“Me dumbing down would be a sign of weakness…”
In demand producer Apollo Brown’s latest collaboration album is with one of the game’s most underappreciated lyricists in O.C. The duo debuted their lead single “Prove Me Wrong” on DJ Premier’s Sirius radio show. Considering Apollo’s skill crafting ethereal beats and O.C.’s penchant for introspective lyrics, their upcoming album has real promise to be one of the top projects in 2012. Trophies is set to be released on May 1.
Now that we have the promotional tagline of “Ring Kings,” the thrones were brought out for Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto’s New York press conference at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Cotto was short on words, so Mayweather handled the majority of the talking. He spoke about this fight being essential to proving his worth as a great fighter, which is why he declined a catchweight. As expected, there’s a brief Pacquiao diss about not taking the blood tests. The Mayweather-Cotto press tour wraps Thursday (March 1) in Los Angeles at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Jet Life meets D-Block on this unexpected EP drop from Curren$y and Styles P. With such a seemingly random collaboration, it’s hard to envision what type of direction this project would have. There’s no blow away tracks, but lyrically the measured pace of their respective deliveries mesh well. The production, which features regular Jet Life collaborators like Monsta Beatz, is more in Curren$y’s vein. That isn’t an issue except for the questionable last offering (“Billions”). The 1st 28 also features appearances from Fiend and Daz.
To celebrate the release of his new album Black Belt Theatre, Planet Asia has dropped a free link to his collaboration with Raekwon. The soul sample flip is courtesy of Oh No.
Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto were both on hand in Puerto Rico earlier today for the first official press conference for their May 5 showdown. Mayweather got a lot of support from the Puerto Rican fans, especially after throwing shots at Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao. Cotto was his usual stoic self and drove home the importance of fighting for his native country.
Tickets go on sale tomorrow for the fight via Ticketmaster and www.mgmgrand.com. The U.S. leg of the Mayweather vs. Cotto media tour kicks off tomorrow at Harlem’s Apollo Theater.
Ski Beatz has recruited Dipset’s Cam’Ron and Vado as “guest stars” on his latest project entitled Blu Tops. The entire EPcan be previewed below.
Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto will begin their media tour tomorrow (February 28) at New York’s iconic Apollo Theater to officially announce their May 5, WBA junior middleweight title match.
The event will begin a 1 p.m. and is free to the public. Those interested in attending are asked to arrive early as seating will be limited.
The start of the press conference coincides with the time tickets go on the sale through www.mgmgrand.com and www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets will be priced at $200-$1500.
Mayweather vs. Cotto is promoted by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Miguel Cotto Promotions. The 12-round WBA Super Welterweight World Championship fight will take place Saturday, May 5 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-Viewbeginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
ST. LOUIS, MO — A stronger, more focused Devon Alexander delivered one of his best victories in recent memory with a complete shutdown of formidable slugger Marcos Maidana at the Scottrade Center.
Since both fighters were making their debuts at 147 pounds, questions abounded regarding how it would affect their speed, stamina and punching power. Early on, Alexander answered those questions well by keeping Maidana’s pressure on the end of his southpaw right jab and landing flush straight lefts whenever the fearless Argentinian was within mid-range. Maidana was respectful of Alexander’s power and remained measured in his pressure throught the first three rounds. Although he lost them, Alexander’s look of uncomfort bode well for Maidana’s chances in the later rounds.
“Don’t start that shit!” Alexander trainer Kevin Cunningham barked at him before the fourth round, alluding to his fighter’s mental lapses in recent bouts against Kotelnik, Bradley and Matthysse. “You need to fucking relax!”
The change wasn’t immediate, but it was clear Alexander came out with more confidence. The fourth was his best up until that point; he repeatedly knocked Maidana back with short right hooks on the inside in addition to the left crosses. Although Maidana succeeded in getting inside for most of the fifth, Alexander smothered his offense while still scoring right hooks.
The sixth effectively quelled Maidana’s chances at victory. Alexander focused on the body and hurt Maidana with rights and a straight left. A knockdown was missed, but Alexander wailed away with power shots as Maidana sought refuge against the ropes. The scene would be repeated again in the eighth with Maidana likely only surviving due Alexander neglecting body shots.
There would be no drama in the final two rounds. Alexander doubled his right hook to the head and body effectively in the ninth and completed the victory in the tenth behind occasional combos to keep an all too willing Maidana at bay.
Finding a round to give Maidana was difficult. One judge scored the fight 99-91 while the other two awarded Alexander a shutout score of 100-90.
“I be so anxious [because] I want to hurt the guy. I have to work on that,” said Alexander, still critical of his early fight nerves to Maidana’s pressure. “I learned from the Timothy Bradley fight.”
Marcos Maidana’s experiment at 147 is likely over based on his brief post-match words.
“147 wasn’t my division but I did what I could,” he flatly stated.
The win puts Alexander, whose name value had been in decline since his loss to Timothy Bradley in January 2011 and subsequent struggles, right back in the mix in a welterweight division that includes Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Victor Ortiz, Amir Khan, the aforementioned Bradley and Andre Berto.
ST. LOUIS, MO — Adrien Broner backed up his loud boasts from earlier this week with a blowout stoppage over an outclassed Eloy Perez last night at the Scottrade Center.
