Solis: I’ve always been ready

By Karl Freitag

Ed Mulholland

Undefeated WBC #2 ranked Odlanier “La Sombra” Solis (15-0, 11 KOs) says he’s been ready to fight for the heavyweight championship since his first pro fight. “Since I turned professional, my goal has always been the same and I felt that I have been ready to fight for the most prized crown in this industry, which is the heavyweight crown,” said the 29-year-old. “I was ready then and I’m ready now and I’ll always be ready. When given the opportunity I will take full advantage and make the best of it.”

Solis has some notable credentials with wins over heavyweight champions Sultan Ibragimov and David Haye in the amateur ranks. He also has three world amateur championships in addition to a 2004 Olympic gold medal. Promoter Bob Arum says he hoping to get Solis into a world title shot as soon as possible. “It’s up to getting one of the champions to fight Solis,” he said, “and I’m very optimistic that will happen sometime before the end of the year, definitely.” (more…)

Boxing 360 inks Mollo

Chicago heavyweight Mike Mollo (19-3, 12 KOs) has signed an exclusive promotional contract with Boxing 360, it was announced today by the New York City-based company. The 30-year-old Mollo’s most notable victories to date have been against former Olympians, Mike Tyson-conqueror and former Irish heavyweight champion Kevin McBride (TKO2), and Canadian Art Binkowski. Mollo has also extended multiple world title challengers Andrew Golota and Jameel McCline the full 12-round distances, respectively, in their WBA Fedelatin and WBC Eliminator fights. (more…)

Lemieux returns!

For the 4th time, GYM (Groupe Yvon Michel) will present its highly-touted “Boxing Under the Stars” gala at the spectacular Uniprix Stadium in Jarry Park during the Montreal Grand-Prix weekend. The eagerly anticipated event will take place on June 11th, 2010, the Friday before the world-famous Grand Prix of Canada . . . click here for more

Trainers speak out on Jones-Hopkins II

By Andreas Hale

As we inch closer to the long awaited rematch between Roy Jones Jr (54-6, 40 KOs) and Bernard Hopkins (50-5-2, 35 KOs, 1 NC) on April 3 in Las Vegas, the trainers for both fighters spoke to the media about the significance of the fight and how they believe it will play out. Alton “Coach Merk” Merkerson and Naazim Richardson – Jones Jr and Hopkins trainers, respectively – fielded questions from the media

“His preparation is down to a science. We take nothing for granted with Roy Jones,” Richardson explained. “He’s desperate now and a desperate man is dangerous man. We’ve been looking forward to this match for years.”

“Camp with Roy is going very well,” Merkerson said. “He’s training just as hard for this fight as any in the past. He knows Bernard will be ready and is working hard. We’re not taking anything for granted either. We’re going to be very versatile and prepared for any situation.”

Both said that the fight would not be like the first one and fans will see a “Thinking Man’s Fight” as the 41-year-old Jones and the 45-year-old Hopkins will put their respective game plans to the test.

Dzinziruk-Husanov Update

By Alexey Potapov

WBO light middleweight champion Sergiy Dzinziruk (36-0, 22 KOs) says he’ll return to the ring on May 14th at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California to defend against Sherzod Husanov (14-0-1, 7 KOs). “Yes, I will fight against Husanov,” the champ told Fightnews.com. “This fight will be main event.” It will be the first fight for the Ukrainian boxer in the USA. In Dzinziruk’s last fight he won a unanimous decision over Joel Julio (35-3, 31 KOs) on November 1st, 2008. Dzinziruk-Husanov will be televised by SHOWTIME.

