… insists he was not outclassed, says he would have stopped Ward had the fight been a 15-rounder
Like the rest of us, former super-middleweight king Carl Froch is interested to see what happens in Saturday’s big rematch between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev. Froch, these days content in retirement from the ring and working as a pundit for Sky Sports, of course faced Ward, down at super-middleweight, in the “Super-Six” final.
Carl Frampton certainly likes fighting tough Mexican warriors. The former super-bantamweight and featherweight ruler will face Andres Gutierrez in Belfast on July 29. The fight will be a WBC featherweight eliminator.
Frampton, 23-1(14) was last seen losing a close decision in his rematch with Mexico’s great Leo Santa Cruz, having previously decisioned him in an earlier, more action-packed fight. Now wanting to fight for another world title and become a three-weight king, “The Jackal” has not in any way picked an easy or safe opponent in the 35-1-1(25) 23 year old from Guadalajara.
As fans may have read, Russia’s Alexander Povetkin will return to action on July 1st. The former WBA heavyweight champion who has suffered his share of out of the ring issues – testing positive for illegal stimulants; which ruined his big fight with Deontay Wilder, set for last summer – will face Ukrainian Andriy Rudenko, 31-2(19) on a big card in Moscow.
Of all the must-see, must happen fights that we didn’t actually see, because they didn’t happen, the 1990s heavyweight classic that would have been Lennox Lewis-Riddick Bowe has to be one of the biggest disappointments. Back and forth these two stars and rival champions went, only for the fight to fail to get off the ground.
Former heavyweight king Tyson Fury does not want a fight between himself and Anthony Joshua to go the same way: nowhere. Just this week, unbeaten WBA/IBF champ Joshua called Fury out, saying this is the fight the fans want and therefore it is “top of my list.”
In his peak years, from 1993 to 2003, Roy Jones Junior was as close to unbeatable as any fighter could possibly be. Better than Floyd Mayweather Junior, up there with the two Sugar Rays, maybe even the best fighter of the past forty years or so at the time, Jones was sheer poetry in motion. If only he’d walked away before his skills, and his blinding speed, deserted him.
While much has been made of The Money Team reportedly reserving The MGM Grand in Las Vegas for August 26 for the much hyped “Super-Fight” between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, the fight between the superstar boxer and the superstar MMA fighter is not yet official.
Despite this, big wagers have been placed on the fight’s outcome in the Vegas casinos and sportsbooks. According to an interesting piece on ESPN.com, The Westgate Superbook in Las Vegas has already had over $10,000 bet on the fight. Currently, Mayweather is a whopping -900 betting favourite (down from an even bigger –2,500 favourite when odds were first announced back in February), while McGregor is currently listed at +700 (he was +1,100 back in February).
In this, a big year for big boxing rematches, promoter Eddie Hearn wants to add Tony Bellew-David Haye II to the list of returns that includes Ward-Kovalev II, Joshua-Klitschko II (most likely anyway) and Rungvisai-Gonzalez II. In speaking with Sky Sports News HQ, Hearn said that the public want to see the rematch (do you, really?), that he himself wants to see it, and that David Haye “needs it.”
Hearn argues how in Haye’s case, there is “no other fight for him other than Tony Bellew,” but that Bellew has plenty of options. Hearn added how the rematch, if it does happen, will likely go down in December, giving Haye’s terrible Achilles injury enough time to fully heal – “to make sure he is 110-percent,” Hearn said.
Former IBF cruiserweight king Glenn McCrory had some career. Not only was he a world champion, but McCrory also, famously, sparred nearly a hundred rounds with a peak Mike Tyson.
Glenn, who retired with a fine and hard earned 30-8-1(12) pro record in 1993, became a pundit and commentator for Sky Sports, calling fights all over the world. Despite this, it is due to the time he spent with Tyson that many fans are most familiar with McCrory.
Evander Holyfield was enshrined at The Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York yesterday, along with, amongst others, Marco Antonio Barrera and the late Johnny Tapia. Holyfield, the only four-time heavyweight champion in boxing history, was genuinely moved as he gave his acceptance speech; devoting his success to his mother – who, he told the gathering, told him “never to quit.”
Former European middleweight champ Errol Christie sadly passed away yesterday at the age of 53. He had been battling lung cancer for two years. A superb amateur boxer – Christie being placed in The Guinness Book Of Records for being the only British boxer to win ten amateur titles – Errol turned pro in 1982 and went 32-8-1(26) overall.