Boxing Blog – TSS Tidbits

ANDERSON “THE SPIDER” SILVA vs. PATRICK “THE PREDATOR” COTE

UFC® WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP

SATURDAY, OCT. 25, 2008

LIVE FROM ALLSTATE ARENA

Tickets on Sale Monday, August 18 – 10am CT

Las Vegas, NV (USA) – Sports fans in Chicago unite! The UFC® is coming to town and it is bringing the world’s greatest pound for pound fighter, Anderson “The Spider” Silva, for a middleweight title fight against his number one contender, Patrick “The Predator” Cote. The UFC will make its historic first trip to Chicago this fall when it presents UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE live from Allstate Arena on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2008.

“Anderson Silva once again showed why he’s the greatest pound for pound fighter in the world when he moved up to light heavyweight and destroyed James “The Sandman” Irvin,” said Dana White, UFC President. “Now he drops back down to middleweight to defend his world title against Patrick Cote, a fighter on a four-fight win streak with a style that guarantees an incredible fight, wherever it goes. There is no better way to introduce Chicago to the UFC than with the championship fight Anderson Silva vs. Patrick Cote.”

Tickets for UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE will go on sale Monday, August 18 at 10am CT starting at $50. Tickets will be available at Allstate Arena Box Office, all Ticketmaster Ticket Centers, Charge-By-Phone at (312) 559-1212 or online at ticketmaster.com.

UFC® Fight Club™ members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Friday, August 15 at 10am CT via the website www.ufc.com. ; A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Sunday, August 17 starting at 10am CT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through www.ufc.com. ;

UFC 90: SILVA vs. COTE is available live on pay-per-view at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, DISH Network, TVN, Bell ExpressVu, Shaw Communications and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.95 for standard definition or high-definition broadcasts (where available).

It took Silva (22-4) just 61 seconds to defeat his last opponent, James “The Sandman” Irvin at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas July 19, but that is par for the course for “The Spider”, who burst on to the UFC scene two years ago. His list of victims started with a devastating knockout of Chris Leben in June 2006. He followed that up with two TKOs over Rich Franklin, a submission win over Travis Lutter, a TKO over Nate Marquardt and a second round submission over PRIDE 183-pound champion Dan Henderson. Silva, considered by most to be the most dominant force the UFC middleweight division has ever seen, now faces number one middleweight contender Patrick “The Predator” Cote.

“It’s an honor to be fighting Patrick Cote in the first UFC event ever in Chicago,” said Silva. “I’m excited to take on Cote, but I am taking him very seriously; he is a dangerous striker and he likes to stand and trade with his opponents. That’s the kind of fight fans like to see, and that’s definitely the fight we’re going to give them Oct. 25.”

Cote, (14-4) fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is on a four fight win streak in the Octagon™, beginning his string of excellence back in February of 2007 with a decision win over Scott Smith at UFC 67. Six months later, he TKO’d Kendall Grove in the first round at UFC 74, and followed that up with a first round TKO over and Drew McFedries at UFC Fight Night in January 2008. But it was his most recent victory, a pivotal win over Ricardo Almeida at UFC 86 on July 5th that propelled him to number one contender status. Now Cote has the opportunity to join countryman Georges St-Pierre as a current Canadian UFC titleholder by taking out reigning champion Silva at UFC 90.

“Everybody that fought Anderson Silva was scared of him; I’m not scared of him one bit,” said Cote. “It’s gonna take him 10 straight punches to take me down – I only need one punch to take him down. I’m Patrick Cote, I win against grapplers and I knock strikers out. I can’t wait to go to Chicago and take the belt home to Montreal.”

The remaining bouts for UFC 90 will be announced in the near future. All bouts live and subject to change. For further information on the UFC visit ufc.com or uk.ufc.com or ufcespanol.com.

WASHINGTON D.C. (July 28, 2008) – Former WBO light welterweight champion DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley is in a crossroads fight Wednesday night against Ashley “Treasure” Theophane (21-3, 7 KOs) in Rochester, New York.

Corley (31-8-1, 17 KOs) is out to snap a four-fight losing streak and go back to the future, working with a new team in hopes of getting back into title contention. “This is a great opportunity for me,” Corley said. “I had a great run with Don King, but, ask any fighter, and the only way to stay active is to be in the ring. I was fighting every 8-12 months, but I’m older now, and need to be fighting every 3-4 months. I’m fighting young guys who are fast and hungry. I need to be busier.”

Now a promotional free agent, the 34-year-old Corley is now managed by Egis Klimas (E Point K Consulting), and trained by veteran Don Turner. “We have a game plan and I’ll be fighting another way than fans have seen the last few years,” Corley explained. “I’ll show a different style working with Don, but what he’s really done is add to the fighter I was when I became world champion. People are going to see a better fighter, one who is more complete and has added to his arsenal. They haven’t seen me punch like they will Wednesday night. I’ve watched a lot of tape with Don, particularly Sugar Ray Robinson, and Don’s showed me that they all had their feet closer together and threw combinations. I’m doing that and putting my feet closer together hasn’t taken any power away. It’s added power.

