Relive Jones vs. Trinidad!

Hooks will be flying in Biloxi on Saturday August 15 when Eight-Time World Champion, Roy “Captain Hook” Jones Jr. and Two-Time World Champion Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy battle it out in “Hook City,” at the MS Coast Coliseum. To prepare us for this highly anticipated match-up of speed and power, ESPN Classic will air past Jones and Lacy fights every night next week and all day Saturday.

Continuing the action, the 2008 fight between Roy Jones Jr. and Felix Trinidad airs today, at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on ESPN Classic. A sharp and focused Jones, fighting at his lowest weight since ’96, floors the legendary Trinidad twice en-route to a unanimous decision win.  Click here for more info on this week’s schedule.

TONIGHT: Through the Ropes!

Boxing fans, get ready to climb “Through the Ropes” with the #1 boxing news radio show hosted by award winning boxing writer Marc Lichtenfeld! This week’s guests are 1984 Olympic gold medalist Tyrell Biggs and Heavyweight Armageddon author Scoop Malinowski. Call or email your questions to ttropes@earthlink.net. Through The Ropes airs live coast to coast on Thursday nights from 9:00 – 10:00 ET on 75 affiliates of the Sports Byline USA Broadcast Network, including great radio stations like KSHP 1400 AM in Las Vegas and WNSR 560 AM in Nashville. The one-hour show will also be heard on American Forces Network, Sportsbyline.com and Fightnews.com. Fightnews readers can listen live by clicking here tonight at 9:00 p.m. ET.

King inks De La Rosa

Unbeaten welterweight James De La Rosa (19-0, 12 KOs) has signed with Don King Promotions. De La Rosa signed with DKP last week after filing for bankruptcy, thus nullifying a promotional pact with Duva Boxing. De La Rosa’s former promoter Dino Duva says he intends to file a grievance with the newly formed Boxing Promoter’s Association. “Don King signed the promoter’s association initial membership document and then immediately proceeded to raid my fighter. On top of this, he is my business partner in Duva Boxing,” said Duva who claims he had asked King for advice on handling the De La Rosa situation. De La Rosa will immediately join trainer Danny Smith and Jermain Taylor in training camp. No fight date or opponent has been announced.

John to depart for USA!

John with staffs of Tamani Cafe, Jakarta

By Jeffrey Pamungkas

After one month of training at Harry’s Gym in Perth, Australia, Chris John and his trainer, Craig Christian, was in Indonesia for some days before departing to the US today (8/13), for the rematch with Rocky Juarez. Their first match in Houston, Texas, ended in a disputed draw, then John pulled out just a week before the June 27 rematch in Los Angeles due to a breathing illness. Now he stated that he has no longer had any problem with his health and he’s already well prepared for this fight, and ready to prove that he deserves to win the fight against Juarez, rescheduled on September 19 in MGM Grand, Las Vegas, as the co-feature bout of JM Marquez vs Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Donaire-Concepcion WBA officials!

By Gabriel F. Cordero

Referee Vic Draculich will be the third man in the ring when the Panamanian challenger and former WBA interim super flyweight champion Rafael Concepción (13-3-1, 8 KOs) and former IBF flyweight champion, Nonito Donaire (21-1, 14 KOs) fight for the WBA interim super flyweight title at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on August 15. The three judges are Max De Luca (California), CJ Ross (Nevada) and Gelnn Trowbridge (Nevada). The fight supervisor is Michael Welsh.

Jones at the crossroads

Story & photos by Scott Foster

Boxing is replete with crossroads fights. Often staged as a token measure, a bout is gifted to an aging champion whose better days appear confined to the past. But every so often, a crossroads battle pits 2 fighters still poised at the precipice, the stakes instantly magnified, and the implications mushroom for both  . . .  Click here for more

Pinoy Power II Presser

Photo: Chris Farina-Top Rank

(L-R) Super lightweight contender Mark Melligen, WBO Featherweight champion Steven Luevano, “The Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire Jr., Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion and undefeated lightweight contender Anthony Peterson, pose during the final press conference Wednesday in Las Vegas for their upcoming championship fights on the Top Rank promoted “Pinoy Power 2” on Pay Per View, Saturday, August 15 at the New Joint in the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas. Click here for more photos…

Calderon, Martinez on weight!

Photo: Jose Perez/PR Best Boxing

By Lee Bates

WBO light flyweight champion Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon (32-0-1, 6 KOs) and WBO super featherweight champion Ramon “Rocky” Martinez (22-0-1, 13 KOs) of Puerto Rico both easily made the weight requirement for their pre-fight 30 day weigh-in today in Puerto Rico. Calderon scaled in at 118 pounds which is well below the 124.2 pound maximum requirement. Martinez weight in at 138 pounds also far below the 149.5 requirement. For more details and photos click here…

Nishioka, Linares to defend belts

By Joe Koizumi

We attended a deluxe press conference at the Tokyo Dome Hotel on Tuesday to announce a world title twinbill to be promoted by Akihiko Honda’s Teiken Promotions on October 10. It will be not only a boxing event but also one of many entertainments celebrated by Japanese cable television WOWOW’s twelve-hour commemoration program named “WOW FES (WOWOW Festival), along with music concert, movie show, et al.

