Ryan Bader proved that having the basics is more important than raw talent and potential.

All-American Wrestler

Bader (18-4 with 6 knockouts and 4 submissions) outlasted the highly touted Ovince St. Preux (16-6 with 7 knockouts and 5 submissions) in the five round light heavyweight main event of UFC Fight Night 47 in Bangor, Maine on Saturday to win by unanimous decision. The former All-American collegiate wrestler used his superior wrestling skills to frustrate the hard hitting Haitian-born St. Preux.

Bader scored on an impressive 9 takedowns, against his opponent’s two to keep his bigger and faster opponent from landing his power shots. In the end, the judges scored the bout 48-47, 49-46 and 49-46.

Ending a Run

Bader’s victory ends a five fight winning streak by St. Preux and dealt him his first UFC win in five fights. The former Tennessee football player had broken into the UFC light heavyweight’s Top 10 rankings after a string of wins and has been drawing praises for his successful transition to MMA. But his inability to defend Bader’s takedowns cost him the fight and a shot to barge into the upper echelon of the UFC’s light heavyweights.

St. Preux was clearly out striking Bader when the fight in the standup game as he landed the heavier blows and had the better movement. But Bader’s offensive game opened up each time he took St. Preux’s back, finally out landing him 77-30 in total strikes landed. Although he never really had OSP in serious trouble, Bader broke him down with each take down and avoided being knocked out by the heavier hitting St. Preux.

St. Preux knew he was behind on points, and he came out firing to start round 5. Bader got bloodied near the end of the bout as a result of St. Preux’s sharp elbows, but it wasn’t enough to break the will of Bader. He even took Bader down in the final round but it was not enough as Bader had already piled up the points in the first four rounds of the bout.

Top Five Fight Next?

After the fight, Bader refused to call out anybody and said that he just wants to “heal some injuries first.” and “see what’s next.” But his victory should earn him a fight with a Top 5 light heavyweight. Anthony “Rumble” Johnson and Rashad Evans should be good fights for Bader to take next.

British boxer Kell Brook fought the fight of his life and wrested the IBF Welterweight title from Shawn Porter in a close majority decision at the StuHub Center in Carson, California.

In Elite Company

The 28 year old Sheffield fighter now joins Pound for Pound leaders Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao as the owners of the major welterweight titles after defeating Porter with the scores of 117-11, 116-112 and 114-114. Incidentally, the two judges who gave him the win were Americans, while the lone English judge turned in a draw.

Brook used sharp footwork and a steady left jab to keep the hard-hitting Porter at bay and claimed his first ever world title in only his second fight outside of Britain. He improved unbeaten record to 33-0 with 22 knockouts.

More Accurate Fighter

Porter (24-1-1 with 15 knockout) looked like he was ahead early because he was the busier fighter. He consistently peppered Brook’s face with right hands early on, but it was obvious that the elusive Englishman had the perfect game plan. Brook stayed away from Porter’s power punches and was content in out boxing the champion. Brook admitted that it was “scrappy” but he did “what he had to do to win.”

Brook began to take control in the middle rounds as he established his jab and battled Porter in the pocket only in selective moments. Porter’s woes were compounded when he suffered a cut near his right eye in the sixth round as a result of a clash of heads. As the fight went deep, Porter looked frustrated because he could not establish his famous inside work.

In the end, Brook’s accuracy was awarded more than Porter’s high work rate. The new champion out landed Porter 158-156 although the latter threw close to 200 more punches in the twelve round bout. Porter said he had “no excuses” and would “go back to the drawing board.” However, he asked Brook for a rematch.

Battle of Britain?

The win might just have set up a possible Battle of Britain against British superstar Amir Khan. The two have been known rivals back home, although they have not fought each other in the ring. Brook has been chasing Khan in the last few years, but the bigger star has opted to fight in America against the bigger named boxers.

Recently, Khan has been seeking a bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr. but has not been successful. With a world title to dangle now, Brook now a legitimate bait to lure King Khan to a mega fight at home which he says is a “fight that the British public needs to see.”

After two consecutive performance of the night fights, Icelandic fighter Gunnar Nelson gets a chance to headline a UFC event in Stockholm, Sweden.

First Main Event

The undefeated Nelson (13-0-1 with 3 knockouts and 9 submissions) will face American welterweight Rick Story (17-9 with 4 knockouts and 4 submissions) in a five round welterweight bout that will serve as the main event of UFC Fight Night 53 on October 4th at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden which will be streamed via the UFC’s internet subscription service, Fight Pass.

