It’s usually hard to predict what’s going to happen in boxing. But one thing is certain come Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden: The Alvarez brothers will leave the ring the same way they entered — without a championship belt.
Boxing
Carlos Molina, 30, the International Boxing Federation junior middleweight champion, was arrested Tuesday afternoon by Las Vegas police on a fugitive warrant. The warrant, issued in 2007, was for a parole violation for failing to register as a sex offender in Wisconsin.
He doesn’t show a lot of emotion when asked about it, but Alfredo Angulo clearly cherishes his freedom.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has decided to stay home for his May 3 welterweight title fight with Marcos Maidana.
For almost three years, Canelo Alvarez proudly wore the WBC junior middleweight belt. That belt now belongs to Floyd Mayweather Jr. But Alvarez doesn’t feel naked without a title and the fact he’s not fighting for a belt Saturday against Alfredo Angulo may be proof that titles are overrated.
Former world champion boxer Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver was arrested in Florida for issuing a bad check to a Las Vegas casino. The former Olympic bronze medal winner owed Wynn Las Vegas $200,000 in casino markers in 2012, court records show.
Carlos Molina hopes he can keep the IBF junior middleweight title longer than the man he took it from.
Las Vegas’ Tony Weeks was selected by the Nevada Athletic Commission Thursday to referee the March 8 junior middleweight fight between former world champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Alfredo Angulo at the MGM Grand Garden. The judges for the 12-round main event will be Jerry Roth and Dave Moretti of Las Vegas and Craig Metcalfe of Canada.
On the 50th anniversary of Muhammad Ali’s stunning upset over Sonny Liston in their first fight, which was Tuesday, the Washington Times ran a story suggesting the bout might have been fixed. Documents implicate “a Las Vegas figure tied to organized crime and to Liston.”
On the side of one of the MGM Grand’s hotel towers is a huge banner of Floyd Mayweather Jr., claiming to be the home of boxing’s pound-for-pound king.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. announced his opponent for his next fight on Monday afternoon on Twitter: “I will be fighting Marcos Maidana May 3rd on Pay-per-view Showtime/CBS.”
A lot of hard work went into Leo Santa Cruz’s ascent to the world super bantamweight title. But Santa Cruz said he’s finding he has to work even harder to stay on top.
With all the talk about fighters in combat sports being dirty or clean, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum decided to take out an insurance policy for the Manny Pacquiao-Timothy Bradley Jr. rematch April 12 at the MGM Grand Garden.
Diego and Jessie Magdaleno fought to easy wins Saturday in Top Rank’s boxing card in Hawaiian Gardens, Calif.
The second induction class of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame has a big feel to it. The 18-member class includes Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, George Foreman, Sonny Liston, Evander Holyfield and Archie Moore. President and founder Rich Marotta said he didn’t plan for it to be that way, but it is a heavyweight class.
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