Boxing archive

Twenty years ago, the city of Las Vegas played host to a young boxer from East L.A. who would go on to become one of the greatest pound-for-pound champions in boxing history. Oscar De La Hoya collected the fifth win of his professional career by defeating Jeff Mayweather at the Hilton in March 1993, an early step in his Hall of Fame career. And this weekend, three decades on, one of East L.A.'s latest Mexican-American fighting sensations, Julian Ramirez, hopes to follow in the footsteps of his promoter and inspiration.

One of boxing's hottest young prospects, Ramirez, 19, will enter the ring at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino aiming to take the next step in his blossoming career. On Saturday, he can complete an almost punch-perfect first 12 months in the professional ring, adding a seventh win to his unblemished record -- form that's not too surprising when you consider the family history.

As the great nephew of Genaro Hernandez, the Mexican-American former unified junior lightweight champion who dominated the division throughout the '90s, Ramirez knows all about pressure. Signing with Golden Boy after just two fights only amplified the expectations.

"My family would never compare me to Genaro, but they do play a role in motivating me," Ramirez told ESPN-com. "They always say there is somebody better than me out there, and that I've just not faced him yet. And that drives me to work hard. I try not to think of what's happening to me as pressure. Signing with Golden Boy, I never saw none of this coming. I knew I was good to a certain level, but I never expected to get signed by Joel, Oscar's brother. So all this has happened just so fast, and I am just going with it."

Ramirez insists his style is also very different from his uncle's. "It's kind of the opposite to his, so there is nothing to compare. I mean, I can box too, but he was a complete boxer and I'm a little more aggressive." Ramirez's glittering 73-5 amateur card proves that. However, despite winning gold medals at both the Junior Olympics and Mexican Games in 2011, and not forgetting his four National PAL titles, the stylish featherweight insists the amateur ranks lost their appeal a long time ago. Despite proud parents who were keen to see their son box under the Olympic rings, Ramirez always had his eyes fixed firmly on the pro ranks. A mixture of politics and a lack of scoring for body punches, he says, turned him off the amateur code. "I actually wanted to go pro at age 16," he said. "I wanted to run away to Mexico and go pro, but my parents reassured me that things would work out at home."

Call it divine intervention, or simply parental experience, but the advice has paid off in spades. With Golden Boy in his corner, and having already traveled to spar with world-class operators such as Miguel Vazquez and Scott Quigg -- who utilized Julian as his main sparring partner in a junior featherweight world title eliminator last year -- the quiet southpaw's future certainly looks bright.

Quigg, who defeated former title challenger Rendall Munroe in November to put himself within striking distance of a title shot, is a big fan: "I've sparred very good fighters from all over the world, and Julian is definitely one of the very best I've been in with," he said. "And he's only had a couple of fights."

Dubbed "Little Canelo" by fight fans across the West Coast -- a nod to current light middleweight titlist Saul Alvarez -- Ramirez certainly doesn't lack ability or the confidence to go with it. He believes the "Canelo" comparisons have more to do with the light shade of his skin than his in-ring style. After all, Ramirez says, he's the more exciting fighter to watch.

"When it comes to fighting style, I wouldn't say I'm better, but I do think I have more of a fan-pleasing style, because 'Canelo' holds back a lot," Ramirez said. "He's a really good fighter, but for me, personally, I didn't like his style because when he'd hurt somebody he wouldn't go in for the kill right away. He would try to play it safe. That's the truth right there. 'Canelo' is really strong, but he would hurt his opponent and then wait a round or two to finish them."

De La Hoya took out Jeff Mayweather in four rounds 20 years ago. Safe money would be on Ramirez doing the same to outgunned club fighter Juan Sandoval this weekend. Ramirez has a world of work ahead of him before he can be talked about in the same breath as great ones such as the Golden Boy, but the early returns should motivate him all the more.






Julian Ramirez sets sights on Golden future - Boxing Blog - ESPN

Former British Olympian Thomas Stalker will make his professional debut against journeyman Kristian Laight at London’s York Hall on February 23.

The light welterweight decided to leave the amateur ranks to join Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom stable earlier this month and will take his first steps on the paid ladder on the same night as Prizefighter International Heavyweights III featuring Audley Harrison.

Laight, 32, has had 151 professional fights, winning just seven, and was last year beaten by Stalker’s former amateur team-mate James Dickens and his current stablemate Martin J Ward.

Stalker, 28, will also fight on the undercard of Tony Bellew’s WBC world title eliminator against Isaac Chilemba at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on March 30.

The Sportsmail columist was controversially beaten in the quarter-finals at the London Games last year but previously won European and Commonwealth gold medals.

On turning professional, Stalker said: ‘I feel I am going to be exciting to watch as a professional boxer. I felt it was time for me to turn professional now and see how far I can go. I have done everything I could possibly do as an amateur, bar winning an Olympic medal.

‘Even though I didn’t medal myself, as a team I have captained the most successful amateur boxing team we have ever had and that was a big thing for me.

‘Since the Olympics I haven’t had a goal and I have been a bit depressed, especially seeing the other lads doing all sorts of stuff but now I have that hunger back and to get in that ring and fight is going to be amazing.

‘The one for me is going to be March, boxing a homecoming in Liverpool. It is going to be amazing for me to be boxing in front of all my friends and family in Liverpool and that is when I will really feel like a professional.’

The Argentine unleashed a devastating right-hand shot that sent Dallas face-first onto the canvas just 156 seconds into the bout at the Hard Rock Hotel.

With Dallas lying motionless, referee Robert Byrd stepped in immediately to call an end to the fight.