The bout will mark the first time that both Nelson and Story will be fighting in a UFC main event. Nelson recently broke into the UFC’s welterweight rankings at #12, following his fourth consecutive win in the Octagon last July 19th at UFC Fight Night 46. Nelson’s second round submission of Zak Cummings was his third submission win in four UFC fights.

Nelson was looking to fight the UFC’s #2 ranked welterweight Rory MacDonald. But the Canadian protégé has been booked to fight Tarec Saffeidine on the same date as UFC FN 53 in Halifax, Canada. But he now has to deal with the unpredictable Rick Story.

Beating Big Rigg

Rick Story may be an unranked fighter right now. But Gunnar Nelson acknowledges that Story’s fought some of the best fighters in his career and owns a victory over current UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks.

Story is just 4-4 in his last eight bouts and is looking for his first back to back wins since 2011 when he defeated Johny Hendricks and Thiago Alves in succession. Story started out his UFC career with an impressive 6-1 record which included the wins over Hendricks and Alves.

Story says that the fight against Nelson will be “stylistically great” because he likes the fact that Nelson “comes at you” as an attacker.

Scandinavian Connection

The 26 year old Nelson is “excited about the huge opportunity” to headline a card in Sweden. He admits that one of his favorite fighters is Swedish light heavyweight Alexander Gustafsson. Nelson says that he has a connection with the “loud” Swedish fans because he is Scandinavian, and he “believes” that he has a big fan base in Sweden.

Nelson says that he will continue to work with his training partner Connor McGregor who is due to fight at UFC 178 against Dustin Poirier. Nelson adds that he will go to Las Vegas to train with McGregor and also help him prepare for his bout. He then plans conclude his training camp in Sweden.

Former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver will face Johnathon Banks in the main event of a “Golden Boy Live” card on September 29 at the State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas.

Father and Son

Both Tarver and Banks are coming off long layoffs, with the former at 10 months and the latter at 15 months. While each fighter is looking for a win to get into the heavyweight picture,  the event will be more than just his fight, for Antonio Tarver.

In the undercard, his 26 year old son Antonio Jr. will be making his pro debut in a four-round junior middleweight bout. Like his father, the young Tarver is a southpaw  who according to his father “is a spitting young image of himself but with a more aggressive, fan friendly style with speed and power.” However, unlike his father who is one of the most decorated US amateurs of all-time, Antonio Jr. has only a handful of amateur fights.

Shadow of Old Self

The 45 year old Tarver( 30-6–1 with 21 KOs) broke into mainstream stardom when he knocked out the great Roy Jones Jr. in the second round of their rematch to win the WBC,WBA,IBF,IBO and Ring light heavyweight titles. Jones had beaten Tarver by a close majority decision during their first fight. Tarver also defeated Jones by unanimous decision in their rubbermatch in 2005.

But after losing two consecutive bouts to Chad Dawson in 2008 and 2009, Tarver has fought only four times, including a draw with Lateef Kayode in 2012 that was later overturned into a no-contest after Tarver tested positive for banned steroids. After serving a one year suspension and serving time as a Showtime analyst, Tarver returned to action last November against journeyman Mike Sheppard. Although Tarver dropped Sheppard thrice in round 1, he looked like the shadow of his old self.

Tarver says he would like to determine if he still has the ability to make a “conceivable run” for the heavyweight title, and fighting a tough guy like Banks will hopefully gauge that.

Trainer and Fighter

Banks( 29-2-1 with 19 KOs)  was a protégé of Emmanuel Steward. The 32 year old Detroit native has not fought since getting knocked out by Seth Mitchell in their 2013 rematch. Instead, he’s been busy as the trainer of heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitchsko.

Banks and Wladimir are training for the latter’s Sept 6 mandatory title defense in Germany. K2 promotions, which handles Banks, said that their fighter will continue to train Klitschko while preparing for his own bout. Once the Klitschko fight is over, Banks will return to Detroit to continue his training in his hometown.

Still searching for a date with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Amir Khan has instead another tune up fight lined up.

Lateral Move

In what is seen as a lateral move for the former WBA light welterweight champion, Amir Khan ( 29-3 with 19 KOs) is likely to face former light welterweight contender Josesito Lopez ( 32-6 with 19 KOs) in his December fight, according to boxing scribe Steve Kim.

Khan was earlier reported to have been targeting the likes of Devon Alexander and Robert Guerrero to step up his level of opposition in order to return to the discussions of fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year. But fighting an unranked opponent like Lopez looks like a lateral move on the part of the Briton.