Weights from Mexico City

Producciones Deportivas Box

Oscar Ibarra 112 vs. Darwin Zamora 112
(WBC Latin flyweight title)
Johnny Navarrete 147 vs. Alfredo Chavez 147
Jose Ramirez 148 vs. Jorge Hernandez 147
Ulises “Ratoncito” Lara 109 vs. Felipe Jimenez 112
Salomon Gomez 140 vs. Adrian Rodriguez 140
Venue: Auditorio Plaza Condesa, Mexico DF, Mexico
Promoter: All Star Boxing, Inc., “The New Generation” & Felix “Tuto” Zabala, Jr., in association with Producciones Deportivas, RB Producciones and Rafael Mendoza
TV: Telemundo Main Event Live @ 11:35 PM (ET) in HD
Tickets: 200 Pesos ticketmaster.com.mx and Auditorio Plaza Condesa

Moreno-Cermeño WBA officials

By Gabriel F. Cordero

Puerto Rican referee Luis Pabon will be the third man in the ring when Panamanian WBA regular bantamweight world champion Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno (28-1-1, 10 KOs) and Venezuelan WBA interim world champion Nehomar Cermeño (19-0, 11 KOs) meet at Polideportivo Jose Maria Vargas in la Guaira, Venezuela on March 27. The three judges are Nelson Vasquez (Puerto Rico), Levy Martinez (USA) and Uriel Aguilera (Colombia). The fight Supervisors are Miguel Prado (Panamá) and Alberto Sarmiento (Venezuela).

Brinkley-Bika Update

By Dave Spencer

Promoter InterBox won the IBF purse bid to stage the IBF super-middleweight elimination bout between Jesse Brinkley (35-5-0, 22 KO) and Sakio Bika (28-3-2, 19 KO) to determine the mandatory contender for the belt held by Lucian Bute. InterBox beat out bids by Star Boxing (Team Brinkley) and Golden Boy Promotions (Team Andrade). InterBox has 90 days to promote the bout (until June 16th). Interbox has a pair of events coming up, April 17th in Montreal featuring Lucian Bute versus Edison Miranda and May 28th in Quebec City featuring Eric Lucas in a comeback battle against Librado Andrade. While no date has been set, it is likely that the bout is destined for the Quebec card in hopes of landing a US television deal for the card.

“We have not decided where to place this bout yet. It can become part of our April 17th show in Montreal, or of the May 28th show in Quebec City. We have no strategy yet. We would like to attract an American TV network to Quebec. I believe that with Lucas, Andrade, Brinkley and Bika we increase our chances of having them cross the border” stated Interbox head Jean Bedard.

WBC twinbill webcast Saturday

WBCBoxing.tv will present two live professional boxing webcasts, as well as the third round of the Cinturon de Oro amateur featherweight tournament – free of charge – on Saturday, March 20. Please note: the webcasts are not available in Mexico.

WBCBoxing.tv webcast at 10:30 P.M. (22:30 hrs) Central Time: In the main event at The City Discoteque in Cancun, Jhonny Gonzalez, 42-7 with 36 knockouts, of Mexico City, will fight Antonio “T-Rex” Davis, 26-5 with 13 knockouts, of Atlanta, Georgia, in a WBC featherweight world title eliminator scheduled for 12 rounds. (more…)

Richardson, Merkerson comments

By Andreas Hale

As we inch closer to the long awaited rematch between Roy Jones Jr (54-6, 40 KOs) and Bernard Hopkins (50-5-2, 35 KOs, 1 NC) on April 3 in Las Vegas, the trainers for both fighters spoke to the media about the significance of the fight and how they believe it will play out. Alton “Coach Merk” Merkerson and Naazim Richardson – Jones Jr and Hopkins trainers, respectively – fielded questions from the media.

“His preparation is down to a science. We take nothing for granted with Roy Jones,” Richardson explained. “He’s desperate now and a desperate man is dangerous man. We’ve been looking forward to this match for years.”

“Camp with Roy is going very well,” Merkerson said. “He’s training just as hard for this fight as any in the past. He knows Bernard will be ready and is working hard. We’re not taking anything for granted either. We’re going to be very versatile and prepared for any situation.”

Both said that the fight would not be like the first one and fans will see a “Thinking Man’s Fight” as the 41-year-old Jones and the 45-year-old Hopkins will put their respective game plans to the test. Full report coming soon.