“Don’s taught me that the body is programmed for five hard rounds and after then it’s about will and skill after that. If a fighter goes as hard as possible for five rounds, like Floyd Mayweather fights, it’s only a matter of time before the opponent is broken down.”

Corley, the 1995 National Golden Gloves Champion, made his pro debut in 1996 and he won his first 16 pro fights.
In 1999, Corley won a 12-round split decision against Ener Julio for the USBA light welterweight title. Two years later, “Chop Chop” took a championship fight on only five days notice against Felix Flores (17-2) for the vacant WBO light welterweight belt. Corley floored Flores twice and the fight was stopped in the opening round.

In successful title defenses, southpaw Corley completely dominated former champion Julio (23-3) in a rematch by 12-round decision (119-105, 117-107, 118-107), dropping Ener twice in the process, and DeMarcus won a 12-round unanimous decision (116-112, 117-111, 117-111)) versus Randall Bailey (26-2).

In back-to-back losing battles against world champions Zab Judah (28-1) and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (31-0), Corley lost his crown to Judah by 12-round split decision (115-113, 112-115, 113-115), and took Mayweather the distance in their WBC title eliminator.

An impressive 10-round win by decision (100-88, 99-90, 99-90) victory against Darryl Tyson (50-13-1) set-up a WBO title shot against unbeaten sensation Miquel Cotto (22-0) in Puerto Rico. It appeared that Corley had Cotto out on his feet, but hometown hero Cotto eventually won by fifth-round technical knockout, marking the first time DeMarcus had been stopped.

“I was frustrated a few times,” Corley remarked, “especially after the Cotto fight. If we had fought in the United States, it would have been stopped. I had him out. I hit him with the same punches I did against Flores and (referee) Jay Nady stopped it. But this fight was in Puerto Rico where Cotto lives and it was a Top Rank show. I had everything stacked against me but I should have won by knockout.”

Coming off of four straight losses, Corley realizes that his fight Wednesday night against Theophane is a do-or-die situation for him. “I don’t know much more about him than his name,” DeMarcus admitted, “but I know I need to make a serious statement and can’t let it go more than three rounds. If I’m going to get a chance to fight for a world title again – fight a Ricky Hatton or get a rematch against Cotto – I have to knockout everybody in each fight from now on to get that shot.”

HOLLYWOOD, FL, July 28 – One of the biggest punchers in boxing today, former undisputed cruiserweight world champion O’Neil Bell is ready to introduce some of that excitement into a new division – heavyweight.

“The heavyweight division needs a savior, and I’m applying for the job,” said Bell, 26-3-1 with 24 knockouts. “I hate to say it, but the division is a mess and it needs cleaning up by a dynamic and exciting fighter like myself.”

“This is great news for O’Neil Bell and for all of boxing,” said Leon Margules, Executive Director of Seminole Warriors Boxing, Bell’s promoter. “Not only will O’Neil get to shine at a weight where he is comfortable at, but the world will finally get to see him at his best – putting on exciting fights and knocking people out in the sport’s glamour division.”

World cruiserweight champion for almost two years, the 33-year old Jamaica native has thrilled fight fans ever since his pro debut in 1998, and over the course of his decade in the game, he has knocked out the likes of Jean-Marc Mormeck, Ezra Sellers, Kelvin Davis, Sebastiaan Rothmann, and Arthur Williams. But now he believes it’s time for him to pursue bigger game.

“Making the cruiserweight limit has sapped me of my strength over my last couple of fights and took away what got me to the world championship in the first place,” said Bell. “Now at heavyweight, I feel better than ever and I can’t wait to smash everyone in my path on the way to the championship. This is the most excited I’ve ever been in my career, and that’s bad news for whoever gets in my way.”

HBO SPORTS PRESENTS THE EXCLUSIVE REPLAY

MIGUEL COTTO VS. ANTONIO MARGARITO

SATURDAY, AUG. 2 ON HBO

It’s a special edition of HBO BOXING AFTER DARK when HBO Sports presents the exclusive replay of the highly anticipated welterweight championship fight MIGUEL COTTO VS. ANTONIO MARGARITO this SATURDAY, AUG. 2 (9:30 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO. The HBO Sports team, which was ringside for the live event at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, will call all the action. The replay will be available in HDTV.

Carried live on HBO Pay-Per-View, the July 26 super-fight showcased two of boxing’s most skilled and decorated performers as they battled for supremacy in the highly competitive 147-pound division. In a slugfest that one television news channel described as “electrifying,” Margarito scored an 11th round TKO triumph. Another news service called it “a sensational fight that lived up to the hype.”