''I was so relaxed. I was waiting for my opportunity to land a shot,'' Matthysse said.

''I was waiting for him to throw his left, then he ducked and I connected with the right.''

The win gives Matthysse his 31st knockout and improves his record to 33-2, as well as putting him in with a chance of a bout with WBA super lightweight champion Danny Garcia.

'I want Danny Garcia and all the top fighters at 140 (pounds),'' Matthysse said. ''I hope he doesn't avoid me.''

A rib injury sustained during training has forced undefeated champion Danny Garcia to postpone his scheduled February 9 title defense against Zab Judah to April 27, promoters announced on Sunday.

Garcia, 25-0 with 16 knockouts, was to have defended his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association junior welterweight crowns against 35-year-old Judah, 42-7 with 29 knockouts, in an all-American showdown.

The fight card will remain at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Judah’s hometown.

Garcia beat Mexico’s Erik Morales in a unanimous 12-round decision last March to claim the WBC crown, then took the WBA title from England’s Amir Khan with a fourth-round stoppage last July.

In November, Garcia knocked out Morales in the fourth round in a rematch in the first boxing card at the new Brooklyn arena to keep both his titles and set up the Judah bout.








Boxing: Injured Garcia postpones fight with Judah | Inquirer Sports

Florentino Fernandez, whose entertaining brawling style helped him become one of the top middleweight contenders and popular local fighters of the 1960s, died of a heart attack Monday morning in Miami, his son, Florentino Jr., said. Fernandez was 76.

“He had just finished having a cup of coffee at his sister’s house and complained of chest pains,” Fernandez said. “Soon after, he passed out. Paramedics arrived very fast but they couldn’t revive him.”

Fernandez was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease but had no previous heart ailments, according to the younger Fernandez. “This is very shocking,” he said. “He was still very strong physically.”

Fernandez was born in Cuba, where he began his professional career in 1956 and moved to Miami three years later.

Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Fernandez was a fixture in promoters Chris Dundee’s shows in Miami Beach and Felix “Tuto” Zabala’s cards in Puerto Rico.

One of Fernandez’s noteworthy wins was a fifth-round knockout over future world light-heavyweight champion Jose Torres in 1963. Fernandez’s only world title bout resulted in a controversial split decision loss against champion Gene Fullmer in 1961.

“I’m not one to say a fighter got robbed of a decision too often but Florentino should have been champion,” boxing historian Enrique Encinosa said. “I’ve seen film of that fight many times and Florentino clearly won.

“Years later, I spoke with Fullmer at a Hall of Fame ceremony and he told me when Florentino hit him he felt chills up and down his spine.”

Fernandez retired in 1972 with a record of 50 wins, 16 losses, 1 draw and 43 knockouts. He was part of the inaugural class inducted into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009.

After boxing, Fernandez was one of the sport’s goodwill ambassadors, attending shows throughout the United States.

One of his last public appearances was three years ago in New York, where Fernandez attended as film premiere about the history of Cuban boxing.

“Lately, he had some difficulty remembering things but when it came to his boxing career, he remembered everything,” Fernandez Jr. said. “His most vivid recollections were about boxing. He recalled the many cities and countries he fought.”

In addition to his son, Fernandez is survived by wife Luisa. Funeral services are pending.

Read more here: Boxer Florentino Fernandez dies at 76 - Boxing - MiamiHerald-com

Bottled water, and any other beverages including soda and beer, tins and any other objects that can be thrown, have been banned in the hall during the Liberation Day boxing gala due at Lugogo Indoor Stadium on Febuary 15.

Assistant Inspector General of Police Andrew Sorowen announced the ban on Tuesday during the launch of the event that will have five bouts on card with the theme ‘Uganda versus East Africa’.

“When you are organising such events please don’t take them to Kisenyi if you want good security, but put them in Lugogo. I want to assure you that we shall give the best security ever,” Sorowen pledged.

“We shall check every person entering. No bottle, tin, mairungi, marijuana and any other dangerous objects shall be allowed inside the hall. We don’t want to see a repeat of the other time,” the AIGP, who is also in charge of sports in the Uganda Police Force, stressed.

Uganda Boxing Union (UBU) vice president Benjamin Mukasa lauded the Force for the support. He disclosed that for the first time Ugandan boxers will be insured and Rainbow Hospital will offer medical services at the event.

The fights, organised by UBU, will have Uganda’s Kenneth Odeke take on Ashraf Sulaiman from Tanzania in a 10-round bout in the heavyweight category.

Odeke has a record of two fights with two wins, both knockouts.

The other fights will feature Robert Kamya of Uganda against Kenya’s Mark Olieck, (middleweight) and Juma Waiswa battling Herbert Mugula in one of the undercard fights.

Power Horse energy drink, Rainbow City Hospital, NBS TV, Uganda Police and UPDF, among others, are some of the sponsors of the night’s event.

Tyson Fury has launched a scathing attack on heavyweight boxing champions Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, promising to "rid the sport" of the Ukrainians if he is given the chance to join either of them in the ring.

Fury's long-standing demands for a fight with either of the Klitschko brothers have fallen on deaf ears to date, with the former British and Commonwealth champion targeting the WBC belt currently held by Vitali Klitschko after beating Kevin Johnson on points in December 2012.

"I'm going to snatch that WBC title," Fury, currently ranked fourth by the WBC, told BoxingScene-com. "There's a big queue of people trying to get it in front of me, but they're not ranked in front of me. I'm ready to go - why not let me fight next?"

Vitali, 41, and 36-year-old Wladimir - the WBA, IBF, WBO and IBO champion - are approaching the end of their boxing careers. But 24-year-old Fury remains desperate for a shot at them in the ring, despite claiming that boxing will be better off once they hang up their gloves.

