Scott Shaffer
Stephen Edwards
Benny Henderson jr. Bert Sugar
Ray Campbell Darren Nichols
Christian Schmidt Socrates Palmer Doveed Linder Matthew Goldstein
Rob Soucy
Tommy Canez
Mike Walters
The Nonpareli Hilario
Michael Herron
Cara Castronuova
Alonzo Benezra Michael Gonzalez
Cory Rapacz
Wyatt Johnston
Ramon Rodriguez
Hector Linares
Dontae Williams
Alex Stone
Tim Schluter
Dan Rodkewich
Tiffany Leon
Jenny Nichols
Light heavyweight world champion Adonis "Superman" Stevenson (25-1, 21 KOs) returns to the ring Saturday, April 4th at Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City to defend his title against former super middleweight beltholder Sakio "The Scorpion" Bika (32-6-3, 21 KOs).
Stevenson (pictured) said, "I know Bika will stop at nothing, so the fight will be spectacular and extremely offensive-minded. I predict that Bika will lose by knockout for the first time in his career."
It's been a long time since I wrote to you, but with 2015 shaping up, boxing back on network television, the super fight finally happening, I had to write down some thoughts. First Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. All the true boxing fans know why one of the biggest reasons this fight is finally happening is because Floyd feels Pacquiao is not same animal as before. It's true Pac is not that same guy from 2009-11. His body has changed, he's thinking more, but this new version of Pac is still a tough out. There's no way I'm counting Mayweather out but Pac is all wrong for Floyd, but we'll see. I believe we will get a really good fight and it's because I recently watched the Floyd's fight against Demarcus Corley. People forget but Demarcus gave Floyd a way tougher fight than Zab Judah did.
Middleweight Jonathan Cepeda has now won five straight following his only career loss and a nearly two-year layoff. Last Sunday at The Mansion in Atlanta, Cepeda improved his career mark to 17-1 with 15 KOs by winning via first-round stoppage against Laatekwei Hammond (21-9 with 14 KOs). Cepeda knocked Hammond down three times in the first round, causing referee Brian Slutts to stop the fight at the 1:39 mark. Hammond had to be lifted up from the floor by the ref and his manager after Cepeda's assault by a Cepeda. Manager
Joe Kran stated, "Cepeda is a real smart fighter. Jonathan has learned how to maintain his very aggressive, crowd pleasing style, while being in complete control of his actions". Under Kran, Cepeda has had fve fights since August.
Cepeda commented after the fight that Hammond was, "knew that I had great power, but he was surprised by my speed. I was able to hit him from many different angles which he couldn’t defend." source:
Kovalev will defend the WBO, WBA and IBF light heavyweight championships against Jean Pascal. The fight will be televised as part of a live triple header on HBO World Championship Boxing on March 14, 2015 from the Bell Centre in Montreal. Here os what Kovalev had to say at an open workout held in Miami, Florida:
Press Release: Heavyweight Trey Lippe-Morrison faces his toughest opponent to date when he battles Richard Dawson (5-2-2) on Saturday, March 7th in the six-round main event at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, OK. Hailing from nearby Tulsa, OK , Lippe-Morrison’s 6-0 with all of his wins coming by knockout. Like his late father Tommy Morrison, Trey’s a big draw with strong punching power.
On March 14th, Nadjib "The Algerian Assassin" Mohammedi (36-3, 22 KOs) will face Lee Campbell (8-1, 4 KOs) on the undercard of the Sergei Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal fight in Montreal. When Nadjib defeated Anatoliy Dudchenko to become the IBF light heavyweight contender IBF, he thought his next opponent would be Bernard "The Alien" Hopkins as Hopkins' mandatory challenger. When Hopkins decided to face Sergey "Krusher" Kovalev in a unification fight for the WBO, WBA and IBF light heavyweight championships, Mohammedi was added to the Hopkins-Kovalev undercard.
But when Mohammedi arrived in New Jersey ahead of his fight with Demetrius Walker on November 8th, he found out that his trainer was unable to get to the United States.
Congratulations to lightweight contender Tony "Lightning" Luis (19-2, 7 KOs), whose fiance Manon Latulippe gave birth to their first child, a son named Miguel, on February 20th. Born at 6 lbs 14 oz, Luis says baby Miguel is healthy and beautiful. "I named him after Miguel Cotto, always loved the name for a boy," explained Luis. source: greg cohen promotions press release
Canadian promoter Groupe Yvon Michel Inc. (GYM) filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of Quebec for damages against David Lemieux, Eye of The Tiger Management, Camille Estephan, Golden Boy Promotions and Home Box Office (HBO). GYM claims that it has suffered damages of $1,350,000 as a result of "tortuous" conduct and bad faith actions by the defendants. [The proper legal term is tortious interference.] Lemieux is currently in line to fight Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam for the IBF middleweight title that was vacated in the wake of Jermain Taylor's legal woes].
This Saturday afternoon, February 28th, Carl Frampton (19-0, 13 KOs) will make the first defense of the IBF 122-pound title when he takes on mandatory challenger Chris Avalos (25-2, 19 KOs) in a bout that can be seen live in the United States on Awe network
at 3:00 PM ET / 12:00 PT.
The card will originate from the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland and is promoted by Cyclone Promotions.
