Robinson: Modern Times

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King Makes Offer




Promoter Don King has gone public with an offer to Sugar Ray Robinson and Pernell Whitaker of a guaranteed $4 million to face IBF titlist Felix Trinidad in a welterweight unification match.

King said he is so confident of victory he is not even asking for options.

"I've dealt with both men before and I'd be happy to again in order to arrange the fight of the decade."

Robinson and Whitaker have a contractual agreement to meet one another after their next title defenses.

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Ray Robinson KO 1 James Page




Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Those unlucky enough to blink last night missed the action as a left hook from the champion sent Page to the canvas for the full ten-count.

Robinson who admitted afterwards he had expected a much tougher workout addressed recent talks of a future unification contest with Felix Trinidad.

"I'm all booked this year, but next year I should be free."

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Ray Robinson KO 6 Pedro Sanchez




Sacramento, California - Sugar Ray Robinson blasted Pedro Sanchez, a game but outclassed opponent, into a technical knockout in the sixth round last night.

It was Robinson's fight all the way as he scored his 56th knockout.

The killer in Robinson was unleashed in the fifth when Sanchez caught Robinson with a jab and opened up a cut on his right brow.

Trainer George Gainford told the press afterwards, "Robinson will need to rest up on the cut until the Carr fight."

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De La Hoya Fight Delayed




WBC light welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya has cancelled his next contest against Miguel Angel Gonzalez due to suffering a shoulder injury in training.

Promoter Bob Arum said the fight will be rescheduled for November or December depending on the recovery time.

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Robinson In Three




Oba Carr may have sealed his fate before the fight, declaring, “I don’t see anything special about Robinson, he looks easy to beat.”

From the first exchange, there was little doubt that one of the most impressive winning runs in boxing would continue.

Robinson, showing why many consider him the world’s premier boxer, boxed a perfect fight as Carr was out-maneuvered and failed to get set right up to the moment two uppercuts put him on the canvas.

The HBO team gave the fight itself little thought afterwards as they immediately turned their attention to the pending Robinson-Whitaker super-fight.

The fighter himself seemed the only one interested in the fight that had just occurred, "I knew I needed to keep up the pace otherwise the fight could of gone the distance."


HBO's Larry Merchant asked the questions in the ring post-fight.

You've now dealt with your mandatory, is Pernell Whitaker next?

"He has to beat Rivera next month."

Do you expect him to lose?

"No I think Pernell will box to the decision."

We all know you have a contract with Main Events to fight Whitaker, have you discussed details yet? Do you have a date?

"Yes I've got an agreement Larry, but no we've not sat down and talked. Their team is very focused on the Rivera rematch."

But that's the fight you want next?

"I just beat the mandatory challenger for both the WBA and IBF titles. Don King said he'd pay 4 million, I'd like to see how serious he was."

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World Boxing Association World Welterweight Title (1st defense by Robinson)


Robinson made $1.2 million and Carr got $100,000.
Robinson landed 123 of 261 punches (47%) and Carr connected on 18 of 45 (40%).

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Robinson Joins Jones




Keeping active, Sugar Ray Robinson has agreed to appear on a triple feature for HBO on their November 22nd Florida card.

Headlining is Roy Jones Jr against Mike McCallum. Robinson will appear as the second headlining act with Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Junior Jones finishing the broadcast event.

On who he would face, Robinson said he expected to face his mandatory challenger, Andrey Pestryaev, ahead of schedule to allow a unification contest early 1997.

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Trinidad Faces Lovato




Main support for the Mike Tyson vs. Bruce Seldon fight at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, September 7th will be Felix Trinidad defending his IBF title for the tenth time against Ray Lovato.

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Trinidad Ko's Lovato




What Lovato did to earn a crack at IBF welterweight champion Trinidad remains a mystery.

That said, the overmatched challenger fought respectably until Trinidad’s class and power surfaced on the Tyson-Seldon undercard at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

It was Trinidad’s 10th defense, and given his struggle in making weight, perhaps his last.

As the champion moved in for what surely would have been a spectacular finish, referee Mitch Halpern stepped in at the 1:57 mark. The fans booed and Larry Goossen, the challenger’s trainer, bitterly complained.

“I think they stopped it too soon,” said Lovato. “I thought I was winning the fight up to that point.”

“I saw his eyes glaze, and that’s why I stopped the fight,” explained Halpern.

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Trinidad And Norris?




“It looks real positive right now,” Norris told us three days after he and Trinidad defended their respective titles on the Tyson-Seldon undercard.

“All we need now is Trinidad’s signature, and he’s verbally agreed.”

From Trinidad’s perspective, the timing is right for two reasons. Firstly, promotional politics are likely to continue preventing him from facing fellow welter champ Pernell Whitaker. If Sugar Ray Robinson meets and defeats Whitaker a welterweight unification in the future is possible.

Secondly, he’s been struggling to make 147 pounds. Even though Norris could make welterweight if he chose to, a Trinidad-Norris battle would be contested for the latter’s titles. As for Norris, he wants to become a million-dollar fighter, and he feels a win over Trinidad would put him in the class of Sugar Ray Robinson and Roy Jones.

“He’s young and growing,” Norris said of Trinidad. “I think he’s a great fighter. He starts late in fights, like in the fifth round, and he puts together serious combinations. I look forward to matching skills. He’s the most talented fighter I’ve faced since Sugar Ray Leonard.”

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Whitaker Clears Path




WBC welterweight champion Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker recovered from a fifth-round knockdown Friday night to win his rematch against Wilfredo Rivera with a unanimous decision.

