World Champion Vernon Forrest Shot and Killed in Atlanta Ga.

Saturday evening at 11pm in Atlanta Georgia, 38 year old former light Middleweight champion Vernon Forrest pulled up at a gas station to put air in the tyres of his Jaguar car. several minutes later this fine God fearing man was lying dead from multiple gunshot wounds after an attempted robbery at gunpoint went horribly wrong. Vernon never once uttered a cuss word in my presence, he was always with a smile and a kind word, he was always giving back to the community of which he was raised and in which he was taken from us.
RIP.. Vernon Forrest .. Words cannot begin to say how much you will be missed by me and countless others.

Vernon turned pro in 1992 in Las Vegas.. After 14 fights he beat Marlon Thomas for the little known IBC Light Welterweight title in 1995 on pts. Two years later he won the WBC Continental Americas Welterweight title on pts in Las Vegas over tough Ray sucre Olivera. 1998 brought Vernon the NABF Welterweight title with an impressive stoppage of Adrian Stone. 2001 saw Vernon win his first world title of note when he took a rematch decision over Raul Frank to grasp the IBF Welterweight championship in New York. The following year he would have his finest days in the sun when he became the first man to beat Sugar Shane Mosley to arrest the WBC Welterweight title, not once but twice in the same year both times by Unanimous points.
Vernon lost his titles a year later in a couple of hard outings against Nicaraguan Ricardo Mayorga, but soon bounced back with a solid win over tough Ike Quartey. in 2007 four years after losing his titles, Vernon returned in dramatic fashion by taking the Vacant WBC Light middleweight title by outwitting Carlos Baldomir in Tacoma Washington Unanimous points. In 2008 he would lose that belt to Sergio Mora Majority points only to regain it in the September of last year against Mora in a back to back rematch.

The mindless actions of one gutless individual has taken away one of boxing's finest sons.

Top Rank Samuel Peter returns with KO win in Mexico.

Top Ranks newest Heavyweight signing, former WBC heavyweight Champion Samuel Peter returned to his heavy handed ways by brutally dismissing inept Marcus McGhee in the third round dropping his badly outgunned foe three times en route to 3rd round KO. Peter now 31 - 3 (24 Ko's) looks to make the rest of 2009 a refreshing new start to his ailing career with TR and looked like he was making a stern statement tonight to all who has written him off since losing his title to Vitaly Klitschko last year. If Samuel continues to stay active and in shape he is committed to proving he can regain his WBC belt in 2010. Marcus McGhee however came as a sacrificial lamb and drops to 22 - 17 - 1 (11 Ko's)

Fres Oquendo derails AC Express in 9

In front of his own fans at Chicago's UIC Pavilion, Fres Oquendo returned to his impressive best by stopping the former WBA Heavyweight champion Bruce Seldon in the 9th round. The well sculpted Seldon just couldn't cope with Fres and his fast jab, as the Rican former title challenger overwhelmed Bruce with clever accurate punching handing Seldon some of what Kevin Johnson dished out in Bruce's last fight of any significance. The aggressive Seldon was close to being halted at the end of round seven and was again rattled in the 8th by Fres's fast combinations and forced to take a knee. The curtain was dropped in the ninth when a sold out Seldon took a knee giving good opportunity for referee Pete Podgorski to count the full 10. Bruce came to fight but skill outgunned Will leaving Seldon with a 40 - 8 (36 Ko's) record and an impressive career almost at an end. Fres now moves on as an active player in the division with a 31 - 5 (19 Ko's) tally and possibly bigger things in the near future.

Flawless Khan dominates Kotelnik to claim WBA Championship.

