A look into the future: Garcia-Khan 2

Jack Price (@PriceyJ97) takes a look into the future and predicts what will take place if Amir Khan and Danny Garcia meet again.

Its December 2013, just two months after the proposed welterweight world title between British star Amir Khan and IBF champ Devon Alexander fell apart due to money problems in the negotiations, and Khan is now busy promoting his next fight with former unified light-welterweight champion and now 147lb contender Danny 'Swift' Garcia.

The Fans Have Voted: Who should Broner face next?

By Jack Price - @BoxingOpinions1

In the aftermath of another top night of boxing, one man is still on everybody's mind, Adrien 'The Problem' Broner. The brash youngster became a 3-weight world champion at the age of 23, stepping up two weight divisions and winning the WBA welterweight title via split decision against Paulie Malignaggi.

What next for Mayweather?

By Adam Canavan @Adam_Canavan

Right now Floyd Mayweather Jr. is in the hotbed of boxing talent in the 140-154lb weight range. So, after a dominant display against welterweight contender Robert 'The Ghost' Guerrero (117-111 on all three of the Judge's scorecards), the world is well and truly his oyster.

So who who will Boxing's P4P king face next? Well firstly there are a few that can be ruled out straight away: Sergio Martinez is not a option after the injuries he sustained after a tough fight with British Middleweight Martin Murray will keep him out of the ring for the rest of the year, Tim Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez will be fighting each other in the same month as Mayweather's next fight, possibly even the same day, and Manny Pacquiao is otherwise occupied with Brandon Rios in November, which means the biggest possible fight of this generation, once again, can not and will not happen. But now lets look at the possible opponents for Floyd.

Amir Khan Vs Julio Diaz - Fight Preview

By Jack Sumner @Jack_Sumner_

Amir Khan attempts to take another step along the road to redemption on Saturday night, when he takes on former two-time world champion Julio Diaz at Sheffield’s Motorpoint Arena. Billed as the “Return of the King”, it’s the first time Khan has fought in the UK since April 2011 and headlines Golden Boy’s first card on British shores.

Promoted under Oscar De La Hoya’s Los Angeles based firm it will likely be a long time before we see Khan in action in the UK again, with the Bolton native hoping a happy homecoming will see him back in big fights across the pond. Many consider Diaz to be a stepping stone for Khan with some viewing the bout as a mismatch, but if there’s any fighter who should understand the dangers of overlooking an opponent it’s Amir.

Will Garcia step up?

By Andrew Gavan @AndrewGavan

The champ, Danny 'Swift' Garcia.

Zab Judah steps into the ring on Saturday the 27th of April at the Barclays Center in New York possibly for a final time. He will be attempting to reclaim the glory days which saw him win 5 world titles at 2 different weights and become undisputed welterweight champion.

Is Zab's time finally up?

His opponent is considered by many to be the top in the division although I disagree, he is the current WBC,WBA  and Ring light welterweight Champion with an undefeated record of 25-0 (16 Kos)  to his name which on paper shows he has power an Zab should be worried. This is a tough Ask for Judah in my opinion who surely will enter as underdog against a younger stronger opponent who is very comfortable and naturally big at the weight. A win propels Judah back into the mix and potential super fights with Peterson also a Kahn and Matthyse rematches.

Garcia however is on the way up and professes to many he is destined for stardom and the P4P No.1 spot and maintains nothing will stop him reaching his goals. Many critics including myself on the other hand are unsure how good this kid is, is he protected? 

The Fans Have Voted: Khan Vs Diaz

90% picking Khan to have successful UK comeback!

This weekend (Saturday April 27th) Amir 'King' Khan (27-3, 19 KO's) returns to the UK, taking on experienced Mexican Julio Diaz (40-, 29 KO's) at the Motorpoint Arena in Sheffield. The actual fight itself isn't that exciting but the fact that Khan is returning to the UK for the first time in over 2 years and that he is still on the comeback trail from his devastating knockout loss to Danny Garcia, has got the fans talking about and anticipating this fight.

When we took in the fans predictions on Twitter (@BoxingOpinions1) this week, these were the results that came back:

'Expert From The Armchair' - Promoting The Brand

By David Johnson @mrdaj.

The ever-growing stable at Matchroom Sport.

Are we witnessing a change in the way we choose who we follow on the boxing scene?

