Boxing News

**With Slideshow**

© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

The Star Boxing show at Roseland Ballroom in New York started off with a thrilling four rounder between lightweights Jose Guzman and Luis Lopez, which ended with a win by knockout for Guzman, still undefeated at 4-0 (3) while Lopez dropped to 2-8-1 (2).

The next undercard bout was between cruiserweights, Ahmed Samir, 4-0 (0), and Tyronne Smith, 5-6-2 (2). Samir threw effective combos, and accurately switched his foot positioning, which led him to victory.

Bryant Pappas was most certainly the crowd favorite as his name was chanted when he stepped into the ring with fellow junior middleweight Chris Morton. Pappas displayed how he is a fast, rightfully aggressive fighter, and Morton did his best to keep up, showing great determination and effort.

It was Pappas that the crowd was cheering for, as he won by knockout in just the first round, advancing his perfect record to 7-0 (7) while Morton dropped to 1-3. More...

WBA Bantamweight Champion Anselmo Moreno retained his belt last night at Figali Convention Center in Panama City with a points decision over challenger Rolly Matsushita after twelve rounds of spirited combat.

Since taking the title in Germany from Wladimir Sidorenko, Moreno, 24-1-1 (8), has been a busy champ, defending the crown in September against Mexico's Cecilio Santos and then jumping in against Filipino Matsushita just six weeks later.

The 23 year old San Miguelito based southpaw could be headed for a lucrative unification bout with either WBO titlist Gerry Penalosa or WBC kingpin Hozumi Hasegawa.

Also on the bill, there was a three round technical draw between Joel Cerrud, 19-3-2 (15), and Ronny McField, 12-2-2 (9), for the WBA Fedelatin Super Featherweight crown and Irving Berry, 12-1-2 (7), posted a split decision against Danys Diaz, 12-3-1 (8), for the Panamanian Featherweight title.

© Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing

WBA/WBC Super Flyweight Champion Cristian Mijares and IBF 115 pound Champion Vic Darchinyan participated in the final fight week press conference Thursday at the Le Foyer Ballroom at Anoush Banquet Hall in North Hollywood, CA. More...

Ian 'Dapa' Napa has given £500 to injured boxer Gilbert Eastman. Napa donated his cash prize for being voted 'Fighter of the Night' after taking the European Bantamweight title from Carmelo Ballone on October 17. In winning the cash prize, Hackney's pocket dynamo edged out lightweight Henry Castle, who knocked out Graham Earl on the York Hall show.

When Napa was told of his £500 windfall, he immediately insisted the money went to Eastman, the Battersea boxer who needed brain surgery after collapsing shortly after losing to light middleweight Sam Webb on the same bill and is thankfully now on the mend. More...

Click for larger image © Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing

Three days before their must-see 115-pound title unification fight at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, WBC/WBA Champions Cristian Mijares and IBF Champion and Vic Darchinyan spent part of Wednesday in front of the Showtime cameras at the fight venue. More...

As the architect for some of the greatest fighters of all-time, including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and George Foreman, Angelo Dundee's name is synonymous with excellence. Now, the legendary trainer will look to impart his wisdom on boxing's reigning superstar - Oscar de la Hoya - as a special consultant for the "Golden Boy" for his December 6 super-fight with Manny Pacquiao. More...

For world ranked junior middleweight Deandre Latimore it was a typical “good news, bad news” scenario. First the bad news; he won’t be fighting at the Family Arena outside of St. Louis on November 7 as planned, now the good news; he’s close to finalizing a world title "cross town show down" with former world champion and fellow St. Louis native Cory Spinks. More...

Sometimes you see an injustice that makes you question your world. What took place in Montreal last Friday night, made me sick.

In the last few seconds of the 12th round, challenger Librado Andrade in my opinion was robbed of a win by referee Marlon Wright. IBF Super Middle Champion Lucien Bute was given a 'Long Count' by the referee, who in my opinion, allowed the hometown boxer to win the bout.

Throughout the fight, Bute had dominated Andrade. In my unofficial scorecard, I had 10 of the 11 first rounds for Bute. Then the 12th round happened.

Andrade came out looking for the knockout and he found a slower and rattled Bute, who went down once. To his credit, Lucien got up and went punch for punch with Andrade, who knocked the champion down again with less than 10 seconds left.

At this point, referee Wright wasted four seconds telling Andrade to return to his corner. He started the count at four but then he slowly counted up to seven.

The referee then proceeded to yell at Andrade again. No one knows why Wright did this, since Andrade was in his corner. The count resumed at seven, with another slow count by Wright. More...

Polish power puncher Pawel “Raging Bull” Wolak has added veteran trainer Tommy Brooks to his team as they prepare for his November 21 fight against Christian Lloyd Joseph on “The Grande Event” card, promoted by Cedric Kushner’s Gotham Boxing, at the famed Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan.

