With a possible fight with Amir Khan now off, Josesito Lopez has entered into talks with Marcos Maidana for a welterweight matchup.
Lopez has been searching for an opponent since losing in decisive fashion to Canelo Alvarez last September. A potential high-profile, April 20 fight against Amir Khan fell through over a weight dispute.
According to BoxingScene, Lopez and Maidana are pushing hard to make the bout happen. Both fighters earned Fight of the Year nominations in 2012 for their brawling knockout wins over Victor Ortiz (Lopez) and Jesus Soto Karass (Maidana).
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Make this fight happen! I must admit with the succession of canceled fights so far, I’m desperate for any action. These two would be an instant Fight of the Year candidate with a heavy emphasis on sustained brutality. Both are hard-hitters who don’t like to back down. I would give Maidana the edge because I feel his workrate is better (especially to the body), but Lopez has shown the ability to change fights with one punch.
As for Lopez-Khan, that would have been a very good fight to gauge Khan’s progress with Virgil Hunter. Lopez is a legit 140 pounder (not the blown up lightweight Khan feasted on in Carlos Molina), and has good power but is more reckless than someone like Danny Garcia. Word is Khan wanted it at 140 whereas Lopez, who just fought at 154, was hoping for a catchweight at the 145 pound mark.
It only takes one punch to make the best plans go awry. In boxing, a fighter looking ahead to future opportunities can find himself on the canvas with his dreams crushed. 2012 saw its fair share of established champions and prospects experience this emotional and career devastation. Here are the most notable.
5. SERGIO THOMPSON TKO2 JORGE LINARES
Jorge Linares has not had the superstar career that Golden Boy Promotions envisioned, but he seemed to be on the right track even after suffering a bloody TKO defeat to Antonio DeMarco. That bout had been dominated by Linares until the later rounds and it was one of the best fights of 2011. Linares was scheduled to have a highly anticipated rematch with DeMarco on July 7 as long as he took care of business against Sergio Thompson on Match 31.
Thompson had other plans and took complete control of the fight midway through the second with a huge overhand right. Thompson hammered him on the ropes relentlessly to score a knockdown and produce a gaping cut above Linares left eye. After a brief consultation with the ringside doctor, the bout was called.
At 26 years old, Linares’s career is now back at square one.
4.DENIS GRACHEV TKO8 ISMAYL SILLAKH
“I will break Ismayl Sillakh.” – Denis Grachev
The pre-fight Ivan Drago quote was cute, but no one seriously gave the unheralded Denis Grachev much chance against Ismayl Sillakh, the undefeated Ukranian that had been beating the drums in the press for a matchup with the likes of Jean Pascal or Lucian Bute. For most of the fight, Sillakh easily avoided Grachev’s wild haymakers with good movement and counter-punching.
Grachev began to time right hooks in the sixth but Sillakh took them well and began coasting, a tactic he paid for dearly in the eighth when he was badly staggered by a short right hand. Sillakh stumbled to the ropes and opted to cover up instead of hold, resulting in Grachev turning Sillakh’s head into a living speedbag. The punishment was quick and brutal with Sillakh sagging to the canvas for his first defeat.
The showing would earn Grachev a fight with Lucian Bute this past November. Sillakh has yet to make his comeback.
KO SEQUENCE BEGINS AT 38:48 MARK
3.SONNY BOY JARO TKO6 PONGSAKLEK WONJONGKAM
Going into this fight, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam had not lost a fight since 2007 and never by KO. It was Wonjongkam’s fifth defense of his WBC flyweight title while Sonny Boy Jaro, whose record going in was 34-10-5, was not considered a serious threat. Maybe all the talk of being a pushover angered Jaro, because he came out with bad intentions. He dropped Wonjongkam with a cuffing left hook in the first and made a concerted effort to work the body. Wonjongkam hit the canvas again in the third and twice in the six to signal the end of the fight. The final sequence was especially brutal as the ref’s attempt to give the future Hall of Famer every chance to fight off the ropes just resulted in Wonjongkam having his boxing career beat out of him.
Afterward, Wonjongkam would reel off four wins over a four-month span. It was simply fool’s gold as his next step up against Rey Migreno, a fighter Wonjongkam had previously beat twice, resulted in another emphatic TKO defeat. Wonjongkam wisely called it a career with a final record of 87-5-2 with 46 KOs.
