UFC vs. Boxing Review - JUNE
Updated Monthly
07-02-10
THE HEAVYWEIGHTS
By Joe Harrison
The heavyweight division used to be the most prestigious division in the sport of boxing. Obviously, this is no longer the case. Names such as Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, and George Foreman are long gone. Today, the sport must rely on Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao to keep the big bucks coming in.
In the case of HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg, it seems more logical to focus on the talent-packed divisions such as featherweight (Chris John, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Juan Manuel Lopez, Celestino Caballero, Rafael Marquez) and junior welterweight (Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana, Victor Ortiz) while the heavyweights are no longer relevant. Recently, while talking about the heavyweights with ESPN, Greenburg had this to say, “We're out of the heavyweight division. We're not playing in that sandbox right now. It doesn't make any sense for us. There is just very little interest in this country."
While there seems to be little hope for the heavyweights in boxing, the UFC’s heavyweights appear to be the future.
The UFC definitely does not need to reply on superstars like welterweight king Georges St. Pierre and middleweight king Anderson Silva. Tomorrow night should be a massive payday for the UFC as its heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar faces a stern test in Shane Carwin. Plus, with the recent shock of Fedor Emelianenko losing to Fabricio Werdum at Strikeforce last week, the heavyweight rankings of mixed martial arts may be in need of a new emperor. Therefore, not only will Shane Carwin be fighting for the UFC heavyweight title, but he could also be fighting to become the best heavyweight in the sport, period.
When discussing the UFC’s heavyweight division, it does not stop at Lesnar and Carwin. Names such as Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos have proven to be top contenders and potentially the names of tomorrow for the UFC. In addition, Roy Nelson and Ryan Bader are looking very impressive and may find themselves fighting significant opponents in the near future.
If fight fans still love heavyweight battles, boxing may be out of the question, but pleasure can be found in the UFC.
Taking a look at the month of June, let’s begin with the Yuri Foreman vs. Miguel Cotto boxing match that took place on June 5th. Cotto was pretty dominant as he stopped Foreman in round 9 to win the WBA super welterweight title in his third division. The contest was televised on HBO, and reports indicate that 1.9 million viewers tuned in for the fight. It was an exceptional number for the boxing match, and certainly something for boxing fans to smile about as well as Greenburg at HBO.
On the other hand, UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter Finale, which took place on June 19th, was televised on Spike TV, and peeked at 2.4 million viewers. In the main event, Court McGee stopped Kris McCray in the 2nd round. Also on the card, Matt Hamill won by a majority decision over Keith Jardine and Chris Leben earned a stoppage over Aaron Simpson.
In addition, on June 12th, Rich Franklin knocked out Chuck Liddell in the main event of UFC 115 on pay-per-view. Plus, Mirko Filipovic stopped Patrick Barry in the third round and Martin Kampmann won by a unanimous decision over Paulo Thiago.
Obviously, even with the success of the Cotto-Foreman bout, the UFC is the clear winner in the month of June.
Also in June, middleweight boxer David Lemieux scored an impressive first-round TKO over Elvin Ayala on ESPN2 June 11th. Yudel Jhonson and Maxim Vlasov also scored knockout victories on ESPN2. Plus, Luis Cruz scored a knockout victory over Eric Estrada on Telefutura June 4th while Ivan Calderon, Omar Nino Romero, and Jesse Vargas all shined on Fox Sports Net last month.
There was also the pay-per-view event headlined by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. earning a decision over John Duddy on June 26, but the event was no where near as significant as the promoters made it out to be.
Looking ahead, as previously mentioned UFC 116 – LESNAR VS. CARWIN will take place on Saturday, July 3rd, on pay-per-view. Despite the poor undercard match-ups, this event should be the biggest of the month by far.
Boxing will still get some attention though thanks to Showtime and some extra effort by ESPN2 and others.
