I’m back as a guest for tonight’s edition of the Bad Culture Boxing Radio show to discuss all the recent news from our favorite sport. With host Jeandra LeBeauf (www.badculture.net), we’ll be discussing this weekend’s big Showtime fight between Adrien Broner and Paulie Malignaggi, Seth Mitchell vs. Johnathon Banks, last week’s destruction of Juan Manuel Lopez, Hopkins-Kovalev, Riddick Bowe’s embarrassing foray into Muay Thai, Frida Wallberg’s cerebral hemorrage scare, and much more.
You can call in to discuss the sport with us at (347) 945-6550. The show will be available tonight HERE.
The July 14 matchup between Bernard Hopkins and Karo Murat is now canceled due to Murat experiencing visa issues getting into the country.
The news was broken late last night courtesy of Maxboxing’s Steve Kim and confirmed this morning.
Hopkins, coming off an impressive unanimous decision win over Tavoris Cloud in March, was going to make his first defense of his newly won IBF light-heavyweight title. Murat, an Armenian fighter who resides in Germany, was the mandatory for the IBF title and last fought in June 2012, knocking out Sandro Siproshvili in seven rounds. The July 14 bout would have been Murat’s first in the United States.
At press time, Hopkins is hoping to land a September unification date with either Adonis Stevenson (WBC), Nathan Cleverly (WBO) and Beibut Shumenov (WBA).
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I’m sure Hopkins is mad since all that training will go to waste, but this will likely be a “blessing in disguise.” Every one of the current titlists are winnable fights for Hopkins, with the most high-profile being Adonis Stevenson with his two-punch KO over Chad Dawson last weekend.
Here is where it gets dicey. With HBO not doing business with Golden Boy, Stevenson would also have to choose between networks. If he stays with HBO, his options would be Andre Ward (who despertately needs a name opponent for his return) and Carl Froch. The downside there is that he’d probably be subjected to a catchweight. We also can’t forget Jean Pascal in what would be a fun brawl (Note: Contractually this might not be possible with Lucian Bute deal still in place).
Stevenson could do good business with Hopkins, but as always that’s a tough fight. B-Hop loves sluggers so he’d jump at the chance. If I were Stevenson, I’d look for my own unification against Cleverly or Shumenov. Those are hard, action fights, but with guys that will be there to be hit.
Adrien Broner is less than two weeks away from making his welterweight debut in a title match against Paulie Malignaggi. In this short Showtime clip, Broner discusses why Malignaggi is simply a stepping stone to his journey to the Hall of Fame.
“Golden Boy and Al Haymon will get me that fight. I’m ready for that fight. I want to fight him.” – Lucas Matthysse on fighting Danny Garcia
ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey — Lucas Matthysse promised that Lamont Peterson wouldn’t be able to handle his power. That vow was delivered in spades last night with Matthysse scoring three knockdowns in route to a whitewash, third round TKO victory last night at the Boardwalk Hall.
Peterson came out trying to box off the backfoot and work his jab, making the bout’s first two minutes a chess match in positioning. Matthysse took the stanza in the last 20 seconds via a hard left hook counter and straight right that put Peterson on his heels.
Matthysse upped his aggression in the second by stalking after Peterson with wild haymakers and roughing him up in clinches with clubbing hooks to the body and head. Matthysse mixed in a few unintentional rabbit punches, and Peterson soon tried to come forward to stifle the pressure. Matthysse immediately countered this with a thudding right cross.
A stunned Peterson stumbled into the ropes and then clinched for time. He tried to go back to boxing off the backfoot, but his legs had stiffened and he soon found himself with his back to the ropes. Matthysse threw a straight right to the body which slightly dropped Peterson’s guard and opened up a deadly left hook upstairs.
The shot caught Peterson on the top of his head. His brain told him to move, and he made the initial steps before the damage short-circuited any further upright movement.
Peterson toppled to the floor, but was up at four and affirmed to Steve Smoger his willingness to continue. With 18 seconds left, Peterson was barely able to clinch without falling. In the corner, trainer Barry Hunter implored him not to let Matthysse “over-rough him” in the clinches. This implied he wanted Peterson to turn on his aggression and move Matthysse backwards, much like he was able to do against Amir Khan, Victor Ortiz and Kendall Holt.
Matthysse isn’t those fighters.
Peterson was scoring in-close to start the third round, but Matthysse clearly had control with cleaner, harder and varied power shots. After receiving them, Peterson would quickly hold or move away. With 1:14 left, Peterson made the fatal mistake of trying to exchange hooks with Matthysse and found himself back on the canvas via a left hook with Matthysse’s full weight behind it.
Peterson stumbled back to his feet but within seconds was back on the canvas by his corner via another left hook. The fight was quickly stopped by referee Steve Smoger.
