Evander Holyfield’s co-promoted Eight-Man welterweight tourney set to begin in April
With the enormous success of the ongoing WBSS tournaments that are still to be decided at both cruiserweight and at super-middleweight (with more planned for the future, at additional weight classes) it’s clear many people feel tournaments are the way to go – that they are the future of this great sport even.
An incredible, record-breaking 133,000 fans packed into Azteca Stadium in Mexico a quarter of a century ago today; most, if not all of these fans in attendance to watch their fistic hero Julio Cesar Chavez beat up on trash-talking challenger Greg Haugen. The monster card that played out in front of a monstrous crowd (many millions of fight fans also tuning in on TV all around the globe) also saw great fighters Azumah Nelson, Terry Norris and Michael Nunn in action (all winning) and promoter extraordinaire Don King had brought us his latest, biggest boxing spectacular.
The World Boxing Super Series was going so well, too. The 168 pound tournament had gone without a hitch until this past Saturday, when George Groves badly injured his shoulder in his wide win over Chris Eubank Junior in their semifinal clash; meaning Groves’ slot in the final, scheduled for June 2, might be in jeopardy.
As fans are aware, WBA super-middleweight king George Groves suffered a dislocated left shoulder in the 12th and final round of his otherwise dominant decision win over Chris Eubank Junior, the injury being one Groves has said is “probably one of the most painful I’ve ever had.” Now, with the final of the WBSS Groves fast approaching (June 2), there is concern over whether or not Groves will be fit and ready to be able to face either Callum Smith or Jurgen Brahmer (who meet in the last semifinal this Saturday night).
Las Vegas, February 19, 2000. Mexican warriors Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales collided for the first of three epic ring wars. Morales at the time was the new star of the 122 pound weight class and he was undefeated. He was the favorite in the match-up with Barrera for a number of reasons: one of these being the fact that Barrera has twice been beaten, by Junior Jones; who has actually stopped Barrera in their first fight. These defeats remained vivid in the minds of fight fans, and Morales of Tijuana was expected to dispatch his rival who hailed from Mexico City.
Long since retired former British superstar Naseem Hamed made quite the memorable pundit as a guest commentator on ITV Box Office this past Saturday night. Working the George Groves-Chris Eubank Junior WBSS semifinal, Hamed, as overweight as we have grown accustomed to seeing him these days, really did put the boot in in brutally assessing points loser Eubank Jr.
Last night in Las Vegas, former WBC welterweight champ Danny Garcia iced a game (if faded) Brandon Rios in fine, highlight reel fashion. The ninth-round KO “Swift” scored is arguably the most impressive, certainly most eye-catching, fight termination of his since his destruction of another faded former champ in Erik Morales, who Garcia KO’d in 2012 (forget the hatchet job Garcia did on the hopelessly over-matched Rod Salka in 2014).
So, was Chris Eubank Junior mostly hype all along? To paraphrase Eubank Jr. himself, maybe. This is the answer Eubank Jr. gave last night when asked if he’d underestimated his conqueror George Groves. Groves, as he had predicted months ahead of time, was too big, too strong, too experienced and too good for his vocal challenger.
Hearn says we’ll find out a lot about how well Parker holds a shot on March 31
“I think he’s going to get a big, big shock when he gets hit on the chin by Anthony Joshua,” Eddie Hearn on Joseph Parker. As fans know, Joseph Parker and his team have made quite a big deal over Anthony Joshua’s “suspect” chin; with members of Team-Parker stating how the reigning WBO heavyweight champ will “smash” the chin of the WBA/IBF ruler when the two collide in Cardiff on March 31 (in the next big fight to be staged in the UK, for all those fans who are still getting over what went down in Manchester last night).
Everyone has an opinion on what will go down in Manchester tonight as seemingly bitter British super-middleweight rivals George Groves and Chris Eubank Junior collide. The fight, one that will contest the WBA crown (currently held by Groves) as well as a place in the final of the superb World Boxing Super Series, has captured the thoughts of the entire British nation – and this match-up has also served to intrigue fight fans the world over.