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Boxing Insider Notebook: Mayweather, Thurman, Wilder, Lemieux, Broner, Showtime, and more

Posted on 06/10/2015

By: William Holmes

The following is the Boxing Insider notebook for the week of June 2nd to June 9th, covering the comings and goings in the sport of boxing that you might have missed.

Keith Thurman Returns Home to Battle Former World Champion Luis Collazo

Undefeated superstar Keith “One Time” Thurman (25-0) will return to the ring in his home state to face former world champion Luis Collazo (36-6) on Saturday, July 11th in the main event of the inaugural Premier Boxing Champions show on ESPN live at 9 p.m. ET from the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida.

The co-main event will be between Tony Harrison (21-0) and Willie Nelson (23-2-1) in an event that will kick off live coverage.

Mayweather Backtracking on Giving up World Titles

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After Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Manny Pacquiao he indicated that he would be giving up his world titles to give the other young fighters a chance to win a world title.

However, worldboxingnews.net has obtained copies of the letter from Mayweather’s attorney to the WBO stating Mayweather has not yet decided if he will vacate the WBO title and requests some additional time to consider keeping or vacating the titles.

The WBO has responded and has given Mayweather a deadline of July 3rd to either keep or vacate his title.

David Lemieux vs. Hassa N’Dam to be Shown in the United States on Fox Sports 2

Golden Boy Promotions has announced that the US broadcast of the IBF Middleweight World Championship bout between David Lemieux (33-2) and Hassan N’dam (31-1) at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada will be shown on Fox Sports 2 and Fox Deportes on June 20th at 10:00 p.m. ET.

It will also feature Luis Ortiz (21-0) in the televised opener and Dierry Jean (28-1) facing off against Jerry Belmontes (19-6) in a NABF Lightweight Title fight.

“Being on FOX SPORTS is a great opportunity to use this exposure and show fans an explosive night of boxing,” said David Lemieux. “I plan to put on a show and draw more people as fans to my sport.”

Showtime to Offer Stand Alone Service on the Internet

For the first time ever, Showtime will be offered over the internet as a stand-alone streaming service launching in early June, with Apple as its first partner. The stand-alone service will be called Showtime, a brand already embraced by consumers as the home for cutting edge original programming, sports, and movies.

The service will be available for the monthly price of $10.99 and will be first made available on apple devices.

“Going over the top means Showtime will be much more accessible to tens of millions of potential new subscribers,” said Moonves. “Across CBS , we are constantly finding new ways to monetize our programming by capitalizing on opportunities presented by technology. This works best when you have outstanding premium content- like we do at Showtime- and when you have a terrific partner like Apple- which continues to innovate and build upon its loyal customer base.”

Julian Williams Returns on June 13th

On Saturday, June 13th undefeated junior middleweight Julian “J-Rock” Williams (19-0-1) will take on Armen Ovespyan (14-4) in a ten round bout for the WBC Continental America’s Jr. Middleweight title.

This fight will take place in Birmingham, Alabama and be part of the Deontay Wilder- Eric Molina WBC Heavyweight title card that will be televised on Showtime Championship Boxing.

“I wanted a bigger fight but if the other top guys are not available,” said Williams. “I can’t just sit around and be inactive. I’m still improving. I still have to work on my craft. I still have to make money. So sitting around is not an option for me. At one time people had high hopes for Ovespyan. He’s not a bum and I’m definitely not overlooking him,” said the 25 year old.

“At one point during camp I thought I was fighting Frank Galarza in Brooklyn so I was locked in. Then I thought it would be Jan Zaveck. Who is an ex world champion and took Keith Thurman the 12 round distance so I was still super focused. I’ve been told I will get a big fight in September maybe even a title shot, so there is no way I will have a let down against Ovespyan because if I don’t win I won’t get what I have been asking for. I haven’t lost a round in 2 years since the Joachim Alcine fight and I want to continue to build on that and perfect my craft.”

Williams is currently ranked #8 by the WBC and #10 by the WBA.

Deontay Wilder is ready for Sat night

“I’m excited to have this opportunity to get back in the ring and display my talent more. All the people that are going to be watching and the people that are going to be in attendance, it’s a pleasure and an honor to be able to get in the ring to do something that I love to do and I have a very strong passion about, so I’m excited about June 13. I’m excited about coming to my home state of Alabama.

When I set forth becoming the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, I got one part of it becoming the heavyweight champion, the WBC heavyweight champion of the world. I’ve still got a long way to go, but I’m honored and pleased to have my very first title defense in Alabama. We’re going to make history come June 13 by having the first title fight of any division in the state of Alabama, and that’s a pleasure and definitely an honor to me. So, me and Eric will definitely be witnessing and making history come June 13.

I appreciate him for signing the contract and accepting this opportunity. A lot of guys don’t get an opportunity to be able to fight for a world title, and I congratulate him on the opportunity. I know it’s going to be a great fight. He’s going to come to fight, and that’s what I expect. I expect a great fight. He’s someone that got a big bark but want a big bite in the ring as well too, so that’s what I expect. To all my fans, he’s coming to enemy territory. He’s coming to an arena filled with nothing but majority of hometown people in the state of Alabama, so that’s a tough environment to come into and then facing one of the most dangerous guys in the division to date.”

So, I applaud him for that. I’m just ready. I’ve been waiting for a long time to get back in the ring. After my last fight, I want to stay consistent. I want to stay busy in fights. I love to do this. God gave me the opportunity to do this. I’m going to keep doing it, keep giving the fans what they want to see, and that’s great fights and defending my title as much as possible. You can tell by my voice that I’m super excited. I can’t wait. There’s nothing like what I do, my job, and that’s to whoop a**, and I can’t wait to get up in there come June 13.

Adrien Broner speaks on Lebron and the NBA Playoffs

“LeBron coming home was very important because he’s made the Cavs so much better. With him in Cleveland we’re back in the championship series.”

“I’ll definitely be watching the games. No training until after the game tonight. I think Cleveland wins it all in six games.”

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