Lemieux Moves Up To Super-Middleweight To Face Ryder

Credit: Golden Boy Promotions

Press Release:  By DAZN – LAS VEGAS (April 10, 2019): David Lemieux (40-4, 34 KOs) will make his 168-pound debut when he takes on John “The Gorilla” Ryder (27-4, 15 KOs) in the scheduled 12-round co-main event of Canelo vs. Jacobs. The card will also feature the returns of Vergil Ortiz Jr., Pablo Cesar “El Demoledor” Cano, Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jr., Sadam “World Kid” Ali and Lamont Roach Jr., in separate bouts. The event will take place Saturday, May 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN.

“There comes a time when every fighter must move up in weight, and now is that time for David Lemieux,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy. “Lemieux was the hardest-hitting puncher in the 160-pound division, and I’m absolutely certain he will be the biggest puncher at 168 pounds. John Ryder will be in for a tough fight on May 4. Also, this undercard will feature some of our brightest stars, including Vergil Ortiz Jr., who with only 12 fights will face a tough veteran in Mauricio Herrera. Golden Boy and DAZN have crafted an excellent night of action, so don’t miss out on this one!”

Lemieux, 30, was last seen on the televised pay-per-view undercard of Canelo vs. GGG 2 when he scored a first-round knockout victory against Gary “Spike” O'Sullivan. The native of Montreal, Canada promises to be stronger than even in his super middleweight debut.

“I've seen [John] Ryder fight,” said David Lemieux. “He’s a credible rival, but I’m going to make a statement out of what I’m going to do with him. At 168, I’m going to be the strongest that I’ve ever been.”

Ryder is a 30-year-old native of London who is the No. 1 contender for the WBA Super Middleweight Title. Ryder has faced tough opposition, including a close fight against Rocky Fielding and a tough battle against Billy Joe Saunders. The “Gorilla” is coming off a seventh-round technical knockout win against previously undefeated Andrey Sirotkin, and he’ll look to retain his shot at the title with a win against Lemieux.

“I’m fully focused on the fight with David Lemieux, but obviously there’s a massive pot of gold for the winner,” said John Ryder. “There’s the potential for a fight with Canelo or a fight with Callum Smith, which are both huge. Lemieux is a big puncher if you stand in front of him. I’m a boxer-fighter. I’ll box him at times and fight him at other times when it suits me. Our fighting styles are sure to gel for a great fight. I’m expecting to win and to win well. I’m there to keep my mandatory position.”

“We can’t wait for David to show that he can be a powerhouse in the super middleweight division. What better way to demonstrate this than by fighting the No. 1 contender in John Ryder!,” said Camille Estephan, President of Eye of the Tiger Management.

“This is a great fight on a great night of boxing,” said Eddie Hearn, Managing Director of Matchroom Sport. “John Ryder has been on a tremendous run, and now takes to the big stage in Las Vegas with the dangerous David Lemieux. It’s a huge fight for both with the winner being mandatory challenger for Callum Smith, and I fully expect that to be John Ryder.”

The undercard for this explosive co-main event will be filled with Golden Boy’s current and future stars.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. (12-0, 12 KOs) will face the biggest test of his career when he takes on Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (24-8, 7 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight battle. Ortiz Jr. is moving to welterweight for this fight only, and if he’s successful in this tough challenge, he’ll be on the fast track to a world title at 140 pounds.

Pablo Cesar “El Demoledor” Cano (32-7-1, 22 KOs) will defend his WBC International Silver Super Lightweight Title against Michael “The Artist” Perez (25-3-2, 11 KOs) in a 10-round fight. Cano will return after his dominant knockout victory against former three-division world champion Jorge “El Niño de Oro” Linares.

Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jr. (28-1, 14 KOs) of South El Monte, Calif. will fight against a soon-to-be-announced opponent in a 12-round battle for the vacant WBA Gold Super Featherweight Title. Diaz Jr. will return after a dominant victory against rugged warrior Charles Huerta.

Sadam “World Kid” Ali (27-2, 14 KOs) will return in a 10-round clash for the vacant USNBC Silver Welterweight Title against Anthony Young (20-2, 7 KOs) of Atlantic City, N.J.

Lamont Roach Jr. (18-0-1, 7 KOs) of Washington, D.C., will unify his WBO International Super Featherweight Title in a 10-round battle against NABO Super Featherweight Champion Jonathan Oquendo (30-5, 19 KOs) of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The winner of this bout will earn the No. 1 spot for the WBO Super Featherweight World Title.

Alexis Espino (1-0, 1 KO) of Las Vegas, Nevada will participate in a four-round super middleweight fight against a soon-to-be announced opponent.

Canelo vs. Jacobs is a 12-round fight for the WBC, WBA, Lineal, Ring Magazine and IBF Middleweight World Titles presented by Golden Boy in association with Matchroom Boxing. Lemieux vs. Ryder is a 12-round super middleweight battle presented by Golden Boy in association with Eye of the Tiger Management and Matchroom Boxing. The event is sponsored by Tecate, "THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING" and Hennessy "Never Stop. Never Settle." The event will take place Saturday, May 4, 2019 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN.