Almost There

Khan has been calling out Mayweather for over a year now. In fact, Khan was almost Mayweather’s opponent after the latter used an online fan survey last February to determine his next opponent. Khan beat Marcos Maidana in that survey, owing to his legions of British fans, but Mayweather ultimately decided on fighting Maidana instead last May.

Khan was also in the running as Mayweather’s September opponent, but his religious observance of the Ramadan has forced him to forego fighting until late this year. Mayweather decided to give Maidana a rematch next month, but has hinted that he wants to fight at Britain’s famed Wembley Stadium before he retires.

A Fringe Contender

The 30 year old Lopez announced via twitter that he’d be fighting on September 6. He was previously rumored to be fighting either Adrien Broner or Lucas Matthysse in the Golden Boy Triple Header at Broner’s hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. But both Broner and Matthysse have been given their respective opponents and Lopez isn’t one of them.

Lopez rose to fame in 2012 when he defeated Victor Ortiz via 10th round technical stoppage. Lopez and Ortiz were in a tight contest when Ortiz retired on his stool after round 9 citing a broken jaw. That win earned Lopez a shot at Canelo Alvarez and the WBC Light Middleweight title.

Lopez had to bulk up to 154 pounds for the fight and looked fat. Alvarez dropped him three times before stopping him in the 5th round. Lopez then fought Marcos Maidana next, but after giving the Argentine a tough first five rounds, Maidana cracked Lopez and stopped him in the 6th round. Lopez got back on the winning track after winning his last two bouts against unheralded foes.

Lopez is a formidable foe at light welterweight where he has speed and some power. But his fights above 140 pounds have been disastrous although these were against Canelo and Maidana. Khan used to fight at 140 but is settled at welterweight, which is where Floyd Mayweather is at. If Lopez is indeed Khan’s next opponent that could be a clear sign that his team is bridging him for a big fight next year with Mayweather or his former Wild Card teammate Manny Pacquiao.

After three years and two surgeries, Dominick Cruz is back. After getting a clean bill of health, Dominick Cruz has been added to the UFC 178 card on September 27 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He will fight Japanese Takeya Mizugaki in a three round bout at the 135 lbs weight class in one of the most anticipated returns in UFC history.

Best Bantamweight

Cruz was the UFC’s inaugural Bantamweight King after the WEC and UFC merged in 2011. Cruz won the WEC 135-pound belt by halting Brian Bowles in 2010.

He defended the title twice against Joseph Benavidez and Scott Jorgensen. After the UFC merger, he defeated Urijah Faber in UFC 132 and Demetrious Johnson in 2011 before suffering the ACL injury while training for his next bout.

Cruz was considered one of the top pound for pound fighters at that time and unquestionably the best bantamweight. He was on a ten fight winning streak at the time of the injury. The only blot of his career was a submission defeat to Urijah Faber in a 2007 WEC Featherweight title fight.

He avenged that loss by defeating Faber via unanimous decision in their rematch at UFC 132. The 28 year old Cruz has a record of 19-1 with 6 KOs and 1 submission.

Relinquishing the Title

Early this year, Cruz was forced to relinquish his UFC bantamweight title as he once again suffered a quad injury that forced him off a scheduled title defense at UFC 169.

After the UFC stripped Cruz of the belt, it promoted interim champion Renan Barao to full champion status. Barao defended and lost the title to T.J Dillashaw via 5^th round TKO at UFC 173 last May. Barao and Dillashaw will fight again this coming August 30 at UFC 177 in a rematch for the title.

Opposing Cruz at UFC 178 will be Japanese Takeya Mizugaki, the #6 ranked bantamweight in the UFC. Mizugaki is on a five bout winning streak and has won six of his last seven bouts, with his lone defeat via a controversial unanimous decision to Chris Cariaso at UFC 144 in 2012.

Mizugaki is coming off a victory over the UFC’s # 12 bantamweight Francisco Rivera last May at UFC 173. Mizugaki will be looking to score the biggest win of his career against Cruz. He has a record of 20-7-2 with 5 KOs and 1 submission.

Reclaiming the Title

While Cruz never officially lost the title, he will have to earn it back. Cruz is only 28 years old but it remains to be seen what the effect of the two surgeries have on him. Cruz ended up having a complete replacement of his ACL, and reinjured it after the initial surgery. He has been given a clean bill of health but he won’t only deal with the injury, he will be looking at a near three year layoff which Mizugaki will most definitely take advantage of.

