Boxing News

Author: Boxing Press

  • Lewis Offered Klitschko Rematch?

    Rumors are circulating around the boxing world that former world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis has been offered a considerable amount of money to emerge from his self-imposed retirement to face his last victime: Current heavyweight champion Vitali

    Klitschko. It is thought that in their initial meeting in June 2003, Lewis and Klitschko gave boxing its first true super heavyweight classic as they tore away at each other for six rounds before Klitschko was saved to fight another day by a ringside doctor, declaring that his facial damage was too great. Lewis’s retirement in 2004 after almost a year of inactivity with his title could be said to have stripped the heavyweight division of any real credibility and legitimacy. A Lewis-Klitschko rematch would be a spectacular ebent, but aged almost forty years old, can Lewis really come back to reign again?

  • McGirt Training Tyson.


    © Tom Casino/Showtime

    		 Under the watchful eye of trainer Buddy McGirt, former world heavyweight champion “Iron” Mike Tyson is apparently training hard ahead of a potential fight later this year. Tyson has not fully rehabilitated the injured knee he suffered during his fight with Danny Williams last year, but nonetheless, he is back in the

    gym and trying to get in top shape. Tyson looked sharp and powerful before he suffered the knee injury in the first round against Williams and only adrenaline kept him upright to fight on before Williams took over and knocked him out in the fourth round. We will keep you updated to the official word on any future Tyson fights.

  • Quartey Wins Comeback Fight.

    Former WBA world welterweight champion Ike “Bazooka” Quartey successfully returned to the ring on Friday night in his home country of Ghana. Quartey stopped a fighter named Clint McNeil in eight rounds after unleashing a vicious barrage of body shots upon his opponent. With his strength sapped, McNeil took a count for respite but was put to the canvas by force by Quartey’s powerful punches twice in the eighth round, an assault strong enough to bring about the end of the contest. Quartey had not fought competitively before this night in five years and he intends to continue on campaigning in the middleweight division where he should be able to engage a wealth of good competition to sharpen himself before he will face greater challenges.

  • Pena Hired as NER Boxing Director.

    New England Ringside (NER), on the verge of becoming the newest promoter in professional boxing, today announced the hiring of Julio Pena as its Director of Boxing Operations. “We’re delighted to have Julio Pena as a member of Team NER,” NER president Rick Brutti said. “He is well respected in boxing and has more than thirty years of valuable experience. In addition to overseeing the training our stable of fighters, Julio will scout prospects, work with our matchmakers, and deal with a lot of behind the scenes work that it takes to promote a first-class boxing show. NER has been building a team and we’ll soon make an announcement about our first show. We want to help bring boxing back to its former prominence, building it to the same level as mainstream sports, and Julio is a valuable component.” (more…)

  • Diaz on Main Events Special.

    Professional boxing’s youngest world champion, Juan Diaz, will defend his WBA lightweight crown on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Main Events Special January 21 AT 9 p.m. ET when he meets WBA #10 ranked contender Billy Irwin at Reliant Center in Houston, Texas. WBO lightweight champ Diego Corrales will be studio host

    Brian Kenny’s guest analyst, commenting on the state of the lightweight division, including his upcoming title defense against Ring Magazine champ Jose Luis Castillo, as well as the Diaz-Irwin battle. ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Main Events Special coverage will open with a co-feature pitting undefeated 2000 U.S. Olympian Calvin Brock against Clifford “The Black Rhino” Etienne in a ten round heavyweight bout. Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas will be ringside to describe all the action along with reporter Jeremy Schaap. (more…)

  • Halmich, Gomez and Schenk Successful.

    Boxing championesse Regina Halmich made a successful start into 2005 for promoter Universum. On the first boxing event of this year the twenty-eight-year-old German beat her world title challenger Maryling Hernandez by unanimous decision and successfully defended her WIBF flyweight title by scores of 100:91 and 100:92 twice. A convincing forty-sixth victory in her forty-eighth professional contest was important to Halmich after she did only escape with her first career draw in her last fight on September 11 against American Elena Reid. The woman from Karlsruhe faced harsh critic afterwards even though she had celebrated an impressive victory in her previous contest over stable mate and former world champion Daisy Lang. (more…)

  • Cruz Stops Thompson.

