HBO 9-26-09 Klitschko vs. Arreola

A Real "Nightmare" For Arreola As Klitschko Retains His WBC Title

Round 1: Arreola presses the action and tries to get inside Klitschko's reach. Klitschko lands effective punches off his left jab.

Round 2: Klitschko controlled his range well. Arreola tries to attack the body. Klitschko hits Arreola with a left hook off the jab. Klitschko effectively fires and lands a straight right to Arreola's head. Klitschko starts nailing Arreola with rights to the body.

Round 3: Klitschko mixes up his punches after utilizing his long, accurate jab. Both fighters exchange hard rights to the head. Klitschko lands a right to Arreola's body.

Round 4: Arreola starts to close the distance as he lands more punches this round. Klitschko is being forced to exert more energy, while unleashing many punches. Arreola is making Klitschko fight his hardest, so far in the bout.

Round 5: Klitschko nails Arreola with a solid right off the jab. Klitschko is getting his punches off first. Arreola hits Klitschko with a right to the body, while they are in a clinch.

Round 6: Klitschko is conditioned well and is not slowing down. His movement is frustrating Arreola. Klitschko lands a hard right to the body and then hits Arreola with a left hook off the jab. Arreola grazed Klitschko with an overhand right. Klitschko counters with an overhand right and follows it with a right to the body. Klitschko is not landing as many body shots compared to head shots, but he is landing a high percentage of the body shots he is throwing.

Round 7: Klitschko hits Arreola again with a solid right to the body. The pressure from Arreola is slowing down.

Round 8: Arreola attacks Klitschko's body with a series of rights. Arreola closes the gap again, but not for long. Arreola is showing an enormous amount of toughness, but is taking many clean shots.

Round 9: Klitschko lands a straight right followed by a left hook. Klitschko fires and lands a short, right uppercut inside.

Round 10: Klitschko hits Arreola in the body with a hard right. Klitschko is starting to easily tee off on Arreola's head with right hand punches. At the conclusion of the round, Arreola's corner stops the fight.

Overall Summary: Vitali Klitschko (38-2, 37 KO's) reigns supreme again. This time he dominated previously unbeaten Cristobal Arreola (27-1, 24 KO's) before a crowd at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Klitschko effectively utilized his long left jab and let the majority of his punches come off of it. He caught Arreola with straight rights to the body and head, while occasionally landing some solid left hooks. Klitschko used the jab so efficiently that Arreola rarely closed the distance or landed consecutive punches.

Arreola never established a high work rate of volume punches. He also needed to jab more to stop Klitschko from landing so many accurate punches. Klitschko may have or have not tired out if Arreola would have let his hands go more. It would have enabled Arreola to close the gap easier to land his punches. However, Klitschko's jab had a lot to do with Arreola's ineffectiveness to get close and land clean, hard shots. Get your MMA protective equipment for less.

During the 2nd round, HBO commentator Jim Lampley describe Vitali Klitschko's style as "it ain't pretty, just effective." I would like to add to that comment....."really effective." Klitschko's sufficient boxing skills along with his size (6' 7 1/2" with an 80" reach) seems insurmountable. Both he and his younger brother Wladimir are controlling the heavyweight division. They are not just beating opponents, but dominating them. After a 4 year layoff due to various injuries, Vitali Klitschko has won 3 bouts in a row, but has won 6 bouts in a row since losing to Lennox Lewis in 2003. Vitali is 11-2 in his last 13 fights since 2000. His only other loss came against Chris Byrd when he could not continue after suffering an injury to his shoulder. Vitali's fight with Lewis was stopped when he suffered a severe cut over his left eye, resulting from a Lewis punch. Vitali's brother Wladimir has won 11 in a row since 2004. Is there any heavyweight out there who can dethrone Vitali or his younger brother Wladimir?