In years gone by we've tended to follow the boxer who is local to us, has a cultural fit to our views on life or in many cases the kind of personalities the boxers have (I don't think I need to touch on our love for a warrior or explosive fighter)...

For example:

The Tony Bellew's / Paul Smith's / David Price's have all spoken about their pride of representing the city of Liverpool and the fans love it, but their appeal reaches so much further than that great city, the nation loves them and their fellow liverpudlian fighters - Many people follow their local hero, and long may it continue.

What could be the real dawning of the 140lb division?

By Jack Sumner @ Jack_Sumner_

http://southpawjacks.wordpress.com/

A couple of years ago, many boxing fans and analysts were proclaiming the light welterweight division as the best in the sport. The quartet of Amir Khan, Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander and Marcos Maidana headed the pack at 140lbs with mouth-watering unification bouts on offer and the possibility of thrilling match ups between any of the protagonists. However, not everything is always as it seems. 

Khan and Maidana did thrill in their December 2010 clash that scooped fight of the year honours and after surviving a late onslaught, Khan emerged victorious to set up a clash with the winner of Bradley-Alexander a month later. The fight between the unbeaten young Americans was billed as the ‘Perfect Match Up’ with some comparing the magnitude of the event to Hagler-Hearns, but it was an anticlimax and ultimately an ugly spectacle, with Bradley winning via tenth-round technical decision after Alexander claimed lack of vision following a clash of heads. 

Bradley remained undefeated however and on course for a huge summer date with Khan to unify WBO, WBC and WBA titles. But as often is the case in this sport, the fight didn’t materialise. Bradley was stripped of his WBC strap for refusing to fight Khan and eventually moved up to welterweight to defeat Manny Pacquiao, a result that remarkably halted progress in his career due to its controversial and widely contested scoring. Khan meanwhile would go on to lose back-to-back fights against Lamont Peterson and Danny Garcia, whilst Alexander and Maidana would eventually have an uninspiring clash at welterweight over ten rounds.

The hype at that time failed to deliver. Early in 2013, the buzz around the light welterweight division has now returned.

Can Prescott talk his way back to the top?

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

priceysboxingthoughts.blogspot.co.uk

Columbian light-welterweight Breidis Prescott (26-4, 20 KO's) has taken it upon himself this week to call out two of the biggest names in the 140lb division in an attempt to squeeze himself back into the world title picture.

Prescott is best known for exposing the chin of British star Amir Khan back in 2008, knocking the 2004 Olympian out in the first round. However, since then the 29-year old has struggled to keep the momentum going, losing to Khan victim Paul McCloskey and Mike Alvarado. His last two fights have been wins and they were decent performances. But unfortunately for the Miami-based power-puncher, it hasn't pushed him anywhere near to a world title shot. Realising this he has gone out there and got some attention from the media by calling out two of the top names at light-welter, starting on Sunday with Lucas Matthysse.

Iron-fisted Argentinian Matthysse proved once again why he is one of the most avoided fighters in the world on Saturday (January 26th) when he blasted out his over-matched opponent Mike Dallas Jr in less than a round. With Garcia Vs Judah being pushed back to April, the chances of Garcia-Matthysse taking place this year have become very unlikely. So the WBC interim champion now has a gap to fill over the next few months and Prescott wants to be the man to fill that gap.

The fans have voted!

Who are the Top 10 fighters in Britain today?

@BoxingOpinions1

The fans have voted, we received over 200 votes when we asked the question "Who do you believe are the top British fighters around today?" It was a close poll with most of the same names mentioned over and over again, but there were actually 24 different British fighters mentioned at one point, showing just how competitive the British boxing scene is right now. The votes have been added up and you can now see who the fans rank as the top British fighters around at this current time:

1. Carl Froch (30-2) - 89 pts
2. Ricky Burns (35-2) - 59 pts
3. Kell Brook (29-0) - 51 pts
4. Amir Khan (27-3) - 45 pts
5. David Haye (26-2) - 41 pts
6. Nathan Cleverly (25-0) - 36 pts
7. David Price (15-0) - 32 pts
8. Tony Bellew (19-1) - 29 pts
9. Tyson Fury (20-0) - 23 pts
10. Scott Quigg (25-0) - 20 pts

Danny Garcia says he'll fight anyone! Talks Rios, Judah, Khan.

www.hustleboss.com

Unified light-welterweight champion Danny Garcia believes that he has at least a few more fights left in him at light-welterweight. In this video he talks about "rival" Brandon Rios and next opponent Zab Judah (February 9th). 

