Abraham vs. Stieglitz 4 on 7/18 in Germany

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Arthur Abraham (42-4, 28 KOs) is set to reignite his feud with super middleweight rival Robert Stieglitz (47-4-1, 27 KOs) on July 18 at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany. The boxers meet for a fourth time, with the WBO crown on the line, following a memorable trilogy of world championship fights.

‘’The battle for super middleweight supremacy continues,’’ said promoter Kalle Sauerland. ‘’I’m hard pressed to think of any other trilogy in modern boxing history that has provided such a high level of drama. For that reason, we go again. On July 18, for an unprecedented fourth time, Arthur and Robert will contest the WBO super middleweight title.’’

Abraham and Stieglitz first met in August 2012, where a points decision earned Abraham the WBO strap. In a March 2013 rematch, Stieglitz got his revenge with a fourth-round technical knockout victory. The belt once again changed hands in March 2014 with Abraham flooring Stieglitz on his way to a split decision win. The stage is now set for a fourth battle between ‘King Arthur’ and his mandatory challenger Stieglitz at Germany’s famous Gerry Weber Stadium.

For the defending champion Abraham, July 18 offers him the opportunity to write the final chapter in his rivalry with Stieglitz. ‘’Robert is mandatory challenger, so of course he deserves his shot,’’ said Abraham. ‘’I’ve enjoyed our rivalry, but like all good things, this must come to an end. The Gerry Weber Stadium will provide the perfect venue for me to finish our feud. I had Robert down in the twelfth-round of our last encounter, but this time he will hit the canvas a lot sooner!’’

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2015/05/abraham-vs-stieglitz-4-on-718-in-germany/

Credit: Photos by David Spagnolo/Main Events –

WBO, WBA and IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev and IBF mandatory challenger Nadjib “Iron Jib” Mohammedi, along with their camps, addressed the media Saturday at a press conference in Los Angeles to formally announce their world title clash on July 25 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Sergey Kovalev: “Hello everybody. Thank you for comes here. What I can say? I already said enough for my side. I am sure it is going to be very interesting fight. Why? Because Nadjib has very good and big motivation to be champion and my desire is to get my four titles. I think that will happen this year, that I fight a unified fight. Fight against Nadjib is for me next step. I am not going to say that I will, I will and I will, is words of trash talkers. I am going to show what I can in the ring.

“Everyone welcome to Vegas July 25 to Mandalay Bay and have a nice time. Thank you very much for your attention, for my promoter, Kathy Duva, and manager [Egis Klimas] that they turn their attention to me, sign me and now my career is in their hands. I like it. Everything I have right now is good.

“Also I am very happy that my fight is on HBO. I am happy and I am going to be best in my division. I am not finished of my collection of all of my belts. I shoot and I must to get one more, WBC title. Just give me opportunity to fight against WBC Champion. I don’t care whether it be Adonis Stevenson or another guy. I don’t care. Right now I am not even thinking about this because my next fight will be big fight and not an easy fight against Nadjib Mohammedi. I think so enough to say. Thank you very much again.”

Nadjib Mohammedi: “For me is big opportunity. My first time in USA just one years now. I respect Sergey Kovalev now is champion of light heavyweight but I don’t come here for joke or for play or for game. I want be world champion. I work with Abel Sanchez in Big Bear for this. I am not stupid. I know what you think about me. I am not naïve. This fight is very, very difficult for me but I say it is very difficult for Sergey. It is not difficult just for me because I am very smarter, I am faster.

“On 25 of July I am ready with my team, I am ready for this fight. I am ready for Sergey. I am the new generation of light heavyweight because I don’t want the same fight of another opponent. Thank you very much to Kathy Duva, my promoter. Thank you very much my team. Thank you very much my co-managers, Vince Caruso and Jon Ali. Thank you, Abel Sanchez. I will see you 25 of July for the big fight. I promise you this is a big, big fight. Thank you very much.”

Main Events Promoter Kathy Duva: “Less than two years ago Sergey Kovalev was a struggling fighter trying to make a name for himself. Since then he has fought on HBO six times. He is about to go into his seventh fight on HBO. He has become, not just the light heavyweight champion of the world, but he has unified three of the light heavyweight titles. Last year he was named the fighter of the year by Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, The New York Post, USA Today, SherDog and UCN Live. Some of you are here today and thank you so much. It I a hell of an accomplishment to be the Fighter of the Year, you can’t do that every year, no matter who you are. To go from being completely unknown to being the man in the light heavyweight division in less than two years is a remarkable accomplishment.

“I don’t think any of us would be here without the support of the fine people at HBO. Today I get to proudly announce that Sergey Kovalev gets to remain with HBO, the company that has taken him this far. It is his intention and our intention to remain with HBO for the rest of his career, if that is possible. This is the company that has led boxing for the last 30 odd years in this country. It is unquestionably the #1 boxing network in the world. It is the place to be if you want to have a high-profile career in this sport and maintain it for a long time.

