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samedi 1 mars 2014

Ch. du monde poids lourds: Stiverne vs Arreola aura probablement lieu au Mexique


MONTRÉAL - La nouvelle est tombée hier et a eu le même effet sur le corps que le temps glacial qui régnait sur le centre-ville de Montréal vendredi matin : Bermane Stiverne devra vraisemblablement se résigner à affronter Chris Arreola en juin au Mexique.
Le gérant de Stiverne, Camille Estephan, souhaitait ardemment que le combat pour le titre vacant des poids lourds du WBC soit présenté en terrain neutre. Le président d’Eye of The Tiger Mangement se donne néanmoins encore quelques jours pour accepter ou décliner l’offre.
« Je dois étudier la situation avec mes conseillers, mais je ne suis pas convaincu que nous devrions y aller », a analysé Estephan en marge d’une conférence de presse tenue dans un hôtel de la métropole. « Nous pouvons avoir des juges et un arbitre neutres, cela nous protège d’une certaine façon, mais la foule va quand même applaudir chacun des coups d’Arreola. »
« C’est Bermane qui est l’aspirant numéro un et Arreola le numéro deux. Nous nous sommes déjà battus chez lui en Californie. Ce serait à notre tour d’avoir notre chance maintenant. »
Stiverne avait facilement battu Arreola par décision unanime des juges dans un duel éliminatoire présenté en avril dernier à Ontario en Californie. Et après que le détenteur du titre Vitali Klitschko eut finalement été nommé champion émérite en décembre, le WBC a ordonné la tenue d’un nouveau choc pour la ceinture vacante entre les deux boxeurs.
Il n’y a cependant pas eu foule au portillon de départ pour accueillir ce deuxième rendez-vous entre les deux poids lourds. L’offre la plus intéressante semble être venue de Villahermosa, une ville d’un peu plus de 640 000 habitants qui n’a jamais présenté de combat de championnat.
« C’est situé au milieu de nulle part, ce n’est pas un endroit touristique comme Cancún, qui aurait été un compris acceptable », a déploré Estephan. « C’est l’argent qui a dicté les choses. »
Même s’il y a peu d’espoir que les promoteurs Don King et Dan Goossen changeront d’idée, Stiverne semble quant à lui prendre le tout avec philosophie. Il faut dire qu’il n’en est pas à un premier revirement de situation près, lui qui est officiellement aspirant obligatoire depuis sa victoire aux dépens de Ray Austin par arrêt de l’arbitre au 10e round en juin… 2011!
« Nous en avons discuté pendant une heure et demie et Bermane préférait en rire plutôt qu’en pleurer », a avoué Estephan. « Il prend cela de la bonne façon, parce qu’il n’a jamais reculé devant un défi. Sauf que cela reste mon devoir de regarder le côté affaire des choses. »

vendredi 28 février 2014

Deux poids lourds sur le ring ukrainien


 L'avenir du pays se jouera-t-il sur un ring? En tous cas, au lendemain de la révolution, les (ex-)boxeurs Nikolay Valuev et Vitali Klitschko entendent jouer un rôle politique en Ukraine.

Derby français des poids super légers Fadli-Lepelley pour la ceinture de l'UE

Le poids super-légers, 32 ans Chaquib Fadli photo (13-3-0, 7 KOs) champion de France et son compatriote de 31 ans Alexandre Lepelley (17-1-1, 3 KOs), ont été nommés co-challenger EBU pour le titre vacant EU de la catégorie, abandonné par l'Espagnol Ruben Nieto qui a, à son tour, est entre-temps devenu le challenger officiel de l'Italien Michele Di Rocco, pour le titre européen.
Ruben Nieto avais battu J-P Bauwens pour ce titre.
Jusqu'au 20 Mars, il auront le temps pour parvenir à un accord privé entre les parties et autrement les enchères seront ouverte pour l'attribution du match.

Farid Hakimi vs Arnaud Dimidschtein le 8 mars Championnat Super Légers L.F.


Hugo Kasperski bat Michel Recloux au 4ème round + vidéo

Le boxeur Hugo Kasperski s'est imposé jeudi soir face au champion de Belgique Michael Recloux. Ils s'affrontaient pour le titre intercontinental dans leur catégorie, les super moyens (entre 72,574 kg et 76,205 kg). C'est le Clermontois qui s'est finalement imposé au 4e round par arrêt de l'arbitre.


Dans ce match, Hugo Kasperski partait favori avec vingt et une victoires en vingt sept combats, tandis que le Belge comptait vingt trois victoires et deux nuls en trente sept combats. Point fort du Michael Recloux, pourtant : il possède plus d’expérience et ne renonce jamais.

Dès la première reprise, c'est le Michel Recloux qui subit la pression. Kasperski a prévu d'abréger le combat, mais son Michel encaisse plutôt bien les coups et l'auvergnat manque un peu de précision. Le tournant du match et sa fin, il faut attendre la quatrième reprise. A force de recevoir des coups, Michel Recloux finit par craquer. Kasperski remporte son 17e combat avant la limite, par arrêt de l'arbitre.

Avec cette ceinture, Hugo Kasperski remonte au 65e rang mondial dans la catégorie des super moyens.

D'après Michel Recloux lui mème il n'a pas craqué et était toujours en état de poursuivre le combat

Source Fr3

D'après Michel Recloux lui mème il n'a pas craqué et était toujours en état de poursuivre le combat.

Commentaire de Michel Recloux:

Arrêt peut être logique pour certains mais trop rapide pour moi !!! J'ai la rage et je vois que merci à Dieu je ne suis pas invincible mais j'encaisse tjr bien les coups, parfois il faut savoir adopter des stratégies pour pouvoir arriver a ce que l'on veut mais ici je n'ai pas eu la chance avec cette arrêt !!!



