Joe Calzaghe ladies and gentlemen, let's give him a hand!
9 years undefeated, 19 successful title defenses, and more criticism than ten men could handle. For those that do not choose to applaud the distinguished Welshman, for those that want to discredit him, this writer protests and also agrees with you whole-heartedly.
Curious? I hope so, hence the point of this article.
For years, this writer has been a die-hard fan of Joe Calzaghe. That's quite an uncommon thing. Even among Joe's circle of fans, there have been few diehards. It's even more of a rarity coming from an American boxing fan such as myself that grew up on the great Roy Jones Jr and the legendary, record breaking Bernard Hopkins. Let me go even further and state loudly and proudly; Joe Calzaghe is a phenomenon who is on the cusp of becoming a legend himself.
In all truth, fight fans on this side of the pond have rarely uttered Joe Calzaghe's name. Joe had quite often been regarded as a hometown hero in Britain and a protected paper champion to most Americans in the know. Not often was he mentioned among casual boxing fans, especially here in the United States. But that never stopped Joe and his father, Enzo Calzaghe, from screaming loudly and proudly that Joe was boxing's best kept secret; an unseen modern tactical marvel touted as "the One True World Champion of 168 lbs". More...
Carl Froch has thanked the record-breaking crowd at the Nottingham Arena last Friday for generating the best atmosphere he has ever experienced.
The British and Commonwealth super middleweight champion stepped out in front of his biggest audience yet to defend his British and Commonwealth super middleweight titles against former domestic king Tony Dodson. More...
Ask heavyweight prospect Roman Greenberg what his favorite film is, and he won’t hesitate with the answer – The Godfather. Well, the unbeaten banger from Israel has an offer that fight fans can’t refuse on December 9th – to tune in to Events InDemand pay-per-view for Seminole Warriors Boxing’s “Night of The Heavyweights” show and see the future of the sport’s glamour division. More...
Promoter responds to runaway heavyweight’s attempt to desert his promotional contract.
Promoter Dino Duva has a simple response to the public war of words being waged by his renegade heavyweight, Brian “The Beast” Minto.
A recent winner over comebacking German Axel Schulz, Minto (27-1, 16 KOs) has been publicly proclaiming his promotional free agency, despite being under what Duva says is a valid contract with Duva Boxing. More...
The popular fightin' Clancy brothers, unbeaten heavyweight James Clancy and undefeated cruiserweight Mark Clancy, are both scheduled to box on Battle Zone at The Castle, December 15 at The Castle in downtown Boston.
Born in Claire, Ireland and now living in Boston, five-time Irish National amateur champion James (8-0, 1 KO) faces former UBC International cruiserweight title-holder John Battle (14-17-1) in a six-round bout, while Mark meets ex-Massachusetts State cruiserweight champion John "House of Rain" Rainwater (10-13, 3 KOs), of Worcester (MA), in a four-round bout. More...
Legendary Mexican warriors Erik Morales and Jose Luis Castillo have confirmed plans to attend December Frenzy this Friday night at Cicero Stadium. Both former world champions will be on hand to support Ricardo Castillo, younger brother of Jose Luis, as he faces Takalani Ndlovu for the IBO super bantamweight world title in the main event. More...
Ring Magazine's Light Welterweight Champion Ricky Hatton is relishing his return to the 140-lb division after a brief foray into the deeper waters at welterweight. "The Hitman" is set to face fellow unbeaten Juan Urango at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas on January 20, 2007, for the Colombian's IBF title.
"Urango has a big punch, he’s very muscular and very strong," said Hatton. "In his last fight he had to go looking for his opponent, but I don't think that's going to a problem when we get in the ring. I've got the bit between my teeth now and going to Las Vegas is a step in the right direction." More...
In a complete team effort, Seminole Warriors Boxing, Golden Boy Promotions, Golden Grain Promotions and Sampson Lewkowicz today won the promotional rights to the WBO heavyweight championship bout between their fighter, unbeaten Sultan Ibragimov, and champion Shannon Briggs.
The winning bid from Team Ibragimov was $2,501,000. Briggs’ promoter, Don King, came in second at 1,501,000. The bout will be presented at a site and date to be announced soon. More...
Silverhawk Championship Boxing's unbeaten light welterweight prospect Adrian Mora headlines Saturday night (Dec. 2) against veteran Anthony Ivy in the eight-round main event at the Lansing Center in Lansing, Michigan. More...
As U.K fight fans will more than likely be aware, the boxing biopic of “The Greatest” was aired at the weekend. Though I had seen the movie before, I tuned in for another viewing. I’m sorry to say, however, that my opinion of the film was not changed as a result of watching it once more. I was extremely excited when the project was first announced some years back, but the finished product was a big let down. In my opinion the film, despite both its considerable budget and star quality, fails both Muhammad Ali and his many fans. Maybe I’m wrong, who knows? These are just my feelings. Feelings I explain in the following article. See if you agree with me.