Khan to face Molina in December!

Khan sent to the canvas by Danny Garcia in their July fight.

British light-welterweight Amir Khan will face 'up and coming' Mexican-American Carlos Molina in December of this year.

Khan has suffered two consecutive defeats, his last being a devastating knockout loss to unified world champion Danny Garcia, and is looking to get his controversial career back on track. Molina hasn't stopped any of his opponents in the last three years which could mean that Khan's team have been very careful in picking this opponent. If Khan gets knocked out again, his career could potentially be over.

However, Molina, 26, is an undefeated fighter (17-0-1, 7KO's) and despite his slow burning career Khan, 25, believes he is a dangerous opponent for him.

"Molina is a good fighter who is yet to taste defeat, so I know that he will be very dangerous," said Khan. "He's a tricky fighter who possesses a lot of natural speed. I always want to face hungry young fighters and in Molina I'm up against a guy who has ambitions of world title success."

The Bolton-born man has also confirmed that he will now be trained by Virgil Hunter after his split with long-time trainer Freddie Roach earlier this month.

"I'm really pleased that Virgil Hunter is to become my new trainer," Khan added.

"Everyone in boxing knows about his skills and the success that he has enjoyed over the last few years. I'm looking forward to the start of my training camp and working on some new things with him."

"With Virgil in my corner, I know that I can get back to the very top of the light-welterweight decision."

Whilst picking Molina is a very wise and sensible decision for Team Khan, I would have thought that they would have chosen a slightly more well-known fighter. Seeing as this fight is going to take place in America and not back in Bolton where Khan has insisted he wants to fight for so long, it is going to be very hard to sell this fight. It'll attract a relatively big number of fans just because its Khan but nowhere near the scale of his fights with Peterson and Garcia. It's a fight that Khan will most likely win but will it prepare him for the big hitters that he will inevitably face on his way back up to the top?

 

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Khan looking set to part ways with Roach!



Khan with trainer Freddie Roach.

Controversial British light-welterweight Amir Khan seems to have finally made a decision on whether or not he will switch to a new trainer for his future fights. The 25-year old is getting tired of having to be second priority to his current trainer Freddie Roach, who also trains Filipino star Manny Pacquiao.

'King' Khan was knocked out in just four rounds in his last fight against Danny Garcia on July 14th. He believes that one of the main reasons he lost this fight was because he was not shown enough attention by his world-class trainer Freddie Roach. Khan's next bout is set for December 15th and he is adamant that he will not let this happen again. Therefore he needs to find a new trainer.

"I'm 25 and not even at my peak yet. I want to make a few changes and am in talks to change trainers at the moment. I am looking at a few names but I don't know if they are available," said Khan in an exclusive interview with the Daily Star.

The Bolton-based star has still not indicated who he is actually most likely to be trained by but at least he has made the decision to move away from Roach. Personally, I think this is the best decision he has ever made. Roach is a world-class trainer, no doubt about it, but Khan is a fighter that needs lots and lots of attention, otherwise he seems to pick up a lot of nasty habits.

One thing you will also notice about Khan from his last few interviews. He is a lot more quiet lately and not spitting out the usual controversial garbage that we are used to hearing from him. Maybe the knockout loss has put him in his place or maybe he has just finally realised that nobody believes half the stuff he says. Anyway, if he continues to act like this, I may end up liking the new Amir Khan!

Lamont Peterson remains IBF champ!

The International Boxing Federation (IBF) have announced that Lamont Peterson will remain as their light-welterweight champion. 

Peterson failed a drug test during the build-up to his highly anticipated rematch with Amir Khan on May 19th of this year. He was also believed to have had an unusually high level of testosterone in his body when he won the IBF world title in his first fight with Khan. Usually if a boxer fails a drug test he is stripped of his title almost straight away but in this case it was different. Peterson and his team claimed that the hormone was used for medical reasons, but nobody really believed him. However, it has recently been confirmed by a independent physician that Peterson was using the drug for medical reasons and not to enhance his performance. 

There will still be a lot of people who brand Peterson as a drug cheat but it does help his reputation a little now that it has been revealed that he was not attempting to cheat in any way at all. 