“About a year ago Nadjib Mohammedi came to the United States for the first time. He earned his shot at a title by becoming the #1 contender. He has worked hard over the last year to maintain that position and prepare himself for the opportunity to fight for the world title. Now he gets the privilege of fighting for all three of those belts.

“Now that Sergey has moved to the west coast and has made a home for himself and his family here in Los Angeles we are moving his home base. I had a lovely meeting with Richard Sturm at MGM a few weeks ago and he confirmed to me that MGM Grand and Mandalay Bay want to be in the Sergey Kovalev business. As I see a vacuum opening up in Vegas for big names I think Sergey Kovalev is the kind of guy who can step in there and fill that vacuum. His fights are electrifying and exciting and thrilling. That is what boxing fans should expect when they put their money down to come and see a fight.

“Main Events has a great history with Mandalay Bay which is one of the best facilities in the country, in the world. On a personal note it is great to be going back there. We brought Fernando Vargas there years ago and had some great, great nights there and some great, great memories there. We are going to make some new ones now. It is a new beginning. It is a new beginning with HBO. It is a new beginning with Mandalay Bay. Yet it all feels very familiar because this was the same team that was making Fernando one of the biggest box office attractions in the country.

“Peter Nelson from HBO is not here because of your famous LA traffic but if he were here he would tell you that the event will start at 10:00 PM on July 25 on HBO. There will be a co-feature and we are still working on what that is going to be and we will announce that when we know. The tickets will be going on sale next week and will be priced very affordably for the fans from $25 up to $300. We want to fill up the room. We want to encourage the true boxing fans. Something that I noticed when I went to the big fight a few weeks ago at MGM that the crowd was missing the true fight fans but I want to see those people come out for this fight. Those fans will be very pleased. I have had the great pleasure to be ringside a number of times for Sergey’s fights and it is thrilling.

“This will be a 12-round fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Championships. It is an IBF mandatory bout. Sergey is 27-0-1 with 24 knockouts from Russia and Nadjib is 37-3, with 23 knockouts from France.

“To Vince’s point, that is one of the things that is great about boxing, everybody has a story. Everybody has been through adversity. If not for miracles I think everyone standing on this dais, myself included, would not be standing here right now. I think that is part of what keeps this sport alive and is what makes it so compelling is the stories behind everybody. The truth is Nadjib came here last June as an opponent basically. He came here and won a fight he wasn’t expected to win; he earned his place and has worked for a long time with Abel Sanchez. He has taken advantage of this time to work with a great trainer in Abel Sanchez and believe me we are very well aware of it. With an awkward style and a great trainer, his great heart and drive that this is not going to be an easy night for anybody.

“Having said that, Sergey Kovalev is something very special, we all know that. To me he is exactly what boxing is supposed to be, somebody who goes out there and gives their all gives 1,000% every time. He keeps the crowd entertained. He keeps the fight exciting. He makes it fun to be there. That is why we tend to focus on him and his future. We don’t mean it as an insult to anybody. That is what we have, it is called a star.”

Kovalev Manager Egis Klimas: “Good afternoon everybody. Thanks for coming for this press conference in the beautiful city of Los Angeles. Thank you Kathy [Duva]. She is doing a very good job. When I brought Sergey to Kathy a couple of years ago at that point nobody knew him. Some people knew Kovalev in boxing but not much and not like he is known today.

“Vince [Caruso] was talking about how we have not seen bad days in Sergey’s career but I would say it is completely the opposite. I brought Sergey in 2009 from Russia I put him in Don Turner training camp in North Carolina which is in the middle of nowhere. The closest store is about five miles away. All around there are corn fields, bugs, bears, snakes and he stayed where Don had built his boxing gym. At that time I had many fighters going to that camp and besides Sergey and Gradovich I would say the longest somebody was there was like three months before they would call me and tell me they were done. They would go to New York or Chicago and today they are nobody and I have not even heard about them. Some are taxi drivers now but this gentleman stayed there and didn’t complain a single word for a year and a half.

“I used to go to Don’s camp, me and Don would jump in a van and drive around the country just to get the fights. I saw big talent and Don Turner saw big talent in him but I could not convince any of the promoters. I talked to Top Rank. I talked to Golden Boy. I talked to Lou DiBella. I talked to everybody about giving him a chance until one day Don Turner introduced me to Kathy see said she would try and see what is going to happen.

