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Lem’s latest: Broner mum on rivals; Bradley to have say

Fighters Network
04
Mar

WBC lightweight beltholder Adrien “The Problem” Broner was ringside in Las Vegas for this past Saturday night’s unanimous-decision victory by WBA counterpart Richard Abril over Sharif “The Lion” Bogere.

Working as a Showtime’s ringside commentator for Abril-Bogere was WBA welterweight titleholder Paulie Malignaggi, who has been formally contacted by Golden Boy officials regarding a potential June 22 matchup with Broner, who is Malignaggi’s promotional stablemate.

Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer also has indicated, however, that yet another consideration for Broner is Scottish WBO counterpart Ricky Burns, if Burns gets beyond an April 20 unification bout with IBF beltholder Miguel Vazquez.



So what does Broner (26-0, 22 KOs) think of all of this?

“I ain’t worried about it. I ain’t got no comments about no Paulie Malignaggi,” said Broner, whose fifth-round knockout of ex-beltholder Gavin Rees on HBO last month represented his sixth consecutive stoppage victory.

“I ain’t heard nothing about it and I ain’t worried about it. I don’t have any comments on any of them. I ain’t talking about no fighters. This is the A.B. [Adrien Broner] show. Let them talk about me.”

Schaefer has informed RingTV.com that he has targeted Broner for a return to the ring on June 15, and that he expected Malignaggi to be back in action on June 22 at Barclays Center in Malignaggi’s native Brooklyn.

“I’m a competitor,” said Malignaggi, during a recent interview with RingTV.com. “We’ll get it on for the right price and under the right circumstances, being that it would be for the welterweight world title. I would fight him, absolutely.”

TIM BRADLEY TO ADDRESS MEDIA ON TUESDAY

bradley training feb 19_7

WBO welterweight titleholder Tim Bradley (29-0, 12 KOs) may have plenty to say during Tuesday’s national media conference call, which will include his own trainer, Joel Diaz, his March 16 rival Ruslan Provodnikov (22-1, 15 KOs), and Provodnikov’s trainer Freddie Roach.

Bradley is coming off June’s disputed split-decision victory over Manny Pacquiao, who is also trained by Roach, and former Pacquiao sparring partner Provodnikov has won five consecutive fights as a junior welterweight, four of them by stoppage.

Roach said recently that he expects Bradley to become a timid fighter once he feels the power of the Russian in their HBO-televised clash from The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

Provodnikov is coming off June’s second-round knockout of Jose Reynoso, ending the loser’s unbeaten streak at 6-0-1, including two stoppage wins.

“When he feels Ruslan’s power, like when he felt Manny’s, it’s going to be a remake of Forrest Gump,” said Roach. “‘Run, Timmy, run.’ This isn’t about Ruslan finishing what Manny started. It’s about duplicating it.”

Bradley’s incentive for defeating Provodnikov was detailed to RingTV.com recently by Top Rank CEO Bob Arum.

Arum listed Bradley among the options for four-division beltwinner Juan Manuel Marquez, along with former lightweight beltholder Brandon Rios or a fifth bout with Pacquiao.

Marquez, who turns 40 in August, is coming off December’s sixth-round stoppage of Pacquiao after having gone 0-2-1 in three previous fights against the eight-division titlewinner.

Rios is coming off October’s seventh-round stoppage of previously unbeaten Mike Alvarado in his junior welterweight debut. Rios will fight a rematch with Alvarado on March 30 at The Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas also on HBO.

KENDALL HOLT RISES INTO THE WELTERWEIGHT RANKS

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Hard-hitting ex-junior welterweight beltholder Kendall Holt (28-6, 16 KOs) will rise into the 147-pound division in the wake of last month’s eighth-round stoppage loss to IBF 140-pound titleholder Lamont Peterson.

Holt, of Paterson, N.J., built an early lead against Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KOs) before being dropped in the fourth and sixth rounds.

The 31-year-old Holt admitted having been as much as eight pounds over 140 two days prior to weighing in, and by as many as 22 pounds at the start of training camp for his clash with Peterson. Holt said that, at least in part, the weight-drain affected him in the fight.

“The time is right for me to make this transition to welterweight, I feel like I’ve still got a lot of fight in me and what better way to exercise it than to be in a division with so many interesting match ups. It isn’t just what I want, it’s also what my body is telling me to do and my body is telling me that I’m going to be a physically better fighter in the move up,” said Holt.

“I’m trying to get as far as I can, and I’m looking to make this welterweight run count. I’m not some kid coming into the division, I am a proven fighter with a recognized name and I’m looking to land some of the most interesting fights that can be made. The good thing is I the division is stacked, 1-to-10, and I’m looking to knock one of those guys out of their spot.”

A well-traveled fighter, Holt’s stamina issues had been a problem in the past, when he was knocked out by Thomas Davis, Ricardo Torres and Kaizer Mabuza in June of 2004, September of 2007, and, February of 2010, respectively.

Holt had endured despite what has, at times, been a revolving door of trainers, including former titleholders Roy Jones Jr. and Buddy McGirt. During his July 2008 rematch with Torres, who entered their return bout with a mark of 32-1 that included 29 knockouts, Holt rose from two knockdowns and scored one of his own during a 61-second bout.

Holt wound up winning by stoppage victory over Torres to avenge his earlier setback and earn the WBO’s 140-pound belt.

Click here for the video of Holt-Torres II

Holt was out of the ring for an 11-month span after falling to Mabuza, but rebounded from that loss with a first-round stoppage of Lenin Arroyo in January of 2011.

Holt’s two route-going losses were to Bradley and current RING, WBA and WBC 140-pound champion Danny Garcia.

Holt twice dropped Bradley to the canvas before losing his WBO 140-pound title by unanimous decision in April of 2009. Since then, however, Holt has since gone 3-3 with three stoppage victories.

Before facing Peterson, however, Holt had insisted that he had discovered some consistency with experienced trainer Jesse Reid, whom he believed would help him end Peterson’s run of 3-0-1 with two knockouts since falling by unanimous decision to Bradley as a junior welterweight in December of 2009.

JUAN CARLOS SANCHEZ-ROBERTO SOSA PURSE BID SET FOR TUESDAY

A purse bid will be held Tuesday for a bout between IBF junior bantamweight titleholder Juan Carlos Sanchez (15-1-1, 8 KOs), of Mexico, and No. 1-ranked contender Roberto Sosa (24-0, 14 KOs), of Argentina, according to Tucker.

Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Photo by Chris Farina, Top Rank

Photo by Juan Marshall

Lem Satterfield can be reached at [email protected]

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