Born in Poland and now residing in Brooklyn, the New York State middleweight and Polish National light middleweight champion Wolak, 22-1 (15), is a graduate of Berkley College of Manhattan with a degree in business.

A ferocious fighter with a large, passionate Polish following, Wolak bounced back from his lone defeat last August to Ishe Smith with stopping Chad Greenleaf in the third round of their September match.

“I’ve changed some things since the Smith fight,” Wolak explained. “I’m smarter and use the right punches coming in. I haven’t really changed my style, just added a few things like coming behind my jab, throwing the right punches, and moving my head even more.” More...

Birmingham’s Delroy “Sweet D” Mitchell is promising an uncomfortable homecoming for Henry Coyle when the two clash in a Light Middleweight 10 rounder at the Breaffy House Resort, Castlebar, Co. Mayo on the Hunky Dorys Fight Night on November 15.

Coyle, the “Western Warrior” from Geesala in County Mayo relocated to Chicago last year to launch his pro career having been Irish Senior Champion as an amateur. He returns to his native county on November 15th for his first professional fight on Irish soil as the chief support to Bernard Dunne who takes on world rated Mexican Eduardo Garcia.

Mitchell though is hoping to make it a night to forget for Mayo fans and spoil the homecoming for Coyle by defeating the local hero. Both men have similar records with Coyle having won all but one of his nine professional outings while Mitchell has eight wins from ten outings.

Coyle should have the edge in power having maintained an incredible 100% knockout ratio so far by halting all eight of his victims inside the distance. “Sweet D” will be hoping his boxing ability can shine through against Coyle. The Birmingham man is trained by former World super middleweight champion Ritchie Woodhall and he also trains alongside current Irish middleweight champ Matthew Macklin. More...

Cerveza Tecate brings its adult consumers Halloween celebrations with a powerful “Solo Boxeo Tecate” encounter this Friday at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, NV, broadcasted live as part of Telefutura’s programming.

Bringing the passion of the sport to boxing aficionados across the nation, Tecate presents the return to the weekly boxing series of former World Champion Julio “The Kid” Diaz, 21-0-1 (15), as he encounters Fernando “El Pillo” Trejo, 30-14-4 (18), over 10 rounds at lightweight.

Californian and Mexican respectively, both breathtaking fighters, have starred in impressive “Solo Boxeo Tecate” nights including “The Kid’s” victory over Miguel Angel Huerta in 2003 at Corpus Christi, Texas and the brilliant triumph of “El Pillo” in 2005 after defeating Jose Armando Santa Cruz, at Houston, Texas. More...

The Contender, Season Three winner Sakio "The Scorpion" Bika plans to cash in after an impressive win November 13 against two-time world title challenger "The Pride of Providence" Peter Manfredo, Jr., runner-up in Season One of The Contender, for the vacant IBO super middleweight title in the 12-round main event headlining "Tough & Tested" at the newly renovated Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

IBF Pan Pacific super middleweight title-holder Bika, 26-3-2 (16), a 2000 Cameroon Olympian now fighting out of Australia, won The Contender III with a dramatic eighth round stoppage of Bridgeport, Connecticut native Jaidon Codrington in the finale a year ago in Boston.

Bika, rated No. 4 by the IBF and No. 8 by The Ring magazine, hasn't been stopped in 31 pro fights. In his two past world title fight shots, Sakio forced (at that time) IBF and WBO champion Joe Calgazhe the full distance, hurting the Welchman badly in the 12th round, and Bika's WBC title-fight against defending champ Markus Beyer ended in a fourth round technical draw after Beyer suffered a cut under his right eye from an accidental head butt.

"It will be good fighting back in the states again," Bika said. "I feel very happy to have another world title shot. This year has not been great for me in the boxing ring. My wife had a baby in June and hence I wanted to enjoy my time with my new son, Jordan. Hopefully, next year will be a lot busier for me after I win this title. More...

In response to Raul "El Diamente" Marquez' recent claims to shock the boxing world November 8 when he fights unbeaten IBF middleweight champion "King" Arthur Abraham at Jako Arena in Bamberg, Germany, unbeaten International Boxing Federation middleweight champion "King" Arthur Abraham suggests that the challenger start looking for a new job.

Abraham believes there is no reason for Marquez to be worried about the IBF middleweight champion´s weight. The two fighters will clash in Bamberg on November 8, five weeks later than originally planned after Abraham was flattened by the flu on the day of the fight.

Earlier this week, Marquez said in a statement: "Maybe he was sick but, if he really was, it was because of what he had to do to make weight. If he really was sick it would have taken him two weeks to get back to where he was. Four weeks isn't going to help him if he's having trouble making 160 pounds."

