Devon Alexander vs. Lucas Matthysse
SHOW ME SOMETHING GREAT Final Presser: Introductions and Face-Offs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxxSkJ6YG24
SHOW ME SOMETHING GREAT Final Presser: Fighters at Podium
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95lESHmTDAI
Video from Devon Alexander's media workout on Tuesday at Marquette Gym in St. Louis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iom5A4AXCok
If you didn't get enough of the Don King video, Part 1, (http://www.youtube.com/theemcvideo#p/a/u/2/Gciajihiv1U) from his first day in St. Louis last week promoting this Saturday's fight card at The Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., check out Day 2:
http://www.youtube.com/theemcvideo#p/a/u/1/wbcYEhGBwjw
HBO Look Ahead: Analysts Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman preview Alexander vs. Matthysse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el-J3_yF1WI
HBO Promo: Alexander vs. Matthysse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33pw0vXeo2M
The winner of this match will become the top contender at the 140-pound weight limit.
Tavoris “Thunder” Cloud
vs. Yusaf “Mack Attack” Mack
IBF Light Heavyweight Championship
Tavoris Cloud returns to the Gateway City after successfully defending his IBF light heavyweight crown in a slugfest against former world champion Glen Johnson on Aug. 7 at Scottrade Center. Cloud won a unanimous decision by the identical scores of 116-112.
Cloud possesses an 81-percent knockout ratio, even though his last three fights were won by unanimous decisions. Possessing an aggressive style and a plethora of power in both hands, Cloud is a throwback fighter that likes to overwhelm his opponents with brute force.
His tenacity and vaunted power have caused other world champions to avoid facing him. Yusaf Mack does not have that luxury as he has been named by the IBF as the mandatory challenger to Cloud.
Mack is a 31-year-old veteran from Philadelphia. He remained unbeaten in his first 24 matches, fighting between middleweight and super middleweight. Mack settled in at the 175-pound light heavyweight limit beginning in 2008, and he promptly reeled off five straight victories.
He fought well in a pivotal fight with respected former light heavyweight world champion Glen Johnson in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., on Feb. 5, 2010, before being stopped by technical knockout in the sixth round.
In his last appearance, Mack defeated Otis Griffin on March 4 in Los Angeles. This was an IBF elimination bout, which put Mack in line to next face Cloud. He is also the reigning USBA light heavyweight champion; former NABA and NABF light heavyweight champion; and former USBA super middleweight champion.
Bermane “B-Ware” Stiverne
vs. Ray “The Rainman” Austin
WBC Silver Heavyweight Championship
Emerging heavyweight Bermane Stiverne and title-tested veteran Ray Austin will meet for the WBC Silver heavyweight championship, which will have ramifications at the top of the division.
Stiverne has a staggering 86-percent knockout ratio with an equally stunning 14 first-round knockouts. Only two of his fights have gone the distance. Most of his victims have fallen prey to his powerful right hand.
Austin has hovered at the top of the heavyweight division for the last five years, having faced Wladimir Klitschko, Andrew Golota, Sultan Ibragimov, Odlanier Solis and DaVarryl Williamson, among others.
This will clearly be the toughest opponent yet for Stiverne. A win here would set up bigger fights in the future. Austin will be trying to prove that he is still a force in the heavyweight division.
Ryan “The Irish Outlaw” Coyne
vs. “King” David McNemar
Battle of the Undefeated for Cruiserweight Belts
WBA cruiserweight champion Guillermo Jones was to have defended his title against undefeated Ryan Coyne, but Jones suffered an injury in the final week of training. Coyne will now risk his WBC-USNBC national cruiserweight championship against undefeated David McNemar, from Parkersburg, W.Va. The WBA announced Coyne vs. McNemar will also be for their FEDELATIN international title.
Coyne graduated from St. Charles High School where he was named “St. Charles County Football Player of the Year” in 2001. He played collegiate football at University of Missouri from 2001 to 2002. Injuries shortened his football career, and he returned to St. Charles to pursue a boxing career while earning a bachelor’s degree from Lindenwood University in 2005.
He has made steady progress in his boxing career, maintaining an unblemished record since turning professional in 2006. He won the WBC-USNBC national title last summer at Scottrade Center in St. Louis by knocking out Warren Browning in the ninth round. Coyne also is known for having fought into the semi-finals during the fourth season of The Contender, televised on Versus, before suffering an accidental headbutt that forced him to leave the competition.
Coyne trains out of the Sweat Pound 4 Pound Gym in Clayton, Mo., under the tutelage of trainer Jose Ponce. The addition of strength and conditioning expert Matt Brown has helped increase his power.
Cornelius “K9” Bundrage vs. Sechew Powell
IBF Junior Middleweight Championship
IBF junior middleweight champion Cornelius “K9” Bundrage has an old score to settle with Sechew Powell. After a stunning fifth-round technical knockout over Cory Spinks in St. Louis on Aug. 7 to win his first world title, the Emanuel Steward-trained Bundrage immediately looked to avenge his first loss as a professional, which came at the hands of Powell in 2005.
Powell is a southpaw who won his first 20 fights before running into Kassim Ouma at New York’s Madison Square Garden in 2006, where he lost by decision. His only other loss came against Deandre
Latimore in 2008, a defeat he avenged in his last appearance on March 3, 2010, winning a majority
decision over St. Louis’s Latimore in an IBF elimination bout that earned Powell the right to face Bundrage, the newly crowned champion.
