Category Archives: Boxing

12-Episode Boxing Competition Series Will Premiere Later This Year on EPIX®

by: Tanner Simkins @TannerSimkins

Undefeated boxing champion Andre Ward will be host of new Mark Burnett production, “The Contender”; Freddie Roach and Naazim Richardson take sides as trainers. Premium pay television network EPIX®, an MGM company, has announced that undefeated boxing champion Andre “Son of God” Ward will host the new version of the seminal The Contender boxing franchise. Legendary boxing trainers Freddie Roach and Naazim Richardson join as trainers in the iconic series that has launched multiple boxers into contention for world titles.

The all-new 12-episode season of the boxing competition series, the first of its kind to air on EPIX is produced by Mark Burnett and his longtime executive producer Eric Van Wagenen. MGM Television has joined forces with Paramount Television to produce, and filming will begin this Spring 2018 in Los Angeles.

As host, Ward brings his undefeated record and undisputed boxing expertise to The Contender. Throughout his incredible 13-year undefeated career, he’s held multiple world titles in two weight classes including, unified WBA (Super), WBC, Ring magazine, and lineal super middleweight titles between 2009 and 2015 as well as the unified WBA (Undisputed), IBF, WBO, and Ring’s light heavyweight titles between 2016 and 2017. Ward also won the gold medal in the light heavyweight division in the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Said Ward, “I have faced the unique challenges of professional boxing firsthand and know the focus required to succeed at the highest level. Hosting a show that has enabled so many talented fighters reach their dreams is an honor and I look forward to giving the fans unique insight into the life of a fighter and leading the audience through the thrills of this competition.”

“It is so important for The Contender to have the best and most trusted boxing experts which is why we reached out to Andre, Freddy and Naazim,” said Burnett. “They are the very best and can help create an experience almost never seen before. Eric and I are really excited to exceed the fans’ expectations. We love The Contender and we love boxing.”

Esteemed coaches Roach and Richardson will each oversee a team of eight fighters, pushing their fighting skills, strength and endurance to the limit in preparation for elimination competitions. The coaches will also act as the fighters’ mentor, helping them to navigate their everyday life as the competitors live and train together and fight each other in the ring. Each fighter will be vying to become the ultimate Contender and take the winner’s six-figure purse.

Roach is widely regarded as one of the most successful boxing trainers of all time. His roster includes the eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, five-time and four-division World Champion Miguel Cotto, former WBC Middleweight Champion Julio César Chávez, Jr., defensive master and three-time world champion James Toney, former UFC Middleweight and three-time Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, as well as top prospects Jose Benavidez, Peter Quillin, and Vanes Martirosyan, among many others.

One of the most respected trainers from the boxing hotbed of Philadelphia, Naazim Richardson has helped shape the careers of some of the biggest names in the sport over the past 30 years. From Bernard Hopkins to “Sugar” Shane Mosley, as well as others like Travis Kauffman, and prospect Khalib ‘Bigfoot’ Whitmore, Richardson’s work and his spirit continue to be part of boxing lore. The father and trainer of boxing twin brothers Rock Allen and Tiger Allen Richardson, Naazim is also known for discovering plaster hidden in Antonio Margarito’s wraps before the January 24, 2009 fight between Margarito and Mosley.

Eric Van Wagenen serves as executive producer and showrunner alongside Burnett. The format is owned by MGM Television and Paramount Television.

EPIX is available nationwide through cable, satellite, telco and streaming TV providers including Charter Spectrum, Cox, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse, Dish Network, Sling, PlayStation Vue and, later this year, Comcast.

Pro Boxers Get the Green Light to Compete For Gold at Rio Olympics

Professional boxers will be able to compete against their amateur brethren at the Rio Olympics after a rule change submitted by the Amateur International Boxing Association was approved at a meeting in Lausanne.

Professional boxers will have the opportunity to compete for an Olympic gold medal after 95% of people during a meeting of Olympic minds voted for the Amateur International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) requested merger of the two divisions.

