MAGDALENO'S HAND INJURY POSTPONES WBO TITLE DEFENSE AGAINST JUAREZ
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 10 Oct 2017
WBO super bantamweight king Jessie Magdaleno injured his wrist while training for his November 11 title defense against Cesar Juarez and has announced his withdrawal from the ESPN tripleheader. Top Rank will reschedule the Magdaleno-Juarez showdown early next year. Magdaleno (25-0, 18 KOs), was suppose to defend his crown for the second time after winning it from Nonito Donaire and defending it against Adeilson dos Santos.
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Jose Ramirez (20-0, 15 KOs) will take over at the main event and fights Mike Reed (23-0, 12 KOs) as part of the WBC's elimination at the junior welterweight division to fill the likely vacancy when Terence Crawford elevates to welterweight. The card includes the IBF light heavyweight championship of Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs) versus Enrico Koelling (23-1, 6 KOs) for one of the titles vacated by Andre Ward when he retired.
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"From the moment I had my fight with Filipino Albert Pagara, I received the number one ranking in the world inside the WBO. It is well known that Jessie Magdaleno stay away from facing me in a championship fight. It seems outrageous to me that at this point, and only a few weeks before the fight, that the champion has been injured, which is very dubious," Juarez was quoted by Jose Luis Camarillo of notifight.com.
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Juarez accused Magdaleno of avoiding to fight with him even if the defense was mandatory and that the champion disobeyed the rules of the WBO. Juarez claims that his team has trained for three months and they had been working hard for this fight. "If he does not have the capacity, veracity and heart to defend and be a champion, then let him vacate, because I am so hungry to be world champion," added Juarez.
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The Mexican challenger wants to show his talent by fighting high-quality matches and proving why he is the number one in the WBO world. "I am in boxing because I want to be world champion... What I want is to fight with Magdaleno and fulfill my dream," declared Juarez. Promoter Sean Gibbons told him about the possibility of clashing for WBO's interim title with Filipino contender Marlon Tapales (30-2, 13 KO's). This was made known to WBO president Francisco Valcarcel.
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Bob Arum said the terms of the Jeff Horn-Gary Corcoran bout have been agreed by both camps but the contracts were not yet signed because the plans are not yet finalized to build an 8,000-capacity temporary facility in Brisbane, Australia. He said they are clearing a location in Brisbane and once that is cleared then they can go ahead with the fight, which will now take place in December instead of November, which was originally planned.
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Arum added that the Queensland government is financing the fight, the same action it showed during the Pacquiao-Horn showdown as one of the biggest bouts in Australian boxing history. The Horn fight with Corcoran will probably happen on December 15, Brisbane time. Corcoran has never fought outside of the United Kingdom, but has won two successive fights since his 11th-round KO loss to Liam Williams for the British junior middleweight title in July 2016.
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Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) will match up with Corcoran (17-1, 7 KOs) instead of a Pacquiao rematch because of his busy Senate schedule. Another possibility why Pacquiao passed is because he does not want to fight anymore in Australia. Boxing's only eight-division world champion nearly knocked out Horn in the ninth round but couldn't put him away. But, many thought Pacquiao suffered two cuts from two head-butts and several writers saw him as the winner.
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Anderson Varejao was with the Cleveland Cavaliers when they lost to the Golden State Warriors in the 2015 NBA Finals. The next year, in the middle of his 12th season with the Cavaliers, he was traded to the Trail Blazers but was taken by the Warriors. But the 73-19 Warriors lost a 3-1 lead and the title in the 2016 Finals to the Cavs. Cleveland could give Varejao a ring having played 31 games with the team, but he would not accept the ring because he played against them in the Finals.
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He re-signed with the Warriors before the 2016-17 season, and with the added strength of Kevin Durant it seemed Varejao would finally wear his ring. But, Golden State waived Varejao after playing only 14 games. However, the team voted to give him a ring and Varejao decided to accept it. "I will accept this ring, which represents much more than a title to me, represents our history together, every moment I spent with them," Varejao told Brazilian site sportv.globo.com.
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"This recognition, their affection, makes me proud and honored," added the Brazilian center. He said the players and the coaching staff voted to give him the ring. This is a better farewell for Varejao, who already failed to wear two rings because of bad timing, and most likely will retire this coming season. The Warriors will conduct their ring awarding ceremony and raise their latest championship banner before their opening game against the Houston Rockets on October 17.
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As a young boy, Muhammad Ali, then named Cassius Clay requested his idol, Sugar Ray Robinson for an autograph. Robinson impolitely told him "I don't got time." It pained young Cassius and he could never forget Robinson's turn down. That's why, he has never once refused a request for an autograph. The "Greatest" even had a special P.O. box for any fan who wanted to have his autograph. Still, Muhammad Ali called Sugar Ray "the king, the master, my idol."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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