“The biggest fight that we had in our career was Darnell Boone. Sergey wasn’t ready for it so it went all eight rounds and was not a good fight. Main Events asked me how I felt about fighting Darnell Boone again. I thought Sergey was no going to like that. I called Sergey and I told him, he said he it was great and he wanted to do that. He said, ‘I want to see how I improved from almost two years past. That’s a fight I want.’ That was when I realized I really had a good fighter here with a good heart. Of course the second time he did a great job with Darnell Boone. It was two rounds. He was a completely different guy. He was on TV. He was on the big stage. He has had hard times.

“I want to thank HBO for giving us this very good opportunity for the rest of his career. I wanted to thank again Kathy and Mandalay Bay for having us there. Don’t miss fight on July 25.”

Mohammedi Co-Manager Vince Caruso: “There is not much to say when you fight the #1 guy. Whether I like him or not Sergey Kovalev is the #1 guy in boxing today, especially after what we saw two weeks ago I would say he is undoubtedly #1. He is the top tier. He is a very bad dude and we are going in there with that in mind.

“I am not going to get up here and say that Nadjib is going to come in there and do this or we are guaranteeing a win. You can’t guarantee anything in this business. The only thing I can guarantee you is that on the 25th of July Nadjib Mohammedi is going to make the 175 pound contracted weight limit, that will be a guarantee. #2 he is going to come in there with a game plan that if he does execute and he does listen to Abel Sanchez, his trainer, he has a very good shot at winning this fight. Because even though Sergey might be stronger, and he might be bigger, and he might have been on the big stage a lot more than Nadjib has, there is one thing that I believe we have the edge in, and that is desire.

“When you have been held down your whole life, your whole career, a career that started in 2005, and you have to fight in rooms that are smaller than this, with no TV coverage, no press, that is hard times. I don’t think Sergey Kovalev goes through hard times. Nadjib Mohammedi has gone through hard times. He came to Big Bear before his fight on the Hopkins-Kovalev undercard back in November. His trainer that he has been with for 14 years got detained at the airport and could not get in for that fight. So me and his co-manager, Jon Ali, had to figure out who was going to work the corner. Sullivan Barrera, our friend who is also here today, was on that card already and he was working with Abel Sanchez. I have always said after I watched Nadjib on June 21st of last year, that he is the perfect style fighter for Abel Sanchez’s training methods. He fights that Mexican style. He is a straight-ahead blood and guts fighter. There is nothing really special about him. His strength is his heart. Show me a guy with heart who is sick and tired of being broke and sick and tired of getting the short end of the deal and I am going to show you a winner. Nothing ever lifts adrenaline more than the desire to change your life. That is what we need to look at going in against this guy because he is a killer. He is #1, the big cheese. That is what we want. We want high risk because we want high reward.

“With all due respect to Kathy, she talks about all these great future plans she has with Kovalev but I would have waited until this Mohammedi fight was in the books before you made any long term plans. I know nobody gives us a chance and he is probably a 15-1 underdog. We are the dog but everybody on this team has overcome something. This guy has overcome the temptations of the mafia-ridden streets of France. He went into the food business and took care of his mother and his brothers and his sister. He worked hard. He wanted to become a professional fighter. He is here. Jon Ali, my co-manager, is a professional singer. He is a great pop singer and that is why he is not here today. 11 years ago I was a junkie and I was in a Las Vegas rehab. I never thought I would be on the big stage again but I am. This team has a lot of desire. We are going to win this fight and we are going to win it with heart.”

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/kovalev-mohammedi-kickoff-press-conference-291330

By Lou McLaughlin at ringside / Credit: Photos by Mikey Williams / Top Rank –

WBO #10 jr middleweight Michel Soro (26-1-1, 16 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO over hometown favorite WBO #2, IBF #5 jr middleweight Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia (23-2, 15 KOs) on Friday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. After three good rounds, Soro rocked Tapia with a barrage of punches in round four and referee David Fields waved it off at 2:10. Soro claimed the NABO and USBA junior middleweight titles.

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/tapia-soro-early-results-from-newark-nj-289976/nggallery/page/2

WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (42-4, 28 KOs) is set to reignite his feud with rival and mandatory challenger Robert Stieglitz (47-4-1, 27 KOs) on July 18 at the Gerry Weber Stadium in Halle, Germany. Abraham and Stieglitz first met in August 2012, where a points decision earned Abraham the WBO strap. In a March 2013 rematch, Stieglitz got his revenge with a fourth-round technical knockout victory. The belt once again changed hands in March 2014 with Abraham flooring Stieglitz on his way to a split decision win. The stage is now set for a fourth battle between ‘King Arthur’ and Stieglitz.

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/abraham-stieglitz-iv-confirmed-for-july-18-290671

Pacquiao won his first major title in 1998, defeating Thailand’s Chatchai Sasakul to capture the World Boxing Council (WBC) flyweight title. Pacquiao then moved up in weight class.

He won his first fight in the United States in 2001, where he scored a sixth-round knockout of Lehlo Ledwaba to win the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior featherweight title.

