Boxing: The Week in Review

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Miguel Cotto - Saul Canelo AlvarezEvery week, there are numerous topics that even hardcore fans, not to mention casual fans, cannot keep up with. Every week, I’ll be here to help you catchup with the sport of boxing, going over the previous weekend’s results, as well as some of the hot breaking news topics that fans are talking about. This week was filled with rumors and some fights that were finally officially announced, so let’s get right into the boxing week in review.

It’s OFFICIAL: #CottoCanelo

The boxing social media erupted on midday Thursday as the moment they had all been waiting for had finally arrived. Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez was finally made official. As previously reported, the bout will take place on November 21st at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Now that the fight has been made official, the undercard fights, which have rumored to be including Andre Ward and James Kirkland, can now start to also be made official.

The much-anticipated bout has been talked about for over a year now and will be sure to renew the classic boxing rivalry of Puerto Rico vs. Mexico. Canelo brought up that rivalry in the announcement of the fight, saying “Sánchez vs. Gomez, De La Hoya vs. Trinidad, Camacho vs. Chavez, all of these are Puerto Rican – Mexican fights that have been in history”. Ticket sale information will be given shortly and according to Oscar De La Hoya, the HBO PPV will be “a lot less than $100 for guaranteed action”.

GGG-Lemieux Tickets Flying

On Monday, they had the presale for the Gennady Golovkin vs. David Lemieux bout to take place October 17th at Madison Square Garden in NYC on HBO PPV. By the end of the day, there were 6,000 tickets sold, which made it the fastest-selling boxing event in MSG’s history. All talk of Golovkin not being a draw or ticket seller was squashed, and now the excitement for the fight is at its peak. There is a very likely expectation that the attendance will top the approximately 13,000 that was sold at Miguel Cotto’s fight at Barclays Center the week before the Puerto Rican day Parade.

One other topic of note regarding this PPV this week was Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez finally has an official opponent as he will be squaring off against Brian “Hawaiian Punch” Viloria. Newly signed Golden Boy Promotions boxer Tureano Johnson steps into the ring against Eamonn O’Kane in an IBF middleweight title eliminator.

Future Fights:

Antonio Tarver vs. Steve Cunningham – This heavyweight battle will take place tomorrow as the main event brought to you by PBC on Spike TV. It will take place at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. Antonio Tarver wants to carve a large piece out of the heavyweight division, already yelling for a shot at Wladimir Klitschko after this fight, while Steve Cunningham had been on the bad side of some tough and controversial judge’s decisions. He hopes to get the benefit of the doubt in this primetime matchup.

Marco Huck vs. Krzysztof Glowacki – This will be the main fight on the undercard of the Tarver and Cunningham bout above. It will take place in the cruiserweight division, and Huck’s WBO belt will be on the line. This will be Huck’s 1st fight on US soil, and it has caused a little more excitement in the boxing community than you might expect. He has said he would also like a shot at Klitschko, as well as the WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder after this.

Errol Spence Jr vs. Chris Van Heerden – This fight will take place at the Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto on 9/11. Spence was at one point being talked about on Floyd Mayweather’s undercard against Keith Thurman, however with Thurman, as well as other top PBC welterweights like Shawn Porter turning the fight down due to most of them saying he needs to work his way up first, Spence will once again try to showcase his talents against another lower level opponent.

Peter Quillin vs. Michael Zerafa – This fight, if you want to call it that, will take place on 9/12 at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The fight is a complete mismatch and just seems like a quick tune-up for Quillin as he inches closer to his bout against Danny Jacobs that is said to be on plans to take place at the end of this year.