    Undefeated Jose Luis Cruz stopped fellow American Vincent Thompson in the eighth round of their scheduled ten-round super welterweight fight Friday night at the Agua Calientes Casino. The twenty-five-year-old Cruz, 33-0-2 with 28 knockouts, ended the fight at 1:42 of the eighth round with a barrage of body shots that put Thompson to one knee on the canvas and prompted the referee to stop the bout. Cruz, ranked No. 13 by the World Boxing Council as a welterweight, won every round of all three judges’ scorecards and led 70-63 when the bout was stopped. The thirty-six-year-old Thompson, fighting for only the second time in the past seven years, dropped to 22-5.

  • Juan Diaz: Boxer With Schoolwork, Curfew and World Title.

    Inside the ring, Juan Diaz is poised and polished. Just 21, he owns the WBA lightweight title, boxing’s youngest reigning world champion. But at his parent’s tidy brick home in Houston, Diaz remains a university student with a 10 p.m. curfew on school nights. “He’s a big baby,” teases younger brother Jose. “Mom still has to take care of him like a child.” At 1.68 meters and 61 kilograms (5-foot-6 and 135 pounds), Diaz looks a bit like a schoolboy. He has a short haircut, peach fuzz that someday may form a full goatee, and no tattoos or jewelry. His smooth, unmarked face and mild manner yield no hint of the violence he is capable of with his fists, a dichotomy that long ago earned him the nickname “Baby Bull.” Diaz is a junior at the University of Houston, majoring in political science and hoping to attend law school. (more…)

  • Foxx to Play Tyson?

    Actor Jamie Foxx, the star of numerous hit films such as “Ray,” the life story of Ray Charles and American football drama “Any Given Sunday,” may return to the screen playing the lead role in a representation of the Mike Tyson story. Foxx has been known to perform very physical roles

    and to complete a transformation into resembling the former champion Tyson would likely be one of his most challenging physical projects. Foxx is rumored to be having his team look into acquiring the rights to the Tyson story. However, it will probably be some time before the definitive Mike Tyson story can be told as his profoundly turbulent life appears to reach unprecedented lows on a monthly basis. Stay tuned for more news on this story as it develops.

  • Klitschko-Rahman in April.


    Click for larger image
    © Mike Cleary

    		 Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko, fresh from defending his WBC heavyweight title against Danny Williams, will step into the ring in April of this year against none other than former champion Hasim Rahman. Rahman, seemingly redidicated to the task of regaining the heavyweight championship, excited the boxing world with a thoroughly impressive fourth round knockout of Kali Meehan last November. Both Klitschko and Rahman

    have history with former champion Lennox Lewis as Rahman sensationally knocked Lewis out before being flattened himself in four rounds in 2001. Klitschko fought a bloody battle with Lewis in 2003, losing when he was considered unable to continue courtesy of hideous facial damage inflicted upon him by Lewis’s punches. Rahman has remained as vocal as ever before the announcement of this fight, assuring the boxing world that he will defeat Klitschko. We will see if the giant Ukrainian can make his size and strength tell against the more seasoned Rahman.

  • Boxer Convicted of Murder.

    Former heavyweight fighter Jo-El Scott has been found guilty of murder and is facing a life sentence without the possibility of parole. A jury in New York found sufficient evidence in Scott’s case in which he was charged with the rape and murder of an elderly woman. Scott’s time in the professional heavyweight ranks saw him rack up a final tally of twenty wins against two losses with nineteen knockouts. He will be officially sentenced in March.

    This is not the only heinous crime shadowing the boxing world. A murder case is still pending against former super middleweight contender James Butler is alleged to have murdered Sam Kellerman, brother of former Friday night fights analyst Max Kellerman.

  • Marquez to Fight Vazquez?

    Fresh from knocking out previously unbeaten Art Simonyan late last month, IBF super bantamweight champion Israel Vazquez looks set to be the next opponent for current WBA/IBF featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Marquez was scheduled to fight a much anticipated rematch with Manny Pacquiao but purse demands scratched the possibility of that fight. Vazquez has twice defended the IBF title and holds a professional record of thirty-seven wins against three losses, only ten of his victories have lasted the full distance.

    In a related story, betting odds released in Las Vegas have Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao a favorite over Mexican legend Erik Morales ahead of their superfight in March.