Boxing thread 2013

[JKidd]

Aussie Sam Soliman survived a knock down in Felix Sturm's backyard to rise up, and defeat the German former middleweight champion via UD.

I personally scored the fight 114-113 for Soliman, but scores could range between Sturm winning by 4 points to Soliman winning by 4 points.

Official scores: 116-111 and 114-113x2

Might be the end for Sturm, who is looking worse and worse as time keeps catching up to him.

[Habs # 1]

17-year-old Indoneasian boxer Tubagus Sakti (2-2-3, 1 KO) died yesterday (1/27) after a rough fight with Ichal Tobida. Sakti was retired in round eight of the scheduled twelve round bout for the national junior flyweight title on Saturday night at TVRI Studio, Jakarta. Sakti then fell unconscious and was soon rushed to the Indonesian Christian University Hospital, Jakarta, but the doctors couldn’t save his life.

Story Link http://philboxing.com/news/story-79899.html

Video http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=880_1359516144

Brutal... only 17 years old.

[Flyers2001]

Really, Spinks and Castillo on Friday night fights getting air time. Thats terrible matchmaking and an insult to fans.

The best possibility of a good fight which it turned out to be great, was the Polish HW fighter in a blood bath.

ESPN should stick to young prospects making a name for themselves not aging vets in meaningless fights. It was not even a vet vs. a prospect.

GBP better give some love to Molina the guy can fight. Toss him back in there with Lara so he can get his deserved victory.

RIP - Omar. He was a good looking fighter who had a ncie future ahead of him.

[JKidd]

So... the weekend round up.

Molina beat Spinks in an ugly, grabby fight. Spinks promptly retired afterwards. We'll see how long that lasts.

Antwone Smith beat Castillo, who had no fire for the fight.

And as expected, Szpilka dropped Mollo. Not expected, was Mollo dropping Szpilka twice with hard left hooks. If you missed this one, make sure to sit down and watch it. It was a gruesome, bloody battle, and featured a KO of the year finalist at the end.

I mentioned it a bit ago, Felix Sturm lost to Sam Soliman, which puts his career in a huge bind. He didn't sell out his hometown arena, he barely fought at all in the fight with Soliman after he scored a KD. Wasn't until the final round or two he finally let his hands go, a bit.

I hope some of you caught it on Saturday night, some GB action on FSN. Contender Mickey Bey Jr put away Ray Rodriguez with a devastating one punch KO. Prospect Joseph "JoJo" Diaz knocked out Jose Ruiz with a body shot, which was fantastic. Remember this kid, he'll be pushed along by GBP in the next couple years. And lastly, prospect Frankie Gomez fought 10 rounds for the first time with veteran-former prospect Lanard Lane of Philly. It was a decent fight, but showed how much work Freddie Roach has to do with this kid.

[JKidd]

So, for those following the Donaire/Mares drama, here's where we stand, and I'll put it in order so it's easy to follow.

1. GBP says to the media they'll give Donaire/TR $3M to promote the Mares-Donaire fight.
2. Donaire says prove it.
3. GBP says they have proved it.
4. Donaire says he's seen nothing.
5. GBP sends a contract to TR offices offering the $3M
6. TR says they received the offer.
7. GBP "leaks" the offer to the media
8. TR says it's not really an offer because it's missing pertinent info (rounds, location, glove sizes etc).
9. GBP says the required info is there (rounds, glove size, title specifications and even the $3M offer repeated about 60 times).
10. Top Rank offers some excuse that they have an obligation to HBO to fight on their network and they're going to honor that.
11. Mares moves up in weight because Top Rank says no.

Now, what I don't understand is TR all of a sudden says "we have to fight on HBO and we have a date (April 13th)." Yet, there is no signed agreement and no signed opponent yet. So, exactly where is this agreement in place where they have to fight that day? Furthermore, you don't think GBP will have HBO bid for a mega fight like Donaire/Mares, and you don't think HBO will offer the most? C'mon now.

I said it before, and I'll say it again, I can't wait for Bob Arum to die and rid the boxing world of this kind of political bull****. It's all because GBP tripled what Top Rank offered to GBP for Mares, and because Bob would get nothing other than his cut of the $3M offer.

Anyway, for those wondering, Donaire's rumored opponents for April are Rigo and Vic Darchinyan. If it is Darchinyan, it's a rematch about 5 years past it's expiration date.

No rumored opponents for Mares while he ventures north to 126.

[JKidd]

Big news today is that Devon Alexander has tore his biceps and is out of his title clash with Kell Brook.

No word on a new date yet, as team GBP finds out the extent of the damage in the coming days.

The fight in Detroit will continue as planned though, with Ishe Smith and K9 being the headliner.

