Teddy "Two Gun" Reid won himself the NABF light middleweight title on Friday night in Spokane, Washington, USA. Reid toppled the challenge of Eddie Sanchez in seven rounds, decking the previously unknown Sanchez four times en route to the stoppage win. Reid's last high-profile outing was a welterweight contest in which he suffered a one-sided beating to current interim WBO welterweight champion Kermit Cintron. Known for his punching power, Reid went to town on Sanchez who had taken the fight on very short-notice. What major contests remain for Reid in his career are unknown but he will likely provide a stern test for any up and coming fighter around the 147-154-pound weight classes.
It was another Jekyll and Hyde performance from WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison on Friday night in Scotland as he struggled to draw with challenger Victor Polo. The fight was held in Harrison's own back yard in the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, and the home fans will not have been enthused to what they were witnessing. Harrison had his moments but seemed lethargic for the most part and kept getting picked off by the busier challenger. One scorecard had Harrison winning by a score of 115-113, another saw it as a more decisive win for Polo by a score of 116-113 and the last card was scored 114-114, resulting in a draw. Harrison wanted to use this fight as a warning to MArco Antonio Barrera, it will not have had the desired effect.
Some of boxing's newest and most talked about prospects took some early career wins earlier this week.
Heavyweight Chazz Witherspoon, cousin of former heavyweight champion "Terrible" Tim Witherspoon won his second professional fight by stopping coincidental namesake Yul Witherspoon in two rounds. Known as the "Mensa Mauler," Witherspoon is the latest of a seemingly new generation of fighters that includes heavyweight Calvin Brock, fighters who are ensuring themselves of a bright future through education if they do not fulfill their promise in boxing.
Also this week, class of 2004 Olympian and bronze medalist Andre Dirrell stopped Carlos Jones in his professional debut. Dirrell won his bronze medal in last years Olympics in the middleweight division and looks to be a very promising young fighter.
Hall of Fame Corners: Four of the five trainers working the televised portion of the Jan 29 fight card are former world champions. The sole trainer who isn't a former world champion is a former NABF champion who twice challenged for a world title.
Trainer of Arturo Gatti: James "Buddy" McGirt (former IBF jr. welterweight and WBC welterweight champion)
Trainer of Jesse James Leija: Ronnie Shields (former NABF jr. welterweight champion; fought twice for WBC world jr. welterweight crown)
Trainer of Kassim Ouma: Tim Witherspoon (former WBA world heavyweight champion)
Trainers of Kofi Jantuah: Mike McCallum and Johnny Bumphus (McCallum: WBA former jr. middleweight, WBA middleweight, and WBC light heavyweight champion) (Bumphus: former WBA world jr. welterweight champion)
Arturo Gatti appeared yesterday on Max Kellerman’s “I-Max” program on FOX Sports. Among the questions posed by Kellerman to Gatti was, “Pick one: Beyonce or J Lo?” Gatti’s response: “Just put me in the middle.”
The HBO broadcast for the Jan 29 fight card begins at 9:45 pm ET/6:45 pm PT
NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr and rocker Jon Bon Jovi are expected to appear at Saturday’s Gatti-Leija bout.
What's up in the world of boxing this week? Lots of interesting match-ups and more than a few important world title fights! We kick off this latest installment of "This Week in Boxing" by traveling to England where in London tonight, former Commonwealth welterweight titlist Andrew "The Eagle" Murray returns after a three and a half year hiatus. After defeating Michael Covington and Larry Marks, Murray ran into a patch of bad luck. First, he lost a WBU title challenge to future IBF champion Michele Piccirillo, then a NABO light middleweight title fight to Fathi Missaoui before finally being stopped in three by Richard "The Secret" Williams in a failed Commonwealth light middleweight bid. The thirty-year-old native of Guyana, 27-7-1 (17), will make his return against the overmatched John Ryan, who has lost his last fourteen contests. Ryan last fought as a lightweight, losing to prospect Femi Fehintola over six in October. More...
By Jim Cawkwell January 28th, 2005 All Boxing News
Hi boxing fans. We apologize for the temporary interruption to the site that occurred yesterday and are happy to let you know that normal service has resumed, the forum is open for business once again and you can look forward to many new updates on this main news page over this busy boxing weekend. We will be bringing you round by round coverage of the big fights, breaking news, results, interviews and more articles so please keep checking back again and again for more great content from the team. Once again, our apologies for the interruption and we are working to ensure this does not continue. Thank you for your patience.
"Hip hop hits" takes on a new meaning today. Fashion and hip hop entrepreneur Damon Dash, the CEO of Roc-A-Wear, Dash Music Group and Dash Films, and Lou DiBella, boxing promoter and president of DiBella Entertainment, have joined forces to announce the formation of DASH/DIBELLA PROMOTIONS, a full service promotional company with an emphasis on promoting and marketing minority athletes. Dash's marketing savvy and imagination along with DiBella's boxing and sports promotion expertise will combine for a dynamic one-two punch. The company will give fighters marketing and sponsorship opportunities in music, fashion and sports. Olympic hotshot Andre Berto, and undefeated New York City prospects Jaidon Codrington and Curtis Stevens, are the first three fighters to be signed by Dash/DiBella. The announcement will be made at an extravaganza on January 26th at the exclusive Na on West 14th Street. All three fighters will make their first appearance under the Dash/DiBella flag on the January 28 Broadway Boxing Presented by Mohegan Sun boxing card at the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center. More...
