Reigning European heavyweight champion Luan Krasniqi is set to defend his championship against Timo Hoffmann on the fourth of December. Both fighters live and fight out of Germany and the fight will be held at the Estrel Convention Center, Berlin, Germany. Krasniqi, a former sparring partner of former undisputed world heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis will be making his second defense of the European crown he won at the expense of Turkish-born, Germany based heavyweight Sinan Samil Sam. In Krasniqi’s first crack at the title he was defeated by Poland’s Przemyslaw Saleta, a loss he later avenged. Hoffmann is a former German heavyweight champion with three defeats to his name, one coming in the esteemed company of current WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko.
Author: Boxing Press
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Oscar Dissolves Top Rank Ties.
In addition to announcing the continuation of his career as a welterweight fighter, Oscar de la Hoya recently declared the dissolution of his contractual agreement with long-time promoter Top Rank. De La Hoya split with Bob Arum’s Top Rank a few years ago amid much acrimony and a war of words with Arum. However, the two patched up their differences and went on to create many more lucrative fights against the likes of Fernando Vargas, Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins. De La Hoya plans to make his Golden Boy Promotions outfit the premier promotional firm in the boxing business and undoubtedly, he has the money and the connections to do so. In a move that seems to indicate progressive thinking on both of their parts, De LA Hoya has made Hopkins a partner in the promotional company and a head of the east division of Golden Boy. Stay tuned to saddoboxing.com for more developments as they happen.
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De La Hoya Will Fight On.
Former six weight world champion and modern day boxing legend Oscar de la Hoya has decided to remain in boxing but at his more natural fighting weight of the 147-pound welterweight division. De La Hoya lost two of his high profile fights at welterweight to Felix Trinidad and then Shane Mosley. The move might rekindle the possibility of De La Hoya’s meeting with light welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu as was first mooted in the mid-to-late nineties. Tszyu, at thirty-five years of age might seek another defining fight at welterweight being that he has already dominated the light welterweight class so thoroughly. De La Hoya tried to do the impossible in defeating middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins but apparently has realized the limitations of his physical self and decided to ply his trade again in the relative comfort zone of welterweight. Cory Spinks will inevitably be mentioned as a future opponent for both Tszyu and De La Hoya and when you factor names such as Zab Judah and Kermit Cintron into the mix, exciting times await the welterweight division.
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Middleweight movements
After Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright’s majority decision and second consecutive defeat of ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley, the champion signaled his desire to make himself available for the big fights with the priority being a showdown with Puerto Rico’s awesome puncher Felx ‘Tito’ Trinidad. Wright has always been a quality operator but his career seemed to have stalled at one point with no high profile fights leaving him to contest multiple fights with nearly man Bronco McKart. If Wright decides to traverse the gap between light middleweight and the reinvigorated ranks of the middleweight class, he should find himself up against the likes of Trinidad or even the undisputed champion Bernard Hopkins. Mosley has also decided to continue his career in the middleweight ranks and will likely still be seen as a viable option for high profile fights because of his improved showing against Wright. We’re almost at the New Year and that is the time that Fernando Vargas has scheduled to return to the ring. Felix Sturm, Howard Eastman, William Joppy and Jermain Taylor are all top middleweights that will ensure exciting times ahead for the middleweight division.
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‘Wright’ Stuff Too Much For Mosley…Again.
Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright retained his WBC light middleweight title tonight, and really the only light middleweight title that matters with a razor thin majority decision over former three weight world champion ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley. Mosley raised his 
intensity level for the fight and managed to take several rounds away from the champion to make the fight a much more exciting encounter. But in the end, Mosley succumbed once again to Wright’s slick southpaw boxing skills. This fight was Mosley’s first outing with new trainer Joe Goossen and his reinvigorated performance may add weight to calls for him to continue on in the sport despite suffering his fourth loss. Meanwhile, Wright may well have positioned himself for a lucrative and extremely high profile fight with Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad. Final scores for the Wright-Mosley rematch were 114-114, 115-113, 115-113 for ‘Winky’ Wright, still the one true light middleweight champion of the world.
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Ledwaba Bests Baloyi.
Tonight in Carnival City, South Africa the IBO super featherweight championship of the world was on the line between Cassius Baloyi and Lehlohonolo Ledwaba, both of South African nationality. Ledwaba took the decision over the twelve round duration to gather himself the title in his first big outing since losing his IBF super bantamweight title to Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao back in 2001. Ledwaba moves his record to thirty-six wins with only three losses while Baloyi suffers his second career loss.
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Gardner Beats Olajide.
In the main support bout of the Wright-Mosley II clash held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas tonight, Ian Gardner moved his record to eighteen wins and only one defeat when he took a rather uneventful unanimous decision over the much more well known Tokunbo Olajide. Olajide is the younger brother of former middleweight contender Michael Olajide who shared the ring as a middleweight in the eighties with such names as Thomas Hearns, Iran Barkley and Frank Tate. Tokunbo achieved some acclaim as a light middleweight of explosive power but may be set to follow in the underachiving footsteps laid down by his brother. Gardner, who is only twenty-three hails from Canada although he now fights out of the United States holds an early career win over Troy Rowland, the winner of last nights main event versus Epifanio Mendoza while his only loss came to the still unbeaten Peter Manfredo Jr. More recently, Gardner scored a close win over the impressive Kuvanych Toygonbaev. With his win over Olajide, Gardner is now the NABO and NABC light middleweight champion.