Bundrage was also a fast starter, having won his first 21 fights before running into Powell. He later did what Powell was unable to do, winning a unanimous decision over Ouma in 2008.
Bundrage went on to face future world champion Yuri Foreman in 2009. The bout was ruled no contest after an accidental clash of heads in the third round left Foreman unable to continue. Bundrage immediately went on to take the title from Spinks in his next match.
Raw Quotes
Devon Alexander
vs.
Lucas Matthysse
Special Super
Welterweight Attraction
Devon Alexander: “Lucas say he gonna knock me out. The last guy that said that to me [Juan Urango] got knocked out. I don’t talk trash. I let my hands do my talking for me. Just like our T-shirts today say, ‘R-E-D-E-M-P-T-I-O-N’ is going to happen on Saturday night.”
Kevin Cunningham (Trainer and manager of Devon Alexander): “Devon doesn’t talk trash but I’ll say a few words. Here is a shout out to Cory Spinks. If it wasn’t for him, we wouldn’t have all this big-time boxing going on in St. Louis right now.
“We had a tremendous camp up in Colorado, and on Saturday night, Devon will be victorious.”
Don King: “It’s a Lou think in St. Louis, and out here in St. Charles were proud, and if you cannot hear us, we’ll say it a little louder. You see, this is the Show Me State. What does that mean? It means these fighters can talk all they want today, but come Saturday night they are going to have to show everyone what they are made of.”
Lucas Matthysse: “Look, I traveled thousands of kilometers in training and flying here for this fight, and I didn’t come to take a picture with Don King. I came to beat Devon Alexander, and I will.”
Eric Gomez (Vice President of Golden Boy Promotions, promoter of Lucas Matthysse): “This is going to be a hell of a card. Sechew Powell is good, Tavoris is like a young Mike Tyson, I’ve been watching heavyweight Bermane Stiverne for a long time, and I can’t wait for Saturday night. This is truly a historic card that Don King has put together.
“Thanks to Devon Alexander and his team. We think Devon is one of the top three junior welterweights in the world, and we think Lucas can win this fight. Lucas lost a close decision in the fight with Zab Judah, but he is ready to have the fight of his life on Saturday night.
“This is a great opportunity for Lucas. This is a great thing for him to be fighting Devon on HBO on Saturday.”
Tavoris Cloud
vs.
Yusaf Mack
IBF Light Heavyweight
Championship
Tavoris Cloud: “Missouri, it’s good to be back in the ‘Show Me’ State. Yusaf Mack, he a good fighter, so I heard. All that about him being the new champion ain’t gonna work. It ain’t gonna work, no sir. I’ll see Yusaf Mack in the ring on Saturday night.”
Yusaf Mack: “This city will be smokin’ when I get done with Tavoris Cloud on Saturday night.”
Ryan Coyne
vs.
David McNemar
WBC-USNBC
Cruiserweight
Championship/
WBA FEDELATIN
Championship
Ryan Coyne: “This was supposed the first world title fight for me. Didn’t happen. My opponent [WBA cruiserweight champion] Guillermo Jones may have stumbled while jogging and fell into Arby’s, if you know what I mean.
"I will only look forward now. I plan to put on a great show on Saturday. Fighting in The Family Arena is special for me because I grew up a few miles from here and I fought my last fight as an amateur here and my first fight as a professional.
"I give my opponent, David McNemar credit for stepping and taking this fight with me on short notice. In a couple of days I’ll probably give him a hug for saving this appearance for me.”
David McNemar: I’m 38 years old and I’ve been in this fight game for most of my life, and it’s been a blast. To be up here with all of these great athletes is truly an honor. I’ll give Ryan Coyne the best I’ve got.”
Bermane Stiverne
vs.
Ray Austin
WBC Silver Heavyweight
Championship
Bermane Stiverne: “I’m not much of a trash talker. I don’t trash talk. When it comes to boxing, I’m a business person, and I’ll take care of business on Saturday night. I am a heavyweight contender, and I will be a heavyweight world champion some day. I guarantee it.
“All that other talk you hear doesn’t mean a thing. On Saturday night, everything will be taken care of in the ring.”
Ray Austin: “It’s great to be fighting on this show against Bermane Stiverne. I plan to make the most of this opportunity.”
Cornelius Bundrage
vs.
Sechew Powell
IBF Junior Middleweight
Championship
Sechew Powell: “Cornelius Bundrage didn’t even arrive on time from Detroit to attend this press conference. I will show up on Saturday night to take his title back to Brooklyn.”
Cory Spinks
vs.
Shakir Ashanti
Super Welterweight
Attraction
Cory Spinks: “Thanks for coming out and listening to all us fighters talk trash. Cory Spinks is ready. Whoever this man is I’m fighting is in trouble on Saturday. I am so eager to get back in the ring. St. Louis will see I am ready to be a six-time world champion.
EL Boxing Empress See you at the Fights and Thank You for your time. EL Boxing Empress Online @ Twitter
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This Saturday night in Atlanta world renowned middleweight boxer Hector Camacho Jr. (53-4-1) will return to the ring as he continues to embark on his journey of winning the title. As he prepares for the underdog Shakir Ashanti (16-11), Camacho Jr. keeps his main goal in sight.
