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Holyfield Schedules January Fight in Uganda

2009-11-24T14:37:02Z

Former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield has reportedly agreed to fight Francois Botha on January 16 in Kampala, Uganda for Botha's World Boxing Foundation title. That's right, 41-year-old Francois Botha has a title. And 47-year-old Holyfield is still on his unrelenting quest to once again become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Botha has a career record of 47-4-3-1NC but is probably best remembered for the four losses - all by KO - to Michael Moorer, Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko. In his prime, Botha was a very tough opponent but has only fought four times in the past seven years, winning three before fighting to a draw against Pedro Carrion last month in Germany.

Holyfield will have been inactive for just over a year himself when this bout takes place, with decision losses to Sultan Ibragimov and Nikolay Valuev in his two most recent outings - both title shots.

Holyfield, ever the optimist, hopes that a win over Botha will result in a title shot against WBC champ Vitali Klitschko later in 2010. Be careful what you wish for champ ...

Holyfield Schedules January Fight in Uganda originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 14:37:02.

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Ward Defeats Kessler by Technical Decision in 11

2009-11-22T12:58:30Z

Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward scored the first upset in Showtime's Super Six World Boxing Classic with an eleventh round technical decision over WBA super middleweight champ Mikkel Kessler in Oakland, California. Ward dominated a flat Kessler from the opening bell, opening up numerous cuts around the champion's eyes - some from punches and others from a series of unintentional headbutts. In the eleventh round, the fight was stopped due to a cut that came from an accidental clash of heads in the previous round so the fight went to the scorecards. After ten complete rounds, Ward was ahead 97-93 and 98-92 twice so he was awarded the technical decision victory.

Kessler complained after the fight that the referee permitted too much holding and that Ward was intentionally using his head. The cuts clearly bothered Kessler but they did not determine the outcome of the fight - Ward was simply too fast and too busy for the somewhat mechanical Kessler.

Ward Defeats Kessler by Technical Decision in 11 originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Sunday, November 22nd, 2009 at 12:58:30.

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Pacquiao-Cotto Does 1.25 Million PPV Buys

2009-11-20T14:26:52Z

According to HBO, the Manny Pacquiao-Miguel Cotto megafight generated 1.25 million buys and $70 million in domestic pay-per-view revenue, making it the biggest boxing PPV event of 2009. HBO will replay the fight this Saturday night at 10 pm ET/PT.

The Sept. 19 Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Juan Manuel Marquez bout did 1.05 million buys, making this the first time in a decade that two PPV events have generated at least one million buys in the same calendar year. 1999 featured Felix Trinidad-Oscar De La Hoya and the first meeting between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield.

A fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather would likely shatter numerous pay-per-view records. Let's hope negotiations go smoothly and a date is set for Spring 2010.

Pacquiao-Cotto Does 1.25 Million PPV Buys originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 14:26:52.

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Poll: Kessler vs. Ward. Who Will Win?

2009-11-18T13:43:42Z

On Saturday night, Mikkel Kessler defends his WBA title against Andre Ward in Oakland, CA in the final fight in round one of Showtime's unprecedented super middleweight tournament.

Who do you think will win? Kessler or Ward? Vote in our poll!

Poll: Kessler vs. Ward. Who Will Win? originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 13:43:42.

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Manny Pacquiao - Miguel Cotto: Round-by-Round LIVE!

2009-11-14T22:54:00Z

Check out our LIVE round-by-round coverage and unofficial scoring of the Manny Pacquiao - Miguel Cotto superfight in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Manny Pacquiao - Miguel Cotto: Round-by-Round LIVE! originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 22:54:00.

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Pacquiao-Cotto Tonight!

2009-11-14T12:03:00Z

Manny Pacquiao began his pro career as a 16-year-old at 106 pounds. Tonight in Las Vegas he goes for a title in a record-breaking seventh weight division against WBO welterweight champ Miguel Cotto.

The good news is that this fight is almost guaranteed to be exciting as both men tend to be offensive-minded and like to mix it up. The bad news is that it'll cost you $54.95 to order the fight on pay-per-view.

The undercard is so-so at best with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (40-0-1) vs. Troy Rowland (25-2), Daniel Santos (32-2-1) vs. Yuri Foreman (27-0) and Jesus Soto-Karass (24-3-3) vs. Alfonso Gomez (20-4-2).

Oddsmakers favor Pacquiao (-300/+220). Who do you think will win? Vote in our poll.

Also, check back in tonight for LIVE round-by-round coverage and unofficial scoring.

Pacquiao-Cotto Tonight! originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Saturday, November 14th, 2009 at 12:03:00.

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Mike Tyson Back in Trouble . . .

2009-11-13T12:49:29Z

Former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson was arrested after a scuffle with a photographer at Los Angeles International Airport. The photographer, Tony Echeverria, 50, was also arrested as each man claimed the other struck him.

Tyson was passing through LAX while traveling from Europe to Las Vegas with his wife and 10-month-old child. When the characteristically aggressive paparazzi descended upon the family, Echeverria reportedly bumped into the baby's stroller.

