Lance Pugmire of the LA Times reports that Golden Boy's Richard Schaefer is trying to finalize a new date and venue for the postponed Victor Ortiz vs Andre Berto rematch, with June 23 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles the new target. The bout was originally set for February 11 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, but was canceled when Berto suffered a bicep injury.
Schaefer says that the May 19 fight in Las Vegas between Lamont Peterson and Amir Khan prompted him to try moving this rematch to Los Angeles:
@latimespugmire
Lance Pugmire Schaefer: "After we moved the Khan-Peterson fight to Vegas, we decided we still wanted a major fight in LA. LA deserves it." #boxing
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One might question whether or not Los Angeles deserves major fights, since the last two Golden Boy-promoted events in the area were utter flops at the gate.
Marco Antonio Rubio's team has filed the official protest they promised with the WBC, claiming that the sanctioning body broke their own rules repeatedly, and demanding that the bout be annulled. Chavez defeated Rubio via decision on February 4 in San Antonio.
Jake Donovan at BoxingScene.com reports that the Rubio camp has two major concerns:
Even though Vitali Klitschko has a gnawing, ego-driven desire to rematch Dereck Chisora in order to punish him and knock him out a second time around, Klitschko manager Bernd Boente has ruled out the possibility:
"A rematch is absolutely inconceivable and won't happen," Boente said. "Of course, Vitali has been affected emotionally, but a fight is not up for discussion and we will not offer Chisora a further platform."
Klitschko (44-2, 40 KO) is planning a September return to the ring following some rehab for a shoulder injury suffered in the fight, and at 40 may be in his final year of boxing, particularly if he becomes Mayor of Kiev in the election this year, as he's said he won't do both a political career and boxing, probably because he plans to actually be a real politician.
Gavin Rees is set to defend his European lightweight title against Anthony Mezaache in Paris on March 23, with the fight being shown live on Sky Sports.
Rees, now 31, won the vacant title in June when he defeated Andy Murray in Cardiff. The Welshman's first defence ended up a draw after his opponent Derry Matthews sustained a broken nose after a clash of heads in the fourth round.
Rees' trainer Gary Lockett said:
"Gavin has been in the gym on and off since the Matthews fight. The Gavin Rees of old is long gone, he's grown up a lot and he knows that being out of the gym when you haven't got a fight is not my way. So he's been training hard and he looks in fantastic shape - I wish the fight was this week really as he looks superb. But we will be very ready for March 23rd and it's going to be a great occasion to fight in France.
Vitali Klitschko says his ego is demanding a rematch with Dereck Chisora, saying he wants to punish the British fighter for his actions this past weekend.
"In spirit, I have no need for revenge but my ego tells me this man deserves real punishment. I want to knock him out in the ring."
Klitschko also told Die Welt in Germany that he feels Chisora is "sick in the head":
"Even before our fight, I thought he was a showman, but then I understood that he was not acting - he must be sick in the head. When I consider everything that Chisora has done - slapping me around the face before the fight, spitting at Wladimir in the ring and then getting in a brawl at the press conference and threatening to shoot somebody - how can any human be like that?
"It's incredible. What goes through this guy's head? Everything I have experienced with him seems like a nightmare."
You can pretty much guarantee that anyone involved in boxing at the moment has spoken about/ is talking about the recent events in Germany. You may have seen my opinion on BLH or the contrasting opinion of Oli Goldstein or the grovelling apologises from both Chisora and Haye.
Basically what I am trying to say is everyone is talking about it, and even in a recent interview with Skysports Nathan Cleverly has given his thoughts about it.
After winning the US Olympic Trials, Queen Underwood is one step closer to securing a spot in the 2012 Olympics in London. By winning the tournament, Queen has qualified for the World Championships in China. If she finishes within the top eight of her weight category, then she would qualify for the Olympics. Last week we looked at the heartbreaking story of Queen's upbringing. Her story of mentally overcoming abuse and rape and possibly becoming an Olympic medalist is an inspiration to anyone who has been a victim in the past.
According to AP sports writer Greg Beacham, Queen and the two other winners went to get manicures and pedicures. While it might seems a little feminine, I would think that manicures are quite common amongst boxers. They need to take care of their hands. While at the spa Underwood spoke about the next steps.
"Believe it or not, I'm already looking forward to getting back into training," Underwood said, reclining into a couch while soaking her feet. "I want to be there right now. I'm feeling really good about my chances. We're all focused on the next steps, and that's the world championships and the Olympics."
An intriguing report from Kevin Iole documents how far apart Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are at the bargaining table. Manny tells Iole that he still wants the fight, but Floyd's offer was absolutely ridiculous. If you remember this soap opera correctly, you remember that Floyd offered Manny a joke flat $40 million offer and then Manny countered with a joke $50 million offer with the winner taking an extra 10% of the PPV money.
"He talks, he says all this, but you know what: He doesn't want the fight," Pacquiao firmly told Yahoo! Sports in an exclusive interview. "I want the fight. I'm the one who has wanted this fight all along."
"He offered me $40 million, and no pay-per-view [money]," Pacquiao said, breaking into a laugh. "No pay-per-view. Can you believe that? Would you do that? Come on. What would he say if I offered him $50 million - not $40 million, $50 million - and said ‘No pay-per-view. Take this money and be happy, but no pay-per-view.' He wouldn't do it, either."
Manny then spoke about which demands need to be met for this fight to happen.
"I told him, ‘OK, 50-50 [with the money] and I'll agree to everything else,' " Pacquiao said. "I told him I would agree to all of the other things he was demanding. Everything. Even the blood testing he wanted, I would do it. But it had to be 50-50."
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