Tickets for Canelo vs. Jacobs are on sale now and are priced at $2,505, $1,505, $1,205, $805, $605, $405, $305, and not including applicable service charges and taxes. There will be a limit of 10 per person at the $2,505, $1,505, $1,205, $805, $605, $405, and $305 price levels. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call 888-9-AXS-TIX (888-929-7849). Tickets also will be available for purchase at www.t-mobilearena.com or www.axs.com.

For more information,visit  www.goldenboypromotions.com, 

http://www.matchroomboxing.com, and DAZN.com. Follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @Canelo, @DanielJacobsTKO, @MatchRoomBoxing, and @DAZN_USA. Become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, 

www.facebook.com/SaulCaneloAlvarez, www.facebook.com/MatchroomBoxing 

and https://www.facebook.com/DAZNUSA/.  Follow on Instagram @GoldenBoy, 

@Canelo, @DanielJacobsTKO, @MatchroomBoxing and @DAZN_USA. Follow the conversation using #CaneloJacobs.

Material Courtesy of : DAZN/ Photo Courtesy of : Golden Boy Promotions Used with permission.

To subscribe to DAZN, availability around the world, list of connected streaming devices, and to start your free 30-day trial please visit: www.DAZN.com.

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Upcoming Schedule: April 2019

We would like to let our readers know some of the upcoming content that will be released here on the website during the month of April. On Thursday, April 11th a preview for the upcoming Women's Middleweight World championship unification bout between Claressa Shields and Christina Hammer will be released.

Coverage of the April 12th World Lightweight championship fight between champion Vasyl Lomachenko and former Lightweight world champion Anthony Corolla will be on the website on Saturday, April 13th.

On Friday, April 19th a preview of the April 20th WBO World Welterweight championship fight between undefeated champion Terence Crawford and former Jr. Welterweight world champion Amir Khan will be released here on the website. This will follow with post material on Wednesday, April 24th.

We would also like to inform readers that a feature discussing the continued revival and expansion of Bareknuckle Boxing is also in the works. An announcement regarding when the feature will be released will be made later in the month. Stay tuned. "And That's The Boxing Truth."

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison

Update

We would like to let our readers know that new material will be released on Monday, April 8th. Stay tuned. "And That's The Boxing Truth."

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison

Smith-Eggington Weights

The official weigh-in for Saturday’s Jr. Middleweight encounter between former WBO Jr. Middleweight world champion Liam Smith and rising prospect Sam Eggington took place earlier today in Liverpool, England. The official weights for the entire card are as follows.

Main Event: Jr. Middleweight- 12Rds.

Liam Smith 153 1/4lbs. vs. Sam Eggington 153lbs.

Heavyweight- 10Rds.

David Price 252lbs. vs. Kash Ali 243lbs.

Light-Heavyweight- 4Rds.*

Thomas Hart 178 1/4lbs. vs. Przemyslaw Biniends

(* Hart will be making his pro debut on this card.)

Women’s Lightweight – 6Rds.

Natasha Jonos 137lbs. vs. Feriche Mashauri 134 1/4lbs.

Jr. Middleweight- 10Rds. *

Anthony Fowler 153 ½lbs. vs. Scott Fitzgerald 154 1/2lbs.

(*Fitzgerald weighed in a half pound over the 154l. Jr. Middleweight limit. Fight to take place as scheduled as of this writing.)

Commonwealth Jr. Welterweight championship- 12Rds.

Phillip Bowes (Champion) 139 1/4lbs. vs. Tom Farrell 139 1/4lbs.

Jr. Featherweight- 6Rds.


Fadhili Majiha 119lbs. vs. Pat Butler 123 1/4lbs.


Lightweight- 6Rds.


Des Newton 137 1/4lbs. vs. Gerard Carroll 136 1/4lbx.

British/European Jr. Welterweight championship Unification Bout: 12Rds.


Robbie Davies (British champion) 138 1/2lbs. vs. Joe Hughes (European champion) 138 1/2lbs.
Cruiserweight – 6Rds.

Craig Glover 202lbs. vs.  Vaclav Pejsar 198 1/4lbs.

Smith vs. Eggington takes place tomorrow (Saturday, March 30th) at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. The card can be seen on digital streaming network DAZN in the United States and around the world beginning at 3PMET/12PM PT U.S. Time.  To subscribe to DAZN, availability around the world, list of connected streaming devices, and to start your free 30-day trial please visit: www.DAZN.com.

In the United Kingdom and Ireland the card can be seen on Sky Sports Main Event (Formerly Sky Sports 1) beginning at 8PM. (Local UK time.) For more information about Sky Sports, channel listings, and availability in your area, please visit: www.skysports.com. 

The Boxing Truth®️ is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison 

Andrew Moloney Discusses World Title Eliminator Victory In Chile

Credit: Camilo BA

Press Release: March 27, 2019 by Team Moloney – Andrew Moloney produced a stunning knockout against the tough Chilian Miguel Gonzalez on Gonzelez' home turf of Santiago, Chile, implementing himself at the top of the World Boxing Association's world rankings.

