Boxing

Adonis Stevenson shook up the boxing world with a 76-second stoppage of Chad Dawson on June 8, and now the WBC light heavyweight champ is hoping to land a marquee fight against a top star, namely Bernard Hopkins or Andre Ward. "The fight I really want is Bernard Hopkins. The people here in Montreal know him. We could have two fights. I want to unify the titles and defend the WBC and IBF titles. ... I have no problem going to the United States. It isn't far for me. I said I would go to Oakland and fight Andre Ward at 168 and then we have the rematch at 175 in Montreal. I still haven't got a response from Andre Ward." Landing a fight with Hopkins could prove tricky, since Bernard and the entire Golden Boy stable are now with Showtime. Stevenson doesn't have an HBO deal, but surely they'd be excited to bring him back to their airwaves after the way he starched Dawson in half a round. Stevenson-Hopkins could happen, I suppose, but there are wrinkles to be ironed out there. Ward may be a safer bet, especially if Stevenson is willing to drop back down to 168 for a fight, and go to Oakland. The 35-year-old Stevenson didn't leave 168 because of weight problems, but because he was presented with a major opportunity against Dawson. Ward, who is reportedly looking to join the Top Rank stable, desperately needs an interesting opponent whenever he gets back into the ring. He's taken down the field at 168, more or less, and he's said he's got no real desire to move up yet. Stevenson could definitely fit the bill for Ward, but if he does land with Top Rank, they might like to pair him up with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in the not too distance future (next Sunday, A.D.), and Stevenson may be seen as too big a risk before a money fight like that. It's kind of a jumbled up mess at 168/175 right now, with a lot of guys seemingly in position, but maybe not really as close as they think they are. Hopkins has a mandatory due against Sergey Kovalev, though it sounds like Showtime isn't interested in that (they have their stated reasons, but who knows?), and Stevenson isn't really a "star" despite the big win, though he is a strong draw in Montreal and should be even bigger now, in a position to become the top fighter in the great boxing city. We'll see how it shakes out, but Stevenson has aspirations, at least, which is nice.

Anselmo Moreno will meet southpaw William Urina of Colombia on Aug. 10 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Panama City, Panama.

Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez got their promotional work started for the October 12 HBO pay-per-view main event fight today, meeting up for some photo opportunities and I'm guessing TV spots and the like. Here's the first time the two have gone face-to-face: Bradley (30-0, 12 KO) will be defending the WBO welterweight title, as the legendary Marquez (55-6-1, 40 KO) looks to win a world title in his fourth weight class, having previously won titles at featherweight, super featherweight, and lightweight. Bradley, who will turn 30 in August, is coming off of a Fight of the Year candidate win over Ruslan Provodnikov, following last year's controversial decision victory over Manny Pacquiao. Marquez, who turns 40 six days prior to Bradley hitting 30, last fought in December, knocking out Pacquiao in the sixth round with a single devastating right hand. The fight will be held at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, most recently home to the big Chavez-Martinez fight in September. Photo by Chris Farina/Top Rank