Pacquiao didn’t stop here. He followed his wins to clinch the Ring magazine featherweight champion title in November 2003 knocking out Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera.

Pacquiao then continued his winning streak, lifting the World Boxing Association (WBA) and IBF featherweight titles, the WBC and The Ring’s junior lightweight titles, and the WBC lightweight title.

If there was someone who was in full support of him in his successful journey, it was American trainer Freddie Roach, who transformed Pacquiao into a multifaceted boxer without detracting from his natural aggression or punching power.

Pacquiao, under the guidance of Roach, was the Boxing Writers Association of America and The Ring’s Fighter of the Year in 2006 and 2008.

In December 2008 Pacquiao beat American boxing star Oscar De La Hoya in a celebrated non-title welterweight bout in Las Vegas.

With the series of wins in 2008, Pacquiao had become a complete fighter. His excellent footwork, blazing speed, and a vastly improved defence made him one of the world’s finest boxer.

Though Pacquiao’s popularity as a pay-per-view (PPV) boxing attraction was already increased since 2002, the win against De La Hoya changed the boxer’s life completely. The fight was sold for approximately 1.25 million.

Who can forget his one-punch second-round knockout of England’s Ricky Hatton in 2009 that crowned him as The Ring’s junior welterweight champion (his sixth weight class as a champion and his ninth as a professional boxer).

In November 2009, he continued his spectacular show when he defeated Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico in 12 rounds to take the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title.

Pacquiao defended the title on in 2010, defeating Joshua Clottey of Ghana in 12 rounds. But his 15-bout winning streak came to an end in June 2012 when he lost his WBO welterweight title to Timothy Bradley in a controversial split decision.

Now, Pacquiao’s next major bout is scheduled to be against the undefeated Floyd Mayweather on May 1, 2015, i.e., a few hours from now, which is billed as the ‘Fight of the Century’.

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/manny-pacquiao-profile-the-pac-man-packs-a-punch/543097-5-23.html

|Freddie Roach|Manny Pacquiao|WBO

Credit: Photos by: Naoki Fukuda –

Raymundo Beltran (initially weighs in at 136 pounds, weighs in an hour later at 135.4. He is therefore ineligible to win the vacant WBO title) vs. Takahiro Ao (134.8)

Mikael Zewski (146.8) vs. Konstantin Ponomarev (146.6)

Jessie Magdaleno (123.8) vs. Raul Hirales (126)

Egor Mekhontsev (174.5) vs. Hakim Zoulikha (174)

http://ringtv.craveonline.com/news/388263-photo-gallery-raymundo-beltran-takahiro-ao-weigh-in?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=photo-gallery-raymundo-beltran-takahiro-ao-weigh-in#/slide/1

|Raymundo Beltran|Takahiro Ao|WBO

“I’m in agreement with the ABC’s request to the US Attorney General to investigate Haymon,” said WBO president Paco Valcarcel on Thursday via Twitter. “The time is right to investigate him and all of us! The World Boxing Organization is willing to cooperate with any investigation of the US Attorney General for the betterment of the sport of boxing. As discussed in our WBO Convention in October, Ali Act should define the “advisor” figure and penalties increased to 5 years in prison/250k.”

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/wbo-backs-investigation-of-haymon-288918

Credit: Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

Ray Beltran from Los Mochis, Mexico winds down training camp as he prepares to take on Takahiro Ao from Chiba, Japan in the main event, a 12-round bout for the vacant WBO Lightweight World Championship , Friday, May 1st. truTV and Top Rank will partner to exclusively televise a live Friday night primetime boxing series beginning Friday, May 1, at 10 p.m. ET. The new boxing series, in association with Turner Sports and HBO Sports, will launch on the eve of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view fight with a card featuring two title bouts inside The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/beltran-poised-for-title-shot-288835

Photos: Mildred Estrada/Office of Representative Angel Rodriguez –

Roman “Rocky” Martinez got this morning his new World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight belt, who won by defeating Orlando “Siri” Salido at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot recently.

Martinez (29-2-2, 17 KOs) received his new title from the WBO president, Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel in an activity that took place at the Capitol of Puerto Rico through the Representative Angel “Gary” Rodriguez.

“I am very grateful with PR Best Boxing Promotions and the WBO for this opportunity. I did the work and I won the title for the third time,” Martinez said. ” Thanks also to the Representative (Rodríguez) for this recognition here in the House of Representatives.”

Martínez became 130-pound WBO monarch for the time after he won an unanimous decision over Salido (42-13-2, 29 KOs) in an exciting bout last April 11. The boxer was previously crowned as WBO junior lightweight champion when he beat British Nicky Cook by TKO on March 14, 2009, and then on September 15, 2012, by winning a split decision over Miguel Beltran Jr.
Also in the activity were Martinez’s family, his trainer Raul Torres, Peter and Ivan Rivera of PR Best Boxing Promotions (PRBBP), and from the WBO, Adolfo Flores Monge and Jose Izquierdo.

