Lightweight prospect Amir Khan is expected to announce Buddy McGirt as his new trainer.

The move comes after his split with trainer Oliver Harrison with the reason being to tighten up his defensive work while facing the bigger punchers of the division. Khan is known to have a suspect chin and McGirt as of course worked with best defensive fighters in the world today.

Longtime boxing judge Chuck Giampa had decided to put down the judging pen and concentrate on a career as a boxing consultant and sports columnist.

Giampa had been a boxing judge since 1984 and judged many memorable championship fights including the Holyfield-Tyson II "Bite Fight" and the Holyfield-Bowe "Fan Man" fight. He has judged over 120 world championship fights

WBO junior lightweight champion Joan Guzman (28-0, 17 KOs) run into Visa problems yesterday that would postpone the fight between himself and Mandatory number one Alex Arthur.

Guzman applied for a visa to fly to scotland for the defence of his title on May 3rd, but was having trouble securing it with the British Consulate, "Guzman is not giving up his belt," said Jose Nunez, Guzman's long time manager. "He's worked extremely hard and gone through tremendous sacrifices to become a world champion. He's simply not going to give up his belt.

Sean Gibbons, matchmaker for Guzman's promoter Sycuan Ringside Promotions stated "We are waiting for Frank Warren of Sports Network to give us the new, rescheduled date." Frank Warren won the rights to this championship fight in a WBO purse bid.

Former junior welterweight world champion Juan Urango knocked out Argentinean veteran Carlos Wilfredo Vilches in the fourth round of an IBF eliminator last night at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, USA.

The heavily muscled Colombian may have scored the knockout of the year in round four with Vilches unconcious before he even hit the canvas, the referee started the count but stopped at two and immediately called the ring doctor, Thankfully after a minute or two, Vilches was able to get up and sit on a stool – shaken but not seriously hurt.

Before the knockout Vilches was having some success with his jab while Urango was always looking to end proceedings with big powerful hooks, in fact Urango sent Vilches to the canvas in the opening round with a strong left hook which Vilches didnt seem effected by and shook of the after effects, Up untill the finish Vilches was giving Urango nightmares with his movement and his prodding jab but Urango had his eye on the prize and scored the spectacular knockout.

Undercard Report

‘Mean’ Joe Greene stopped tough Ghanaian Joshua Okine in the ninth round

David Estrada scored a second round knockout over Colombian Alexander Pacheco

Wilmer Vazquez stopped Rodney Wallacein the third round of a scheduled four.

WBO #1 rated lightweight Anthony Peterson (26-0, 19 KOs) and WBO #3 light welterweight Lamont Peterson (24-0, 11 KOs) have signed with boxing super promoter Top Rank.

CEO Bob Arum made the announcement in Vegas today saying "Everyone at Top Rank is really excited. These are two fine young men who have amazing futures in front of them," Arum said. Abandoned as children, the Peterson brothers are truly a remarkable story. Anthony and Lamont suffered many hardships -- homeless, living in shelters, bus stations, surviving in the streets. The two turned to boxing as pre-teens when they met trainer Barry Hunter at a gym in Washington, D.C. The Peterson brothers battled in amateur tournaments, won gold medals and are now top-rated contenders.

After seeing Joe Calzaghe decision Bernard Hopkins on Saturday former Middleweight/Super Middleweight/Light Heavyweight and of course Heavyweight champion Roy Jones Jnr was excited at the prospect of making a fight in Calzaghe's home country of Wales.

Jones told reporters he was ready to sign the contract that would see him fight Calzaghe later in the year at the Millenium Stadium that seats over 70,000.

After the Calzaghe v Hopkins fight Jones Jnr told reporters "It was an ugly fight, Joe did the work. Bernard landed the cleaner punches. My fight with Joe will be prettier. I won’t hold him and dance with him. I will be all speed and power. about the decision Jones said "It was a split decision. I am glad Calzaghe won. I have already beat Bernard. I don’t have anything to prove (with Hopkins),”

Super Middleweight king Joe Calzaghe kept his unblemished record in tact last night but had to climb off the canvas in round one in the process, The fight was scored a split decision from the judges with the punch output greatly in Calzaghe's favour.

Everybody seemed to turn out for big showdown with the likes of Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger all in attendance at the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas.

