6,750 stories on BoxingScene are published under the Mark Vester byline.
Every story follows our editorial policy. To report a mistake, use our corrections form; for anything else, contact us.
Former super featherweight champion Jorge Linares has stated that Carlos Hernandez turned down an offer to fight him in March in Venezuela. Hernandez's team wanted more money and more time to prepare for the contest. Linares's team is now looking at tapes of Francisco Lorenzo and Kevin Kelley. Linares said he even agreed to move up to lightweight to fight Hernandez.
As the second stage of the Super Six tournament approaches, Andre Dirrell is putting together the perfect game plan to hand Arthur Abraham his first career defeat on March 6 at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, California. In his last bout, against Carl Froch, Dirrell felt he outboxed the WBC champion. He lost a split decision but now knows that his boxing ability is good enough to fight with anyone in the world.
During a recent conversation with Gareth Davies of The Daily Telegraph, Alex Ariza, Manny Pacquiao’s strength and conditioning coach, said a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. may never happen at all. Besides the bad blood between the fighters, there is also the bad blood between the promoters, and the sour taste left in the mouths of both sides after the prior negotiations fell apart.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has fired off on his May 1 opponent, WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley. Mayweather, during a recent interview with the Grand Rapids Press, called Mosley a desperate fighter who is looking for one final payday. Turning the tables a bit, Mayweather says it is Molsey who had no choice but to accept their fight. Mosley has said in several interviews that it was Mayweather, because Manny Pacquiao was not an option, was forced to take their fight.
A few weeks ago, Top Rank's Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com's Ryan Songalia that Manny Pacquiao vs. Antonio Margarito was a possible plan for later in the year. Margarito was scheduled to appear on the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard on March 13 in Texas. A few issues with regaining his boxing license has shifted his next ring appearance to May 8 in Mexico. Arum wanted Margarito in the Pacquiao-Clottey co-feature to build in the direction of possibly making that fight at a later point in the year.
According to multiple reports in Japan and Mexico, there are negotiations taking place for an April unification bout between WBC bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa (28-2, 12KOs) and WBO champion Fernando Montiel (40-2, 30KOs). Montiel is due to fight WBO-interim champion Eric Morel but the santioning body may permit a unification bout to move ahead of that.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. plans to fight smart, stay focused on his boxing, and break down "Sugar" Shane Mosley on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mayweather faces Mosley for the WBA welterweight title. Mayweather's big advantage with opponents has been speed. Mosley is another fighter with a high level of speed. When Mayweather steps in the ring with Mosley, he doesn't plan to rely on his speed to win. He plans box and rely on timing.
IBO cruiserweight champion Danny Green will defend his title against former WBA super middleweight champion Manny Siaca on April 25 in Sydney, Australia. Siaca beat Green's rival Anthony Mundine for to get a title in 2004. Mikkel Kessler stopped Siaca to win the title a few months later. Siaca has been inactive and averaging less than one fight per year. The fight being set is part of the marketing by Green to further bait Mundine to a rematch.
A war is brewing for April 24. Carl Froch will head to Denmark to defend his WBC super middleweight title against Mikkel Kessler in Herning. Froch-Kessler is a second stage bout in the Super Six super middleweight tournament. Speaking with British pundit Steve Bunce of The Mirror, Froch made it clear that Kessler has all of the advantages that night but it won't matter in the end. Froch plans to win big.
During a recent episode of The Boxing Truth radio show, Paulie Malignaggi spoke with host Ricardo Lois and special guest co-host Rick Reeno of BoxingScene.com, and expressed his thoughts about the possible fight with WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan on May 15. In the last few months, Malignaggi was one of the fighters who was very outspoken with his suspicions about Manny Pacquiao's alleged use of performance enhancing drugs. Pacquiao and Khan are both trained by Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, California.