Bob Velin
249 articles · USA Today
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Manny Pacquiao wins unanimous decision over
By Bob Velin
Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao returns to the ring Saturday for the first time since his shocking sixth-round knockout by Juan Manuel Marquez last December. Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach, hope…
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Brandon Rios relishes task of beating Manny Pacquiao
By Bob Velin
After suffering his first career loss in his rematch with Mike Alvarado in March, Brandon Rios thought all his hard work leading up to that moment was lost. Rios, nicknamed "Bam-Bam" for…
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Mikey Garcia KOs Rocky Martinez to regain title
By Bob Velin
Mikey Garcia knocked out Rocky Martinez at 56 seconds of the eighth round with a crushing left-hand body shot to win Martinez's WBO super featherweight title Saturday night in Corpus Christi, Texas.…
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Golovkin knocks out Stevens to retain middleweight titles
By Bob Velin
Gennady Golovkin continued his march through boxing's middleweight division, stopping challenger Curtis Stevens with an 8th-round TKO Saturday night at the Madison Square Garden Theater. Golovkin retained his IBO and WBA middleweight…
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Middleweight champ Golovkin’s star on rise in USA
By Bob Velin
Gennady Golovkin, the most talked-about import from Kazakhstan since Borat, has fought only four times since arriving in this country in 2012. In a little more than a year, the former Olympic…
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At 48, Hopkins ready to add new page to his legacy
By Bob Velin
Fifteen months shy of his 50th year, boxer Bernard Hopkins knows that what he is accomplishing each time he steps in the ring is a big deal. So big, in fact, it's…
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Provodnikov stuns Alvarado with 10th-round TKO
By Bob Velin
Russian fighter Ruslan Provodnikov stunned hometown favorite Mike Alvarado with two eighth-round knockdowns, then continued the onslaught and won the fight when Alvarado's corner stopped it at the end of the 10th…
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Alvarado knows what he’s up against with Provodnikov
By Bob Velin
Mike Alvarado knows exactly what he's getting into when he puts his WBO light welterweight title on the line Saturday night against Ruslan Provodnikov. After all, he lived it in his previous…
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Bradley tops Marquez by split decision to retain title
By Bob Velin
Timothy Bradley retained his WBO welterweight title with a hard-fought split decision against Juan Manuel Marquez Saturday night at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. Bradley outworked Marquez, and fought…
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At 40, Marquez still seeking big challenges
By Bob Velin
The one question Juan Manuel Marquez is asked perhaps more than any other is why he didn't retire after his stunning sixth-round knockout of Manny Pacquiao last December in their fourth fight.…
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Nevada boxing boss defends judge in Mayweather fight
By Bob Velin
LAS VEGAS ? Since scoring the Floyd Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez super welterweight title fight a 114-114 draw, judge Cynthia J. "CJ" Ross has taken harsh criticism from all corners of the boxing world.…
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Mayweather praises Alvarez, blows off Pacquiao question
By Bob Velin
LAS VEGAS ? The unmatched boxing skills and ring generalship? That was vintage Floyd Mayweather, the 45-0 pound-for-pound champion who seems to be improving with age. We're talking about his thorough dismantling…
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Alvarez on weight, refuses belt from Mayweather
By Bob Velin
LAS VEGAS --What might have been the most attended and loudest weigh-in in the history of boxing ended with Floyd Mayweather and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez both making weight for their super welterweight…
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Bradley has desire to bolster legacy against Marquez
By Bob Velin
As Timothy Bradley stumbled against the ropes on rubbery legs during the second round of his brutal fight against Russian slugger Ruslan Provodnikov in March, the welterweight champ, already concussed and seemingly…
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Golovkin KOs Macklin in third round to retain titles
By Bob Velin
Gennady Golovkin wasted little time Saturday night taking his power directly to tough Irishman Matthew Macklin. Golovkin dominated, then dropped Macklin with a left hook to the liver that left Macklin writhing…
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Middleweight champ Golovkin looks to keep legend alive
By Bob Velin
The last time we saw Gennady Golovkin in a U.S. boxing ring, he was covered with blood. Not his blood, his opponent's blood. The unfortunate victim ? the 25th of Golovkin's meteoric…
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Malignaggi vs. Broner: Trash talk hits below the belt
By Bob Velin
Being from Brooklyn, Paulie Malignaggi knows trash talk. He can give it ? in fluent Brooklynese, of course ? with the best of them. He knows when it crosses the line, too.…
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Lopez: ‘I want back what Mikey has ? my title belt’
By Bob Velin
He is the up-and-coming WBO featherweight champion who specializes in knockouts and has yet to taste defeat. That's Miguel Angel "Mikey" Garcia today. It was Juan Manuel Lopez not so long ago.…
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Martinez ekes out decision vs. Murray to retain title
By Bob Velin
Sergio Martinez came back home to his native Argentina Saturday night for the first time in 11 years to a raucous, partisan crowd of 45,000 at Club Atl?tico V?lez Sarsfield, a legendary…
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Canelo Alvarez has blood motivation for Trout
By Bob Velin
At 15, he was fighting professionally. At 20, he was a world champion. At 21, he was headlining a major boxing card. And now, at the ripe, old age of 22, with…