Kimbo Slice, the viral video backyard-fighting sensation turned mixed martial artist, is gearing up for a foray into the sweet science.
Slice, whose real name is Kevin Ferguson, told ESPNNewYork.com that he's eager to see how he fares in the boxing world, after spending almost three years in MMA.
"I feel like a baby all over again," said the 36-year-old Florida resident. "I'm thinking about this at night. I'm gonna be a problem in the heavyweight division. I'm going to be coming in with a bad demeanor. I want to see what it's like to break some ribs, break a jaw with one punch."
At Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, New Jersey-based promoter Gary Shaw recently told ESPNNewYork.com that he was confident he would soon have a deal signed with Slice. After weeks of negotiations with Slice's advisor "Icy" Mike Imber, Shaw told ESPN that he'd inked a deal and that Slice would debut sometime between October and December, depending on how much progress he makes with trainer Clemente Medina, a California-based tutor.
[+] Enlarge Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images Slice, 36, plans to take a swing at the squared circle. Slice said he wouldn't close the door on MMA and that he greatly enjoyed his tenure with the UFC, and appreciated the opportunity UFC chief Dana White gave him.
"This is a career move," he said. "I love fighting. I like to knock people the [expletive] out. I love engaging. Maybe some people think I'm crazy."
Slice signed on with the UFC and earned a win over Houston Alexander on Dec. 5, 2009, after taking part in the "The Ultimate Fighter 10" Spike TV reality show. He lost his lone bout on the show, an exhibition tussle with eventual victor Roy Nelson. He was stopped by Matt Mitrione at UFC 113 on May 8, however, and parted ways with the company.
In a boxing division dominated by the cerebral, caution-first Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, Shaw says that if his hunch is right, that time with strength and conditioning coach Darryl Hudson kicks Slice's cardio into a new zone, the fighter could be challenging for a title after six or so fights.
"He could easily be at the same level as guys the Klitschkos have been fighting," said Shaw, who gave a shout-out to son Jared, who turned him on to the much-downloaded backyard brawler several years ago. "Maybe I'm wrong, maybe he's coming to boxing too late, but I don't think so. He's not a beaten-up athlete. He's a natural, with that bob and weave like Mike Tyson."
Slice has had issues with balky knees, but says he's squatting 315 pounds and running with no problems. No one, he said, will question his dedication, or have cause to dismiss him as a hyped-up product of skilled viral video marketing. He promised to bring a closing mentality to the ring, in contrast to some of the heavyweights who prefer to peck away at their foes, rather than bludgeon them into submission.
"I'm safety-first driving, wear my seatbelt," Slice said. "Not in the ring. These fighters these days, they're complacent, lazy. I'm hungry. I just dropped three of my kids off at tutoring. It's expensive!"
A Floyd Mayweather-level payday would be something to look forward to, he said, but Slice showed some of the humility that made many MMAers believers in his respect for their sport. "That'd be nice," he said. "But unfortunately I'm still a little squirrel, in a big [expletive] world, looking for my nut."
Shaw thinks Slice will find success as a boxer.
"I've always said he could be a world champion," said Shaw, who was an executive at Elite XC, the promotional outlet which staged Slice's first four MMA bouts. "I believe in that more than ever. This is not the era of Tyson, Holyfield and Lennox Lewis."
yd Mayweather Jr., who has steadfastly refused to answer questions about the most recent round of failed negotiations for a fight with Manny Pacquiao, has unleashed a profanity-filled racist and homophobic Internet rant against the Filipino star.
In an approximately 10-minute UStream video, apparently made Thursday and also posted on YouTube, Mayweather repeated his assertion that Pacquiao uses performance-enhancing drugs, an accusation that resulted in a defamation lawsuit from Pacquiao earlier this year.
Mayweather, apparently in his home with a handful of members of his entourage in the background, ripped into Pacquiao repeatedly during the video.
