Mandatory Eight Count - Valuev's End is Nigh

Hopkins-Bute in the Works? | 411Mania

Golden Boy and Interbox are reportedly in discussions for a bout between Bernard Hopkins and Lucian Bute. I guess this means Hopkins and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer kissed and made up. We'll see if they can get money to work - Bute could sell 15,000 seats fighting a clubfifghter, but Hopkins probably won't want to go to Montreal and has always had an inflated sense of self-worth at the negotiating table.

Shot at title a long time coming for Allan Green | ESPN

This edition of Dan Rafael's notebook, as usual, contains a lot of interesting tidbits. The proposed Gamboa-Salido / Peterson-Rios card has been postponed, since Salido is injured from his fight with Cristobal Cruz. Sergio Martinez is trying to work out a rematch with Paul WIlliams, or in the alternative, an HBO doubleheader with him. Alfredo Angulo will vacate his interim title (and thus won't need to face Sergei Dzinziruk, who almost certainly would have outboxed him). Cris Arreola's next fight will be back on Friday Night Fights against the almighty TBA.

Friday Boxing Results | Boxrec

Not a big fight night. Sherzod Husanov barely got by Jhon Berrio. Maxim Vlasov was much more impressive in knocking out Jerson Ravelo. Omar Sheika, Terrance Cauthen, Eric Molina, Luis Ramos Jr. and Jermell Charlo all won. Demetrius Andrade and Stalin Lopez did not end up fighting.

Valuev Drops The Ball, Defaults on David Haye Rematch | BoxingScene

According to Lem Satterfield, Nicolai Valuev's option to rematch David Haye has now expired. Valuev's team has REALLY screwed the pooch on this one. First Vitali Klitschko put several offers on the table for Valuev. Then he could have signed for a title eliminator with Odlanier Solis. Then his team "accepted" an offer from Klitschko that wasn't even on the table anymore (while the offer currently on the table is almost half of what it was at the beginning of the year, in great part due to the Euro getting weaker). Now his team failed to put in paperwork on a fight that would have guaranteed their client a seven-figure payday. Hopefully this means it's back to the circus for the painfully boring Valuev.

Junior welterweight tournament would have been great | Dan Rafael's Blog

According to Dan Rafael's last blog entry as well as another ESPN article, Gary Shaw had pitched to HBO a tournament at 140 that would have involved Timothy Bradley, Devon Alexander, Amir Khan and someone else (likely Marcos Maidana). While Alexander and Bradley were on board, Golden Boy was not.

Protestor who abused troops is ex-British boxing ace | The Sun

Here's another reason to hate Anthony "Sugar Ray Clay Jones Jr." Small. A group called Muslims against Crusades was protesting the return of U.K. troops from Afghanistan. Small, who now calls himself Abdul Haqq, joined protesters who chanted ‘Murderers!’ and ‘Baby killers!’ to the troops. Upon hearing the news, Frank Warren dropped Small from his promotional rolls, meaning we hopefully never need to see this dreadful fighter on Sky Sports again.

French promoter wins Chebah-Olusegun purse bid | Fédération Française de Boxe

Don Majeski, promoter for French fighter Ali Chebah, won a purse bid to host a junior welterweight title eliminator between Chebah and English-based Nigerian Ajose Olusegun. The winner will earn the right to face Devon Alexander (or more likely, Alexander would just vacate one of his titles).

Boxer Johnson learned the ropes on the island | Galveston Daily News

GALVESTON — Photographs donated to the Rosenberg Library’s Galveston and Texas History Center record a boxing match in which future boxing great Jack Johnson received a major defeat early in his career. Interesting historical stuff. In a couple of weeks, there will be a lot of Jack Johnson stuff going on, especially in Reno, Nevada, where it will be the 100th anniversary of Johnson-Jeffries.