Whitaker landed a knockdown punch of his own in the sixth round of the scheduled 12-round bout en route to his second victory over Rivera in six months.

Whitaker won a controversial split decision from the Puerto Rican on April 12, the bout was so close that the WBC mandated the rematch. Whitaker faded in that fight and later blamed the flu. This time Whitaker was the stronger boxer at the finish.

“I feel I dominated the fight, and it will go down as one of my best performances," Whitaker said.

The 32-year-old Virginian, who claims to be the world’s best fighter pound for pound, improved to 39-1-1. Rivera, 27, fell to 23-2-1.

The judges scored the fight 115-113, 115-111 and 113-112. Whitaker received $1.5 million and Rivera $300,000.

Rivera landed a left hook to the body in the fifth round that dropped Whitaker to one knee. But Whitaker quickly rose to his feet and dominated the rest of the round.

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Whitaker Wants Robinson




“What happened in April was a blessing in disguise,” Whitaker said. “That fight brought me back. I’m still the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, and I’m gonna show it. These young guys all want what I got, but they got to be patient. You can’t run your mouth or look sad and think someone will put you into history."

Despite many placing fellow 147-pound champion Sugar Ray Robinson above him, Whitaker refused to accept this.

"None of them can be the best until they fight me. I have nothing against Robinson, but he hasn’t been around long enough to be considered for the pound-for-pound title. We’ll see what happens when he gets in there with the master. I’ll break him down."

Having given up hope on meeting Felix Trinidad in a boxing ring, Whitaker seems to be putting his expectations on a unification contest with Robinson next year.

“I been waiting on Trinidad for two or three years. I’m hopeful Robinson will sign and be in the ring to fight January or February next year.”

[kenyan_cheena]

Would love to see Robinson vs a prime Tszyu, although I guess it's unlikely.

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Originally Posted by kenyan_cheena

Would love to see Robinson vs a prime Tszyu, although I guess it's unlikely.

Tszyu signed to Top Rank and will feature on their PPV cards until a potential match-up with De La Hoya comes to fruition.

For Robinson and Tszyu to meet down the line, Tszyu would have to step up in weight, which he never did IRL - so at moment does seem unlikely.

It's a match-up I've thought much about too.

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Whitaker Next For Robinson




The boxing world received word that 1997 will start with a significant fight between elite performers.

In what now seems for boxing a real rarity, a dream match is actually going to happen. It’s a battle for the mythological pound- for-pound title. It’s Olympic Gold Medalist versus Olympic Gold Medalist.

And it's a classic clash of styles, an old-fashioned boxer vs a puncher-boxer showdown.

Robinson has one final hurdle before the January fight, a mandatory title defense against Andrey Pestryaev next month.

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De La Hoya - Gonzalez Okayed




A new date in December has been set for the WBC light welterweight title fight between champion Oscar De La Hoya and challenger Miguel Angel Gonzalez.

De La Hoya who has only fought once in 1996, decisioning Mexican legend Julio Cesar Chavez said he was pleased to get back into the ring and hoped 1997 had greater fights in store.

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Robinson - Whitaker Priced




$39.95 will buy the Sugar Ray Robinson-Pernell Whitaker fight February 8th at Las Vegas.

Event tickets at the MGM Grand are priced from $1,000 down to $200.

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Robinson - Whitaker

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Robinson Whips Pestriaev




Sugar Ray Robinson, 145¼, added a Russian to his list of international victims when he flattened Andrei Pestriaev in the second defense of his WBA title.

Pestriaev unfortunately had nothing to offer in the way of a challenge for Robinson, an uppercut mid-way through the first round had Pestriaev down for a short-time and from there the Russian did little more than flick a jab between covering up.

Robinson kept moving and winged in some hard right hand punches, but did not seem in any great hurry to end the affair.

The next two rounds of milling did little for the crowd in the way of entertainment.

Early in the fourth Robinson got going again and he cracked Pestriaev with the left hook and down he went, dead to the world as referee Brian Garry counted him out.


In his brief post-fight interview Robinson admitted he heard the crowd and was sorry that he did not fight in his usual manner.

"I was worried about cuts. I didn't want a clash of heads, so I stayed on the outside more than usual. He wasn't too keen on mixing it up either."


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World Boxing Association World Welterweight Title (2nd defense by Robinson)


Robinson made $800,000 and Pestriaev got $50,000.
Robinson landed 195 of 455 punches (43%) and Pestriaev connected on 36 of 123 (30%).

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De La Hoya Remains Undefeated




In one of the most exciting boxing fights of the year Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Angel Gonzalez fought hard for the nine rounds it lasted.

At the time of the stoppage, due to multiple deep cuts Gonzalez suffered to the face, De La Hoya was ahead on all three scorecards.

De La Hoya punished Gonzalez from the opening bell with a left jab that snapped his head back repeatedly. Often he would throw three or four jabs in a row, or would follow the jab with a left hook.

Gonzalez who was plenty game and never went down grew increasingly frustrated as De La Hoya outboxed him as the fight went on.


“I can't believe they stopped it," said a visibly upset Gonzalez.

The former WBC lightweight champion asked for a rematch, but De La Hoya, besieged by former opponents seeking second chances did not commit.


The fight, De La Hoya's second at 140 pounds is most likely his last. He is expected to move up to 147 pounds to challenge the winner of the Robinson-Whitaker super-fight.

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Robinson - Whitaker