"I don't like either Klitschko," Fury added. "They're bad for everything to do with boxing. As soon as I get hold of them and rid the sport of them the better - that's genuinely what I feel.

"They jab someone to death, when they have someone hurt they won't jump on them and finish them. They've got to be screamed at and shouted at."
Read more at Tyson Fury: Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko are bad for boxing | Boxing News | ESPN.co.uk

The boxing schedule for Feb. 1 and Feb. 2 features events in the United States, Puerto Rico and Germany. One of the highlights will be the fight between Eduard Gutknecht and Juergen Braehmer for the European light heavyweight title.

Boxing Schedule for Feb. 1 in Chicago, Illinois

The fights can be seen at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

Carlos Molina vs. Cory Spinks, 12 rounds, junior middleweight

Antwone Smith vs. Jose Luis Castillo, 10 rounds, welterweight

Artur Szpilka vs. Mike Mollo, 8 rounds, heavyweight

Donovan George vs. James Cook, 8 rounds, super middleweight

Mike Jimenez vs. Jordan Brown, 6 rounds, super middleweight

Jim Murphy vs. Aloric Carson, 4 rounds, welterweight

Junior Wright vs. Tim Johnson, 4 rounds, cruiserweight

Sergio Montes de Oca vs. Antoine Knight, 4 rounds, featherweight

Jaime Herrera vs. Marlon Smith, 6 rounds, welterweight

Boxing Schedule for Feb. 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada

The fights can be seen at 11 p.m. EST on Fox Deportes and FSN.

Frankie Gomez vs. Lanard Lane, 10 rounds, welterweight

Mickey Bey Jr. vs. Robert Rodriguez, 8 rounds, lightweight

Joseph Diaz Jr. vs. Jose Ruiz, 4 rounds, bantamweight

Luis Arias vs. Joshua Robertson, 6 rounds, super middleweight

Lionel Bellows vs. Jerrod Caldwell, 4 rounds, super middleweight

Boxing Schedule for Feb. 2 in McAllen, Texas

The fights can be seen at 11:59 p.m. EST on UniMas.

Jose Felix Jr. vs. Gerardo Robles, 10 rounds, lightweight

Rafael Reyes vs. Hardy Paredes, 6 rounds, junior lightweight

Matvey Korobov vs. Dionisio Miranda, 8 rounds, middleweight

Andre Dirrell vs. Michael Gbenga, 10 rounds, super middleweight

Ivan Najera vs. Larry Yanez, 6 rounds, lightweight

Mario Amador vs. Jonathan Borja, 4 rounds, featherweight

David Rios vs. Noe Santamaria, 4 rounds, junior lightweight

Boxing Schedule for Feb. 2 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico

The fights can be seen at 9 p.m. EST on DirecTV PPV.

Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Aldimar Silva Santos, 10 rounds, junior lightweight

Jose Gonzalez vs. Alejandro Rodriguez, 10 rounds, lightweight

McWilliams Arroyo vs. Sonny Boy Jaro, 10 rounds, flyweight

McJoe Arroyo vs. Felipe Rivas, 10 rounds, junior bantamweight

Jonathan Gonzalez vs. Omar Salado, 10 rounds, junior bantamweight

Felix Verdejo vs. Jose Santiago, 4 rounds, junior lightweight

Boxing Schedule for Feb. 2 in Berlin, Germany

The fights can be seen at 2 p.m. EST on BoxNation.

Eduard Gutknecht vs. Juergen Braehmer, 12 rounds, light heavyweight

Dustin Dirks vs. Christian Cruz, 8 rounds, light heavyweight

Dominik Britsch vs. Luis Crespo, 8 rounds, super middleweight

Tyron Zeuge vs. Srdjan Mihajlovic, 6 rounds, super middleweight

Robert Woge vs. Hakim Zoulikha, 10 rounds, light heavyweight

Deion Jumah vs. Ruslan Bitarov vs. 4 rounds, cruiserweight

Enrico Kolling vs. Egidijus Kakstys vs. 6 rounds, light heavyweight




Boxing Schedule for February 1 and February 2, 2013 - Yahoo! Sports

If Carlos Molina is a snake-bitten fighter, the only evidence that betrayed it Friday at the UIC Pavilion was a small cut near his right eye -- which he wore, along with a smile on his face, in a cramped locker room after his main event bout. It was virtually the sum total of damage that Molina suffered -- on a head-butt, no less -- in a start-to-finish beatdown of former two-division titlist Cory Spinks. Ringside judges scored it 119-106 (twice) and 120-105 for Molina. ESPN.com had it 119-106 for Molina.

“He clinched me and he held me, he bought himself a little more time, but he should have given me a little more space,” Molina said of the butt.

It was that sort of fight for Molina (21-5-2, 6 KOs), who did what he could with what he had in front of him. Facing constant pressure from Molina, Spinks countered occasionally, but his stock answer seemed to be to clinch, drop his head or get on his bike. Molina had implied before the fight that he’d be gunning for a knockout, but Spinks did everything in his power not to comply.

“Of course you always want to put on a good show,” Molina said. “Fans love a good show, and I’m a No. 1 boxing fan, too. I’m not just a boxer -- I love boxing. So I try to put on a good show but at the same time come out with the victory.”