Abraham - Stieglitz: Pour Abraham c'est un combat à tout ou rien + vidéo 01/03/14

Stieglitz-Abraham pourra être vu dans 80 pays à travers le monde, y compris aux Etats-Unis


L'Arena de Magdebourg est depuis longtemps sold out . 7500 spectateurs seront là samedi 1er Mars quand Robert Stieglitz (46-3, 26 KOs) et Arthur Abraham (38-4, 28 KOs) combattront pour la troisième fois pour le titre des super moyens WBO. Lors de la dernière réunion des deux boxeurs il y a environ un an Stieglitz a gagné par TKO au quatrième Rond. Dans le premier duel en 2012 Abraham a gagné aux points.

Même pour $ 8,000,000, Amir Khan ne s'intéresse pas à faire face à Kell Brook.

Amir Khan aurait reçu un salaire énorme pour faire face à Kell Brook au Royaume-Uni, mais insiste sur le fait qu'il est à un autre niveau et Brook est un adversaire indigne.

Eddie Hearn de Matchroom a dit selon Ring TV qu'il a récemment fait une offre à Khan de £ 5,000,000 - soit 8 millions de dollars - pour lutter contre son boxeur, l'invaincu poids welter Kell Brook. Khan, cependant, il dit qu'il n'est pas intéressé, et que  Brook n'est pas à son niveau :

Ruslan Provodnikov-Antonio De Marco en attente pour le 14/06/2014

Beaucoup de questions sur la défense du champion WBO
Il ya quelques certitudes et beaucoup de questions au sujet du prochain combat du citoyen Russi Ruslan Provodnikov
Ruslan Provodnikov est en discution pour défendre sa ceinture WBO super légers contre le champion des légers Antonio  DeMarco  , le 14 Juin, selon les promoteurs des combattants.

PHOTOS Prison Fight : des détenus thaïlandais boxent pour leur liberté

Au cœur des prisons thaïlandaises, des détenus participent à des combats de boxe où la victoire est la clé de la liberté. Une chance à saisir qui ne va pas à l'encontre du système carcéral du pays.

Depuis un an, les prisonniers thaïlandais peuvent participer à un tournoi de boxe thaïe un peu particulier : le Prison Fight. Dans le cadre de ce tournoi, le photographe KC Ortiz (son Instagram) basé à Bangkok en a profité pour suivre quelques détenus qui consacrent tout leur temps à s’entraîner, loin du cercle vicieux de l’ennui et des violences qui caractérisent la vie carcérale. En résulte la série de photos "A Fight For Freedom".

VIDEO. En Thaïlande, des combats de boxe (thai) pour sortir de prison

Depuis l'année dernière, une prison organise des rencontres sur le ring, grâce auxquelles les détenus peuvent obtenir des remises de peine et même des grâces royales.


(C. LE GOFF / G. LASSALLE / F. DELAURY / S. ALBERTELLI - FRANCE 2)
En Thaïlande, la liberté se gagne parfois au poing. Les détenus de la prison de Khlong Phai, à 250 km de Bangkok, peuvent obtenir une libération anticipée grâce à des victoires sur le ring, lors de combats baptisés "prison fight". Tous les deux mois, devant un public composé de détenus et de responsables du centre de détention, ils sont opposés à des boxeurs venus du monde entier, parfois de France, au pays de la boxe thaï

jeudi 27 février 2014

Jean-Marc Mormeck, dernier round pour tout le monde

Le boxeur français s'apprête à disputer son dixième championnat du monde. Ensuite, la boxe en France ne sera pas orpheline. Elle sera morte. Ou presque.




Jean-Marc Mormeck a disputé 41 combats professionnels (36 victoires, dont 22 par K.O, 5 défaites).
Jean-Marc Mormeck a disputé 41 combats professionnels (36 victoires, dont 22 par K.O, 5 défaites). © Rolf Vennenbernd / DPA / AFP

Par  ET 
L'histoire du sport d'un pays est souvent question d'astronomie. Une affaire de comètes qui se succèdent et viennent illuminer le ciel ténébreux d'une discipline, relançant ainsi la vente de télescopes. Le basket américain a eu Jerry West (années 1960-1970), Michael Jordan (années 1990), puis Lebron James (années 2000).

Hearn offre 8 millions de dollars à Amir Khan pour faire face à Kell Brook

Selon BoxingNews24, le promoteur britannique Matchroom Eddie Hearn a fait une offre à Amir Khan (photo) de huit millions de dollars pour faire face au n ° 1 du classement IBF, le poids welter Kell Brook (31 - 0, 21 KOs).
L'offre de Hearn à Khan serait inférieure de seulement deux millions de dollars par rapport à la bourse que le boxeur de Bolton aurait perçue contre Floyd Mayweather.
" Quand nous avons entendu que le match entre Khan et Mayweather ne se ferrait pas, j'ai fait une offre sérieuse à Amir pour le mettre en face de Kell - Hearn l'a confirmé à RingTV . " Cette offre est toujours sur valable et le restera dans un avenir proche. Attendez-vous à une réponse de Khan "
Amir Khan (28-3, 19 KO) est maintenant activement à la recherche d'un plan B comme adversaire après avoir été refusé par Floyd Mayweather Jr.
D'autre part Khan a préparé une liste d'adversaire potentiel: Malignaggi, Broner, Porter & Peterson

mercredi 26 février 2014

Le premier titre de champion du monde de Mohamed Ali était-il truqué?