After twelve rounds of boxing the judges had the fight split with one judge scoring the fight by a wide margin of five rounds to Calzaghe while the other scored it by three and the third judge scored it to Hopkins by one. The fight was a very tactical affair and looked to be amore of a chess match than a fight at times, This suited Hopkins' early on and the 43 year old legend plodded in with pot shots and holding tactics, as the rounds wore on The Welshman Calzaghe got stronger with his punch output going through the roof, The knockdown in round one came when Calzaghe looked to put together a combination but as he opened his body up Hopkins' took advantage and landed a flush right hand that landed flush and left Calzaghe on the deck, The Welshman shook off the after effects of the knockdown which seemed to catch him by suprise more than hurt him and tried to again put his punches in bunches for the rest of the round, The rest of the fight was about Hopkins looking to pot shot his way in with single punches and hold while working in close quarters and Calzaghe looking towards his amazing punch output to win the fight. After twelve rounds of boxing the scores were Hopkins 114-113 While the other two judges scored the fight 115-112, 116-111. TopClassBoxing scored the fight to Joe Calzaghe by two points with

After the fight Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins was very dejected by the result and told reporters “I wasn’t slowing down, I was pacing myself, Freddie told me to pace myself and take him into deep water. I think I made him do exactly that. I think it was old school execution. I don’t think he was actually landing. He was missing a lot of his shots, I feel like I made him looks amateurish tonight. I think I made him fight my fight. I feel like I took this guy to school,”

Joe Calzaghe said “I was a bit rusty at the start I was only hurt once, I knew this wouldn’t look pretty. It wasn’t my best fight, but I won,”

Under Card

Audley Harrison (22-3, 16 KOs) stopped Jason Barnett (10-7, 4 KOs) in five rounds.

David "The Destroyer" Lopez (34-12, 23 KOs) also scored a five round stoppage over Ryan Davis (20-8-2, 8 KOs)

Nathan Cleverly (12-0, 3 KOs) won a shutout over eight rounds against Antonio Baker (6-10, 4 KOs)

Joe Calzaghe's father and trainer Enzo has labbeled Bernard Hopkins a stealer and smootherer ahead of his sons highly anticipated showdown on Saturday.

Enzo told Sky Sports "All this stuff Hopkins is saying suggests to me he has low self-esteem. The guy's got no guts and no faith in himself. It smacks of cowardice,"

"He always says 'I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that', but he's a guy who never comes to fight and has never excited me in any way, shape or form. He's a stealer and a smotherer and that's all.

"He talks about being a legend but now the world wants to see that legend. If he turns out to be a legend, I'll be the first person to hold my hands up and admit that he's a great fighter.

"But the world wants to see him in a proper fight. Joe will live up to those expectations and perform like a true champion. We want Hopkins to fight the way he should fight. But deep down Hopkins knows he cannot win."

On Saturday, April 19^th at the Thomas & Mack arena in Las Vegas, We will witness two modern day legends square off against one another when Joe Calzaghe is pitted against "The Executioner" Bernard Hopkins.

Yesterday at the Post-fight press conference Joe Calzaghe stepped to the podium and told the press and fight fans in attendance “I don’t just want to win, I want to knock this guy out and put him back into retirement.”

Calzaghe's trainer and father Enzo handed 43 year old Hopkins a cane which brought a smile to the executioners face as well as those in attendance.

Joe Calzaghe continued “I have no respect for my elders come this Saturday night,” he said. “I’m going to cut 1000 punches down to 500 or 600 punches and make them more powerful, and punish him.”

On Saturday the Welsh fighter will be a 3-1 favorite over Hopkins which didnt seem to bother him one little bit saying “Being an underdog, that’s not a negative to me, That’s a positive. Everything I have I had to fight for.”

“This is going to be my third assassination of a southpaw in the last year and a half,”

Unfazed by Joe Calzaghe Bernard closed saying “I’ll be able to show the world how I’ll be missed when I leave the sport, You’re going to see this athlete and man. It’s going to be an eye opener.

“Every time I’m not supposed to win I step up."

The fighting talk continued yesterday as things seems to be heating up a notch between Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins.

Both fighters were putting the final touches to thier preparations, Both fighters looked in shape and very sharp in sparring, following up to this fight both men had a few words to say about one another.

Calzaghe on Hopkins

"I've heard enough from him," said Calzaghe. "Hopkins will need a respirator if he tries to keep up with me. He talks a bigger game than he fights. He's a St Bernard - all bark and no bite. All of his blathering sounds like he's trying to convince himself he can beat me, rather than it being mind games or intimidation. He'll be leaving the ring with his tail between his legs after I've put him through his paces."

"Hopkins fancies himself as a legend," continued Calzaghe. "What kind of legend has four losses and a draw on his record? My title reign is longer than his [Hopkins held the middleweight world title for 10 years].

"I've had more successful title defences. I'm tied for fourth place on the all-time list for title defences [21 consecutive]. I've already passed him by. His career is in my rear-view mirror. He's not a legend, he's a B-side fighter who depends on big-name opponents to attract fans to his fights - Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and me.

"If you compare our records you will see that I have faced better opposition than Hopkins. They have been faster, stronger and younger. I'm getting older and beating younger, undefeated champions, including Jeff Lacy, who held the IBF and IBO titles, and Mikkel Kessler, who held the WBC and WBA titles, when I beat them.