Chris Arreola showed a tremendous amount of heart, courage and toughness, while suffering his first professional defeat. Arreola showed the ability to take a solid punch and applied relentless pressure. Perhaps, if he was more fluid with his punches to coincide with his aggressive pressure, the outcome may have been different. Arreola will be back, but do not expect a rematch with Vitali Klitschko anytime soon.

HOPKINS vs. JONES II

BERNARD HOPKINS (Pictured Above)

ROY JONES JR. (Pictured Above)

See Article - http://tinyurl.com/yegpvw9

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HE'S BACK............HBO PPV 9-19-09

Mayweather Reclaims Pound For Pound Crown

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0, 25 KO's) returned to the ring after a 21 month layoff and thoroughly dominated Juan Manuel Marquez to earn a one-sided, 12 round unanimous decision victory. The fight was never close. Mayweather possessed the superior edge in hand speed, which everyone figured to be the case. However, many people may not have figured how sharp Mayweather would look after being away from the ring. This was indeed one of Mayweather's most impressive performances of his career. Mayweather never showed signs of ring rust as he landed pinpoint, accurate punches and hardly got hit by Marquez. Marquez simply could not hit the extremely elusive Mayweather. HBO's punch stats indicated that Marquez only landed an average of six punches a round.

The time away from the ring showed to definitely help Floyd stay fresh and brought to mind another dominate athlete, who walked away from a sport only to eventually return and dominate the competition again. His name was Michael Jordan. Could Floyd eventually add to his legacy as Jordan did? If Saturday night was an any indication, he already started. Get your boxing protective equipment for less.

Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO's) tried very hard in this bout. Floyd was simply just too quick for Marquez to land his combinations. Marquez never got close to him long enough to do damage. The few times Marquez did get close to land an effective shot, Mayweather took it well and did not stand there to be hit again. Floyd is a defensive master. He used his patented shoulder roll to block Marquez's shots repeatedly and made him miss often.

Marquez appeared to have a look of great frustration, especially after Floyd dropped him with quick left hook in round two. At times, Floyd mocked Marquez by smiling at him when Marquez could not land the punches he was throwing. Marquez fought valiantly and did everything he could, but there was no question that Mayweather was the elite fighter and may be the best fighter in the sport today.

After the bout, when Mayweather was being interviewed by HBO's Max Kellerman, Shane Mosley entered the ring to challenge Floyd. Floyd felt it was rude that Shane was interrupting his interview. At the post fight press conference, Mosley showed up again. After the performance Mayweather put on last night, Mosley may want to be careful what he wishes for because he just may get it. Floyd made a remark to Shane that he should be in training camp right now (instead of being on top of him after his victory). Whether people like or dislike Floyd or want to admit it or not, it has become apparent when discussing Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley or anyone else who fights between 140 - 147 pounds, that all roads lead to a fight with Mayweather.