Les rumeurs voulaient que la première ceinture de champion du monde poids lourds remportée en 1964 par Mohamed Ali face à Sonny Liston a été achetée par la mafia. Une note du FBI, rendue publique mercredi pour la première fois, confirme cette thèse.

Face au tenant du titre Sonny Liston, Mohamed Ali (alors Cassius Clay) remporte un match qui a été arrangé par la mafia.

"Canelo "Alvarez vs Angulo le 8 mars pour un retour gagnant, le grand frère boxera aussi!

Les défaites sont rarement synonymes d’avancement dans le monde de la boxe professionnelle.
Mais même s’il a été dominé par Floyd Mayweather fils à son dernier combat, Saul « Canelo » Alvarez sera néanmoins la tête d’affiche d’un événement présenté à la télévision à la carte, alors qu’il affrontera son compatriote mexicain Alfredo Angulo le 8 mars au MGM Grand de Las Vegas.
Ce sera la première fois que son nom et son visage se retrouveront du côté gauche de l’affiche en pareilles circonstances et que les ventes reposeront presque entièrement sur ses épaules.
« Il s’agit d’une grande responsabilité, mais je suis vraiment honoré d’être la tête d’affiche d’un événement à la télévision à la carte », a déclaré Alvarez pendant une conférence téléphonique tenue mardi. « Ça prouve que les Latinos et les Mexicains peuvent maintenant aspirer à ça. »

Jacob-Boschiero: un rematch est ordonné par l'EBU! Mais D'abord ERMANO FEGATILLI!

Selon BoxingScene L'EBU a ordonné une revanche entre le nouvellement couronné des poids super-plumes Romain Jacob et Devis Boschiero.

Le 14 février, Jacob a remporté le combat à Calais avec une déçision discutable pour beaucoup d'amateur neutre et (évidemment) de passionné Italien sur le boxeur Vénétien Boschiero.

Ce fut une lutte très serrée et le résultat aurai pu ètre autre....
Pour rappel ce fut une dèçision partagée avec pour Jacob des scores de 115-114 et 115-113 et un troisième vote pour Boschiero 115-114

Jacob doit d'abord cependant défendre son titre contre Ermano Fegatilli, le challenger officiel.

L'EBU a donné jusqu'au 10 avril pour trouver un accord entre les 2 équipes des boxeurs sinon à cette date cela passera ce jour la par des enchères.

mardi 25 février 2014

L'ancien champion du monde Cermeno a été tué au Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - L'ancien champion du monde de boxe Antonio Cermeno a été enlevé et tué dans son Venezuela natal, a indiqué la police mardi.
Cermeno, un coq et poids plume WBA des super-champion dans les années 1990, a été retrouvé tué par balles mardi dans une route dans l'Etat central de Miranda, a déclaré le chef de la police locale Eliseo Guzman.
Guzman a expliqué que Cermeno et d'autres parents ont été enlevés lundi soir près du quartier de La Urbina dans l'est de Caracas. Les parents ont échappé lorsque les ravisseurs se sont arrêtés pour faire le plein de la voiture, mais l'ancien boxeur est restés en captif.
La police n’a pas révélé le mobile des ravisseurs
Cermeno, 44 ​​ans, a pris sa retraite en 2006 avec une fiche de 45-7.
Professionnel de 1990 à 2006, il avait remporté dix championnats mondiaux. En octobre 1996, il s’était entraîné durant plusieurs jours à Paris, croisant les gants avec Julien Lorcy.

Jacob, Fegatilli, Boschiero, Frénois: Comment cela finira-il pour le titre EBU ?

Le promoteur français Tysseron souhaite mettre en place le derby européen Jacob-Frénois, mais craint la confirmation de Boschiero comme challenger officiel.

A lire aussi:  http://boxefrombelgium.blogspot.be/2014/02/jacob-boschiero-un-rematch-est-ordonnee.html
Boschiero-JacobSur le site de la Fédération française de boxe a été publié un entretien avec le promoteur Français Gerard Tysseron, sur l'avenir de la catégorie des super-plume continental, après la victoire contestée de Romain Jacob  sur Devis Boschiero  (photo) .
L'organisateur était au bord du ring à Padoue le soir du 28 Septembre, quand son élève, le longiligne et redoutable Guillaume Frénois, a été battu aux points par un super-Boschiero (photo ci-dessous) , mais il était  fortement engagé principalement dans la première partie du défi européen et était également présent à Calais pour Boschiero-Jacob.
De toute évidence, au-delà des Alpes, les français sont maintenant fortement intéressé par une éventuelle contestation tout bleu-blanc-rouge entre le nouveau champion Jacob et le même Frénois, un derby qui ferait avancer de nombreux médias et des intérêts économiques, mais dans l'article il est noté avec  quelque grande malice que le secrétariat de l'EBU est en Italie, Alors qu'il craint le  facteur lobbying et le poids  «politique» de Salvatore Cherchi feront pencher la balance en faveur de Boschiero, qui est porté sur le classement n ° 1, devant Guillaume Frénois.
Boschiero-FrénoisPendant ce temps, Tysseron a dit qu'il était très sceptique que Jacob  accordera une dérogation pour soutenir une défense volontaire du titre, puisqu' Ermano Fegatilli est le challenger officiel, Il attend sa chance en Juillet et Jacob n'a pas le temps nécessaire donc pour entrer dans un autre engagement avec Frénois, 
"Boschiero, battu avec un verdict étroit -conclu Tysseron- profiterait certainement de la bonne volonté des dirigeants de l'EBU, alors il sera très probable que, après Jacob-Fegatilli il viendra toujours  en premier. Connaîssant le «poids» de Cherchi cela ne me surprendrait pas à dit-il. Nous ferons tout ce qui est possible. En course, il y a aussi l'Anglais Stephen Smith qui le précède, mais nous ne savons pas ce qui va arriver avec lui. Si le boxeur anglais  reste en place, nous pourrions à tâtons à conclure un accord avec lui pour une dérogation en faveur de Frénois. "
Mais au-delà des observations de Tysseron alors que les attentes sont compréhensibles et en pensant droits de fans français, il y a autre chose qui dépend de la nomination comme premier de Devis Boschiero dont  Ermano Fegatilli est le challenger officiel , plus que des pressions de Cherchi et le secrétariat "Romain" de l'EBU, tout simplement du fait que notre boxeur, à Calais, a été injustement victime d'une fraude de la ceinture?
Source: Boxeringweb



