MOSCOW, December 17 (R-Sport) - Colombian boxer Santander “Cha Cha” Silgado is dead calm ahead of his shot at Denis Lebedev’s WBA cruiserweight title in Moscow on Monday.

The 27-year-old Silgado replaced ex-champion Guillermo Jones, who lost his title to Lebedev by default after pulling out of the fight against the Russian, for the fight in the Russian capital.

The undefeated Silgado comes up against the toughest challenge of his career in world No. 1 Lebedev, but insists he is cool and composed.

“Thank God, I don’t feel any nerves ahead of the fight, so, I can say that I go into the fight confident,” Silgado said at Sunday’s weigh-in.

“I have 23 victories, a 100 percent record.”

Silgado, who gives away just under two kilograms (4.4 pounds) to Lebedev, also says he has acclimatized for the bout, which has coincided with the onset of winter and daytime temperatures of minus 18 degrees Celsius.

“In the first few days it was strange, the weather is totally different, but now I have completely adapted,” Silgado said.

Silgado started his career in 2004 and became Colombian national champion four years later. He holds the regional WBA and WBC titles.

Lebedev, the Russian “Vityaz,” has a record of 24 wins and one defeat, suffered to Marco Huck in 2010.

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By Alexey Sukachev
Weights have been set tonight for tomorrow’s big show at Crocus City Hall in Myakinino, Moscow, Russia. The event will be crowned by the WBA cruiserweight championship between a newly crowned champion Denis Lebedev and his voluntary challenger Santander Silgado. Two more WBA minor belts will be at stake in two title fights of the undercard, while three more bouts will constitute the show.
Lebedev’s opponent will be undefeated but mostly untested Columbian Santander “Cha Cha” Silgado (23-0, 18 KOs), who is ranked #8 by the WBA and #6 by the WBC. Silgado, 27, once a promising prospect, was forced to miss almost three years off the ring between January 2009 and December 2011. He is 5-0, 2 KOs, since then with two back-to-back unanimous decisions over Joell Godfrey (in August and in October) being in his most recent past. Silgado has weighed-in at 193.75 tonight.
Lebedev’s status was elevated by the World Boxing Association two months ago during their annual convention, when then-reigning (but ultimately inactive) Panamanian champion Guillermo Jones was deemed to be in no position to fight his mandatory challenger (and the WBA interim titleholder) Lebedev in a partial unification of the certain world title. Thus Jones was declared a champion in recess, while Lebedev was name a full-scaled WBA cruiserweight champion. Denis, 33, has fought once this year, knocking out Barbadian Shawn Cox in two at the very same arena. Lebedev was found to be at 197.5 tonight.
Lebedev has trained for the fight with former world title challenger Monte Barrett. “We’ve chosen him for our training camp as he was also a sparring partner for Santander Silgado in Silgado’s past. He can also copy the style of his previous opponents, which makes him very valuable for the future study of your next opponent”, revealed Lebedev in a video quickie with Alexander Pavlov of Sportbox.ru.
“Silgado is coming here to win. I’ve seen one member of his team in Roy Jones’ corner a year and a half ago, when Roy was fighting me in Moscow. That means Team Silgado has carefully studied all the tapes, all the documents, and they know everything about me. I shall not underestimate the Columbian”, added Lebedev.
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In another important cruiserweight match-up, long-time contender Grigoriy Drozd (35-1, 25 KOs) will test his skills against former European champion Jean Marc Monrose (25-5, 15 KOs). This bout is billed for a vacant WBA international title.
WBC #5, WBA #9 and IBF #14 Drozd, 33, has good overall boxing skills and considerable punching power but his stamina is under questions, as it was an issue in his lone stoppage loss to Firat Arslan six years ago in the WBA eliminator. Drozd also missed much, fighting just once between July 2009 and February 2012. He is 2-0, with 2 KOs, this year and aims at a world title shot in his recent future. Drozd has tipped the scales at a division limit of 200 lbs.
Jean Marc Monrose, 31, achieved his greatest success in May 2008, when he knocked out then-champion Johnny Jensen in one to capture the EBU title. He lost it in the very first defense, being knocked out by Marko Huck. Monrose fell apart and lost three straight (including back-to-back defeats from the hands of Steve Herelius) before taking two years off the ring. He came back in June 2012 to outpoint little-known Adel Belhachemi over six. Drozd will be a much tougher assignment for him. Monrose was 198.2 tonight.
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In the third title attraction, undefeated Russian lightweight Eduard Troyanovskiy (12-0, 9 KOs), who is ranked #7 by the WBA, will collide with experienced Columbian upset artist Walter Estrada (42-15-1, 27 KOs). Eduard’s PABA title will be at risk in what is also billed as a partial WBA unification.
Troyanovskiy, 32, is coming off a hard win over Joseph Von Minoza in September and a crowd-pleasing thriller versus Claudiney Lacierda in June. His biggest win is the third-round stoppage of 42-5-2 Matt Zegan in 2010. Estrada, 36, came back from his stoppage loss to Jesse Vargas a year ago with three straight victories at home. His best streak was in the second half of 2010, however, when he knocked out 21-3-3 Verquan Kimbrogh and decisioned 23-7 Jose Reyes and even 33-6-1 Nate Campbell in a span of four months.
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Other fights:
Dmitry Chudinov (6-0-1, 3 KOs) vs Jhonathan Ricar (9-4, 7 KOs) – 8 rounds, middleweights;
Oleg Liseev (5-1, 3 KOs) vs Carlos Galvan (6-0-1, 5 KOs) – 8 rounds, middleweights;
Vladimir Goncharov (1-0) vs Bedarin Toma (6-1, 3 KOs) – 6 rounds, heavyweights.
The show is promoted by Vladimir Hryunov. Doors are opening at 7 PM LT. The TV broadcast by Russia 2 TV channel starts at 8 PM LT.