We've got 6 fights for you this weekend, with Showtime's welterweight match-up between Adrien Broner and Paulie Malignaggi topping the bill. Given the lopsided odds, we've added an Over/Under to make this one more interesting. The undercard features a heavyweight rematch between Johnathon Banks and Seth Mitchell, along with a potentially good super-middleweight bout between Sakio Bika and Marco Antonio Periban. Friday's top match-up is a cruiserweight clash from Poland between local fighter Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and unbeaten Russian Rakhim Chakhkiev. Also on the line-up that day is an FNF doubleheader, with Rances Barthelemy taking on Fahsai Sakkreein and Don George battling it out against Caleb Truax. For those that haven't played before, welcome to the best pick'em game going. Please join right in and start playing (just make sure to check out the rules - we promise they are very simple). An explanation of how to fill out your selections appears at the bottom of this post - please follow these instructions as it makes it easier for us to tabulate the results quickly each week. You can check out last week's standings here. Let’s get to the week 5 line-up… **** Remember you do not need to make a selection on every fight. If you are unfamiliar with any of the fighters, and don't want to risk points, you are free to PASS on any pick. You must make at least one selection to receive the 10 point participation bonus**** A. Pick the winner / Method of victory - Adrien Broner vs Paulie Malignaggi (technical decision counts as decision, DQ counts as stoppage - Saturday, June 22) 1. Broner to win – risk 13.5 to win 1.5.2. Broner to win by stoppage – risk 9.5 to win 5.5. 3. Broner by decision – risk 4 to win 11.4. Malignaggi (any method) – risk 1.5 to win 13.5. B. *Over/Under - Adrien Broner vs Paulie Malignaggi (Saturday, June 22) 1. Over 9 1/2 – risk 6 points to win 5. 2. Over 11 1/2 – risk 4 points to win 7.3. Under 9 1/2 – risk 5 points to win 6.4. Under 11 1/2 – risk 7 points to win 4. *Over 9 1/2 = 9 full rounds completed, plus 1/2 round - fight must go past the 1:30 mark of Round 10. C. Pick the winner - Johnathon Banks vs Seth Mitchell (Saturday, June 22) 1. Banks to win – risk 5.5 points to win 5.5. 2. Mitchell to win – risk 5.5 points to win 5.5. D. Pick the winner - Sakio Bika vs Marco Antonio Periban (Saturday, June 22) 1. Bika to win – risk 7.5 points to win 3.5. 2. Periban to win – risk 3.5 points to win 7.5. E. Pick the winner / Method of victory - Rakhim Chakhkiev vs Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (technical decision counts as decision, DQ counts as stoppage - Friday, June 21) 1. Chakhkiev to win – risk 9 to win 3.2. Chakhkiev to win by stoppage – risk 3.5 to win 8.5. 3. Chakhkiev by decision – risk 5.5 to win 6.5.4. Wlodarczyk (any method) – risk 3 to win 9. F. Pick the winner - Rances Barthelemy vs Fahsai Sakkreerin (Friday, June 21) 1. Barthelemy to win – risk 6.5 points to win 2.5. 2. Sakkreerin to win – risk 2.5 points to win 6.5. G. Pick the winner / Method of victory - Don George vs Caleb Truax (technical decision counts as decision, DQ counts as stoppage - Friday, June 21) 1. George to win – risk 7 to win 2.2. George to win by stoppage – risk 2 to win 7. 3. George by decision – risk 5 to win 4.4. Truax (any method) – risk 2 to win 7. Please fill out your selections as follows: Enter the LETTER of the fight first, then whether it’s a single (1), double (2) or triple (3) followed by the NUMBER of your pick and the NAME of the FIGHTER and METHOD of victory (where applicable). **** You have 10 doubles and 5 triples to use over the 10 week season **** For Selection A, if you want to use one of your doubles on Broner to win... A. (2) – 1 – Broner to win For Selection B, if you w

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Timothy Bradley recently worked out UFC fighter Cub Swanson for UFC Ultimate Insider. More Bernard Hopkins responds to the IBF’s ruling on the Kovalev fight at Philly.com. More PacquiaoWatch: Bob Arum is teasing U.S. fight fans, saying that Manny Pacquiao … Continue reading →

Adrien Broner: "I will be on top for a long time. After Floyd Mayweather's done, Adrien Broner will take over boxing. AB." Paulie Malignaggi: "I had to earn my way through. I got character that came from those experiences. He doesn't. They gave him what he has." Adrien Broner: "I will stop Paulie. Just watch June 22nd. I'm dropping bombs." Paulie Malignaggi: "I wanna dominate him, punish him, and I want him to quit on his stool." Adrien Broner: "June 22nd, he's gonna wish there's another corner he can run to." Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO) defends the WBA welterweight title this Saturday night, live on Showtime from the Barclays Center in his hometown of Brooklyn, against fast-rising star Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO), who looks to...

Yuriorkis Gamboa says he wants a fight with Adrien Broner, but Broner has moved up twice and avoided the fight.

Drian Francisco: Filipino Warrior vs Mexican Rival Chris Avalos Radio Rahim interviews Drian Francisco at Fortune Gym in Hollywood about his war with Javier Gallo while training for his upcoming fight against Chris Avalos. From: secondsout Views: 15 2 ratings Time: 04:15 More in Sports

Mikey Garcia's fourth round TKO win over Juan Manuel Lopez this past Saturday night from Dallas did the year's best Nielsen rating for HBO Boxing After Dark, bringing in 1.3 million viewers for a card that started late at 10:45 pm EDT, and featured a Terence Crawford-Alejandro Sanabria co-feature. While one might argue that this proves that Garcia is a star, or that Mexico vs Puerto Rico always draws, or that maybe Crawford is a breakout phenom, or that this is total, absolute proof that HBO is a far, far better platform to build a star than rival Showtime, or that Top Rank is flying high and the haters can all just suck right on it, I mean just suck it so hard, right where it should be sucked, let's not forget to mention one extremely important thing. The lead-in for this fight was the TV premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. That mattered. If a Beyonce documentary has been given credit for boosting HBO boxing viewership, then I think The Dark Knight Rises should be considered a factor, too. HBO Boxing After The Dark Knight Rises. Ha! Hilarious. Just some humor, you guys.