"I'm on vacation for about a year, about a year," Mayweather said. "As soon as we come off vacation, we're going to cook that little yellow chump. We ain't worried about that. So they ain't gotta worry about me fighting the midget. Once I kick the midget ass, I don't want you all to jump on my d---. So you all better get on the bandwagon now. ... Once I stomp the midget, I'll make that mother f----- make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice."
Mayweather's publicist, in Mexico for another fighter's promotion, has seen the video but has been unable to reach Mayweather or adviser Leonard Ellerbe. Kelly Swanson said she would not comment further.
Attempts by ESPN.com to reach Ellerbe were also unsuccessful.
"The video speaks for itself," Pacquiao said in a statement given to ESPN.com by his publicist, Fred Sternburg.
Animated as ever, Mayweather at times spoke directly to the camera and at other times kept the recording running while he made calls to fans who had posted messages to his UStream and Twitter pages.
The tirade came as Pacquiao is in the midst of a three-city media tour to promote his Nov. 13 fight with Antonio Margarito -- a bout taking place only because Mayweather refused to fight him.
But Mayweather sure made it sound as though the fight with Pacquiao, boxing's biggest bout and the fight many believe will shatter all revenue records in boxing history, will eventually happen. They have already had two rounds of negotiations fail -- in January and again during the spring.
"At this particular time I don't know if I'm gonna fight again," Mayweather said. "As of right now, I truly believe I am gonna fight again, but as of right now I don't have the urge to get up. But when I do got the urge to get up, believe me my UStream and my Twitter fans will be the first to know, and when we do come back, we will kick 'Poochiao' ass. So I'll let the fans know. Don't worry, we'll kick 'Poochiao' ass. He's gonna take the urine and blood test."
All terms had been agreed to in January for Mayweather and Pacquiao to meet in March, except for the drug-testing protocol. Mayweather had demanded that he and Pacquiao submit to random blood and urine tests throughout the buildup to the fight. Pacquiao agreed to random urine tests, but they could not come to an agreement on the blood-testing protocol and the fight plans imploded.
Pacquiao went on to easily defeat Joshua Clottey on March 13. Mayweather went on to easily outpoint Shane Mosley on May 1.
Then a second round of negotiations failed and Pacquiao signed to fight Margarito.
During this week's media tour to promote the bout, Pacquiao said he gave in to Mayweather's testing demands during the second round of negotiations.
"We agree with, you know, his demands," Pacquiao said. "I wanted to know if that's his real reason [for not signing to fight]."
Mayweather's camp has denied the second round of negotiations ever took place, even though Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, insisted that they did, with HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg serving as the intermediary. Arum's version was backed up by Greenburg, despite the Mayweather camp's denials.
During the video, Mayweather also went on a rant about Pacquiao's record, even though Pacquiao has not lost a fight since 2005, and made incorrect comments about the money each had received for recent fights and endorsements.
" 'Poochiao' got three losses and two draws and been knocked out twice," Mayweather said. "So, like I said before, once I beat him it's going to be a cakewalk and it's on to the next. ... We know Pacquiao made $6 million in his last fight and Floyd Mayweather made $65 million in his last fight. Three losses, two draws. Ohhh, hell no, this is America baby. We built on winning. Step your game up, f----t. ... That mother f----- Pacquiao, he can't speak no English. He never seen a contract he didn't like. Mother f----- signed with two companies [Top Rank and Golden Boy]. Look it up. And then this mother f------ with Nike only got 70 Gs. How stupid can a mother f----- be? Reebok gave me a million dollars for three weeks. I wore Reebok s--- for a week for a million dollars. ... This mother f------'s name is Emmanuel. He got a fake name, taking power pellets."
Mayweather also broke out into a bizarre song in which he called Pacquiao a "whore" and added: "When we do come back, we'll kick 'Poochiao's' ass. I'm gonna fight the Pacman when he gets off the power pellets."
how i stayed awake through that borefest is beyond me, but Lampley and Merchant shitting on the fight as it was going on was entertaining. Also, the fact that it was a draw is un fucking real, as Mosley easily won the fight, and hell started making it watchable in the 11th and 12th.
