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Written by Michael Woods
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Tuesday, 05 March 2013 17:15
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 Bernard Hopkins looked like the most in-shape 48 year-old man on the planet at Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn on Tuesday, as he worked out ahead of his Saturday clash against IBF 175 pound champ Tavoris Cloud at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Typical Hopkins, he offered a filibuster-length take on his upcoming scrap, his legacy, his perceived value to the sponsors who showered mega-cheater Lance Armstrong with endorsements galore, and made us overfed keyboard tappers strongly consider updating our gym memberships. He told us that he comes into the bout injury free, so really, there should be no surprise when he lifts Cloud's belt and breaks his own record as the oldest man to win a world title. He hasn't fought for almost a year, since losing a MD to Chad Dawson, and time off did him justice, he said. He promised to "avoid Cloud's strengths and expose his weaknesses,"... Read more...
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Written by Thomas Hauser
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Tuesday, 05 March 2013 10:18
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 Boxrec.com is boxing’s indispensable website and the most heavily-trafficked boxing website in the world. Its main competition (such as it is) comes from Fight Fax, which is the only record-keeper whose reports are officially accepted by members of the Association of Boxing Commissions in the United States. Boxrec is free to users. Fight Fax is a pay-for-use service. Every state athletic commission in America is required by law to send bout results, suspensions, and federal ID numbers to Fight Fax (as are ABC associate members in Canada). Boxrec tries to get this information. Some commissions provide it to the site as a matter of course. Some send it upon request. A few commissions refuse to send the information to Boxrec even when asked. ABC president Tim Lueckenhoff says, “All our member commissions have been asked to submit results to both Boxrec and... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Monday, 04 March 2013 13:00
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 I am not the brightest bulb on the tree. But even I have picked up on a trend which calls for investigation: Adrien Broner, an HBO mainstay, showing up at and on Showtime events. The Cinci kid was present in the house at the Masonic Temple in Detroit, for the card put on by Floyd Mayweather, presented on Showtime, and topped by a K9 Bundrage-Ishe Smith main event. Then, the next week, Broner was ringside at another Showtime card, this one in Las Vegas and topped by a Richar Abril-Sharif Bogere scrap. So, is Broner making like Mayweather, jumping ship to Showtime? Because that's what the rumor mill is saying… What about it, trainer-mentor-father figure Mike Stafford? Is Adrien Broner following Floyd's footsteps to Showtime? "He's a fight fan, that's all, he happened to be in Vegas, went to the fight, that's all," Stafford told me. "He talked to Floyd... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Sunday, 03 March 2013 00:34
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 There were too many headlocks, too many clinches, and ref Russell Mora had to work way too hard for his check. No, this was no classic in the main event at the Joint at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas on Saturday night. But Richar Abril had his hand raised after 12 rounds of mauling and brawling against Sharif Bogere on Showtime, proving himself to be the better man in this ugly style of pugilism. The judges scored it 115-111, 116-110, 116-110. Golden Boy promoted. The WBA lightweight champion Abril (age 30; 134 1/2; from Cuba, living in Miami) entered at 17-2-1, while Bogere (age 24; from Uganda; 134 pounds; WBA No. 2 ) was 23-0 coming in. In the first, Abril landed a three punch combo. Abril went down from a shove. We wondered if Abril could maintain the distance he wanted or Bogere's quicker feet could get him inside. In the second, the shorter Bogere looked to rassle and... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Saturday, 02 March 2013 22:56
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 Gary Russell Jr., owner of maybe the fastest hands in the business, threw them at Viacheslav Gusev repeatedly in Showtime's TV opener Saturday night, which unfolded at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. He won by UD10, via scores of 100-89, times three, and proved that he is too talented to not be fighting the top guys in his division. After, Russell told Jim Gray that his left hand was hurting him around round four or five. He said he hasn't had hand problems the last three or four fights and doesn't think his hands are a perennial problem going forward. Who's next? He said he wants Juan Manuel Lopez. Please, he needs a stiffer test than he's been handed. Fight fans deserve it, and he deserves it, in my opinion. Not sure what or who the hold up is, but let's break down the barrier, and get Russell, a most talented athlete, in with someone who can push him. Gusev (20-2 entering; from Russia) had... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Friday, 01 March 2013 12:01
