Boxing Looking for Future Stars in 2009

The year 2008 saw the fall of a number of great boxers like Roy Jones and Oscar De La who are currently believed to be very close to their illustrious careers, even though they are yet to call it a day officially. Jones was easily defeated by Joe Calzaghe in a one-sided affair, while Oscar De La Hoya suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in an eight-round bout. Now, the question is who are going to fill up the void of these great players. Pacquiao and Hatton have already shown their talent and skill, while there are some others like Antonio Margarito, Paul Williams, Chad Dawson, Andre Berto who might flourish their potential in the years to come.

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usatoday

Former Boxing Champion Paul Nave Planning to Come Back in Boxing after 10 Years

Boxing world saw Evander Holyfield fighting for his fifth world title against Nikolai Valuev last December. Now, another former boxing champion, Paul Nave, is planning for a brief return to boxing ring at the age of 48. The boxer has already acquired a license of State Athletic Commission and now can make his come back after 10 years of his retirement from boxing.

Marinij reported:

Pending final approval on a promoter, Nave tentatively has scheduled a press conference sometime next week in San Rafael at the Embassy Suites, the same place the Marin native held a press junket on Feb. 10, 1998 to promote his World Boxing Federation welterweight championship bout against Greg Haugen, who last year was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame. That fight was the first world title bout in Marin and it was televised on ESPN2.

Nave, a San Rafael High graduate who works as a self-employed businessman, has not boxed professionally since Dec. 17, 1999 when he fought Haugen for the third and final time for the WBF welterweight title. It was scored a draw following a controversial split-decision loss to Haugen in November of 1998.

There are many who are doubtful about the success of former boxing champion Paul Nave at the age of 48. However, he thinks that age will not be a problem for him. He also indicated the fact that he was winning bouts against top-flight fighters even when he retired at the age of 38. So, Nave is pretty much determined about his success. Well, Nave can get inspiration from Evander Holyfield who performed very well against reigning champion Nikolai Valuev in December, even though lost the bout in a split decision.

Oscar De La Hoya Facing Manny Pacquiao in a Dream Match

Having a statue alongside the statues of two great personalities is always something prestigious and a matter of feeling proud. American boxer Oscar De La Hoya is no different. ‘The Golden Boy’ recently unveiled his own statue which is situated alongside the statues of two greats Wayne Gretzky and Magic Johnson. The former is the legend of Ice Hockey and the latter is the greatest ever Basketball player. Naturally, Oscar De La Hoya is now overly happy and proud of himself and his achievements in his boxing career. However, the Los Angles boxer does not have much time to sit back and cherish this event, because he is going to face Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night in a great fight.

This dream match is scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The two great boxes will take on each other at the welterweight (147 pounds) weight section. Many boxing fans have been waiting for this encounter for a long time. Oscar De La Hoya switched weight classes several time over the last couple of years and experienced mixed results. However, Pacquiao is expected to face a strong challenge from the American in the match.

The good thing about the match is that both the players have a big fan bases and lots of fans will follow this match. All the people in Philippine are eagerly waiting to see Manny Pacquiao coming out as winner in the match. His speed and stamina would be tested largely by Oscar De La Hoya’s power and height. Now, let us see who is going to win the match.

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sfgate

After Joe Calzagh, Roy Jones Jr. Wants to Fight with Bernard Hopkins

Following Joe Calzagh’s split-decision victory over Bernard Hopkins few months back, Roy Jones Jr. became interested to fight against Joe Calzagh. Later on, the two influential boxers of this time came to an agreement to fight for the Ring Magazine Light-Heavyweight championship title which is currently held by Joe Calzagh. The match was supposed to be held on 20 September 2008, but was postponed for few moths following Joe Calzagh’s injury to his right hand. The match has been rescheduled to November 8 2008 and will take place at the Madison Square Garden, New York.