Amir Khan won a one sided 12 round decision over durable Andriy Kotelnik on Saturday to become Britain's youngest ever world champion at just 22 years and 7 months. Khan boxed a flawless fight never once allowing the German based former WBA holder to get any kind of game plan into effect. Amir boxed behind a solid jab that was fired out in two's and threes never once allowing the Ukrainian to get set to mount any kind of decent offence. Khan now 21 - 1 (15 Ko's) seems to have taken that important step into solid world class and looked every bit a world champion as he completely put any demons from the Prescott slip behind him. Kotelnik was trying everything possible to break the solid Khan offensive but slowly got demoralised as
rounds wore on and without little success. Freddy Roache only concern of the night was a late attack he warned Khan of just before the final round when he advised his charge to look out for a relentless finish by the Ukrainian knowing by that time he was in need of nothing short of a knockout to retain his title. Khan maintained his composure and took no risks taking the unanimous decision by scores of; (120 - 108) (118 -111) (118 - 111) .. Stan Christodoulou refereed.. Amir Khan now has several options open to him on the table, one being an all British clash with Ricky Hatton next year if Hatton decide in favour of a return to the sport. Khan has also been linked to Mexican Erik Morales and WBA interim champion Marcos Maidana in
October , any further concrete news we will update.
On the same card at the MEN in Manchester a packed house enjoyed all three of Frank Warrens new breed of pro's continuing on the hard road to glory with Olympic Gold medalist James DeGale beating tough Ciaran Healy in the first of a scheduled four rounder..
Billy Joe Saunders stopped well travelled journeyman Matt Scriven in two of a scheduled four.. Accomplished former World Amateur champion Frankie Gavin halted Graham Fearn also in two of a scheduled four..
Sheffield's Kell Brook took a step closer to his dreams of emulating his friend and Hero Prince Naseem Hamed who was in attendance as he demolished the usually classy Michael Lomax in three of a scheduled 12 in defence of his British title, Kell now keeps his Lonsdale belt for life being his third successful defence and at 20 - 0 (13 Ko's) he has an amazing future ahead of him.
Anthony Small took both the British and Commonwealth light middleweight titles by winning battle royale of the night over tysonesque puncher Matt Hall of Manchester via Tko in the 8th of a scheduled 12. Hall and Small had become somewhat of a needle match when Small began the bad mouthing at the weigh in prior to the fight. Hall maintained his composure at the weigh in and stated that he would rather do his talking in the ring but in a strange twist the fast moving slick Smalls turned puncher by out gunning the Puncher to make good his bravado. Hall is now 22 - 2 (15 Ko's) and Smalls escalates to 22 - 1 (16 Ko's) almost identical to his opponents tally.
Welsh Cruiserweight Enzo Maccarinelli has probably seen the curtain fall on his future as he was stopped for the fourth time in his career where he once stood as Britain's force at 190lbs. The former WBO Cruiserweight champion lost via TKO to dangerous and very highly charged Denis Lebedev in the third of a scheduled 12 for the vacant WBO intercontinental title. Enzo now 29 - 4 (22 Ko's) returned to the same ring where Ola Afolabi knocked him out only to taste some of the same medicine now recognising that he has lost all passion for a sport which was once his life. Enzo didn't elaborate only stating that he is absolutely devastated. Lebedev now goes to 18 - 0 (13 Ko's) charging fast towards the top of the Cruiserweight tree towards some lucrative future match ups.

Early results from Sunrise Florida card.

WBC Lightweight eliminator
Antonio Demarco KO9 Anges Adjaho (Time 2.59)

IBF Cruiserweight eliminator
Steve USS Cunningham W12 UnanPts.. Wayne Braithwaite. (119 - 109, 118 - 110, 117 - 111)

WBC Welterweight eliminator
Ivan Kirpa W12 UnanPts.. Miguel Rodriguez.(118 - 110, 120 - 108, 119 - 108)

Cruiserweights
Francisco Palacios KO1 Manu Ntoh.. (Time 2.59)

Bantamweights
Victor Fonseca W8 UnanPts.. Mauricio Pastrana. (80 - 71 across the board)

Lightweights
Angelo Santana W4 UnanPts.. Jaime Rodriguez, (40 - 36 across the board)

Jr Lightweights
Archie Marquez TKO4 Jayson Hayward (Time 1.56)

Welterweights
Lanard Lane W4 UnanPts.. Carlos Garcia, (40 - 36 across the board)

Arturo Gatti found dead while on second honeymoon in Brazil.

Sad news.. Montreal Canada's favorite son & Former IBF and WBC light welterweight legend Arturo Thunder Gatti , 40 - 9 (31 Ko's) has been found dead in a rented apartment while on holiday in Brazil. Arturo was staying with his wife and 10 month old baby at Porto Galinhas in Pernambuco, on their second honeymoon and had been there since Friday. Arturo's Brazilian born wife found the 37 year old former champion in his underwear around 6am Saturday morning with marks on his neck and signs of possible heavy blows to the back of his head.. The local police are treating the death as extremely suspicious and a massive investigation is underway.. Its a sad two weeks really for boxing since the passing of another ring Legend Alexis Arguello only a fortnight ago.. I promise to bring a more up to date report upon hearing more news..

R.I.P. Arturo Gatti..

Adamek defends IBF Cruiserweight title against Gunn tonight in Newark NJ.