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/rocky-martinez-gets-his-new-wbo-belt-288550/nggallery/page/2

Terence Crawford knocks Thomas Dulorme down in the sixth round.

Terence Crawford landed a stunning right that Thomas Dulorme never really saw.

Soon after that, Crawford was a two-time WBO champion, winning the latest title in his first fight since moving up in class.

Crawford won the vacant WBO junior welterweight title with a sixth-round technical knockout Saturday night, knocking down Dulorme three times in quick fashion after that big blow.

“I knew I hurt him, I felt it,” Crawford said. “I knew he was hurt real bad. I wanted to just jump on him. … He was woozy.”

With Dulorme stunned, Crawford hit him again and knocked him down for the first time. Then Crawford delivered a flurry of punches, leading to another knockdown. When Dulorme got back up, Crawford unloaded again — and the fight was stopped as Dulorme staggered against the ropes near his corner.

“Basically a shot that I didn’t see, and the shot got me,” Dulorme said through an interpreter.

Crawford remained undefeated, winning as a heavy favorite in his first fight moving in the 140-pound class. He won the WBO lightweight title 13 months ago and defended in the 135-pound division twice in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

The scheduled 12-round fight in North Texas came a week before Crawford, now 26-0 with 18 knockouts, is scheduled to be in New York to accept his 2014 fighter of the year award from the Boxing Writers Association of America.

After the fight ended, promoter Bob Arum shouted “That’s why he’s the fighter of the year!”

Dulorme, the 27-year-old Puerto Rican, is 22-2. He had won his last six bouts since moving down in class after being knocked out by Luis Carlos Abregu at 147 pounds in a welterweight fight in October 2012.

“It was a great opportunity for us,” Dulorme said. “It wasn’t the best night. We were winning in the cards, it’s something that basically happened. … We did the fight that we came here to do.”

Crawford seemed measured in his approach the first two rounds against the quick-starting Dulorme, who entered the ring wearing a gladiator helmet and breastplate. Dulorme was clearly the aggressor early against Crawford, who went with a red Nebraska Cornhuskers cap for his entry.

But in round 3, there was a quick exchange of punches, and later a hard body blow by Crawford.

There were times in the fourth and fifth rounds when Crawford either smiled or shook his head after taking blows from Dulorme. Crawford taunted him, and at the end of the fourth had him back into a corner and delivered two big rights.

Crawford was also smiling at the end of the fifth round, then came out in the sixth and ended the fight.

“Just having fun with it,” he said. “When I’m having fun, I don’t think nobody can beat me because that means I’m in my rhythm.”

Crawford’s trainer, Brian McIntyre, said the first couple of rounds were just a matter of Crawford getting his timing down. McIntyre said they knew the punching Dulorme would wear out, though he lasted longer than they expected.

Arum this week called Crawford a new superstar on the horizon, and said this fight a “very, very crucial first step” for Crawford to join the truly elite group of fighters.

Arum was at the bout halfway between Dallas and Fort Worth that came only two weeks before the long-awaited fight in Las Vegas between another of his boxers, Manny Pacquiao, and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

In an earlier eight-round lightweight matchup of previously unbeaten fighters, Ismail Muwendo from Minneapolis improved to 17-0 with a majority decision over Rolando Chinea from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. One judge had the fight as a draw, while the others had it in favor of Muwendo. Chinea dropped to 10-1-1.

Benjamin “The Blaxican” Whitaker from San Antonio improved to 9-1 as a pro with a unanimous decision over Skender Halili, a boxer from nearby Fort Worth whose had won each of his previous eight professional fights by knockout.

Michigan’s Anthony Barnes won a unanimous decision over Fort Worth’s Martinez Porter in a six-round super middleweight bout.

http://www.foxsports.com/boxing/story/terence-crawford-beats-thomas-dulorme-to-win-wbo-junior-welterweight-title-041815

By Glenn Erby – Terence “Bud” Crawford (26-0 18 KO’s) last night became a two weight world champion and a rising star — when he overcame Thomas Dulorme (22-2 14 KO’s) to win the vacant WBO Light Welterweight title at the University of Texas, Arlington.

Crawford — the man Bob Arum refers to as the next big thing in boxing — won the vacant WBO junior welterweight title with a sixth-round technical knockout Saturday night, knocking down Dulorme three times in quick fashion after a slow start.

“I knew I hurt him, I felt it,” Crawford said. “I knew he was hurt real bad. I wanted to just jump on him. … He was woozy.”

Crawford remained undefeated — in his first fight moving in the 140-pound class. He won the WBO lightweight title 13 months ago and defended in the 135-pound division twice in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

Crawford is scheduled to be in New York to accept his 2014 fighter of the year award from the Boxing Writers Association of America this coming week.