It’s a decision that hasn’t gone down too well in the professional boxing community. Former world champion Mike Tyson-branded the decision as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘foolish.’ Oscar De La Hoya, who won the top Olympic prize in 1992 calling it his ‘greatest prize’ of his career, said he would never have done so had pros competed in the event. Former world champion Carl Frampton told BBC Sport that the two divisions were different sports stating it would be like ‘badminton versus tennis’.

Not every pro thought it was a bad idea. Former Olympic silver medallist, Amir Khan, told the press from an event in Karachi that he would love to represent Pakistan in a bid to turn his silver medal into gold. And former world champion and partypoker Ambassador Carl Froch believes the playing field will be a level one: ‘I’ve trained and sparred with many top amateurs: honestly they hold their own, all of them.’ Said Froch.

Pro Boxers Get the Green Light to Compete For Gold at Rio Olympics

Professional boxers will be able to compete against their amateur brethren at the Rio Olympics after a rule change submitted by the Amateur International Boxing Association was approved at a meeting in Lausanne.

Professional boxers will have the opportunity to compete for an Olympic gold medal after 95% of people during a meeting of Olympic minds voted for the Amateur International Boxing Association’s (AIBA) requested merger of the two divisions.

It’s a decision that hasn’t gone down too well in the professional boxing community. Former world champion Mike Tyson-branded the decision as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘foolish.’ Oscar De La Hoya, who won the top Olympic prize in 1992 calling it his ‘greatest prize’ of his career, said he would never have done so had pros competed in the event. Former world champion Carl Frampton told BBC Sport that the two divisions were different sports stating it would be like ‘badminton versus tennis’.

Not every pro thought it was a bad idea. Former Olympic silver medallist, Amir Khan, told the press from an event in Karachi that he would love to represent Pakistan in a bid to turn his silver medal into gold. And former world champion and partypoker Ambassador Carl Froch believes the playing field will be a level one: ‘I’ve trained and sparred with many top amateurs: honestly they hold their own, all of them.’ Said Froch.

Sorel Mizzi and Brian Rast Agree to REG Charity Boxing Match

Sorel Mizzi and Brian Rast have decided to fight each other in the boxing ring with all proceeds going towards effective charities backed by Raising for Effective Giving.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Sorel Mizzi and Brian Rast have agreed to punch ten bells out of each other to raise money for charities supported by Raising for Effective Giving (REG).

The pair will square off on December 30 at the Syndicate MMA Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets are available here. The cheap seats will cost you $20, whereas VIP ringside seats rise to $80. Mizzi and Rast will box for four two-minute rounds. The action starts at 6 pm (PST).

Sorel Mizzi and Brian Rast Agree to REG Charity Boxing Match

Sorel Mizzi and Brian Rast have decided to fight each other in the boxing ring with all proceeds going towards effective charities backed by Raising for Effective Giving.

Fight! Fight! Fight!

Sorel Mizzi and Brian Rast have agreed to punch ten bells out of each other to raise money for charities supported by Raising for Effective Giving (REG).

The pair will square off on December 30 at the Syndicate MMA Gym in Las Vegas, Nevada. Tickets are available here. The cheap seats will cost you $20, whereas VIP ringside seats rise to $80. Mizzi and Rast will box for four two-minute rounds. The action starts at 6 pm (PST).

Nigel Benn v Chris Eubank 3: Let’s Hope They Don’t Get it on

As Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank contemplate a third fight that will net the pair £10 million each, Lee Davy gives his view on why he believes the pair should stick to appearances in the jungle.

It was the warmth that made me realise my uncouth little buddy was pissing down the back of my leg. I turned to face him. He was holding his dick in one hand and a plastic pint full of piss in the other. He had this beguiling look on his face. I was more worried that some of the piss would splatter onto Jason Dozzell. The Spurs midfielder was standing next to me. Those were the days before selfies. He had just signed the back of my ticket, and now my mate was dangerously close to turning his white chinos a nasty shade of yellow.

We were three rows back from the ring. There were over 40,000 lunatics crammed into Old Trafford to watch Nigel Benn v Chris Eubank 2. They billed the fight as ‘Judgement Day’. 12-pints of Boddington’s later and for me it was slowly turning into “Won’t Remember Anything of it Day.”

