No Holds Barred: Lateef Kayode, Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright, Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin, Froch-Bute Classic

(Photo courtesy of Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks previews the Lateef Kayode-Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright-Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin, and Vusi Malinga-Leo Santa Cruz fights scheduled for June 2, and reviews the dramatic fifth-round TKO by Carl Froch over previously-unbeaten Lucian Bute on May 26.

Lateef Kayode and Antonio Tarver headline a four-fight card to be held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, and shown in the U.S. on Showtime.

The 43-year-old veteran Antonio Tarver (29-6, 20 KOs) will face the 29-year-old unbeaten Lateef Kayode (18-0, 14 KOs), who was originally from Nigeria, in a 12-round cruiserweight fight, with major title implications. After losing his last two fights and taking a three-year layoff, the 40-year-old Winky Wright (51-5-1, 25 KOs) will return to action to fight the undefeated 28-year-old Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin (26-0, 20 KOs) in a middleweight bout. Also on that card, 32-year-old South African Vusi Malinga (20-3, 12 KOs) fights the 23-year-old unbeaten Leo Santa Cruz (19-0-1, 11 KOs) for the vacant IBF bantamweight title, and unbeaten WBA super welterweight champ Austin Trout (24-0, 14 KOs) takes on challenger Delvin Rodriguez (26-5-3, 14 KOs).

With the return of the veterans Tarver and Wright, the appearance by African fighters Kayode and Malinga, and the presence of unbeaten rising stars Quillin, Santa Cruz, and Trout, plus the always-exciting Rodriguez, this show has the makings of an historic night of boxing.

We have comments and discussion by Lateef Kayode, Antonio Tarver, Winky Wright, Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin, Vusi Malinga, and Leo Santa Cruz from their media conference calls held last week. There are many story lines here which will begin to be played out in the ring.

In addition, we open with a commentary on the instant classic between Carl Froch and Lucian Bute. Froch, fighting in his home town of Nottingham, England, but the underdog against the then-unbeaten IBF super middleweight champ Bute, completely dominated this action-packed fight, finishing with a fifth-round TKO in a fight of the year candidate.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

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American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

No Holds Barred: Andre Ward, Carl Froch, and Boxing Governance

(Photo by: Tom Casino / Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Super Six World Boxing Classic finalists Andre Ward and Carl Froch, and discusses why the bad governance in boxing made this super middleweight tournament necessary.

On Saturday, December 17, WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward (24-0, 13 KOs) will face WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch (28-1, 20 KOs) in the finals of the two-year-long Super Six World Boxing Classic. This fight will take place at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and will be televised live in the U.S. on Showtime and in the U.K. on Sky Sports. The winner will earn the right to be called the best super middleweight in the world.

We spoke with both Andre Ward and Carl Froch at the kickoff news conference in August for this fight, which had originally been scheduled for October 29 but had to be postponed after Ward suffered a cut during training. We discussed what to expect in this fight, as well as the need for a boxers' union. We also previewed this fight with New York TV host Kristal Hart, whose show airs on Manhattan Neighborhood Network.

In addition, we open with a commentary on why it took an American television network, Showtime, to organize a tournament of the top fighters in the world in this division, when legitimate sports regularly have competitions pitting the best against the best.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com

No Holds Barred: Carl Froch, Glen Johnson, and the Ethics of Boxing

On this audio edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the June 4 fight between WBC super middleweight champion Carl Froch and Glen Johnson. This fight takes place in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and will be televised in the U.S. on Showtime and in the U.K. on Sky Sports.

The Froch-Johnson fight is the last semifinal bout in the lengthy Super Six World Boxing Classic, with the winner taking on unbeaten WBA champ Andre Ward in the finals.

We spoke with both Carl Froch (27-1, 20 KOs) and Glen Johnson (51-14-2, 35 KOs) on a media conference call last week about this fight.

We also address the issue of ethics in boxing, or the lack thereof, and the need for a code of ethics in sports, and especially in the contact and combat sports. We discuss this both in relation to the experience of the World Boxing Classic, both positive and negative, and to boxing in general.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

M-1 Global. Founded in 1998, M-1 Global has staged over 100 mixed martial arts events worldwide including the M-1 Selection tournaments and M-1 Challenge events, in Eastern and Western Europe, North America, and Asia. While discovering and developing the world's next generation of superstar fighters, M-1 Global's greatest asset is the number one heavyweight in mixed martial arts history, Fedor Emelianenko. Make sure to catch their shows from around the world, including on Showtime in the U.S., and visit their web site, M-1Global.com, and the M-1 Facebook page for news, videos, and live streaming events.

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.

No Holds Barred: Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham, Andre Ward, Sakio Bika, Super Six World Boxing Classic

(Photo: Tom Casino/Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the super middleweight title fights which will be held this Saturday, November 27, between Carl Froch and Arthur Abraham, and Andre Ward and Sakio Bika.

In the last fight of the third stage of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, Arthur Abraham (31-1, 25 KOs), originally from Yerevan, Armenia, and now fighting out of Berlin, Germany, and Carl Froch (26-1, 20 KOs) of Nottingham, United Kingdom, will fight for the vacant WBC super middleweight title at the Hartwall Areena in Helsinki, Finland. Both have already earned spots in the semifinals of the Super Six, although the outcome of this fight will determine their seeding.

In a non-tournament fight but one where he has to defend his WBA super middleweight title, Andre Ward (22-0, 13 KOs) of Oakland, California, U.S., will fight Sakio Bika (28-4-2, 19 KOs) of Sydney, Australia, via Douala, Cameroon, at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Ward has also earned a berth in the Super Six semifinals, along with Glen Johnson.

In the U.S., Showtime will telecast the Froch-Abraham fight on same-day tape-delay along with a live telecast of the Ward-Bika fight, at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). In the U.K., the Froch-Abraham fight will be on Primetime on pay-per-view, and also streamed live on http://www.primetimelive.co.uk/. It will also be shown on ARD in Germany, as well as in other countries.

We spoke with Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham, Andre Ward, and Sakio Bika on media teleconference calls to get their views on what to expect in their fights. We also discuss the coming conclusion of the Super Six World Boxing Classic, which remains the best thing in boxing today.

In addition, we address a number of major topics in boxing, including the stunning one-punch, second-round knockout by middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KOs) over Paul Williams (39-2, 27 KOs) in their rematch Saturday, November 20. That should make Sergio Martinez the leading candidate for fighter of the year for 2010.

We also discuss the lightweight title fight between champion Juan Manuel Marquez and challenger Michael Katsidis in Las Vegas, also on Saturday, November 27, which will be shown on HBO in the U.S. And we comment on a several controversies in boxing, including the David Haye-Audley Harrison non-fight and the role of gambling, the latest legal problems of Manny Pacquiao, and more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.