2. DANNY GARCIA TKO4 AMIR KHAN
Angel Garcia may or may not have gotten in Amir Khan’s head in the lead-up by saying Pakistanis can’t fight, but there was no doubt about the impact of Danny Garcia’s left hook on Khan’s cranium. Khan was winning this fight handily but still getting clipped with left hooks in exchanges. It would be one in the third that landed on the neck that began Khan’s downfall. The ramifications of this upset loss were huge — it ended Khan’s hope of facing Floyd Mayweather and severed his 5-year professional relationship with trainer Freddie Roach. Credit to Khan — the man went down swinging and took a bunch of hellacious shots in the fourth.
1. JOSESITO LOPEZ TKO9 VICTOR ORTIZ
With a Canelo fight on tap next, nothing could be safer for a big welterweight like Victor Ortiz than facing a guy that’s a career 140-pounder, right? Tell that to Victor Ortiz’s jaw which is still recovering over five months later after being broken in several places at the hands of Josesito Lopez, who showed absolutely no fear, or respect for that matter, to Ortiz. Lopez weathered Ortiz’s dirty tactics (rabbit punches), and focused on powerful haymaker hooks throughout the fight that gave Ortiz pause and produced huge ohhs and ahhs from the crowd. On replay, you literally see the moment in Ortiz’s eyes when Lopez’s jaw-breaking power knocks the fight out of him.
Lopez’s performance would earn him in a headlining slot against Canelo Alvarez at the MGM Grand this past May.
LOS ANGELES, CA — For the last two months, Amir Khan has been raving about his new trainer Virgil Hunter, boasting we’d see a more patient, economical and smarter version of himself when he next stepped in the ring. Last against Carlos Molina, we more so witnessed hints of Khan’s potential with Hunter rather than the finished product, as Khan’s previous defensive issues reared its head (or rather chin), but didn’t put him in any serious peril. Khan’s storyline wasn’t the only compelling one yesterday, as Alfredo Angulo, Deontay Wilder and Leo Santa Cruz added their own drama to last night’s proceedings.
Khan’s a Big Work In Progress: You’d think we’d all realize this, but it felt like many people expected Khan to be Andre Ward out there last night. The man has only had 8 weeks with Hunter. To put this in perspective, let’s look at the most successful partnership in recent years involving a trainer completely revamping a fighter’s game to mask chin and defense issues — Emanuel Steward and Wladimir Klitschko. It took several years for Klitschko under Steward’s tutelage to become the dominant fighter we see today, and during that time he experienced a bad KO loss to Lamon Brewster. Khan will have similar growing pains, especially he jumps right back in with an elite competition as expected.
A Loss “Ending” Khan’s Career Was Fight Hype Hyperbole: Yes, losing to lightweight Carlos Molina would have been devastating. Hell, all of Khan’s losses have been career-altering and devastating. The reason he’s gotten and will continue to get more chances is that he’s an exciting fighter. That’s far more important than his win-loss record and is what separates him from someone like Devon Alexander.
Chill on Those Calls for a Garcia Rematch, Amir: Khan absurdly claimed in his post-fight interview that if he had been fighting Danny Garcia last night, he would’ve scored a knockout. I know Molina was a very light puncher (that’s why he was picked), but surely Khan must remember the numerous left hook counters Molina landed (the same punch Garcia used to batter Khan). Although he did marginally better in that he didn’t linger as much inside to enjoy his combinations, Khan is still open for that shot and needs much more schooling before he goes for that rematch. As it stands now, Khan loses that fight.
What’s Next for King Khan: For starters, he needs to get in there with legit 140 pounder. It’d be dangerous, but since Khan likes to roll the dice I’d like to see him give it go against Olusegun Ajose, who put on a great fight against Lucas Matthysse a few months back. We’d see how the “new” Khan mentally deals with pressure and high volume.
Angulo vs. Silva was the Fight of the Night: This a brutal fight of attrition that did more for Silva’s visibility than Angulo’s comeback. Silva was a 20 year old welterweight moving up and expected to be cannon fodder for the bigger Angulo. Instead, Silva used his quicker hands to abuse Angulo with counter left hook haymakers and right hands starting in the middle rounds. Going into the eighth, Silva had a legit shot at the upset but started to slow due to Angulo excellent hooks to the body, punctuated by Angulo’s switching to southpaw for defense and to work right hooks. If I was someone like Austin Trout, I’d be begging to get Angulo in the ring (I doubt Golden Boy obliges). Regarding Silva, I hope his effort has earned him another Showtime date.