Michael Mann’s “Ali” is a painstakingly put together film. At least regarding the selection of actors in relation to their ability to look and sound like the real life characters they are playing. Will Smith must be commended for the incredible effort he put in so as to give as good an impersonation of Ali as possible. The muscle he added to his physique was the result of months of boxing training and voice coaching enabled him to bring back to life all Ali’s famous quotes, speeches and poems with dialect remarkably similar to “The Greatest’s”. He definitely looked and sounded the part. The problems with the film do not lie at his feet though. It really is quite extraordinary that such a talented filmmaker as Michael Mann was able to come up with a film, dealing with one of the most exciting and controversial figures of the twentieth century, if not of all time, that is boring. But this is indeed the case. More...
World championship doubleheader featuring two of boxing’s most dynamic performers, Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito, live at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City (9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast). More...
The hottest young heavyweight in the world, Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare” Peter, and one of the craftiest pugilists in history, James “Lights Out” Toney, will meet in a World Boxing Council-ordered re-match on Saturday, Jan. 6, in the Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla.
The main event will be televised on Showtime Championship Boxing at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) and is being promoted by Duva Boxing, Goossen Tutor Promotions, Warriors Boxing Promotions, and Don King Productions. More...
WBC/WBO Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor pictured along with his trainer Emanuel Steward. The pair prepare for Taylor's title defense against Kassim Ouma, set for Saturday, December 9 at the Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas.
One day before Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito co-headline a terrific world championship doubleheader on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, a spectacular 2006 season of late night Friday fistic festivities will end on Dec. 1 when unbeatens Mario Santiago and Timothy Bradley co-headline the final presentation of the year on “Shobox: The New Generation.’’
Santiago (16-0, 11 KOs), of Ponce, Puerto Rico, will face revitalized Salvador Garcia (14-3-2, 1ND, 7 KOs), of Whittier, Calif., by way of East Los Angeles, in the 10-round featherweight main event. More...
The huge "Gloria Dominicana" boxing event which will be held on December 18 at the Sports Palace is loaded with Dominican boxing talent besides main event star and national hero Joan Guzman.
The undefeated WBO super featherweight champion is just one of seven Dominican boxers who will be fighting out of the red corner on the biggest boxing show staged in the Dominican Republic in 20 -plus years. More...
Francisco Lorenzo will face Cristobal Cruz in the co-main event at Cicero Stadium this Friday night, it was announced today by Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions. The super featherweight bout is part of December Frenzy, a nine bout evening of world class professional boxing presented by 8 Count Productions and Bob Arum’s Top Rank. More...
IWBF lightweight and featherweight champion Missy "The Fury" Fiorentino takes on six-time world title challenger Belinda "Brown Sugar" Laracuente in a six-round, non-title super featherweight bout on Friday night's (December 1) "Jingle Bell Pop" pro-am show at the Rhode Island Convention Center in downtown Providence. More...
When I was a kid, the person in my life that I most looked up to, besides my father, was a boxer. My father was the greatest person walking the face of the earth in my eyes, something he remained to be until the day he died, but I am talking outside of him. My true hero at the time I was a kid besides dad was Muhammad Ali.
Pop used to kid me, as I got older, because of the fact that when I was five and six years old I referred to Ali as a superhero. My favorite superhero to be exact. I remember my older brother would tease me and say stuff like "He ain't no superhero! He can't fly and he doesn't have any powers."
But to me, that didn't matter because as far as I knew, no other hero out there could Float Like A Butterfly or Sting Like A Bee, so I had him on a technicality there. Fact of the matter is, Ali was a hero to many. He was a hero to both young and old for a variety of different things. Some admired him for his ring ability, others admired him for his moral stand in the late 1960’s when he refused to let a government force him to go against his personal beliefs by refusing to enter the military and fight in the Vietnam War. More...
In 2006, SHOWTIME continued to live up to its billing as America’s No. 1 Boxing Network by televising the most compelling championship fights on the first Saturday of every month. The memorable 20th anniversary year of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING will conclude in sensational style on Saturday, Dec. 2, with an outstanding world championship doubleheader. More...
Last month Ring Magazine's Light Welterweight Champion, Ricky Hatton, came a hair's breath from signing to face WBC Light Middleweight Champion Oscar De La Hoya at 147 lbs before the "Golden Boy" chose to pull the trigger on the much anticipated showdown with Floyd Mayweather instead. This was confirmed to SaddoBoxing by Hatton's manager, his father Ray Hatton, and we present this look at what could have happened if Ricky and Oscar had actually squared off in the ring.
If this fight between Hatton and De La Hoya were to happen, there would be no doubt that Oscar would be an extremely hot favorite. Factors of natural skill and power due to being the bigger man would certainly play to the Golden Boy's claim for victory, however, would stamina, heart and the left hook to the body be enough for "The Hitman" to cause a tremendous upset?
The first three rounds would undoubtedly be crucial, more likely for the Hitman than De La Hoya. Similar fighters as Hatton, perhaps not as good quality-wise, but similar nevertheless have learned the lessons of brawling with Oscar. More...
