160-pound fighter and a former three time WBA champion at the weight. Joppy has not fought since his systematic beatdown at the hands of middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins a year ago but he says that the fact that he is a legitimate middleweight will make all the difference to his chances of victory against Taylor. The fight will be held in Taylor's backyard of Little Rock Arkansas, USA and we will see just how many 'bad intentions' he has and whether or not he has the stuff to become the next great middlweight champion.

Undefeated Chris 'Indonesian thin man' John is the WBA featherweight champion of the world and will defend his title against late replacement Jose 'Cheo' Rojas on the 3rd of December in Rondong Demang Stadium, Tenggarong, Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan (Borneo Island), Indonesia. Of course, most people recognize WBA/IBF featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez as the legitimate champion at the weight and John was hoping to be able to increase his notoriety by fighting former champion Derrick 'Smoke' Gainer. However, Gainer pulled out of the fight at the last minute, and while it is still assumed that at some point, Gainer will still receive his shot at the title, for the moment it is a dream chance for Rojas, sporting a 19-5 record to upset the odds and take the title from John in his native land. Stay tuned for more details as they happen.

Danny in the gym - Click for larger image - © Tom Casino

Former British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion Danny Williams has stepped up his training in his American camp during his final preparations for his WBC heavyweight title shot against champion Vitali Klitschko. Williams knocked Mike Tyson out in four rounds this year and

earned himself the chance at Klitschko who freely admits he wishes to beat the man who beat the man so to speak as Tyson was always a dream fight of his. Williams wrecked that possibility for Klitschko and now looks to destroy the giant Ukrainian's career entirely by stopping him in their fight at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on December 11th. Trainer Jimmy McDonnell has been preparing Williams for this huge fight for the last two months and it is assumed that Williams, a superb athlete if sometimes undermotivated, will arrive to fight Klitschko in the condition of his life and ready to take the title. Stay tuned for more details from Las Vegas as they happen.