Of the St. Louis American
Former undisputed welterweight champion Cory Spinks will move up to the rank of junior middleweight (154 pounds) and make his long-awaited return to the ring in late May or early June, according to his manager and trainer Kevin Cunningham of Round One Promotions.
Cunningham told the American that Spinks’ opponent could be IBF Junior Middleweight Champion Roman “Made In Hell” Karmazin (34-1-1-1 NC with 21 KOs) or WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Alex “Terra” Garcia (25-1 with 24 KOs).
Garcia was scheduled to fight Karmazin in April, but the bout was cancelled. Karmazin said his scheduled opponent “was scared,” but Garcia said it was all about the money.
“The reason our fight didn’t happen was simply for monetary reasons. In my contract I have a minimum amount that I make for every fight and to fight in a unification fight with another champion who only has one loss and is a very difficult opponent. I’m going to be compensated,” Garcia told FightNews.com.
Spinks last fought more than a year ago, when he lost his titles to Zab Judah at the Savvis Center on Feb. 5, 2005.
There is also big news for another of Cunningham’s fighters.
Rising star Devon “The Great” Alexander has been hand-picked by undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. to serve as his main sparring partner in preparation for his April 8 welterweight championship bout against Judah.
Mayweather is aiming for his fourth title in four weight classes in the bout in Las Vegas. Mayweather is training in Las Vegas and Alexander will spending several weeks training with the champion.
Judah, the previously undisputed champion, was upset by Carlos Baldomir on Jan. 7 at Madison Square Garden. But Baldomir won only the WBC version of the welterweight title because he never paid the sanctioning fees to the WBA and the IBF.
Mayweather fought as a welterweight for the first time last November, knocking out Sharmba Mitchell in the sixth round. He won the WBC super lightweight world title fight in June with a sixth-round technical knockout against defending champion Arturo Gatti.
Promoter Don King is predicting Judah will bounce back from the loss to Baldomir, like he did after losing to Cory Spinks in summer of 2005 Judah beat Spinks in their rematch in St. Louis.
TKO.
Alexander will take a break from Mayweather’s training schedule to return to St. Louis and fight on Thursday, March 9 at The Spot on North Broadway in Baden.
Also scheduled to appear on that card are Danny Williams and DeAndre “The Bull” Latimore.
Tickets are $45 for VIP and $30 for general admission.
For information call The Spot at (314) 385-4545 or Metrotix at (314) 534-1111.