Crawford came out slow — feeling out Dulorme — who entered the ring wearing a gladiator helmet and breastplate.

The action sped up a bit in third round — with Crawford grwoing in confidence because Dulorme could never hurt him. By rounds four and five — Crawford taunted him, and at the end of the fourth had him back into a corner and delivered two big rights.

“Just having fun with it,” he said. “When I’m having fun, I don’t think nobody can beat me because that means I’m in my rhythm.”

Arum this week called Crawford a new superstar on the horizon, and said this fight was a “very, very crucial first step” towards becoming an elite fighter.

http://blacksportsonline.com/home/2015/04/terence-crawford-continues-his-rise-to-stardom-with-tko-of-dulorme/

By Jeff Zimmerman –
Credit: Photos by Mikey Williams / Top Rank –

Undefeated World Boxing Organization (WBO) lightweight champion and the Boxing Writers Association of America’s (BWAA) Fighter of the Year Terence “Bud” Crawford (25-0, 17 KOs), from Omaha, NE, hosted a workout and spoke to the media today at the Irving PAL Boxing Gym in his final days of training for his WBO junior welterweight world title rumble against Puerto Rican buzz saw Thomas “Thunder” Dulorme (22-1, 14 KOs), the #2 world-rated contender.

The Crawford-Dulorme world title fight will take place this Saturday at College Park Center, located on the campus of the University of Texas Arlington in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The world championship fight will be televised as part of a split site doubleheader live on HBO Boxing After Dark, beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.

Crawford spoke to Fightnews and other media prior to his workout at the Irving PAL Boxing Gym.

On the recent HBO broadcast – 2 Days: Terence Crawford – where it showed how grueling it was to make weight, how has it been for this fight?

This is a piece of a cake, a walk in the park – as you can see I don’t have any problems doing anything.

What are your thoughts on guys that don’t make weight, such as Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin this past weekend against Andy Lee?

I just think it’s unprofessional. You know, I just feel like if you know deep down in your heart that you can’t make the weight, then don’t fight at that weight.

Do you think the belts don’t matter as much anymore?

I don’t think so, because you can get walked into a title and fight somebody that is not even worthy enough to fight for the title instead of fighting a champion. Like there are so many titles out here, who knows who the champion is. You got the interim, you got the champion, you got the super champion. You know I’m just into one champion. If you got the WBO Belt, you’re the champ. If you’re the WBA you’re the champ, not the WBA Interim Champion, not the WBA Super Champion, IBF this or IBF that. I just feel like it’s uncalled for to have so many belts out there.

So the belt does matter to you still?

It does. The belts always going to matter, but I just feel like there are a lot of belts out there. You know, anybody can be a champion if you have a good record, a good promotional team behind him, and a good manager behind him.

With the chance to become 2 division weight champ – what’s that mean for you to win multiple titles at this stage of your career since you are still on the rise?

It means a lot. There is no telling where I am going to end up in my career. You know I feel like it is all beginning and it starts Saturday. I got to get the job done.

With all the 140-pounders fighting lately and it being a stacked division, do you feel like you have to make a statement in this fight.

Well every time I step foot in the ring I like to make a statement – that’s nothing new. I like to put on a good show and great performance every time I step foot in the ring that way I leave something with the fans every single time.

Did you add anything new in training?

Not really. You know we got little secrets but you know we are going to show that Saturday.

What do you expect from Dulorme Saturday?

Well I expect him to come hard and try and knock me out, boxing whatever he wants to do, but I am going to be prepared for whatever – so that’s what training is for – to be prepared for whatever you don’t just prepare for one thing. He (Dulorme) likes to throw a looping right hand, a straight right hand, more than just one punch. We are going to have to capitalize on a lot of mistakes that he makes in there too.

How does it feel to be fighting in Omaha recently and now back on the road in Dallas?

It feels normal. It feels normal. At the end of the day, we are still going to have to get in that square, no matter if we are in Omaha or Dallas.

How was the atmosphere in your last fight in Dallas?

It was a great atmosphere. I like it, the support that I got from the fans here and the fans that came from Omaha coming to support me – it was great.

What are the challenges that Dulorme poses since he is a bigger, tougher guy?

See a lot of people think he’s bigger and tougher until you get in the ring you don’t know that.

You might see a fighter on video but may be different in the ring?

That’s correct. You might think one thing but when you get in the ring you might see something else. So I don’t prepare for what I have seen in his last fight, I prepare for me. I worry about myself, what I am going to do when I get in there, that way I don’t get any surprises.

Do you feel stronger at 140?

Of course.

In what way?

In every way – you know – come Saturday you’re going to see.

What are the differences from fighting a lightweight to fighting at 140?

