Stevenson shows another side!

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97 - @BoxingOpinions1

Adonis 'Superman' Stevenson burst onto the light-heavyweight world scene back in June with a devastating 1st round KO over the division's No.1 and WBC world champ Chad Dawson, a victory that left boxing fans and fellow fighters in shock throughout the world. And now he's kept the incredible momentum going with a 7-round demolition job over another former world champ, Tavoris Cloud.

Adonis Stevenson gatecrashes rankings!

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97 - @BoxingOpinions1

What a weekend it has been for Adonis 'Superman' Stevenson. The Canadian 35-year old entered the biggest fight of his career as a heavy underdog against WBC light-heavyweight world champ and division No.1 'Bad' Chad Dawson on Saturday night. However, the lively power puncher did "bad" things to Dawson in Montreal, scoring a 1st round knock out victory and turning the light-heavyweight division on it's head. He now finds himself in an incredible position...

Bellew - Hype or hope?

By John Hoolan @JohnHoolan

Is he really as good as some think?

Tony Bellew is the 30 year old from Liverpool who seems to split opinion among boxing fans, he's a bit like marmite, you either love it or hate it.

He has a record of 22 fights, 20 wins (12 KOs), 1 loss and 1 draw. Is ranked the British number 1 by some at light heavy and in the top 5 of the world. Nathan Cleverly inflicted Bellew's only defeat and may have something to say about those Bellew rankings, especially as he is the WBO Champion, that I feel is for another day though...

The Fans Have Voted: Bellew Vs Chilemba

This Saturday British fan favorite Tony Bellew (19-1, 12 KO's) takes on proven South African Isaac Chilemba (20-1, 9 KO's) in what could be the toughest fight of the 30-year old's career so far. The winner of this fight will become a serious contender in the light-heavyweight division and will be almost guaranteed a shot at WBC world champ Chad Dawson. The bout takes place at the Echo Arena in Liverpool so Bellew will have home advantage and he does enter this fight as the slight favourite, but there are many fans out there who believe that the 30th is going to be a bad night for 'The Bomber.'

This is how the fans see the fight going:

Fighter Of The Week: Bernard Hopkins

This week we have chosen Bernard Hopkins as our 

fighter of the week...

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Who else would it be? The easiest choice I've ever had to make. Bernard 'The Executioner' Hopkins should be considered as the fighter of this era, not just the fighter of the week. The Philadelphian tactician has made history once again by breaking his own record and becoming the oldest ever world champion at the age of 48. He did this by beating highly-rated 31-year old Tavoris Cloud in a more one-sided match-up than anyone was expecting.

Most fans know never to rule B-Hop out, but there were many people who were picking against him in this fight. His speed and reactions seemed to be slowing in recent outings and Cloud was a young hungry champion with something to prove. However, it was soon clear that this was going to be Hopkins's night. Cloud just didn't know what to do with the slippery old man that stood in front of him. Everything he tried had little or no effect on his much more experienced opponent.

Hopkins, who knows every trick in the book, frustrated Cloud by slowing the pace down and making him miss wildly over and over again. There were even times when Hopkins was using the famous Ali Rope-A-Dope tactics and it was working perfectly. This was the best performance from Hopkins in many years. He was fighting like a 40-year old in there, throwing more combinations than ever and picking apart his clearly-fazed younger opponent. The result at the end of the fight was clear. We didn't even need the scorecards. Hopkins, his team, and the fans were already celebrating. The actual scorecards were: 116-112, 116-112 & 117-111 all in favour of Hopkins. It was now official. He was once again a history-maker. His place is now even more cemented in the Hall Of Fame.

Continue reading...

Bernard Hopkins Vs Tavoris Cloud - Post-Fight Report

@PriceyJ97.

Bernard Hopkins Vs Tavoris Cloud - Fight Preview

By Jack Sumner @Jack_Sumner_

Bernard Hopkins stands on the brink of making history yet again this Saturday, when he challenges IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Hopkins will bid to break his own record as boxing’s oldest ever world champion, after dethroning Jean Pascal in May 2011 at the tender age of 46 years, 4 months and 6 days.

When Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs) enters the ring against Cloud he will be a sprightly 48, stepping through the ropes to face an unbeaten 31-year-old with a knockout percentage of 79%. Even as an ex-champion, at his age you’d be forgiven for watching world title fights from the sofa, allowing the middle-age paunch to take it’s course in your slippers and your dressing gown, thankful you no longer have to take the punishment.