Showtime will feature the following fights in July…
July 9 – Mike Jones vs. Irving Garcia, Atwone Smith vs. Lanardo Tyner
July 10 – Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Bernabe Concepcion, Nonito Donaire vs. Hernan Marquez
July 16 – Fernando Guerrero vs. Ishe Smith, Shawn Porter vs. Ray Robinson
The top fights featured by ESPN2 will be…
July 16 – Zab Judah vs. Jose Armando Santa Cruz
July 23 – Beibut Shumenov vs. Vyacheslav Uzelkov
HBO will provide…
July 17 – Timothy Bradley vs. Carlos Abredu, Alfredo Angulo vs. Joachim Alcine
And on pay-per-view July 31…
Juan Manuel Marquez vs. Juan Diaz
Daniel Jacobs vs. Dmitry Pirog
Joel Casamayor vs. Robert Guerrero
Jorge Linares vs. Rocky Juarez
Also on pay-per-view, on July 17…
David Tua vs. Monte Barrett
Finally, on Fox Sports Net…
July 3 – Mark Jason Melligen vs. Michel Rosales, Ulises Solis vs. Eric Ortiz
July 17 – Fernando Montiel vs. Eric Morel
July 24 – Johnriel Casimero vs. Ramon Hirales
July 31 – Simphiwe Nongqayi vs. Juan Alberto Rosas
As mentioned earlier, UFC 116 will probably be the best event of the month. Then again, if the majority of the boxing events exceed expectations, perhaps they can take over July. Will it happen? Check out KOnews.net one month from now to find out.
As always, you can go to www.konews.net for updates, reviews, and of course, the KOnews.net fight schedule on the home page.
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Some fight fans do not like to hear anything about a rivalry between the sports of MMA and boxing or even the UFC and boxing. These fans will say that you can be a fan of both or neither, and that they are totally different, hence making either comparison illogical.
Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields will make his debut in the Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC 121 on October 23rd. 
This Saturday, WBC junior flyweight champion Omar Nino Romero will defend his title against Ronald Barrera (27-7-2, 17 KOs). 
Bernard Hopkins has confirmed through a variety of sources that he will challenge WBC/IBO light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal on December 18 in Montreal, Canada. 
The World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight championship fight between undefeated titlist Juan Manuel “JuanMa” Lopez, of Caguas, Puerto Rico, and Rafael Marquez, of México City has been rescheduled for Saturday, Nov. 6, 
In the main event of UFC 118, lightweight champion Frankie Edgar defeated former champion BJ Penn for a second time by a unanimous decision. 
On Saturday night, at the Coliseo Mario “Quijote” Morales in Guaynabo, Puerto RicoIn, WBA jr. flyweight champion Giovanni Segura knocked out WBO champion Ivan Calderon to become the unified world champion. 
Bellator Fighting Championships officially announced that the promotion will bring the first Nationally televised, sanctioned MMA event to Wisconsin with Bellator 29, taking place in Milwaukee from the historic Rave-Eagles Ballroom on Sept. 26th. 
This Saturday, one of the most popular fighters in UFC history, Randy Couture, will face former boxing champion, James Toney, who will be making his MMA debut. 
Kimbo Slice (
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Team Sauerland regrets to inform the boxing worldthat WBC Super Middleweight Champion 
CHICAGO, IL - 8 Count Productions, 
The STRIKEFORCE men’s and women’s Welterweight World Champions Nick Diaz (170-pounds) and Sarah Kaufman (135-pounds) will return to the cage on Saturday, Oct. 9 at HP Pavilion in San Jose, LIVE on SHOWTIME® (10 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast). 
Passaic, NJ (August 23, 2010) - Junior middleweight prospect Glen Tapia of Passaic, NJ hopes to continue his unbeaten ways as he faces Brazilian journeyman Edvan Dos Santos Barros on September 11 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. 
On Saturday night, at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, former light heavyweight and cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek earned a twelve-round unanimous decision over heavyweight Michael Grant. 
At UFC on Versus 2, Jon Jones stopped Vladimir Matyushenko just 1:52 into the first round. 
This Saturday, former lightweight champion Juan Diaz will take on world lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs). 
Bob Arum of Top Rank revealed on Saturday night that pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao will fight Antonio Margarito in a junior middleweight bout on November 13th. 
At the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino in Lemoore, CA on Friday night, WBA light heavyweight champion Beibut Shumenov defeated Vyacheslav Uzelkov by a one-sided twelve-round unanimous decision. 
For the first-time ever, Indianapolis will get a taste of the Ultimate Fighting Championship®. Former UFC® heavyweight champion Frank Mir and former interim UFC heavyweight champion and mixed martial arts legend Minotauro Nogueira will mix it up for an encore performance on Saturday, September 25 at UFC 119: MIR VS. NOGUEIRA 2, 
On Saturday night, WBO jr welterweight champion Timothy Bradley moved up to welterweight and defeated Luis Carlos Abregu by a twelve-round unaimous decision at the Agua Caliente Resort Rancho Mirage, California. 
Fernando Guerrero furthered his pursuit of middleweight stardom with a hard fought unanimous decision over veteran Ishe Smith in Friday’s ShoBox main event. Shawn Porter and Mike Dallas Jr. also took home unanimous decision victories at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss. to remain unbeaten. 