Two former WBO middleweight world champions clash on March 5 in Leverkusen. New German boxing star Felix Sturm, 22-1 (10), faces his countryman and stable mate Bert Schenk, 36-1 (23), in the main event of a Universum boxing show at Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle. The winner may be in line to challenge unified middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins later this year. Hopkins is defending his titles first against Howard Eastman on February 19 in Los Angeles. "I don't have Hopkins in my head yet. First I have to beat Bert," Sturm said who lost a controversial twelve round decision to Oscar de la Hoya on June 5, 2004. In his two fights afterwards he beat American Robert Frazier on September 18 in Leverkusen and Frenchman Hassine Cherifi, a former world champion, on December 4 in Berlin. More...
Four months from earning a college degree, twenty-three-year-old Chazz Witherspoon still doesn't know what to do with his life. He's already abandoned the chance to play professional basketball. He could end up using his degree in pharmaceutical marketing. Or, he just might become heavyweight champion of the world. As an accomplished high school basketball player in Paulsboro, N.J., Witherspoon received a number of athletic scholarship offers. He figured he was good enough to ultimately play pro ball in Europe, but couldn't envision life without his family. So he accepted a full academic scholarship to Saint Joseph's University and took up the sport that his second cousin already mastered: boxing. Witherspoon hopes to duplicate the success of cousin Tim, a former two-time heavyweight champion who went 55-13-1 during a career that spanned four decades. More...
Rubin "Mr. Hollywood" Williams fights Aaron Norwood on Friday January 28th at the Decarlo Convention Centre, Warren, Michigan. The bout is a defense of Williams IBU inter continental super-middleweight crown. But as I discovered after speaking to the fighter and his manager John Carlisle, this could be the start of a very big year for the Detroit fighter. I spoke to the pair via telephone. With Rubin's reputation for outspokenness and his "Mr. Hollywood" moniker, I was not sure what to expect. What I found was a relaxed, amiable man, confident in his own abilities. Both fighter and manager see the light at the end of the tunnel and think that Rubin is the next in a long line of Detroit fighters to become world champions.
Patrick Gibbons - Has your preparation gone well for Friday night's fight against Aaron Norwood?
Rubin Williams - Yeah, everything's fine, the weight is fine. I'm ready. Everything has gone fine. I've done the work. If you put the work in it's like money in the bank come fight time. You can't cheat in this game. More...
I believe that my boxer, WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison, is the best fighter in the world at or near 126-pounds and I see 2005 as the year that Scott will show his true potential. Our initial priority this year was to sign a new promotional contract with Sports Network and we have just completed that so now we move on to step two, this weekend's fight with Victor Polo in Glasgow, Scotland. I must say that I see this contest with Polo as quite a dangerous one, but I believe that Scott will be too strong and too ambitious for the Colombian challenger. When managers make fights, they look to make reasonable fights and fights that will progress and help their charges' career to move forward. Victor Polo was not one of the opponents that I picked myself. But because of what happened in his last fight against Samuel Kebede, when I gave Scott the names of the potential opponents he wasn't too happy with them. He said he wanted the hardest fight available. He looked down the list of the WBO top ten and pointed straight to the number one, which was Victor Polo. He said 'get me this one! I want to prove to the people out there that I am the best and I'm not frightened to fight anyone.' That's how this fight was made but I do believe that Polo would have been Scott's mandatory in a few months time anyway. More...
There have been so many wonderful boxing movies that have graced the big screen over the decades. It was very difficult to decide what my favorite pugilistic film was. After much thought, I decided on the 1942 production of "Gentleman Jim." Why? First of all it was based on a true story and an authentic character. It was a slice of boxing history brought back to life. It also depicted the glory and lifestyle of the turn of the century. Secondly the acting and directing of this movie was outstanding. The sets took you back in time. For an hour or so you feel as if you are transformed to that rowdy, fun loving era of our history. More...
By Boxing Press January 26th, 2005 All Boxing News
As a prelude to the Cory Spinks-Zab Judah rematch for the undisputed welterweight championship of the world, undefeated heavyweight contender Owen "what the heck" Beck will face Monte "Two Gunz" Barrett. Barrett stole himself some thunder in the division by beating former undefeated heavyweight Dominick Guinn, a feat since duplicated by Sergei Lyakhovich. Barrett now has the chance to make himself an even more prominent name by scalping Beck. Conversely, Beck, with no real names to speak of on his record, could break through into the heavyweight spotlight with a good win over Barrett. The fight is being billed as a WBC heavyweight title eliminator and Don King is rumored to be putting together another tournament of heavyweight champions. We will keep you updated to developments in this story.