Tomasz Adamek stays active this weekend with a hometown appearance against the rough and ready Bobby Gunn at Newarks Prudential Centre in defence of his precious IBF Cruiserweight title. Tomasz has looked great since his sole points loss to Chad Dawson in Florida in 2007 when he lost his WBC light heavyweight championship. At Cruiserweight Adamek fights like he has been let off a leash and looks like a man who is at his optimum fighting poundage, roadblocking tough men like Steve USS Cunningham and Johnathan Banks in back to back outings. Gunn however is a survivor type who will come to offer a titanic struggle but like so many times before probably not have the arsenal to be able to penetrate the Polish mans resolve. Bobby is a colourful fighter who's last challenge at world level ended in double quick time against Welshman Enzo Maccarinelli in the UK. Bobby is always in shape and is a testament to his commitment to the game since returning from a 11 year hiatus from ring activity. Bobby Gunn was a decent 148lb'er and walked away from boxing in 1993 only to return to the game in 2004 as a rejuvenated and capable Cruiserweight, good enough to be getting his second bite at the world championship in as many years. Gunns record stands at 21 - 3 - 1 (18 Ko's) and will bring a decent loyal following as he now resides in nearby Hackensack NJ. and although he has been a pro for 20 years and 4 months, he has actually only boxed 74 rounds, that averages out at less than 4 rounds a year for all it is worth.. Bobby is a young 35 and has however mixed in excellent company which above all things Tomasz cannot take for granted. Adamek looks to be going from strength to strength with the IBF strap on his back and if all runs according to plan should remain proud holder come Sunday morning, with some great fights to look ahead to in the coming months..

Weights for the Main Event ..
Tomasz Adamek 199lbs
Bobby Gunn 194lbs

Results and report to come soon...

Eddie Chambers hands Alex Dimitrenko his first loss and throws his hat firmly into the heavyweight world picture.

Eddie Chambers will be the next WBO challenger for world champion Wladimir Klitschko. On his finest night Chambers (35-1, 18 KOs) administered an absolute masterclass to previously unbeaten WBO #1 ranked Alexander Dimitrenko (29-1, 19 KOs) over twelve rounds on Saturday night in a WBO eliminator at the Color Line Arena in Hamburg, Germany. The considerably smaller Philadelphian (by weight and height) was willing to stamp his authority early and fight in the centre of the ring and surprise Dimitrenko. Chambers was faster and sharper as he beat Dimitrenko to the punch while avoiding the Ukrainian’s heavy weaponry. Dimitrenko seemed lost as he searched in vain for an effective tactic against the well-schooled Philadelphia fighter. Dimitrenko took a standing count from referee Geno Rodriguez after a well placed body shot from Chambers forced the visibly hurt Ukrainian to turn his back in round seven. Chambers dropped Dimitrenko in the tenth with a classic left hook that sent the giant's mouthpiece spinning into the press seats, but Dimitrenko used all of his savvy to avoid further damage and see the end of the round in tact. Chambers rocked Dimitrenko again in the last moments of the twelfth and the Ukrainian was all but out on his feet at the finish leaving absolutely no doubt who the victor was in this absolutely punch perfect performance from Eddie. The almost 20lb weight loss by Chambers brought a higher octane level to his work rate of which i haven't witnessed before. Dimitrenko is a tremendous fighter and a thunderous puncher but Eddie just took the bullets from his gun and never allowed him to get set at all and punished his every mistake severely. I have one problem with the scoring after 12 ... 116 - 111 was fine, 117 - 109 was an ok score too but i was shocked by the UK's Paul Thomas' inability to decipher a Chrystal clear victory into figures with his weak .. 113 - 113 Draw scores.. I first saw Eddie box a few years ago when he used slick smooth tools to administer Derrick Rossy a damaging loss via TKO.. and tonight i saw ten times the heavyweight that beat Rossy take out a major chess piece from the World scene .. Eddie made a very bold statement here tonight and has without doubt thrown his hat into the ring as the top US heavyweight in contention for top honours, which goes to show that a good little man can outsmart and out punch a good big man if he applies himself and just plain wants it more.

Tonights Undercard results:
Susi Kentikian W 10 Carolina Marcela Gutierrez Gaite
Alex Alexeev Tko 3 Kendrick Releford
Alesia Graf W 10 Terri Lynn Cruz

Alexis Arguello dies aged 57.

It hurts and shocks me to have to report a possible suicide of Legendary three-time former world champion Alexis Arguello who died today aged 57 from what has been reported as a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his residence in Managua, Nicaragua. Arguello had taken on the responsibility as Mayor of Managua in January of 2009 representing the majority pro-government Sandinista Front of National Liberation (FSLN). Up to now Suicide has not been announced as the circumstance but an inside source did reveil that the gunshot wound was said to have been self inflicted. Arguello was one of the greatest fighters in history, compiling a record of 82-8 with 65 knockouts. He was also a recognised annual guest at the Cannastota Hall of Fame gathering of champions.. He wil be very sorely missed by everyone who knew him or even saw him box. This news is indeed tragic.. I will report more as i get information..