Tyson could end up back in jail if he's found to have violated probation from his 2007 drug case in which he pled guilty to cocaine possession and driving under the influence.

Mike Tyson Back in Trouble . . . originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 12:49:29.

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Haye Takes WBA Title from Valuev

2009-11-08T23:38:08Z

Last December in Switzerland, Evander Holyfield - giving up nine inches and nearly 100 pounds - outworked WBA heavyweight champ Nicolay Valuev over 12 boring rounds only to have the judges award a majority decision to Valuev.

Last night in Germany, David Haye - giving up nine inches and nearly 100 pounds - outworked WBA heavyweight champ Nicolay Valuev over 12 boring rounds and was awarded a majority decision by the judges to take the title. Go figure.

This makes six consecutive 12 round fights for Valuev - only two of which ended with all three judges in agreement on who won the fight. This is not surprising as nearly every round Valuev fights is devoid of action and it's difficult to score a fight when neither fighter is doing anything. To Haye's credit, he did wobble Valuev slightly in the final round with a left uppercut. The scorecards read 116-112 twice and 114-114.

Next up for Haye is likely to be a mandatory defense against John Ruiz, who scored a seventh-round TKO over Adnan Serin on the undercard. The WBO belt will be on the line but every fight fan knows that any heavyweight bout not including a Klitschko is not really a title fight.

Elsewhere, light heavyweight Chad Dawson remained undefeated with a workmanlike twelve round unanimous decision over Glen Johnson. Johnson tried to apply pressure throughout but - unlike when they first met in 2008 - Dawson kept moving and never allowed the fight to become a crowd-pleasing brawl. Scores were 117-111 and 115-113 twice.

Haye Takes WBA Title from Valuev originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 23:38:08.

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Valuev-Haye, Dawson Johnson Rematch, Pacman Sings!

2009-11-04T15:14:16Z

There are a couple of interesting bouts on tap this weekend with Nicolay Valuev defending his WBA heavyweight title against former cruiserweight champ (and current loudmouth champ) David Haye in Germany, and undefeated Chad Dawson in a rematch with 40-year-old Glen Johnson in Hartford, CT. Dawson scored a 12-round unanimous - but tougher than expected - decision over Johnson last year.

Elsewhere, Zab Judah and Joel Casamayor return to action on Friday night on the same card in Las Vegas - but not against each other.

Finally, did you happen to catch Manny Pacquaio on the Jimmy Kimmel Show last night? If not - and you'd like to see Pacman sing - then check this out:

PACMAN SINGS ON JIMMY KIMMEL

At first it appeared as if Manny was being set up to embarass himself, but not to worry - even though English is not his primary langauge, he's already better than other boxer-singer wannabes like Joe Frazier and Larry Holmes.

Valuev-Haye, Dawson Johnson Rematch, Pacman Sings! originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 15:14:16.

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Yonnhy Perez Outpoints Joseph Agbeko in Action-Packed Thriller

2009-11-01T13:58:30Z

Showtime doesn't track punch stats but if they did, last night's IBF bantamweight title fight between champion Joseph Agbeko and undefeated challenger Yonnhy Perez likely would have set a new record for a 12-round bout. Every round had non-stop back-and-forth action as both men demonstrated great conditioning, skill and desire. An unintentional clash of heads opened up a pair of cuts on the forehead of Perez but he was never hindered by the damage. In round ten, another clash of heads sent Agbeko to the canvas but referee Robert Byrd ruled it a knockdown. Fortunately, that mistake didn't determine the outcome of the fight as all three judges scored the fight for Perez: 116-111 and 117-110 twice. If you missed the fight, try to catch a replay on Showtime - you won't be disappointed. A rematch is likely.

In the co-feature, rising star Antonio DeMarco floored Jose Alfaro three times in round ten to score a TKO win and capture the WBC interim lightweight title. DeMarco was ahead 90-81 and 89-82 twice on the scorecards at the time of the stoppage. Next up for the 23-year-old DeMarco may be a bout with undefeated WBC lightweight champ Edwin Valero.

Between bouts, Mike Tyson and promoter Don King publicly reconciled in an interview with Showtime's Jim Gray. Gray mentioned George Foreman winning a title at age 45 and asked if Tyson, 43, might consider a comeback. Tyson seemed to be joking as he answered "I'm not really considering doing that ... I'm so fat and out of shape ... If he [referring to King] is going to pay me for my training team, my training team costs a lot of money ... Anything's possible ... This guy is capable of making a lot of things happen. I don't see it happening, but you never know with this guy". As far-fetched as it may seem, the entire interview seemed staged by Showtime and King to begin the process of persuading Mike Tyson to fight again. It's a horrible idea but King and Showtime would definitely profit from such a comeback so don't doubt for a moment that they're actively working to convince Tyson otherwise. Do you really think either Tyson or Evander Holyfield could say no to the payday that Tyson-Holyfield III would provide?

Yonnhy Perez Outpoints Joseph Agbeko in Action-Packed Thriller originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 13:58:30.

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