So Molina settled for the latter, delivering a withering body attack to take out the 34-year-old Spinks’ legs. He often led with shots downstairs, and he frequently chopped at Spinks’ hips and ribs in the clinch. The work paid off in the second half of the fight as Spinks slowed down, and Molina added one adjustment that seemed to sap the last of Spinks’ spirit: In the eighth round, he began arcing uppercuts at Spinks’ chin when he would duck into his exaggerated crouch. There was little left for Spinks to do but hold on -- and in the ninth, he was docked a point for doing exactly that. A round later, a bent-over Spinks took a looping right hand across the mouth that punctuated another Molina combination, fell forward and dropped his gloves to the canvas for a knockdown.

“I was working that body,” Molina said, “and I felt him lose his breath a little bit, and then I came back with the right hand.”

Molina had endured a near-Shakespearean run of recent bad luck in the ring, but Friday’s bout proved to be more comic (in its ease) than tragic. Although he didn’t get the decisive ending he’d hoped for -- and the lack of finishing power, especially in a fight where Molina admitted to more aggressively seeking a knockout, has to be considered a mark against him -- he is rewarded a mandatory bout against the winner of the Feb. 23 title fight between Cornelius "K9" Bundrage and Ishe Smith.

After being on the south end of squirrely decisions against Erislandy Lara and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., not to mention a shady disqualification against James Kirkland, it seems a more-than-just reward.

In the featured bout, Jose Luis Castillo (64-11-1, 55 KOs) looked every one of his 39 years, dropping a clear decision to Antwone Smith (22-4-1, 12 KOs). Although Castillo hooked gamely to the body throughout the fight and even had Smith bleeding from the mouth in the later rounds, his legs had long since deserted him by then. A stationary target waving a token guard, he took jab after jab from Smith, who coasted 100-90, 98-92, 99-91.

AMIXED reception greeted Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet when it was released, particularly among purists. Those critical derided it as Shakespeare for the 1990s: extravagant, violent and punked up. But just as many found the modernisation thrilling and argued it didn't matter if it was Leonardo DiCaprio who introduced the classic to a new audience, so long as someone did.

Another pastime of nobler times, boxing, now faces a similar dilemma, through the growing modern take of the celebrity fighter.

Aside from rare moments in the spotlight, such as last week's Daniel Geale-Anthony Mundine fight, boxing is itself in danger of being stuck on the ropes in a crowded sporting landscape, given its politics, personalities and sparsity of meaningful contests.

That doesn't mean people can't watch others fight. Far from it. On Friday, footballers Sonny Bill Williams and Quade Cooper will detour from their real jobs to satisfy sporting itches.
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At a time when he could be focused on a switch back to rugby league and the NRL, Williams will fight South African Francois Botha, who once stood toe to toe with Mike Tyson. Williams, who has fought five professional bouts previously, claims a loss next week will end this chapter of his sporting career, which also included a four-year stint in rugby.

Cooper, who will box for charity on the undercard of his friend, is shaping for his debut in the ring before resuming full-time duties with the Queensland Reds in Super Rugby.

The fighting footballers continue a recent run of athletes donning the gloves, including a group of league and rugby players in Auckland, cricketer Andrew Flintoff and even celebrity DJ Ruby Rose.

Runner John Steffensen is also considering a move to boxing following his suspension by Athletics Australia last week.

Flintoff's bout generated a buzz of publicity, but as a contest his efforts in fighting - and beating - Richard Dawson were criticised as amateur-hour and belittling the sport by those within boxing circles, especially as Britain's David Price defended his Commonwealth heavyweight title on the same night, 50 kilometres away. Guess who got all the attention?

In Australia, there is mixed reaction to celebrity fighters. Former fighter and now commentator Barry Michael is annoyed career boxers cannot generate the publicity that Williams and Cooper will this week, but he hopes that, ultimately, the sport benefits through the exposure.

''I just like to think they're fair dinkum, that they're not doing it out of trying to make a quick buck. It certainly brings the focus on boxing, the sport that I love, because boxing is under-represented, misrepresented or maligned,'' Michael said.

''Anything that brings the spotlight on boxing is good. I love boxing and I like to see positive stuff and I like to see these guys take it seriously, because it's not something to be taken lightly.''

Friday's fights will be pay-per-view events on television, and Michael said anyone who watched them would be aware of exactly what they were paying for.

''I don't think the sport's integrity can be hurt, because people who go see them know who they are. They know they're footballers and they shouldn't expect to see Sugar Ray Leonard or even Anthony Mundine,'' he said. ''In those codes - Aussie rules and rugby - there must be some guys who have got boxing talent. If the spotlight goes on boxing because they're a famous rugby player, so be it because it might unearth another Anthony Mundine.''

Mundine himself was a rugby league star before he made a career in the ring, but Cooper's opponent, Barry Dunnett, said the boxing community was over the concept of footballers dabbling in someone else's sport. ''I think all the fighting community gets a bit annoyed at athletes trying to switch codes and calling themselves a triple-pro. It's frustrating. It takes money away from guys who have been doing it all their life,'' Dunnett said last month. ''Everyone in the boxing community is behind me. They want to put an end to the footballer-turned-fighter.''

Jeff Fenech can only envisage more celebrity fighters, but was dismayed to see the tweet Williams posted after Mundine's loss to Geale - that the judges were ''corrupt'' - showing the footballer's ignorance of boxing (Williams later apologised).

''You can't blame people for trying to earn a dollar if it's an honest dollar, but this is a manipulative way to earn it because there's so many guys out there who have been fighting all their life and haven't earned anywhere near what these guys have earned. I'm sure it breaks those young guys' hearts,'' Fenech said.

''Boxing is nothing like it was. That's why the UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship, the mixed martial arts events] has million of members and has everything that those people need. Boxing will always struggle unless it's a super fight …

''Me, I don't watch boxing any more, and I'd be nothing without the sport.''

