Javier Fortuna, the World Boxing Association regular super featherweight champion, predicted he would knock out Carlos Velasquez in his first title defense. Fortuna did, winning by technical knockout in the 10th round to improve to 29-0-1 with 21 knockouts in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions card Tuesday at the Palms.
Winning world titles hasn’t been a problem for Javier Fortuna. The issue has been retaining them.
If you forgot about Mickey Bey, that’s understandable. The former lightweight champion, 32, from Cleveland hasn’t been in the ring for more than a year since having surgery on his right hand that took longer to heal than he had anticipated.
As Manny Pacquiao continues to heal from the torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder that required surgery, talk is ramping up over when the congressman from the Philippines will return to the ring.
Timothy Bradley could have picked anyone to train him for his title defense against Brandon Rios on Nov. 7 at the Thomas & Mack Center after parting ways with longtime trainer Joel Diaz. But he chose a voice boxing fans are familiar with — Teddy Atlas — the longtime ESPN analyst who will spend the next seven weeks with Bradley.
Not long after Floyd Mayweather Jr. dispatched with Andre Berto on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden and announced, once again, that he was ending his stellar boxing career, I reached a different conclusion.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. doesn’t mind if he’s referred to in the past tense. After all, it was his decision to retire as an active boxer.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought Andre Berto in a welterweight title boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015. In what Mayweather insisted was the final fight of his career, he beat Berto by unanimous decision.
Perfect. From beginning to end. If this was indeed Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s final fight, he did it on his terms, his way, in totally dominating an overmatched Andre Berto on Saturday night before 13,395 fans at the MGM Grand Garden.
He danced around the ring and raised his right hand and summoned the cheers to grow louder inside an MGM Grand Garden that was neither sold out nor filled with 13,395 people who actually paid for a ticket.