By Andreas Hale and David Hudson at ringside

Coming back from a 21-month layoff, multi-division world champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather (40-0, 25 KOs) took a one-sided twelve round unanimous decision over Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs) in a welterweight clash on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bigger, quicker Mayweather dropped Marquez in round two with a left hook and pretty much had his way the entire twelve rounds. Scores were 118-109, 120-107, 119-108.
—–
WBA featherweight champion Chris John (43-0-1, 22 KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over Rocky Juarez (28-5-1, 20 KOs). John outworked Juarez over the first eleven rounds, but was rocked by Juarez in the twelfth. Scores were 114-113, 119-109, 117-111. John and Juarez previously battled to a draw in February.
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In a clash for the vacant WBO interim lightweight title, Michael Katsidis (26-2, 21 KOs) pressured Vicente Escobedo (21-2, 13 KOs) for twelve rounds to claim 115-113, 118-110 win on two cards. Escobedo was ahead 116-112 on the third card.
—–
Featherweight Cornelius Lock (19-4-1, 12 KOs) impressively kayoed previously unbeaten Orlando Cruz (16-1-1, 7 KOs) in round five. Lock dropped Cruz in round one and finished him at 2:08 of the fifth with a right uppercut. With the win, Lock claimed the vacant NABO belt.
—–
Welterweight Said Ouali (26-3, 18 KOs) demolished Francisco Rios (17-11, 12 KOs) via TKO at 1:27 in the second. Ouali dropped Rios twice in the first and twice in the second before Jay Nady waved the fight off.
—–
Unbeaten middleweight Erislandy Lara (8-0, 5 KOs) scored a first round KO over veteran Jose Varela (23-6, 16 KOs). Time was 2:12. Lara is a highly regarded former amateur star from Cuba.
—–
Junior welterweight Jessie Vargas (6-0, 2 KOs) defeated Raul Tovar (6-2, 2 KOs) via six round unanimous decision (60-52 twice and 59-53).
—–
Lightweight Mike Perez (5-0-1, 2 KOs) defeated Richard Ellis (4-3, 2 KOs) via unanimous decision (38-36, 39-35 and 40-34).
—–
Middleweight Dion Savage (6-0, 4 KOs) TKO’d Loren Myers (7-7, 2 KOs) at :22 in the fourth round.

http://www.fightnews.com/?p=23712

9-18-09 ESPN's "Friday Night Fights"

Rigondeaux Wins Again

Guillermo Rigondeaux (3-0, 3 KO's) stopped Giovanni Andrade (60-12, 49 KO's) in the 3rd round to maintain his undefeated professional record. In the third round, Rigondeaux fired and landed a sharp, straight left to Andrade's body. Andrade could not continue. Rigondeaux also dropped Andrade in the second round. Protect yourself with sparring equipment.

There are many questions that linger about Rigondeaux. Rigondeaux has a stellar amateur background with a record of 243-4, but has yet to be tested as a professional. How will Rigondeaux respond when he's not dictating the pace of a fight? Right now, he is able to take his time and land his punches at will. Sometimes, Rigondeaux waits to engage and looks to counter punch opponents too much. He has the ability to take a huge step up in class against future opponents because of his ring experience as an amateur. The last time Rigondeaux suffered a defeat in the ring was in 2003. Perhaps the greatest amateur bantamweight of all time, Rigondeaux is now trained professionally by Freddie Roach. Roach trains many fighters, but is most known for his work with Manny Pacquiao.

There is no professional boxing in Cuba. Rigondeaux fled for the United States to begin a professional career leaving behind his wife and son."El Chacal" was not allowed to box anymore when it was rumored he defected after he failed to appear at the weigh-in for the July 2007 Pan-Am games. Rigondeaux returned to camp the next day and stated that he was at a bar all night, but was kicked off the national team. As a result, Rigondeaux never had a chance to try and capture a third Gold medal after winning one in the 2000 and 2004 Olympic games.

Jhonson Defeats Santos

Middleweight Yudel Jhonson (3-0, 1 KO) won an 8 round unanimous decision over Frankie Santos (17-8-4, 8 KO's). Jhonson was a 2004 Olympic silver medalist in the Light Welterweight (139 lbs.) division at the 2004 Athens Olympic games. A southpaw, Jhonson beat Santos to the punch throughout the fight. Santos was tough, but got hit with a lot of clean punches because Jhonson was landing his counter punches effectively. Santos tried diligently to get inside and land body punches. Jhonson kept Santos at a distance and from being set to punch by giving him a lot of different angles. Santos had a lot of trouble getting his punches off. In the third round, Jhonson connected with a solid right hook and followed it with a series of straight lefts that backed Santos up. In the fourth round, Santos got hit by a right to the body from Jhonson. Jhonson then nailed Santos with a straight left to the head.

Jhonson fought at a slow, comfortable pace. It will be interesting to see how he reacts when he is tested by an opponent that puts on a lot of pressure and makes him fight at a faster pace.