Now that the American is the definite champ and ready to compete in the sport again, he has been told by the IBF that he must make a mandatory defence of his title against Zab Judah. Negotiations for the fight have already started and a date will be agreed soon.

Calzaghe looking to train Khan...

World class boxing coach Enzo Calzaghe has revealed that he would be more than willing to train former WBA light-welterweight champion Amir Khan and help rebuild his career.

Khan after his defeat to Danny Garcia.

Khan, 25-years old, suffered a shock knock-out defeat to undefeated WBC champ Danny Garcia last weekend (July 14th) but the Olympic silver medallist claims that his career is far from over. However, he has admitted that some changes need to be made and if his current trainer Freddie Roach cannot commit 100% to training him then he will be looking for another coach.

Enzo Calzaghe, father of super-middleweight ring legend Joe Calzaghe, had his training license reinstated last month after his old one lapsed back in 2009. The 61-year old believes that Khan is a great fighter and just needs the right training.

"My next goal is to talk to Amir Khan and his team," Calzaghe told BBC Sport. "We spoke before, about three years ago. I have always believed Amir is a great fighter, despite what people think. People say he should quit but I don't think he should be quitting. I believe with the right trainer - and my CV speaks for itself - he will be unbeatable."

It's hard to say, but I think this could potentially be a great move for Khan. It's been clear for quite a while now that Khan is never going to reach his full potential whilst Roach is also training Manny Pacquiao and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Roach is a great trainer but just simply doesn't have the time to focus all of his efforts on Khan. 'King' Khan would be Calzaghe's biggest and best fighter so there would be no worries about not getting a lot of focus. If Khan plans to return in December, he is going to have to make a decision soon.

Khan believes him against Hatton would be bigger than Haye-Chisora!

Khan (left) with Hatton (right) during the build-up to his fight with Paul McCloskey.

Former light-welterweight world champ Amir Khan has his sights set on a rematch with Danny Garcia, who scored a surprise knock-out victory over him last Saturday (July 14th), but he has not ruled the chances of a fight with Ricky Hatton in the future. The 25-year old actually claims that it would be bigger than the heavyweight grudge match between David Haye and Dereck Chisora.

There have been many rumours circulating that Hatton is planning a surprise return to the ring for the first time since 2009. These rumours have not been confirmed, but a lot of evidence such as the Mancunian spending a lot of time in the gym and losing a lot of weight, have made the rumours seem a lot more likely. At first, Paulie Malignaggi was the only fighter who was mentioned for a fight with Hatton but now Khan has been brought into the picture.

"I don't think Ricky will want to fight us," said Khan. "I try to avoid the Ricky fight but you never know. It'd be a huge British fight and I don't think we've had a British fight like that. It would be bigger than the Dereck and David fight but who knows? For the moment I'm more focused on the Garcia fight because what burns me is that you know you made a mistake and you know what mistake you make."

Khan Could Split With Roach, Plans December Return

Khan with trainer Freddie Roach.

Former light-welterweight world champ Amir Khan is seriously considering a change of scenery after his devastating knock-out loss to Danny Garcia last Saturday (July 14th). For many years now, Khan has been training in America at the Wild Card Gym with Freddie Roach. Up until just recently, he believed that moving to the Wild Card was the best decision he ever made.

However, now he believes that although Freddie Roach has improved him as a fight so much, they have to part ways if things do not change. Roach also trains Manny Pacquiao and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, who are both bigger stars than Khan in America. As a result of this, Khan has had to fit his schedule round the other fighters' training plans. The 25-year old Brit believes that this is one of the main reasons that suffered the third defeat of his career in Las Vegas on Saturday.

'King' Khan would love to be able to continue to train at the Wild Card Gym, as he has spent the majority of his career as a fighter there, but he claims this can only happen if Roach commits to spending more time with him. He plans to have a big talk with him very soon.

"It is hard when you are with Manny and have to be No.2," explained Khan. "Every fight is a big fight for me... I'm at the stage where I can make no more mistakes. I need to do things that benefit me and stop thinking about others, which I've been doing my entire life. In the end, it's me who gets in the ring."

"Now is the best time to sort these things out and my team will talk things over with Freddie. I'm sure he will understand because he's been a fighter too."

"I love training in LA and the great sparring I get there. I know we work on the ring things on offence, but we have to work on the defence too... It's about going back to the drawing board and I'm going to have to do that."