"I've been asked if I'm concerned about his dirty tactics. That's the easy part. All I need to do is use my speed and my ring intelligence to counter those tactics. The real question for me is, will Hopkins fight? I'm coming out to the middle of the ring, I won't be running a marathon around the ring over 12 rounds. Will he?"

"As far as I'm concerned I've fought better fighters, faster fighters, harder punchers. This guy's the oldest guy I've boxed, he isn't the best guy I've boxed. I'll just go in there and fight the way I fight any other fighter.

"If this fight was in Wales, it would not be a contest. The challenge is to come over here with American judges. He's a 'golden boy' fighter and you know the score, so he will probably do things to stop me fighting my fight, try to lull me into a messy fight.

"I've got to go in there and use my speed and fight with intelligence and as long as I do that, it's no problem. I'm not worried about getting wound up or about what he says."

Hopkins on Calzaghe

“Calzaghe might think he is ready for 12 rounds, but those 12 rounds will be filled with torture and terror,”

“Don’t be surprised when I make it look easy and I make him look amateurish, but only after I’ve given him punishment."

“I know that Calzaghe won’t quit, but I will tell you again his corner are going to have to step in to rescue him.

“What does he bring to this fight? Well, he brings a zero in his defeats column, but I am just going to take that away from him.

“I don’t see anything in Calzaghe that makes me intimidated and I’m going to show the world that he is ordinary .

“Then those of you who doubted me can go away and talk about how you watched a legend go to work.”

When Asked about the 1,000 punch ouput Calzaghe as, Hopkins dismissed any notion that he should be concerned.

He continued: “The only thing I hear about is how Calzaghe throws 1000 punches.

“But I’m not stupid. Sure I’m getting ready for those 1,000 punches and have to be ready to hit him 1000 times too.

“But they only talk about 1,000 punches, they never say anything else about those punches.

“What they forget to talk about is the punches that land, if any do.

“Let me tell you there ain’t no way he is landing 1,000 and when he misses is when I have to make him pay. If a fighter is throwing and landing 1,000 punches a fight, then he must be fighting a man who likes to get hit and just won’t go on the canvas.”

“I like a fighter who punches hard because I don’t have to do much work,”

“When you fight a person like Winky Wright you have to get the turtle out of its shell. But Calzaghe likes to fire, he likes to punch and I like that.

“This is not going to be a fight where I have to figure out a way through.

“I will do that... and I will take Calzaghe’s title from him.”

Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins opened the door of his training facility in Pasadena, California to show the media in attendance a glipse of his conditioning, the Ring Magazine champion was in a great mood and looked to be in a great shape for his highly anticipated match up with Joe Calzaghe.

"I think that saying I can manipulate my opponents is an insult to my abilities and takes away from them too. I feel you should just look at my professionalism and know that I have been able to master the sport of boxing and hone the skills I have been able to develop, mold and maintain. The only thing that I am going to get in his head is this left and right hand.

"Basically I know what I am doing and no one can take that away from me.

"I don't have a college degree but I have an education in life. I am a graduate of life.

"When you see me on April 19, you will once again say—how does he do it?

"The only difference I feel from now and several years ago is that I have more gray hairs in my beard and my running time is a little later—Instead of running at 5am, I now go at 6:30am.

"I brought in Mackie because all I hear about is how Joe throws 1000 punches around. I'm not crazy. I getting ready for those 1000 punches a round and have to ready to hit him 1000 times too.

"But let me ask you something, all they say is 1000 punches a round but they never say anything else about those punches."

Clinton Woods insists he will leave nothing to chance when he steps into the ring for what he calls the biggest fight of his career against Antonio Tarver in Tampa on Saturday night.

The Sheffield star puts his IBF light-heavyweight title on the line secure in the knowledge victory could present him with any number of lucrative options, including a showdown with domestic rival Joe Calzaghe.

But Woods is adamant he will not look beyond former undisputed champion Tarver and will disregard his opponent's recent performances, which suggest his best days may have passed.

Woods witnessed Tarver's motormouth style at first hand at the final press conference on Thursday, and stressed: "I can't afford to think Tarver has lost his appetite. He says he is hungrier now than he has ever been and I believe that.

"But I'm also in the best shape of my life. I've had a brilliant camp out in Orlando and I'm raring to go. This is a massive fight for me. I've learned so much in my career and I know exactly what to expect."

Tarver lost almost every round of a dismal title fight against Bernard Hopkins and sandwiched filming for the Rocky Balboa movie in between two subsequent unimpressive wins.

But at his best, Tarver was a match for any other 175lbs fighter - as he proved with a stunning second-round win over Roy Jones and also victory over former Woods foe Glen Johnson.

