95 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Joe Harrison byline.
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During a recent press conference that was held in Keiv, Ukraine, the Klitschko brothers expressed their desires for the futre. Wladimir talked about David Haye on June 20th and wanting to "shut his mouth". Then Vitali spoke of his upcoming bout with Juan Carlos Gomez and his interest in facing WBA champion Nikolai Valuev.
By Joe Harrison - In 2008, the heavyweight division had some interesting developments. To begin with, Wladimir Klitschko defeated Sultan Ibragimov to unify the IBF and WBO heavyweight belts. He is the first heavyweight to become a unified champion since Lennox Lewis [who officially retired in 2004]. Wladimir brought hope to the boxing fans everywhere who were dreaming of an undisputed heavyweight champion. At the time, the other title-holders were the WBA champ Ruslan Chagaev, and the WBC champ Samuel Peter. Many wanted Wladimir to face either of them, and attempt to unify three of the major world titles. Unfortunately, this would not happen.
Last night, bantamweight Francisco Rodriguez (14-2, 8 KOs) defeated Torrence Daniels (12-7-1, 6 KOs) by an eight-round unanimous decision at the Cicero Stadium located near Chicago. It was a difficult bout for Rodriguez as Daniels was continuously holding and hitting, but it was the accurate punches from Rodriguez that made the difference.
This past Friday, light heavyweight Mike Nevitt (16-1, 6 KOs) scored an eight-round unanimous decision over Shay Mobley (17-10-1, 7 KOs) at the Cicero Stadium located near Chicago. Throughout the contest, both boxers were punching on the inside and clinching frequently. The bout almost ended in the first round when Nevitt landed a barrage of punches, sending Mobley into the ropes where he got tangled up. After Referee Gerald Scott gave Mobley a standing eight-count, Mobley was able to clinch repeatedly to survive the round.
The night was filled with golden opportunities back on May 6th, 2006. On the pay-per-view card presented by HBO, future stars such as Joan Guzman, Kassim Ouma, and Jose Rivera were given the chance to showcase their skills and talents in the ring. In the main event, the "Golden Boy" Oscar De La Hoya would challenge Ricardo Mayorga for the WBC jr. middleweight championship.
Last Friday, Tavoris Cloud scored a tenth-round TKO over former WBO light heavyweight champion, Julio Cesar Gonzalez, at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, Illinois. The IBF eliminator was the main event in ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights telecast.
By Joe Harrison - In the past, the name Andre Berto meant nothing more than an undefeated prospect with a lot of potential. Today, the name Andre Berto means welterweight champion. Not “the” welterweight champion, but still a man among the best in today’s 147-pound division. By scoring a 7th-round TKO victory over Miguel Angel Rodriguez on June 21st, Berto secured the WBC belt which was left vacant by the now-retired Floyd Mayweather Jr.
On Friday night, former light heavyweight champion Montell Griffin (49-7, 30 KOs) completely shut out his opponent, Corey Cummings (16-3, 12 KOs), by winning every round on his way to a 10-round unanimous decision at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago, IL. Griffin continuously connected with his jab throughout the bout and even floored Cummings in the fourth round as he fought in his hometown for the first time in nine-years.
By Joe Harrison - As most sports fans are aware, Floyd Mayweather Jr. recently announced his retirement from the sport of professional boxing. It is always unfortunate when any sport loses one of its biggest stars regardless of whether or not the decision was best for the athlete. This does not mean that boxing is in any danger. Perhaps this is an opportunity for us to focus more on boxing’s other stars. This is an opportunity for us to check out the heavyweight division, which is at its best since Lennox Lewis retired in 2003. No one can really blame you if you've ignored the heavyweights over the last four or five years. In 2004 and 2005, a couple of the division’s biggest names were John Ruiz and Chris Byrd, neither of whom were crowd-pleasing boxers. Then the Eastern Europeans conquered the heavyweight division through ’06 and ’07 mainly because of names such as Valuev, Chagaev, Maskaev, and Ibragimov. We can keep those days in the past now. Today’s heavyweight scene is a little more dynamic. Not only do we have the dominance of the unified champion, IBF and WBO title-holder Wladimir Klitschko, but we also have the knockout power of the WBC champion, Samuel Peter. Then there are also those prospects who are now legitimate challengers such as Chris Arreola and Alexander Povetkin. With the addition of the undisputed cruiserweight champion, David Haye, things can get very interesting.
At the Chicago press conference to promote the June 28 showdown between Manny Pacquiao and David Diaz, heavyweight contender Fres Oquendo made an appearance and took some time to tell BoxingScene.com about the current status of his career. He discussed why he hasn’t been in the ring and what may be next for him.