WBA heavyweight champion David Haye on Monday ruled out defending his title against veteran Bernard Hopkins, a boxing great he said is one of his idols.

Two days after stopping John Ruiz in nine rounds, Haye is trying to line up a unification fight against one of the Klitschko brothers, Vitali or Wladimir, who hold the other heavyweight belts, and said he may have to meet former champion Nikolai Valuev in a rematch of last year’s title contest.

But he said a fight with the 45-year-old Hopkins...read on for more...

VEGAS (AP)—Bernard Hopkins collapsed to his knees in his dressing room, drained from a brutal fight and exhausted by the end of his 17-year wait for revenge against Roy Jones Jr.

Two of their generation’s greatest boxers just might have ended their careers together in a Las Vegas hospital Saturday night, but only Hopkins earned the right to leave with a victory.

Hopkins won a grueling unanimous decision in his long-delayed rematch with Jones, emphatically avenging his loss in the famed champions’ first bout in 1993.
Although both fighters often appeared to be shadows of their former selves, the 45-year-old Hopkins

Britain's David Haye defended his WBA heavyweight crown with a ninth-round stoppage of an obdurate and courageous John Ruiz in Manchester.

Haye floored Ruiz just 25 seconds into the encounter, but the American challenger showed tremendous bravery and powers of recovery to survive.

For a moment it looked as if Ruiz was working his way back into the fight.

But the badly-marked 38-year-old was down in the fifth and again

By Sal V

 

1. A pretty good set of fights on both Showtime and HBO this weekend.  Andre Dirrell fought in his home state where Arthur Abraham looked like a fish out of water.  His cut above the eye called for two doctors take a look in the middle of the round.  For one, the referee should have waited for a true lull in the action.  Abraham seemed to have been buzzed just before.  Secondly, the two doctors took way too much time playing cutman in the corner.  Just look at the cut and determine if he can continue. 

2. There was one instance where Andre Dirrell took a flush right hand by Abraham and hit the canvas.  It was ruled a slip but should have been ruled a knockdown.  The punch seemed to have caused the knockdown rather than any tangled feet.  

3. Seeing Andre get hit while he was down was reminiscent of Roy Jones DQ some

DETROIT -- Andre Dirrell was less than six minutes away from a dominating unanimous decision win before chaos erupted.

Instead, Dirrell beat Arthur Abraham on a disqualification for an intentional foul at 1:13 of the 11th round on Saturday night in the second stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic.  Read more...

Marcos Maidana scored a sixth-round knockout against Victor Cayo to retain the WBA interim super lightweight championship on Saturday night in the main event at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Maidana (28-1, 27 KOs), from Argentina, wore down his Dominican opponent and connected with a right to the body that forced Cayo down.

Referee Joe Cortez counted Cayo (24-1, 16 KOs) out with 1:38 left out for Maidana's 27th knockout. Read more...

LAS VEGAS -- Joan Guzman earned a 12-round split decision victory over Ali Funeka in the vacant IBF lightweight championship Saturday night, but could not claim the crown after weighing in 9 pounds over the 135-pound limit.

Guzman (30-0-1), who is 6-inches shorter than Funeka, won on two scorecards, 114-113 and 116-111.  Read on for more...
 

Yuriorkis Gamboa of Cuba has retained his WBA featherweight title with a unanimous decision over Jonathan Victor Barros of Argentina.

Gamboa is undefeated in 18 fights and handed Barros his first defeat in 30 bouts on Sunday in Hamburg.

The 28-year-old Gamboa won comfortably on all three score cards -- 118-109, 118-109 and 116-111.
 

DUESSELDORF, Germany -- Wladimir Klitschko knocked out Eddie Chambers in the 12th and final round to retain his WBO and IBF heavyweight belts Saturday night.

The taller, heavier Klitschko dominated the fight and ended it with a left hook 5 seconds before the final bell. The American went down heavily and needed a couple of minutes to recover. The referee never bothered to count.