He hasn’t fought more than once a year since 2007. But as he prepares to fight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez just four months after his last bout, Floyd Mayweather Jr. can’t wait for the bell to ring.
Boxing
A rare series of storms had cooled the summer air to an almost tolerable level, though it was steamy as ever inside Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s gym just a few miles from the Strip.
Boxing makes strange bedfellows, but this night was a love-in the likes of which the sport seldom has seen. Larry Holmes joked with Mike Tyson about being knocked out by him, Floyd Mayweather Jr. said nice things about Bob Arum, and Arum and bitter rival Don King shared a hug.
Tonight, the inaugural class of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame, headed by boxers Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Oscar De La Hoya, Larry Holmes, Mike McCallum and Diego Corrales, will be enshrined at the Monte Carlo. And Rich Marotta, the founder and president, finally will be able to sigh with relief.
If you click on the website, you immediately hear the theme song from “Rocky IV,” one that talks about there being no easy way out, no shortcut home, that some things are worth fighting for, that giving in can’t be wrong.
A Chinese fighter’s victory at a Macau showdown brings the world’s top casino market a step closer to challenging Las Vegas for dominance of another Sin City staple: big-time boxing matches.
The big news that Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse will meet on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight Sept. 14 at the MGM Grand Garden has boxing people believing the pay-per-view record of 2.5 million buys set in 2007 when Mayweather fought Oscar De La Hoya is in jeopardy.
While the rain was coming down around Las Vegas on Friday night, it was raining punches inside the Hard Rock Hotel along with a mix of thunder and lightning, courtesy of John Molina and Mickey Bey.
The first half of the year has not been kind to Mickey Bey. But he can change his luck tonight with a win at the Hard Rock Hotel.
The Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight on Sept. 14 already had set a record for its live gate, but promoters think the addition of a championship bout between Danny Garcia and Lucas Matthysse to the card at the MGM Grand Garden also could break pay-per-view records.
Badou Jack didn’t start his professional boxing career until 2009, but the 29-year-old super middleweight from Sweden quickly is making up for lost time.
Chris Avalos remembers the feeling of winning his first championship belt. It’s a feeling he wants again.
As he sat recently in a cramped meeting room inside the Sawyer Building and freely accepted a metaphorical beating, it wasn’t clear whether middleweight prospect J’Leon Love fully appreciated his role in the changing world of the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Las Vegan Jesus Gutierrez continues to impress in the lightweight division.
Ishe Smith’s first title defense will have to wait.
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