The bout began with neither fighter giving any ground and opting to counter toe to toe. The advantage here was with Broner, whose faster hands, longer reach and height allowed him to score with lead lefts hooks and a right uppercut. Broner unleashed triple left hooks to deter Perez’ s body attack. A right hand would stun Perez in the round’s closing seconds.
Broner walked down Perez in the third behind left hooks. In the fourth, Perez back-pedaled himself into the ropes and was caught by a straight right. Perez fell on his face and stumbled down on two attempts to get up by the time the referee’s reached thecount of ten.
“I wasnt trying to knock him out just beat on him,” said Broner in his post-fight interview. ”Tenderize the meat then fry it.”
The win is Broner’s second defense of his WBO super featherweight title.
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Adrien Broner is living up to his nickname. He’s definitely a huge problem and likely too much for any current super featherweight out there. Eloy Perez was undefeated and expected by most to give Broner some tough rounds. Instead, Broner toyed with him from the opening bell. Like Max Kellerman alluded to in their post-fight interview, because of the lack of names Broner may soon decide to jump up to lightweight. Hopefully he doesn’t and decides to dominate at 130 to build his name up. Despite all his boasts, Broner is very much a work in progress and should strive to pick up another belt or two before considering weight-jumping.
STUTTGART, GERMANY – An exhausted Alexander Povetkin bagged enough early rounds to escape Germany last night with a majority decision over a surging Marco Huck.
Povetkin stormed out to take the first three rounds with an aggressive strategy to constantly back up Huck with hard combinations. Povetkin had a big second round where he focused hooks to the body and jabs through Huck’s guard. Huck landed a hard overhand right in the third, but Povetkin ended strong with a flurry of power shots to take the interval.
The overhand right would be the punch that changed the complexion of the fight. Huck stunned Povetkin with the punch in the fourth but was too wild in his follow-up to catch the champion again. However, Huck capitalized on Povetkin’s newfound respect for this power by working hard jabs in the fifth.
Povetkin was now visibly laboring but had a good comeback sixth where he outworked Huck on the inside. The challenger and former cruiserweight titlist again displayed his punching power in round seven by hurting Povetkin with numerous overhand rights in the final minute. Povetkin survived by bending over at the waist to his right side, which took the power off Huck’s blows and left just the back of his head exposed.
An exhausted Povetkin avoided Huck’s big shots in the eighth while reestablishing his left hook. Huck took control in the ninth by hurting Povetkin again with right hands. He followed up with a right uppercut and scoring jabs to set up a tightly contested finish in the championship rounds.
The tenth round was mired by a lot of clinching, but it was Huck who was the fresher man fighting out of them. Povetkin landed a right hook, but was often moved backwards in the round by Huck’s power jabs. The eleventh saw Povetkin get back on track by working his way inside with left and right hooks. While the blows did not seem to hurt Huck, the consistent output kept him on the defensive.
The final round was controlled early by Povetkin, who started with a strong flurry of power shots. Huck would respond huge in the final minuate and a half behind the accuracy of his overhand right. Huck hammered and buckled Povetkin with his money punch to clearly take the round.
In the end, Huck’s strong finish was not enough to overcome his mental lapses of inactivity in several rounds and Povetkin’s early lead. The judges awarded Povetkin a majority decision via scores of 114-114, 116-113 and 116-112, prompting loud boos from the crowd.
Povetkin, competing his first bout since leaving Teddy Atlas, admitted that his stamina problems were a direct result of expecting the former cruiserweight Huck to be a pushover.
“Maybe I underestimated him,” said Povetkin. “I thought it would be easier than this.”
Marco Huck believes even in defeat he proved himself to be the better fighter. He hopes that close nature of the contest will prompt an immediate rematch.
“I dominated him and showed my class today,” Huck declared. “After such a performance I hope to get a rematch.”
In the co-feature, Nathan Cleverly retained a his WBO light-heavyweight title in Wales with easy and thorough decision victory over Tommy Karpency. Cleverly never allowed Karpency to initiate any significant offense from the opening bell. While Karpency showed good defense from his southpaw stance, Cleverly focused his attack to the body with digging left hooks behind the guard. Along with the champion’s steady pressure, Karpency’s hands began to drop in the middle rounds, allowing Cleverly to land well to the head with slashing left hooks and straight rights.
Having never been stopped in his six-year career, Karpency was able to withstand Cleverly’s attacks. The champion’s last big attempt at a stoppage would come in the ninth via a salvo of power shots on a cornered Karpency.
The scorecards awarded Cleverly a shutout victory of 120-108 on all three cards. He gave credit to Karpency as the toughest opponent he’s faced.
“He was probably the toughest opponent I have faced over the distance,” said Cleverly. ”A lot of guys are tough over six rounds, but wilt in the championship rounds. But Tommy is a 12-round fighter and it makes a difference.”
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Marco Huck will be kicking himself when he looks at footage of this fight. He had Povetkin hurt badly several times thoughout the fight and could have gotten a stoppage if he turned up the pressure. Instead, he let Povetkin steal a few rounds behind punch output.
Watching this fight is another reason why Povetkin’s former trainer Teddy Atlas didn’t want his charge anywhere near Wladimir Klitschko’s right hand. Either Klitschko brother for that matter would brutally flatten him.
With that said, this fight was good enough to warrant a rematch. Unfortunately, the WBA ruled in January that the winner of this fight is obligated to face Hasim Rahman in the next 120 days.