Whether others watch boxing could depend on how Williams and Cooper fare.

Read more: The new face of boxing

Muhammad Ali's family have denied reports that his health is deteriorating after comments from his brother which suggested he was close to death.

'He's in a bad way. He's very sick," Rahman Ali told The Sun on Sunday. "It could be months, it could be days. I don't know if he'll last the summer. He's in God's hands."

However, Rahman admitted that he had not seen his brother since July - claiming that the former boxer's wife, Lonnie, was refusing to allow him access, forcing the pair to communicate only via telephone.

Within hours Ali's daughter told Associated Press her father was "fine … these rumors pop up every once in a while but there's nothing to them". The family later posted a photo on Twitter of Ali sitting in a chair wearing a Ray Lewis T-shirt.

Ali suffers from Parkinson's disease. He celebrated his 71st birthday last month.

There were previously concerns for Ali's health back in December 2011, when he was taken to hospital after falling unconscious at his Arizona home. He was treated for dehydration.
Read more at Family denies Muhammad Ali health rumours | Boxing News | ESPN.co.uk

The Coachella Valley Boxing Club added two more national titles as 13-year-olds Brandun Lee and Anthony Reyes brought home belts from the Silver Gloves national tournament last weekend.

Lee won the 125-pound weight class in the 12-13 age group, which he will add to his Golden Gloves, Police Athletic League and adidas national titles he’s won earlier, said Coachella Valley Boxing Club founder Lee Espinoza.

In the finals, Lee defeated Elliott Davis of Ohio by second-round stoppage.

Reyes won the 90-pound weight class in the 12-13 age group. In the finals, Reyes topped Dominique Francis of Miami by unanimous decision. Reyes had to win three fights en route to the title, while Lee only had to win two, thanks to a bye.

“These kids are incredible,” said Espinoza, whose club has produced stars such as the Diaz brothers and currently has talented prospect Randy Caballero. “We have a legacy here. Randy will fight for a world title. With these other kids, they are keeping our legacy going so it will never die.”

Unlike great mate Anthony Mundine, Sonny Bill Williams reckons he has learned the hard way that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.

But that hasn't stopped former IBF champion, hardened South African veteran Francois Botha, wanting to dish out another lesson to the ex-All Black in their WBA international heavyweight title bout in Brisbane on Friday night.

Mundine's arrival in the Williams camp on Wednesday should ensure plenty of colour ahead of the Sydney Roosters recruit's biggest fight to date.

However, Williams, 27, vowed to do all his talking in the ring after the fallout over his support of Mundine on Twitter following the IBF middleweight title loss to compatriot Daniel Geale in Sydney last week.

Williams contemplated being hit with legal action before apologising for his tweet of a photo of himself, Wallabies five-eighth Quade Cooper and Mundine after the Geale fight, with the caption: "Hanging out with @Anthony-Mundine celebrating a victory. We don't pay attention to corrupt judges!"

Unlike Mundine who insisted he was "robbed" after the Geale fight, Williams (5-0 boxing record) was sheepish when reminded of his chip ahead of his daunting clash with 44-year-old Botha (48-8-3).

"At the time we were full of emotion. Sometimes you do silly things like that," he said.

"I meant no disrespect to the Geale camp. He is a great fighter and champion.

"The next morning I apologised. When you have nothing nice to say you should keep it to yourself."

Cooper - who makes his professional boxing debut against former Muay Thai title contender Barry Dunnett on the Williams undercard - was not so apologetic.

"I have no more comment to make on that. It is done and dusted. I am going to support him (Mundine) 100 per cent no matter what," he said as he trained on Tuesday.

"He has always been a great friend of mine. I will be there for him as well."

But Botha - dubbed "The White Buffalo" - was keen to ruffle feathers, claiming the "green" Williams had no right to be in the same ring with him.

"He's got some balls to pick this fight, and I am not talking rugby balls," Botha said.

"No one else at his stage of his career would pick a fight like that."

Williams curiously revealed that the extent of his boxing training was once watching fights on YouTube but felt he was ready to down Botha under the expert tutelage of renowned task master Mick Akkaway.

But it seems Williams has to work on his own YouTube highlights judging by Botha's assessment.

"You really want to know? Um, he's very green," Botha said of Williams.

"On stats alone he shouldn't be in the ring with me. But I won't underestimate him."

Williams reiterated that he would hang up the gloves if knocked out on Friday night.

"If I can't beat guys like this then there is no future for me in the sport," he said.




Boxing: Williams bites tongue before fight - Sport - NZ Herald News

Queensland police are looking for a stolen boxing glove signed by Muhammad Ali.

The glove and a photo of the boxing great were stolen from a Brisbane house last month.

Police say the glove was signed twice by the icon - once in the name Muhammad Ali and the other in his former name Cassius Clay.

It was in a clear case about one metre long.

The memorabilia was among property taken from a house in the north Brisbane suburb of Mitchelton on January 30.
Police have asked anyone with information to contact them.

The unbeaten Hammersmith southpaw first challenges Mouhamed Ali Ndiaye for the vacant European title on Saturday 16th March at Wembley Arena with Abraham and Stieglitz meeting a week later in Germany.

He was due to face Stieglitz last March but had to withdraw due to an injury, Stieglitz later lost the title in a shock upset to Abraham in an action packed fight and they meet again in the rematch.

Groves, 24, who is the WBO number one ranked and mandatory challenger, is spurred on knowing that a win over the tough Italy-based Senegali - who hasn’t lost in almost five years and has never been stopped - will get him a shot at the world title next.

“With me being number one in the WBO that is the direction that I’m going in and I’ve got to keep an eye on these guys as I’ll be looking to fight the winner next,” said Groves.