WBC super-bantam champ Toshiaki Nishioka (34-4-3, 21 KOs), Japan, will risk his 122-pound belt against ex-WBO ruler Ivan Hernandez (25-3-1, 15 KOs), Mexico, over twelve rounds. Also, unbeaten WBA super-feather titlist Jorge Linares (27-0, 18 KOs), a Japan-based Venezuelan called “El Nino de Oro (Golden Boy),” will put his 130-pound throne against another Mexican, unbeaten Juan Carlos Salgado (20-0-1, 14 KOs) over twelve. (more…)

Fightwriter on Jones vs. Lacy

By Graham Houston

When Roy Jones Jr. outclassed James Toney in 1994 I doubt if anyone watching could possibly have imagined that he would still be fighting 15 years later at the age of 40 — but he is. Jones is one of those older fighters who can’t stay away from the game. Ask him why he is still fighting and he might tell you that he sees his ability as a gift from the Almighty, adding: “Who am I to refuse a gift from God?” . . . Click here for more

Green Feels The Heat In Biloxi!

By Craig Watt

Whilst it was an overcast 60° F/16° C in his hometown of Perth, Western Australia today, former WBA light-heavyweight champion Danny Green faced a 91° F/33° C environment (104° F/40° C factoring in humidity) in his training camp in Biloxi, Mississippi in preparation for his IBO cruiserweight title clash against Argentinean Julio Cesar Dominguez on Saturday. However, this did not deter the 36-year-old Green (26-3, 23 KOs) from turning in an impressive sparring session with former NABA super middleweight champion Anthony Greenidge over eight rounds. Green stated from his US base, “It was over forty degrees over here today in Biloxi and I am sure I lost 4kg in the session. At one point I went out into the car park and shadow boxed in my underpants to cool down.” (more…)

Relive Jones vs. Ruiz!

Hooks will be flying in Biloxi on Saturday August 15 when Eight-Time World Champion, Roy “Captain Hook” Jones Jr. and Two-Time World Champion Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy battle it out in “Hook City,” at the MS Coast Coliseum. To prepare us for this highly anticipated match-up of speed and power, ESPN Classic will air past Jones and Lacy fights every night next week and all day Saturday.

Continuing the action, the 2003 fight between Roy Jones Jr. and John Ruiz airs today, at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on ESPN Classic. In this fight, In an awesome display of both speed and power, Jones makes history when he stymies then-heavyweight world champion John Ruiz to become the first former middleweight champion in over 100 years to win the heavyweight world title.  Click here for more info on this week’s schedule.

Arce promises payback!

Jorge “Travieso” Arce (52-3-1, 40 KOs) has returned to training with great passion as he prepares for a grudge match against unbeaten South African Simphiwe Nongqayi (15-0, 6 KOs) on September 15 at a site to be determined. The bout will be for the IBF super flyweight championship vacated by Vic Darchinyan. Nonqagy defeated Jorge’s younger brother Francisco “Panchito” Arce on February 28 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, by decision in a world title eliminator and “Travieso” has promised to regain the family honor. “Simphiwe snatched away the dream of my brother Panchito to fight for a world title, now I have to compensate for the pain we feel. I will take away the dream of Simphiwe being crowned world champion,” expressed Arce very strongly. (more…)

Pavlik vs Williams Oct 3?

The camps of WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs) and WBO interim jr middleweight champ Paul “The Punisher” Williams (37-1, 27 KOs) have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement to fight on October 3 in Atlantic City, NJ. According to the Youngstown Vindicator, Top Rank is planning a press conference next week in New York City to announce the bout.

Who has the best left hook?

In “Hook City,” two of boxing’s dominating left hookers, 8-time world champion Roy Jones Jr. and 2-time world champion Jeff Lacy, go to battle on Saturday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi to determine the most powerful hooker and the NABO light heavyweight champion. Who do YOU think has a better left hook?

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Lewis high on Davidson!

