By: William Holmes
The following is the Boxing Insider notebook for the week of August 5th to August 12th, covering the comings and goings in the sport of boxing that you might have missed.
Showtime Sports Presents All access in Advance of Mayweather vs. Maidana II
Showtime Sports will offer the latest edition of the award-wining original documentary series All Access in advance of the Showtime PPV event Mayhem: Mayweather vs. Maidana II, the welterweight world championship rematch on Saturday, September 13th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
All Access premieres Saturday, August 30th on Showtime at 9:30 p.m. ET and will be immediately followed by a special Saturday installment of ShoBox: The New Generation.
Kaliesha “Wild Wild” West in action Fri
Former three time WBO Bantamweight World Champion and one time IFBA Super Bantamweight World Champion Kaliesha “Wild Wild” West (16,1- 3-KO 4) of Moreno Valley, California takes on a tough challenge when she faces former WBC Super Featherweight World Champion Olivia “The Predator”Gerula (14,14, 2-KO 3) of Winnipeg, Canada. West vs Gerula will weigh in at 126lbs in an 8 round explosive main event, doors to open at 7:30pm. This fight will be available online at http://www.gfl.tv/ (GoFightLive).
Kaliesha West: “I’m excited to be fighting this weekend for Promoter David Damphousse, I’m honored to be a part of David’s first All-Female Boxing Card. This will be a historic moment in women’s boxing. As for the fight, Gerula is a tough and experienced fighter; but at the end of the night it will be my hand that’s raised. My theme for this fight is Miss Lone Ranger because I am not afraid to stand up to boxing promoters that are not giving women any justice.” -Kaliesha West
September 6th Card Featuring Andre Berto and Adrien Broner Announced
On Thursday, August 14th Golden Boy Promotions will be holding a press conference in Cincinnati to officially announce a September 6th boxing card at the US Bank Arena in Cincinnati Ohio. The main event will be Adrien Broner against Emmanuel Taylor in the junior welterweight division and the co-main event will be between Lucas Matthysse and Roberto Ortiz in the junior welterweight division. Former welterweight stalwart Andre Berto will also be returning on this Showtime promoted card.
The Fight Game with Jim Lampley To Return on September 16th
The Fight Game with Jim Lampley returns with a new episode each month from September through December on HBO. Jim Lampley is a four time Sports Emmy Award winner and has been the host of HBO Boxing since 1988.
The four show run begins Tuesday, September 16th at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT. New editions will be debuting on other Tuesdays- October 28th, November 18th, and December 23rd at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT.
“I am excited to hit the ground running in September and deliver four more shows during what promises to be a robust time in the boxing season,” says Lampley. “We will continue to explore hot-button issues, sprinkle in some entertaining elements, and deliver comprehensive unfiltered discussion and analysis of the sport on this platform.”
Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury Set for November 22nd
Heavyweights Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury will meet against on Saturday, November 22nd at the Excel London. Their last fight was postponed but they are prepared to battle for the European and Vacant British Titles as well as a Final Eliminator for the WBO World Heavyweight Championship.
Chisora withdrew from the first fight after fracturing his hand in sparring on the week prior to the fight and top ten world ranked Alexander Ustinov was brought in to fight Fury. However, the night before the fight Fury’s Uncle and first pro trainer, Hughie, was taken to the hospital and he was pulled from the fight.
The winner of the bout will become the new number one to challenge WBO World Heavyweight Champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Promoter Frank Warren said, “It’s been a roller-coaster few weeks, but I’m delighted to say that the fight is definitely on with Chisora and Fury ready to clash on Saturday 22nd November at the ExCeL London. It was an extremely unfortunate set of circumstances that caused Chisora to pull out with a fractured hand and then Fury’s uncle’s tragic condition. Despite the setbacks, they were both determined to fight each other and I believe that we could see a genuine old fashioned ring war between them.”
European Champion Chisora said, “The important thing is we have a new date for the fight, it’s on, and Fury and I will finally give the fans what they want to see, a fight. What happened with my hand has happened and the timing of the injury was terrible, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time and of course Fury had personal issues going on with him. I just want to fight Fury, get revenge, beat him good and proper, and move on to fight Klitschko for the world title.”
Undefeated challenger Fury said, “Chisora is now going to get a beating twice as bad than the one that he was going to get for pulling out. All Chisora is to me is an obstacle and I’ve got to smash through him to get where I want to be and that’s fighting for the world title. He’s messed me around and now I’m going to make him pay. I’m happy for the fans who will get to see me crush Chisora for second and final time and send him into retirement.”
Atlantic City Might Lose Another Casino that Hosts Major Boxing Events
The Revel Casino Hotel, the newest and most expensive casino in Atlantic City, has held some major combat sports events in the past year including the UFC and HBO Boxing promoted events featuring such stars such as Sergei Kovalev and Daniel Geale.
However, a Caesars executive has revealed that the Revel Casino Hotel has not received any qualified bidders before a Thursday auction. The Revel Casino has declared bankruptcy twice in two years since it opened in 2012.
Fight Week Schedule for Porter vs. Brook
Kell Brook and Shawn Porter are set to meet on Saturday, August 16th at the Stubhub Center in Carson California for the IBF Welterweight Title. Omar Figueroa Jr. is also set to face Daniel Estrada for the WBC Lightweight World Championship and Sakio Bika is set to face Anthony Dirrell for the WBC Super Middleweight Championship.
The official weigh-in is open to the public and will take place at the StubHub Center at the Northwest Tennis Pad. Fans can start arriving at 12:00 p.m. and the weigh-in begins at 1:00 p.m. On Saturday, the StubHub Center will open their doors at 2:00 p.m., the first fight begins at 2:00 p.m., the Showtime Extreme telecast begins at 4:00 p.m., and the Showtime telecast begins at 7:00 p.m.
George Groves Still Searching for Third World Title Quest
Super-middleweight boxer George Groves says his third world title quest will end in success, as he prepares to take on European champion Christopher Rebrasse next month. The 26-year-old faces the Frenchman, who is ranked third with the World Boxing Council, on September 20 at the SSE Arena in Wembley.
Pedraza vs. Martinez Co-Main Event to Nugaev vs. Shafikov
Puerto Rico’s, Jose “Sniper” Pedraza (17-0, 11 KOs), makes his way back to the ring against Juan Carlos Martinez (20-14-1, 7 KOs) August 15, 2014 as the co-feature to Rustam Nugaev (27-6-1, 17 KOs) vs. Denis Shafikov (33-1-1, 18 KOs). The 10-round bout will air live on ESPN “Friday Night Fights” and will take place at Chumash Resort Casino in Santa Ynez, Calif.
Pedraz, who’s knocked out five of his last seven opponents, is currently ranked WBA #4, IBF #7 and WBC #7. A slick boxer-puncher, Pedraza is not looking past Martinez who recently defeated top contender Alejandro Perez. He vows to put on a great performance for all the fans in attendance, as well as those watching on TV.