Ray and Carol Hatton have the good fortune to have raised two children who currently happen to be title-holding boxers. Eldest son Ricky is the longtime WBU light welterweight titlist while twenty-three year old Matthew holds the British Central Area welterweight belt. Ray was kind enough to speak to us about Ricky's likely match-up with the highly respected reigning divisional champion Kostya Tszyu and many of the matters that surround this hotly anticipated showdown.
Saddoboxing - Where are things with the Hatton - Tszyu fight?
Ray Hatton - "Well, as far as making the fight, and don't forget we can only go by what our promoter Frank Warren tells us, is the fight is 99.9% done. All it is, is just one or two small things that he doesn't envision having any problems with and I believe that Vlad Wharton is flying over to put pen to paper. It's difficult and all I can do is tell you what we're being told, as believe it or not the boxers are the last ones...unless you're in Kostya Tszyu's position and obviously he calls the shots, really." More...
In the early hours of June 5th, 2005, Kostya Tszyu will defend his IBF junior welterweight championship of the world against England’s Ricky Hatton at a venue yet to be determined. Three days later British boxing will mark the twentieth anniversary of one of its most memorable nights – the night at Loftus Road when a young featherweight named Barry McGuigan halted Eusebio Pedroza’s run of nineteen successful defenses to capture the WBA featherweight crown. Can Hatton match McGuigan’s feat? Aside from the significance of the dates, there is also an intriguing amount of similarities between these two match-ups. More...
By Boxing Press January 25th, 2005 All Boxing News
Mexican-American super flyweight Jose Navarro looks seto to receive another crack at the WBC title at that weight as a result of a fervent protest conducted by his promoter Lou DiBella towards the WBC. Navarro traveled to Japan to contest the title against current champion Katsushige Kawashima at the beginning of this year. Navarro lost his title bid amid some of the greatest controversy seen in a fight in some years as the judges had greatly conflicting accounts of the fight in their scoring totals. Despondent, Navarro returned to America to ponder his future. DiBella was not so patient, launching scathing tirades throughout the boxing media about the handling of the decision. Masamori Tokuyama is the fighter who will immediately receive a shot at Kawashima's title, but the winner of the fight is guaranteed to face Navarro who will want to make sure he returns to his home with the WBC title.
By Boxing Press January 25th, 2005 All Boxing News
It appears that WBO light welterweight champion Miguel Cotto will once again be heading back to his home country to defend his world title in front of his adoring fans. Cotto won the WBO title with a devastating performance against previously unbeaten Brazilian Kelson Pinto, a moment that remains as perhaps the highlight of Cotto's young career. Corley should provide a good test for the champion with his speed and southpaw style even if some may argue that Corley is damaged goods after losses to Zab Judah and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Corley will have to fight the hostile reception of the Puerto Rican fans though as he attempts to regain the WBO title that was once in his possession.
Promoted by Duva Boxing, the Nigerian-born Peter scored his second straight knockout victory on the worldwide television stage when he convincingly disposed of crafty Cuban Yanqui Diaz in Saturday night's co-feature on HBO World Championship Boxing. Peter lifted his record to 22-0, 19 KO's. Peter clearly illustrated that he is a forced to be reckoned with in the heavyweight ranks. The 6-2, 245-pound Peter is a knockout artist, having scored nineteen of his twenty-two triumphs by way of KO (86 percent). The twenty-four-year-old Peter has appeared in back-to-back televised fights on major boxing networks. Promoter Dino Duva believes that the Las Vegas-based Peter will bring glory back to the heavyweight division. More...
Unbeaten Staten Island native Gary Stark Jr.will conduct a boxing clinic for participants in the Police Athletic League at the Park Hill Boxing Club in Staten Island at 4:00 PM. It will be the first clinic of 2005 sponsored by DiBella Entertainment (DBE) and Turner Construction as a part of the community relations effort for the Broadway Boxing Presented by Mohegan Sun series. DBE President and Brooklyn native Lou DiBella launched the televised boxing series as a way to provide opportunities and exposure for New York City boxing talent. Unbeaten heavyweight Roman Greenberg (17-0, 12 KO's) captures the Broadway spotlight on Friday night, January 28, when he headlines 2005's second installment of DiBella Entertainment's Broadway Boxing Presented by Mohegan Sun at the Grand Ballroom at the Manhattan Center. DBE will host a press luncheon at Gallagher's Steak House on Tuesday, Janaury 18, at 12 noon with the New York fighters to make the announcement. More...
"I’m going to win. That is the only way for me."-Howard Eastman.
An official conference call was held for the media last Friday in England for middleweight contender Howard Eastman to answer questions pertaining to his future challenge to undisputed middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins. The promotion is named "Exxecution Day," but Eastman is in no mood to simply arrive and provide himself as the sacrifice for Hopkins' latest record middleweight title defense. Howard Eastman has big plans, fuelled all the more by his first world title chance that fell away from him at the hands of William Joppy. It is now or never for Eastman as he becomes the first of a precious few who will have the chance to fight Hopkins for the prestigious middleweight crown as Hopkins has already turned forty years of age. I was on hand for this media conference and the first five questions you see in this transcript were asked by me on behalf of Saddoboxing.com.
Don't miss this essential insight into the mindset of Howard Eastman, perhaps the mext middleweight champion of the world.More...