Ray Wheatley-World of Boxing

Aussie Hall of Famer Johnny Lewis has predicted that 154 pounder King Davidson (10-0, 6 KOs) will be his next world champion. Lewis trained world champions Jeff Fenech, Jeff Harding, Kostya Tszyu and Gairy St Clair. Davidson will clash with Jeremy Allan (4-4-1, 2 KOs) over eight rounds at the Soldiers Club in Batemans Bay, NSW, Australia on Saturday. Davidson, who holds IBF Pan Pacific Youth title, is originally from Nigeria and has been based in Australia for several years. He captured the Australian junior middleweight crown in 2009 with a clear decision over Robert Toomey. His best win to date is a ten round points decision over former Australian middleweight champion Josh Clenshaw who extended world rated Daniel Dawson, Nader Hamdan and former WBA 154 pound challenger Kevin Kelly. Davidson is managed by former Aussie champion Peter Mitrevski Sr. Also in action will be highly regarded middleweight Leroy Brown (4-0-1, 1 KO) will punch it out with Queensland’s Chris Stewart (6-2, 3 KOs) in a ten round bout with the WBO Asia Pacific Youth title up for grabs. Promoters: Mark Zielinski and Greg Turner.

Leveni in action Friday!

By Ray Wheatley–World of Boxing

Former Australian junior middleweight champion Tui Leveni (8-2, 5 KOs) will clash with veteran New Zealander Pa Viejo (10-40-2, 1 KO) over six rounds at the Bomaderry RSL club, Bombaderry, NSW, Australia on Friday. Leveni became the Australian champion in 2008 when he stopped Pat Rullo in four rounds. In what is in contention for one of the best fights for 2009, Leveni dropped a twelve decision to world class Robert Medley who only loss has been to current IBF welterweight champion Isaac Hlatswayo. Promoter: Greg Turner.

Lean ‘n’ ripped Lacy shakes out

Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy worked out today in Biloxi preparing for Saturday night’s showdown against eight-time world champion Roy “Captain Hook” Jones Jr. This is Lacy’s first time fighting at the 175-pound weight limit and one would think he may come in a little soft, but that is definitely not the case. Lacy still has the sculpted body, only now he’s carrying seven more pounds of muscle . . .  Click here for more

Clark returns August 21st

Photo: Team Clark

Former WBC#1 lightweight contender Michael “Cold Blood” Clark (38-5-1, 18 KOs) will appear in the co-feature at the Waterfront Place Hotel in Morgantown, West Virginia on Friday August 21st. Undefeated in his last 4 bouts, Clark looks to climb back into contention versus an opponent to be determined. Clark states, “I want to earn another title shot. At 36, I still feel sharp going into my third fight in less than 4 months.” The six bout card is being presented by Simons’ Promotions and will feature several local standouts from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The main event will showcase local light heavy Tommy Karpency (17-1-1, 11 KOs) defending his WBA Fedecentro light heavyweight title over ten rounds against undefeated challenger Chuck “The Professor” Mussachio (13-0-2, 5 KOs). Middleweight prospect Jimmy Lubash (13-2, 6 KOs) and local heavy Jason Pettaway (3-0, 2 KOs) also look to stay busy in separate bouts. Tickets can be obtained by calling Simons’ Promotions at (304) 290-0291.

Pinoy Power II Quotes

Chris Farina-Top Rank

Nonito Donaire: “I’ve seen one video of Concepcion. He has a lot of heart which tells me he can be very dangerous inside the ring. I am going to rely on my speed and power to get through this one. Before I leave the 115 pound division, I want to fight Jorge Arce and Fernando Montiel. Those two are on my mind and it doesn’t matter who is first.”

Rafael Concepcion: “I know Las Vegas and I know there will be Latino fans in the arena rooting for me on Saturday night. There will be Mexican fans for sure on my side. I’ve trained hard and I will win. Panama fighters do not lose to Filipinos. We’re 4-0 in title fights.”

Note: Concepcion’s chief trainer is Rigoberti Garibaldi of Panama. He used to be in corner with Ricardo Mayorga. Click here for more photos…

Jones entertains Green at camp!

Danny “Green Machine” and his camp took a two hour drive west from Biloxi to Pensacola on Monday to check out Roy Jones’ training facility on his 88 acre farm. Jones doesn’t get very excited about entertaining guests on fight week, as you can imagine, but he was hospitable in returning a favor . . .  Click here for more

Full Report: Jones-Arroyo!

Photo: Mike Mcguigan/www.phillykeith.com

By Kurt Wolfheimer at ringside

A near capacity crowd filled the Ballroom at Bally’s Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey hoping to witness another exciting knockout by powerful undefeated, NABA welterweight title holder Mike “MJ” Jones as he faced late replacement Lenin Arroyo. To their surprise, they witnessed one hell of a gutsy performance by Arroyo (20-10-1, 5 KOs), who took almost everything the powerful Philly welterweight could dish out and fought back even though completely outgunned in losing a one sided ten round unanimous decision to Mike Jones (18-0, 15 KOs), which had the crowd on their feet in appreciation for his effort as the fight came to a close. The seven bout card promoted by Russell Peltz of Peltz Boxing Promotions also featured the return of super middleweight Jerson Ravelo (20-4, 12 KOs), who captured a lackluster eight round unanimous decision victory over Willis “The Prophet Lockett (12-9-5, 5 KOs). (more…)