Cassius Clay-Sonny Liston I: 50 Years Later-

Source: The Ring Cassuis Clay-Sonny Liston 50 ans après
Exceptionnellement cet article est en anglais, vous pouvez utiliser l'outil de traduction qui
se trouve dans la colonne de droite juste au dessus des archives du site.
Ceci est certainement l'article le plus complet et intéressant sur le sujet.


Fifty years ago today the butterfly sprouted its wings and the bee pulled off its first big sting.
When Cassius Marcellus Clay arrived at Miami Beach's Convention Center the night of Feb. 25, 1964 he intended to shake up the world not once, but twice. He ended up achieving both, and more. The first earthquake was the 7-to-1 underdog's stunning victory over Charles "Sonny "Liston to win the heavyweight championship of the world. The aftershock came the next morning when he confirmed reports that he was a member of the Nation of Islam and that he no longer would answer to his birth name. Eight days later on a radio show emanating from Chicago, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad gave the new champion his new name – Muhammad Ali.
Up until then Ali had been an amusing character best known for his over-the-top boasting, predictive poetry and in-ring showmanship, assets exceeded only by his immense physical gifts. But by aligning himself with the Black Muslims, Ali created an enduring third shock wave that rippled far beyond the athletic arena. He instantly became one of America's most polarizing figures and in subsequent years he paid a steep price for his political and religious convictions: A three-and-a-half year exile that took away the zenith of his prime years.
The hard feelings would change, however. His unwavering anti-war stance despite the punishment he faced combined with a massive shift in public opinion concerning America's military involvement in Vietnam persuaded many to change their minds about him. Additionally, his in-ring exploits once he returned from exile helped to reshape Ali into the revered figure most see him as today.
Every legend has a starting point, and for Ali it occurred during his final fight as Cassius Clay.
*
When Clay turned pro 53 days after winning the light heavyweight gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, he already had his sights set on two lofty goals. First, win the heavyweight championship of the world, and second, become the youngest man ever to do so. At the time, that meant beating the man who currently held the mark in Floyd Patterson, who, at 21 years 336 days, stopped Archie Moore to win Rocky Marciano's vacated crown. According to Thomas Hauser's definitive biography "Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times," Clay met sportswriter Dick Schaap shortly after returning from Rome and during the visit Clay had a fake newspaper made up bearing the headline "Clay Signs to Fight Patterson." To make his two-pronged dream come true, Clay had to do it by Nov. 13, 1963.
But on Sept. 25, 1962, Clay was forced to change his target. On that night, Liston fulfilled the 5-to-1 odds in his favor by destroying Patterson in just 126 seconds.
Liston-KO-Patterson_RING
If there were any doubts concerning Liston's superiority, they were extinguished in the rematch 10 months later when he took just four seconds longer to retain the title. Perhaps one could blame the time needed to count each of the three knockdowns Liston scored.
The twin demolitions of Patterson led many to declare Liston an unbeatable superman. To some, he was the next link in the chain that included Sullivan, Dempsey and Louis. He certainly looked the part.
Although Liston stood a shade over six feet tall, he owned an 84-inch reach that was second only to Primo Carnera's 85½ among heavyweight champions to date. His upper body was also that of a much larger man: A 46½-inch expanded chest, thickly muscled shoulders, steely abdominals shaped by extensive medicine ball sessions and a shock-absorbing 17½-inch neck. His tree-trunk thighs provided a sturdy foundation and his chin absorbed a punch better than most. His waist, however, was just 33 inches around.
Sonny-Liston58_RING
Liston's offensive weaponry was even more formidable than his physique. His pulverizing left jab knocked out countless sparring partners, his lethal left hook caused sand-filled heavy bags to fly off their supports, his potent right cross shattered bones and his body attack caved in ribs. He also had an inhumanly high tolerance for pain. Liston's only defeat in 36 fights to date came nearly nine-and-a-half years earlier in his eighth pro fight against Marty Marshall. Despite suffering a broken jaw midway through the fight, Liston not only finished the eight rounder but he also performed strongly enough to win on one of the scorecards.
"When I broke his jaw, he didn't even blink," Marshall said in Paul Gallender's book on the Ali-Liston fights. "You hit him with your Sunday punch but he don't grunt, groan, flinch or blink. He don't do nothin'. He just keeps coming on." Liston avenged the defeat twice over as he stopped Marshall in six rounds two fights later and out-pointed him over 10 rounds 11 months after that.
His intimidating public persona completed a most menacing picture. His ex-con past heighted the fear factor caused by his icy stare and he was known to stuff towels underneath his white terrycloth robe to make his shoulders appear even more imposing. He also preferred to work short shifts; of his 25 knockouts, 15 occurred in the first three rounds. If Clay were to achieve his goals,this was the man he had to conquer.
*
In order to build momentum toward a potential fight with Liston, Clay embarked on an ambitious and prolonged public relations campaign. He invaded Liston's workouts and hurled every insult he could conjure. On a whim Clay and his cohorts drove a bus from Chicago to Denver, called several newspapers and radio stations and made sure they were present when he unleashed his 2:00 a.m. taunts in front of Liston's house. The invasion got the intended response from its victim. Clay turned the screw further by happily filling columnists' notepads with imaginative barbs every chance he got. His favorite nickname for Liston was "The Big Ugly Bear," and he uttered it so often that it became a permanent part of Liston's identity.
Every article and interview served to plant this seed in the public consciousness: If Liston is a real champion, the only person he should fight next is Cassius Clay.
