British Boxing News
Unbeaten British heavyweight prospects Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14ko) and Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13ko) met head-to-head for the first time ahead of their Dec. 12 ‘Bad Intentions’ fight today in London, with Whyte placing his hand on Joshua’s heart, saying ‘we’re gonna do this.’
The two will square of on an as-yet-unconfirmed, though what’s expected to be PPV, bill from the O2 Arena, in what promoter Eddie Hearn today called ‘the biggest UK fight of the year.’
The wait for UK fans is at last over as it’s been officially announced that super-bantamweight rivals, Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg are set to meet in a huge IBF/WBA unification early next year.
After much to-ing and fro-ing between the two camps over recent weeks and months, a February 27th date for the fight at the Manchester Arena was announced live on Sky Sports News in the UK this afternoon.
Next month in Liverpool, unbeaten local super middleweight rivals Callum Smith (17-0, 12ko) and Rocky Fielding (21-0, 12ko), contest the (vacant) British 168 lb title in a fight for city bragging rights and the opportunity to move on to bigger and better things, yet their respective trainers have started a war of words reflective of what’s at stake, with shots publicly fired back and forth between them.
WBO 160 lb challenger, Billy Joe Saunders (22-0, 12ko), Marbella bound for camp ahead of his crunch world title challenge to Andy Lee on Dec. 19, has again verbally laid waste to bitter rival Chris Eubank Jr (20-1, 15ko), comparing his former opponent to fake goods sold at Dagenham market!
Eubank last week headlined an absolute shocker of a card from Sheffield, in which he destroyed hopelessly overmatched 39 year old American, Tony Jeter in around four effortless minutes, and while his new handlers at Matchroom have been hyping their signing to the hilt ahead of his December clash with Spike O’Sullivan (22-1, 15ko), Saunders remains completely unconvinced, given he has beaten both men in the past.
Ryan Farrag, 13-1 (2KO’s), will travel to the little known Hall Omnisport de La Préalle in Liege, Belgium on Friday night, bidding to claim the currently vacant EBU (European) Bantamweight title when he faces former World title challenger Stephane Jamoye, 28-6 (16KO’s), – very much behind enemy lines.
Much like his weight class contemporaries, current interim IBF Bantamweight champion Lee Haskins, Ross Burkinshaw and to a lesser extent – these days at least – multiple World champion and reigning WBA ruler Jamie McDonnell, he will do so with a level of anonymity seemingly reserved in Britain for the 118lbs weight class.
Matchroom boxing boss, Eddie Hearn, has one eye on a huge UK super-middleweight unification between IBF champion, James DeGale and recent signing Martin Murray, provided both come through their next outings.
Murray challenges for Arthur Abraham’s WBO 168 lb strap in Germany on Nov.21, while DeGale defends his IBF strap a week later against former champ, Lucian Bute in Canada, and the Beijing 2008 gold medalist has stated that unification fights are on his mind for the future – including one against Murray should he prevail.
After injured IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook was seen on Saturday night in Sheffield, clapping, cheering and allegedly raising his arms aloft ringside on the Eubank/Jeter card he was meant to be headlining, it only further stoked the fire of doubters claiming the rib injury that caused him to pull from his headline fight with Diego Chaves isn’t 100% genuine.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has been quick to shoot-down various whispers of Brook being off target with his weight, or unable to shift enough tickets to justify his PPV wages on a non-PPV broadcast; a miserable card that finally ended in loud jeering and booing on Saturday night, and really all but fell apart the moment Klitschko/Fury pulled out of ‘carrying it’ on a televised split anyway.
Liverpudlian super-middleweight contender, Rocky Fielding, has promised he will enter next months crunch domestic British title fight with bitter rival and fellow Scouser, Callum Smith, looking for fireworks.
Promoter Eddie Hearn deserves credit for pitching the two unbeaten 168 lb-er’s together in what represents a real grudge match for not only the city of Liverpool, but British boxing generally, with the winner inching one step closer to an eventual world title shot.
WBA Interim titlist, Chris Eubank Jr, has vowed to ‘punish’ Irish middleweight rival, Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan when the two meet on December 12th in London.
Eubank didn’t even get out of first gear last night in Sheffield, where he absolutely destroyed the hopelessly out-gunned and overmatched Tony Jeter inside 2 pathetically one sided rounds – after which the Brighton fighter was greeted by boos from the frustrated Arena crowd.
It’s not exactly of ‘did aliens land at Roswell?’ or ‘who shot JFK?’ proportions, yet a persistent conspiracy theory has surrounded IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook’s rib ‘injury,’ an injury that postponed tonight’s scheduled clash with Argentina’s Diego Chaves.
Many quarters on social media have questioned the legitimacy of the ailment, with reasons given for it including Eddie Hearn wishing to move the fight to his December PPV show, as well as Brook struggling to make 147 in time; rumours that Hearn recently called ‘absolute rubbish.’