Taylor wants to be champ again!

This time, Jermain Taylor is training for one thing, and one thing only. He wants a championship belt again. Taylor, who held the middleweight championship from 2005 through 2007, will get his shot at the WBC super middleweight belt when he faces current WBC titleholder Carl Froch on Saturday, April 25, on Showtime Championship Boxing from MGM Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. The telecast will air live at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). Taylor (28-2-1, 17KO”s) said the knowledge that he could be champion again is the only incentive he needs to train like he never has before for this fight. He has a new perspective and appreciation for boxing after more than nine years as a professional fighter. “Every time I get up in the morning, I say to myself, let’s go get that belt back,” Taylor said. “Every fighter wants to be world champion and have a belt. I have a sense of purpose and motivation to be a world champion again.”

It will be Taylor’s first action in the ring since a unanimous victory over Jeff Lacy on Nov. 15, 2008, a near-flawless performance that rejuvenated Taylor’s career and vaulted him back to boxing’s elite. Taylor first won a title on July 16, 2005, when he beat Bernard Hopkins. He held the title until Sept. 29, 2007, when current titleholder Kelly Pavlik took the belt away.

“I’ll be honest, I didn’t know what I had until I lost it”, Taylor said. And now I want it back. I’ll do the hard work that it takes to get it back. I know now what it takes. I know if you get comfortable, you’ll lose. There’s nothing comfortable about this camp. I’m very focus on what I have to do for victory. I’m bringing a lot of fire power and explosives with me when I enter the ring on April 25th.”

Taylor is training in his familiar locale of Miami, Florida where he has worked out of and on since turning professional in 2001. Taylor said this camp has a renewed sense of energy from all of Team Taylor. They know what is on the line, and everyone is working to get Taylor back to the top of the boxing world.

“This camp is a lot more focus and intense because there is a championship title on the line,” Taylor said. “It’s a totally different camp. I can see it in everyone’s faces. They want the title back as much as I do.”

Taylor is once again working with his longtime mentor and head trainer, Ozell Nelson. Both said the pairing is working as well as it ever has.

“Ever since we started training camp, we’ve talked about it,” Nelson said of the quest for the super middleweight crown. “It means a lot to Jermain to become world champion again and we plan to take full advantage of the opportunity. Jermain knows what he has to do and he’s hungry for the title. It’s about putting the work in, staying focus and executing the game plan. This is a camp full of confidence.”

“I’m confident that a re-focused, dedicated Jermain Taylor will take the belt from Carl Froch’s waist,” said Taylor’s promoter, Lou DiBella.

Taylor has said that he took Kelly Pavlik lightly when he first lost his title in 2007. But it is a new Taylor fighting Froch (24-0, 19 KOs) now, one that is hungry for a title like he never has been before. Taylor is going into April 25 with a sense of urgency unseen in his career before now.

“Here’s why,” Taylor said. “I’m the one wanting the title not him. He’s trying to keep the title and make a name for himself by fighting me. He has never fought on this level or anyone like me before. I’m going to take him in deep water and I hope he can swim.”

Taylor has never been a boxer to trash talk. Froch doesn’t seem to have a problem opening his mouth, and it is making for an exciting buildup to the highly-anticipated fight.

“I’ve been hearing he’s talking a lot of trash,” Taylor said of the Englishman Froch. “If that’s what he feels he has to do for this fight, so be it. I don’t expect him to be talking nice.”

Taylor certainly isn’t about to be nice when he enters the ring on April 25th.

The fight card is being promoted by DiBella Entertainment in association with Hennessy Sports. Tickets are on sale now and priced at $200, $100, $75 and $50. Tickets are available at www.mgmatfoxwoods.com your local Ticket Master and MGM Grand Box Office 866-646-0649.

WBC: Vitali best P4P! Greatest puncher ever at heavyweight

The WBC has declared reigning heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko to be “the greatest puncher ever in the heavyweight division.”

Official WBC Statement: “[Vitali] Klitschko proved that he is the best fighter in the world nowadays, pound for pound, after defeating Juan Carlos Gomez who had a record of 35 knockouts in 44 wins and only 1 loss. Klitschko has outdone all other fighters, no matter what division they belong to. The heavyweight world champion is the only one who can claim he is the greatest champion in the world of boxing as nobody can defeat him. With Vitali´s extraordinary wins, in fights that have been stunning to world fans, showing absolute control and power, our king of the heavyweights has silenced many mouths and media that had unfairly attacked him without any evidence, and been disrespectful to him, considering the great class he is showing. Jose Sulaiman, president of our organization, stated today that Klitschko is the pride the WBC as well as he is the pride of world boxing. Vitlai Klitschko’s record is now: 37 wins; 36 of them by knockout, and including his last win by KO, his percentage in this specialty went up to 97.2%, fact after which Klitschko is placed as the greatest puncher ever in the heavyweight division.”

