by James Slater – Prize-fighters always have and always will be fond of predicting sensational, even shocking, KO wins. Doing so to either try and sell tickets or to try and achieve a mental edge by getting under the skin of their opponent, or both, these fighters are sometimes proven to be correct; while at other times it is the KO prediction that winds up falling flat on its face, and not the fighter’s rival in the ring.

Right now, there are currently three big names who are all but promising how they will win their upcoming bouts via a knockout. These men are super-middleweight Carl Froch, who says he will KO Mikkel Kessler on April 24th and Bernard Hopkins and David Haye, who say they will stop Roy Jones Jr and John Ruiz, respectively, this coming Saturday night..

Will any of these guys make good with their prediction?

First up, we have Haye-Ruiz. Haye knows he needs to win in style if he’s to keep fans interested in him in a big way. After winning his WBA heavyweight belt with a win that came in a dull fight against Nikolai Valuev, Haye cannot afford to allow another boring match to take place on Saturday. As such he will try his best to become the second man to have flattened “The Quiet Man,” you can count on that. But will he be able to do so?

Though I see Haye winning, I think he will have to go all 12-rounds to do so. So, no, Haye will not get his KO. Despite this, the fight will be a decent enough affair, action-wise, and the fans will go home reasonably happy. Also, the fans will still either love Haye, or they will continue to love to hate him!

Later that same day, we will have the long awaited Hopkins-Jones II. Hopkins has vowed to make Jones pay for the way he has been made to wait as long as he has – 17-years – for the chance at revenge April 3rd’s fight will give him. And “The Executioner” has also claimed how he will make Jones pay the ultimate price by putting him to sleep, “around the 6th or 7th-round.” But will he do so?

In a word, no. Though Jones is coming off that now infamous 1st-round stoppage loss at the hands of Danny Green in Australia, and though Jones has clearly seen better days, he has something over Hopkins – a mental edge. Not only has Jones beaten Hopkins before, he also has, in the opinion of many, a hold of some kind over Hopkins. Much the same way Sugar Ray Leonard was able to get inside the head of Marvellous Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran, Jones has the ability to out-psyche Hopkins. This may not allow Jones to win on Saturday, but it will allow him to win some rounds, generally mess Hopkins around, and ultimately last the distance.

Hopkins will get his revenge, but it will come in the form of a fairly close points win. We can only hope that this fight is one that sends the fans home happy.

Froch-Kessler will be up next for us, in late April. Froch, though he has admitted how he admires and respects Kessler, has, for some reason, continued with his insistence that he will knock the Dane flat. In my opinion, of the three fighters being discussed in this article, “The Cobra” has the best chance of making his prediction come true; as crazy as that may sound.

The thing is, Kessler may be past it; even to the point of being a badly faded force. Some people say Kessler has never been the same since losing his unbeaten record to the now retired Joe Calzaghe, and maybe they are right. Certainly, Kessler’s confidence took a blow when he discovered he could be beaten. But how much of a bigger blow did the Dane’s confidence take when he was beaten up and defeated for a second time, by Andre Ward? Froch, as tough a fighter and as big a puncher as Kessler, finds himself in the right place at the right time to be able to do a number on him. Though he’s not as polished a boxer as Kessler, the timing of this fight, coming as it is at a time when Froch is absolutely soaring with confidence while Kessler is anything but, will prove to be a big factor in the WBC 168-pound champ’s favour. Many fights have been won largely because of one guy being in a better place mentally that his opponent, and this will be the again case on April 24th.

But, will Froch actually KO Kessler? I feel he will, late in the fight. It may not be a clean KO – probably more of a still-on-his-feet-but-taking-punishment-TKO – but Froch will get the stoppage.

Source; www.eastsideboxing.com

LAS VEGAS (Mar. 29, 2010) – Reigning World Boxing Federation heavyweight title-holder Frans “The White Buffalo” Botha was supposed to fight 4-time world heavyweight champion Evander “The Real Deal” Holyfield 12 years ago but boxing politics eventually destroyed that match-up..

More than a decade later, though, Botha (47-4-3, 28 KOs) will finally get his crack at the living legend and future Hall of Famer when he defends his title belt April 10 against Holyfield in the 12-round main event, headlining “The Legend Returns” pay-per-view event, live at 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 9 PM/ET – 6 PM/PT on both cable and satellite pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, Viewer’s Choice and Bell TV, for a suggested retail price of only $29.95.