Vazquez-Marquez IV Presser

Big Joe Miranda

Following three epic battles, three-time World Champion Israel Vazquez and two-division World Champion Rafael Marquez will face off in the fourth installment of what is perhaps the greatest boxing trilogy of all-time on Saturday, May 22, at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, live on SHOWTIME at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). In the co-feature, Yonnhy Perez will defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) Bantamweight World Title against unbeaten top contender Abner Mares. The historic SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader is co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Gary Shaw Productions, Espinoza Boxing Promotions and Zanfer Promotions and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate.

Tickets, priced at $250, $125, $75, $50 and $25 will be available starting Friday, March 19 at 10:00 a.m. PT online at ticketmaster.com, via Ticketmaster charge-by-phone lines at (800)745-3000. Tickets will also be available starting Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. PT at the STAPLES Center Box Office. Click here for more photos…

Tajbert: My dream became true

Universum

Vitali Tajbert (19-1, 16 KOs) reached the peak of his career today. The WBC issued an official statement to Universum Box-Promotion declaring Vitali Tajbert, from Stuttgart, Germany, their undisputed world champion at the super featherweight limit of 130 pounds/58.967 kilogram. In November 2009, Tajbert defeated Humberto Gutierrez in Kiel, Germany, to claim the interim-version of the WBC belt. At that time, regular WBC titleholder Humberto Soto was already planning to relinquish his super featherweight belt and challenge for the WBC crown at lightweight. (more…)

Latimore, Powell make weight

Photo: Bob Barton

Jr middleweight Deandre “The Bull” Latimore (left) weighed in at 153.75 for his much anticipated rematch with Sechew Powell, who scaled in at 152. The IBF jr middleweight eliminator will take place on Friday night at the Choctaw Gaming Center in Durant, Oklahoma. ESPN2 will televise.
Other weights:
Edwin Rodriguez  167.4 vs.  George Armenta 166
Jonathan Gonzalez 154.4 vs. Rodrigo Villereal 155.8
Prenice Brewer 142 vs. Chris Fernandez 142.4
Carson Jones 158 vs. Delray Raines 156.8
Chauncey Welliver 256 vs.  Mike Sheppard 228

Weights from Lincoln, RI

Emily Harney

Danny O’Connor 142 vs Franklin Gonzalez 143.5
Jaime Clampitt 139.5 vs Jill Emery 141
Joey McCreedy 166 vs Dafir Smith 170
Jason Pires 144.5 vs John Revish 144.5
Eddie Soto 137 vs Sean Eklund 138
Jesse Barboza 229 vs Richard Mason 211
Keith Kozlin 167 vs Roberto Burgess 168
Venue: Twin River Event Center, Lincoln, RI
Promoter: Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment and Sports
Tickets: $35, $50, $75 and $100. Call 401-724-2253

Hanks to face Miller

Promoter Roy Englebrecht’s long-running “Battle in the Ballroom” series returns April 1st at the Irvine Marriott in Irvine, California. In the main event, undefeated heavyweight Joe Hanks (11-0, 7 KOs) will take on his toughest opponent yet when he faces Shannon Miller (16-4, 9 KOs). Also, two-time Olympic Boxing alternate and 1-0 super bantamweight David “Thunder” Clark fights Jonathan Alcantara (3-1-1). Tickets start at $32 and less than 100 remain.

Mayweather-Mosley drug testing

Floyd Mayweather and Shane Mosley will begin the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) gold standard anti-doping program on Monday, March 22 as they continue to prepare for Mayweather vs Mosley “Who R U Picking?” PPV set to take place on Saturday, May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The program involves no-advance-notice sample collection of the athletes’ blood and urine prior to and after the fight so that all banned substances, some of which do not show up in urine alone, are tested for thoroughly, and with both athletes subjected to the testing program leading up to as well as after the fight.

Bonsu-Bailey make weight

Eva Asdou

Jackson Osei Bonsu (31-3, 24 KOs) and former world champion Randall Bailey (40-7, 35 KOs) both made weight today for their IBF# 2 spot welterweight eliminator scheduled for tomorrow. The site of the event will be at the Lotto Arena, in Merksem, Antwerpen, Belgium. Bonsu weighed in at 146.5 while Bailey weighed in at 146.7. Maximum weight allowed was 147lbs.

