Undefeated IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud (23-0, 19 KOs) will make his fourth title defense on February 18, against Gabriel Campillo (21-8, 8 KOs). The fight will be televised on Showtime.
There are quite a few developments this week in the boxing world, beginning with the first major upset of 2012.
World Boxing Association interim champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeax recently knocked out previously unbeaten WBA super bantamweight champion Rico Ramos in the sixth round at the Palms Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas this past weekend. Rigondeax, who is now 9-0 with 7 knockouts, came into this bout as the underdog against Ramos, who is now 20-1, and appeared to apprehensive from the start of putting up a fight.
Rigondeax, who defected from Cuba, is now the new WBA super bantamweight champ.
Miguel Cotto, as of December 31, became a free agent and is now contemplating having discussions with Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the May 5 date that is secured for Mayweather’s next bout.
Cotto was previously promoted by Top Rank Inc., but he recently turned down offers from CEO Bob Arum to fight Manny Pacquiao (a second time), Mayweather, or Caesar Chavez Jr., on the condition that he re-sign with the company.
Cotto plans to listen to the Mayweather group and then give Arum an opportunity to respond.
They have met several times in recent months but so far haven’t come to an agreement. Cotto apparently wants to continue as a free agent and negotiate fight to fight so it is possible that Golden Boy Promotions, which has ties to Mayweather, will make a lucrative offer for a May 5 bout which must be overcome by Arum if he wants Cotto to face Pacquiao on June 9, which is the date he believes would be the deadline for building the 40,000 seat outdoor arena that he’s currently developing in Las Vegas.
Coming up on February 11, the rematch between Andre Berto and Victor Ortiz is set at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. This should make for an exciting bout. ?These two fought in April of last year, and they knocked each other down in a grueling, hard fought bout that could have been candidate for fight of the year. This fight will be aired on Showtime Network.
Also coming up on February18, IBF light heavyweight champion Tavoris Cloud, who is 23-0 with 19 knockouts, is making his fourth title defense against hard-hitting Gabriel Campillo, who is 21-3 with 8 knockouts. This could possibly be a tough fight for Cloud. The word on this guy that Cloud is fighting is that he is a very worthy opponent and that he constantly moves forward and is aggressive.
On the under card of this bout is former middleweight champion Paul Williams, taking on Nobuhiro Ishida. This is the guy who knocked out James Kirkland, so watch out for these bouts to take place in Texas next month also live on Showtime.
And speaking of Kirkland, he had a great fight last year with Alfredo Angulo. It kind of reminded fight fans of the old days with Jersey Joe Walcott and Rocky Marciano. Hopefully there will be more of that in 2012.
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