Deontay Wilder Delivers the KO of the Night: All apologies to Nonito Donaire, but Deontay Wilder’s one-punch KO of Kelvin Price gets the kudos. It saved us from what was going to be an ugly, awkward contest between two very tall (6’7 each) and raw heavyweights. By default, Wilder is going to pushed as one of America’s best hopes at heavyweight along with Seth Mitchell and Bryant Jennings as we don’t have anyone else left. It’s pretty damn sad, but that’s the reality of the division.
Leo Santa Cruz Shines on CBS: He had a tough outing with a very game Alberto Guevara, but Leo Santa Cruz had a good fight yesterday. He struggled throughout the first six rounds with Guevara’s movement. The second half was all Santa Cruz, whose left hook downstairs and counter rights inside had Guevara in complete retreat (and at times turning away from Santa Cruz’s offense). Santa Cruz ended up throwing 989 punches and just overhwhelmed Guevara down the stretch. I’m not a fan of coddling young fighters (especially when they hold major titles), so a unification fight with Anselmo Moreno should be on the table for early-mid 2013 if Santa Cruz remains at bantamweight.
Prediction: The reason Amir Khan is fighting a lightweight is to ensure his chin hopefully faces no serious problems while working on the training methods he’s experienced with new trainer Virgil Hunter. Molina is a solid fighter, but even if Khan’s his usual reckless self, the likelihood that Molina has the power to hurt Khan is minimal with just 7 KOs in. Expect Khan’s speed to make Molina gunshy early on and have this one wrapped up by the fifth round.
Check the full weigh-in footage below for this afternoon’s CBS exhibition and tonight’s Showtime card. And shout-out to Claudia Trejos for her presentation work.
Watch the live weigh-in here for Amir Khan’s comeback fight against Carlos Molina. The fight takes place Saturday (December 15) at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, airing live on Showtime at 10:30 p.m. ET. The weigh-in will also cover the undercard bouts featuring Deontay Wilder and Alfredo Angulo.
LOS ANGELES, CA — Amir Khan and Carlos Molina held the first official U.S. press conference yesterday for their December 15 bout at the LA Sports Arena. Khan is on yet another comeback trail after his superfight-derailing KO loss to Danny Garcia in July. While Molina is an undefeated fighter, the most intriguing aspect of this contest is the fact it’s Khan’s first bout under new trainer Virgil Hunter. Can Khan be transformed into a thinking man’s fighter? Will Molina enact another, and this time possibly career ending upset on Khan? Below is the entire press conference courtesy of FightHubtv.com.
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Khan vs. Molina is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Khan Promotions and sponsored by Corona. The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins live at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) with preliminary fights live on SHOWTIME EXTREME® beginning at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). The Sky Sports 1HD telecast begins live at 1:00 a.m. GMT on Sunday, December 16.
There was one unexpected person who was not pleased at yesterday’s news of former champion Amir Khan and brother Haroon beating up six would-be carjackers. The brothers’ father, Shah Khan, has revealed that he criticized his their judgment in fighting over a vehicle.
Amir and Haroon were returning from a concert when their vehicle was blocked by an SUV filled with the would-be carjackers.
A witness to the incident claims when all parties exited their vehicles, one of the carjackers slapped Amir, igniting the fist-fight that left all six attackers unconscious.
While Shah is relieved that there was no serious injuries, he urged his sons to not endanger themselves in the future.
“I’ve told them it takes a bigger man to walk away. Let them have the car, Shah Khan told The Birmingham Mail. “In reality, if they wanted the car, they could have it. It’s insured.”
“You should walk away, turn away. It takes a bigger man to not get involved. But they are ok and everyone is ok.”
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Here’s a rare time when Worldstarhiphop would have come in handy. I’m sure every parent out there can understand where Shah is coming from; you never want your children in any type of danger. What if one of those guys pulled a knife, a gun? You never know who you’re dealing with in the streets.
Amir might have just followed his Dad’s advice had one of those fools not slapped him. Asking a professional fighter to back down at that point is not happening. Stories like this are littered through boxing history with fighters, retired and active, having to lay hands on some foolish guy(s) who either didn’t know who they were dealing with, or worse, knew and thought they could get the better of a physical confrontation.