Comments
but then again i really dont care...these sports are just a waste of time <_>
watch real sports like Football...
street fights compared to boxing..
ill take the street fight..at least that shit isnt staged.
People are fake...
Slice, whose real name is Kevin Ferguson, told ESPNNewYork.com that he's eager to see how he fares in the boxing world, after spending almost three years in MMA.
"I feel like a baby all over again," said the 36-year-old Florida resident. "I'm thinking about this at night. I'm gonna be a problem in the heavyweight division. I'm going to be coming in with a bad demeanor. I want to see what it's like to break some ribs, break a jaw with one punch."
At Gleason's Gym in Brooklyn, New Jersey-based promoter Gary Shaw recently told ESPNNewYork.com that he was confident he would soon have a deal signed with Slice. After weeks of negotiations with Slice's advisor "Icy" Mike Imber, Shaw told ESPN that he'd inked a deal and that Slice would debut sometime between October and December, depending on how much progress he makes with trainer Clemente Medina, a California-based tutor.
[+] Enlarge
Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images
Slice, 36, plans to take a swing at the squared circle.
Slice said he wouldn't close the door on MMA and that he greatly enjoyed his tenure with the UFC, and appreciated the opportunity UFC chief Dana White gave him.
"This is a career move," he said. "I love fighting. I like to knock people the [expletive] out. I love engaging. Maybe some people think I'm crazy."
Slice signed on with the UFC and earned a win over Houston Alexander on Dec. 5, 2009, after taking part in the "The Ultimate Fighter 10" Spike TV reality show. He lost his lone bout on the show, an exhibition tussle with eventual victor Roy Nelson. He was stopped by Matt Mitrione at UFC 113 on May 8, however, and parted ways with the company.
In a boxing division dominated by the cerebral, caution-first Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir, Shaw says that if his hunch is right, that time with strength and conditioning coach Darryl Hudson kicks Slice's cardio into a new zone, the fighter could be challenging for a title after six or so fights.
"He could easily be at the same level as guys the Klitschkos have been fighting," said Shaw, who gave a shout-out to son Jared, who turned him on to the much-downloaded backyard brawler several years ago. "Maybe I'm wrong, maybe he's coming to boxing too late, but I don't think so. He's not a beaten-up athlete. He's a natural, with that bob and weave like Mike Tyson."
Slice has had issues with balky knees, but says he's squatting 315 pounds and running with no problems. No one, he said, will question his dedication, or have cause to dismiss him as a hyped-up product of skilled viral video marketing. He promised to bring a closing mentality to the ring, in contrast to some of the heavyweights who prefer to peck away at their foes, rather than bludgeon them into submission.
"I'm safety-first driving, wear my seatbelt," Slice said. "Not in the ring. These fighters these days, they're complacent, lazy. I'm hungry. I just dropped three of my kids off at tutoring. It's expensive!"
A Floyd Mayweather-level payday would be something to look forward to, he said, but Slice showed some of the humility that made many MMAers believers in his respect for their sport. "That'd be nice," he said. "But unfortunately I'm still a little squirrel, in a big [expletive] world, looking for my nut."
Shaw thinks Slice will find success as a boxer.
"I've always said he could be a world champion," said Shaw, who was an executive at Elite XC, the promotional outlet which staged Slice's first four MMA bouts. "I believe in that more than ever. This is not the era of Tyson, Holyfield and Lennox Lewis."
yd Mayweather Jr., who has steadfastly refused to answer questions about the most recent round of failed negotiations for a fight with Manny Pacquiao, has unleashed a profanity-filled racist and homophobic Internet rant against the Filipino star.
In an approximately 10-minute UStream video, apparently made Thursday and also posted on YouTube, Mayweather repeated his assertion that Pacquiao uses performance-enhancing drugs, an accusation that resulted in a defamation lawsuit from Pacquiao earlier this year.