On November 5, 1963, Clay's efforts achieved their main objective. Liston affixed his signature to a contract mandating a heavyweight title defense against Clay. Clay wasn't going to beat Patterson's record, but he had earned the chance to make his biggest dream come true.
*
Clay-tirade_RING
With his date with destiny finally secured, Clay refused to rest on his rhetorical laurels. Instead, he upped the ante:
* "I'm young, I'm handsome, I'm fast, I'm pretty and can't possibly be beat."
* "You're 40 years old, if a day, and you don't belong in the ring with Cassius Clay."
* "He's too ugly to be the world champ. The world's champ should be pretty like me. If you want to lose your money, then bet on Sonny."
* "I predict that he will go in eight to prove that I'm great. If he wants to go to heaven, I'll get him in seven. He'll be in a worser fix if I cut it to six. If he keeps talking jive, he'll go in five. If he makes me sore, he'll go like (Archie) Moore. If he keeps talkin' about me, I'll get him in three. If that don't do, he'll fall in two. And if he run, he'll go in one. And if he don't want to fight, he should keep himself home that night."
* "You tell this to your camera, your newspaper, your TV man, your radio man, you tell this to the world: If Sonny Liston whups me, I'll kiss his feet in the ring, crawl out of the ring on my knees, tell him he's the greatest and catch the next jet out of the country. I am the greatest!"
The stoic, minimalist Liston was no match for Clay verbally and he knew it. He might have been worried if he had signed to engage Clay in a three-hour Lincoln-Douglas style debate but since he was to meet Clay inside a boxing ring, he had every reason to believe that he would remain champion when all was said and done.
*
Of 58 sportswriters polled before the fight, 55 picked Liston to win and the vast majority thought he'd end matters quickly. In retrospect it's difficult to believe Clay was such a profound underdog but at the time several compelling reasons fueled their opinions.
First, Liston was a textbook fighter with a complete arsenal of deadly punches while Clay broke every imaginable rule of boxing fundamentals. He kept his hands too low. He leaned away from punches instead of slipping them. He never punched to the body. He knew nothing about fighting in the trenches. His hook and uppercut – which he used rarely – were average at best.
Second, Clay had a questionable chin. He suffered a flash knockdown against Sonny Banks and was nearly knocked senseless by Henry Cooper in his most recent fight eight months earlier. The punch that floored Clay both times: The left hook. And what was Liston's best punch? The left hook.
Third, despite the 14 knockouts in his 19-0 record and the fact that he had stopped 10 of his last 11 opponents, Clay didn't appear to have the one-punch power to earn Liston's respect.
Finally, the experts thought the 22-year-old Clay was mentally unstable and lacked the maturity to be world heavyweight champion. Those criticisms seemingly were confirmed the morning of the fight when Clay instigated the most chaotic weigh-in ceremony the boxing world had ever seen.
Wearing a denim jacket with the words "Bear Huntin'" stitched on the back, Clay barged into the room accompanied by chief second Angelo Dundee, court jester Drew "Bundini" Brown and five-time middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson. He and Brown shouted at the top of their lungs "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, aaaaahhhhh, rumble, young man, rumble, aaaaahhhhh!" Clay banged his walking stick on the floor and screamed at Liston like a madman.
"You tell Joe Louis and Sonny Liston that I'm here with Sugar Ray!" Clay declared. "Joe Louis was flat-footed and Sonny Liston is flat-footed! Sugar Ray and I are two pretty dancers; we can't be beat! I'm ready to rumble!" He lunged at Liston while his entourage held him back and he kept talking and gesturing even as the doctor checked his pulse and blood pressure.
Clay-Liston-weighin_RING
What the doctor saw was astonishing. Clay's blood pressure soared to 200-over-100 and his heart rate was a frazzled 120 beats per minute, more than twice his usual 54. That Liston weighed 218 and Clay 210½ was overshadowed by the pandemonium.
Chairman Morris Klein announced that Clay had been fined $2,500 for his behavior, which prompted sportswriters to speculate that Clay had lost his mind or was so frightened that he wouldn't show up. Even Liston was convinced Clay had a screw loose, for he was quoted as having whispered to Clay "don't let everyone know what a fool you are."
But it was all an act – a perfectly conceived and beautifully executed act. A second examination conducted not long after revealed Clay's blood pressure and pulse had returned to normal and with that any thoughts of canceling the fight were put to rest.
Clay knew that a hardened ex-con like Liston could be rattled by only one thing — a crazy man. And Liston's whispered comment had to have been music to Clay's ears, for that told him that he had mentally snared the Big Ugly Bear.
"(Sonny) had a violent side to him that everybody knew about," Liston second Milt Bailey said during a NBC special commemorating the fight's 25th anniversary. "But Cassius was smart and he was clever. He could get under Liston's skin more so than anybody ever knew."
"Liston didn't know what to expect," Dundee said on the same special. "What came into play there is that tough guys are afraid of guys that are a little goofy, guys that fly over the cuckoo's nest, those kind of guys. Tough guys don't know where to go with that, and he was a tough guy, Liston was. So Liston's kinda of looking at him like this while he's screaming and hollering. The doctor's taking his blood pressure and he's saying 'your guy's scared to death, I ain't letting the fight go on.' I'm listening to the (doctor) and I say, 'it's only playing. He's only playing. We're having a little fun here.'"
Clay's weigh-in ploy was a stroke of genius. By seizing the psychological initiative Clay rendered himself immune to Liston's scare tactics. He took the fight to the bully and in the end he made him blink.
Clay's hype didn't result in spinning turnstiles as only 8,297 paid to watch the fight. One potential reason: Just a few days before the match, reports of Clay's association with the Black Muslims began circulating in the newspapers, which transformed a "good versus evil" fight into an "evil versus evil" match in many minds. Another: In spite of Clay's proclamations to the contrary, many people thought the fight was still going to be a massive mismatch that was unworthy of the high ticket prices. A third: Perhaps Miami's warm February weather offered enough justification to skip the event.