“The first round I was trying to find out what I was bringing to the fight. After the second round I started connecting with more force,” said Matthysse in his post-fight interview. “I had two and a half months of preparation for this fight and that was the difference. Now I know I am the best at 140 pounds because no one has ever dominated Peterson the way I did tonight.”
On the undercard, Devon Alexander made easy work of a clearly overmatched Lee Purdy. The southpaw Alexander, who hurt his left hand in the first round, kept up a high workrate and many times stood in front of Purdy firing off combinations. The slower Purdy tried to come in behind a high guard, but he was mostly a step behind with his offense and didn’t possess the power to trouble the IBF welterweight titlist. Seeing the writing on the wall, Purdy’s corner threw in the towel before round eight.
“There are going to be a lot of critics saying Purdy wasn’t all that anyway, but he’s a good fighter,” said Alexander, who scored his first knockout in nearly three years. “Over in the U.K. he beat some good guys and I think he was very suitable. He came to fight and he gave me a good fight. I got the win. I got the technical knockout.”
Alexander is rumored to be in line to face Amir Khan in December.
This picture of Danny Garcia ringside after the Matthysse KO was the highlight of my night. Note Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin to his right looking at him with genuine concern for his well-being.
Most people aren’t giving Garcia any shot. I’ll go against the hype and say Danny Garcia has a solid chance of beating The Machine. Is he the favorite? No. Would I bet on him to win? Hell no. But he’s shown the ability to stick to a game plan even when hurt, and the Judah fight showed he can maintain movement (which he’ll have to do to blunt Matthysse’s power). Peterson didn’t have the power to gain Matthysse’s respect. Garcia might not either, but it’s possible a few of those powerful left hooks could give pause to Matthysse’s pressure. But as of right now, Lucas Matthysse is looking like an unstoppable force at 140 pounds.
At press time, Golden Boy is looking at reserving the Verizon Center in Washington D.C. for a Matthysse-Garcia main event supported by Judah-Peterson. I might have to make that trip.
Prediction: Like most people, I’ve spent weeks flip-flopping on who’s going to win this bout. Both guys have tested the waters at the highest levels on the sport, but still have question marks surrounding them. Peterson was outskilled years ago in his first step up against Timothy Bradley, and later could only manage a draw against Victor Ortiz after nearly being KO’d early. He then rebounded with his “signature win” in late 2011 against Amir Khan, only for that fight to be mired in referee, scoring and synthetic testosterone controversy. The best opponents on Lucas Matthysse’s resume are Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, two fights the Argentinian slugger lost via controversial decisions despite scoring knockdowns and strong finishes.
Tonight, Peterson and Matthysse meet as wiser fighters primed for bigger opportunities should they win. In Peterson’s return bout, he took Kendall Holt’s best punches and delivered a devastating beatdown. Matthysse has put together three crushing KOs of his own in taking out Humberto Soto, Ajose Olusegun and Mike Dallas Jr. Each man are experts at body-punching and coming on after slow starts (although Matthysse has brought the pain early in recent bouts).
Something has to give. Someone has to fold, right? At the end, I expect Lucas Matthysse to emerge with the win via a late knockout. The difference for me will be the Matthysse’s body-punching, which I believe will have more of an impact in the earlier rounds due to Peterson’s slow starts. When Lamont attempts to come on later, I don’t think he’ll be able to surge as strongly as we’ve seen him do against Khan and Ortiz. Based on what Peterson’s brother Anthony has said in the media, it sounds like Peterson plans to muscle Matthysse inside and get him moving backwards. It’s true, Matthysse has really shown the ability to box going in that direction, but Peterson will be putting himself in the danger zone to do it as he’s not the most slickest guy inside, nor does he clinch much.
In other words, Peterson will get hit and often. So will Matthysse, for that matter. In a situation where both guys will be sent to hell and back, I’m going to go with the guy that holds a more powerful punch. Prediction is Lucas Matthysse TKO10
Check back here later tonight for a full preview and prediction of tomorrow night’s potential Fight of the Year between Lamont Peterson. For now, check out this Showtime feature on Peterson’s career highs and lows in addition to his father-son relationship with his trainer.
BROOKLYN, New York — Zab Judah failed last night in another championship match. That statement is a cold fact, but it doesn’t begin to reveal the entire truth behind the event, as Judah showed heart and grit in overcoming a knockdown and various perilous moments to inflict his own damage on champion Danny Garcia in route to losing a highly entertaining unanimous decision (116-111, 115-112 and 114-112) at the Barclays Center.
This was a bout that surpassed my expectations in that the fight was still on the table in the late rounds. What made it so exciting? Onto the fight’s major points.
THE LEFT HOOK? AH, MADE YOU LOOK!: Danny Garcia’s main weapon is his massive left hand and Judah was on the lookout for it by constantly circling away to his left. Garcia wisely anticipated this and framed his offense around various right hands. Garcia mixed it to the body and head, at times looping it around Judah’s guard, shooting down the middle, or stabbing it downstairs. It made Judah have to think about when to throw his own counter lefts, allowing Garcia to outland him and rack up the early rounds. However, when Judah did throw the left with conviction, he connected flush.
