We are officially in the fall season now and with that, the last quarter of the year and the end of the 2015 boxing season. With that said, here is your latest Around the Ring:
- Cotto Loves L.A. – Earlier this week WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto of Caguas, Puerto Rico landed in the west coast city earlier this week to begin his camp for his defense set for November 21st against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in quite possibly the most anticipated fight of the second half of the year. Cotto will be working once again with Freddie Roach who Cotto has repeatedly giving him credit for the second wind of his career.
- Hoping for a Big Win – This weekend Lucas Matthysse of Argentina faces the tall and lanky Viktor Postol for the vacant WBC 140 pound title. Not only does Argentina where Matthysse is from want him to win that fight but also the trifecta of Oscar De La Hoya, Bob Arum and Manny Pacquiao. All clues are pointing that with the win Matthysse will get the golden ticket or in other words, a fight against Manny Pacquiao. Postol is no walk over though so before he faces the Filipino, he needs to get past a Ukrainian.
- Can it be True? – Having not fought since January of 2014, Mikey Garcia is rumored will return in 2016. He last competed in the 130 pound category but will return ten pounds heavier at junior welterweight. Garcia is in a middle battle with promoter Top Rank but a recent meeting ended well. Garcia still trains every day according to his brother, trainer Robert Garcia, and spars pretty frequently. Interesting enough despite trying to get away from Top Rank, Robert Garcia didn’t rule out a fight against Terrence Crawford who is promoted by the company.
- 40 Years Ago Today – One of the most legendary fights in the history of the sport turns forty years today. In 1975, the legendary Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier in Manila, Philippines, in a war known as the “Thrilla in Manila”. Ali has said that it was the closest to date he had ever gotten due to the brutality of the fight. The bout was the rubber match with each splitting the first two. Frazier’s trainer, Eddie Futch, asked the referee Carlos Padilla to stop the fight after the fourteenth round.
- Oh Yeah – In case you have been paying attention, Adrien “The Problem” Broner also fights this weekend against Khabib Allakherdiev for the vacant WBA super lightweight title. The issue the whole boxing world is having with the fight is that both men are coming off a loss and they are fighting for a world title. Broner lost to Shawn Porter and Khabib to Jessie Vargas. Tally it up to the power of Al Haymon. The fight counter schedules the HBO broadcast of the aforementioned Matthysse-Postol and is the first time in months the two networks are going live on the same night.
