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.

Japan world title schedule!

By Joe Koizumi

Despite our notorious humid summer weather, frequent earthquakes, onrushing typhoons and nationwide recession, our Japanese boxing impresarios seem to be active enough. The following is the schedule of world title promotions from this month on:
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On August 23, in Osaka, WBA female minimum champ, unbeaten Etsuko Tada (5-0, 2 KOs), a southpaw sharpshooter, will make her initial defense against also unbeaten PABA titlist Yani Kokietgym (6-0, no KO), Thailand, over ten frames. Tada, one of the most brilliant girls here, had compiled an excellent amateur mark of 47-3, gaining many national championships prior to her entry into the paid ranks. Yani also had a good amateur ledger of 30-5, and acquired the PABA belt in her fifth pro bout. Yani, eight years her junior at 20, may show a good and hot performance against the Japanese Million Dollar Baby.
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On August 30, in Osaka, WBA#4 Nobuhiro Ishida (20-5-2, 7 KOs), a Japanese six-footer, will face #5 Venezuelan veteran Marco Avendano (27-6-1, 19 KOs) for the vacant WBA interim 154-pound belt. The full WBA champ is Daniel Santos, Puerto Rico, who lately participated in a purse bidding with official challenger Yuri Foreman. This WBA interim title go may be very problematic, since they are not the leading available contenders and it is still uncertain whether the WBA really sanctioned it as the interim championship bout. Will Santos be obliged to face the winner and interim champ after this eliminator? Avendano, last September, dropped Ishida with a solid right, but lost a controversial split decision (115-114, 114-115 and 113-115) in a self-proclaimed eliminator in Osaka. Since then, neither Ishida (33) nor Avendano (36) has fought for eleven months before their rematch.
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On September 30, in Osaka, WBA super-fly champ Nobuo Nashiro (13-1, 8 KOs), Japan, will defend his belt against top contender Hugo Casares (30-6-1, 22 KOs) in a mandatory defense. Nashiro, in his second reign, decked his first defense by displaying a come-from-behind TKO win over ex-OPBF ruler Konosuke Tomiyama in eight give-and-take rounds this April.
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On October 6, WBA flyweight champ Denkaosen Kaowichit Kratindaeng-gym (47-1-1, 20 KOs), Thailand, will put his belt on the line against Daiki Kameda (14-1, 10 KOs), Japan, in Osaka. The 20-year-old Daiki had been suspended for a year because of his tremendously dirty fighting against WBC champ Daisuke Naito with the world belt at stake in Tokyo in October 2007. After his comeback Daiki scored four wins in a row. We just wonder why Denkaosen will not face the WBA top contender Koki Kameda, Daiki’s elder brother.
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All the four world title bouts, if including the disputed Ishida-Avendano one, will take place in Osaka, where there have happened shameful internal conflicts among promoters and managers in the JPBA (Japan Professional Boxing Association; the union of licensed managers). We hope all will be held smoothly and successfully without any cancellation.

Escobedo-Katsidis on Sept 19

By Gabriel F. Cordero

Looks like U.S. Olympian Vicente Escobedo (21-1, 13 KOs) will face Australian former interim world champion Michael Katsidis (25-2, 21 KOs) on the September 19 Mayweather-Marquez card the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Escobedo has won his last twelve fights. Katsidis has been in with Joel Casamayor, Juan Diaz and Jesus Chavez among others. Escobedo is currently training at La Romanza Gym in Mexico City with Nacho Beristain.

Inside the David Tua Camp

Photo: Dave Cameron/World of Boxing

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

Former heavyweight title challenger David Tua (49-3-1, 42 KOs) and his trainer Roger Bloodworth are now well into their preparations for the biggest heavyweight fight to hit New Zealand ever. The big punching Tua is set to face follow contender Shane Cameron (23-1, 20 KOs) on October 3rd at the Pavilion in Hamilton, New Zealand and promoted by Duco Events. Calling the acton at ringside will be
famous fight broadcaster Colonel Bob Sheridan, who has called some of the greatest heavyweight battles of all time including “The Rumble In The Jungle” (Ali vs Foreman) and “The Thrilla In Manila” (Ali vs Frazier). The Colonel is very excited about the Tua vs Cameron bout and gives his take on this upcoming heavyweight battle. (more…)

Classic Jones fights continue today!

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 Antonio Tarver airs today, at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on ESPN Classic. In this fight, Jones drops twenty pounds from his previous fight in this gutty performance to beat Tarver and regain the light heavyweight world title he gave up to fight at heavyweight.  Click here for more info on this week’s schedule.

Video: “Big” Roy unplugged!

Mayweather Speaks Out

Floyd “Money” Mayweather, who returns to the ring to face Juan Manuel Marquez on September 19th, recently answered questions on a variety of subjects. Floyd touched on his return to boxing, President Obama, the Mayweather family, his thoughts on Michael Vick, and of course money. The interview was conducted by SupaKen of Russ Parr Morning Show and the audio is courtesy of Mayweather Promotions/Golden Boy Promotions.