“I’m focused on the fight in hand first, though, against Ndiaye and winning the European title, but once I come through that I want to be in Germany to see Abraham against Stieglitz up close.

“It was a close fight last time and Abraham won on strength, I think maybe he’ll win on endurance this time. It’s always tough to beat a fighter in a return once you’ve beaten him, but I’ll go with the pedigree and that’s Abraham, although Stieglitz will have home town advantage this time which may help him.

“I was gutted when I couldn’t take on Stieglitz last year as I’m confident I would have beaten him as Abraham went on to do and I’d be the world champion now, but my time will come.

“Last year was a tough one with injuries although I got in two valuable learning fights, a good win in America that enhanced my reputation and fan base and then probably the best win of my career over the experienced Glen Johnson in December. “This is a great start to the year for me with a European title fight and then a potential world title fight next. The super-middleweight division is stacked with talent and I’m eager to get in the mix.”

Groves v Ndiaye features as chief-support on a card joint-headlined by WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns’ unification showdown against IBF champion Miguel Vazquez and WBO light-heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly’s title defence against Robin Krasniqi.







Boxing - Groves sets sights on WBO title - Yahoo! Eurosport UK

Sonny Bill Williams has defended his controversial unanimous points heavyweight victory over veteran Frans Botha in a title bout that ended after 10 rounds in Brisbane on Friday night.

The fight, which was advertised and scheduled for 12 rounds as per WBA rules, was stopped early, drawing an angry reaction from Botha and boos from the crowd at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

The former World Cup-winning All Black star, in only his sixth professional fight, won the points on all three of the ringside judges' cards against the vastly experienced but ageing South African boxer.

Bookmakers refunded bets on Williams's controversial win and 44-year-old Botha has challenged the rugby star to a rematch.

Williams, who was on the receiving end of some heavy blows from Botha in the final round, tweeted on Saturday that both camps knew it was a 10-round affair.

"First morning after the fight it's sinking in what a great night it was. We both knew it was a 10 rounder b4 the fight!

WBAinterntionalbelt!!," he posted.

The Australian newspaper reported that Australian National Boxing Federation (ANBF) vice-president Alan Moore, a ringside judge for the bout, said he had no idea why the title fight had been shortened.

"When the ring announcer said over the loud speaker that it was the last round, that was the first we (judges) knew of any change," Moore was quoted as saying.

"Any international title fight is meant to be fought over 12 three-minute rounds. I have no idea what happened."

ANBF committee member John Hogg said a last-minute decision to shelve the final two rounds was "unusual" but that it had been ticked off by officials after both camps agreed shortly before the fight.

"Any suggestion that there was any decision made during the fight is just nonsense," Hogg told Fox Sports on Saturday.

"Both parties told us it was cut back to 10 rounds, we had no time to try and check with the WBA to see if they were aware of what was happening."

New Zealand betting agency TAB, which has refunded bets on the fight, claimed it had checked that it was correct in taking bets on a 12-round bout in the lead-up to the fight because it had been stung previously by Williams' fights finishing early.

"We went to great pains to double check and triple check that it was 12 rounds because (in) a Sonny Bill fight this has happened before so we're pretty annoyed about it," TAB head bookmaker Mark Stafford told New Zealand's Radio Sport.

"It's not really about the money figure. People are brassed off.

"I don't know how it has happened, why it has happened. When they said '10th and final round' we all just looked at each other and said 'what is going on here'?"

The ringside judges gave the Kiwi the victory 97-91, 98-94, 97-91 which was greeted by considerable booing from the crowd.

But Williams, who will switch back to Australia's National Rugby League this season after playing rugby union in New Zealand, was praised in some quarters for the win against Botha, who has fought Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Wladimir Klitschko and Evander Holyfield in a 23-year career.

"No amateur career, no decent training camp & he won against a guy that fought the greats with 60 bouts to his name," tweeted one fan.







Boxing: Williams defends shortened title bout

Paulie Ayala has done it all in boxing.

The two-time world champion is still involved in the sport he loves. His promotional company produces a series of bouts in North Texas, featuring local fighters.

Ayala is also training athletes, including a special group of students. The champ teaches a free boxing class exclusively for Parkinson’s patients. Paulie has no ties to Parkinson’s. He runs this class out of the goodness in his own heart.

Even though the disease effects motor skills, Ayala pushes his students like they’re preparing for a prize fight. It’s the only way he knows how to train.

“I want them to personally get better because I know them, and they come and they’re trusting me to help them,” said Ayala.

“Before I started here, I was up to probably 13 pills a day, and most of last year I maintained at about four pills a day,” said Gary Schmitz who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2000.

“It almost becomes my new medication of choice, is to come in here and workout. And the harder you push, the more benefits [you get]. Its reconnecting your mind back with your body and your body parts that Parkinson’s wants to take away from you.”

Two-time WBO interim lightweight champion Michael Katsidis is out of boxing indefinitely and is likely to retire from the sport after undergoing medical tests.

Katsidis, 32, was due to fight Filipino Weng Haya in Melbourne on February 21, but has pulled out of the fight.

"I have got a story to tell and I will be telling it, but right now I need to talk with my family, management as well as medical staff," Katsidis said on Facebook.

He will still attend the promotion and intends to fully explain his situation at that time.

"We got the first round of reports last Friday, it was extremely emotional and yes, grown men were crying," Katsidis's manager Glen Murray told AAP.

"It's fair to say he's out of his fight on February 21, he's out of fighting indefinitely.

"Right today they are still doing second opinions on some medical reports, so we are not in a position really to comment fully about any further information about his future."

