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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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Old Heavyweights Never Really Retire ...

2009-10-28T13:26:14Z

Old heavyweight fighters never really retire ...they're just between bouts.

This past weekend, 41-year-old Andrew Golota was TKO'd in five rounds by Tomasz Adamek, who moved up from cruiserweight for the big fight in Lodz, Poland. Golota has now dropped four of his last seven bouts - including three stoppages - but is unlikely to retire.

Elsewhere, Oliver McCall, 44, scored a ten-round unanimous decision over Lance Whitaker, 37 in Las Vegas, and Frans Botha, 41, fought to a majority draw against Pedro Carrion, 39, in Dessau, Germany.

43-year-old "King of the Four Rounders", Eric "Butterbean" Esch, recently returned to the ring after more than two-and-a-half years and lost a four-round split decision to 46-year-old Harry Funmaker, who hadn't fought in nearly four years! After the bout, Butterbean announced his retirement. Don't believe it ...

Other past-their-prime heavyweights preparing for upcoming bouts include John Ruiz (37), Hasim Rahman (36), Michael Grant (37) and Oleg Maskaev (40). See complete schedule for details.

Old Heavyweights Never Really Retire ... originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 13:26:14.

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Abraham-Taylor, Froch-Dirrell Results

2009-10-18T16:10:03Z

Arthur Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor ended in spectacular fashion. Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell ended less conclusively.

Get all the details in our complete fight coverage of the opening night of the Super Six super middleweight tournament.

Abraham-Taylor, Froch-Dirrell Results originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at 16:10:03.

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Super Middleweight Tournament Kicks Off!

2009-10-14T13:54:25Z

This Saturday night, Showtime's highly anticipated super middleweight tournament begins with Arthur Abraham vs. Jermain Taylor in Berlin, Germany and Carl Froch vs. Andre Dirrell in Nottingham, United Kingdom.

On Nov. 21, Mikkel Kessler and Andre Ward - the final two of the "Super Six" - will fight in Oakland, California.

Who do you think will win the super middleweight tournament? Vote in our poll!

Super Middleweight Tournament Kicks Off! originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 13:54:25.

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Juanma, Gamboa, Linares, Nishioka Defend Titles

2009-10-11T12:47:18Z

Four fighters defended world title belts last night: Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa at Madison Square Garden in New York, and Jorge Linares and Toshiaki Nishioka in Tokyo, Japan. Only three were successful . . .

Also, pound-for-pound top ten Israel Vazquez - finally healthy again after back-to-back-to-back wars with Rafael Marquez - returned to the ring for the first time in 19 months.

Check out complete fight results to find out who won these bouts, as well as fights involving fan favorite John Duddy, up-and-coming heavyweight Odlanier Solis and many more:

Complete Boxing Results

Juanma, Gamboa, Linares, Nishioka Defend Titles originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 12:47:18.

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David Tua Overwhelms Shane Cameron in Two

2009-10-03T14:19:11Z

Fighting for the first time in two years (and only the eighth time in the last 6-1/2 years), heavyweight David Tua (50-3-1) stopped Shane Cameron (23-2) in two rounds in Hamilton, New Zealand. Tua showed he hasn't lost his power, knocking Cameron down twice in the first round. After the second knock down, Tua landed a left and a right after Cameron was already down and was fortunate not to be penalized (or possibly even disqualified). In round two, Tua immediately landed 13 unanswered shots, knocking Cameron down a third and final time and forcing referee Bruce McTavish to stop the fight only seven seconds into the round.

Tua, who early in the 1990s KO'd John Ruiz, Oleg Maskaev and Hasim Rahman, has squandered what once looked like a promising career with inactivity and poor conditioning. He reportedly shed nearly 60 pounds to get down to 238 for this bout. Nevertheless, Tua is still only 36 and, if he's finally serious about his career again, his one-punch knockout power could make him an interesting opponent for anyone (not named Klitschko) in the heavyweight division.

David Tua Overwhelms Shane Cameron in Two originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 14:19:11.

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Finally, 16 Years Later: Roy Jones - Bernard Hopkins II

2009-09-30T13:56:11Z

On May 22, 1993, Roy Jones Jr. scored a unanimous decision over Bernard Hopkins (116-112 on all three cards) to win the vacant IBF middleweight title. A rematch has been discussed for the past 16 years ... now it looks like it will finally happen - when the two future Hall of Famers will be a combined age of 86!

Contracts for the rematch have been signed by both fighters with a target date of early 2010. The contract calls for a 50/50 split with a reported 60/40 split in the unlikely event the winner scores a KO or TKO.

Hopkins has discussed a Dec. 2 tune-up and Jones is currently slated to face Danny Green in Sydney, Australia on that same date. Don't bet on either man risking the big money attached to the rematch with a meaningless bout in the interim.

Who do you think will win? Hopkins or Jones? Vote in our poll!

Finally, 16 Years Later: Roy Jones - Bernard Hopkins II originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009 at 13:56:11.

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Mayweather-Marquez: One Million PPV Buys!

2009-09-28T12:08:58Z

The Sept. 19 bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez exceeded expectations with one million pay-per-view buys. The $52 million in PPV revenue makes it the highest-performing event of 2009 and only the fifth non-heavyweight event to reach one million PPV buys. Mayweather's 2007 win over Oscar De La Hoya still sits atop that list with 2.44 million buys.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission reports that the live gate for Mayweather-Marquez was $6,811,300 on ticket sales of 12,009.

Imagine how much money Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquaio would generate ...

Top Pay Per View Events in Boxing History

Mayweather-Marquez: One Million PPV Buys! originally appeared on About.com Boxing on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 12:08:58.

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