SOR RUNGVISAI WANTS CHOCOLATITO TO COME BACK FROM LOSS; MCGREGOR HITS BYRD
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 04 Oct 2017
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai shows great respect for his two-time opponent Roman ?Chocolatito? Gonzalez and hopes he doesn?t retire. He wants the former pound-for-pound king to recover from the knockout loss during their second fight last month. Sor Rungvisai clobbered Gonzalez then knocked him out in the fourth round of their WBC super flyweight championship rematch. Sor Rungvisai shared these thoughts during the WBC annual convention in Baku, Azerbaijan.
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?I still think ?Chocolatito? is number one pound-for-pound,? Sor Rungvisai said in a press release from the WBC. ?I think he should come back and fight. I think he?s still got it. I would like to meet him again and I will win again.? At first Gonzalez (46-2, 38 KOs) said that he would retire immediately following his knockout loss to Sor Rungvisai (44-4-1, 40 KOs). He has since changed his mind and he expects to return to the ring after taking a break from fighting.
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A ?press conference of champions? was held prior to the start of the opening cocktail event at the WBC 55th annual convention in Baku, Azerbaijan. Current and former world champions Evander Holyfield, Bernard Hopkins, Carlos Zarate, Azumah Nelson, Kostya Tszyu, Yuri Arbachakov, Christina Hammer, Viktor Postol and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai all greeted the gathered press with comments and answered questions.
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UFC champion Conor McGregor is still very dismayed with the officiating during his TKO loss at the hands of Floyd Mayweather Jr. last August. During the fight, which occurred at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the fans witnessed a wobbling McGregor get stopped in the tenth round of the fight. McGregor still believes referee Robert Byrd intervened too early to halt the fight. He thinks Byrd should have allowed him to get knocked down.
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McGregor denies being hurt at the time of the stoppage and blames fatigue for being unsteady on his feet. The Irish UFC champ thought that it was an early stoppage since there were no knockdowns. He added the round before the stoppage he almost had Mayweather dropped and hurt him to the body. "How the f*** can you stop it like that at the first sign of a wobble? You?ve got to let these fights go on,? McGregor told Caroline Pearce.
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?The referee was a weird one now the more I look back on it,? McGregor said. ?Especially after Adelaide Bird had that thing with the Canelo and GGG fight, that was her. Adelaide and Robert Byrd are husband and wife, that?s a bit weird, that?s when I started looking back on the fight," said McGregor. ?Early exchanges in the tie up, instead of just separating he would reach around and pull me away.?
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Bob Bennett, head of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), answered the recent criticisms made by UFC champion Conor McGregor, ?All I can say is we did our job. That?s what we get paid to do and that?s what we did. I find it very disappointing that Conor would make derogatory remarks that the fight was stopped too early when really the timing of referee Robert Byrd?s stoppage was impeccable. We looked out for his health and safety," Bennett told MMA Fighting.
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"We did everything we could to ensure it was a level playing field. I think the fight was very exciting. The fans loved it. The health and safety of the fighter was always at the forefront, from the beginning of the fight. There?s no doubt Conor did a phenomenal job, fighting a future Hall of Famer. Obviously, Floyd had his game plan that worked as well. The actual stoppage, we looked out for the health and safety of the fighter, which is our responsibility," added Bennett.
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A direct rematch between world champion Gennady Golovkin and Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez was ordered at the WBC 55th Annual Convention in Baku, Azerbaijan as WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman announced. The bout is expected to take place for Cinco de Mayo 2018. Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) has declared that he wants a rematch with middleweight champion Golovkin (37-0-1, 33 KOs) and he wants that fight before any other opponent.
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K2 Promotions' Tom Loeffler, promoter for Gennady Golovkin said: "We?ll sit down with Bob Bennett and there are some things we?d want to address if the fight goes back to Vegas, we won?t rule out Vegas, but I know there was some hesitation from the GGG side." Loeffler said Golovkin never had that issue when he fought in California or New York or even in London. "We just want to make sure it?s a fair playing field for both sides.?
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Czar Amonsot is all set to tussle with unbeaten Carlos Manuel Portillo of Asuncion, Paraguay for the interim WBA Oceania light welterweight title this coming October 6 in The Melbourne Pavilion, Flemington, Australia. Amonsot's courage and resiliency will be tested by the knockout artist, Portillo who has 18 wins with no losses and 14 wins by KO. Amonsot now has 34 wins, 22 by KO, 3 losses and 3 draws.
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There was a Jewish Greek boxer named Salamo Arouch imprisoned at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. While there, he was forced to fight bouts against other prisoners, the losers of which were sent to the gas chambers or shot. He survived over 2 years and more than 200 bouts, eventually being released when the camp was liberated. He was the middleweight champion of Greece (1938) and the All-Balkans middleweight champion (1939).
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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