Despite owning a title shot against WBC Heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne, #8 ranked contender Deontay Wilder is fighting fellow American Jason Gavern in a tune-up fight this Saturday in the undercard of the Kell Brook-Shawn Porter showdown at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California.

Taking a Risk

In a fight that he considers a “stay busy” fight, Wilder (31-0 with 31 knockouts) is in fact risking his opportunity to fight for Stiverne’s belt early next year. Although Jason Gavern (25-16-4 with 11 knockouts) is unranked and is not considered a serious threat to Wilder, the 37 year old Virginia native is an experienced fighter who has fought but lost to big name opponents like Oleg Maskaev, Steve Cunningham, Mariusz Wach and Denis Boytsov.

Wilder acknowledges the risk and admits that he isn’t taking Gavern lightly. He adds that while he is looking forward to fighting Stiverne for the title, he is focused on his fight against Gavern.

Knockout Artist

Wilder hasn’t faced a serious opponent in his young career and Gavern may be better than most of the foes he’s knocked out. The former 2008 Olympic super heavyweight bronze medalist has never gone past the fourth round in his pro career. He also has knocked out 18 opponents in the first round. In his last bout last March, Wilder knocked out Malik Scott in round one.

Although the WBC has ordered a fight between Stiverne and Wilder before the end of the year, the champion is nursing an injured hand and it is unclear when the fight will be scheduled. So instead of waiting for Stiverne, Wilder has decided to keep himself busy by taking this fight.

Fighting Bums

Wilder is unbeaten in 31 fights but he has been criticized for fighting journeymen and unranked fighters. The latest to cast the stone on him is former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs who recently called him “Beyonce Wilder”in an interview with On the Ropes Boxing Radio. The 45 year old Briggs also said that Wilder has been “fighting bums” and would be an “easy fight” for him. Briggs has been in the news lately for stalking unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and demanding a title shot.

Fighting Gavern will not do Wilder’s career and reputation any good, although he is correct in saying that it will keep him busy. But he’s got guts in taking a risky fight although barring any major accident, Wilder should come out of Saturday unscathed.

Andre Ward has had enough of Gennady Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez and his word war.

Perefectly Willing and Able

According to James Dubin, a lawyer speaking on Ward’s behalf, Andre Ward is “perfectly willing and able”  to fight WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. He said the statement was made at the request of Ward, who wanted to respond to the recent comments made by Abel Sanchez.

Sanchez was all over media recently, saying that his fighter has “surpassed Ward in marketability” following Ward’s inaction in the last two years after a shoulder surgery in early 2013 and the ongoing legal battle he has with his promoter Dan Goossen. Sanchez added that should a fight between Ward and Golovkin be discussed, Ward has also lost the upperhand in bargaining power.

Quality of Opposition

Dubin blasted Sanchez for talking “hot air” and said that Ward has proven himself against the best boxers in the world, winning the Super Six Middleweight Tournament of 2012.  Dubin noted that Ward defeated Mikkel Kessler, Alan Green, Sakio Bika, Arthur Abraham and then Carl Froch en route to winning the tournament. Ward also knocked out then-Ring light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson in a 2012 bout fought at supper middleweight. Dubin called Golovkin’s quality of opposition “minor league” as compared to Ward’s “major league” foes.

Dubin also responded that it would be “total nonsense” to let the Golovkin camp dictate the terms of the negotiations because their fighter only has Matthew Macklin at best in his fight resume. He said that if Sanchez and the Golovkin camp are truly interested in making the fight with Ward, “they know what to do.” Ward, per Dublin’s statement to ring.com,  would be “somewhat flexible to go down to make the fight (at 160 pounds)” but he also challenged Golovkin to move up and fight for the super middleweight title.

Not on Anybody’s Radar

Although the camp of Andre Ward is correct with the level of opposition that Gennady Golovkin has faced so far, the Kazakh power puncher cannot be faulted by himself. Golovkin has called out the big named boxers in the past and has gotten the clod shoulder. Sanchez is saying that these boxers  are staying away from Golovkin because he is a dangerouse opponent because of his freakish knockout power. Golovkin has a 90% knockout rate in his unbeaten pro career.

Golovkin’s last bout was a third round TKO win over former 160 pound chmpion Daniel Geale last July 26 at the Madison Square Garden. The win was Golovkin’s second for the year and his 17th consecutive knockout victory. After the win, Golovkin called out Cotto, but the latter doesn’t look interested and is busy setting up a Cinco de Mayo showdown with Canelo Alvarez in 2015. Sanchez has also hinted an October fight for his boxer but with Golovkin not on anybody’s radar right now, they may be fighting another “low quality opponent”.