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Saturday night, Adrien Broner (25-0) scored a TKO victory over Antonio DeMarco (28-3-1) in the 8th of a scheduled 12 round fight. The bout was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J and was televised on HBO.

For Broner, the victory provides him with the WBC lightweight title and significant opportunities to take his career to the next level. Throughout the fight, Broner continuously outclassed DeMarco with his fast hand speed and notable defensive skills.

Even more, Broner showed that he is a high caliber fighter that should be considered one of boxing’s pound for pound best. His boxing skills and character resemble the style of Floyd Mayweatehr Jr., which could lead to Broner becoming the next American superstar within the sport of boxing.

Promotionally, it should be interesting to see who Broner and his manager, Al Haymon, decide to take on next. It would not be surprising to see Broner attempt to move up to junior welterweight in the near future as he has the build and skills to pose a threat for anyone in the division.

In the end, the boxing world got to view a start in the making as Broner showed that he is one of the best in the world. DeMarco is no easy task for any fighter and Broner’s ability to dominate DeMarco should serve as evidence that Broner is a world class fighter. Only time will tell, but the boxing world should keep an eye on Broner as he has the potential to become the next main attraction in the sport of boxing.

By Jake Donovan

The last time Tomasz Adamek and Steve Cunningham met in the ring, they provided an unforgettable ending to a largely forgettable fight series on Versus Network.

Come December 22, the two are bestowed with a setting more befitting a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Their rematch – which takes place at Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania – will air live on NBC’s flagship network, serving as its first notable main event in more than 20 years.

The bout comes on the heels of a long-term extension reached between the network and Main Events. The two sides have enjoyed a working relationship for a long time, enough to experiment with a prospect-based series in 2003 and 2004.

Late last year, Main Events returned to the network’s doorstep with the idea of a boxing series to air on the Peacock’s growing sports outlet, NBC Sports Network. The move was significant, since NBC Sports Network is the new face of Versus, so a natural hesitance would have been understood.

Several successful shows later, boxing fans are treated to a Saturday matinee affair on free TV. The matchup of heavyweight contenders marks the first bout of such status on NBC’s airwaves since its ‘Sportsworld’ series went off the air in 1992.

“We’ve had a fabulous experience with NBC Sports in the past year,” stated Kathy Duva, head of Main Events, during a press conference Tuesday afternoon to formally announce the rematch. “We will have done six shows, seven by the time this one happens. It’s all good and it’s all positive. They couldn’t have come up with a better main event (for NBC).”

Their first encounter served as a bailout for a poorly executed ‘Versus Fight Night’ series years ago. Top Rank would later admit the error of its ways, working out the kinks for a more successful ‘Top Rank Live’ series. However, enough damage was already done to send Versus screaming out the door after a miserable two-year long relationship with the sport.

Top Rank was no longer involved by the time the final episode aired, headlined by the lineal cruiserweight championship between Adamek (co-promoted by Main Events) and Cunningham (then promoted by Don King). Twelve rounds later, fans didn’t care who was involved with the show. All they knew was that more than two years of torture was finally met with one of the best fights of 2008. 
 