Mayweather, apparently in his home with a handful of members of his entourage in the background, ripped into Pacquiao repeatedly during the video.
"I'm on vacation for about a year, about a year," Mayweather said. "As soon as we come off vacation, we're going to cook that little yellow chump. We ain't worried about that. So they ain't gotta worry about me fighting the midget. Once I kick the midget ass, I don't want you all to jump on my d---. So you all better get on the bandwagon now. ... Once I stomp the midget, I'll make that mother f----- make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice."
Mayweather's publicist, in Mexico for another fighter's promotion, has seen the video but has been unable to reach Mayweather or adviser Leonard Ellerbe. Kelly Swanson said she would not comment further.
Attempts by ESPN.com to reach Ellerbe were also unsuccessful.
"The video speaks for itself," Pacquiao said in a statement given to ESPN.com by his publicist, Fred Sternburg.
Animated as ever, Mayweather at times spoke directly to the camera and at other times kept the recording running while he made calls to fans who had posted messages to his UStream and Twitter pages.
The tirade came as Pacquiao is in the midst of a three-city media tour to promote his Nov. 13 fight with Antonio Margarito -- a bout taking place only because Mayweather refused to fight him.
But Mayweather sure made it sound as though the fight with Pacquiao, boxing's biggest bout and the fight many believe will shatter all revenue records in boxing history, will eventually happen. They have already had two rounds of negotiations fail -- in January and again during the spring.
"At this particular time I don't know if I'm gonna fight again," Mayweather said. "As of right now, I truly believe I am gonna fight again, but as of right now I don't have the urge to get up. But when I do got the urge to get up, believe me my UStream and my Twitter fans will be the first to know, and when we do come back, we will kick 'Poochiao' ass. So I'll let the fans know. Don't worry, we'll kick 'Poochiao' ass. He's gonna take the urine and blood test."
All terms had been agreed to in January for Mayweather and Pacquiao to meet in March, except for the drug-testing protocol. Mayweather had demanded that he and Pacquiao submit to random blood and urine tests throughout the buildup to the fight. Pacquiao agreed to random urine tests, but they could not come to an agreement on the blood-testing protocol and the fight plans imploded.
Pacquiao went on to easily defeat Joshua Clottey on March 13. Mayweather went on to easily outpoint Shane Mosley on May 1.
Then a second round of negotiations failed and Pacquiao signed to fight Margarito.
During this week's media tour to promote the bout, Pacquiao said he gave in to Mayweather's testing demands during the second round of negotiations.
"We agree with, you know, his demands," Pacquiao said. "I wanted to know if that's his real reason [for not signing to fight]."
Mayweather's camp has denied the second round of negotiations ever took place, even though Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, insisted that they did, with HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg serving as the intermediary. Arum's version was backed up by Greenburg, despite the Mayweather camp's denials.
During the video, Mayweather also went on a rant about Pacquiao's record, even though Pacquiao has not lost a fight since 2005, and made incorrect comments about the money each had received for recent fights and endorsements.
" 'Poochiao' got three losses and two draws and been knocked out twice," Mayweather said. "So, like I said before, once I beat him it's going to be a cakewalk and it's on to the next. ... We know Pacquiao made $6 million in his last fight and Floyd Mayweather made $65 million in his last fight. Three losses, two draws. Ohhh, hell no, this is America baby. We built on winning. Step your game up, f----t. ... That mother f----- Pacquiao, he can't speak no English. He never seen a contract he didn't like. Mother f----- signed with two companies [Top Rank and Golden Boy]. Look it up. And then this mother f------ with Nike only got 70 Gs. How stupid can a mother f----- be? Reebok gave me a million dollars for three weeks. I wore Reebok s--- for a week for a million dollars. ... This mother f------'s name is Emmanuel. He got a fake name, taking power pellets."
Mayweather also broke out into a bizarre song in which he called Pacquiao a "whore" and added: "When we do come back, we'll kick 'Poochiao's' ass. I'm gonna fight the Pacman when he gets off the power pellets."