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Tompkins calling “Hook City”

Award-winning boxing broadcaster Barry Tompkins will call all the action for this Saturday night’s “Hook City” pay-per-view card, headlined by 8-time world boxing champion Roy “Captain Hook” Jones, Jr. (53-5, 39 KOs) and 2-time super middleweight world title-holder Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy (25-2, 17 KOs), live from the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi . . . Click here for more

Video: “Hook City” pre-show!

Ticket Alert: Pacquiao-Cotto

The date is set for the mega-fight between boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound king Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao and three-time world champion Miguel Cotto. Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto, “FirePower” will take place Saturday, Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9 p.m. PST/6 p.m. PST. Tickets priced at $1,000, $750, $500, $300 and $150 go on sale Monday, Aug. 17 at 10 a.m. Ticket are limited to 10 per person and ticket sales at $150 are limited to two (2) per person, with a total ticket limit of 12 per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets also are available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

“Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto have reached an agreement to fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday, Nov. 14,” said Top Rank Chief Executive Officer Bob Arum. Top Rank is currently working on a major media tour to commence immediately following Labor Day weekend. Details will be announced in the near future. (more…)

Vea returns Friday!

By Ray Wheatley–World of Boxing

WBC#22 cruiserweight Dominic Vea (11-1, 9 KOs) will clash with New Zealand’s Oscar Siale (10-1, 4 KOs) on Friday with the OPBF title up for grabs at the Blacktown RSL club, Blacktown, NSW, Australia. Vea is in great shape after several solid sparring sessions recently with former WBA light heavyweight champion Danny Green who is challenging for the vacant IBO cruiserweight crown in Biloxi, Missisippipi on Saturday. Vea captured the OPBF cruiserweight title in 2007 when he stopped Ryosuke Takahashi in eight rounds in Tokyo, Japan. (more…)

Onodera keeps Japanese title

By Joe Koizumi

WBA#14 Yosukezan Onodera (20-1-1, 7 KOs), 140, kept swinging roundhouse blows mostly to the target named air, and barely managed to keep his Japanese national super-light belt by a unanimous but disappointing decision (97-91, 98-81 and 97-92) over powerless southpaw Yuji Wauke (12-3, 6 KOs), 139.75, over ten hard-fought but terrible rounds on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. Fresh from his upset coronation by dethroning then world-rated Norio Kimura (retired) in his fourteenth defense this April, Onodera was expected to show a good performance in the initial defense before his warm-heated adherents. Too nervous and tense, Onodera forgot textbook jabs and straight rights only to wildly throw looping punches, missing the target time and again. Why could he win? Wauke, the southpaw challenger, was infected with a swine-flu-like swinging decesase and poorly followed the champ’s roundhouse rallies. He hit the deck with the champ’s chopping right in the third, and they were both wasting great amount of energy, hitting the air together all night. Promoter: B-Tight Promotions.

Classic Jones-Lacy starts today!

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.

Kicking off the action, the 2002 fight between Roy Jones Jr. and Glen Kelly airs today, at 8 PM ET / 5 PM PT on ESPN Classic. In this fight, Jones puts his hands behind his back, sticks his chin out, then knocks Kelly out with one punch in what Jones calls the “Chicken Wang” punch. Click here for more info on this week’s schedule.

Arnaoutis returns Aug 27

Junior welterweight contender “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis (22-3-2, 10 KOs) will make his second straight appearance at North Bergen, NJ’s Schuetzen Park when he faces off with Troy Browning (20-3-1, 8 KOs) on August 27. The 10-round main event will headline the show promoted by Pound4Pound Promotions. “I want to thank John and Pat Lynch for giving me the opportunity to fight in their main event once again,” says Arnaoutis. “Troy Browning is a very tough, rugged opponent who I will not underestimate. He will be coming to win, just as I am, and will be dangerous for the whole fight.”

Minto-Holmes on Friday!

Photo: Team Minto

At the conclusion of training camp on Friday, WBO #8, WBA #15 heavyweight Brian “The Beast” Minto (33-2, 21 KOs) announced that his August 14th WBO NABO title fight against WBC #13 Donnell Holmes (31-0-2 27kos) will be televised live on Armstrong Cable and telecasted live at www.MintoFight.com. Armstrong, the nations 16th largest cable operator, has over 5 million subscribers combined throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Maryland. The heavyweight clash may also be watched live worldwide at MintoFight.com, and may be purchased for $9 or 7E. (more…)

Ticket Alert: Diaz-Chavez

Tickets will go on sale today at 10am for the Chicago showdown between former world champions David Diaz and Jesus Chavez set for Saturday, September 26th at the UIC Pavilion in downtown Chicago. Tickets are priced at $151, $101, $76, $51 and $31, and are available through Ticketmaster, the UIC Pavilion Box Office (312-413-5740) and the 8 Count Productions Office (312-226-5800).

Boxing back in Kingsville, TX

By Jose Reyes

On August 15, 2009, Servando Gonzales of Lone Star Promotions links up with Team Solid Knock Out to provide Kingsville, Texas an entertaining night of professional boxing. It has been 14 plus years since Kingsville Texas has hosted a professional boxing card. The last being 1995 when Harold Warren won the NABF featherweight title and Jesse Benavides fought Manuel Avila in a ten rounder. (more…)