But not old B-Hop, ‘The Executioner’, who with each year that passes defies father time with further accomplishments inside the squared circle. For over a decade, boxing’s Peter Pan has been converting non-believers to the point where fans and so-called experts of the sport have given up predicting his demise. You wouldn’t give any other 48-year-old a chance with Cloud, but you can’t write off Bernard Hopkins.

Ovill McKenzie to challenge for EU title!

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Commonwealth light-heavyweight champion Ovill McKenzie (21-11, 10 KO's) looks set to challenge for the EBU European title after the title was vacated by Orial Kulaj.

The 33-year old will face undefeated Polish light-heavyweight Dariusz Sek (18-0, 7 KO's) who was the mandatory challenger to Kulaj before the title was vacated.

The EBU have set March 12th as the official deadline for purse bids.

Bellew Vs Braehmer put forward by the EBU!

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97

British light-heavyweight contender Tony Bellew, 19-1, has been chosen as official challenger for the EBU title currently held by tough German Juergen Braehmer.

According to reports, there is now a period for negotiations before the EBU calls for purse bids.

This would be a tough challenge for both men and a great fight for the fans, but it looks unlikely that it will actually take place. Both men have their eyes set on world titles and it looks likely that both of them will get their shots soon.

Tony Bellew's next opponent announced!

Tony 'Bomber' Bellew.

Liverpudlian light-heavyweight Tony Bellew will face Roberto Bolonti on the undercard of Carl Froch Vs Yusaf Mack at Nottingham's Capital Arena on Onovember 17th. It will be Bellew's first defence of his WBC silver light-heavyweight title that he picked up on September 8th when he beat Edison Miranda by 9th round KO.

Bolonti, 33, has a record of 30-1 with 19 KO's and is the current WBC Latino light-heavyweight champion. He is not a top-level fighter but has had a decent career and is a good scalp to have on your record when you are an up and coming fighter. The Argentinian hasn't lost since 2006 and has stopped his last five opponents.

Bellew, 29, is in the form of his life and, with the help of his promoter Eddie Hearn, looks very likely to become a force and world level in the near future. 'Bomber' split with Frank Warren earlier this year and has asked Hearn to make him a very busy man and to cram in as many fights for him as possible. This fight will take place just over two months after his impressive victory of Edison Miranda. A win in this fight will no doubt boost Bellew's value and credentials once again and further guarantee a world title shot sometime next year.

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Cleverly targets Cardiff City stadium defence...

WBO light-heavyweight world champion Nathan Cleverly is hoping to make a defence of his title at the Cardiff City football stadium in the summer of next year. The Welshman will make the fourth defence of his title on October 27th against Vyacheslav Uzelkov at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff but has his sights set on an even bigger fight next year.

"I'm pretty sure we can get a great world title fight here this summer, that's the target," said Cleverly in an interview with BBC Wales. "I spoke with a few of the guys here at the stadium and they seem ready to go for it. It would be a great atmosphere, a brilliant stadium and I'm sure we'd have a great crowd. I think the chances are very likely, its a big possibility."

"I come down to Cardiff and support them on their home games in and around training, and they've shown me great support as well."

If Cleverly is impressive in his performance against Uzelkov in October, he may be able to land a fight with the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Carl Froch and Beibut Shumenov in the summer. And these are all fights that would easily sell out Cardiff City's stadium.

 

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Ward eyes Pavlik or a move up to 175lb...

Andre 'S.O.G' Ward.

You would think that after beating just about every guy who has been put in front of him and now being considered as the second best fighter on the planet, Andre Ward would be in a fantastic position right now. Well, unfortunately there's a slight problem... 'S.O.G' has just about wiped out the whole of the super-middleweight division, meaning there is now not really any testing fights out there for him.

When asked about this problem on the Boxing Lab Radio, this is what Ward said: "That's a good problem to have if I'm going to have any problems. I'm happy about that... I'm aware of what we've done up until this point and there are not a lot of options at 168. I think you have one or two guys that are the top but I've either already fought them or it's probably not realistic to make a fight. And you have young guys that are on their way up to contender status and those aren't really options either so I really don't know what's next."

However, there is still one fighter out there that Ward wouldn't mind facing.

"I mean you guys got like Kelly Pavlik out there," said Ward. "I know he's got one more shot left in him and he's mentioned my name and not disrespectfully. He's just saying that he wants another crack at a top guy so Kelly is definitely an option. He's got a name and he's still a tough fighter."

Ward still hasn't ruled out a move up in weight and is excited by the light-heavyweight division.