In 1998, Botha was the No. 1 mandatory challenger and Holyfield world champion. Instead of getting his title shot, Botha explained, he was placed in a box-off that he refused to fight in, sending him from No. 1 to No. 11 in the ratings, and Holyfield ended-up fighting Vaughn Bean.

“God works in mysterious ways,” Botha said. “(Promoter) Frank (Luca – Crown Boxing) got me Evander. We both have a lot of experience and it’s going to be a good fight. I know he’s going to be right there and he’ll be in good condition. This is a chance for me to prove I still got it. Holyfield is coming to prove himself as well. If he doesn’t beat me, he’s done, and I’m going to make sure that this is his last fight. I’m going to retire him once and for all.”

The 47-year-old Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 KOs) is coming off of a controversial 12-round majority decision loss December 20, 2008 in Switzerland to then World Boxing Association champion Nicolai Valuev that most observers felt Holyfield really won.

“He is a legend, take nothing away from him,” Botha continued. “He’s one of the all-time best, a multiple world champion who has fought the best heavyweights in the world. I can’t ask for anything better at this stage of my career. It’s a big opportunity. I have another 2-3 good years left to do some damage in the heavyweight division. All of my losses have been to world champions (Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Michael Moorer and Shannon Briggs) and three of those fights never should have been losses. A win will put me right back in the picture and I’d then I’d like to fight Vitali Klitschko.”

Source; www.eastsideboxing.com

MICHAEL Sprott has taunted Audley Harrison and insisted: “I’ll knock you out quicker than I did before.” Sprott fights Harrison for the vacant European Heavyweight Championship on April 9 at London’s Alexandra Palace. The pair fought three years ago with Sprott winning with a third round knockout and he thinks that loss will still be playing on Harrison’s mind. “I think in the back of his mind he could have flashbacks of what happened before,” said Sprott..

“I don’t know if he’s scared and he’s accepted the fight but you will see fireworks from round one

“I thought I boxed well before but not as well as I could do.

“I’m very confident that what happened last time is going to happen again – only this time I’ll knock him out quicker. I definitely think it won’t be a different fight.

“It’s an opportunity not just for him but also for me and has come at the right time as he’s 38 but I’m only 35.

“I’m not saying Harrison is on his way down but I’m 35 and have more years left but he’s 38 and when you get to a certain age there’s nothing you can do to improve.

“Training’s been going ok. He’s confident as well but I believe I’m going to beat him so that makes for a very interesting fight.”

Former Olympic Games gold medalist Harrison had been scheduled to fight Albert Sosnowski for the title before the Pole got offered a contest with WBC Champion Vitali Klitschko.

That led to ex-British and Commonwealth title holder Sprott stepping in and Matchroom Sport Chairman Barry Hearn believes the winner could follow in Sosnowski’s footsteps.

“Every fight fan dreams to see fights like this made where both fighters have committed themselves to winning the European title,” said Hearn.

“It’s a 50-50 even-money clash and Sky Sports are delighted to be televising it live.

“Audley believes he can go on and win a world title but Michael has already KOd Audley and feels he can do it again.

“Michael has bounced back from a few defeats with a sensational first round knockout in Germany recently and both men are aware winning this is a fast track to a world title shot”

“This is about repeat or revenge but both are totally confident in their ability to win by KO. I expect the winner of this fight to be fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship by the end of the year.”

Source; www.eastsideboxing.com

Bernard Hopkins :-

“Every fight I have the same mentality. It is either my life or my opponent’s life. For that reason alone, I don’t know why a fight wouldn’t be personal. Our rivalry is just a little bit spicier.

“I have accomplished so many things and I think that losing to Roy Jones Jr. made me a better fighter later on in my career.

“This is not it for me. Why should it be? The ring retires fighters. Fighters don’t retire from the ring. The ring doesn’t talk in a literal sense, but it speaks to me.

“I’ve not the prettiest fighter, but I am going on 50 plus fights without a cut.

“Roy Jones Jr. knew in 1993 that I was going to be a problem, but I was green. I am not green anymore.

“There are holes in Roy Jones Jr.’s legacy. It isn’t about whether or not he belongs in the Hall of Fame, it is about the quality of his opposition. I stopped a lot of guys from being world champions.

“I have the heart to win and the determination to win. I want to punish and destroy Roy Jones Jr. for good.