Campillo camp denies option claim

Sampson Boxing LLC, Sampson Lewkowicz, and WBA light heavyweight champion Gabriel Campillo say they have never been given notice of any lawsuit or served with any order from any court in Spain. According to a statement from the Campillo camp, Sampson Boxing, LLC is the exclusive sole promoter of Campillo and he never signed any options with Universum and their name was never mentioned to Campillo. “What Universum is stating is completely false and Gabriel Campillo has nothing signed with Universum or anybody else,” said Lewkowicz. “The options Campillo was presented before the fight against Garay were from a different promoter and he refused to sign because the terms were unfair. Further, the unfair options proposed were against the rules of the United States and the Muhammad Ali Act. I challenge Universum to show and present the signature of Gabriel Campillo on any documentation that they claim to have. The WBA has nothing to do with options and the champion Campillo has been allowed to take an interim title defense against Beibut Shumenov before his mandatory, Vyacheslav Uzelkov. The WBA has officially approved and sanctioned the WBA light heavyweight title fight between Campillo and Shumenov.” The fight between Campillo and Shumenov will take place Saturday night at the Sport Complex “Daulet” National Tennis Center in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Felix Sturm Update

According to German BILD-Zeitung, WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm says his contract with Universum will expire on November 16th. “I will never fight for Universum again. I’d rather retire.” Sturm is quoted as saying. “Both sides benefited from our partnership. Now I’ve reached a point where I want to stand on my own feet.” BILD reports that Universum apparently has an option to extend Sturm’s contract for another three years, although Sturm is not acknowledging that and his manager Roland Bebak says lawyers tell him the clause is invalid. Meanwhile, Universum issued a statement saying Sturm has not contacted them personally on the issue, but they have a valid contract with Sturm and this will be fulfilled by both sides.

Universum wins Campillo case

On the occasion of to the world title defense of Universum fighter Hugo Hernan Garay (Argentina) on June 20th 2009 in Santa Fe (Argentina) against Gabriel Campillo Pessy (Spain), Universum had granted the exclusive option to host the fights of the Spanish challenger in case he wins. Campillo won this title bout and was crowned the new WBA light heavyweight world champion. Campillo had recently announced that he would defend his WBA title on August 15 in Kazakhstan against Beibut Shumenov but this was a violation of the exclusive option of Universum in hosting the fights. A claim of Universum was confirmed by a Spanish civil court that prohibits Campillo to do so.

With this court order, a new alternative has been presented for Universum boxer Jürgen Brähmer in order to go after his big dream and become world champion. He could fight for the full WBA title on August 22 against Campillo as he currently is #1 WBA rated contender. A possible alternative has been accepted by the WBO that Brähmer could fight on the same day for the WBO Interim world championship against stablemate Aleksy Kuziemski. A decision about this situation will happen within the next few days.

Video: Jones works out!

Noons armed and ready!

San Diego based middleweight prospect Karl “KJ” Noons is finishing up his training for his feature bout on Saturday, August 22nd at “TKO World Championship Boxing at the Pala Casino.”  “I’m thrilled to be fighting so close to home, my last two fights were out of town and it will be great to have such a large group of family and friends at the Pala Casino on Saturday, August 22nd” said Noons . . . click here for more

Gall stones KO Samil Sam

Sinan Samil Sam has to postpone his comeback again. The two-time European heavyweight champion and former world amateur champion has been kept out of the ring for more than a year now by different illnesses and injuries. “The Bull from Bosporus” had planned to make his comeback in early October. Now Sam had to undergo surgery because of gall stones. “The doctors said Sinan cannot train for another six weeks”, says promoter Ahmet Öner. “It’s too bad because he desperately wanted to get back into the ring. But we cannot take any risks here. Sinan isn’t a young man anymore. He needs his time for preparation; especially because we are looking for a world class opponent for his comeback.” Originally the reigning IBF intercontinental champion was meant to defend his title against Kali Meehan in October. There were also talks about a rematch of his European championship bout against Paolo Vidoz. In July 2008 Sam had beaten Vidoz by split decision. “We will see what the IBF and the EBU will decide”, states Öner. “Sinan will be back in December and he will be ready for a big fight then but there is no chance that he will be back in action before that.”

Bute-Andrade Update

The November 28th rematch between IBF super middeweight champion Lucian Bute (24-0, 19 KOs) and Librado Andrade (28-2, 21 KOs) has been picked up by HBO’s Boxing After Dark, marking the first time since 1977 that the network will travel north of the border to broadcast a fight from Canada. Their first encounter ended controversially with Bute out on his feet en route to a decision. No site named yet, but the bout will be held in either Montreal or Quebec City, Canada.