There’s really no difference. You are just fighting a stronger lightweight. Beltran was a strong lightweight. I don’t know how strong Dulorme is. I have never been in the ring with him, but Saturday we will all see how strong he is.

In years past, a fighter of your caliber would have all the attention in boxing, but with Mayweather vs Pacquiao out there and you are also fighting on a HBO Doubleheader, do you feel like you’re getting lost in the shuffle with all the skill you bring to the table?

Not really. I feel like everybody is still excited about the fight, they still take notice, but you know Mayweather and Pacquiao, come on (laughing). No fight out there is going to get even close to comparing to that fight. That’s the fight that people have been wanting to see for many, many years, you know now that it’s here; it is going to take the big chunk of any fight that’s put together.

What about the chance of fighting Pacquiao down the road after getting through this fight?

That has never been run across me.

Would you like to fight him at some point?

If that’s the fight my manager, promoter, everybody agree upon so be it.

What do you think about the new PBC series on regular TV?

I think it’s good for boxing. You know you have the people that can’t afford cable to watch great, championship boxing on regular TV and that causes boxing to get bigger, more people to tune into it. You know, you see the UFC on Spike TV and that’s huge and I feel like it’s great for boxing that it’s back on regular TV.

Did you watch the Garcia vs Peterson fight? What were your thoughts?

Yes, I thought it was kind of iffy, because I felt some of the early rounds they could have gave to Peterson and Peterson took the later rounds so in my eyes I would have gave Peterson the edge, but in a way I would have gave Garcia the edge. It was kind of hard to say who really won because I am not a judge.

How about fighting Garcia or Peterson one day?

If that fight presents itself, so be it. I am up to fighting anybody as you can see; I never turn down any fight. If my manager comes to me to say this is the fight that we are going to fight, that’s fight we are going to fight.

At 140, not 143 (like the catch weight for Garcia vs Peterson)?

At 140!

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/interview-terence-crawford-286664

Photos: Ivan Ojeda/PRBBP –

In the latest Mexico vs. Puerto Rico showdown, Ramon Martinez (29-2-2, 17 KOs) won the WBO super featherweight championship for the third time with a twelve round unanimous decision over reigning titleholder Orlando “Siri” Salido (42-13-2, 29 KOs) on Saturday night at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico Jose Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was a war from the get-go. Salido was relentless the first two rounds, but got dropped by Martinez in round three and again in round five. The champion battled back hard, but was deducted a point for a low blow in round eleven. Salido closed strong, but it was too little too late. Scores were 114-111, 115-110, 116-109.

http://www.fightnews.com/Boxing/martinez-dethrones-salido-286091

By: Bryan Mazique –

Credit: Photos by Elsa/Getty Images /

If there was one word to use to describe the “Irish” Andy Lee (34-2-1) vs. Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (31-0-1) bout, it would have to be: indecisive.

The two middleweights battled to a split-decision draw at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday night, and it’s hard to argue with the judges’ decision. Boxing Channel has the official scorecards.

Lee came in as the WBO middleweight champion—a title Quillin held before vacating it—but Lee’s belt wasn’t on the line.

Quillin failed to make weight for the fight, per Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, thus making Saturday night’s scrap a non-title affair.

Early on, it looked as if Quillin was going to make quick work of Lee. Kid Chocolate dropped the champion with a hard right hand in the first round. Lee was hurt, but he survived though the waning seconds of the round, which saw him staggering in the corner.

Lee went down again in the third from a right hand, but that knockdown was as much caused by Quillin stepping on his foot as it was the punch that landed. Nevertheless, it was scored a knockdown. As it turns out, had Quillin not gotten that break, he would have lost the fight.

In the seventh, Lee put Quillin down for the first time in his career with a solid right hand on Kid Chocolate’s jaw. Quillin wasn’t badly hurt, but it was a legitimate knockdown. For whatever reason, Quillin‘s work rate slowed significantly after that and Lee became the aggressor.

Quillin did more posing than punching, and Lee used his inactivity as an opportunity to take control of the bout down the stretch. With a strong finish, Lee was able to erase Quillin‘s lead on two of the cards and earn the draw.

Quillin, on the other hand, should feel as though he gave this fight away. He was far too tentative most of the night. He respected Lee’s power to a fault. Lee had come in with huge one-punch knockouts in his last two bouts, and Quillin seemed to want no part of a firefight with the hard-punching Irishman.

Brian Custer of Showtime also thought Quillin squandered an opportunity.

“Quillin gave this fight away when he should’ve finished Lee when he had him hurt bad! Peter waits too long to counter.”

When asked about the decision, Lee seemed to think he deserved the decision, but Quillin sounded happy to escape per the quotes captured by Isaac Estrada of Real Boxing News:

“I thought it was a hard fight to score because he had the knock downs, but I outboxed.” Lee

“I’m not a judge. I can’t agree on something is not my job. The judges called it as they best saw it.” Quillin

A rematch certainly seems to be in order. The fight was entertaining, and many fight fans would probably be interested in seeing the two men settle things.