Benn and Eubank hated each other. You don’t get that kind of venom in boxing today. There’s a lot of bravado, a lot of bollocks. It was the real thing. Eubank is currently appearing I’m a Celebrity, Benn appeared in 2002. A few days ago Eubank said of Benn, “I am not really competitive. I can easily always walk away, and then I come to Nigel Benn, the bad blood between us is fierce. So I am not competitive, only with him.”

Nigel Benn v Chris Eubank 3: Let’s Hope They Don’t Get it on

As Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank contemplate a third fight that will net the pair £10 million each, Lee Davy gives his view on why he believes the pair should stick to appearances in the jungle.

It was the warmth that made me realise my uncouth little buddy was pissing down the back of my leg. I turned to face him. He was holding his dick in one hand and a plastic pint full of piss in the other. He had this beguiling look on his face. I was more worried that some of the piss would splatter onto Jason Dozzell. The Spurs midfielder was standing next to me. Those were the days before selfies. He had just signed the back of my ticket, and now my mate was dangerously close to turning his white chinos a nasty shade of yellow.

We were three rows back from the ring. There were over 40,000 lunatics crammed into Old Trafford to watch Nigel Benn v Chris Eubank 2. They billed the fight as ‘Judgement Day’. 12-pints of Boddington’s later and for me it was slowly turning into “Won’t Remember Anything of it Day.”

Benn and Eubank hated each other. You don’t get that kind of venom in boxing today. There’s a lot of bravado, a lot of bollocks. It was the real thing. Eubank is currently appearing I’m a Celebrity, Benn appeared in 2002. A few days ago Eubank said of Benn, “I am not really competitive. I can easily always walk away, and then I come to Nigel Benn, the bad blood between us is fierce. So I am not competitive, only with him.”

Carl Froch Joins PartyPoker as New Ambassador to Spearhead New Power Series

Four-time world boxing champion, Carl Froch, is the latest sports star to join the world of poker after signing on the dotted line to become the new ambassador of partypoker.

Partypoker plan to produce more punch after signing the four-time world boxing champion Carl ‘The Cobra’ Froch as their new ambassador.

The online poker room has put Froch’s marketability to good use with immediate effect as the spearhead for their new Power Series poker tournaments. The new tournament series operates in line with the online poker rooms ‘Poker for the People‘ campaign, with buy-in levels set for bankrolls of all shapes and sizes.

The former WBC, WBA and IBF super-middleweight world champion has already played a starring role in a few partypoker related events at their live card room Dusk till Dawn in Nottingham. In June, he won a £1,250 buy-in Beat the Boss promotional Sit & Go, and a few weeks ago finished 148/1015 in the £60+£10 buy-in partypoker Grand Prix.

Pacquiao could face perjury charges over injury report; Cambodia PM welches

Boxing’s ‘fight of the century’ may have ended with a Floyd Mayweather Jr. victory but controversy continues to grow over Manny Pacquiao’s post-fight claims of a shoulder injury.

Following the fight, Pacquiao’s camp revealed that their champ had suffered a serious injury to his right shoulder weeks before the fight. But the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) denied the fighter’s prefight request for an injection of an approved anti-inflammatory drug, a refusal that Pacquiao’s camp claimed had left Manny with one good arm.

The NAC has countered these claims by producing a prefight medical questionnaire in which Manny’s camp answered ‘no’ to a question asking if the fighter had “any injury to your shoulders, elbows or hands that needed evaluation or examination?” The form indicates that false answers could lead to perjury charges. Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz has since taken credit for the “inadvertent” paperwork booboo.

Pacquiao’s promoter Top Rank issued a statement claiming they’d notified the US Anti-Doping Agency and received approval “at least five days before the fight” to use accepted anti-inflammatories, including the numbing agent lidocaine. But the NAC says it was never made aware of this approval and therefore rejected a last-minute appeal by Pacquiao’s camp.

Pacquiao Injury Fallout Growing

@TheDailyPayoff

The fallout is growing across the globe from the recent disclosure that Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao was injured going into the ” Fight of the Century” against Floyd Mayweather.

The prime minister of Cambodia is refusing to pay up on a $5,000 bet he made on the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight because of he says the fight was not judged fairly, according to a report by CNBC.com.