[JKidd]

So, some strange news now.

It wasn't a torn biceps as initially reported. It was "just" a biceps "injury" which forced Devon out of the Brook fight. Last night, we get a message from Floyd Mayweather stating Devon is now the front runner for a fight with him on May 4th.

Robert Guerrero has apparently priced himself out of the fight, so far.

Enter Devon Alexander as the "replacement."

The IBF has already stated they will NOT sanction the fight and Devon will be stripped of his welterweight title if he goes through with it. They're waiting for a response from his camp.

Also worth noting, Banks/Mitchell II is off. Banks injured his thumb and had to withdraw.

[Wadubbin]

I mean how much could Guerrero be asking for Kidd?It's not like Floyd won't make his money on the fight.I think he's taking the easier fight because I really don't think that much of Alexander.Even though I think Floyd would beat both of them.Guerrero is going to come and make it a dirty fight.Something I don't think Floyd wants to deal with.And for Alexander.Losing to Floyd and making more money looks a whole lot better than losing to Brook and making less.These guys never cease to amaze...

[JKidd]

The numbers I've seen from some of the scribes in the know is Guerrero was offered $2.5-$3M. He declined that wanting to make closer to $4-5M.

Mayweather has pretty much said F that, he's going to make his guaranteed 8 figures and whoever he faces, whether it's Devon or Guerrero, is going to make a quarter to a fifth or so of that.

It could be a negotiation ploy by Floyd to force Guerrero to take the fight, or get left out, or it could be that he's actually entertaining the thought of fighting Devon.

I frankly can't stomach an Alexander/Mayweather fight. Talk about a disgusting, boring matchup.

[JKidd]

Signed, sealed, and ready to go... Nonito Donaire vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux, April in NYC.

[JKidd]

You fellas across the Pond seen another star born tonight.. Carl Frampton with a one shot KO of EU champ Kiko Martinez.

What a fight through 8 and half rounds before Frampton landed a single right hand that drops Kiko, he got up staggered and fell back into the ropes to signal the ref to stop it.

[JKidd]

Here it is...

Carl Frampton KNOCKS OUT Kiko Martinez 9th Feb...

The perfect shot. Bait him in with the step back, dig your foot in, and send a right hand straight down the middle to the chin.

[JKidd]

Some more disappointing, injury news...

Jayson Velez, who was going to challenge Daniel Ponce de Leon in NY next month has fractured his ankle and has pulled from the fight.

No word on whether Ponce gets a new opponent or the fight is scrapped. Jhonny Gonzalez, who he took the title from, his begging for a rematch and declares himself in shape for the fight (slated March 2nd).

Also, Michael Katsidis has pulled from his recent come back attempt, slated for 2/23 in Australia. No word why, but this appears to be a medical issue that has stopped the fight cold. I'm thinking he failed a physical of some sort.

[JKidd]

So here we are, another weekend of boxing action.

Lets cut into it, ESPN tonight:
Delvin Rodriguez (26-6-3, 14 KOs) vs. George "Comanche Boy" Tahdooahnippah (31-0-0, 23 KOs)

Delvin making his 15th appearance on FNF. Last time out, he looked awful and gun shy losing a wide UD to Austin Trout in a snoozer. He gets a shot at redemption against the unbeaten but untested Comanche Boy. Tahdooahnippah has appeared on Showtime just once, and once on FNF, winning both fights by KO. He has never fought outside his home state (Oklahoma) and the best name on his card is Jimmy Holmes, exactly. Comanche likes to come forward, and that plays into Delvin like crazy. I'm going to take Delvin getting the nod via UD in this one. The sharp shooting will be too much tonight.

HBO card tomorrow night in AC:
-WBC 168lb eliminator: Sakio Bika (30-5-2, 21 KOs) vs. Nikola Sjekloca (25-0, 7 KOs)
I'll start by saying this, if Al Haymon wasn't Bika's manager, this isn't on the air. But, here we are in this ****ed up boxing world. It takes an elite level boxer to beat Bika, and Sjekloca isn't that. I don't expect Bika to have much of a problem here, save for some holding and boredom from Sjekloca who probably won't throw all that often. In the end, Bika with too much experience, skill and power. Bika by late TKO.

-Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KOs) vs. Gavin Rees (37-1-1, 18 KOs) - for Broner's WBC lightweight title
This will be every bit a mismatch as it appears to be on paper, unless Broner completely tanked his training and comes in looking just terrible. Still, I think Rees gets ended. Gavin Rees will put forth a hell of an effort. He'll not back down and won't fold, but at the end of the day, too much skill and too much power from Broner. I'll take Adrien via KO.

[JKidd]

Everything is a go.

Everyone has made weight.