Canadian promoters join forces

Shawn Smith
25/07/2015 9:21am

The dim Canadian fight scene just got a little bit brighter with the announcement that Ontario’s United Promotions and Quebec’s Eye of the Tiger Management will be working together to co-promote shows in the two provinces. The first fight of the deal will take place on 29 August when Eye of the Tiger product Mian Hussain fights on the undercard of a United Promotions show in Ontario. “It’s something that we’ve been discussing over the last year or two, just about developing fighters and getting the French fighters introduced to the Toronto market and getting the English-speaking fighters introduced to the French market,” said Tyler Buxton, promoter for United Promotions.

Blackwell shines with Lockett

John Evans
21/07/2015 6:01am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8F4hPO6Ods

It is one of boxing’s hardy cliches. The talented boxer not giving himself the best opportunity to fulfil his potential due to a kamikaze attitude outside the ring. British middleweight champion Nick Blackwell doesn’t pile on the pounds between fights. He doesn’t go AWOL from the gym for weeks on end or fight in a reckless fashion but he was in serious danger of committing career harakiri through his sheer determination to test himself.

Bill Richmond memorial unveiling at Tom Cribb pub

Boxing Monthly
20/07/2015 11:06pm

A permanent memorial to pioneering black boxer Bill Richmond (1763-1829) will be unveiled by Earl George Percy at the Tom Cribb pub in Panton Street, London on Wednesday 26 August at 2pm. A portrait of Richmond and a plaque summarising his amazing life and career will adorn the wall of the historic pub owned by Shepherd Neame brewery in recognition of Richmond’s position in history as the first black sportsman to achieve international fame and significance.

Post-fight fall-out from ‘Victory At The Venetian’

Mark Butcher
19/07/2015 1:50pm

Post-fight reaction from the Victory At The Venetian card at the Cotai Arena, Macao, with the thoughts of newly-crowned IBF super-lightweight champion Cesar Cuenca, promoter Bob Arum (on the officiating and Manny Pacquiao), Ik Yang’s trainer Justin Fortune and the IBF’s No.1 135lbs contender Denis Shafikov.

Slick Cuenca schools Yang

Mark Butcher
18/07/2015 7:56pm

The movement and ring smarts of Cesar Cuenca were too much for the hopeful potshots of Ik Yang as the 5-1 underdog from Argentina upset the odds to win the vacant IBF super-lightweight champion at the Cotai Arena. Slick southpaw Cuenca triumphed 117-110, 115-110 and 116-109 on the official scorecards. Boxing Monthly scored 116-110 from ringside. The Argentine was just too savvy and experienced for the uncomplicated Yang whose bull-like rushes rarely made an impact and he was always playing catch-up on the scorecards. “The key thing was my experience,” said Cuenca afterwards. “I worked hard in camp and sacrificed a lot. He hurt me a bit and had some good punches, but I was just a little smarter than him.”

Tso seeks power show

Mark Butcher
18/07/2015 10:55am

World-rated super-flyweight Rex Tso is seeking to unleash new found force after adding a strength and conditioning coach to his arsenal. The crowd-pleasing Tso, who could turn a pillow fight into a war, is rarely in a dull match though a lack of concussive, one punch power could previously have been viewed as a weakness. That may be about to change. “Now I feel more stable and feel the power,” Tso told Boxing Monthly. “Those I spar with comment that they feel a difference. When I first started boxing I hated weight training!"

 

Eve of the ‘Yang Dynasty’

Mark Butcher
17/07/2015 10:04am

The ‘Yang Dynasty’ may be almost upon us. The wildly entertaining Ik Yang is a fight away from being one of boxing’s unlikeliest world champions and just the second ever from the People’s Republic of China. Only light-hitting Cesar Cuenca stands in his way at the Cotai Arena in Macao on Saturday night. With master trainer Freddie Roach unable to fly due to a longstanding back complaint, the knowledgeable Justin Fortune has stepped into the breach for the most important fight of Yang’s often surreal career. “He’s throwing more combinations. He’s a little more relaxed in the fact that he doesn’t just headhunt all the time,” Fortune told Boxing Monthly. “He’s doing a lot more. I need to not reign [Yang’s eccentricity] in, more control it. I am happy for him to let go whenever he can but it’s more to control the madness. I like that about him. It’s his edge as a fighter. So if he pressures this guy…pressure, pressure, pressure….he should win the fight.”

Arum on Loma-Rigo, Dubai show, Macao and more

Mark Butcher
16/07/2015 9:50am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9ah4XxzzNU

Promoter Bob Arum has told Boxing Monthly that there is a “good chance” of Vasyl Lomachenko meeting Gulliermo Rigondeaux in a fight that will delight boxing purists. Arum, currently in Macao to promote his ‘Victory At The Venetian’ card headlined by the IBF 140lbs scrap between Ik Yang and Cesar Cuenca, said he should have concrete news after he returns from Asia next week. “There is a good chance of it happening. I’ve got to get back and put everything together, but I’d like to do that fight,” Arum told BM. “I think the Rigondeaux team is all right. I didn’t like Rigondeaux’s style, but I think it meshes good with Lomachenko. It would be a sensational fight."

Donaire eyes Quigg, bright future

Mark Butcher
16/07/2015 6:00am

The future remains bright for the ‘Filipino Flash’. Five-weight champion Nonito Donaire has returned to 122lbs after a testing foray in the featherweight division and looked revitalized in his gym workouts at the Venetian Macao with that vaunted, fight-ending power still in evidence. Donaire’s career achievements make bewildering reading – even to the fighter himself – and defied his early, modest expectations. Five division world champion, Fighter of the Year 2012, 10 consecutive world champions faced in title bouts – the Filipino has never been one to shirk a challenge to reach for the stars. “Even thinking about it now. It still seems impossible. It feels surreal at this moment, even though I’ve lived it,” the cordial Donaire told Boxing Monthly. “I never dreamed in a thousand years I would be this successful in boxing."

Cuenca aims to emulate Mayweather, thwart Yang

Mark Butcher
15/07/2015 11:15am

The similarity between Cesar Rene Cuenca and Floyd Mayweather is not immediately apparent. The bling and gaudy high life of Mayweather’s Las Vegas and the humble San Miguel neighbourhood of Buenos Aires where Cuenca resides might as well be on different planets. Yet despite an obvious gulf in talent and celebrity this most unlikely duo have both mastered the art of winning.

TKO Radio: Hamza, Rudge and The History of CompuBox

TKO Radio
15/07/2015 4:19am

Raza Hamza, a young super-bantamweight with an inspiring story, joins us on this week's podcast to speak about his development as a boxer and also helps preview the super-bantamweight action this weekend in Macao, Manchester and Texas. Boxing writer Callum Rudge joins us to discuss the upcoming David Price-Erken Teper fight, as well as the Frank Warren show in Manchester last weekend. There is also some bonus material. Last year the CompuBox president, Bob Canobbio, discussed the history and development of his punch counting system.