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By: William Holmes
The following is the Boxing Insider notebook for the week of June 3rd to June 10th, covering the comings and goings in the sport of boxing that you might have missed.
Oscar De La Hoya Inducted Into International Boxing Hall of Fame
Oscar De La Hoya was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday in Canastota, New York.
“Today marks an incredible personal achievement, but it is only the latest milestone that never would have been possible without my family, my friends and, most of all, my fans,” De La Hoya said during the ceremony.
The class included rival Felix “Tito” Trinidad and undefeated super middleweight world champion Joe Calzaghe.
Hours before the ceremony De La Hoya donated $50,000 to the International Boxing Hall of Fame to mark the landmark’s 25th anniversary.
Golovkin vs. Geale and Perez vs. Jennings Announced
World Championship Boxing returns to Madison Square Garden on July 26th and will feature a WBA/IBO Middleweight Title bout between Gennady Golovkin (29-0) and Daniel Geale (30-2), as well as a WBC Heavyweight Eliminator between Bryant Jennings (18-0) and Mike Perez (20-0-1).
Tickets are currently on sale and can be purchased at www.thegarden.com
The boxers had the following to say at a recent press conference:
GENNADY GOLOVKIN -“Thank you to HBO and Madison Square Garden for welcoming me back. I’m very happy to be fighting Daniel Geale, I’ve known him for many years and this will be a terrific fight for the fans. Saturday, July 26 will be a great night at Madison Square Garden.”
“I would also like to give express special thanks to our partner – EXPO-2017, an International Exposition dedicated to green energy scheduled to take place in 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan.”
DANIEL GEALE -“This is a tremendous opportunity for me. I want thank HBO, Gary Shaw, Grange Old School Boxing and Madison Square Garden. This is a perfect fight for me and I look forward to the challenge of facing Gennady.”
BRYANT JENNINGS -“I want to thank Gary Shaw in addition to Antonio Leonard and James Prince. I also want to thank HBO. I’m very happy to be back on their network and back at Madison Square Garden.”
“Mike doesn’t like to talk much but I’m here to tell you that I will be the next heavyweight champion from the United States and I can’t wait for July 26.”
MIKE PEREZ -“I don’t have much to say but I look forward to facing Bryant Jennings on July 26 and fighting on HBO.”
Berman Trying to Make a Bout Between Martin Murray and Sam Soliman
Rodney Berman has recently contacted IBF Middleweight champion Sam Soliman’s camp about matching him up with highly-rate Martin Murray in Monte Carlo in October. Soliman beat Felix Sturm for the title last month. Murray is slated to box Max Bursak for the WBC Silver belt in Monaco next weekend.
“The middleweight division is very fluid right now and Martin is a big part of that,” said the Golden Gloves promoter in South Africa. “He’s proven himself in major fights and has huge pulling power.”
Murray is rated number four by the WBC and number one by the IBF.
Andrade Plans to Stop Brian Rose
Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade (20-0) will be making his first title defense on Saturday night against mandatory challenger Brian “The Lion” Rose (25-1-1) for the WBO Junior Middleweight belt. Andrade recently captured the WBO title by beating Vanes Martirosyan by way of a 12 round decision.
“Training camp was great,” Andrade said. “I worked on getting smarter and harder. We did some things differently than last camp: even faster movements, focusing on what parts of the body to hit, and being explosive. We worked on an all-around plan.”
“I’m a bad man! I’m going to whip his ass. He’s getting knocked out. Fans are going to see why none of the top guys in my division want to fight me. I’m taking over!”
Showtime Sports Presents All Access in Advance of Alvarez vs. Lara
Showtime Sports will offer the latest edition of the Emmy Award winning original documentary series ALL ACCESS in advance of the Showtime PPV event “Honor & Glory: Canelo Alvarez vs. Erislandy Lara,” a showdown between the No. 1 and No. 2 world ranked fighters in the junior welterweight division on Saturday, July 12th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
It will premiere on Friday, June 27th on Showtime at 9 p.m. ET/PT and will be followed by a ShoBox: The New Generation tripleheader headlined by Errol Spence Jr. vs. Ronald Cruz in a ten round welterweight matchup.
