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Check out the news and notes in boxing for the week of January 16, 2014.
Mayweather Not Choosing Pacquiao Next
Floyd Mayweather is in South Africa to help breathe life back into the sport of boxing. But according to an article written by the AP–via ESPN–Mayweather wasted no time in discussing bitter rival Manny Pacquiao, saying the following:
All of a sudden, he loses to Timothy Bradley, he loses to Marquez … he has tax problems now. So, two losses and tax problems later, now he all of a sudden want to say: ‘You know what? I’d do anything to make the fight happen.’
For two fighters who may never fight, they sure do spend a lot of time talking about one another.
Kiko Martinez to Defend Title in Japan
Dan Rafael of ESPN is reporting that Kiko Martinez will defend his IBF title against Hozumi Hasegawa in Japan. The bout will take place in April with a venue and exact date to be determined at a later time.
Lamont Peterson Open to Fighting Danny Garcia
Lamont Peterson is trying to bounce back after a brutal knockout loss against Lucas Matthysse last year. Peterson’s IBF strap was not on the line in that fight, so he is defending his title against top contender, Dierry Jean, on Saturday, January 25, 2014. In a recent interview with Boxing Scene, Peterson looked ahead a bit and said that he is willing to take on undisputed Jr. Welterweight champion, Danny Garcia:
Of course it’s a fight that interests me; he’s holding two of the titles at the weight class and he’s considered to be the best fighter at the weight class. Of course getting a shot at that crown is very important because the reason why I stay at the weight class is because I want to be the number one fighter before I move up. So me getting that fight next [means] the sooner I can fight him, the sooner I can move up to 147 pounds.
Experts Weigh In on Bute vs. Pascal
Lucian Bute defends his NABF Light Heavyweight title on Saturday, January 18, 2014 against fellow Canadian Jean Pascal. HBO’s Jim Lampley spoke with Ring TV and gave his opinion on the bout.
I understand that Pascal is the betting favorite in the fight, and I think that it’s warranted for Pascal to be the betting favorite in the fight… Bute, at this point, is not a known quantity. He was terrible against Froch, and that’s not terribly surprising given that Froch was on a high coming into the fight, and that he was fighting on his home turf in England. But Bute was not impressive against Grachev. He also has not fought in 14 months.
Thanks, Jim! Almost makes you not want to watch the fight.
Adrien Broner‘s Feelings Hurt
Following Fabolous’ diss of Adrien Broner–after he was knocked around the ring by Marcos Maidana in December–Ryan Songalia penned a cool article on Ring TV this week linking the history of hip-hop and boxing. After hearing the diss by Fabolous, Broner reportedly tweeted the following:
“@myfabolouslife n___a had a bad night and you jumped ship smh my n___a I thought you watched my fight to see me win……”
We recently reported that Broner exercised his rematch clause to face Maidana once again, which will reportedly happen in April.