‘Most feared’ fighters collide!

Credit to Fightnews.com
Former undisputed junior middleweight world champion Ronald “Winky” Wright (51-4-1, 25 KOs) and two-division world champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams (36-1, 27 KOs) hosted a media conference call today to discuss their fight on April 11th at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. “True champions fight each other,” said Winky who is fighting for the first time since his loss to Bernard Hopkins in July 2007. “I want to fight the best.” The Punisher vowed that he’s ready and said he’s happy that Winky agreed to fight him. “It will be the date the two most feared fighters meet,” commented Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who named Arthur Abraham, Vernon Forrest, Mikkel Kessler and Jermain Taylor as fighters who have passed on fights with Winky. Williams’ promoter Dan Goossen said, “Winky has been the most avoided fighter, Paul has been the most feared fighter.” He added that Williams is fighting at 160 lbs. because no one at 147 or 154 will fight him. He said Williams wants a fight with WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley after this fight.

Big month for SHOWTIME!

credit www.fightnews.com
Over a span of 28 days SHOWTIME Sports will feature a frenzied fight schedule, with late March and April filled with championship fights and meaningful matchups. With two highly anticipated SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecasts and two installments of ShoBox: The New Generation, almost every weekend features a can’t-miss event. It kicks off when undefeated super middleweight prospect and 2004 Olympic Bronze medalist Andre Dirrell (17-0, 12 KOs) takes on Derrick Findley (13-2, 8 KOs) on Saturday, March 28, in a 10-round super middleweight fight in a special Saturday edition of ShoBox: The New Generation. Exactly one week later, SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING showcases a world championship unification bout when WBC 140-pound champ Timothy Bradley (23-0, 11 KOs) takes on WBO champ Kendall Holt (25-2, 13 KOs) on Saturday, April 4, live from the Bell Centre in Montreal with a special start time of 10:45 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast) to accommodate fans watching the conclusion of the 2009 NCAA® Men’s Final Four®. On Friday, April 17, ShoBox brings fans another stylistic matchup with world title implications when Yuriorkis Gamboa (13-0, 11 KOs) squares off against Jose Rojas (25-6-1, 17 KOs) for the interim WBA featherweight title. To top off a spectacular month of April, SHOWTIME gives fans another world championship fight the following night on Saturday, April 25, when WBC super middleweight champ Carl Froch (24-0, 19 KOs) takes on former middleweight champ Jermain Taylor (28-2-1, 17 KOs) live from MGM Foxwoods in Mashantucket, Conn.

March Badness salaries: Roy Jones Jr. and Bobby Lashley top earners

Boxing headliner Roy Jones Jr. and MMA fighter Bobby Lashley were the top earners at this past weekend's "March Badness" event, which took place March 21 at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Fla.

Jones, whose Square Ring Promotions also promoted the hybrid boxing/MMA event event, will take home two-thirds of all net profits received from the event. Lashley, meanwhile, earned $40,000 and will also get a piece of the PPV revenue.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) today requested and received the official paydays from the State of Florida's Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

The total disclosed payroll for the event (not counting Jones' share) was $217,000.

Jones defeated Omar Sheik via fifth-round TKO in the night's boxing headliner. The State of Florida has not yet released official gate and attendance numbers – and the PPV numbers aren't released publicly – so it's unlikely Jones' official exact payday will be known.

Jones' opponent, Sheik, earned the night's second-highest payday with $50,000.

Meanwhile, Lashley, a former WWE star and up-and-coming MMA fighter, scored a lackluster unanimous decision over Jason Guida, who was a late replacement for Ken Shamrock. Despite the performance, Lashley was the top MMA earner for the night. Guida, meanwhile, earned $15,000 in defeat.

In the night's MMA main event, former top UFC heavyweight contender Jeff Moson defeated Roy Nelson via a controversial unanimous decision. The decision was met with criticism from those in attendance. Luckily, according to the DBPR paperwork, Nelson wouldn't have received a win bonus anyway. However, the victory earned Monson $25,000, $10,000 of which came in the form of a win bonus.