Those who had tickets but chose to stay home would live to regret their decision.
*
Clay was all business once he stepped inside the ring. As the ring dignitaries were introduced (Luis Rodriguez, Willie Pastrano, Eddie Machen, Sugar Ray Robinson and ringside commentators Joe Louis on television and Rocky Marciano on radio), the focused challenger either rested his elbows on the top rope or bounced lightly on his toes. Wisely, Clay was saving all his energy for the battle ahead. As for Liston, he was his stoic, menacing self. Obeying Dundee's advice, Clay drew himself up to his full 6-foot-3 and stared down at the champion during the final instructions.
At the bell, Liston came straight at Clay and fired a left jab that the challenger easily avoided by gliding to his left. Clay looked balletic as his carved clockwise circles around the champion and weaved his upper body side-to-side and up-and-down. As always, the hands dangled at his sides but his lightning-quick reflexes enabled him to snap his head away from virtually all of Liston's incoming missiles. Liston looked markedly slower as he lunged in with punches that missed badly and got caught by Clay's swifter but lighter blows.
Liston-miss-Clay_RING
Liston's first notable punch, a long right to the body, prompted Clay to clamp on the fight's first clinch. After breaking loose, Clay nipped away from Liston's home run hook and deftly used his elbow to block a right to the ribs. Clay's snappy jabs kept Liston at arm's length and his slippery upper body movement appeared to mystify the 33-year-old champion. Liston needed to plant his feet to invest maximum power on his punches but Clay's incredible foot speed delivered him out of range long before that power posed a threat. It was ring generalship at its finest and as a result Liston was always a half-step behind. It quickly became clear that Clay vs. Liston, at least in terms of hand and foot speed, resembled a Ferrari versus a Sherman tank.
With approximately 45 seconds remaining in a tension-filled first, Clay lashed out with a lead right/left hook combination that drove Liston backward and brought cheers from the surprised crowd. Another right to the temple got through, as did a pair of hooks. Clay continued to spear Liston's face with long punches while the champ's ponderous blows disturbed only air. This certainly wasn't the fight most had envisioned, and the thrill of witnessing an unexpectedly competitive contest began to grip the assembled audience.
The crowd's roar drowned out the bell and thus the round went eight seconds longer than the regulation three minutes. But what a round it had been for Clay. He not only hung with Liston, he showed he had the power to at least stun the champion and that he had the smarts and talent to thoroughly flummox him.
That said, anyone can steal a round or two. The true test for Clay was whether he could maintain the momentum.
Round two looked much like round one as Clay circled and jabbed while Liston lunged in with hooks that glanced off the chin and long rights to the body that Clay either swayed away from or blocked with his arms. Liston did better with his jab as he popped Clay's head back from time to time but his follow-up rights and hooks still whooshed past the target. When Liston briefly trapped Clay against the ropes his clubbing blows to the ribs lacked their usual heft. It was obvious by now that the early knockout predicted by many experts wasn't going to happen. In fact, Clay won the first two rounds with ease.
Clay began the third by planting a searing jab to Liston's face and moments later he fired a double jab/right cross/left uppercut combination. A few seconds later, the inconceivable happened.
Clay-attacks-Liston_RING
Clay's double jab set up a right to the ear that wobbled Liston and he shook him even more with a hook to the face. Back at ring center, Clay landed a flush one-two that opened a cut under Liston's left eye. The wounded champion desperately chased after Clay behind winging punches that had "decapitation" written all over them but the young water bug dipped, ducked and dodged every one of them with captivating dexterity. After riding out Liston's storm Clay responded with a fusillade of blows that struck Liston from multiple angles.
With a minute remaining Liston launched another wave of power shots, and this time some of them got through. Clay groped for Liston's shoulders but the champion slipped under and landed a good right uppercut to the jaw.
"Hold the phone," Theater Network Television blow-by-blow man Steve Ellis declared. "Cassius is a bit hurt." It was, by far, Liston's most effective attack of the fight but it eventually fizzled out in the waning seconds, by which time Clay had re-established his darting jab.
Clay continued his effective hit-and-run tactics in the fourth and his pecking jabs widened the cut under Liston's eye. A jolting lead right/left jab drove Clay backward but otherwise it was yet another round for the challenger.
But as soon as Clay sat down on the stool, he began blinking his eyes wildly. He yelled for Dundee to "stop it!" as in stop the fight. A lesser chief second might have folded under the pressure but Dundee's quick thinking saved the fight, and, in many ways, saved the legacy that would spring from it.
"I didn't know what the heck was going on," Dundee recalled on the NBC special. "He said, 'cut the gloves off. I want to prove to the world there's dirty work afoot.' And I said, 'whoa, whoa, back up baby. C'mon now, this is for the title, this is the big apple. What are you doing? Sit down!' So I get him down, I get the sponge and I pour the water into his eyes trying to cleanse whatever's there, but before I did that I put my pinkie in his eye and I put it into my eye. It burned like hell. There was something caustic in both eyes.
"Joe Pollino (one of Liston's trainers) had used Monsels Solution on that cut," Dundee continued. "Now what had happened was that probably (Clay) put his forehead leaning in on the guy – because Liston was starting to wear in with those body shots – and my kid, sweating profusely, it went into both eyes. Let's face it, biggest fight of his life and he's blind. He can't see and he's hitting the panic button."
The commotion wasn't lost on referee Barney Felix, who was walking toward Clay's corner. The challenger, his arms held high in surrender, was demanding that the fight be stopped and Dundee, fearing the fight might indeed be halted, gave his charge a one-word order: "Run!"
