Why is Peter Quillin being allowed to fight for the WBO title?

02/06/2015 James Sexton

In 2012 Peter Quillin won the WBO middleweight title and defended it three times before vacating in 2014. His WBO mandatory challenger was Matt Korobov who was undefeated in 24 contests with 14 knockouts and Quillin opted to vacate the title rather than face his mandatory.

Andy Lee then got the opportunity and surprised everyone by pulling off the upset in a thrilling knockout comeback in the sixth. Now that Korobov is out of the picture and the title rests with Andy Lee who has been stopped twice previously in his career, Quillin wants back into the title picture and is being given a shot at Lees newly aquired title. My question is, why are the WBO allowing this?

Danny Garcia – ‘I don’t lose’

02/06/201502/06/2015 James Sexton

In a recent interview with Fighthype, Danny Garcia made it clear that Lamont Peterson would not beat him in their bout scheduled for April 11th 2015. In the interview Garcia pointed to Petersons two losses in the past at the hands of Lucas Matthysse and Timothy Bradley as big indicators as to what was going to happen. Garcia also mentioned the fact that he was undefeated and had never even be knocked down in his twenty-nine fight pro career.

Certainly this is one of the best matchups to be made in the 140lb weight class, but how much of a chance does Peterson really have in this fight? The interviewer asked if Peterson had the power to trouble Garcia and Danny replied by saying ‘I don’t think he has power.’

Eddie Hearn – Brook has to ‘do more’ to get Mayweather or Pacquiao fight

02/06/201502/06/2015 James Sexton

In an interview with IFL TV, Eddie Hearn can be quoted as saying ‘of course we want the Mayweather fight, but I am not going to start shouting it out because I think we have to do more to get it.’

In the half hour interview with IFL TV Eddie Hearn discussed many things including British fighters Amir Khan, Carl Froch, James DeGale and George Groves, but he also discussed the future of his fighter Kell Brook who will be coming back from a stab wound to defend his IBF title against Jo Jo Dan on the 28th March 2015.

David Price believes he will be fighting for world title in mid 2016

02/06/201502/06/2015 James Sexton

David Price has been making news again with talk of a world title opportunity coming somewhere between 12 and 24 months time. He has said that his fight against little known Irineu Beato Costa Jr is the first step on a road to his deserved world title shot.

This talk has to be seen as nonsense at this point as he has not done anything since his back-to-back knockout losses to Tony Thompson to suggest he is able to fight at world level. He also does not have plans in the works to put him on the map as a contender in the heavyweight division.

Garcia vs. Peterson breakdown

02/05/201502/05/2015 James Sexton

2015 is setting up to be one of the best years of boxing we have seen in recent years. There are a lot of interesting matchups being made and Al Haymons number of new TV deals means that more people will be watching these fights than in the past few years.

One of these well-balanced bouts would be the competitive champion vs. champion fight in Garcia vs. Peterson. Although the titles will not be on the line for this fight, it will still be an interesting show between two top 140lb fighters.

Golovkins team still optimistic about Cotto unification

02/05/201502/05/2015 James Sexton

Promoter Tom Loeffler and trainer Abel Sanchez have both been overlooking their date with Martin Murray at the end of this month and have taken to discussing a superfight with Peurto Rican legend Miguel Cotto sometime later in the year. Whilst they have said Golovkin is 100% focused on the task at hand in tough British fighter Murray, they have looked ahead at what would have to be viewed as the best option for Golovkin.

At this point in his career it is unclear whether Cotto would be looking to get in the ring with a younger, hungrier and apparently more dominant champion such as Golovkin. Cotto does not have a fight lined up yet, but the interesting this is that after his fight in May he would be forced to fight Golovkin as he would be in the madatory position for Cottos middlweight strap.

Juan Manuel Marquez to fight Brook in 2015?

02/05/201502/05/2015 James Sexton

Fernando Beltran and Ignacio Beristain (promoter and trainer for Marquez) have said that Juan Manuel will fight again and that it will be in 2015. At 41 years of age the Mexican legend has the right to be picky with his fights and having fought just once in 2013 and 2014 it is likely he will only take one fight for this year also.

Marquez has said that his final goal as a fighter would be to win a world title at 147 and become the first Mexican boxer to win titles in five weight divisions.

James DeGale to finally become world champion on April 25th?

02/04/2015 James Sexton

The title shot for number 1 ranked IBF 168lb fighter James DeGale is confirmed and is likely going to occur on April 25th in the 02Arena in London. The last point which has to be confirmed is the opponent for DeGale.
Negotiations for a meeting between number 2 ranked Andre Dirrell are underway although it would seem the American is sceptical of fighting in the UK after losing a close and controversial decision to home fighter Carl Froch back in 2009. Eddie Hearn, the promoter for DeGale has said that he wants the fight on home soil for DeGales first world title attempt. Likely this fight will get made and it will go to purse bids to get the agreement.

Who are the best undefeated fighters in the sport?

02/04/2015 James Sexton

Many of the sports most dominant fighters throughout history have taken losses and this is the same today with many of the top rated fighters such as Wladimir Klitschko, Manny Pacquiao, Saul Alvarez, Adrien Broner, Juan Manuel Marquez, Carl Froch, Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto and literally hundreds of others having tasted defeat before in their campaigns to the ring. Despite what many casual fans seem to think today in the Mayweather Era, a loss does not mean anything if a fighter can come back from it and rise again to the top of the sport. Fighters are generally more remembered for the quality of opposition rather than the raw figures.

Nevertheless there is something exciting about watching a fighter who has never tasted defeat. A man who has had his hand raised each and every time he has stepped through the ropes. Here is my personal opinion on the top batch of currently undefeated fighters in the sport today.

Anthony Crolla returns to the gym

02/04/2015 James Sexton

In December of last year Anthony Crolla suffered a skull fracture and a broken ankle whilst trying to help neighbours who were being burgled. The nature of the injuries put Crolla on the sidelines indefinitely. It came at a terrible time as Crolla was due to face WBA lightweight champion Richar Abril, the biggest fight of his career.

Despite the cancellation of that fight being a crushing blow to his career, it is apparent that Crolla has not lost focus and even with the short amount of time since the incident, he is already back in the ring preparing for his world title opportunity. His team have been pleased with the work he is doing and all indicators suggest he is in the process of a full and speedy recovery.