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Written by Michael Woods
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Wednesday, 10 April 2013 14:05
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 Nonito Donaire admitted to me that people who are thinking he might be vulnerable at the hands of Guillermo Rigondeaux on Saturday night in New York City have a point. He's at a high point, ready to accept the Boxing Writers Association of America's Fighter of the Year award at the BWAA dinner on Thursday night in NYC, and he and the wife are expecting their first child in July. So he's got things on his mind, apart from ring matters, and he's done the ascent of a monumental mountain. His foe, though, has enjoyed amateur accolades, but desires to get that same acclaim as a professional. Nevertheless, Donaire (seen in above Chris Farina-Top Rank photo, with Rigo) told TSS at the Wednesday press conference held at Madison Square Garden to hype his Saturday clash, which will run on HBO (11... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Wednesday, 10 April 2013 08:19
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 Most fight fans are keen on seeing if Manny Pacquiao can bounce back from the KO loss to rival-for-the-ages Juan Manuel Marquez last December. But that fifth scrap between the Congressman and the Mexican counter-punching ace hinges on Marquez. He's either negotiating skillfully, and actually wants the tussle, while pretending to be uninterested, or is truly set on conquering other territory. I asked Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach if he thinks we'll see Pacquiao-Marquez 5, in September. "My gut instinct on what is next? I want it to be Marquez, Manny wants Marquez, but Marquez wants a lot, lot, lot of money," Roach (seen with Pacquiao in above Chris Farina-Top Rank photo, before the fourth bout) told me. "I think it's a little outrageous. It may not happen. We might have to... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Tuesday, 09 April 2013 14:48
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 On a Tuesday conference call to bang the drums for the Saturday clash between 2012 Boxing Writers Association of America Nonito Donaire and Cuban technician Guillermo Rigondeaux, Donaire (seen in above Chris Farina-Top Rank photo), a Filipino-born California resident who holds the WBO super bantamweight title, said that while he used to dismiss Rigo as a foe, he came around to the idea because the more he watched him, the more impressed he became. The bout, to unfold at Radio City Music Hall and on HBO, is being promoted by Brooklyner Bob Arum's Top Rank. HBO's presentation will begin at 11 PM ET. On the call, Arum said he was happy to be back in his native city. He put on a card in Macau last week, and was pleased to say that Radio City would be... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Tuesday, 09 April 2013 08:37
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 April 8, 2013, New York,NY --- 2012 Fighter of the Year and WBO World Jr. Featherweight champion Nonito "Filipino Flash" Donaire stretches during an intense training session in New York City Monday night to prepare for his upcoming world championship battle against undefeated WBA World Super Bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux , Saturday, April 13 at the historic Radio City Music Hall in New York City and televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing®. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Caribe Promotions, Tecate and Madison Square Garden, tickets priced at $300, $150, $75 and $35, are available for purchase at the Radio City Music Hall Box Office, Madison Square Garden Box Office, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com, ... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Monday, 08 April 2013 18:19
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 So sorry wives, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, and dogs that need to get their nightly walk...Golden Boy is starting up a Monday night boxing series, to run on a new Fox channel, called Fox Sports 1 (FS1), which launches on August 17. Golden Boy will provide content for the two-hour primetime show, to be called "Golden Boy Live," and set to kick off the last Monday in August. Golden Boy's day-to-day chief Richard Schaefer told TSS that he's been "working quite awhile on this, a little over a year ago we started providing Fox fights and they were pleased with the ratings." Golden Boy signed a deal in April 2012 to put together 44 live events in US and Mexico to run on FOX Deportes, and the FOX Sports Net affiliates, and Fox gained access to classic fights from their library. This move makes... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Monday, 08 April 2013 15:49
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 EIGHT-TIME AND FIVE DIVISION WORLD CHAMPION FLOYD "MONEY" MAYWEATHER MEDIA ROUNDTABLE QUOTES    Photo Credit: John Filo/SHOWTIME Atlanta (April 8) - Eight-Time and Five-Division World Champion Floyd "Money" Mayweather broke from... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Saturday, 06 April 2013 16:47
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 If you run a business, it makes much sense to offer your product where a ton of people reside. Yes, boxing in China, population 1.35 billion, makes sense if you're Top Rank, especially if you have a two-time Olympic gold medalist, in Zou Shiming, making his pro debut. "The fighting hero of all China," Michael Buffer bellowed to the fans at Cotai Arena from the Venetian in Macau, a region of China, on Saturday, of Shiming. The 31-year-old debuter won his maiden outing, against Eleazar Valenzuela, of Mexico, in a flyweight tussle. If you expected an "old China" style of fighting, you were surprised as Zou looked like he was having a ball while he had his way with the Mexican. He kept his hands low, danced, slid, smiled and grooved his way to a 40-36, 40-36, 40-36 victory. Yes, Zou moved a lot, smiled, looked loose and like... Read more...
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Written by Michael Woods
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Friday, 05 April 2013 21:29
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 "Hey Dan Goossen, it's Mike Woods, in Brooklyn, I'm calling because I know you promote the guy who a few people think might be the most talented fighter on the planet, and I'm wondering when he's going to fight again," I said to Dan Goossen on Friday afternoon. "I don't think I might, I know I do, Michael," said the promoter. "And we're just getting into that. Sometime late summer." Andre Ward had whipped up legit buzz in his last outing, taking apart Chad Dawson, making Chad look bad with some bad-ass attitude, some vicious intentions, and notching a TKO10 victory. Yes, count me among the folks who weren't that enthused with a January date with Kelly Pavlik, who I expected to get chopped up by the pugilist specialist. That bout didn't go down,... Read more...
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Written by The Sweet Science
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Friday, 05 April 2013 08:03
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 ZOU SHIMING: FISTS OF GOLD FRIDAY NOTEBOOK AND OFFICIAL WEIGHTS Tim Ryan, Larry Merchant and Big George Foreman Reunite to Call the Fights on HBO2 at 2 P.M. ET/PT MACAU (5 April 2013) – It is T-Minus one day and counting until world championship boxing premieres in Macau and the Shiming Dynasty begins! Olympic athletic hero ZOU SHIMING (pictured above, with foe Valenzuela, in Chris Farina-Top Rank photo) will make his professional debut headlining Zou Shiming: “Fists of Gold” – an eight-bout card featuring two world championship rumbles. Shiming, the two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and three-time World Amateur Champion hailing from the Peoples Republic of China and trained by Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, will dive into the professional waters against Eleazar Valenzuela (2-1-2, 1 KO) of... Read more...
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Written by David A. Avila
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Thursday, 04 April 2013 21:00
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 SANTA MONICA-Ocean breezes don’t quite make it to the gym where Saul “Canelo” Alvarez trains, but take my word for it, the training facility is less than two miles from the Santa Monica Pier. Instead of seawater you can smell asphalt from a nearby construction crew. Maybe it’s appropriate that burning asphalt permeates the air rather than scent of sea water on Thursday morning. This is boxing, not volleyball. Alvarez (pictured above in Gene Blevins-Showtime photo) arrived before a dog hungry crowd of media anxiously awaiting the red-head’s appearance at the Wild Card West. Alongside Canelo was Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya. It was a good tactic: divide and conquer. On one side of the gym was Canelo, entertaining an invasion of cameras and the television interviewers bumping their way to the front. About 10 yards to... Read more...
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