mark whicker

Golovkin Looks To Become The Next Crossover Star

Gennady Golovkin ranks third all-time, regardless of weight class, in knockout percentage. It is not a distinction that has brought good fortune to everyone on that list. Edwin Valero knocked out all 27 professional opponents, 19 of them in the f...

Frankie Gomez Starting To Make Real Noise at 140

INDIO, Ca. -- Vernon Paris walks around with two bullets inside him and has survived a stabbing, too, so you wouldn't expect him to surrender in a ring. But the fact that Paris got through 10 rounds at Fantasy Springs Casino Friday night was his o...

Ivan Morales' Fight is KO'd Due To Visa Issues

Golden Boy Promotions announced that Ivan Morales, younger brother of legendary champ Eric ("El Terrible") Morales, will not be part of the co-main event at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, Ca. Friday night. Morales had what GBP called "visa issue...

Mayweather Continues To Be The Centerpiece of Boxing

By Mark Whicker - No one else in sports is Master and Commander. Floyd Mayweather Jr. never loses. He makes the most money. He bets outrageously on sports, and successfully, and yet even gets to walk around the lower bowl of the Final Four. He...

Mayweather Stands Firm on Maidana's Gloves, Tactics

LOS ANGELES -- Marcos Maidana seems resigned to the fact that he won't be able to use his favorite gloves in the rematch with Floyd Maywather Jr. on Sept. 13. That was an issue before the first fight in May, when Mayweather objected to Maidana's c...

Glen Tapia on Training With Roach, Canelo vs. Lara

Glen Tapia wasn't quite prepared for his first day at Wild Card Gym with trainer Freddie Roach. "He said, 'You're doing this, this and this wrong," Tapia said. "He made me think I sucked. I walked away from there thinking I couldn't fight anymore....

Golovkin Focused on Unifying Titles at Middleweight

Promoter Tom Loeffler said Wednesday that WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin wants to concentrate on unifying the titles in that division, provided he gets by Daniel Geale in Madison Square Garden July 26. That means Golovkin has his e...

Arum on Pacquiao-Algieri Promotion, Eyes Cotto-Canelo

Bob Arum said Tuesday he plans to promote Chris Algieri as "the modern-day Gene Tunney" when Algieri meets Manny Pacquiao on Nov. 22, in Macau. First, the Top Rank chief might have to remind people who Tunney was. Tunney was heavyweight champio...

Porter: I Can't Figure Out What's Special About Brook

IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter says he wants to reach across the Cold War battlefield and fight a Top-Rank affiliated fighter at some point. Porter, who meets Kell Brook at Stub Hub Center Aug. 16, is managed by Al Haymon and promoted by G...

Canelo's Dangerous Gamble Pays Off in Las Vegas

By Mark Whicker - It was more vanilla than cinnamon, that’s for sure. But thyme (and time) is still on the side of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Just don’t expect the spicy discussions about Saturday night’s split decision at MGM Grand Garden Arena to su...

Canelo Sees Big Career Upside in Dangerous Fight

By Mark Whicker - LAS VEGAS – Nothing sells tickets and pay-per-view TV buys like a baby-faced warrior. The problem is the damage that all those wars can do to that face. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has a chance to become the main event of the entire...

Mikey Garcia Patiently Waits For Legal Beef To Play Out

Mikey Garcia showed up at Tuesday's press conference in Hollywood, but he was as far away from the stage at Avalon Hollywood as he is from a ring. "I'm retired," he joked. "I'm retired from boxing now." Not at 26, and not with a 34-0 record. Bu...

Brandon Rios Closes The Book on Conditioning Coaches

Brandon Rios has not won a fight since October of 2012. That also was the last time he didn’t use a strength and conditioning coach. That might be a coincidence, but Rios is taking no chances. With Alex Ariza no longer employed by trainer Robert G...

Juanma Sees Vargas, Every Future Fight as 'Do or Die'

A moving pile of hangers-on obscured Erislandy Lara after he left his public workout in the MGM Grand lobby Wednesday. Didn't that used to be Juan Manuel Lopez? Instead, yesterday's next-great-fighter did his run-throughto minimal applause, as...

Garcia Wants Maidana Lighter, Quicker For Rematch

If Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31KOs) gets another crack at Floyd Mayweather Jr. (46-0, 26KOs) on Sept. 13, his trainer already has a revised game plan. "This time I'm going to have him come in a little lighter," Robert Garcia said Tuesday.. "We wanted...