James Slater

Mairis Breidis decisions Mike Perez to advance in WBSS tournament, retains WBC cruiser title

Mairis Breidis decisions Mike Perez to advance in WBSS tournament, retains WBC cruiser title

Tonight in Riga, Latvia, defending WBC cruiserweight champ Mairis Breidis retained his belt and also advanced in the WBSS tournament by way of a unanimous decision victory over Mike Perez. Local hero Breidis, now 23-0(18) won by scores of 116-110, 115-111 and 114-112. Perez, who was mightily disappointed by his defeat, is now 22-3(14).

Tonight’s fight was far from a classic, with an almost shocking amount of holding witnessed, with defending champ Breidis being guilty of initiating most of it. There was a clash of heads in the third-round, with Breidis suffering a nasty cut to his left eye. Perez was docked a point by the referee.

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Mayweather-McGregor “Super Fight II?” – McGregor says he “knows” he’d get the win if he fought Floyd again

Mayweather-McGregor “Super Fight II?” - McGregor says he “knows” he'd get the win if he fought Floyd again

Do we really want to go through it all again? The hype, the circus atmosphere and the actual (surprisingly entertaining, even competitive for a few rounds) fight itself caused quite a stir, but is there any need to see a return fight between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor?

Mayweather, who “retired” after scoring a tenth-round win that earned him a staggering $100 million payday, could well be calling McGregor up in the future, for a rematch – this is what McGregor told a gathering in Glasgow yesterday (as filmed by MMA Fighting.)

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Dillian Whyte tweets Wilder: No excuses now, I’ll take Ortiz’ place!

Dillian Whyte tweets Wilder: No excuses now, I'll take Ortiz' place!

It hasn’t taken long for the news of Luis Ortiz’ failed drugs test to reach British heavyweight Dillian Whyte – and Whyte sees opportunity in the demise of the Cuban’s November 4 fight with Deontay Wilder.

Whyte, who has wanted and called out for a shot at Wilder and his WBC crown for some time, took to his twitter account a couple of hours ago, basically writing how Wilder must now face him instead of Ortiz.

“No excuses now, I’ll take Ortiz’ place,” wrote Whyte, adding the words, “Eddie Hearn make this fight now.”

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Luis Ortiz fails pre-fight drugs test, fight with Deontay Wilder falls apart

Luis Ortiz fails pre-fight drugs test, fight with Deontay Wilder falls apart

In terrible news, it has been confirmed by multiple sources that heavyweight Luis Ortiz has testesd positive for a banned substance in a pre-fight drugs test that was conducted by VADA a week ago. Ortiz was of course to have challenged WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder on November4; this fight is now off.

It remains to be seen whether or not Wilder, unbeaten at 38-0 will still fight on the November date (some people have suggested he may fight former foe Bermane Stiverne in a return; Stiverne being the fighter who took step-aside money to allow Wilder to face Ortiz instead – but this is nothing more than speculation at this point in time).

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Adonis Stevenson’s mandatory defence against Eleider Alvarez finally getting close

Adonis Stevenson's mandatory defence against Eleider Alvarez finally getting close

Seemingly a long time ago now, and immediately after scoring an impressive 5th round stoppage win over former champ Lucian Bute, unbeaten light-heavyweight contender Eleider Alvarez called for his earned shot at reigning WBC 175 pound champ Adonis Stevenson. Alvarez, 23-0(11) has fought once since, when he won a close decision over another former champ in Jean Pascal in June, but he has wanted to fight Stevenson, 29-1(24) so, so bad.

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Power-puncher David Lemieux will return Dec. 2; either against Cotto or someone else

Power-puncher David Lemieux will return Dec. 2; either against Cotto or someone else

Canadian power-puncher David Lemieux recently put out a tweet, in which he declared how his “tools are sharpening up and [ I am] ready to destroy soon.” It’s exciting that the former IBF middleweight champ, arguably the single hardest puncher in the sport today, pound-for-pound, is set to be back in action – even if we don’t yet know for certain who he will be facing on December 2.

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Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder seemingly on a collision course – but where will it rank alongside the last great heavyweight fights?

Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder seemingly on a collision course – but where will it rank alongside the last great heavyweight fights?

If all things work out and as long as both men retain their unbeaten records along with their titles, it seems the world will soon see the guaranteed heavyweight explosion that is the much talked about Anthony Joshua-Deontay Wider fight.

Both men have called for it, want it – and need it. Look at the current heavyweight ratings, and most lists have AJ at NO.1 and “The Bronze Bomber” at NO.2. Some fans might have it the other way around, but the point is, these two undefeated power-punchers are the best of the best in the glamour division today. As such, they no doubt have to fight.

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Tom Loeffler says GGG would fight Canelo again this December “if they wanted”

Tom Loeffler says GGG would fight Canelo again this December “if they wanted”

As fight fans know, it took quite a stretch of time, and much negotiating, before Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez finally met in their big fight – and most people will tell you it was Canelo, or more accurately Golden Boy, who was to blame for the fight taking so long to get signed, sealed and delivered.

The question fans have now is, will it take such a long time to get the must-see rematch sorted out? No-one was happy with the drawn verdict that was handed in after 12 engrossing rounds of action on September 16, with both warriors claiming they deserved a win. With such sheer public demand for a rematch, one that would in all likelihood be an even bigger fight than the first encounter, it seems both fighters must not look anywhere else for their next fight.

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