In Hauser's book, Dr. Ferdie Pacheco, who was working Ali's corner for the first time, perfectly illustrated the impact of Dundee's actions.
"What he did between rounds was the best example I can give you of a corner man seizing a situation and making it right," he said. "Now, he had a willing subject, because as the world later learned, Muhammad Ali was as courageous as any man who ever put on a pair of boxing gloves. But that moment belonged to Angelo. If Cassius had been with a corner of amateurs, there never would have been any Muhammad Ali. The fight would have been over. Liston would never have fought him again. And as a member of the Muslims, who were about as popular then as the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization), Cassius would have sunk from view."
Fighting Liston with two healthy eyes required uncommon courage but to do so while blinded and in severe pain demanded an even higher level of fortitude. The champion was well aware of Clay's predicament and for the first time since the opening bell he had reason to think victory was within his grasp.
Liston-jab-Clay_RING
A pair of Liston jabs forced Clay to wince dramatically and seek out a clinch. In that clinch Liston whipped in 16 unanswered blows to the body before Clay finally broke free and skittered away. Clay somehow blocked Liston's hook and avoided a right to the chin before clamping down again. For the next minute Clay used every survival tactic at his disposal; he stayed on the move, he poked out his left arm to keep track of Liston's whereabouts and he managed to roll away from most of the punches he saw coming.
Incredibly, the damage was minimal. As the round wore on Clay's eyes started to clear and Liston had begun to tire. The pace slowed to a crawl in the round's final 30 seconds and when the bell sounded, Liston's last best chance at victory vanished.
His vision now restored, Clay began the sixth by nailing Liston with a flush right to the jaw. As Ellis declared Liston an "easy target," Clay tenderized the champion with whipping jabs that set up beautifully delivered combinations while Liston dutifully tossed out half-speed jabs but tried little else. Clay had regained his earlier form and this time his dominance appeared unstoppable.
The final half of the sixth featured the slowest action yet and it looked as if Clay was on his way to a lopsided points win. But the furious activity in Liston's corner suggested something else was afoot.
One second rubbed Liston's left shoulder while another held a small icepack on the back of the fighter's neck. Still another, Pollino, administered to the cut under Liston's left eye while an bigger icepack was placed on the mouse under the right eye. But for all the work devoted to Liston's body, the real action was taking place inside the champion's mind. The man who had been beaten with night sticks outside the ring and absorbed the blows of the era's hardest-hitting heavyweights inside it had finally reached his breaking point.
Liston-corner_RING
Liston told his corner he couldn't lift his left arm anymore, the arm he used almost exclusively during the sixth round. As the 10-second whistle cut through the air Clay rose from his stool and peered across the ring. An instant before the seventh round bell sounded, Clay lifted his arms and broke into a celebratory shuffle. He knew before just about anyone else what had just happened: Sonny Liston, the supposedly indestructible killing machine, became the first heavyweight champion to surrender his title on the stool since a battered and broken Jess Willard did so against Jack Dempsey 45 years earlier.
What Clay had just achieved was mind-blowing: Not only did he beat the Big Ugly Bear – he made him quit.
With Bundini Brown's arms still wrapped around his waist, Clay galloped toward the ropes and began a wild celebration. He ran toward his own corner and began calling out every reporter who had predicted his doom.
Clay-Liston-Jul64-cover_RIN
"He was wrong!" he said to one. "And you were wrong!" he told another. He then climbed on the ropes and swept his left arm from right to left and declared "this row….and this row (was wrong)."  In his ultimate moment of triumph, Clay made sure to remind the doubters that they had erred badly. He also told them to never, ever, make that mistake in the future.
"What are you gonna say now, huh?" Clay asked during the post-fight press conference. "'He can't go one round. He might go two. He holds his head back. He holds his hands too low.' Well, I'm still pretty. All you reporters made it hard on Liston. Never write about me like that. Never make me six to one; it just makes me angry. Never make me no underdog, and never talk about who's gonna stop me. Ain't nobody gonna stop me. Not a heavyweight in the world fast enough to stop me. Liston's one of the most powerfulest in the world, and he looked like a baby. I held my hands down. I just played with him. I shook all of you up."
When he asked the reporters who the greatest was, no one said a word.
"No justice," he said. "I don't get no justice. No one's gonna give me justice. I'll give you one more chance. Who's the greatest?"
After a moment of hesitation, a few in the group dully answered "you are."
In the years that followed, the man who would become Muhammad Ali in a few days' time would prove himself time and again. He didn't always win – Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Leon Spinks, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick would go on to beat him – but win or lose Ali showed himself to be a true champion inside the ropes and a tireless crusader outside them.
Long before Ali hung up his gloves for good in December 1981, those who were lucky enough to watch him, journalist and layman alike, came around to his line of thinking. They didn't have to be asked anymore who the greatest was; they said it on their own and they did it with enthusiasm in their voices and conviction in their hearts.
And the series of events that led to all that began a half-century ago today.
*
Photos / THE RING
Lee Groves is a boxing writer and historian based in Friendly, W.Va. He is a full member of the BWAA, from which he has won 10 writing awards, including seven in the last two years. He has been an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame since 2001 and is also a writer, researcher and punch-counter for CompuBox, Inc. He is the author of “Tales From the Vault: A Celebration of 100 Boxing Closet Classics. To order, please visit Amazon.com or e-mail the author at l.groves@frontier.com to arrange for autographed copies.