Based overseas for several years, Katsidis returned to Australia fulltime in 2012 and recently linked with renowned trainer Johnny Lewis.

Indisputably the most exciting world-class Australian-born boxer of the last decade, Katsidis (28-6, 23 KOs) won legions of fans for his attacking style.

He had several big fights in the United States and was a favourite of their cable television networks.

All bar one of his losses were to world champions.

A series of epic ring wars and a personal tragedy appeared to be taking their toll on the gutsy Queenslander.

He lost four of his last five fights following the death of his brother, successful jockey Stathi Katsidis, in October 2010.

Michael bravely pressed ahead with a huge fight against Juan Manuel Marquez less than two months after Stathi's death and knocked the Mexican superstar down before being stopped in the ninth round.

He lost three of his next four fights, two of them for interim world titles, with his only win coming against Mexican Michael Lozada in his first fight back in Australia in over five years.

As an amateur, Katsidis represented Australia at the 2000 Olympics, before having his first professional bout the following year.

He won his first 23 paid fights and earned national and regional titles despite an enforced eight-month layoff due to an assault conviction in 2002.

Katsidis won his first WBO interim title with a fifth-round stoppage of England's Graham Earl in what was widely considered to be the most exciting fight of 2007.

He suffered his first professional losses to Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz in 2008, but won his second WBO strap in 2009 with a split points win over Vicente Escobedo.

Murray said Katsidis wanted to remain in the boxing industry in some capacity if he was forced to quit the ring.

He said Katsidis would probably prefer to work in an advisory role with fighters rather than be a fulltime coach and that media work was another option for the articulate and presentable Queenslander.

Fight fans tacitly accept some level of sleaze in the boxing world. But establishing a proper board of control in Australia would help to regulate the sport, writes Alex McClintock.

Boxing managed to look like a legitimate sport in Australia for about nine days.

For the brief, glorious week-and-a-bit between Daniel Geale defeating Anthony Mundine and Sonny Bill Williams taking on Franscois Botha, the headlines were positive. Though perhaps that wasn't such a bad run, considering the depths to which the sweet science has sunk to in the last decade.

When I wrote that a Geale win over Mundine would be a chance for Australian boxing to come out swinging, I was too optimistic. Maybe what boxing needed was a nadir like the Sonny Bill Williams-Francois Botha farce.

Friday's fight was agreed to as a 12-round, championship distance bout. Williams controlled the early and middle rounds with his athleticism and educated jab, but showed his inexperience, fading badly in round 9. To the surprise of Botha, spectators, the commentators and betting agencies, the referee stated at the start of the tenth that it would be the final round. Caught with hard shots and badly hurt, Williams somehow managed to hang on to be saved by the bell. Another two rounds and he almost certainly would have been knocked out. Even the Brisbane crowd booed.

Boxing isn't known as the red light district of sports for nothing. The sweet science turns sour all too regularly. Even during a week in which the reputations of Australia's two most popular football codes were soiled, boxing somehow maintained pride of place in the gutter.

It was ever thus. "Links to organised crime" and "match fixing" might be relatively new phrases for fans of the AFL and NRL, but they're all too familiar to prize-fighting enthusiasts. One way or another, corruption has often been the invisible third man in the ring.

In the early 20th century it was the "colour line," white champions refusing to fight meritorious black challengers. By the war years, it was the mob that controlled the fight game. Fights were fixed, boxers paid off. Questions remain over one of the most famous fights of all time, Muhammad Ali's 1965 rematch with Sonny Liston. So at least in one sense, Williams-Botha was a throwback fight. The mafia eventually saw their grip on the sport weaken, but they were replaced by a new breed of ego-driven, autocratic promoter. Don King, who served four years in an Ohio prison for beating an employee to death, is still the most recognisable and notorious. He has been sued for fraud by a who's who of champions, including Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.

Boxing's lack of a single, central governing body offers another avenue for dishonesty. Several for-profit "sanctioning" organisations exist to fill the vacuum. The business model is quite successful; every year there seem to be new pretenders to go along with the alphabet soup of the WBA, WBO, WBC and IBF.

They're shameless too. The WBA already has a "super" heavyweight champion, Wladimir Klitschko, who ranks above its "regular" champion, Alexander Povetkin. But that didn't stop them sanctioning the fight between Williams, a five-fight pro, and Botha, a 44-year-old has-been, for the "international" heavyweight championship.

Today fight fans and journalists tacitly accept some level of sleaze. Few believe that fights are fixed outright, as they were in the 1950s and 60s, but you'd be foolish to think it's a level playing field. In many jurisdictions, promoters are responsible for paying the officials. Strange scorecards from judges happen every week. "Hometown decisions" are so routine that observers were shocked when Australia's Daniel Geale managed to actually beat two German titlists in Germany.

Then there are the drugs. Internationally, the sport is very slowly coming to grip with the extent of performance enhancing drug use. Several high profile bouts have been cancelled in the 2012 season after positive tests. In the biggest bout of last year, welterweight Juan Manuel Marquez knocked out rival and pound for pound king Manny Pacquiao after training with admitted steroid dealer Angel Heredia. Eyebrows were raised, nothing was proven.

It's unclear what the drug testing situation was in the Williams-Botha bout. Williams' manager Khoder Nasser claims Botha tested positive to two banned substances. Botha says Nasser's relatives administered the test. Queensland does not have a combat sports regulator and there was no compulsory testing for the bout.

Clearly boxing in this country is on the ropes, but Friday's shambles in Brisbane should be turned into an opportunity by those who love the sweet science. Already, there are moves towards establishing a proper commission in Queensland.