The full payouts included:

OFFICIAL MMA PAYDAYS

Jeff Monson: $25,000 (win bonus was $10,000)
def. Roy Nelson: $30,000

Bobby Lashley: $40,000 (win bonus was $10,000)
def. Jason Guida: $15,000

Din Thomas: $10,000 (no win bonus)
def. Gabe Lemley: $5,500

Dennis Hallman: $6,000 (win bonus was $3,000)
def. Danny Ruiz: $2,000

James Freeman: $500 (win bonus was $250)
def. John Mowry: $300

OFFICIAL BOXING RESULTS

Roy Jones Jr.: TBD (two-thirds of net profits of event)
def. Omar Sheik: $50,000

B.J. Flores: $12,500 (no win bonus)
def. Jose Luis Herrera: $12,500

Eric Clinton: $800 (no win bonus)
def. Richmond Dalphone: $800

Kieyon Bussey: $1,200 (no win bonus)
def. Robert DaLuz: $1,800

Kelvin Price: $1,500 (no win bonus)
def. Kevin Howard: $1,500

For complete event results, check out our March Badness recap here at MMAjunkie.com.

(Pictured: Roy Jones Jr.)

Sparring Partner: “I Beat Up Peter!”

Credit Scoop Malinowski

Rumors are rampant that former WBC Heavyweight champ Samuel Peter is not looking good lately. Multiple sources who have seen Peter in the gym recently have said he is “heavy” and not looking sharp at all. Ring observers know this is a crucial point in the career of 28-year-old Peter, who is coming off the disastrously unimpressive stoppage loss to Vitali Klitschko last year.

I contacted a former sparring partner of Peter and received more disappointing news regarding “The Nigerian Nightmare.” “I went to camp with Peter and sparred with him before his fight with Klitschko. I realized he wasn’t really nothing. In training camp I was beating the crap out of him. It was horrible, because he was telling me he couldn’t hit me with certain punches, he couldn’t throw certain stuff. It was embarrassing. I was beating the crap out of him just with one-twos,” says the sparring partner who is 15-11 journeyman as a pro, without any amateur experience.

If you remember, Vitali Klitschko beat up on a strangely docile Peter with a non-stop onslaught of lefts and rights. Peter boxed Klitschko that night almost as if he were half-asleep.

Now Peter is set to take on the quick-fisted boxing skills of Eddie Chambers this weekend in a critically important heavyweight clash that could make or break his career. Chambers is ranked #3 in the IBF while Peter is slotted at #5. A win puts Peter back in the mix for a rematch with Wladimir Klitschko - but a loss severely devalues Peter’s worth as a heavyweight contender and possibly sets him back to the ESPN2 circuit..

Miguel Espino Stops Alex Garcia in 6; Retains WBC Title

March 23, 2009 — WBC CABOFE Middleweight Champion and former Contender alum Miguel Espino (20-2-1, 9 KO’s) continued his winning ways by stopping former light middleweight champion Alex “Terra” Garcia in an impressive fashion this past Saturday night at the Playboy Mansion in Beverly Hills, California. In front of a packed celebrity crowd and TV sets all over the nation, Espino and Garcia traded shots for the first three rounds when Espino then dropped Garcia twice at the end of rounds’ four and five. After the sixth round, Garcia failed to come out for the seventh round which then led to a KO for Espino while retaining his WBC CABOFE title.

Long-time trainer John Bray had nothing but positive things to say about his pupil; “After a long year off, Miguel looked good and did what he had to do to continue his dream of being the Middleweight champion of the world. There is always room for improvement, but I was proud of the way he fought after taking a couple of hard shots from Garcia. It was a good fight and I’m looking forward to keeping him busy. “ Bray also added that: “Although Miguel was off for a year, it wasn’t because he wanted to be. He was set to fight three notable fighters but for some reason, negotiations failed weeks prior to each fight. I would have loved to keep him active but it just didn’t work out until this fight.”..

When interviewed after the fight, Espino stated that: “After a year off, I felt rusty in the ring but I’m glad that I kept active in the gym the whole year and it paid off. Even though three fights failed to happen last year, I stayed busy at the gym (Fortune Gym) and just kept working hard, and like I said, it paid off. I was always in the gym preparing myself for a fight, even ready to take one on short notice. I take my hat off to Garcia, he fought a good fight and now I’m just ready to take it to the next level in preparation for a world title shot.”