“At the end of the day, come Saturday, I am going to show the world why Roy Jones Jr. avoided ‘The Executioner’ for 17 years.”

Roy Jones Junior :-

“Bernard Hopkins has been waiting a long time for this fight. This fight is going to have the same result that it had the first time.

“Bernard is not going to feel happy with himself on Sunday morning. He is going to be in a lot of pain on Saturday night.

“I know how he fights. He is going to try to rough me up. I will be ready for anything he tries to do.

“He has no idea what I am going to do or how I am going to fight. I know what he does. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. And he is old. He looks like he is 52.

“I think I am going to stop him. I don’t know when, but I will be really surprised if it goes 12 rounds.”

Source; www.livefight.com

“I think he should come out of retirement. He showed that he can’t handle being retired. He needs boxing, and I think boxing needs him right now.”

Roy Jones has spoken out and urged that Joe Calzaghe needs to get the gloves back on and start fighting again.

“He’s using cocaine now that he’s not fighting anymore. We (fighters) need something to do. We need to box.” Said Roy.

Jones, who has been criticised for boxing on himself past his prime, has an impending rematch with another old-timer in Bernard Hopkins, a man he beat almost 15 years ago for the IBF title. He believes that Joe has still got what it takes and will be happy to fight him again if the Welshman wanted it.

“I think (a rematch with Calzaghe) would be a great opportunity and a great fight. I’d like to see what would happen with my dad in my corner and his dad in his corner matching against each other.”

Source; www.livefight.com

Former IBF Cruiserweight Champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham is a promotional free agent following the conclusion of his eight year promotional contract with Don King Productions. ‘USS’ Cunningham and his wife, and manager, Livvy, are currently considering various options ahead of his forthcoming challenge for the vacant IBF World Cruiserweight title against Canada’s Troy Ross.

US Navy veteran ‘USS’ Cunningham, who returned from camp, in Big Bear, California, last week following the cancellation of the 26th March title fight with Matt ‘Too Smooth’ Godfrey, spoke briefly about his time with Don King Productions . “It has been eight that I’ve been under contract with DKP, and a lot has happened, in those eight years I have become a world champion and have traveled all over the world, from South Africa to Europe.   I am thankful to Don for the opportunities that he has given me and I wish him and his company nothing but the best in the future.”

He then went on to speak about his future plans. “As for my future, I’m excited, I am looking forward to finding a situation where I will be able to be more active in the ring and get more television exposure.  I have been through a lot recently but I think one thing that has come out if it that was positive is that there has been a strong public interest in seeing me fight.  It didn’t work out this time, but Lord willing, I will get another shot to fight on TV soon.” 

‘USS’ Cunningham held the IBF World Cruiserweight title from 26th May 2007, after defeating Poland’s Krzysztof ‘Diablo’ Wlodarczyk, and defended the title twice, the first, which he won by a twelfth round stoppage,  on the 29th December 2007 against Marco ‘Kapt’n’ Huck. Just over one year later, ‘USS’ Cunningham,  lost a close split decision to Tomasz ‘Goral’ Adamek following their ‘Fight of the Year’ nominated battle at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on the 11th December 2008.

Team Cunningham and Troy Ross’ management have 30 days to come to an agreement for Cunningham vs. Ross for the vacant IBF World Cruiserweight title otherwise the IBF will order a purse bid.

For further news and updates on Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham please visit his web site www.usscunningham.com

AUDLEY Harrison believes David Haye will lose his WBA World Heavyweight Championship on Saturday if he underestimates American John Ruiz. Haye fights Ruiz at the MEN Arena in Manchester in the first defence of his belt, which he won in November by beating Russian giant Nikolay Valuev. However, Harrison, who fights Michael Sprott for the vacant European title on April 9 at London’s Alexandra Palace, thinks betting favourite Haye is not in peak condition. “I watched a training session of David Haye from Sky Sports and his timing is off. He’s also carrying excess weight,” said Harrison. “I know David very well and mark my words, if he doesn’t blast out Ruiz early, which is possible, then it’ll be a tough night..

“Golden Boy have also signed Ruiz, so they are in with the winner and out with the winner.

“But it’s a funny old game and if it doesn’t go well for David on Saturday night then who knows what the future holds for him.”

With Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko holding the IBF, WBO and IBO belts and his brother Vitali as WBC Champion, Harrison insists Haye needs to impress American fight fans on Saturday.

