Expert From The Armchair... 'TV Mix Up'

By David Johnson @mrdaj

The fans still want to see Rigo!

Let’s make no mistake, we all love seeing knockouts! It’s the quickest route to keeping a boxing fan happy and enthralled...

But is it?

When Sergio Martinez sets the trap for Paul Williams and unleashes one of the greatest knockouts of all time or Diego Corrales shows heart, determination and ring savvy (spitting out the gumshield to gain a little break) in Round 10 against Castillo, then the answer is unequivocally YES!!

Paul Williams' first TV interview since crash to be aired tonight!

Tonight, an exclusive interview with Paul 'The Punisher' Williams will be aired on the same show as the highly anticipated fight between Saul Alvarez and Josesito Lopez. It will be the first time Williams has appeared in an interview since the motorcycle crash that paralysed him from the waist down in May.

Williams was originally scheduled to be the opponent for Saul Alvarez tonight but the crash caused huge problems that means he will never able to fight again. However, Williams claims he will still remain involved in the sport and he starts that tonight by being part of the Canelo-Lopez broadcast in a special one-on-one interview with Jim Gray.

According to everyone that has spoken with Williams recently, he is very upbeat and optimistic for a guy who has just been what he has been through. Let's hope that Williams still manages to enjoy his life and stays part of the sport that made him who he is.. I'm sure he will!

 

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97

Andre Berto Vs Cornelius Bundrage looking set for November 24th!

Andre Berto.

According to reports, former two-time world champion Andre Berto is looking very likely to face the IBF light-middleweight world champ, Cornelius Bundrage, on November 24th. This has not been confirmed yet, but Boxingscene.com have revealed that discussions are ongoing and if the fight does happen, it will be televised live on HBO.

Cornelius 'K-9' Bundrage.

Now, to be honest with you, I really want this fight happen. I've never really paired these two guys together, but now the idea has been proposed, I think it could end up being a really good fight, not only for the fans but also for the fighters. Both men have been very, very inactive recently. Berto hasn't fought since last September when he TKO'd Jan Zaveck and Bundrage hasn't only fought once a year since 2009. So, the point I'm trying to get across is that, both fighters will take this fight without any doubts. Berto is obviously a very talented fighter and I'm sure that he will firmly believe that he can beat Cornelius Bundrage. And to be honest with you, I think Bundrage will want this fight even more. He has been calling out lots of top-level fighters recently and telling them to give him the shot he so desperately deserves and a fight against Berto is a very good opportunity for him to prove how good he is.

You must also remember that Bundrage has just signed with a new promoter, so if he asks for a fight at the moment there's going to be a big chance that he gets it as his promoter will be looking to get in his "star fighter's" good books.

The fight hasn't been confirmed yet but negotiations are taking place right now so if all goes well, we should hear more about this fight in the next few days.

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Trout could be next in line for 'Canelo'...

Austin Trout.

Over the last few months, Golden Boy have been desperately trying to find an opponent for their young star Saul Alvarez for September 15t. So far, they have managed to find three men that would have all made a great fight for the fans and Alvarez himself, but unfortunately, all three of these have fell through.

WBC champ Saul Alvarez.

'Canelo' was originally set to face young up and coming light-middleweight James Kirkland but Kirkland pulled out due to injury. Then an even better opponent was brought in. The former pound-for-pound contender Paul Williams. But unfortunately, Williams was in a tragic motorcycle accident that could potentially leave him paralysed from the waist down. So, at this point everyone was thinking that we would just have to see Alvarez fight a "nobody" on September 15th. However, two weeks ago, things got even better for fight fans. It was announced that Saul Alvarez would be fighting welterweight superstar Victor Ortiz. This was set to be the toughest test of the 21-year old's career and all Ortiz had to do was get a win against a half decent fighter named Josesito Lopez on June 23rd. But once again, another problem occurred. Ortiz lost the fight and had his jaw broken, meaning that there was no chance of him fighting Alvarez on September 15th.


Many people believe that all of this is happening because the "boxing gods" want to see 'Canelo' face Cuban light-middleweight prospect Erislandy Lara. However, it still seems as though this fight is not going to happen.


The main opponent that is being discussed right now is WBA 'regular' light-middleweight champ Austin Trout (25-0, 14 KO's). If it does happen, the bout will be televised live on Showtime and go head-to-head with the highly anticipated grudge match between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Sergio Martinez. If this does happen, then I'm sure that the majority of the fans will be watching Chavez Vs Martinez on HBO which means Golden Boy and Alvarez will potentially lose a lot of money. 


