In a strange development, Danny Jacobs did not appear for this morning’s same-day weigh-in conducted by the IBF. Gennady Golovkin, who will of course be defending his belts against Jacobs tonight in New York, tipped in at 169.6 pounds at the same-day weigh-in check, but whatever happens in the fight, Jacobs will not be able to win the IBF title.
Stated IBF President Lindsey Tucker:
Upon entering the ring in the Coliseo Roberto Clemente stadium in Puerto Rico 40 years ago today, former heavyweight king George Foreman had Muhammad Ali on his mind; in particular a rematch with the man who had shocked, stunned and beaten him three years earlier.
But at the conclusion of his frustrating fight with Jimmy Young, Foreman would soon have nothing but God and a new life on his mind. It was “Big George’s” fight with Young – won by Young via 12 round unanimous decision – that forever changed the Texan giant’s life; or rather it was the fight’s aftermath that did the changing.
It’s almost fight time, and everyone and anyone has had a say on what will unfold inside the legendary venue that is Madison Square Garden in New York tomorrow night. Most experts are picking middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin to beat Danny Jacobs and retain both his belts and perfect record, while some people are giving the once-beaten Jacobs a shot at scoring the upset.
One thing almost everyone is agreed on is this: the fight is not going the distance. Someone will get KO’d, very possibly violently so. That said, who do you WANT to win tomorrow? Jacobs is a fighter and a man who is simply impossible to dislike. We all know “The Miracle Man’s” story; of how he beat “career-ending” cancer (so said the doctors) and came back to where he is now in boxing – on the verge of true international stardom. Plenty of us will likely find it all but impossible not to root for Jacobs once the action gets underway tomorrow.
Who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world today? Roman Gonzalez and Gennady Golovkin, for many people two of the best on the planet today, are both in action tomorrow night, while Vasyl Lomachenko, the P-4-P pick of many fans, returns to action in April. But if it’s not one of these three great fighters you have as your No.1 P-4-P, then maybe it’s Terence Crawford.
The undefeated super-lightweight champ who also reigned as a world champ at lightweight, will return on May 20 in Newark, New Jersey and according to his promoter Bob Arum, Crawford will face either Adrian Granados or Felix Diaz. Arum spoke with RingTV.com yesterday:
David Haye is confident of three things: he will fight again this year, he still wants it, he will be heavyweight champion again.
Many fans, and experts, felt the crippling, potentially career-ending injury Haye suffered in his March 4 fight with cruiserweight Tony Bellew would leave the former WBA heavyweight champion, at the age of 36 (37 in October) with nowhere to go but into retirement. And though it remains a mystery just how long Haye’s Achilles tear will take to heal (some predict months, others suggest weeks), Haye himself is full of optimism.
Former two-time (lineal and WBO) heavyweight champ Shannon Briggs turned 45 in December, he has not fought since May of last year (a one-round blowout) and his critics say he should never, ever have fought again after the brutal 12-round hammering he took at the hands of Vitali Klitschko back in late 2010.
But Briggs believes he is on the verge of making history, his fight with Fres Oquendo, for a portion of the WBA heavyweight title, set for June 3rd at The Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. Briggs took to social media a few hours ago to announce the fight:
As fans know, Tony Bellew is never shy to get involved in a grudge-fight; he’s had trash-talk run-ins with Nathan Cleverly, Adonis Stevenson and, most recently, David Haye. Dillian Whyte is also no stranger to a grudge-match; his pre-fight escapades with Anthony Joshua and Dereck Chisora proving memorable.
And now, with British heavyweight champ Whyte calling out “fake heavyweight” Bellew, these two could be locking horns in a venomous grudge-fight with one another. Bellew may need surgery on the hand he broke in his winning fight with Haye before he can box again, but Whyte, in speaking with Sky Sports, called the WBC cruiserweight champ out, claiming, “me versus Bellew will make more money than any other fight he can get at the minute.”
Of all the sad, even shocking endings to a great boxing career, the way the once untouchable Sugar Ray Leonard went out against Hector Camacho (RIP) has to rank pretty highly in the doom and gloom stakes.
It was no Muhammad Ali taking a prolonged beating at the hands of Larry Holmes (this fight, not Ali’s last, but often thought of as such; Ali actually having another sad affair, against Trevor Berbick a little over a year later), but the sight of “feather-fist” Camacho hammering what was left of Sugar Ray – the man who had stood up to anything and everything great punchers like Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran were able to put on him – into the canvas inside five rounds was disturbing viewing all the same.
Things seem to have gone pretty quiet regarding superstar Manny Pacquiao’s next fight. First it was Australia’s Jeff Horn in Australia in April, then it was British star Amir Khan in the UAE in May, and now…….nothing.
As Top Rank boss Bob Arum explained a few days back, the money failed to appear for the Khan fight to go ahead, much as he expected all along, and the search began anew for Pac-Man’s next opponent. But it seems the Khan fight is not quite dead in the water yet. Arum has now said that, “Hopefully that fight [Pacquiao-Khan] can happen in November.”
Due to the explosive and wholly impressive way he dealt with his last opponent, fight fans are eager to see Mikey Garcia’s next fight. In what is great news, the reigning WBC lightweight champ who crushed Dejan Zlaticanin to take the belt back in January is as eager to fight as his fans are to see him fight.
The unbeaten, now three-weight champ is aiming big for his next few fights and, in speaking with FightHype, Garcia called out recently crowned WBC/WBA welterweight champ Keith Thurman. Garcia said he would jump up to 147 for a fight with Thurman as soon as this coming July.