Andre Ward’s trainer Virgil Hunter sees physical flaws in UFC fighter Conor McGregor’s game that is going to make him vulnerable Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their fight on August 26. Hunter says McGregor has the waist of a model that will make him vulnerable to body shots from the 40-year-old Mayweather if he chooses to target that part of his anatomy.
Jermall Charlo wants to get Jorge Sebastian Heiland out of the way so that he can put himself in position where Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin are forced to fight him. Charlo (25-0, 19 KOs), the former IBF 154 lb. champion, is facing Heiland (29-4-2, 16 KOs) in a World Boxing Council middleweight title eliminator on July 29 on the undercard of the Adrien “The Problem” Broner vs. Mikey Garcia card at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) wants to get a big mega-fight in Australia against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2018, but he may be stuck with Terence Crawford. A rematch between the 29-year-old Horn and Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) is the first order of business for the Australian fighter.
Adrien “The Problem” Broner (33-2, 24 KOs) doesn’t like the idea that the boxing media has made him an underdog for his fight against Mikey Garcia (36-0, 30 KOs) for their fight in less than 2 weeks from now on Showtime Boxing at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. says he’ll be unveiling the “vintage Mayweather” for his fight against UFC star attraction Conor McGregor on August 26 in their fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It’s unclear why Mayweather feels the “vintage” Floyd Jr. needs to be fighting a novice guy like McGregor.
Light heavyweight knockout Joe Smith Jr. had surgery on Tuesday to repair a broken jaw he suffered possibly before his disappointing his 10 round unanimous loss to Sullivan Barrera (20-1, 14 KOs) last Saturday night on July 15 at The Forum in Inglewood, California.
According to Smith Jr’s promoter Joe DeGuardia of Star Boxing, his jaw was injured during his final sparring before his fight with the 35-year-old Barrera. It was thought that it was just a bruise at the time, but the injury might have been worse than expected.
A fight between WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder and undefeated contender Luis “King Kong” Ortiz is in the works for the fall on Showtime Championship Boxing, according to RingTV.com. However, #1 WBC Bermane Stiverne is Deontay’s mandatory at this time.
The Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin fight will have a lot of competition for viewers on September 16 due to a couple of important fights taking place on the same evening with Erik Skoglund facing Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders defending against Willie Monroe Jr.
These fights obviously won’t be taking place at the same time as the Canelo-Golvokin fight, but never the less, it’s not a good deal for them due to the distractions those fights will present.
Former Gennady “GGG” Golovkin knockout victim, Willie Monroe Jr., is predicting that he’ll be stopped in the 9th round b Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) in their fight on September 16. Monroe Jr. says he discovered a weakness in Triple G’s game in fighting him on the inside in their fight two years ago on May 16, 2015, and he believes that the 27-year-old Canelo will be able to take advantage of that by staying in close.
WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan (33-0, 13 KOs) has reportedly suffered a leg injury during training, and he won’t be able to defend his title against his mandatory challenger Felix Verdejo (23-0, 15 KOs) on September 16 as previously planned.
Former welterweight champion Jessie Vargas says he’s hearing that UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been knocked out already in sparring for his August 26 fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Vargas says that the boxing world is small with the news traveling fast about sparring episodes.
Vargas says he’s not surprised that McGregor, 29, has gotten knocked out, as he thinks he’s going to get knocked out by Mayweather within 7 rounds. Former light welterweight champion Brandon Rios is also saying he’s heard stories about McGregor sparring.
WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 12 KOs) spent the better part of Monday’s kickoff press conference telling #5 WBO Willie Monroe Jr. (21-2, 6 KOs) that he’s “mentally weak” ahead of their fight on September 16 at the Copper Box Arena in London, England.
The 30-year-old Monroe Jr. is the replacement for Saunders’ previous opponent Avtandil Khurtsidze, who was arrested recently and is unable to take the fight. During Monday’s press conference, Saunders, 27, continually reminded Monroe Jr. that he quit in the 6th round in his stoppage loss to middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin on May 16, 2015.
In a predictable move, Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero retired from boxing on Monday following his 3rd round knockout loss to Omar Figueroa Jr. last Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. If there was ever any doubt whether the 34-year-old Guerrero (33-6-1, 18 KOs) should hang up his gloves, it was erased with him getting dropped 5 times by Figueroa Jr. in his 3rd round knockout loss.