Roy Jones Jr. has recently said he is confident to beat Joe Calzagh and after that he is interested to a rematch with Bernard Hopkins whom Jones Jr. defeated 15 years ago. Former Ring Magazine pound for pound champion, Roy Jones Jr., thinks that Hopkins deserves a rematch.

Doghouseboxing reported:

On the subject of fighting Hopkins, Jones Jr writes in his column: "People want to see me and Bernard do it again after I beat Joe. I beat Bernard 15 years ago and I will do it again if we fight. I'd like that fight and if it makes sense and we come up with a good deal, for sure I will do it. People want to see if Bernard can get revenge."
Jones Jr. remains cautious and isn't looking past Calzaghe, stating: "But first I need to take of Joe, which I will do."

The November 8 bout between American boxer Roy Jones Jr. and Joe Calzagh from Welsh seems to be one of the big fight of this year with two champion fighters taking on each other. The match will be covered by HBO PPV television channel. I think, Roy Jones Jr. should focus on the upcoming bout with Joe Calzagh first, before looking to any other fight.

Kelly Pavlik to Move Back Down to Middleweight Division Following Defeat to Bernard Hopkins

After the heavy defeat to Bernard Hopkins recently, Kelly Pavlik has decided to keep fighting down to middleweight division where he is now the undisputed champion with The Ring, WBC and WBO middleweight championship titles. The Ohio-based boxer was the intention to move to the upper division, but the defeat to Bernard Hopkins has put an end to his hope to move up in weight division. In fact, the defeat to Bernard Hopkins has been Pavlik’s first in career. He has recently admitted that he will continue defending his middleweight titles which he has already done twice.

Kelly Pavlik is known as a powerful boxer with full of power in both of his hands. However, the 26-year-old failed to show his attacking prowess against Bernard Hopkins in their recent bout. A victory against Hopkins might have lured Joe Calzaghe for a fight against Pavlik and boxing fans could have experienced another high-profile boxing bout.

However, Kelly Pavlik is still the leader in middleweight division and has already defended his titles with success. Pavlik might have to face promising German boxer Arthur Abraham in another title defense if Abraham can defeat Raul Marquez next month. Otherwise, Pavlik will remain as the undisputed champion of middleweight division until another middleweight boxer comes to challenge him. So, Kelly Pavlik can be relaxed now for a while.

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Sportinglife

No Gold Medal for Cuban Boxers in Beijing Olympic Games 2008

Cuban boxers are always strong competitor, but this time they have to leave Beijing without winning any gold medal. Either Cuban boxer made it to the semi final in different categories, but finished winning four silver and four bronze medals in boxing at Beijing Olympic Games 2008. Kazakhstan’s Bakhyt Sarsekbayev defeated Cuba's Carlos Banteaux in the welterweight gold medal match. This has been the first time since 1968, Cuba failed to win a gold medal at Olympic.

The last day of the Games was marked by the Mongolian boxers as Badar-Uugan Enkhbat picked the first ever Olympic gold medal in Boxing for his country. Enkhbat defeated Cuban boxer Yankiel Leon in the bantonweight final. On the same day, another Mongolian Serdamba Purevdorj also won silver in light-flyweight.

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radioaustralia

Chinese Boxers Looking for Olympic Glory

China is the top nation from Asia in Olympics. This time there is a more important reason for Chinese players to perform better in Olympics 2008. You know that Beijing is going to host Olympics. So, Chinese boxers are hopeful that they will do well in this tournament.

Xinhua reported:

According to Zhang, China's current strongest rivals still remain from Cuba and Russia. Cuba used to be the big brother in former Olympic boxing matches, though it has lost five world champions in recent years and still has the power to smash most of its opponents.

Russia never worries about lacking world champions or powerful boxers, and its overall strength is almost as strong as the Cubans. Some other foreign teams also improve fast in recent years such as Italy, said Zhang, so Chinese boxers must be serious about every opponent and every match.

China was never considered to be a big power in world boxing. Maybe this time they can change this condition. Let us see if they can do it.