But why stop? It's the wild west out there. Tent boxing is still legal in Queensland and the Northern Territory. Why not establish a proper national board of control along the lines of British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC). The BBBC protects fighters' and punters' interests, ranks boxers and sanctions fights. A centralised system would avoid situations such as Danny Green's worrying first round knockout of Paul Briggs in 2010, which was moved from Sydney to Perth after Briggs was declared unfit to fight in NSW. When two people step into the ring, there is much more on the line than in other sports. Even in victory, a boxer can emerge diminished, physically and mentally. People can and do die. If we as a society are willing to authorise boxing's violence for our entertainment, then we have a responsibility to regulate it properly.





Below the belt: why boxing needs a national board - The Drum Opinion (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Four muscle-bound men dressed in ancient Egyptian costumes carried what looked like a gilded throne down the aisle toward the boxing ring inside the Mandalay Bay Event Center. Standing on the gaudy contraption and wearing faux Roman garb, complete with breastplate, was Floyd Mayweather Jr. He had a red-plumed helmet tucked under his arm and an imperious look on his youthful face, seeming oblivious to the laughter and catcalls that accompanied his grand entrance. Nobody asked Carlos Baldomir what he thought of Mayweather's regal rigmarole. The beefy Argentinian was probably too busy anyway, trying to figure out how he was going to survive the coming ordeal with his dignity still relatively intact. Against all odds in their Nov. 2006 welterweight title bout, he managed just that. Floyd flitted his way to a virtual shutout in a fight that went exactly the way you figured it would. Afterward, an overwrought Mayweather broke into tears and informed the media that they might have just seen his final fight. They hadn't, of course, and in his very next bout Mayweather bested Oscar De La Hoya in the largest-grossing fight in boxing history.

We've come to accept Mayweather's ostentatious and sometimes obnoxious conduct as part of the package that also includes one of the finest fighters of our lifetime. We can't have one without the other, so it's not surprising that Floyd has blossomed into a full-fledged diva, a role that seems to come naturally to him and that has helped raise his public profile. People either like Mayweather or they don't, but practically everybody knows who he is.

Traditionally, the term diva was applied exclusively to female singers and was most famously associated with opera star Maria Callus. Over the years, however, the word has morphed into a two-syllable description of any woman who exhibits certain behavioral traits. Most women who achieve diva status wear it like a badge of honor, but for a male sportsman, being called a diva is generally considered an affront to his manhood. Even so, that sort of old-school thinking is gradually crumbling as supremely egotistical athletes proliferate at an alarming rate. They are, whether we like it or not, already the new normal.

True divas are bossy, spoiled, selfish and demanding. They talk down to the people who work for them, think too highly of themselves, belittle others, want to be treated like royalty because of their status and fame and money, must always have their way, and are overly dramatic. Sound familiar? Mayweather certainly checks many of the boxes: He surrounds himself with sycophants, talks down to sparring partners, belittles adversaries prior to fights, demands that opponents submit to drug screening not required by boxing commissions, and showers strip-club patrons with hundred-dollar bills in what seems a juvenile attempt to prove how rich and cool he is. And that's just for starters. Two of Mayweather's most egregious examples of diva behavior were buying his way out of making weight for his bout with Juan Manuel Marquez and whining about being unable to drink bottled water while serving jail time for a domestic-violence conviction. These are actions most fighters throughout history wouldn't dream of doing, but times have changed, and so has what is considered acceptable behavior for modern athletes.

Mayweather already has an heir apparent in Adrien Broner, a multitalented lightweight with a similar style and a personality to match. He talks the talk and has somehow galvanized fans by having his father brush his hair for him in the ring before and after fights. It's a simple but effective shtick that harkens back to professional wrestler Gorgeous George, one of Muhammad Ali's inspirations.

Actually, one might be tempted to blame Ali for the advent of boxer as diva, and while it's true he was guilty of some of the same questionable conduct as Mayweather, there was usually a playful undercurrent to Ali's antics. With Mayweather, you seldom get the impression he's joking. There's no denying that Ali set new standards for loquacious self-promotion, but he always maintained the common touch. Until he became physically unable, he frequently waded into crowds of admirers to shake hands, give hugs and do the Ali shuffle. A true diva doesn't hang with the plebes. From Gutenberg's printing press to the Internet, the forward march of communication technology has always brought changes to society. But nothing has altered the way we live and think as much as television, and the sports world is no exception. The launch of the ESPN network in 1979 had a profound effect on sports, some of which has resulted in unintended consequences. Perhaps the most significant was featuring the most spectacular highlights of the day on "SportsCenter." This gave athletes a new goal beyond winning and helped usher in a generation of self-absorbed, look-at-me showboats. To hell with Andy Warhol's 15 minutes of fame, if you're good enough you can be on "SportsCenter" on a regular basis. It is a mindset, when coupled with exorbitant salaries and extravagant lifestyles, that creates a fertile environment for diva-like behavior to flourish.

By and large, boxers were late to the party compared to athletes competing in mainstream sports such as baseball, football and basketball, many of whom enjoyed preferential treatment from an early age. Fighters, on the other hand, frequently come from disadvantaged backgrounds and have to overcome severe hardship just to have a fighting chance of succeeding. Most are unassuming, pragmatic and appreciative of whatever attention they can garner, but that outlook is under attack by an overripe field of self-absorbed blowhards.

"Prince" Naseem Hamed's over-the-top personality could be fun at times, but he was also guilty of the most distasteful diva behavior. Gavin Evans, the author of "Wicked: The Prince Naseem Phenomenon", recalled an unseemly episode that took place in the dressing room p