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In welterweight action, Felix Diaz (2-0, 2 KO's) stopped Omar Brown (1-3, 0 KO's) in the 1st round. The 25 year old southpaw stunned Brown with a straight left. Another straight left dropped Brown in the corner against the ropes. Brown got up and tried to hold on, but Diaz swarmed him with punches. Brown went down again. Diaz connected with a right hook - left uppercut combination to drop Brown for a third and final time forcing the referee to stop the fight.

Diaz won the Olympic gold medal in the Light Welterweight division at the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. In 2003, Diaz also won the Bronze medal at the Pan American Games in the Lightweight division.
http://www.boxrec.com/media/index.php?title=Human:502699

In a light heavyweight bout, Yordanis Despaigne (3-0, 2 KO's) TKO'd Mickey Scarborough (4-1, 4 KO's) in the 1st round. Despaigne landed a stinging right hand and Scarborough covered up in the corner. Despaigne unloaded a barrage of punches prompting the referee to stop the fight.

Yordanis Despaigne defected from Cuba in the spring of 2009, along with fellow Cubans Guillermo Rigondeaux and Yudel Johnson, to turn professional.

Andre Dirrell vs. Carl Froch

Carl Froch

Andre Dirrell

Keys to the fight: (Dirrell) Dirrell needs to show a lot of movement. Froch will pressure him, but Dirrell has fast hands. He needs to stick and move. Dirrell should also use the jab and not stand in front of Froch too long.

Keys to the fight: (Froch) Pressure him. Dirrell has hand speed, but Froch needs to work his way inside and fire his powerful right hand. Dirrell's chin is untested. Froch can take a good punch and has fought better fighters up to this point. Froch should attack Dirrell's body to slow down his movement.

Prediction: Andre Dirrell is a better boxer than Carl Froch, but is he a better fighter? Dirrell shows very good movement and could easily out box the slower Froch, right? Dirrell even switches from a conventional to a southpaw stance effectively during fights. At first glance, it appears Dirrell's hand and foot speed should define the outcome of this fight. Perhaps, an easy victory for Dirrell? After all, Froch is slower and has an awkward style. Not so fast. Remember Froch knocking out Jermain Taylor? Taylor has fought better fighters than Dirrell. Taylor possessed a solid jab, showed good movement and had definitive power in his right hand. Well, Froch eventually wore him down with relentless pressure. He landed the harder and cleaner punches in the later rounds and showed a stronger will to win than Taylor. Get boxing gloves by Everlast and Ringside.

Can Carl Froch defeat the untested, but talented Andre Dirrell? Carl Froch is an experienced veteran and has fought very solid opposition in three of his last four fights. He defeated Robin Reid, an undefeated Jean Pascal and Jermain Taylor. Who has Dirrell fought? Dirrell's most notable victories have come against Mike Paschall and Anthony Hanshaw. These were good fighters that Dirrell defeated, but they do not possess the quality of the opponents Froch has faced. Dirrell's chin has surly not yet been tested, but the young fighter does show much promise. Right now, I have to select Carl Froch to win by a knockout in the 10th round in a fight that will get closer as the bout moves into the later rounds.

Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward

Mikkel Kessler

Andre Ward

Keys to the fight: (Kessler) Kessler needs to put enormous pressure and establish his left jab to keep Ward from dictating the pace of this fight with his skillful boxing ability. Ward has faster hands, but Kessler's hand speed is vastly underrated. Kessler has the edge in power and if he can impose his will successfully on Ward, he can defeat him. Kessler also has the edge in experience because he has fought better opposition such as Anthony Mundine, Eric Lucas, Markus Beyer, Librado Andrade and perhaps the best super middleweight of all time, Joe Calzaghe.