Last Saturday, millions placed their bets – and lost – on the “Fight of the Century” when Floyd Mayweather Jr. beat Manny Pacquiao, including, Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of Cambodia.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/102649001

Pacquiao allegedly failed to disclose shoulder injury prior to the fight is causing reverberations throughout the boxing and betting worlds.

Pacquioa’s promotor , Rob Arum, revealed right after the fight that the boxer had a torn rotator cuff sustained during training about a month prior to the fight, according to various reports, including Al Jazeera http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/05/pacquiao-faces-sanctions-shoulder-injury-150505081507006.html

Apparently, his camp failed to notify the Nevada Athletic Commission until before the fight when Pacquiao requested an anti-inflammatory shot.

The Telegraph is also reporting that Pacquioa could be prosecuted for the infraction, citing the New York Daily News as saying the Nevada Athletic Commission is investigating. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/pacquiao-failure-disclose-injury-perjury-article-1.2210373

Mayweather-Pacquiao Betting Record Setting

It’s the fight of the century. It’s good versus evil. It’s sublime speed vs. an impenetrable defense. It’s the two best fighters of this generation going toe-to-toe. It doesn’t matter how you describe it or how much hyperbole is attached to the pre-fight build up, when Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao step in to the ring this Saturday May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas Nevada it will be special, not only for boxing fans but all of the sportsbooks booking action on the fight.

The current fight odds at Bodog have Floyd Mayweather as the -220 favorite, bettors would need to risk $220 for every $100 they want to win and a bet on Manny Pacquiao would profit bettors $175 for every $100 they risk on the Filipino congressman.

Online sportsbooks rarely give out total handle on individual sporting events but we’ve been told by a couple of online sportsbooks that this fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is by far the biggest booked fight in the history of online betting. One Las Vegas bookmaker told me that the total action is already rivaling Super Bowl and could become the biggest single betting event this year. More prefight hyperbole perhaps?

We were able to glean a bit of extra information from our friends at Bodog.  Currently the money line is split down the middle. Since the line opened at -350/+250, they’ve seen a steady stream of money coming in on Pacquiao to drive the odds down.

Sportsbooks rejoice as Mayweather v. Pacquiao is on for May 2

Christmas is coming early for sports fans and the sports betting industry now that boxers Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao have finally agreed to square off in the ring on May 2.

Five years in the making, the fight will go down at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The pay per view (PPV) broadcast will be jointly handled by Showtime (which has a deal with Mayweather) and HBO (with whom Pacquiao is associated) and is expected to shatter previous records for both viewers and revenue. No price has been set for the PPV, but $100 seems a reasonably round figure.

The boxers have agreed to split the purse 60/40, with Mayweather taking the lion’s share. Estimates have the purse ranging as high as $200m depending on how many casual fans opt for the PPV. Mayweather’s World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council belts will be up for grabs, as will Pacquiao’s World Boxing Organization title. There is no rematch clause in the contract.

Sportsbooks everywhere are expecting handle of epic proportions for the fight as both recreational bettors and whales look to get in on the action. Mayweather is the prohibitive favorite, with bettors having to put down close to $300 to earn $100 on a Mayweather victory, while a $100 bet on Pacquiao could earn you around $225. Sadly, prolific bettor Mayweather is unlikely to post any betting slips to his Twitter feed indicating his belief in his own abilities.

While the news is a relief for boxing fans, there’s no arguing that this fight would have been infinitely more interesting had it happened five years ago, when both fighters were at their respective peaks. Neither fighter is anything close to a has-been, but they have each lost some spring in their steps and a little snap to their punches. Mayweather will be 38 years old on Tuesday (24) and Pacquiao is 36.

The past five years have been dominated by the boxers trading verbal barbs when they could have been throwing actual jabs and uppercuts. A fight five years ago would also have left open the possibility of at least one rematch. Still, better late than never.

Mayweather–Pacquiao not set yet; PacMan getting heavy action

You know how everyone seems to be waiting with baited breath for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Manny Pacquiao fight to finally happen? Well, it appears that we’re likely to run out of breath before that happens. That or this has been the longest slow-play in the history of sports.