David Price Outpoints Zavorotnyi in Schwerin
David Price continued his comeback with a unanimous decision victory over Yaroslav Zavorotnyi (16-7) at the Sports and Congress Center in Schwerin, Germany. The judges scored the fight 97-82, 98-92, and 100-90 in favor of David Price.
“I was pleased with my performance,’’ said Price. ‘’It was great to get ten rounds in the bank. I’ve been a pro for five years but this was the first time I’ve gone ten rounds, so it was a good learning experience for me.
“Zavorotnyi was an awkward opponent. He kept his hands up, chin down and made himself difficult to hit. I may not have got the knockout but I stayed focused and did what I had to do to get the win.’’
Conversation Highlights with Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson
In 1988, Tyson, 21, stopped Holmes, 38, in the fourth round in Atlantic City for the WBC, WBA and IBF heavyweight titles.
HOLMES: “What I remember was Don King knocking at my door around 9 at night. I was retired two years. Don said he wanted me to fight somebody he said he knew I could beat. I asked him who and he said, Mike Tyson. I said I can’t beat Mike Tyson. Don said, what if I give you 3 ½ million dollars, and I said: ‘Where’s Mike at?’ I’m just glad he didn’t kill me. He knocked me down a few times but I didn’t feel it because the first time he hit me I was numb. After the fight Mike said he loved me and I said, ‘Why’d you knockout my ass?’ Mike’s a great guy.”
TYSON: “It was a great opportunity to be in the ring with one of the great fighters of all time. It was a milestone in my career. He didn’t have time to prepare. I never fought the great Larry Holmes. I had no delusions; by all means, I didn’t fight the Holmes who fought Ali.
“I was very objective in the ring, nothing personal, but I’d have hit my mother. If I had mercy on him, he may have knocked my ass out. He didn’t have enough time to prepare when he fought me. Don didn’t give him the opportunity.”
HOLMES: “I’m glad Mike beat me that day or else I’d have nothing to talk about.”
Highlight fight of their respective careers
HOLMES: “Kenny Norton because so many people said I couldn’t do it, my legs were too small, and I was just a copy of Muhammad Ali. But I did the work and had the dedication.”
TYSON: “Buster Douglas. I needed that fight to make me a better person and fighter and have a broader perspective of myself and boxing.”
Concussions in boxing
TYSON: “I’m sure I had some concussions. When I signed my pro contract at 17 there was an unwritten clause that it was possible that you’d die. We knew and saw it but didn’t think it could happen to us.”
HOLMES: “I never thought it would happen to me. My style was to move here and there. I didn’t get hit hard too often. Mike knocked me down, I got up, I thought the next was a slip, and he knocked me down again. I thought I’d get up and hit him with an uppercut but my arm got caught in the rope. I got hit hard by Ernie Shavers, too.”
TYSON: “That was a feat of strength. He looked like he got shot by a shotgun. It was amazing.
HOLMES: “I was amazed, too.”
Tyson as a promoter and a fighter to watch Friday night
TYSON: “We have a young kid from Pittsburgh, Sammy Vasquez. He’s a sensational fighter and a war veteran. We’ve promoted two shows on ESPN and one on ShoBox. In those three we either tied or broke the record for viewers. I’m grateful to be on ESPN again.
Favorite Boxing Movie
HOLMES: “Rocky, the first one, but I don’t like the guy playing him.”
TYSON: “Raging Bull.”
Atlantic City Police Athletic League Boxing Event Set for June 14th
The Atlantic City Police Athletic League will host an amateur boxing event beginning at noon Saturday at its headquarters at 250 N. New York Ave. AC PAL fighters Jamirr Arthur and Dallas Holden will be among the fighters who compete against other amateur boxers.
More information can be found at http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/police-athletic-league-boxing-event-set-for-saturday/article_f2d7a874-bb63-54e4-a325-5ab1dd7d0c04.html
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