Although he has been advised by many to take a very long rest, Khan has revealed that he plans to return to action in December. And ideally he would like a rematch with Garcia in England. Honestly, I can not see this fight happening especially not in England. Khan is going to have to realise that Garcia is in the drivers seat now, and he may have to abide to the American's rules.

"I'd love to have a rematch. There are a few fights available to him, but the big money would be a rematch... It would be brilliant to have that in the UK, December time. I've been fighting away from home for a long time. It's time to go home again.

Khan-Garcia winner will have to vacate one title...

The light-welterweight unification bout between Amir Khan and Danny Garcia on Saturday night (July 14th) is a multi-title fight, with the WBA and WBC world titles on the line. Until just recently, the winner of the fight would have become a unified world champion and probably stayed like that for quite a long time. This could still be the case, but it is very unlikely.

World Boxing Council President Jose Sulaiman has claimed that the winner of the fight will have to vacate one of the titles. The reason for this is that the WBC do not usually allow their champions to remain unified with other sanctioning bodies.

"It's a real surprise to know that the WBA title is involved," said Sulaiman. "The WBC will accept only the WBC. Whoever doesn't want it, the title is vacant."

When the fight was made last month, only Garcia's WBC title was expected to be on the line, but recently Khan was reinstated as the WBA champ. Lamont Peterson, who defeated Khan last December, was stripped of his title after failing a drug test. The WBA were expected to make the title vacant but instead they handed it back to Khan.

It is very likely that the winner of the fight will vacate the WBC title. If Garcia wins, he will want to hold on to the first world title he ever won, and if Khan wins, he will also likely want to keep the WBC title as it is probably the most recognised sanctioning body around today.

De La Hoya discusses Bradley's future...

WBO champ Timothy 'Dessert Storm' Bradley.

Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya realises that WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley has what it takes to become a very big star of the future, and the 39-year old has revealed that there are a lot of potential opponents for him in the Golden Boy stable.

Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La  Hoya.

There's a lot of great fighters in the welterweight division and there's no doubt that 'Dessert Storm' will want to fight every single one of them. De La Hoya has a chequered past with Bradley's promoter Bob Arum but he hopes that this won't affect the chances of any big fights happening.

"There's a lot of options out there, a lot of great fights," said De La Hoya. "The only thing Bob Arum and Top Rank has to do is pick up the phone and call... We have all the fighters, we have all the opponents, we have all the big fights that people want to see. Pick up the phone. I'm sure Bradley wants to fight all of them."

The fighters that De La Hoya is talking about, are the likes of Amir Khan, Paulie Malignaggi and Devon Alexander. Seeing Bradley in the ring with any one of these would be a very interesting match-up for the fans and the fighters.

The 28-year old could continue to fight Top Rank promoted fighters but he would run out of options pretty fast. The only other big name welterweights in Bob Arum's stable are Manny Pacquiao, who Bradley has already fought and beat in a very controversial fight, and Juan Manuel Marquez who his almost reaching 40 and will likely not have many big fights left in him..

Haye Vs Chisora: Referee and Judges announced!

Mickey Vann refereeing Khan Vs Fagan.

The LBF (Luxembourg Boxing Federation) have confirmed the officials for the controversial heavyweight showdown between David Haye and Dereck Chisora at Upton Park on July 14th.

The three judges that have been selected are John Coyle (UK), Paul Thomas (UK), Luc Muller (Luxembourg).

The referee that has been chosen could cause a little more controversy, but not much. The LBF have selected Mickey Vann, who is now 68-years old. Vann was forced to retire as BBBofC referee as the age limit is 65. He is still allowed to judge and referee international shows that have nothing to do with the British Board but seeing as this fight is in the UK, the Board might get just a little annoyed.

Vann claims that even at his age, he will have no problem refereeing a bout that could be very eventful and at times maybe even dirty.

"I still referee and did a tough 12-rounder in Ukraine last month," told Vann.

Haye Vs Chisora is quickly approaching and tickets are selling out fast. Tickets for 'Licensed To Thrill' are available at http://www.eventim.co.uk/ , http://www.whufc.com/ and http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/ .

All of the action from the show will also be shown live on BoxNation (SKY & VIRGIN 456). The channel only costs £10 a month and you will be able to view every fight and programme that the channel shows. You can subscribe at http://www.boxnation.com/ .

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