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 Thurman sent Quintana (right) into retirement. Could he convince Zaveck to do the same on March 9 in Brooklyn? (Hogan Photos) I was talking to a boxing manager the other day and he was telling me he doesn't care for the attitudes of many of the boxers today. When he hears a kid he's contemplating signing say, "Skills pay the bills," he said, he's inclined to put away the pen and paper. No, signing cuties who prize not getting hit more than inflicting punishment isn't on his to do list. That manager doesn't manage Keith Thurman, but Thurman, who fights March 9 at Barclays Center, is the sort of throwback attacker who he'd maybe like to have in his stable.* The 19-0 Clearwater, Florida resident, who has 18 knockouts to his credit, spoke to TSS about the March 9 bout, against ex champ Jan Zaveck, his rise to this place and why boxing has been good to him. "I'm psyched to fight... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Friday, 01 March 2013 09:27
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 LAS VEGAS (Feb. 28, 2013) - Golden Boy Promotions hosted the final press conference Thursday for the big fight card this Saturday, March 2 live on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) and SHOWTIME EXTREME® (8 p.m. ET/PT) from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in LasVegas. In the main event of a SHOWTIME BOXING - Special Edition, Cuba's Richar "El Tigre" Abril (17-3-1, 8 KO's), of Miami, Fla., will make the first defense of his WBA Lightweight World Championship when he meets unbeaten Ugandan Sharif "The Lion" Bogere (23-0, 15 KO's), of Las Vegas. The co-feature on SHOWTIME will feature undefeated, world-rated southpaw Gary Russell Jr. (23-0, 15 KO's), of Capitol Heights, Md., against Russia's Vyacheslav Gusev (20-2, 5 KO's) in a 10-round featherweight bout. Preceding the SHOWTIME telecast will be live preliminary fights on SHOWTIME EXTREME. Hard-hitting... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Thursday, 28 February 2013 16:32
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 I do believe I won a fan for life when I told George Foreman that I was pretty sure he'd be the junior partner in the booth when he, Larry Merchant and Tim Ryan call boxing action from Macau for HBO2 on April 6. Foreman, age 64, will reunite with old HBO partner Merchant, age 82, and ex CBS blow-by-blow caller Ryan, age 73. Filipino-born Brian Viloria defends his flyweight crowns against Juan Francisco Estrada and Puerto Rico's Rocky Martinez defends his junior lightweight belt against Diego Magdaleno on that card. Much of the focus will be on flyweight Zou Shiming, the two-time gold medallist from China who will make his pro debut. Merchant ended a 35 year run with HBO in December 2012. Foreman called fights with HBO from 1992-2005. So, I think you're the junior man on that crew, I told Foreman. He laughed. "I needed that," he said. "Can't wait to renew old arguments... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Wednesday, 27 February 2013 17:33
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 Dib, 50 Cent, Dibella and Gradovich pose in NYC Wednesday, ahead of the Friday Foxwoods/ESPN card. (Ed Diller) If you were expecting 50 Cent to walk into the Strand Hotel in midtown NYC packin' a 9 with a posse of menacing thugs in tow, talking eff-bomb laden menacing trash, you'd have been mistaken this afternoon. The Queens native is doing the boxing promotion thing, adding that to his resume, to go with rapper, and all-around enterpeneur who has set up nice revenue streams from his energy shot line, his headphones and who also made a killing on an early investment in a beverage company which was bought out by Coke. Will the boxing promotion foray be generating him more green or leave him in the red, and looking for another arena to conquer after a spell? That remains to be seen, but I've been impressed with how 50 has been soaking up knowledge of industry vets, rather than parachuting in with the belief that... Read more...
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Written by David A. Avila
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Tuesday, 26 February 2013 21:25
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 WEST HOLLYWOOD-Deep in the bosom of Hollywood where the media capital reigns and just two miles from where the Academy Awards took place, Top Rank held its media day for WBO welterweight titleholder Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley (picture above by Chris Farina-Top Rank) on Tuesday. Fortune’s Gym, located on Sunset Blvd., was abuzz with reporters, photographers, videographers and representatives from HBO like Tony Walker and Top Rank’s Lee Samuels and Ricardo Jimenez. It’s a long drive from Riverside to West Hollywood but still a few miles shorter than Indio, despite that desert community’s location in Riverside County. West Hollywood is 74 miles from my house and Indio is 80 miles. We quickly found parking after I took one of my patented short cuts. Long ago I worked for the Wall Street Journal and Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and West L.A. were my coverage... Read more...
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