The big news coming from this side of the pond involves Olympic silver medal winner, Amir ‘King’ Khan 28-3 (KO19) . Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather 45-0 (KO26) has announced that he will face Argentinian slugger, Marcos ‘El Chino’ Maidana in the summer. May the third is the set date.
It does seem that Maywether was certainly up to something with his ‘sweepstakes’ lottery vote situation. People are now saying Khan may well feature on the undercard of Mayweather vs. Maidana 45-3 (KO31). This could have been Floyd Mayweather’s plan all along, to get in with Maidana and build a potential fight with Khan, with Khan possibly facing Adrien Broner 27-1 (KO22). The winner could then get a shot at the ‘Money’ man.
If Khan can beat Broner, he may well be lined up as Mayweather’s next opponent in the winter. The rapid hands of Amir Khan previously beat Marcos Maidana in the back end of 2011, with Khan taking a unanimous decision victory on the scorecards. Maidana was down in the first round after a debilitating body shot from Khan. Maidana had his opponent in serious trouble in round ten, knocking Khan this way and that, all across the ring. Joe Cortez was in charge on that night. Other ref’s may well have stopped the bout at that stage.
By rights this is the correct way of doing things from a Mayweather stance, but if I’m honest, the more entertaining fight for me would have been Mayweather Jr. against Khan. We may still yet see that fight come to fruition.
In other news, former Premier League footballer, light welterweight Curtis Woodhouse, kept his promise to his dying father on his death bed. Woodhouse 22-6 (KO13) said to his Father that he would win the coveted Lonsdale belt (British Title) for him. He maintained his bold promise and beat former champion Darren Hamilton at the weekend just gone, via a split decision on the cards. It was a very close fight and you couldn’t argue the verdict going the other way.
I am very pleased for Woodhouse, its a great story. Curtis Woodhouse said in his post fight interview that he wished to retire champion and bow out on a high. You can understand his point, but I heard him being interviewed on Talk Sport radio last night and he admitted that he needs time to sit back and enjoy the victory before he makes his final decision. Regardless of said decision, the man has achieved his goals. How many of us can say that.
Scottish two weight world champion, Ricky ‘Rickster’ Burns 36-2 (KO11) has said he is happy to be an underdog against the slick switch hitter in American, Terrence Crawford. Burns puts his WBO lightweight title on the line this weekend. After the display Burns had against Raymundo Beltran in his last outing, the Scot has a few people to win over again following his controversial split decision draw.
Beltran dislocated Burns’ jaw early in the bout, and this clearly gave the WBO lightweight champion problems during the remainder of the fight.
“I’ve been made out to be the underdog in some of those other big fights as well. It’s just taken more pressure off me,” Burns said to Sky Sports. “Obviously fighting at home in front of 10,000 fans, that’s big enough as it is. I always try and put that in the back of my mind. I know things are going well in the gym, so I’m just hoping to go out there and put on a good performance because I’m due one, especially after the last couple of fights.”
We wait and see on that one from Ricky.
IBF international lightweight champion, Tommy Coyle, 18-2(KO8), battled back from four knockdowns to retain his IBF international strap against Daniel Brizuela in Hull the weekend just gone. The fight was crazy. Coyle was put on the back foot by Brizuela after being clocked with a right hand during round number two. There was a crippling body shot taken by Coyle as he again frequented the canvas in round six. Coyle was also down again in round six.
At this stage Coyle himself must have feared the worst. He was docked a point in round number eight for repeated low blows, but this did not deter ‘Boom Boom’ as he showed outstanding courage and a great deal of heart.
Coyle knocked Brizuela down with a right hook in round eight. The Argentinian got up on very, very rubbery legs. It gave Coyle his first scent of blood and he felt himself starting to weigh down his opponent.
Daniel Brizuela had a point docked in the ninth round for a low blow on Coyle. A head clash also occurred in round nine, opening a cut over Brizuela’s left eye. The fight was swinging this way and that, and nobody could tell for certain what was about to unfold.
The eleventh round was right up there as the best round of the bout. Coyle was once again down due to a succession of powerful looking shots to the body. His face was contorted in agony due to the pain radiating from his body. Somehow he beat the count got to his feet and clocked Brizuela with a thudding overhand right that had the South American hitting the canvas in a very hard manner.
The Hull pugilist smelt the opportunity to strike and he was penalised for hitting on the break, such was his desire to overcome the tricky start to the contest.
The twelfth and final round began and with Tommy Coyle looking to take out Daniel Brizuela once and for all. Thirty seconds passed and a heavy right cross from Coyle landed on Brizuela and the Argentinian was once again on the floor. Brizuela somehow managed to beat the count and was on his feet at the count of six from the referee, but Steve Gray had seen enough and called an end to the proceedings. If you haven’t seen this fight as yet, I suggest you check it out.
There is a possibility of Tommy Coyle against Londoner Kevin Mitchell next. That would be an entertaining fight.