To be honest with you, this is a decent fight, but I don't think it will interest as many people as Alvarez Vs Kirkland, Williams or Ortiz would have done. Trout is a good fighter but just doesn't have the popularity to make this a headline fight on a PPV. Golden Boy would have to do a hell of a lot of hyping up to get people excited about this. The only thing that could get people a little more interested is that Trout has a win over Canelo's brother Rigoberto. This is something that Golden Boy will no doubt mention on plenty of occasions.

Abner Mares returns on August 25th...

According to reports, WBC super-bantamweight champ Abner Mares will return to the ring on August 25th in Puebla. The most likely opponent at the moment is Christian Esquivel (25-3, 18 KO's).

This is a decent fight for Mares as Esquivel is a man that will come to fight and come to win, and he's not that bad either. He's not the toughest opponent that Mares (24-0-1, 13 KO's) will ever face on his journey to the top but it will do good in showing us if Mares really is something special. However, there is one little negative surrounding this fight. Mares is a super-bantamweight and this is the second bout in a row that he has chosen to face a man who usually boxes at bantamweight. The Mexican has been criticised on occasions for not facing a top contender at 122lb (super-bantamweight). But that's the only bad thing I can think of about this fight.

It will be a good little scrap and it will definitely be more closely contested than Mares' most recent fight against Eric Morel, where the 26-year old widely outpointed the much older man.

The viewing of this clash on the night of August 25th could be a little less than usual. This fight will be shown on Showtime and on the same night, HBO will be showing a much more popular and 'high-key' fight in Dmirty Pirog Vs Gennady Golovkin for the world middleweight title. If it does not go head-to-head with this fight then I'm sure a lot of people will be watching it.

Maidana Vs Thurman added to HBO event on July 21st...

Marcos Maidana.

On July 21st 2012, young superstar Adrien Broner takes on Vincente Escobedo in the main event of the HBO Boxing After Dark show in Cincinnati. And now, another fight has been added to the show. Argentinian welterweight Marcos Maidana takes on up and coming prospect Keith Thurman.

Thurman after his second round KO of Travis Hartman.

This isn't a great fight, as many people have already portrayed it to be, but it is a decent fight. I've heard some people moaning about it and saying it's not even worth watching but I don't think it's that bad.

It's actually good to see an undefeated prospect taking on a tough fighter for once. Thurman (17-0, 16 KO's) has not faced anyone of any note yet but now, unlike many other young prospects in the world right now, he is taking on a fighter who will actually provide him with a tough test. Maidana (31-3, 28 KO's) is definitely past his best but he is still a tough fighter to beat. He has showed the ring with many great boxers that are around today, including a close loss to Amir Khan and wins over Victor Ortiz and Erik Morales. At one point, he looked as though could have gone on to be one of the best in the world. However, recently he has been on a slight decline.

The former world title challenger lost a wide points decision to Devon Alexander back in February which lead many people to think that his run as a top level fighter was over.

This will be a relatively close fight and if Thurman manages to get the victory it could give his career a huge boost and help him a hell of a lot in the future.

Mayweather Unhappy With HBO Producers!

Floyd 'Money' Mayweather has apologized to his fans for the "poor quality" 24/7 series that they have been producing.

He tweeted saying: "I want to apologize to all of my fans and viewers who watched 24/7 last night. I wasn't pleased with this weeks episode of 24/7. Me and my film team are providing Bentley Weiner with exciting content which she is not using. We really needed the producers from Mayweather-Hatton 24/7 to come back to HBO to give the fans and viewers more excitement."

It may just be that me, you and Mayweather himself have seen all there is to see of 'The Money Team' as most of the time that is what the whole program about. Around 2/3 of the show is shot in Mayweather's gym or house and the other ten minutes are filled up by Mayweather's opponent saying how they will end the reign of Floyd Mayweather. In this case, that person is Miguel Cotto, and as exciting as he is inside the ring... He doesn't do may entertaining things outside of it. Maybe that is another reason why Mayweather is disappointed with this series.

Maybe it would be a good idea to have a 24/7 series about a boxer other than Mayweather and his biggestrival Manny Pacquiao. There are many other exciting fights that are happening soon that the HBO producers have ignored.

The Khan-Peterson rematch would be great for this! It would be very entertaining to see what the two fighters have to say about each other and how their training is going for the biggest fight of both their careers. Even Ortiz Vs Berto or Froch Vs Bute would be a breath of fresh air for the series and it would also give some of the less-known fighters the chance to promote themselves.

Eddie Hearn talks Gavin Rees Vs Adrien Broner

@IFILMLONDON

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn discusses the fight between Gavin Rees and Adrien broner on February 16th. He believes that his fighter is less of an underdog than most people think.