The replay will be paired with the live telecast from Las Vegas as New York-based welterweights Zab Judah and Joshua Clottey collide on HBO BOXING AFTER DARK.

LONDON (July 26, 2008) — AMIR KHAN has confirmed that JORGE RUBIO has been appointed as his new trainer.

The undefeated star of British boxing, currently world-rated No. 2 by the World Boxing Organization and No. 4 by the World Boxing Council, recently went to America and met with a number of top trainers but gelled best with Rubio.

The Cuban taskmaster has already started work with the 21-year-old hot-shot at his Bolton training headquarters as he prepares for his Commonwealth lightweight title defence on September 6 at the M.E.N Arena in Manchester, England. The event will be promoted by Frank Warren’s Sports Network.

Rubio is backed up with impressive credentials and currently works with unbeaten featherweight prospect and 2004 Olympic Champion Yuriorkis Gamboa. As coach of the renown Cuban national amateur squad, he mentored world amateur champion Mario Kindelan – who Khan defeated in his last amateur bout.

Khan (18-0, 14 KOs), said, “I’m delighted that Jorge is now my trainer and I look forward to working with him towards winning the world title. I met with a lot of trainers when I was in America and had plenty of training sessions with everyone and they were happy to come and work with me in Bolton. But I was impressed most by Jorge and his set up and more importantly I felt comfortable working with him and his training methods will give me a new dimension.”

Rubio said, “It’s fantastic to be given the opportunity to work with such a natural talent like Amir and I believe that I can bring the best out in him. I’m really impressed by what I’ve seen of him so far and I know that we still have a lot of work to do.”

Khan worked with Dean Powell for his last fight – a five round war against Michael Gomez last month that Khan won with a fifth round TKO – who will remain as part of the corner team.

A media work-out will be arranged next week at the Khan boxing gym where Khan and Rubio will be available for interviews. Details will follow shortly.

UFC SUPERSTAR ANDERSON SILVA AND SPIKE TV:

Pound For Pound #1 In The Octagon® and #1 In the Ratings

UFC Fight Featuring Brazilian Champ Tops In All Of Television

With Young Men On July 21

Telecast Peaks At 3.8 Million Viewers For Silva vs. James Irvin

Light Heavyweight Main Event

New York, NY, July 22, 2008 — The Ultimate Fighting Championship® proved yet again to be the ratings champion with the hard-to-reach demographic of young men. Spike TV’s telecast of a live “UFC Fight Night” on Saturday, July 19 (9:00pm-12:00am ET) featuring the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, out-delivered every other channel (broadcast and cable) with Men 18-34 (903,000), Men 18-49 (1,550,000), Men 25-34 (622,000), and Persons 18-34 (1,326,000).* The telecast peaked at 11:30pm for the Silva vs. James Irvin bout drawing 3.8 million viewers and a staggering 4.9 rating for Men 25-34 and a 4.1 rating in Men 18-34.

The UFC fight card also drew more viewers than FOX’s coverage of MLB (3,072,000) earlier in the day and nearly tripled its reach of Men 18-34 (369,000) and doubled the Men 18-49 (879,000).

Overall, the three-hour live UFC event averaged a 2.1 household rating, a 2.8 with Men 18-49, a 3.2 with Men 18-34, a 2.0 with P18-49 and 3.1 million total viewers. Comparing to other marquee weekend events, Spike’s UFC telecast also drew more Men 18-49 than ESPN’s coverage of “The ESPY Awards” (1,127,000) and Men 18-34 (689,000).

Compared to the time period a year ago, the “UFC Fight Night” was up +229% in household rating, +451% in M18-49, +463% in M18-34, +470% in M25-34 and +266% in average audience.

The “UFC Fight Night,” emanating from The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, NV, was headlined by arguably the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter in any combat sport, “The Spider” Silva, as he moved up a weight class to fight “The Sandman” Irvin in the light heavyweight division. It was Silva who brought the “Sandman” a dream, dispatching Irvin just over a minute into the first round of their matchup with a barrage of punches that resulted in a referee stoppage. In other action, Frankie Edgar spoiled Hermes Franca’s return to the Octagon™ by controlling the fight with his strong wrestling and ground and pound style, earning a unanimous decision from the judges and Brandon Vera won a decision over Reese Andy.

Spike TV is available in 96.1 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at http://www.spike.com/press.

VERO BEACH, Florida (July 24, 2008) – Don’t expect to see middleweight prospect James McGirt, Jr. (18-1, 9 KOs) betting horses at The Spa, beautiful Saratoga Race Track, at least not until Saturday despite him spending several days this week in Saratoga Springs.

