For Immediate Release & Publish
REAL COMBAT MEDIA WEEKLY BOXING REPORT
By Jason Gonzalez,Real Combat Media Arizona Boxing Correspondent
Welcome back to another edition of the Real Combat Media Boxing Weekly Report “Boxing Blaze Edition” where we cover all the top news stories in boxing each week!
Monday (October 17, 2016)
For a while it looked like Bernard Hopkins had hung up his gloves and was done fighting but he will be returning to the ring on December 17, 2016 at the Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles. The fight is being named “The Final One” which implies that this infact is Bernard Hopkins last fight. Many would think that Hopkins last opponent would be cherry picked to insure he leaves with a guaranteed win, but that is not the case. Hopkins will be fight against Joe Smith Jr. (22-1) who knocked out Andrezj Fonfara in his last fight. Not only that, Smith has knocked out 18 of his 22 opponent’s meaning Hopkins is stepping into the ring with a dangerous puncher in his last fight. So will Bernard “The Alien” Hopkins pull off a victory undoubtedly showing he is out of this world or will he fall short due to his age?
Luis Ortiz (25-0) is set to fight against Malik Scott (28-2-1) on November 12, 2016 from Monte Carlo. The fight has been picked up by HBO and will be televised on the program Boxing After Dark. Ortiz was previously been scheduled to fight on the undercard of the Canelo vs Smith Pay-Per-View until Ortiz split from Golden Boy. Now Ortiz is finally making his way back into the ring and back to our TVs.
Tuesday (October 18, 2016)
Sergey Kovalev and Malik Scott are to fight on November 19, 2016 on HBO at the T-mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Good news for boxing fans is that the two will have a special on HBO called MY FIGHT where it will follow the boxers to their hometowns in preparation for their fight and it will also show how the fighters go to be where they are now. As of now there’s only one episode scheduled for October 29, 2016.
Wednesday (October 19, 2016)
Wladimir Might Not Fight Joshua
The boxing community starting going crazy over the possible match up of Wladimir Klitschko vs Anthony Joshua when negotiations between the two camps started. Now it looks like those dreams might be crushed because Klitschko is now in talks with Lucas Browne (24-0) for December 10 in Germany. It’s looking like (but nothing’s confirmed yet) the WBA did not sanction the fight between Klitschko vs Joshua therefore Klitschko went to look for someone who is ranked by the WBA in order to try to get his old belt back. Browne is the Regular World WBA Heavyweight Champion. For those of you who don’t know, in the WBA there is a regular Champion and their is a Super Champion; Klitschko wants the Super title. Boxing fans need to cross their fingers and hope that Klitschko changes his mind and goes for the fight with Joshua.
Thursday (October 20, 2016)
Carl Frampton vs Leo Santa Cruz Rematch
A rematch between Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz is a done deal for January 28, 2017 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Frampton defeated Santa Cruz in July of 2016 in a fight where both fighters left it all in the ring. Before the fight many thought Santa Cruz would win but the fighting Irishman upset him and became the WBA featherweight Champion. The first fight was very close at times meaning it is not out of the realm of possibility that Santa Cruz might come out of this rematch victorious. Who do you think will win? Is it possible that this rivalry might end in a trilogy?
Friday (October 21, 2016)
Mikey Garcia Returns to the Ring
Mikey Garcia is scheduled to fight against the WBC World Lightweight Champion Dejan Zlaticanin on January 28, 2017 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Garcia was once one of the top pound for pound fighters of the world until he took a break from boxing because of problems with his promoter. Garcia was out of the ring for about two and a half years and he finally returned this year in July. In his comeback fight Garcia fought a fighter named Elio Rojas who lost the fight by TKO in the 5th round. His last fight was at 140 lbs and he will be going down in weight to the 135 lbs division to fight Zlaticanin. Fighting for a world title in his second fight back is the fastest way Garcia can make a statement and show the boxing world that he is still an elite fighter.
Saul “Canelo” Álvarez finally got his title after defeating the WBO World Super Welterweight Champion Liam Smith in September at the AT&T Stadium in Texas. The WBO had its Annual Convention in Puerto Rico and Canelo was officially crowned his belt. Even though Canelo is the WBO champion at 154 lbs it will not last for long because he plans to move up in weight to the 160 lbs division. It looks like Canelo wants to fight the WBO champion at 160 lbs which happens to be Billy Joe Saunders. If Canelo fights and beats Saunders that means that he would have the only belt Gennady Golovkin does not have. A fight between Canelo and Golovkin would leave the winner the undisputed champion at 160 lbs. As of right now these potential fights are hypothetical but it is not out of the realm of possibility.
Saturday (October 22, 2016)
David Lemieux Wins
David Lemieux (36-3) won a unanimous decision against Cristian Fabian Rios (21-8-3). Lemieux is known to be a power puncher who knocks out a majority of his opponents but he was not able to put away Rios. Take note that Rios had never been knocked out in any of his previous fights. Two fights before this fight Lemieux was the IBF World Middleweight Champion but he was defeated against Gennady Golovkin who is currently the most dominant fighter at 160 lbs. Now Lemieux’s manager Camille Estephan wants him to fight again in December on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vs Joe Smith Jr. but nothing is official yet. Estephan hopes that Lemieux’s next fights lead him to a showdown with Saul “Canelo” Álvarez in May of 2017.
Sunday (October 23, 2016)
Julio César Chavez to Fight in December
Julio César Chavez Jr. (49-2-1) will be fighting against Dominik Britsch (32-2-1) on December 10, 2016 in the Monterey, Mexico. The fighters have agreed to a catch weight of 169 lbs which is not surprising because Chavez Jr has had trouble making 168 lbs (Super Middleweight) in the past. Britisch was scheduled to fight Gilberto Ramirez in July on the undercard of Crawford vs Postol but the fight was canceled when Ramirez obtained a hand injury. As of now it’s not clear where Chavez Jr’s career is going but a win over Gilberto Ramirez would certainly get him back on the right track.
It looked like four time world champion Roy Jones Jr. was ready to hang up the gloves but it looks like he’ll be sticking around. Jones Jr fought in August and tore his right bicep and has been unable to fight since. That was his second fight after being knocked out in December of 2015. Jones is waiting for his bicep to heal then he will continue fighting. “I’m addicted to boxing. I don’t think that it’s difficult for me to retire, but right now I don’t want to. It’s something I really enjoy and that I’m still capable of doing,” Jones told Erika Montoya. Currently Jones Jr is 48-years-old, how much longer will he keep on fighting?
REAL COMBAT MEDIA BOXING & MMA PUBLICITY SERVICES
REAL COMBAT MEDIA BOXING RANKINGS
COMMENTS
English