As he approaches the biggest Grudge-Fight of his promotional career, Oscar De La Hoya can today look back on the biggest, nastiest Grudge-Fight of his own ring career: the one with “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas.
This fight, appropriately dubbed “Bad Blood,” was a 154 pound clash that managed to live up to its considerable hype. Simply put, these two warriors did not like each other; Vargas especially having an intense dislike for “The Golden Boy.”
Promoter Bob Arum and the entire team behind WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker are extremely angry at the way both a British referee and a British judge have been appointed ahead of the upcoming September 23rd title defence Parker will make against Hughie Fury.
According to Arum, who promotes New Zealand’s Parker, The British Boxing Board of Control has “completely disregarded WBO protocol and their contract with Parker to appoint neutral officials.” Referee Terry O’Connor has been given the job of third man in the ring, while an English judge who will score the bout along with two other officials has also been assigned.
Tall, athletic and possessing fast hands and above average punching power, New Yorker Eddie Gregg should perhaps have gone further than he did. The 1980s contender, most famous for his 1986 KO loss to Gerry Cooney, became a favourite at The Felt Forum, and it was whilst fighting at this venue that Gregg won his only pro title – stopping an unbeaten Carlos Hernandez to collect the New York State heavyweight title in February of 1985.
Deontay Wilder Vs Luis Ortiz: it’s a potentially explosive heavyweight match-up that has been listed as a possibility for some months, and now, according to numerous news sources, the fight has been nailed down for November 4 in Brooklyn. According to a piece on Yahoo! Sports, promoter Lou DiBella has neither confirmed nor denied the fight, saying to writer Kevin Iole, “Wait until you see what Deontay is up to.”
It remains the benchmark all big fights are measured by: it is the epic, never to be forgotten three-round war between all-time greats Marvelous Marvin Hagler and Thomas “Hitman” Hearns. And with expectations mighty high going into Saturday night’s huge middleweight showdown between Gennady Golovkin and Saul Canelo Alvarez – both warriors very possibly being all-time greats of the future – some people are even suggesting the 1985 classic could be topped in terms of mesmerising two-way action.
British heavyweight Dillian Whyte is far from the best heavyweight in the world; he has been brutally KO’d by current WBA/IBF champ Anthony Joshua and he has laboured, at least a bit, during some of his winning fights. But what Whyte is, or what he appears to be, is a fighter willing to take on all comers, to fight the best.
Of course Whyte wants the most lucrative fights out there and of course he says a world title shot, should one come up, would take precedent over any other fight. But Whyte believes in himself and in his talents.
Is IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev a genuine threat to IBF/WBA heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua? In actuality, yes he is, as ANY heavyweight who can punch is a threat to any other big man of the sport; but most experts and fans see the October 28 fight as a win for AJ.
One person who naturally disagrees is Pulev’s promoter Kalle Sauerland, who tells Sky Sports how any young champion who is “learning on the job,” as is the case with Joshua, shouldn’t be messing around with his experienced fighter. Sauerland says Joshua has flaws and that Pulev will be looking to exploit them next month.
As the big fight edges ever closer and fight fans have even their sleep affected by the sheer excitement the middleweight collision between Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez brings (have you dreamt about the fight and its outcome yet?) all manner of experts are putting forth their opinion on what will happen in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
The three best active heavyweights in the world today are arguably: Anthony Joshua (biggest win a KO over Wladimir Klitschko), Deontay Wilder (biggest win a decision over Bermane Stiverne) and Luis Ortiz (biggest win a KO over Bryant Jennings). And, in an ideal world, these three rivals will meet and settle their differences of supremacy once and for all.
It has arrived: that special feeling only a fight fan can possibly understand; that blend of utter excitement and nerves that comes when a big fight is just around the corner. And here, on fight week, as we brace ourselves for the biggest middleweight title fight in years, fight fans around the globe have that feeling in their bones.