But California-based Harrison maintains Haye will not be seen as a true world champion until he has defeated one of the Klitschkos.

“The heavyweight division is desperately looking for marquee names and, no disrespect to David Haye, but no one in the US is talking about David Haye,” added 38-year-old Harrison.

“They’re all talking about the Klitschkos and no one is giving David Haye any play as a world champion so the guys I want to fight are the Klitschkos.

“If you get a chance against David Haye then people will say ‘you now have to beat the Klitschkos’, so if I beat Sprott, I want the Klitschkos.

“The fight with Sprott is obviously huge for me because when I get revenge and lift the title it puts me straight in line for a shot at the world title.

“People are talking about me fighting David Haye at Wembley but, with all due respect to David, outside of the UK no one is talking about him – it’s the Klitschkos they see as the real Heavyweight Champions so dethroning one of them is what I really want.

Source; www.eastsideboxing.com

DETROIT (March 28, 2010) — Wilfried Sauerland has no doubts that Super Six World Boxing Classic tournament point leader King Arthur Abraham would have knocked Andre Dirrell out had it not been for his controversial disqualification in the 11th round. “After a slow start, Arthur was finally landing his power punches,” Sauerland said. “He clearly knocked Dirrell down in the tenth and was following it up in the 11th. There is no way Dirrell would have seen the end of the 12th round..”

After reviewing the tape, Sauerland stated that a clearly exhausted Dirrell seized his chance to sneak out of the fight when the chance presented itself, especially with Abraham upping pressure before the controversial ending. “The TV pictures indicate that Dirrell was down, but there is no way Arthur could have realized that in the heat of the moment. He was just trying to keep up the attack. However, Dirrell is a very good actor. We are glad that his check-up at the hospital turned out just fine but frankly we did not expect any other outcome since he was just acting. He deserves an Oscar for his performance.”

The 26-year-old American was taken to hospital after the fight. “I wish him all the best and hope he is fine,” Abraham said. “I thought I could still punch because the referee did not stop us. In the heat of the moment I was not watching his feet but only his head. As a professional boxer, you always try and make pressure.”

Abraham said it was a very competitive fight. “I am a slow starter,” he added. “That is how I fight. But I picked up in the later rounds and connected.” Abraham was knocked down for the first time his career in the fourth but returned the favour in the tenth when he floored Dirrell, although no knock-down was credited.

Team Sauerland will officially protested the verdict.

Source; www.eastsideboxing.com

By Paul Strauss: Steve Albert described the night perfectly when he said it had spirit, emotion and drama. Andre Dirrell boxed beautifully. He kept Abraham off balance, and had a glove in his face, or one digging into his body most of the night. Andre jabbed well both from the orthodox and southpaw stances. He also hooked off of the jab, and drove straight shots to the belly, and used angles to land hooks behind the King’s elbows. Abraham complained several times about Dirrell’s punches being low, but most of the time Referee Lawrence Cold wasn’t buying it. By the end of the fight, Abraham’s face clearly showed evidence of that Dirrell’s were landing. The King was cut above the right eye, and both cheeks were swollen and bruised.

The disqualification came in the eleventh round as the result of a deliberate right hand punch thrown and landed by the King after Andre Dirrell had slipped to the canvas on one of the advertising logos. In the post-fight interview, the King tried to get viewers to believe Dirrell wasn’t really down/, implying the punch was legall. After watching the replay, it was obvious to even his royal highness that that explanation wasn’t going to work, so he changed tactics. He then tried to make viewers believe that he didn’t know Dirrell was down when he threw the punch! That too seemed like a lame excuse, because Dirrell was literally sitting on the canvas when Abraham intentionally threw the illegal punch. Referee Cole had no choice but to disqualify the undefeated leader of the super six tournament.

Consequently, Abraham leaves without any points and a tainted reputation. Ringside announcer Antonio Tarver described the situation correctly when he said Dirrell came back well after his controversial SD loss to Carl Froch by sticking to the game plan for this fight; although, he did have a couple of lapses when he let Abraham trap him on the ropes. However, Tarver explained Dirrell used his hand speed and elusive foot speed to frustrate Abraham, and to move way out front on points. Dirrell also accomplished something no had up to that point, and that was to score a knockdown of the powerful Armenian in the second round. Dirrell may have deserved a second knockdown in a later round when he landed a punch that caused Abraham to fall into the ropes. However, things evened up later, because Abraham landed a clean right hand shot to the jaw of Dirrell, which put him down. Referee Cole chose to waive it off, because he correctly saw where Abraham’s left foot got behind Dirrell’s right foot, causing Andre to trip.