Bill Waller, the COO of K-9 Boxing Global Promotions, e-mailed Boxingtalk the following message regarding the current IBF junior middleweight world title holder, Cornelius “K-9” Bundrage. “Each time IBF 2-time world champion K-9 Bundrage steps into the boxing ring to defend his title, he is making history as the oldest (41 yrs.) junior middleweight champion in boxing history. The second oldest is the current pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, who is only four years younger. Demetrius Andrade is the WBO junior middleweight champion and he is fifteen years younger than K-9.
PRESS RELEASE: Six unbeaten boxers, eight total with a combined record of 105-3-3, will highlight a ShoBox: The New Generation quadrupleheader on Showtime (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) on Friday, March 13th, from The Space at Westbury in Westbury, NY. Two of the fights will feature undefeated boxers against each other. In the main event, Antoine “Action” Douglas (16-0-1, 10 KOs) of Washington, D.C., will meet Thomas “Cornflake” LaManna (16-0, 7 KOs) of Millville, N.J., in a ten-round middleweight scrap. Adam Lopez (9-0, 4 KOs), of San Antonio, and Houston’s Pablo Cruz (11-0, 3 KOs) clash in an eight-round battle of Lone Star State super bantamweights in the opener of the telecast.
Swedish heavyweight Otto Wallin (9-0, 7 KOs) can claim his tenth professional victory when he takes on David Gegeshidze (14-7-1, 3 KOs) on March 14th at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Wallin enjoyed a successful 2014, recording five wins including four stoppages. On March 14th, the 24 year-old from Sundsvall returns for the first time in 2015.
Professional boxing manager A.J. Galante and former heavyweight contender Fernely Feliz have opened a new boxing gym, Champs Boxing Club & Fitness in Danbury, Connecticut. The grand opening will take place on Saturday February 28th. Feliz, who moved to Danbury as a child from the Dominican Republic, has the distinction of being Danbury, CT's first professional boxer. As a heavyweight, he compiled a record of 23-9 in a career that spanned 15 years.
It’s kind of surreal, isn’t it? Those of us who have been following the Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao headlines for the past five to six years figured there was no chance of this fight happening. But here we are in February 2015 and the fight is set for May 2nd. Of course, this is exciting news. Throughout all of the build up and let downs, Mayweather-Pacquiao has always been the biggest thing that could happen in boxing, so it’s important that it takes place. But for me, personally, and probably for a lot of other fans, it all seems kind of anticlimactic.
Undefeated heavyweight “Prince” Charles Martin will continue his busy schedule this Saturday night, Feb. 28th, against Brazilian slugger Raphael Zumbano Love in a scheduled ten-round battle at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. Martin
will be closing camp in Big Bear Lake, California in the coming days.
“This is going to
be a huge year for Charles if he keeps winning," said Martin's promoter, Michael King of King Sports. “He had five knockouts last year and scored a first round knockout on January 9th. We want him to stay busy, keep learning and keep winning. He’s only 28 so we want to move him in the appropriate manner and not just get a big fight but win the fight when the situation arises which we believe will be this year.”
German promoter Sauerland Event and British promoter Matchroom Boxing have agreed to a broadcast rights deal to share their big fight nights.
The deal for fight fans will see twelve world title fights in Germany broadcast live on Sky Sports and on the Matchroom Fight Pass, with Sauerland's Nordic (Denmark) Fight Night series also shown on the Fight Pass. Matchroom’s 20 shows on Sky Sports can be broadcast by the ProSiebenSat.1 media group in Germany on either SAT.1 television or its online platforms ran.de and maxdome.de. Juergen Brahmer’s WBA 175-pound regular title clash with Robin Krasniqi on March 21st in Rostock, Germany will be the first to be aired.
PRESS RELEASE: A sure-fire 'Fight of the Year' candidate will come early as former World Champions Lucas "La Maquina" Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov, two of boxing's hardest punchers, take the stage in a 12-round jr. welterweight showdown on Saturday, April 18 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY. Banner Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions in association with Arano Box Promotions announced today the clash of these two fearsome fighters will generate what is surely to be an all-action fight to remember and a treat all fight fans are excited for. The bout with be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark beginning at 9:45 p.m. ET/PT.
PRESS RELEASE: Sergey Kovalev, the WBO/WBA/IBF light heavyweight champion: "I am waiting for March 14th. This day for me mean a lot. This is the first time defending two of my titles. I am sure it will be a really great boxing date on HBO. Pascal will be the hugest opponent in my career. I fought top guys. [On common opponents Darnell Boone and Bernard Hopkins] Any fight is different because opponents are different on different dates. I can win somebody very easy but then can be very hard for somebody else. Pascal had problems with Hopkins but I beat him easy. It depends on the situation. It will be interesting what will happen March 14th. Jean Pascal will see a problem."
Former IBF welterweight titlist Jan Zaveck, AKA Dejan Zavec, now campaigning at 154 pounds, will challenge Sasha Yengoyan (31-1-1) on April 11th at Tabor Hall in Maribor, Slovenia.
The Slovenian Zaveck (34-3) spent much of his professional career in Germany where he made his debut in 2003, and won the IBF crown in 2009 in South Africa, beating Isaac Hlatshwayo. He made three successful defenses before losing the belt to Andre Berto in America in 2011.
PRESS RELEASE: The February 27th edition of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights will feature junior welterweight Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin (15-0, 12 KOs) against Johnny García (19-2-1, 11 KOs) in a ten-round main event. The ten-round co-feature will pit welterweights Raymond “Tito” Serrano (20-2, 9 KOs) against Jeremy “Hollywood” Bryan (17-5, 7 KOs).