Tarver said: "Despite what people say, I feel right now that I am at the pinnacle of my career. I am going to go out with a bang by becoming undisputed champion. I am going to lay it all on the line.

"I knew another challenge would come along and I have got one now. I won't be satisfied until I have got all the belts.

"That's my goal and this is the first leg of it. I have to get past Clinton Woods to get closer to my goal."

World reknown boxing annoucer Micheal Buffer is currently recovering at his home in Los Angeles following surgery to remove cancerous tumors from the throat and neck. Buffer has issued the following statement:

"The cancer was detected at a very early stage in mid-February and three weeks ago I was operated on by one of the best surgeons in the field. I am recovering well and feel stronger every day. The early detection prevented any spread that would have jeopardized my vocal ability. I am looking forward to being back in the ring next week (Saturday, April 19th) as Bernard Hopkins faces Joe Calzaghe on HBO from Las Vegas. The support and encouragement for a return to good health received from my friends and members of the sports promotion and broadcasting community was overwhelming and greatly appreciated. I was very surprised to learn how many cancer survivors are out there and how they instantly rallied to my support. As a new member of that group, I intend to keep up that tradition. My physicians are not sure of the cause as many things can contribute to cancer but one very distinct possibility is smoking. After a decade of smoking, I quit 35 years ago but the damage may have begun. Hopefully, my circumstances will encourage others to avoid smoking and second hand smoke when possible, and please get regular checkups."

Juan Manuel Lopez is one of the hottest prospects in the boxing world today and on June 7 at The Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City he will have the chance to claim the WBO title when he faces current champion Daniel Ponce De Leon.

The fight will be part of the Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik-Gary Lockett card on HBO.

A title may be just around the corner for Amir Khan who took Martin Kristjansen (19-2-3, 5 KOs) apart in just seven rounds on Saturday night at the Bolton Arena in Bolton, England.

In a WBO lightweight eliminator, The Unbeaten Amir Khan f loored Kristjansen three times in the seventh round before referee Micky Vann stopped the bout at 2.53 minutes, Khan throughout the fight looked sharp with his punches measured to perfection, In the first few rounds Khan looked patient and boxed at a high pace, It was the first time Martin Kristjansen was stopped in his twenty four fight career.

WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (29-2-1, 13 KOs) scored a seventh round knockout of previously unbeaten Jamie Pittman (16-1, 7 KOs) on Saturday night at the sold out Burg-Wächter Castello in Düsseldorf, Germany.

In a fight many thought would be a close affair in actual fact was a one sided beating, No disrespect to the game Pittman but Sturm brought his A game which most of the middlweight division would of had problems with, Sturm made his intentions known from the opening round where he caught Pittman with shot after shot after shot, a left hook in the fifth round dropped the australian fighter to his knee's, Pittman showed alot of heart to make it to his feet and finish the round but again was on the canvas in round six this time from a left-right combination, The end was in sight and Sturm sensing the end finished Pittman with 36 seconds remaining of round seven.

Under Card

WBO #1 super middleweight Jürgen Brähmer (31-1, 25 KOs) scored a ninth round stoppage of Karim Bennama (17-10-2, 4 KOs).

Gennady Golovkin (11-0, 9 KOs) won a eight round unanimous decision over veteran Ian Gardner (20-4, 8 KOs).

"Atty. (Franklin) Gacal is going there to finalize everything," said Pacquiao’s confidant Wakee Salud.

"It’s (David) Diaz for Manny on June 28," said Salud, who currently hosts Pacquiao, wife Jinkee and three kids at Shangri-La Mactan for a brief break from all invitations and business commitments following his victory over Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas last March 15.

"Cebu always welcomes Manny Pacquiao because fight fans here know what boxing is all about," added Salud.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum hasn’t formally announced the Pacquiao-Diaz showdown set at Mandalay Bay but has been very vocal about such a match-up despite repeated calls from Marquez’s promoter, Golden Boy Promotions (GBP), that there’s no other way to settle the unfinished business between Pacquiao and Marquez but to have an immediate rubber match.

While Pacquiao is not running away from a third fight with Marquez, Diaz is on his radar screen nowadays simply because he felt that he had done enough to prove he is the better man.

Besides, a win over Diaz will make Pacquiao a four-division titleholder, a feat that is rare in the fight game.

Marquez is raring to get another chance at Pacquiao that he told the press after losing a 12-round split decision that he is willing to go up to lightweight to meet Pacquiao there.

Pacquiao and Marquez fought for the first time at featherweight (126 lbs) in May 2004 and their duel last month was at 130 lbs.

Salud said Pacquiao is not taking Diaz lightly and plans to set up training camp at the Wild Card in Hollywood just like for the Marquez bout when he spent eight full weeks under the tutelage of Roach.