"I want to thank Marquez for his medical diagnosis," Abraham sarcastically said. "Maybe he can work as a doctor once I have defeated him. I know for a fact that he will not be the new IBF middleweight champion, so it might be wise to think of an alternative career. I know he has worked as a TV commentator, but if he likes to share his thoughts on weight problems, he should try and land a job with Weight Watchers!" More...

By Per Ake Persson

German-Turkish middle Mahir Oral fights Kofi Jantuah on Arena Box Promotion'ss show in Istanbul November 18. Mahir comes in fresh from 50 rounds of sparring with WBA challenger Sebastian Sylvester. In other action, heavyweight Steffen Kretschmann takes on once highly touted Russian Denis Bakhtov while Konstantin Airich face one time WBF heavy champ Aleksander Jakob.

Ukrainian lightheavy Vyacheslav Uzelkov, reigning WBA Intercontinental champ, will defend the title November 15 in Kiev on a K2 East promotion. The show is billed as "Steel Power".

It will be Dahianna Santana from the Dominican Republic that challenges WIBF lightweight champ Ramona Kuehne in one of the two headliners on SES promotion at the Maritim Hotel in Magdeburg November 28. In the other main bout, Natascha Ragosina will defend some of her many titles. SES have their WBC Youth welter champ Oliver Guettel on Spotlight Boxing´s show in Halle / Saale December 5.

IBF super middle champ Lucian Bute could be making a voluntary defence against one of the Sauerland fighters early next year - all is of course depending on how the turmoil after the controversial ending against Librado Andrade works out. Sauerland appears to have an option on Bute´s first voluntary defence and have announced plans for the champ to fight the Danish veteran Mads Larsen, possibly in Denmark. Another Sauerland fighter is also waiting for his chance and that is Vitaly Tsypko. More...

The greatest Polish heavyweight boxer in history arrived in Chengdu, China, on Tuesday at 12:30 a.m. and notified his team when he awakened from a brief sleep, "I want to go see the Great Panda Bears."

He and three members of his team arrived at the nearby Great Panda Research Base in the early afternoon where he advised park officials that he wanted to meet Shan Ping, the rare one-year-old Great Panda Bear his promoter Don King was allowed to hold during an official visit in August.

Golota is in China to face Ray Austin in the main event of the first world championship boxing card ever staged in Chengdu at Sichuan Gymnasium on Friday, Nov. 7.

IBF 115 pound champion Vic Darchinyan, undefeated, world-ranked super middleweight Andre Dirrell and once-beaten and world-ranked 168-pound contender Victor Oganov participated in an open media Tuesday in Long Beach, Calif.,

Darchinyan, 30-1-1 (24), will face WBA/WBC Super Flyweight Champion Cristian Mijares, 35-3-2 (13), in an eagerly awaited 115 pound world title unification showdown this Saturday, November 1, at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast.

Dirrell, 16-0 (11), meets Oganov, 28-1 (28), in the 10 round co-feature. More...

All participants weighed-in yesterday for tonight's Star Boxing show at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The card is headlined by the WBO #7, IBF #8, WBA #11, WBC #15 rated junio welterweight in the world, "Mighty" Mike Arnaoutis, 20-2-2 (10) and being broadcast live on GoFightLive. More...

Both WBA and WBC super flyweight champion Cristian Mijares and IBF 115-pound kingpin Vic Darchinyan will look to add to their belt collection when they square off in a highly anticipated world title unification fight in the main event this Saturday, Nov. 1, live on Showtime Championship Boxing at 9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast.

So who is going to triumph? The experts think Mijares is too skilled a boxer to let the power-punching Darchinyan beat him. Of the 32 boxing media members who participated in a Showtime Prediction Poll, 26 picked Mijares and six liked Darchinyan.

Here’s how they see the Mijares-Darchinyan world title unification fight

Daxx Kahn, Saddoboxing.com ((Mijares): “In his bout with Nonito Donaire, Darchinyan was exposed on his ability to deal with a clever boxer that has solid whiskers. While Mijares is not a big puncher, he has a solid chin and counters well. Look for Mijares to fight smart and land counter punches, using Darchinyan's jerky style to his advantage. Mijares wins a unanimous decision.” More...

On Wednesday October 29, Star Boxing's The Pride of Greece, "Mighty" Mike Arnaoutis, 20-2-2 (10), looks to continue his quest towards a 140 lb. world championship when he takes on tough Ben Ankrah, 19-6-1 (9), in a ten round junior welterweight contest at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. More...

It’s one of the most intriguing world title fights of the year and Canadian fight fans will get a chance to see it all take place, live on Super Channel.

Live from the Trent FM Arena, in Nottingham, England, on December 6, Montreal’s Jean Pascal, 21-0 (14), and hometown hero Carl “The Cobra” Froch, 23-0 (19), will put their legacies, reputations, and dreams on the line for a shot at world boxing glory, in a toe-to-toe battle for the vacant WBC Super Middleweight title. More...