James Slater

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker: Worlds Apart

Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker: Worlds Apart

It was always going to be a tough job for Joseph Parker: he was never going to be able to send fight fans home as happy and as excited as they were last Saturday night. Parker’s rival, WBA and IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua, gave the world a thrill with his terrific rumble with Wladimir Klitschko, and today Parker had the far less interesting task of dealing with late replacement foe Razvan Cojanu.

Parker, the WBO champ won okay, but the New Zealander looked far from impressive in labouring to a 12 round decision win. Worst still, Parker, 22-0 (18) put fans to sleep. No, it wasn’t all Parker’s fault – Cojanu was a replacement for Hughie Fury (who pulled out of the Parker fight with a bad back ) and the unheralded challenger used all of his 6’7″ to lean on smaller man Parker. It made for a dull fight.

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Exclusive Interview: Shawn Porter

Exclusive Interview: Shawn Porter

Shawn Porter: The most exciting fighter today? The best welterweight in the world without a world title?

Former IBF welterweight champ Shawn Porter scored an impressive stoppage win over fellow former champ Andre Berto recently, earning himself a shot at the WBC crown currently held by Keith Thurman.

Thurman and Porter went to war in a thriller last summer, with Thurman winning a close and hard-fought 12 round decision. Porter craves a shot at revenge against “One Time;” even more than he wants a second fight with Kell Brook, the only other man to have beaten him.

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Ranking today’s top-10 heavyweights – now who’s top dog?

Ranking today's top-10 heavyweights – now who's top dog?

Together, heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko gave their sport, and their weight class in particular, a huge boost with their great action fight. With Tyson Fury out of action and with WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder not yet facing a genuine risk of an opponent while he has been champion, the April 29 fight was largely sees as the two best heavyweights facing one another.

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Apparently, the weight is “dripping off” Tyson Fury as he trains for ring return

Apparently, the weight is “dripping off” Tyson Fury as he trains for ring return

Is it eighteen pounds or is it 22? According to the man himself, unbeaten former heavyweight king Tyson Fury, it is eighteen pounds he has already shed whilst training in sunny Marbella; while according to his good friend, reigning and undefeated WBO middleweight champ Billy Joe Saunders, Fury has already loss 22 pounds in weight.

The world is now waiting for a Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua superfight, a fight that would in all probability surpass the enormous box-office success this past Saturday’s Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko enjoyed. As to whether Joshua Vs. Fury would result in as good a fight, well, that’s an entirely different story. But the boxing world does want to see the two undefeated twenty-somethings go at it, and Fury is, according to himself and to Billy Joe, working hard to make it happen.

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2017 could turn out to be an epic, Year of The Rematch

2017 could turn out to be an epic, Year of The Rematch

This year, an exciting one already for boxing fans, promises further great fights, and a good number of them could be rematches. A rematch happens either because there was a return clause in the contract or due to public demand, and this year we can either definitely, in the case of some fight returns, or likely, in other cases – look forward to:

Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev II (on for June), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai-Roman Gonzalez II, Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter II and Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko II.

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Anthony Joshua is “boxing’s biggest star;” who would you prefer to see him fight next: Klitschko, Wilder or Fury?

Anthony Joshua is “boxing's biggest star;” who would you prefer to see him fight next: Klitschko, Wilder or Fury?

Thanks to his quite thrilling, hugely impressive stoppage win over Wladimir Klitschko, two-belt holder Anthony Joshua is currently being showered with all manner of plaudits; most of them well deserved. The unbeaten heavyweight ruler has been called “boxing’s biggest star” by some, who claim AJ has taken the mantle of the sport’s biggest attraction from the one and only Floyd Mayweather.

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De La Hoya on Canelo, Chavez Jr: “They genuinely despise each other”

De La Hoya on Canelo, Chavez Jr: “They genuinely despise each other”

There really is no need for any further hype going into this Saturday’s all-Mexican battle between Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. The fight has sold out The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and big pay-per-view numbers are assured. A genuine grudge-match, Canelo Vs. Chavez Jr is, according to promoter Oscar De La Hoya, the biggest fight in Mexican boxing history.

Part of the reason is the very real dislike, even hate the two warriors have for one another. De La Hoya, in speaking with The Las Vegas Review-Journal, says the intensity of the dislike the two fighters have for each other reminds him of the classic, and bitter rivalry two other great Mexican warriors engaged in, in Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales. It is the prospect of as great a fight that has pulled in the fans.

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Anthony Joshua says he aims to emulate Klitschko and reign for ten years

Anthony Joshua says he aims to emulate Klitschko and reign for ten years

Although he scored a great win over Wladimir Klitschko on Saturday, by far the biggest win of his entire career, amateur and pro combined, new heavyweight superstar Anthony Joshua insists he has not scored his defining win; that he is just beginning his journey.

And, as he explained when speaking with The Telegraph, the new WBA/IBF ruler plans on emulating the man he smashed to 11th round defeat at Wembley, and reign as a truly dominant world champion for a full decade.

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The hype starts already for Joshua, Fury showdown

The hype starts already for Joshua, Fury showdown

Last night’s thrilling fight between new star Anthony Joshua and old lion Wladimir Klitschko was, big, big, big – but talk has already begun for a fight that could set the bar even higher: Joshua Vs. Tyson Fury.

The two unbeaten British giants have been hurling insults and threats at one another for a while now and last night, following his brilliant win over Klitschko, new WBA and IBF champ Joshua wasted no time in mentioning Fury’s name.

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