LAUSANNE: Amateur boxing’s governing body the AIBA emerged from talks with the IOC on Monday “optimistic” of retaining the right to organise the event at next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee has frozen boxing’s preparations for next year’s Games as it seeks proof that the AIBA has cleaned up its act after concern over its governance and finances.
WBA welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao and unbeaten WBA welterweight super champion Keith Thurman went face-to-face Tuesday in New York at a press conference to preview their PPV showdown on July 20 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Unbeaten IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant and unbeaten Mike Lee, who meet in the main event on FOX and FOX Deportes preceding the PPV were also on hand.
Nonito Donaire scouted out Naoya Inoue’s fight against IBF bantamweight champion Emmanuel Rodriguez last Saturday night in the semi-final of the World Boxing Super Series 118-pound tournament at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. Donaire (40-5, 26 KOs) says he saw some flaws in Inoue’s game that he thinks he can take exploit when the two of them face each other in the final of the WBSS tourney later this year.
Deontay Wilder (41-0-1, 40 KOs) put on an impressive performance in knocking out Dominic ‘Trouble’ Breazeale (20-2, 18 KOs) in the first round on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Wilder landed a right hand that knocked Breazeale cold. The sound of Wilder’s right hand landing to the head of Breazeale was devastating. It was like a rocket crash landing on the chin of Breazeale.
Deontay Wilder has transformed his physique by adding a lot of muscle, and is looking really bulked up for his fight against Dominic Breazeale on Saturday night. Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) isn’t giving any hints about how much he’s weighing right now, bit he looks as big as he was for his fight with Eric Molina in 2015.
GUAYNABO, Puerto Rico (May 16, 2019)— It is personal for former two-division world champion and current lightweight contender Jose "Sniper" Pedraza. His opponent May 25 at Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida, is Antonio Lozada Jr., who in March of last year knocked out then-undefeated Felix Verdejo in the 10th round. Verdejo and Pedraza both hail from Puerto Rico, and Pedraza, who is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Vasiliy Lomachenko, hopes to avenge his countryman's defeat.
Dominic Breazeale plans on using his big weight advantage to defeat Deontay Wilder on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Breazeale (20-1, 18 KOs) says he’s at a solid 250 pounds right now. Breazeale believes that Wilder should be fighting at cruiseriweight, not heavyweight. He’s too light for the division.
BELFAST (May 14, 2019) —Michael “Mick” Conlan’s amateur career ended in controversy and a pair of middle fingers. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Conlan appeared to have bested Russian standout Vladimir Nikitin in the 56-kilogram quarterfinals. The judges disagreed, and Conlan responded with a memorable double middle-finger salute.
(May 15, 2019) — Two Moloneys are better than one.
The Moloney twins — undefeated super flyweight contender Andrew and top bantamweight contender Jason — have each signed a multi-year promotional agreement with Top Rank.
Former world champions Mikey Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs) and Danny “Swift” Garcia (35-2, 21 KOs) are in negotiations to fight each other in August at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
The winner of the Danny Garcia vs. Mikey fight is expected to be face the winner of the July 20th fight between Manny Pacquiao and WBA Super World welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman, according to Lance Pugmire of the LA Times.
The fight, announced Saturday night, will take place July 20 (Fox PPV), likely in Las Vegas, and should be a treat for fans. It's a fight that Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs), 30, of Clearwater, Florida, has wanted.
Thurman returned in January from a 22-month layoff caused by injuries and had a tougher-than-expected time in a decision win over Josesito Lopez to retain his belt for the fifth time. Against Pacquiao, it will be interesting to see if Thurman was just shaking off the rust against Lopez or if the injuries and layoffs have truly taken their toll.
Heavyweight Joe Joyce (8-0, 8 KOs) wants to look impressive this Saturday night on May 18 in his fight against 42-year-old Alexander Ustinov (34-3, 25 KOs) on the undercard of the Billy Joe Saunders vs. Shefat Isufi at the Lamex Stadium, in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom.
Errol Spence Jr. is confident that a welterweight unification between him and Terence Crawford will be taking place in 2020, but it’s going to have to be at a 60-40 split in his favor before it can take place. As long as Crawford and his promoters at Top Rank Boxing are willing to accept the smaller purse split, the fight with Spence can take place. Spence likely won’t agree to let Crawford get a 50-50 deal. If Crawford and Top Rank push for parity, the fight with Spence will likely never happen.