Either way, the fight isn’t inked in stone yet. That’s what Mayweather said during the NBA All-Star Game, debunking an earlier report from the Guardian that the two sides had finally agreed to fight on May 2.

At this point, it’s become really confusing on who to believe anymore. One side says the fight’s close; the other side says there are still a lot of negotiations left. Whichever side you believe, one inexplicable truth has come out of this whole sage: it’s pretty exhausting waiting for the fight to happen.

Logic—or is it skepticism?—dictates that we shouldn’t get our hopes up. Not after seeing the same song and dance over and over again, only for talks to go up in flames. We’re like that child who keeps waiting on his separated parents to reconcile, only we’ve become disenchanted with them taking so long to smooth out their differences that we don’t even know if we want to see them together anymore.

That’s where I am right now, although I have to admit that there’s still a significant population that still cling to that silver thread of hope that the fight will somehow be made.

There are also those who haven’t paid enough attention to the negotiations that they’re already placing bets on the fight. Yup. Only the possibility of a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight will bettors actually line up to place bets on the fight even though said fight hasn’t been agreed to yet.

But turns out, a lot of bettors don’t care about that particularly important detail. Oddsmakers are on that same boat, having already released odds on the fight with Mayweather opening as the 1/4 favorite compared to Paquiao being the 5/2 underdog.

Manny Pacquiao Bluffed by Poker Star

According to an Instagram post, Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao was on the receiving end of a $100,000 river bluff by the young cash game specialist Justin ‘Boosted J’ Smith.

There aren’t many people who manage to get one over on the Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao (5 in 64 fights to be precise), but that’s exactly what happened when poker met boxing in an undisclosed cash game venue.

According to the Instagram account of Justin ‘Boosted J’ Smith, the young cash game expert ran one ‘of the most aggressive bluffs’ ever in his career when squaring off against the Pac-Man for the very first time.

“I bet over $100k on the river, he thought for almost five minutes, and finally showed that he had folded top pair of aces.” Wrote Smith, who had posted a photo of the pair on his Instagram account, “He started to beg me to show him my hand. I had one of the most nothing possible hands I’ve ever ended up having, but I had a read on him and decided to go with it.”

So did Smith have the balls to show the eight-division world champion the bluff?

“Naturally, I don’t usually like to show my hands, and didn’t want to rub it in his face that I had outplayed or “fooled” him. So I asked him three times “are you sure you want to see my hand?” and he nodded his head energetically and saying yes. I showed him an absolute stone cold bluff and when his eyes compared my cards to the board to find the correlation that didn’t exist, his eyes darted back up to meet my eyes and his fists clenched up.”

Fortunately, for Boosted J, Pacquiao saw the funny side and gave the young starlet a big bear hug.

On Deck: Federer’s 1000th match win; Tiger’s Return; Floyd-Manny close?

The sign of true greatness is repeated success at the highest level of somebody’s chosen field or profession. Quite frankly, I have yet to win 1,000 times at anything in my life but Roger Federer certainly has.

You’ve probably read or heard about it over the weekend. Federer won his 1,000th tennis match when he outlasted Milos Raonic to win the Brisbane International, the warm-up tournament to the 2015 Australian Open.

Winning the Brisbane International isn’t exactly a big deal, but Federer made sure to make it matter by becoming only the third player in men’s tennis to break the 1,000-win barrier. He’s still got a long ways to go to eclipse Jimmy Connors’ record of 1,253 match wins, but if he keeps up this form, he could jump past Ivan Lendl’s 1,071-win mark before the year ends.

The accomplishment is a testament to Federer’s status as arguably the greatest tennis player of this generation. Doing it at the Brisbane International also relieves the pressure of breaking the mark, something that would otherwise be blown up at the Australian Open. That’s unwanted pressure from a man who is looking to win his first Grand Slam title since Wimbledon in 2012.

At the very least, this sets him up nicely heading into the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. Right now, Federer, the number 2 ranked player in the world, is priced to win the Australian Open at 6/1 odds, behind only world number 1 Novak Djokovic, who is the favorite to win at 11/10.

It’s the perfect way to wrap up a warm-up tournament heading into the Australian Open. Doing so while notching his 1,000th win is the cherry on top of the proverbial sundae.