McGirt, coming off his first pro loss in April to Carlos DeLeon, Jr., broke camp Wednesday in Vero Beach (FL) and headed north to upstate New York strictly on a business trip to get his career back on the right track — headlining tomorrow’s ESPN Friday Night Fights show in the 10-round main event against former IBO and WBU middleweight champion Raymond “Hallelujah” Joval (37-4, 16 KOs).

McGirt learned a valuable lesson against DeLeon, who James had floored at the end of the sixth round, only to get careless going for a knockout in the seventh and consequently getting stopped himself.

“Training camp went very well,” James said. “We pushed everything to the limited. I’m very excited to be fighting in my first ESPN main event and I can’t wait for it to happen. Everything is cool, baby.”

Joval, who fought in the 1992 Olympics representing The Neatherlands, has beaten the likes of Sam Soliman, Willie Gibbs, and Shannon Taylor. He’s won four in a row since losing a 10-round decision to Fernando Vargas in 2005.

“Raymond’s coming to win,” James remarked. “I know that he’s going to try and use his experience. He’s going to try and take it to me and I’ve gotta knock him on his butt. He may be looking past me. After my last fight, I learned that I need to be 100-percent focused on my opponent, not looking ahead to anybody else, especially against a fighter like Raymond.”

McGirt’s head trainer and father, 2-time world champion “Buddy,” agreed 100-percent with the decision for James to fight Joval instead of a walk-over type opponent. “Everything’s been great,” Buddy added. “Now it’s all up to James to put it all together Friday night.”

Ron Scott Stevens is being replaced as chairman of the New York State Athletic Commission, the NY Post reports.

The Post’s George Willis said Gov. David Paterson will appoint commission member Melvina Lathan as the new chairwoman.

Stevens told Willis he was in “shock” after being told he would be replaced.

Edgar Santana was released on bail earlier this evening and is home with his family. He is relaxed, in good spirits and ready to resume his training regimen as well as continue his project of opening up a barbershop in Spanish Harlem.
After a period of short rest, he will begin to speak to the press but will refer all questions regarding the allegations against him to his attorney Dan Ollen.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of Santana’s close friends, supporters and fans for all the positive messages of support. They can all count on the fact that Edgar Santana will continue to move forward with his goal of a capturing World Title.

Thanks,

Team Santana

NEW YORK (July 23, 2008) – Making his first title defense, Nate Campbell will risk his newly acquired International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association lightweight titles against undefeated two-division world champion Joan Guzman on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008, live on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

The fight will be co-promoted by Don King Productions and One Punch Productions from a location to be determined.

Campbell (32-5-1, 25 KOs), from Jacksonville, Fla., is coming off a tremendous upset win over previously undefeated unified lightweight champion Juan “Baby Bull” Diaz. “The Galaxxy Warrior” outgunned and battered the previously unbeaten Diaz on March 8 in Cancun, Mexico, winning by split decision. At age 36, Campbell finds himself in possession of three world titles and great interest from the likes of the undefeated Guzman—already a champion at the 122- and 130-pound limits, who would like to take away what Campbell has recently won at the 135-pound limit.

Guzman (28-0, 17 KOs), a ShoBox alum from the Dominican Republic now fighting out of Brooklyn, N.Y., was scheduled to defend his junior lightweight crown against Alex Arthur on May 3 in Arthur’s home country of Scotland. When Arthur insisted on a later date, Guzman opted to move up to lightweight to challenge Campbell.

The clash pits Campbell’s relentless and punishing style against the savvy, agile and rabbit-quick “Sycuan Warrior” Guzman. Campbell is known for having some of the heaviest hands in the division, while Guzman is a defensive wizard who rarely gets hit and can unload serious amounts of punishment when needed. It’s the classic power versus speed match-up that makes it almost impossible for the experts to pick a clear favorite.

Adding to that, a personal rivalry has been brewing with a war of words in the press, erupting after Guzman fired the first shots by castigating Campbell after wedding photos celebrating his recent nuptials appeared on many boxing Web sites.

“Everyone has seen the picture of Nate and his wife in their cute, white wedding outfits,” Guzman said. “I hope they’re enjoying their honeymoon because Nate’s honeymoon at the top of the lightweight division is going to end once he fights me.”

“I think he’s afraid of me. I’ll make Nate look so bad that he’ll retire after I wipe the floor with him. I guess I can understand why Nate doesn’t want to fight me. Twenty-eight boxers have tried to beat me and none of them came close to succeeding.”

The equally loquacious Campbell wasted little time in responding to Guzman.

“This clown (Guzman) reminds me of one of those yapping little rat dogs,” Campbell said. “[They] yip, yip, yip at your ankles.”

Their verbal sparring has subsided for now leaving both sides ready to settle their feud inside the ring.

With pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao moving up in weight last month to dethrone David Diaz to claim the remaining major world championship at lightweight, both Campbell and Guzman would love nothing more than to emerge victorious in the hopes of possibly luring the “Pac Man” into a match to determine the undisputed champion in the division.