"And of course the 175 pound division which I'm excited about. I don't know if its going to be my next fight but I'm just excited about that next challenge and I think my body is going to be happy about having that extra weight on me as well. I think I'm going to be a lot stronger."

 

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Cleverly looking likely to defend against Simcic...

WBO light-heavyweight champ Nathan Cleverly.

Denis Simcic.

Prepare yourself for disappointment! Because once again Nathan Cleverly is looking set to defend against another 'nobody'. Many top boxing sites have reported that the Welshman's next defence of his WBO light-heavyweight world title will come against Denis Simcic of Germany.

As most of you probably won't know who Simcic is (because I didn't before this fight was announced), I'll just give a few background details on him: He is a German-based Slovenian that has a pretty decent record of 28-1, 14 KO's. He last fought in March of this year and won the WBO European light-heavyweight title. And although he hasn't really done much to earn it, he is ranked at No.3 by the WBO.
Now, looking at him like this (on paper) he looks like a pretty decent fight but unfortunately this isn't the case. The German-based Slovenian hasn't really fought anyone of much note and is looking like to be another Tommy Karpency style fight for Nathan Cleverly. Simcic isn't a journeyman so he will be coming to win but it is very unlikely that he will be victorious.

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but a lot of rumours have been circulating that the fight will take place at Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena in October. A press conference is scheduled for Monday September 3rd and all details should be announced then.

Pascal-Cloud officially cancelled! Cloud Vs Murat is next...

The anticipated light-heavyweight showdown between Tavoris Cloud and Jean Pascal will not take place in 2012. The fight has been on and off for a few weeks now but it has now been confirmed that it will not happen this year.

The fight was initially scheduled for August 11th but was postponed due to a hand injury suffered by Pascal. The teams and promoters were then desperately trying to make the fight happen in any of the later months of this year but too many problems arose meaning that it was almost impossible to make the fight happen in 2012. Pascal will now return in December against an opponent that is yet to be announced. Cloud will now defend his IBF world title against the mandatory challenger Karo Murat. A date for this fight hasn't been confirmed but it will most likely take place in November. The fight between Pascal and Cloud will no doubt happen, just not this year.

"We wanted to make the fight in 2012, but it was too early to do it in October and it was impossible to book the Bell Centre in November with Lucian Bute fighting and Georges St-Pierre. December was a possibility, but Murat felt the delay was too long and he knew that his outlandish requests were rejected. I do not blame him, he has been waiting for a while," said Pascal's promoter Yvon Michel.

"Cloud will simply meet his obligations as a champion. I believe that Cloud should not have any difficulties with Murat. If all goes well, we will keep the same agreement, with Cloud and Showtime, and make the fight in the spring [of 2013]."

Kessler arrives at light-heavy!

WBC silver champion Mikel Kessler.

Mikkel Kessler has made his mark on the light-heavyweight division after pulling off a fantastic one-punch knock out against Allan Green. It wasn't the best we've ever seen 'The Viking Warrior' perform but it showed us that he still has what it takes to mix it with the best in the world, and even more impressively in a heavier weight division than what he usually fights at.

Kessler scores a devastating knockout victory.

It was a worrying start for the 33-year old as he found himself climbing off the canvas in round one. Green looked as though he was going to finish Kessler's career right there and then, but once Kessler (45-2, 34 KO's) managed to tighten up his defence and stick to his boxing it became a pretty one-sided fight from then on. He managed to start landing left hook's at will and then in the fourth round he landed a monstrous shot that sent Green (31-4, 21 KO's) flying down towards the canvas.

Although, it was a good performance from Kessler, it was clear that he is not the same fighter that he used to be. His age seems to be catching up with him, in and out of the ring as he has also revealed he finds it hard to make the 168lb weight limit for the super-middleweight division. He actually weighed in for this fight at 169lb so  at the moment it looks like he could end up becoming stuck between weight divisions.

It's not clear as to who is lined up for Kessler next but there has been a big call for a light-heavyweight showdown between him and WBO world champion Nathan Cleverly. This would be a great fight for the fans and both men as the bout would make a lot of money as both fighters have huge fan bases in Europe. This would be a risky fight for Kessler to take as Cleverly is an up and coming fighter that is still young, fresh and hungry so he will want this win to earn a big name on his record.

A return to super-middleweight seems like a more sensible idea for Kessler as he only just made it over the minimum weight limit for the light-heavyweight division and his power and skill seems to be much more effective at the lighter weight.

Andre Ward: The fight the fans want to see is me and Chavez Jr!

@THABOXINGVOICE