Q&A: Arthur Abraham

Sauerland Event

King Arthur Abraham (31-0, 25 KOs) will return to the USA on Saturday to continue his preparation for the eagerly-anticipated Super Six World Boxing Classic showdown with Andre Dirrell (18-1, 13 KOs). The two super-middleweights lock horns at the famous Joe Louis Arena on Saturday, March 27 (LIVE on SHOWTIME® at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT – delayed on the west coast). Boxing-Online.com caught up with the tournament point leader in his training camp in Kienbaum, 20 miles east of Berlin. (more…)

Q&A Robert Garcia

Ricardo Conde

By Ricardo Conde

Former junior lightweight champion Robert “Grandpa” Garcia, of Oxnard, CA is one of the hottest and fastest rising trainers in the boxing game. Garcia currently trains Steven Luevano, Brian Viloria, unbeaten lightweight contender Brandon Rios as well as his younger brother, and undefeated featherweight contender Miguel Garcia. Garcia has also been called in to assist in the training of former flyweight champion Nonito Donaire and welterweight contender Alfonso Gomez and he also coaches quite a few nationally ranked amateur fighters at his recently opened gym, the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, CA. We recently caught up with Garcia and here’s what he had to say. For more details and photos click here…

Cameron beats Hopoate

Brock Ellis

By Ray Wheatley–World of Boxing

Former world rated heavyweight Shane Cameron (24-2, 20 KOs) defeated John Hopoate (12-5, 11 KOs) when the referee disqualified the former Australian heavyweight champion for continuous holding in round two at the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on Thursday. Cameron was coming off a second round loss to David Tua in 2009. Click here for more photos…

Holyfield-Botha PPV info

Details are set for the pay-per-view telecast for Evander Holyfield against Frans Botha on April 10 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. “The Legend Returns,” presented by Crown Boxing, is being distributed in the United States and Canada by Integrated Sports Media for live viewing at 9PM ET/6PM PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, Viewer’s Choice and Bell TV, for a suggested $29.95.

Shot of the Day

Dave Spencer

World champion Lucian Bute swings the big hammer as he preps for his upcoming April 17th IBF super middleweight defense against Edison Miranda. Bute is training in Miami, Florida for the upcoming HBO split-site telecast which also features Kelly Pavlik versus Sergio Martinez.

Bundu-Jerez in Italy

By Enrico “Erik” Crociati

Promoter Mario Loreni will stage an exposive WBA Intercontinental title clash at the welterweight limit on Friday night at the Nelson Mandela Forum in Florence, Italy. Italian boxing superstar Leonard Bundu (20-0-1, 6 KOs) and former South American challenger Carlos Adan Jerez (30-11-3, 16 KOs) are the co-challengers for the vacant crown. Both fighters are very hard and strong warriors. ‘Boom Boom’ Bundu, a former amateur star is extremely popular in Italy, due to his power and his aggressive style and currently is the European Union 147lb titlist, but Jerez, is a real ‘steel-man’ with vicious punch and is probably at the peak of his career, after a very impressive 2009, where he has knocked out former WBA contender Javier Alberto Mamani. (more…)

Linares in Venezuela

By Gabriel F. Cordero

Former WBC and WBA world champion Jorge “Niño de Oro” Linares has arrived in Venezuela from Japan to finalize his preparations for his March 27th comeback fight at the Polideportivo Jose Maria Vargas, La Guaira. Linares faces Francisco Lorenzo in his first fight since his shock KO1 loss to Juan Salgado last October in Tokyo. “I’m doing well, without problems and am happy to be able to come to fight here after almost five years,” said Linares. “I didn’t come for the holidays, I came to work. I needed this time to recover mentally. I thought I’d come back at 132 pounds or so. Nevertheless, this fight will be in the super feather category which pleases me because it’ll be a challenge for me. I’m happy me to fight again in my country and this is one of my motivations.”