After Saturday’s overly mismatched triple header at the Barclays Center, there seems to be a new war brewing in the boxing industry.

Behind the Scenes Talk

According to espn.com’s Dan Rafael, Showtime President Stephen Espinoza was reportedly “ticked off” at Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya because the latter “left town at 4pm on Saturday” and missed the entire fight card at the Barclays Center which was promoted by GBP and televised by Showtime. Espinoza reportedly lamented that ” he( De La Hoya) didn’t do anything for the card, yet Showtime is writing a check to Golden Boy.”

The triple header that was headlined by Danny Garcia was put up under the leadership of De La Hoya and under the watch of the fighters’ adviser Al Haymon. Since HBO’s “feud ” with Golden Boy Promotions in early 2013, all of the fights promoted by De La Hoya’s company have been on Showtime Boxing. But with the divorce at Golden Boy earlier this year which saw CEO Richard Schaeffer moving out, De La Hoya has been calling all the shots for Golden Boy Promotions.

Hopkins Precedence

Espinoza’s statements on Golden Boy came after he brushed aside notions that Showtime would be “blacklisting” light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins after the 49 year old Philadelphia native signed a contract to fight Sergey Kovalev in November. That bout is airing on rival HBO as Kovalev has an exclusive contract with Showtime’s chief rival network.

The finalization of that deal came in the middle of the discussions for a bigger money bout that would have pitted Hopkins against WBC title holder Adonis Stevenson. Stevenson had signed with Showtime earlier in the year with the hopes of landing a fight with Hopkins. The move by Stevenson even resulted in a lawsuit filed by Main Events, which promotes Kovalev, but that case has since been dropped after the Hopkins-Kovalev bout was penned.

Ending the Cold War

The Hopkins-Kovalev bout will be the first Golden Boy bout on HBO since the cold war between the network and GBP began in 2013. Hopkins isn’t only a Golden Boy fighter, he is a partner and co-owner of Golden Boy and this makes the November fight with Kovalev a clear sign that HBO and Golden Boy have mended fences.

Oscar De La Hoya has been preaching about ending the cold war in boxing, specifically the one between Golden Boy and Top Rank. De La Hoya’s “reconciliation” with Bob Arum was one of the main reasons why Richard Schaeffer left Golden Boy. But De La Hoya insists that ending his feud with Arum will lead to the better matches for fight fans. De La Hoya and Arum are eyeing Cotto-Canelo next May as their first big joint venture.

But while De La Hoya has ended his cold war with Top Rank, he may have started another one with Showtime last Saturday.

According to a report by ESPN.com, Ray Allen will be back for his 19^th NBA season.

While Allen’s agent Jim Tanner told Yahoo! Sports on Saturday that his client has “not decided on playing next season”, Ray  Allen has reportedly “told people close to him” that he will be playing in the 2014-15 NBA season.  Allen also “privately told the source” that he has not yet “fully decided” on whom he will play for.

The 39 year old veteran is a free agent who has played the last two seasons with the Miami Heat. However, sources are also indicating that should Allen return for another season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are “the frontrunners” for his services. Allen is dead serious about winning a third NBA title and the best place to do that would be in Cleveland where LeBron James is right now. Allen’s former Miami Heat teammates Mike Miller and James Jones have recently signed with Miami to join forces with James.

Key Contributor

Ray Allen is definitely past his prime, but he fit well with the shooter role in Miami whom he helped capture the 2013 NBA championship with his clutch shooting. Prior to his stint in Miami, Allen teamed up with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to help the Boston Celtics win the 2008 NBA title.

This past season, Allen was still a key contributor off the Miami bench, averaging 9.6 points 2.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game while shooting 90.5% from the line and 37.5% from the three point line.

Best Shooter in the Game

The 10 time All-Star is the NBA’s All-time leader in three point shots made with 2,973 career triples. There was none bigger than the three pointer which he made during the closing seconds of Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals which sent the game to overtime and saved the season for the Heat. Miami went on to win the title in seven games.

But after losing to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2014 NBA Finals, the Miami Heat big three disbanded with LeBron going back to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Shane Battier also retired while James Jones and Rashard Lewis left the team. This prompted Allen to also consider retirement. But Allen has since changed his stance and recently told the media during the 7^th Annual Jim Calhoun All Star Classic that he will wait until September to make his final decision.