Cunningham (25-4, 12KO) was viewed by most as the best active cruiserweight in the world, demonstrating as such early on against Adamek, who was in his most significant fight since losing his light heavyweight belt to Chad Dawson nearly two years prior. The Pole was battle-tested along the way, including an 8th round stoppage of former cruiserweight king O’Neil Bell earlier in the year.

As Cunningham would eventually find out, Adamek (47-2, 29KO) was no longer a light heavyweight growing into a new division. He was in fact a true cruiserweight contender – and eventual champion after dropping the Philly fighter three times over the course of their 12-round instant classic.

The thing about the fight was that Cunningham – the defending titlist at the time – appeared to be in control whenever he managed to stay on his feet. His ability to outbox Adamek explained in part the split decision verdict by fight’s end despite three knockdowns scored against him.

It’s been a long four-year wait to exact revenge.

“I can truthfully say with the last fight that I underestimated Adamek,” Cunningham admitted when recalling their first fight. “I went on to get knocked down three times. I just want to put on a great fight. Above that, (I want to) win.”

The time frame includes another tour as a cruiserweight titlist, which ended late last year with the first of two consecutive losses to Yoan Pablo Hernandez. The latter of the two losses left many to believe that the best days are well behind the 36-year old, though he hopes that the move one division north will help dispel that notion.

A tune-up win over journeyman Jason Gavern in September didn’t provide much other than a way to avoid more time on the sidelines. It does carry a bit of significance, however, in that the Adamek rematch – barring postponement – will serve as his third fight of 2012. The last time he fought more than twice in a calendar year was all the way back in 2001, his first full year as a pro.

The exact opposite holds true for Adamek, who in his 14th year as a pro has only experienced three calendar years in which he didn’t fight at least three times.

The wildly popular brawler in two markets – Northeast U.S. (New Jersey, specifically) and Poland – was lauded by many in the industry for his willingness to keep active regardless of network coverage or competition level. The strategy helped build an already sizeable fan base as well as arouse interest for an eventual heavyweight title fight with Vitali Klitschko last September.

The bout took place in front of more than 42,000 fans at a brand new soccer stadium in Poland. All the fan support in the world, however, couldn’t help Adamek, who fell prey to Klitschko after 10 of the most uncompetitive rounds of his career.

A brief disagreement with Main Events over the future direction of his career instead put it on pause, though he eventually came to his senses and rejoined forces with the Jersey-based outfit earlier this year. The move was right on time, as he was added to an NBC Sports Network broadcast that saw the career revival of former two-division champ Zab Judah this past March.

Less than three months later, Adamek was headlining his own show, though had to rally back – and rely on a little bit of luck – in overcoming the challenge of Eddie Chambers this past June. The former two-division champ was in trouble early, but a mid-fight injury suffered by Chambers helped turn the fight around and resuscitate Adamek’s status as a heavyweight contender.

Time isn’t exactly on either fighter’s side, though it can be argued that years of ring wars may catch up to the 35-year old Adamek sooner rather than later. This fact is not lost on him as he prepares for a fight in which the winner will be moved within a win of challenging for the lineal heavyweight crown.

“After 2008, I’m sure Steve was hungry. I took his belt and he waited four years for a rematch,” Adamek notes. “The IBF gave him a chance (the fight is a sanctioned eliminator for the #2 ranking) and it should be an interesting fight.”

The fight was made primarily because it was a perfect fit for the vision Main Events carried in reintroducing boxing to network television. There is now the added bonus of the winner going on to face unbeaten contender Kabret Pulev sometime next year, with that winner eventually getting a crack at lineal heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (pending a win over Mariusz Wach in November).

Adamek doesn’t look very far into the future, realizing that his return go with Cunningham is a major step towards dictating the direction of the remainder of his career.

“I’m four years older but I’m still a warrior. It should be a good fight. I say for Steve, good luck. Be aware, I’m training very hard. See you December 22.”

So too, will millions of boxing fans who can only reminisce of the last time they watched a significant fight on NBC.

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Gabriel Rosado, the fastest-rising contender in the junior middleweight division, goes for his fourth consecutive knockout and his eighth consecutive win when he boxes Elvin Ayala, of New Haven, CT, in a 10-round bout Saturday evening, Dec. 8, at Pearson/McGonigle Halls on the campus of Temple University.
Sharing the spotlight will be another Philadelphian, Bryant “By By” Jennings, who defends his USBA heavyweight championship against Bowie Tupou, of Tongo, in a scheduled 12-round contest.
The eight-fight live card begins at 7pm and the NBCSN broadcast will begin at 9PM ET.

