Manny Pacquiao, considered as the best boxer in the world, pound-for-pound, will fight unbeaten Jorge Solis of Mexico at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on April 14. Most critics feel Pacquiao, who has a record of 43-3-2, with 33 stoppages, and is from the Philippines, will have an easy fight against little-known Solis (32-0; 23).
However, Solis is not listening to the critics. “I know people are saying Pacquiao is in for an easy fight, but I’m undefeated and I will be prepared to deliver the best performance of my career so I can get the biggest win of my career,” he said this week.
Solis has been training at high altitude for the first time in his career. He has spent the last few weeks in the mountains in Mexico and has been working on his strength and conditioning, hoping to shock the boxing experts.
Snippets A unification bout between IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and WBA belt holder Nikolai Valuev could take place in June or July. Valuev must first beat mandatory challenger Ruslan Chagaev in Stuttgart on April 14.
Victor Burgos, the Mexican flyweight who needed brain surgery after being stopped by Victor Darchinyan earlier this month, is out of a medically induced coma and should be on the way to recovery.
In a potentially explosive match-up, middleweights Kelly Pavlik (30-0; 27) and Edison Miranda (28-1; 24) meet in a WBC title eliminator in July at a venue to be announced.
Juan Diaz and Acelino Freitas are scheduled to meet in a WBA and WBO lightweight unification bout to be held on April 28 in Ledyard, Connecticut.
A sell-out crowd attended the 100th intervarsity boxing match between the universities of Cambridge and Oxford at the York Hall in Bethnal Green, England, on March 8.
Phil Digby, a Briton who is believed to be the oldest living former professional boxer in the world, recently celebrated his 98th birthday.
Former WBC super bantamweight challenger Nestor Jimenez of Colombia died recently at the age of 59.
Jiminez challenged Wilfredo Gomez, possibly the best super bantamweight of all time, at Madison Square Garden in 1979 and was stopped in the fifth round.
He also fought one of the all-time bantamweight greats, Carlos Zarate of Mexico, before retiring with a record of 67-16-2; 23.
Ron Olver, who writes a weekly Old Timers column in Britain’s Boxing News, has been admitted to hospital with a heart problem and is not well enough to receive visitors. Ron is the London Ex-Boxers Association’s first life member.
Former Wakefield, England, heavyweight Paul Sykes, who fought in the late 1970s, has died of pneumonia and liver problems. He was 60.