LAS VEGAS, NV — For the second consecutive fight, Amir Khan went into the ring with the prospect of a superfight with Floyd Mayweather looming.
And for the second straight time, Khan suffered a shocking upset, this time the result of Danny Garcia’s left hook, which dropped Khan three times in route to a dramatic fourth round TKO.
Khan fought with an aggressive urgency spurred by his press conference vow earlier this week to score a knockout. The WBA titlist came out blazing in the opening seconds of the first round with a hard left jab-right hook. He went inside with hooks which Garcia returned in kind. Each man landed clean, thudding shots, but Khan’s faster hands gave him a distinct advantage.
Garcia found himself being pushed backward by Khan’s hand speed and tried in vain to counter off the back foot. However, the WBC title-holder found success inside due to Khan’s reckless exchanges, and caught his opponent with a sharp right hook. In addition, Garcia scored with several left hooks to the body. Nonetheless, Khan’s slashing shots opening up a bad cut above Garcia’s right eye.
“He’s picking you apart!” stated Danny’s father and trainer Angel Garcia, who implored his fighter to settle down and be patient with his shots.
Garcia did just that in the third, weathering Khan potshots and swelling for most of the round only to crash home a vicious left hook to the side of Khan’s neck. The blow robbed Khan of his equilibrium; he crashed backward on the canvas and rose in drunken stumbles. With less than 20 seconds left, Khan pushed and held his way to the bell despite Garcia getting in several more hooks.
The minute rest did little for Khan and another knockdown was scored early in the fourth when a Garcia hook caused Khan’s glove to touch the canvas. Khan spent that early portions of the round in frantic retreat with his back facing away from Garcia.
What appeared to be an inevitable conclusion was stalled when Khan suddenly planted his feet and began trading power shots inside. He gave Garcia brief pause with a clubbing overhand right and crashed home several uppercuts. Garcia countered the desperation offense with more heavy left hooks.
The slugfest thrilled the crowd, but Khan was still weakened from the previous knockdowns and again tasted the canvas courtesy of a Garcia left hook. Khan rose for a third time and assured referee Kenny Bayless that he was fit to continue. However, Bayless feared for the fighter’s health and called off the bout to Khan’s immediate dismay.
The exciting unification bout awarded Danny Garcia the WBA and RING Magazine belts while retaining his WBC title. Although his father Angel insulted Khan on ethnic and religious terms before Saturday night, Danny Garcia had nothing but praise for Khan’s abilities.
“Amir Khan is a great fighter and I knew he’d bring the best out of me,” said Garcia.
Khan was stoic in defeat and acknowledged that his big success in the initial two rounds made him unfocused.
“We got complacent and we paid for that,” admitted Khan.
Danny Garcia remains undefeated and will be the likely candidate to face the winner of the September 8 IBF title match between Randall Bailey and Devon Alexander.
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As you saw from the headline of my Amir Khan interview earlier today, I wasn’t keen on Amir being so focused on a future Mayweather fight when he had a highly capable and dangerous man in front of him. It felt to me like deja vu considering this was exactly the same scenario before he fought Lamont Peterson last December.
Khan let Angel Garcia’s nonsense get in his head. He came out fighting angry with something to prove. He started like he was Arturo Gatti with Muhammad Ali and George Chuvalo’s chin. He slugged away with power shots instead of consistently working behind the jab and outboxing Garcia (when he threw the jab, he nearly always landed clean). He got caught up in wanting the spectacular KO for the Mayweather setup and got his career derailed yet again.
Should Garcia not got for the winner of Bailey-Alexander, I’d love to see a rematch of this upset before the end of 2012.
Amir Khan is experiencing deja vu and not one of the positive kind. The WBA, junior welterweight titlist is mere hours away from a unification matchup against Danny Garcia, the WBC title-holder. And like Khan’s last fight in December against then IBF titlist Lamont Peterson, Amir is going into this bout with superfight rumors swirling.
In the last week, whisperings have gone through the boxing community that Khan is next in line to face the currently incarcerated Floyd Mayweather, who’s reportedly looking for one more bout to close out 2012. This same plan was on Khan’s mind before facing Peterson, as evidenced by an interview with this very writer where he ambitiously place himself as a future Pound 4 Pound successor.
