Published
2 years agoon
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Michael WoodsUPDATE: The manager for fighter Mikkel LesPierre tested positive for COVID-19, so the bout pitting LesPierre against Jose Pedraza scheduled for this evening has been cancelled.
Here is the release Top Rank sent out regarding the situation:
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Mikkel LesPierre did what the majority of guys did to get ready for his fight Thursday night in Las Vegas against Jose “Sniper” Pedraza. He adapted to the circumstances that coronavirus hurled at him, though, being a NY guy, he had to adapt a bit harder than some folks in other necks of other woods, where the virus didn't slam as hard.
Slikk Mikk is 35, and lost but looked respectable in a title shot versus Maurice Hooker last March.
He rebounded with a win against Roody P Paul, in December, and was offered the work and some bread for this June 18th show.
Did the man who reps Gleason's Gym get “enough” notice to feel like he'll be the best version of himself at The Bubble and on ESPN?
“Yes, I had a good five weeks to prepare… due to the circumstances I think it worked in my favor,” LesPierre (below, in Mikey Williams photo) said in text message on Wednesday. “A lot of the training was outside and I got about 40 rounds of sparring in.”
Side note: The ex star pug Joan Guzman is head trainer in the LesPierre corner, for the record.
LesPierre is 35, his window isn't wide open. An upset win versus Pedraza would give him a massive career momentum boost.
Here are all the weights for all the fights. One last quickie note–David Kaminsky, a 6-0 prospect from Israel, is matched against the spoiler specialist, Clay Collard (6-2-3), from Utah. He's faced seven unbeatens in his 11 pro outings, and he's not one to be looked past, so that one could be a standout on the slate.
Editor/publisher Michael Woods got addicted to boxing in 1990, when Buster Douglas shocked the world with his demolition of the thought to be impregnable Mike Tyson. The Brooklyn-based journalist Woods has covered the sport since then, for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, ESPN New York, RING, and he was editor of TheSweetScience.com from 2007-2015. Woods is also an accomplished blow by blow and color man, having done work for Top Rank, DiBella Entertainment, EPIX, and for Facebook Fightnight Live since 2017. He now does work for PROBOX TV, the first truly global boxing network.