Keys to the fight: (Ward) Look for Ward to use angles and a lot of movement against Kessler. If Ward can use his boxing ability to keep Kessler turning and not set to punch, it will enable him to land accurate combinations. Kessler does not fight well backing up and will be the aggressor. If Ward can execute a game plan of sticking and moving, he will take Kessler's strength away from him because Kessler will not be able to land his power shots. Ward's most notable opponents have been Jerson Ravelo and Edison Miranda. Ward doesn't possess the professional experience of Kessler, but is a very intelligent fighter, who has been getting better with each bout.

Prediction: I'm picking Andre Ward by a very close 12 round unanimous decision. Going into this bout, some say Kessler is the man to beat in the tournament. However, Kessler has trouble with fighters that give different angles and show good movement. For example, Kessler had trouble landing his power punches against Joe Calzaghe. Calzaghe boxed beautifully against Kessler and kept him from being set to punch. Although Calzaghe is a southpaw, Andre Ward shows similar boxing ability and movement. Ward is a smart fighter that is starting to peak now. If Joe Calzaghe can out box Kessler with his great movement, I say the 2004 Olympic Gold medalist can too! Get your boxing protective equipment for less.

Arthur Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor

Arthur Abraham

Jermain Taylor

Keys to the fight: (Abraham) - Apply pressure. Abraham can take a solid punch and has a better chin than Taylor. If the fight gets into the later rounds, the advantage goes to Abraham because Taylor has shown in the past that he wears down in the championship rounds. Abraham doesn't throw a lot of punches, but makes the ones he throws count. Abraham has good power, but this will be his first fight at super middleweight since early in his professional career. Taylor fought his entire career at middleweight before moving up to 168 lbs. three bouts ago.

Keys to the fight: (Taylor) Utilize the jab. Jermain Taylor has a very effective left jab and should use it in this bout to stop Abraham from applying pressure. However, Taylor tends to bring his jab back low and this has led to him getting hit with right hands his entire career. Taylor is the better boxer and possesses the skills to out box Abraham for 12 rounds. The question is - will he? Taylor has faded late in his past fights, most notably when he was stopped by Carl Froch in the 12th round of his last bout. Some observers had Taylor winning on the scorecards heading into the last round. Can Taylor come back after suffering a dramatic loss to Froch and win his very next fight against an opponent the caliber of Arthur Abraham? Taylor's career is essentially on the line in this fight. Assuming Taylor loses, he could potentially drop out of the top ten depending on the outcome. A decision loss may keep him ranked as a contender, but suffering another knock out defeat may result in Taylor retiring. Get yourself a new punching bag and save with $2.95 shipping.

Prediction: I am picking Jermain Taylor to win via 12 round unanimous decision. Some people may call this prediction an upset. There is more on the line for Taylor if he were to lose than Abraham. A loss for Taylor could signal the end of a career. I believe Taylor can use his boxing ability to weather the storm of Abraham's pressure because Abraham does not let his hands go enough. Taylor will get hit, but he knows what happened in the past. He knows what he has to do in the later rounds to not allow that to happen again. I think facing this adversity will make Taylor come out victorious.

Who Will Win SHOWTIME'S Super Middleweight (168 LBS.) Tournament?

CARL FROCH
25-0, 20 KO's

ANDRE DIRRELL
18-0, 13 KO's

JERMAIN TAYLOR
28-3-1, 17 KO's

ARTHUR ABRAHAM
30-0, 24 KO's

ANDRE WARD
20-0, 13 KO's

MIKKEL KESSLER
42-1, 32 KO's

October 17
At Berlin, Germany (Showtime): Arthur Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor, 12 rounds
At Nottingham, England (Showtime): Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell, 12 rounds,
for Froch's WBC super middleweight title

November 21
At Oakland, Calif. (Showtime): Mikkel Kessler vs. Andre Ward, 12 rounds,
for Kessler's WBA super middleweight title

Tournament Rules

Each fighter will have the opportunity to compete against one another in a series of scheduled twelve round bouts during the first three “Group Stages” of the tournament. There is also a point system in place:

A win is 2 points (with a 1-point bonus for a KO/TKO).