All that was derailed when Lamont Peterson scored a shocking, split decision upset. While it was later discovered that Peterson had extra performance help, the now overturned loss still set back Khan’s career for nearly a year.
Tonight he faces another unheralded but dangerous opponent in Danny Garcia, who’s determined to remind Khan in successive bouts that sinking feeling of an upset loss. Just hours before the big fight, Amir Khan reveals whether he’s learned from past mental blunders, or if his mind is still focused on the deja vu of superfight dreams.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: The last time we spoke, you were very preoccupied with moving to welterweight and getting big fights in 2012. Yet, here you are still at 140…
Amir Khan: Definitely, the Peterson fight kind of put all that on hold. I still could have moved to 147 but I wanted to have a rematch with Lamont Peterson that didn’t happen. I believe everything happens for a reason and I’ve got another great fight. I’ve matured in weight and it’ll work out for the best.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: There was a lot of criticism leveled your way about you not having a competent inside game. Was that addressed in this last camp?
Khan: Yeah, but with this fight it was the power and a lot strength training and conditioning. So I know Garcia is going to feel that punch and get hurt by it. I don’t think he’ll have a chance.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: With his recent performances, has Kell Brook hit your radar?
Khan: He needs to fight some big names. Maybe then the fight [between us] can happen. At the moment I’m fighting world-class fighters and campaigning in America while he’s been at home. In the future a fight could be big in America. I don’t think it makes any sense fighting him in America now because nobody knows him. When I beat him people would think ‘who’s this guy?’ I don’t think he’d sell over here either. Maybe in the future when he fights guys in America and recognized in the Top 10.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: Considering all that’s come out regarding the circumstances around the first Peterson fight, does it make your more confident going forward or angry?
Khan: A little bit of both, really. At the end of the day we know we won that fight even coming into his backyard with biased judges and a referee. We still want that rematch really to put things straight.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: We’ve seen a lot of suspect judging this year, but we still have commissions and even commentators saying it’s incompetence over corruption. What’s your stance?
Khan: I think it’s bad judging, really. But then again you never know because there’s a lot of stuff going on with boxing behind the scenes. There’s a lot that still needs to be found out with what happened in my [last] fight and what happened in Manny [Pacquiao's] fight [against Timothy Bradley]. Something is going on that’s unethical.
I’m a fighter that trains hard for 10 weeks and it hurts when you get cheated like that. I’m hoping the officials continue to look into it and follow through with investigations.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: Being that we knew for a fact you’ve been in there with someone on performance enhancing drugs, and from what you’ve seen and heard, how bad do you think the steroids issue is in boxing?
Khan: I think it’s very bad when you have major champions getting caught. You look at Peterson who deliberately took something, lied about not knowing why the sample came back positive and then 3 weeks later remembering [he took testosterone]? Who forgets something like that? He had the chance to tell the truth.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: You fought Victor Ortiz in the amateurs and most fans have calmed down on calling him a quitter since it’s been revealed his jaw was broken in two places. Do you think boxing fans, especially those who’ve never boxed, are too harsh or quick to throw the quitter tag around?
Khan: You’re always going to get fans who say and write good and bad things about you. You have to put it in your mental rear view mirror. But with Victor Ortiz he had the chance to box and win that fight but he made it a war and that was Lopez’s game. Maybe the fans are frustrated because they know he should’ve won that fight and went on to a bigger fight against [Canelo] Alvarez. The fans overall just want you to put forth the best effort every time.
Beats, Boxing & Mayhem: You’ve had to verbally spar with Danny Garcia’s father more than his son for the last few months. Any final words to him before you step in the ring?
Khan: I’m going to do my fighting and talking in the ring. All the stuff his father said about my race isn’t going to stop my punches on his son. It’s definitely personal and I’m going to knock him out.
“Khan vs. Garcia,” a 12-round fight for Garcia’s WBC Super Lightweight World Championship, is presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Khan Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. The fight will be televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT.
Angel Garcia was in rare form yesterday at the final press conference before his son Danny faces Amir Khan Saturday night (July 14). The senior Garcia vowed his son will bring the entire Latino nation into the ring, while Khan promised to show how good a Pakistani can fight. In addition, he made his first prediction, declaring he’ll knock Danny Garcia out. Expect more last-minute trash talk at the weigh-in later today, scheduled for 6pm ET.