It would also give Quillin an opportunity to make weight, and thus try to regain the WBO title he never lost in the ring. There are certainly other 160-pounders pining for a shot at the WBO strap, but there’s unfinished business between Lee and Quillin. If not immediately, the two should fight again somewhere down the road.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2427944-andy-lee-vs-peter-quillin-winner-scorecard-and-reaction

Date: Saturday, March 28, 2015

WBO FLYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE BOUT

Location: Poliforum Zamna, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico

Promoter: Promociones Zanfer – Fernando Beltran / Max Boxing – Mario Jose Abraham Xacur

Supervisor: Rolando Marcos Hermoso

Referee: Jose H. Rivera

Judges: Roberto Ramirez, Sr. (PR), Joe Garcia (AZ), Raul Nieves (PR)

Results: Juan Francisco Estrada TKO’ed Rommel Asenjo in the third round at 0:43 minutes.

TV: Mexico Azteca; USA be IN Sports en Español

By Rene Bonsubre, Jr. –

MANILA – WBO junior flyweight champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes was presented the Ring magazine lineal world title belt by the publication’s correspondent Anson Wainwright during the final press conference for PINOY PRIDE 30: D-Day at the Solaire Resort and Casino.

The magazine known as the “Bible of Boxing” recognized Nietes as the world champion in the 108 lb division when he stopped Moises Fuentes of Mexico in nine rounds in their rematch at the Mall of Asia Arena last May 10,2014.

He has since defended his title again by seventh round TKO against another Mexican, Carlos Velarde in Cebu City. Nietes(34W-1L-4D,20KO’s) is due for another Mexican opponent Gilberto Parra (19-2,17KO’s), this Saturday at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The 32 year old Nietes also broke the 7 year 3 month barrier set by the great Flash Elorde at the start of 2105. In this span where he reigned at minimumweight from 2007 to 2010 before moving up to win a title at junior flyweight, Nietes has beaten ten Mexican opponents.

But his latest challenger Parra is unfazed. Despite the fact that he was not the first reported opponent for Nietes – it was another Mexican fighter, Luis Ceja – Parra stated that he has trained adequately for this title fight.

Nietes was also not bothered by the change in opponents. During the presscon he said that he has seen the tapes of Parra and has prepared for his power right hand. Nietes is confident that his opponent will fall.

Set to appear on this card is multi-division champ Nonito “The Filipino Flash’ Donaire (33-3,21KO’s), who will be going for the NABF super bantamweight title against Brazilian William Prado (22-4-1,15KO’s).

Nietes said that it is a big honor to be fighting in a card with a superstar like Donaire.

Also set to appear at the Big Dome this Saturday are “Prince’ Albert Pagara, who will defend his IBF Inter-continental 122lb division title against Mexican Rodolfo Hernandez, Ryo Akaho of Japan and Prosper Ankrah of Ghana for the WBO International bantamweight title, AJ ‘Bazooka’ Banal will be pitted against Junior Bahawa of Indonesia (8 rounds), Joepher Montano of Bacolod City vs Tyson Maher of Australia (4 rounds), Jeson Umbal vs Eric Panza (8 rounds) and Ralph Lulu vs Gerry Patenio (4 rounds).

http://philboxing.com/news/story-105737.html

Kovalev’s arm is lifted aloft by the fight referee after stoping Pascal in the eighth round

Russia’s Sergey Kovalev stopped Canada’s Jean Pascal early in the eighth round Saturday night to retain his three world light heavyweight titles.

The large Bell Centre crowd booed when referee Luis Pabon stopped the fight, with the dazed Pascal (29-3-1) against the ropes from a series of blows from Kovalev (27-0-1).

And the Canadian wasn’t happy with the stoppage, immediately calling for a rematch after the bout was stopped, insisting: ‘I was still in the fight.

Russian Kovalev retained his WBA, WBO and IBF titles during the bout in Montreal

Kovalev (right) lands a right to the head of Canadian Pascal during the light heavyweight bout

The Russian Kovalev (left) lands a left to Pascal’s body during the unified bout in Montreal

The fight was the first time that Pascal (right) had been stopped in his career

‘Kovalev looked to have won seven of the eight rounds in the scheduled 12-round bout.

‘How I started I didn’t like,’ said Kovalev. ‘But after the fourth round I got control of Jean and what you saw — I got him with a good right hand and he lost.’

Kovalev retained his WBA, WBO and IBF titles. Pascal, the former WBC champion from Montreal, was stopped for the first time in his career.

Kovalev (left) hands a head shot on Pascal with his right during the fight at the Bell Centre