Mayweather a choisi la moins mauvaise des options + vidéo ESPN Dan Rafael


Mayweather (45-0, 26 KO) a eu une année 2013 impressionnante qui l'a vu surclasser Robert Guerrero en mai et Canelo Alvarez en Septembre.
Il s’agira du troisième duel de contrat de six que Mayweather a signé avec le réseau américain Showtime.




Mayweather est  intelligent et Il le sait.
Mais plutôt que d'aller choisir un gars comme Erislandy Lara, ou au lieu de traverser le mur Top Rank / Golden Boy (ligne de la guerre froide que personne ne franchi) pour lutter contre un poids welter véritable concurrent comme Timothy Bradley, Mayweather a décidé d'ouvrir 2014 avec un engagement à faible risque contre quelqu'un Maidana, dont il sera un favori absurdement en surclassement!
Maidana est un boxeur résolument porté sur l’attaque. Il a subi ses trois défaites devant Andriy Kotelnik, Khan et Devon Alexander. Depuis ce dernier revers, l’Argentin a remporté ses quatre duels avant la limite.
Marcos Maidana était encore en formation lundi dans sa ville natale de Santa Fe, en Argentine, où le monde a appris que Floyd Mayweather Jr. l'a choisi sur Amir Khan pour une 3ème combat mai.
Mayweather, 10 fois champion du monde dans cinq catégories de poids différentes, a établi le record pour le plus grand succès pay-per-view de l'histoire de la télévision en Septembre dernier, lorsque la défaite de Saul Alvarez a rapporté plus de 150 millions de dollars.

Alors qu'il y avait des rumeurs à propos de l'endroit ou la lutte pouvait avoir lieu (au Barclays Center à Brooklyn), il semble que le combat aura lieu au Grand MGM à Las Vegas, où Mayweather a combattu exclusivement pour ses huit derniers combats.



He is an extremely skilled fighter who brings knockout danger to the ring
Floyd Mayweather on Marcos Maidana
ESPN.com boxing writer Dan Rafael breaks down Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s next fight against Marcos Maidana.

Regarder également: http://boxefrombelgium.blogspot.be/2014/02/plus-sur-mayweather-maidana.html#.Uwx2Evl5OYE

OFFICIEL: Plus sur Mayweather-Maidana le 3 mai


L'annonce a été faite par Mayweather via Twitter




Après des semaines de spéculation, y compris les commentaires de fans à travers  les plates-formes des réseaux sociaux, Le champion du monde WBC mi-moyens  Floyd «Money» Mayweather devra faire face au champion du monde WBA des poids welter Marcos "El Chino" Maidana, le samedi 3 mai en direct sur Showtime PPV.

Mayweather, qui a célébré son 37e anniversaire aujourd'hui, a mis en mouvement une palette de sondages en ligne suite à un message posté à ses comptes Twitter et Instagram (@ floydmayweather)  le dimanche 2 février, il a demandé aux fans d'exprimer leur opinion sur son prochain adversaire. Grâce à l'accumulation de plus de 100.000 votes sur les différents sondages en ligne, plus de 100.000 commentaires sur Facebook et Instagram les pages de Mayweather, ainsi que Tweets de fans, Mayweather a vu une majorité de vote écrasante pour Maidana.

Floyd Mayweather: Le dernièr combat de Marcos Maidana a immédiatement saisi mon attention. Il est un combattant extrêmement qualifiés qui apporte le danger du KO dans le ring. Je pense que c'est un grand combat pour moi et il mérite l'occasion de voir si il peut faire ce que 45 autres ont essayé de le faire avant lui -. Me battre "

Broner vs Maidana

Marcos Maidana: Je suis très heureux d'être face à Floyd Mayweather, car cela va me donner l'occasion de montrer au monde que je suis le meilleur poids welter de la division. Je viens de donner à un grand combattant défensif sa première défaite et j'ai l'intention de faire la même chose à Mayweather. Je ne me soucie pas de savoir si c'est le meilleur et si il est invaincu. Je vais apporter un réel caractère Latino dont j'ai le secret pour lui le 3 mai ".

Leonard Ellerbe, PDG de Mayweather Promotions: Il s'agit d'une lutte extrêmement dangereuse pour Floyd. Marcos Maidana est un artiste du knock-out et continue à nous montrer qu'il s'améliore à chaque combat. Maidana l'a montré dans sa dernière performance, il est clairement au sommet de son art et c'est un grand défi pour Floyd.

Richard Schaefer, PDG de Golden Boy Promotions: En Marcos Maidana, Floyd Mayweather va peut être boxer contre son adversaire le plus coriace jamais rencontré. Maidana est le type de combattant qui va nous faire savoir si Floyd appartient toujours au sommet de la liste des boxeur livre-pour-livre (P4P). Il est fort, dur et agressif. En donnant à Adrien Broner sa première défaite, il a montré qu'il ne sera pas intimidé par les discours, une grande ambiance de combat ou un record inégalé. Je donne à Floyd beaucoup de crédit pour remontrer son sens de la boxe et de nouveau se remettre en question par son sens du professionnalisme . C'est un vrai guerrier, et les fans seront  gagnants le 3 mai.