The WBC has confirmed that it has sanctioned the bout between Anthony Dirrell and Badou Jack. This will be a voluntary defence of Dirrells WBC 168lb title and likely the winner will be forced to fight Britains George Groves in their next fight. Badou Jack is rated tenth in the division so this isn’t a ludicrous fight for him to take, however after Jack was stopped in the first round by little know fighter Derek Edwards early in 2014, his stock has dropped off dramatically. Before that he was viewed as one of Mayweather Promotions top prospects.
James Sexton
Eddie Hearn weighs in on the controversial Rose stoppage
Klitschko vs Jennings: Bryant looking for a KO over Wladimir
Bryant Jennings landed himself the biggest fight of his career vs unified champion Wladimir Klitschko when he beat Mike Perez last year. Jennings is certainly a big underdog going into this fight as he is the shorter, lighter and far less experienced fighter, however he is undefeated and is sporting some good wins to his credit.
Bryant Jennings could certainly steal the limelight from his fellow American boxer Deontay Wilder with a win in this fight. Wilder bagged himself a ton of fans when he beat Bermane Stiverne for the WBC heavyweight strap in their bout, but a win over the long time lineal champ would be far more impressive. This would be the eighteenth consecutive defence should Klitschko be able to pull it off and a loss would certainly be one of the biggest upsets for years.
Shawn Porter open to fights with Ruslan Provodnikov and Lucas Matthysse
Former IBF welterweight champion Shawn Porter has a fight coming up against Roberto Garcia in a comeback fight after his loss to Britains Kell Brook for his title in August of last year. This was Porters first ever loss as a professional and after consecutive wins over Julio Diaz, Devon Alexander and Paul Malignaggi, many were discussing Porter as one of the next big things in boxing. He was the favourite against Brook due to his edge in competition level going into that fight but ended up losing a mixed decision at the end of the night.
Demetrius Andrade – the Charlos are bums compared to me
WBO world super welterweight champion Demetrius Andrade went on a rant during an interview with ThaBoxingVoice recently. He claimed that Canelo had ducked him in favour of easier opponents and then went on to say that the Charlo brothers, whilst good, were levels below him and were ‘bums’ in comparison to himself.
Andrade is currently undefeated in 21 bouts with 14 stoppages to his name. He made his way into the big picture with a win over the undefeated machine Vanes Martiosyan in 2013 where he picked up the then vacant WBO strap. He then came back in mid 2014 against Brian Rose. Rose was a british fighter with just 1 loss in 27 bouts but was brutally beaten around by Andrade and made to look slow and amateurish by the WBO champ.
Who will fight Hassan N’Dam for the IBF Middleweight strap
The picture at middleweight is largely dominated by four-weight world champion Miguel Cotto and long time WBA/IBO champion Gennady Golovkin. The third man in the division has to be seen as Andy Lee after his thrilling KO of previously undefeated Matt Korobov to win the vacant WBO share of the title. Therefore the IBF title, even if it was held by someone, wouldn’t hold much weight in the middleweight picture right now as that individual would be the fourth place champion on the list, and until a unification takes place it is not likely that they would have the opportunity to move up.
James DeGale to become first ever British Olympian to win a world title
James DeGale has been waiting for his chance for a long while now. The one setback on his resume was a close and controversial mixed decision to George Groves back in 2011 and since then has won European and WBC Silver titles. DeGale has really been making an impact recently since joining with Matchroom sports. In his last three bouts he has three knockouts. Two over undefeated fighters and the third over highly rated Marco Antonio Periban. His record now stands at 20 – 1 – 0 with fourteen knockouts, and he is ready for the world stage.
Andre Dirrell is certainly going to be a tough test for DeGale and whilst I would put my money on him, I can understand this is a 50-50 fight for a lot of people.
Can a fighter damage their legacy if they miss one fight?
Over the years there has been much speculation as to what extent Floyd Mayweather’s reputation and legacy will be tarnished should he retire without facing Manny Pacquiao. The fans are split between two opinions, the Mayweather fans claim it will have no meaning and what he has already accomplished is enough to support his claim as a true all time great.
The critics respond by saying it will leave doubt and at the end of the day he will be remembered more for missing this fight than he will be for what he has done in the ring. Similarly some say a similar effect will take place when trying to establish Pacman’s place in history once he hangs up the gloves.
Buddy McGirt – We are in no rush with Taishan Dong
In an interview with FightHype trainer Buddy McGirt discussed progress with this heavyweight prospect 7 foot heavyweight Taishan Dong. McGirt discussed the separation between the awesome physical tools and the lacking fundamental skills with the massive heavyweight.
McGirt said that Taishan was a good listener and was eager to learn. He also mentioned that Taishan’s hunger for knowledge within the sport led him to stay after training and continue to practise the things they had gone over during the day.
Taishan has said before that he is only in his second year of training as a boxer.
James Kirkland fighting without Ann Wolfe against Canelo
A lot of people seem to think James Kirkland’s chances in his scheduled May 2nd fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez are dramatically altered on whether or not Ann Wolfe is going to be in his corner on the night of the fight. The single loss on Kirkland’s career was a TKO in the first round and on that night he did not have Ann Wolfe as his trainer. Since reuniting with her he has gone on a five win streak against decent opposition which has lead to this fight.
He has employed the services of Gerald Tucker, and this has rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way, but this should not come as surprising news to most, as Kirkland has made a reputation for himself over the years as an inconsistent character.