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Valuev Stays Unbeaten.
Click for larger Image
Russia’s giant heavyweight Nicolay Valuev remained unbeaten tonight in the main event of the fight card held in Kempten, Germany by being awarded the fight by disqualification over his opponent, America’s Gerald Nobles. Nobles, who was also unbeaten before the fight, got himself thrown out of the fight for repeated low blows during the early stages of the fight and by the fourth round, the referee had seen enough of his illegal actions and decided to disqualify Nobles. What waits for Nobles after this performance remains to be seen but Valuev, at thirty-one years of age is beginning to make more noise in the heavyweight division. However, disqualification wins do nothing to enhance a fighter’s reputation and Valuev will have to make himself seen on American shores against the best available opposition to make the majority of fight fans sit up and take notice.
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Samil Sam Stops Bakhtov.
Sinan ‘Bull of the Bosporous’ Samil Sam stopped his most recent opponent Dennis Bakhtov in the tenth round of a heavyweight attraction tonight in Kempten, Germany. Sam, who lost a highly publicized fight on HBO last year to Cuba’s Juan Carlos Gomez has been trying to reassert himself in the heavyweight picture and this fight is his fourth stoppage win in a row since losing back to back fights to Gomez and Germany’s European heavyweight champion Luan Krasniqi. Perhaps most notably at this time is Sam’s sixth round stoppage of future WBC heavyweight title challenger Danny Williams of England, Sam put Williams down three times in the fight.
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Hopkins-De La Hoya Announcement Made.
Two of boxing’s biggest stars to duplicate United Artists’
approach inrevolutionizing the sport.LOS ANGELES, November 20 – The year was 1919, almost eighty-five years ago, when four legendary actors decided that it was time to set a new direction for the entertainment industry. Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and D.W. Griffith – the biggest names in the industry at that time – formed United Artists, a move that revolutionized the movie business forever. Today, Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins are pleased to announce their own bold move to revolutionize the boxing industry, as the two future Hall of Famers are joining forces to resurrect the sport of boxing and give fighters a platform from which they can fulfill their dreams of becoming world champions. It is with this goal in mind that both superstars have signed a historic deal that will make Hopkins a partner in Golden Boy Promotions and President of Golden Boy Promotions East. In addition, Golden Boy Promotions will serve as promoter for all future matches involving Hopkins. “It is a honor for me to welcome Bernard to Golden Boy Promotions as my partner,†said De La Hoya. “I know that together we will continue with the impressive growth of our company and expand our operations and target audience.” Added Hopkins, “I am delighted to be part of the team. Today will go into the boxing history books. Oscar and me are just the beginning. We welcome other promotional free agents to join us and revolutionize the sport. This is a new chapter for boxing and today we are just writing the first page.” (more…)
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Showtime’s Friday Fights Coverage.
DETROIT, Mich. (Nov. 19, 2004) – Troy Rowland got off the canvas to take a unanimous ten-round decision, scored 97-92 (twice) and 96-93, over Epifanio Mendoza Friday on “ShoBox: The New Generation.†In the welterweight co-feature from the Michigan State Fairgrounds in Detroit, Mich., Shamone Alvarez easily defeated Mohammed Kayongo with a first-round knockout. SHOWTIME televised the Millenium Events Inc doubleheader at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). The telecast represented the 53nd in the popular “ShoBox†series, which debuted on SHOWTIME in July 2001. Rowland (21-1, five KOs), of Grand Rapids, Mich., was dropped in the seventh round, but quickly got back to his feet to take control of the rest of the fight. He won over boxing fans in his home state by winning three consecutive Golden Gloves Open Division Titles from 1998 – 2000. A heavily decorated amateur, Rowland twice won the Sportsmanship Award (“98 and “99) and the Most Outstanding Open Boxer Award (“99 and “00) at the Michigan Golden Gloves. Rowland turned pro at age 24 on July 21, 2000, with a four-round decision over Kevin Butts in Mount Pleasant, Mich. (more…)
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Diaz Stops Lacey in Four!
One Punch Productions returned to the DoubleTree Westshore in Tampa on Friday night with “Ballroom Brawl!â€. Headlining the action-packed card was Tampa’s own Carlos ‘Bam Bam’ Diaz (9-4-3, 7 KOs), 123.5 -pounds, squared off with former Mario Lacey (7-7-4, 6 KOs), 125-pounds. Lacey was a last minute replacement, accepting the fight with only two days notice. Diaz was originally scheduled to fight former IBF flyweight champion Francisco Tejedor of Columbia. The Columbian had been on a losing streak as of late, dropping his last ten bouts and fifteen of the past seventeen. The California State Athletic Commission has placed Tejedor under medical suspension from his last bout in the state. Diaz took advantage of this turn of events, jumping back into the win column after coming off an exiting eight-round draw with Backlin Medrano and dropping the four bouts prior to that. The bout started fairly even, with Lacey’s activity winning him in the first round. As time progressed, Diaz caught Lacey with a nice right and left hook that put him through the ropes in the third. Diaz would look to end the night early, landing a beautiful combination finished with a huge left hook to drop Lacey for a nine count. Although he rose, he would taste the canvas shortly after, as Diaz pushed him back into the ropes and ended the night with a huge right hand to drop Lacey and cause his corner to call the match at the 2:31 mark. (more…)