“A lot of fighters boast they will fight anybody but Rosado actually backs up his words,” said promoter J Russell Peltz. “Ayala has fought as a middleweight and even as a super middleweight but none of that fazes Rosado. He’s a throwback to the old-time fighters and this will be his fourth fight in 2012.
“Gab could sit around and wait until March when IBF champ Cornelius Bundrage has to fight him, but that’s not in Gab’s DNA. He’s a fighter and fighters want to fight. It’s that simple.”

The weight limit will be 156 pounds, two pounds over the junior middleweight limit, four under the middleweight limit.

The 26-year-old Rosado is the poster boy for good fighters who came up the hard way. His 21-5 record includes 13 knockouts, including three big ones in 2012 over
Jesus Soto-Karass, of Mexico; Sechew Powell, of Brooklyn, NY; Charles Whittaker, of Georgetown, Cayman Islands.

Rosado is ranked No. 1 in the world by the IBF.

Ayala, 31, has won his last six fights in a row and is 26-5-1, 12 K0s. A pro since 2003, he boxed a 10-round draw with Sergio Mora, of Los Angeles, CA, and was stopped in 12 by Arthur Abraham for the IBF middleweight title in Germany. He has wins over Derrick Findley, of Gary, IN; John Mackey, of Montgomery, AL; Eric Mitchell, of Philadelphia; George Armenta, of Silver Spring, MD.

Originally from Reading, PA, Ayala recently moved back there to train with Marshall Kauffman.
“I think Rosado bit off more than he can chew this time,” said Kauffman. “Ayala is the strongest puncher I’ve ever been associated with, pound-for-pound.”

Pearson/McGonigle Halls, at Broad and Motgomery Avenues in North Philadelphia, a 4,500-seat venue at Temple University, has hosted both professional and amateur boxing in the past, but when NBC Sports Network broadcasts the sixth installment of its “Fight Night” series on Dec. 8, it will be the first professional boxing event held at Pearson/McGonigle Halls in over 19 years.

Eight bouts are planned for the Philadelphia card. The fight is promoted by Main Events, Peltz Boxing, and Goossen-Tutor Promotions in association with BAM Boxing. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, Oct. 24. Contact Peltz Boxing for further ticket info, 215-765-0922, www.peltzboxing.com. Tickets also are on sale at www.comcastTIX.com.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – World middleweight champion Sergio Martinez would like a shot at Floyd Mayweather but said on Monday he would not lose sleep trying to pin down the elusive American.

“Mayweather skirts around things so it’s complicated to focus on going after him,” the 37-year-old southpaw known as ‘Maravilla’ (Marvel) said on a his first return home to Argentina since winning the title.

“I must look for my own path and if Mayweather appears, that will be phenomenal,” added Martinez, who beat Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr for the WBC crown in Las Vegas last month.

“For me, there’s no doubt he’s the best boxer in the world. I always want to face the best, it would be a great opportunity for me,” he told a packed news conference at the Caesar Park hotel in Buenos Aires.

Mayweather is an undefeated fighter with titles in five divisions.

Before fighting again, though, Martinez needs to fully recover from a left hand injury and also have a knee operation.

“My left hand is improving well but it still hurts a bit because I had two fractures that have welded well,” he said.

“With my knee, I need to keep working with my doctor to prepare for an operation on November 12.”

Martinez, who has emerged at the very top of boxing late in his career after a decade climbing the ladder in Spain, said he expected to be fully fit to fight again next April.

“I’ll be ready to fight from April, I’ll need two weeks (to recover) after the operation, I’m nearly 38 and it’s not the same to have an operation as it is when you’re 20. I’m confident that after that my body will be 100 percent.

“I’m not looking at any rival, today I’m the objective and I have to work twice as hard as before to defend this world championship I’ve got,” he said.

“I try not to have contact with other boxers, the offers will come soon, in the next month and a half, and then I’ll have to decide who I choose (to fight).”

Martinez said he would fight at least once in Argentina though he was not sure when or whether it would be his last bout before retiring.

As a fan of River Plate soccer team he would ideally like to fight at the club’s Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires but that would depend on numerous factors including the time of year since it would be in the open air.

An alternative would be the Luna Park, famous home of Argentine boxing that has held many world title bouts notably in the era of late world middleweight champion Carlos Monzon with whom Martinez is sometimes compared.

(Reporting by Rex Gowar; editing by Martyn Herman)

by Lem Satterfield

Unbeaten former featherweight titleholder Yuriorkis Gamboa could face Mexican junior lightweight Miguel Beltran Jr. on the undercard of an HBO-Pay Per View televised main event featuring Manny Pacquiao in his fourth bout opposite four-division belt-winner Juan Manuel Marquez on Dec. 8 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

In June, Gamboa (21-0, 16 knockouts) was bought out of the remainder of his contract with Top Rank by rapper-turned-promoter, 50 Cent (aka Curtis Jackson), allowing the former Cuban Olympic gold medalist to separate from the organization.

