Boxing

Errol Spence Jr. (21-0, 18 KOs) is ready to take Kell Brook’s IBF welterweight strap from him on May 27 in front of his own fans at Bramall Lane, in Sheffield, England. Spence has done his homework in scouting out a number of Brook’s past fights, including his recent 5th round blowout loss to Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Spence has seen the flaws in Brook’s game that he feels he can take advantage of.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin have history together with the two of them having sparred in the past in 2011 when Canelo was 20 and still learning. There were a number of flaws that Canelo showed during the sparing session that was noted by journalists. One of the flaws that were observed in Canelo’s game was his tendency not back off when he was hurt by Golovkin.

WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (30-0, 21 KOs) will be inside the ring defending his titles this Saturday night against 2008 Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz (19-1, 8 KOs) on HBO World Championship Boxing at Madison Square Garden in New York. It’s nice to see Crawford fighting in a different venue than in Omaha, Nebraska, where he’s been fighting a lot lately.

Fighting Senator Manny Pacquiao, the world's only 8-division champion, will defend his world welterweight title against Horn on July 2 in Brisbane, Australia. 

The Brisbane boxer will continue his preparations today by sparring Mackay southpaw Liam Paro.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya says he made the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin fight because he cares about the boxing fans and he wanted to help the sport. De La Hoya maintains that he could have made 4 smaller fights for Canelo without risk, but he wanted to give the fans what they’ve been asking for.

Despite his advanced age, 38-year-old Manny Pacquiao is looking blazing fast and quite powerful in a recent workout this week in preparing for his July 2 fight against Jeff Horn at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. In the video on his instagram, Pacquiao is seen working out with trainer Buboy Fernandez. The speed and the power of Pacquiao’s punches are extraordinary, as there aren’t any welterweights in the division right now with the speed that Pacquiao still has.

Promoter Oscar De La Hoya is picking Errol Spence (21-0, 18 KOs) to beat IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (36-1, 25 KOs) by a knockout in their fight this month on May 27. Da Hoya is really high on the talent of the 27-year-old American Spence, and he sees him as too good for Brook. De La Hoya sees Spence obliterating Brook on the night when the two of them go at it at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England.

Undefeated featherweight contender Josh Warrington (25-0, 5 KOs) won a controversial 12 round majority decision win on Saturday night over former world super bantamweight champion Kiko Martinez (36-8-1, 26 KOs) at the First Direct Arena, Leeds, England. The 31-year-old Martinez appeared to do more than enough to get the victory tonight.

Jeff Mayweather is picking Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) to beat IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) in their big fight on September 16. Jeff says that Danny Jacobs created the blueprint in how to beat Golovkin in their fight last March, and all Canelo needs to do is follow that blueprint in order to be successful against him.

Golden Boy Promotions really did a good job of picking out Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s last opponent Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. to fight their star fighter last Saturday night, but they also picked out a guy that was BADLY overweight and much too heavy to melt off the pounds to get down to the strict 164 ½ pound catchweight for their fight on May 6. Chavez Jr. says he ate very little in the last 2 weeks before the Canelo fight so that he could get down to the 164.5 pound catchweight.

THE GILAS Pilipinas men’s basketball team begins another international quest with the start today of the 2017 Southeast Asian Basketball Men’s Championship at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

A week-long event happening till May 18, Gilas’ mission order is to win the tournament to be able to represent the Southeast Asia subzone at the FIBA Asia Cup in August in Beirut, Lebanon.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is targeting Daniel Jacobs in his next fight, and if successful, then the winner of the September 16th match between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. Chavez (50-3-1, 32 KOs) lost to Canelo by a 12 round unanimous decision last Saturday night in a one-sided affair from start to finish.