In a fight that was toe to toe action from the offset, Moloney, who was controversially down on the scorecards, delivered a crushing left hook to Gonzalez' chin in the eighth round, sending his South American counterpart to the canvas, in a fashion that prohibited the game Chilean from meeting the referee's count.

Moloney opened up on his performance and how stoppage victory, "Gonzalez was a good fighter, he was better than I thought in honesty and produced a career-best display and I want to thank his team for giving me the opportunity to come to Chile and fight him, as well as thanking my manager Tony Tolj who had worked tirelessly since AUgust of 2017 to make this fight happen as well as my training team led by Angelo for getting me in top shape for it.

"I thought I was going to stop him to the body going in but the shot that stopped him was the shot we had been working on in the gym and it paid off in great style. After a knockdown was scored against me for slipping, I knew I had to take it out of the judges' hands so I did and I was delighted with the victory."

2014 Commonwealth Gold Medalist Moloney now prospectively sits at number 2 in the WBA world rankings, with Kal Yafai and WBA number 1 Norbelto Jiminez possibly potentially clashing on the undercard of Anthony Joshua's IBO, IBF, WBA & WBO title defence at Madison Square Garden against Jarrell Miller. 

The 2 weight WBA Oceania belt holder discussed Yafai, Jiminez and his plans for the immediate future, "I think both Yafai and Jiminez are good fighters and when they clash it will be a close fight. I feel Yafai has a bit more class and will win the fight, but it will be a really close fight and I definitely want to fight the winner for the world title.

"If the winner unifies or doesn't want to fight me I will possibly look to fight in the interim but I will leave that up to the team and I am going to have a few weeks rest and then get back in the gym and continue improving for what big opportunities could be on the horizon."

The slightly bigger Moloney brother, Jason, fights this Saturday against Cris Paulino at the Seagulls Rugby League Club in Tweets Head, New South Wales for the WBA Oceania Bantamweight title in his first fight since his controversial loss to Emmanuel Rodriguez for the IBF World Bantamweight title. 

Andrew gave his take on brother Jason's chances this coming Saturday evening, "Jason will be looking back to get to winning and I'm fully confident that he will look better than ever against a good fighter in Paulino. He's been working hard in the gym and he's had great sparring with the likes of Billel Dib who is also fighting on the card and has been in good form. It's going to be a good night of boxing and I fully expect explosive performances from Jason and Billel.

"Jason still has a high world ranking, so hopefully we will both be competing for world titles in 2019 and both of us will be world champions and I believe this is a very realistic goal that will come fruition sooner rather than later." 

Material Courtesy of: Team Moloney/Photo Courtesy of: Camilo BA Used with permission.

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Schedule Update

We would like to briefly remind readers that we will be resuming the regular schedule for material beginning on Wednesday, March 27th. We apologize for the delay. Stay tuned. "And That's The Boxing Truth.

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison

"The Master of Disaster" Bruno Vifuavili reacts to 'shock' victory over Joel Brunker

Credit: Dragon Fire Boxing

Press Release: March 14, 2019 By Dragon Fire Boxing – Tanzania's Bruno Vifuavili pulled off what many saw as a massive upset last Friday evening, as he overcame the challenge of the experienced Joel Brunker.

Brunker was the heavy favourite going into their IBF Pan Pacific Super Featherweight title fight at the Windsor Function Centre, but Wifuavili pulled off the shock upset, as he controlled the fight from the offset, and many neutral observers saw Wifuavili as the clear winner. The judges agreed as Vifuavili, who was awarded the unanimous decision victory, joined an elite class that includes former IBF World Champion Lee Selby and current IBF World Champion Josh Warrington.

The Tony Tolj guided Vifuavili opened up on his feelings at beating the highly rated Brunker and what this means for his career going forward.

The Tanzanian native said, "Winning this title was a dream come true for me, but let me know it is just the start of a special journey.

“Joel Brunker is a world class fighter, and I believe I have proved that I am on that level now, as I felt I dominated the fight. I boxed when I wanted to box and had a war when I wanted to have a war. Joel is a great man, and I want to thank him for the opportunity.”

Manager Tony Tolj opened up on his charges Vifualivi options now going forward and reflects on his excellent performance.

Tolj said, “I thought Bruno was exceptional. It was a dominant but excellent win against a top fighter in Joel Brunker. My friend Cicillio Flores from Oxnard says iron sharpens iron. Bruno spars with the likes of the Moloney twins, Billel Dib and Furkan Demirkaya and this work is what has upped his level and it showed against Joel.”

Tolj continued, outlining his plans for Vifualivi going forward, “Bruno is in his early twenties and after that performance, he should enter the IBF ratings. We want to fight the best and if anybody who is rated above us in the ratings wants the fight, we will take it with open arms.

“We would love to fight the winner of Farmer vs Carroll, but anybody who is rated above Bruno we will come to your backyard and get the win.”

Material and Photo Courtesy of: Dragon Fire Boxing Used with permission.

The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.