Gamboa has not been in the ring since September, when he decisioned current WBC featherweight beltholderDaniel Ponce de Leon.

Beltran (27-2, 17 KOs) is coming off a split-decision loss over Puerto Rican Roman “Rocky” Martinez (26-1-1, 16 KOs) on the undercard of a unanimous decision by RING middleweight champion Sergio Martinez that dethroned WBC titleholder Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who dropped Martinez in the 12th round.

Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum, informed RingTV.com that 50 Cent is working with Top Rank President Todd duBoef.

“That is accurate, and 50 Cent will be talking tomorrow to Todd. It would be very likely that Gamboa is going to be on the card as long as we’re working with 50 Cent, who is working with Gamboa,” said Arum.

“Obviously, they’re talking about him going on the card and fighting this Mexican kid who had the great fight with Rocky Martinez, Beltran.”

In the past, Gamboa pulled out of a scheduled Top Rank-promoted lightweight bout in April with Brandon Rios,who instead won a controversial split-decision over replacement Richard Abril.

Top Rank filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court in Las Vegas for breach of contract against Gamboa, claiming that his move cost the company $1 million.

Gamboa later filed for dismissal of the suit through attorney Sekou Gary, who had contended that Gamboa’s contract with co-promoter Arena Box was not valid, and, by extension, neither was the one with Top Rank.

JACKSON CALLS LEON MARGULES ‘HIS LAWYER’

Jackson is now represented by attorney Leon Margules, the lawyer said on Tuesday.

“I’m his lawyer. It happened about a month ago. We’ve spoken three or four times, and I’ve done some letters for him, and I met him one time at the Martinez-Chavez Jr. fight, and he told me that I’m his lawyer. He’s told other people that they should call me and that I’m his lawyer,” said Margules.

“I’ve done some legal work for his office. We’re in the process of trying to negotiate a deal with Top Rank. He’s talking directly with Bob. Nothing’s been drafted yet, but if it is, I’m sure that he’ll ask me to draft it. We’ll see what happens.”

ARUM’S A GRANDDAD ONCE AGAIN

DuBoef became “the proud father” of a newborn daughter, Quinn Blakely duBoef, who was born on Monday afternoon, said Arum.

“I’m at the hospital now,” said Arum. “That’s seven [grandchildren.]”

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

By William Mackay:

Golden Boy Promotions has picked a small and weak enough opponent for Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s) in little 5’6″ Carlos Molina (17-0, 7 KO’s) that Khan should be able to look good in this fight scheduled on December 15th at the Sports Arena, in Los Angeles, California, USA. Khan is coming off of a 4th round knockout loss to WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia last July.

This fight will make Khan’s new trainer Virgil Hunter look like a genius because Khan will overwhelm the small and light hitting Molina. It’s going to be easy because Molina is like a tiny army without weapons, and he’s going to be overmatched by the much bigger, faster and stronger Khan. But this fight won’t tell you anything about whether or not Khan is improving under his new trainer Hunter because Molina is the type of guy that Khan could beat no matter who’s training him. It doesn’t matter, because Molina doesn’t have the weapons or the size to really test Khan.

Hunter is a great trainer but I see him impact as being negligible. He won’t be able to turn Khan’s career around other than helping him beat guys that he could already beat without him. If anything, Hunter may end up hurting Khan because the confidence that Khan will be getting from having him as a trainer will soon cause Khan to try and trade with one of his future opponents and he’ll then get knocked out again.

Khan’s promoters at Golden Boy are likely to continue to match him against weak punchers in the future to maneuver him much in the same way they did Paulie Malignaggi, a fighter that would have no chance against the better welterweights in the division due to his complete lack of power. However, Golden Boy steered him into a world title by keeping him against guys they knew he could beat, and not matching him against dangerous guys like Andre Berto, Victor Ortiz, Mike Jones, Thomas Dulorme…etc.

Golden Boy will have to do the same with Khan if they want him to recapture a world title. The only easy mark among the light welterweight champions is IBF champ Lamont Peterson. That might be the direction they’ll try and steer Khan in unless Peterson gets beaten by his next opponent Kendall Holt. In that case, Holt will be the guy they likely try and position Khan to fight. I don’t see Khan getting put back in with Danny Garcia ever again because it’s clear that Khan can’t take his power.