BODY SHOTS: Around the fifth round it became clear that Garcia right hands downstairs were beginning to break down his opponent. Zab’s movement slowed and it allowed Garcia to wobble him badly with a right upstairs. Judah refused to go down and even talked a little trash while back-peddaling for dear life.
The sixth was no better for Judah with Garcia jumping on his immediately and going right back to the body, forcing Judah to hold. It was probably the longest round of Zab’s career as he was hurt in the opening moments and literally knocked around the ring like a pinball for the entire 3 minutes. Still, he refused to go down.
THE 8TH ROUND COMEBACK/KNOCKDOWN: I know it’s strange to consider a round he got dropped in as the start of his comeback, but that’s the round where Zab started to turn it around. He was winning the eighth by countering Garcia at mid-range, but he lingered too long and got planted on the seat of his pants by a right cross.
With his eyes swelled up, Judah could have easily packed it in as we’ve seen him do before. Instead, he let his Brooklyn hometown fuel him and commenced to throwing home run straight lefts. It allowed him to survive the round, and he kept it up in the ninth to great effect. Still, Garcia continued to land regularly with the right that kept Judah from completely turning it around.
JUDAH’S CHAMPIONSHIP ROUNDS: Now when have you ever seen Judah dominate in the late rounds? He finally succeeded in stunning Garcia with a left in round 10 and had him moving backwards. Garcia is not nearly as effective off the backfoot and he got wobbled again off a Judah power shot. Zab also landed his best hooks, with both hands, in the 11th.
But to Garcia’s credit, his chin held up amazingly well and he made sure at the end of these rounds he was the one coming forward and forcing Judah to hold.
A clash of heads had both streaming blood in the final stanza. Judah got in a few more big counters while Garcia went back to the body for what was a thrilling finish.
RESPECT EARNED, NOT GIVEN: All the bullshit trash talk between these two camps had all but evaporated at the final bell. Garcia and Judah embraced, and the latter could be seen standing by and shaking hands with former nemesis Angel Garcia during the post-fight interview. Danny was high on praise for Zab and gave him accolades as the best fighter he’s ever fought.
It was a hell of a fight. I had to beat the Brooklyn guy in his hometown. I knew he had a lot of pride behind him and he was never going to give up. He is a crafty veteran with power. He hit me with a good shot. He hit me in the eleventh with a left hand that spun me around. It shook me up a little bit.
I am a true champion and I had to fight through a storm tonight to prove that. Judah is the craftiest and strongest guy that I have fought so far. I knew he had a lot of power with the left, but I was able to stand my ground and counter it. My game plan was to try to use the jab, but he was stepping around. He was crafty and he took my jab away so I had to do what I had to do.
And as far as all the animosity we saw before the fight?
It’s gone. It’s respect. As you can see, it’s a lot of bad blood (on our faces). I’ve got cuts. He has cuts. We came here and gave the people of Brooklyn a nice show.
TIME TO GET OFF THE SENIOR CIRCUIT: Danny Garcia impressed me with his chin, ability to remain calm under fire, and in executing such a sound game plan. However, his last two title defenses have been against 35+ year old fighters well past their primes. For all intents and purposes, it should have been his mandatory, Lucas Matthysse, in there with him last night. Garcia needs to be facing the winner of Matthysse-Peterson next unless a Khan rematch comes off.
QUILLIN DOMINATES: Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin’s power resulted in another multiple-knockdown victory as he deposited Fernando Guerrero on the canvas four times in route to a seventh round TKO. Quillin was patient and used his right hand counters to destroy Guerrero. It was his first title defense of the WBO title he lifted last October over Hassan N’DAm. Quillin has name-checked two potential opponents in Gennday Golovkin and Sergio Martinez. With Martinez getting injured again last night, the Golovkin fight would be the most explosive bout that can be made at middleweight.
Last night’s All Access brought you more info from the training camps of Floyd Mayweather and Roberto Guerrero. I hope Robert Guerrero’s statement that his son won’t be using the jab much. Floyd has a lot to say about Guerrero’s recent legal troubles and brands the man a religious hypocrite. Remember the big fight goes down next weekend (May 4) via Showtime pay-per-view.
The second episode of Showtime’s All Access goes deeper into the training regimen overseen by their fathers. The talking ceases and the fight goes down on May 4.
We’re just three weeks out from Floyd Mayweather’s May 4 WBC welterweight title defense against Robert Guerrero. Today, Floyd will let fans and media alike see his final preparations at his Las Vegas gym. Floyd’s a gym rat so this is not so much about the workout, but the one-liners about Guerrero and other assorted commentary dish out. Click the pic below for the direct link.