At one point in the fight when Dirrell was controlling the fight, Referee Cole chose to stop the action and walk Abraham over to a corner where two ringside physicians coudd examine the cut over his right eye. The two doctors seemed to take an unusually long period of time to decide if Abraham should be allowed to continue. Not only that, one of the two physicians was actually treating the cut by applying pressure? Thankfully their actions did not figure into the eventual outcome of the fight.

The illegal right hand punch thrown by Abraham landed squarely to the left side of Dirrell’s chin. There was bit of a delayed reaction and grimace by Dirrell. He then collapsed to his left and then on to his back. His eyes were closed and his legs twitched as if he might be going into convulsions. Bedlam resulted, and many people climbed into the ring. For several moments the situation seemd tense, but once Andre sat up, things began to calm down a bit.

Once Andre regained consciousness, and stood up, he seemed terribly distraught. It became apparent that he thought he had been knocked out and therefore lost the fight. After several minutes passed, it seemed that it was finally registering to him that he had won the fight on disqualification.

King Arthur totally missed out on his objective to win over fans in the USA. Not only was he totally outclassed, he disgraced himself in the eyes of many for intentionally throwing a very dangerous illegal punch out of frustration. Things do not bode well for this fighter, who before the bell rang to start tonight’s action, was considered one of the favorites to win it all. Now he’s been knocked down, soundly outboxed and disqualified. In the process, he has alienated himself to many. He thought he got booed a lot tonight upon entering the ring. Wait until next time he fights in the USA. If Carl Froch gets by Mikkel Kessler, he might remove the King’s chances of ever making that happen anyway. Yes, it definitely was a night filled with spirit, emotion and drama.

Source; www.eastsideboxing.com

by James Slater - Though Andre Dirrell hails from Flint, Michigan, and will box his Detroit debut tonight, The Motor City will surely accept him as their newest boxing hero if he manages to defeat the mighty Arthur Abraham in the latest instalment of the “Super-Six” super-middleweight Boxing Classic tournament.

Having trained for tonight’s big fight at the legendary Kronk gym, the gifted switch-hitter who goes by the nickname of “The Matrix” has also enjoyed some support and encouragement from two Kronk heroes of yesteryear – the legendary Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns and William “Caveman” Lee.

Hearns was at the weigh-in for the big fight and, after being given a rapturous round of applause and briefly speaking about how much the city of Detroit means to him, the former multi-weight world champion gave his take on Dirrell Vs. Abraham..

“It will be real close,” Hearns told The Detroit Free Press. “I like both fighters, but I’ve got to go with Andre. He’s got the skill and moves. But anyone can win this. You’ve got to come and fight the right fight.”

Hearns, looking great in a smart suit, also recalled his own initial world title-win, when he made Detroit so proud by blasting out the fearsome Pipino Cuevas to win the WBA welterweight crown in August of 1980 – a win that both thrilled and served to restore pride to The Motor City. Can Dirrell score a great win of his own in the city tonight?

One other Detroit legend who thinks so is Caveman Lee; who said he also expects a good fight, but a wining one for “The Matrix.”

“It’s going to be a good fight,” said the man who once challenged middleweight king Marvellous Marvin Hagler. “Abraham is a slugger and is very strong. But I like the home team. Andre will outbox him. I think it will be Dirrell by decision.”

As for the two fighters themselves, both men are full of confidence and are assuring victory. Can Dirrell, with his tricky style, offset the bigger puncher, score punches of his own to get respect and come on to win on points? Or will the physically stronger Abraham prove to be way too powerful, too rock solid and too determined to allow the local man to box his fight?

In a few hours, we will have our answer!

One thought that did occur to me, when reading about the great Hearns, though, was how superb a “Super-Six” tournament would have been had there been one back in Tommy’s 168-pound days. Imagine “The Hitman,” who battled guys like Sugar Ray Leonard, James Kinchen and the like at the weight, going up against Abraham, Dirrell, Carl Froch and the other Boxing Classic entrants. How would Hearns have done against today’s best 168-pounders? I have my opinion, and I think Tommy would have done pretty well to say the least.

Source; www.eastsideboxing.com