A draw is 1 point for each fighter. A loss equals 0 points.

The four highest point scorers will move on to the semifinal rounds, while the two fighters with the least point totals will be eliminated. The winners of the semifinal bouts will meet in the final round of the championship series in early 2011.

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Chavez Demolishes LeHoullier

http://www.fightnews.com/?p=22847#more-22847
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Picture From Last Night's Action

KESSLER NAILS PERDOMO WITH A LEFT HOOK

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SHOBOX 9/12/09 Ward vs. Pudwill

Ward Stops Pudwill in 3 Rounds

Andre Ward landed very sharp, accurate punches last night stopping Shelby Pudwill in the 3rd round. This was a tune up bout before facing Denmark's Mikkel Kessler in Showtime's Super Middleweight Tournament. The 25 year old Ward, a 2004 Olympic Gold Medalist, landed fast, effective combinations to the body and head of Pudwill. Pudwill could not get his punches off due to the blazing hand speed of Ward. Get your boxing protective equipment for less.

In the 1st round, Ward was walking Pudwill down, imposing his hand speed and overwhelming him with hard, effective combination punching. Ward continually beat Pudwill to the punch. Ward started to tee off on Pudwill in the 2nd round landing crisp, solid shots to the body. Ward dropped Pudwill in the 3rd round with a right-left hook combination. Pudwill suffered a cut over his left eye, but continued fighting. Andre Ward finished him with a left hook to the body and head followed by a barrage of clean punches, which caused the referee to stop the action.

Andre Ward improves his professional record to 20-0, 13 KO's and looks ready to battle Mikkel Kessler on November 21st. Look for Ward to use angles and a lot of movement against Kessler. If Ward can use his boxing ability to keep Kessler turning and not set to punch, it will enable him to land accurate combinations. Kessler will be the aggressor and cannot fight well backing up. If Ward can execute this game plan, he will take Kessler's strength away from him because Kessler will not be able to land power shots. Ward has the edge in hand speed, but Kessler's hand speed should not be taken lightly.

Shelby Pudwill's record falls to 22-4-1, 9 KO's. Look for a preview of all the match ups in the super middleweight tournament this week.

SHOBOX 9/12/09 Kessler vs. Perdomo

Kessler TKO's Perdomo in 4 Rounds

Mikkel Kessler looked sharp in his tune up fight before facing Andre Ward on November 21st in Showtime's Super Middleweight Tournament. The 30 year old from Denmark looked impressive landing mostly left jab-right hand combinations against Gusmyr Perdomo. Perdomo, a 33 year old southpaw from Venezuela, tried to stay busy behind his right jab, but could not deal with Kessler's power and underrated hand speed.

In the 1st round, Kessler patiently tried to land right hands off his left jab. As the round was about to end, Kessler landed a barrage of clean punches. In round 2, both fighters landed solid punches off their jabs. Kessler dropped Perdomo in the 3rd round with a quick, straight right that landed on Perdomo's left shoulder behind his ear as he turned into the punch. Perdomo was very dazed and appeared out on his feet. One minute into the 4th round, Kessler nailed Perdomo with another straight right that pushed him back into the ropes. Kessler started throwing and landing hard combinations that prompted the referee to stop the bout.

Mikkel Kessler was coming off of an 11 month layoff fighting in his home country of Denmark. He looks ready to meet Andre Ward in the 168lb. tournament. Against Ward, Kessler should try to establish a jab to keep him off balanced because Ward can box very well. Ward has the edge in hand speed, but Kessler's hand speed is vastly underrated. Kessler has the edge in power and if he can impose his will successfully on Ward, he will defeat him. Get ESPN magazine subscription for cheap. Mikkel Kessler improves his record to 42-1, 32 KO's. Gusmyr Perdomo's record falls to 18-3, 12 KO's.

Look for a preview of all the match ups in the super middleweight tournament this week.