Back in the glory days of the heavyweight division, the 1970s, heavyweight kings Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman were, quite literally, world champions. Fighting in exotic faraway places such as Jamaica, Zaire, Kuala Lumpur and The Philippines, these giants boosted their fame, popularity and earning power by becoming globetrotters. Now, new heavyweight star and reigning IBF champion Anthony Joshua wants to emulate these greats, his number-one hero Ali especially.
James Slater
Tyson Fury “at centre of a doping investigation”
Update: Team Fury statement re: Sunday Mirror allegation:– Team Fury/Hennessy Sports: We are baffled by today’s story in the Sunday Mirror. Tyson Fury absolutely denies any allegation of doping. He looks forward to recovering from his injury and defending his titles against Wladimir Klitschko in October.
More bad news for Tyson Fury. Hot on the heels of the heavyweight champion’s ankle injury that has forced him to postpone his July 9 rematch with Wladimir Klitschko comes a potential bombshell of a news story in The Sunday Mirror. According to the article, Fury is currently “at the centre of a doping investigation” (the exact words used in the news piece).
Hearn says it could be Joseph Parker next for Anthony Joshua
Anthony Joshua fought through a virus in the lead-up to last night’s 7th-round stoppage win over a game Dominic Breazeale, his promoter Eddie Hearn tells Sky Sports. Hearn says there was even a possibility the fight could have been called off. But Joshua won as we know, he retained his IBF heavyweight belt for the first time and he now looks ahead to his next fight. Hearn said Joshua will “take a long rest” first, but that he could return in November; with mandatory challenger Joseph Parker being a strong possibility.
Eubank to meet with Golovkin tomorrow, to discuss possible September fight
Fresh off his crushing win over Tom Doran in defence of his British middleweight title last night, Chris Eubank Junior will now meet with Gennady Golovkin to discuss a potential clash in September. The Star reports how Eubank and his team will meet and discuss a fight with Golovkin tomorrow.
Promoter Eddie Hearns says Eubank Jr is the only world class middleweight eager to face the unbeaten pound-for-pound star.
Arum has October 15th date on hold for possible Pacquiao return – Crawford, Garcia, Broner possible foes
Will superstar Manny Pacquiao come back? In truth, the former eight-weight ruler has not been away for very long at all. Last fighting in April of this year, all of two months ago, Pac-Man won a wide and largely impressive points win over well-known foe Tim Bradley. But Pacquiao said, both before and after the rubber-match, that he would retire to focus on his political duties. But no sooner had Pac-Man been made a senator did talk of his next fight begin.
Instead of fighting each other, GGG and Canelo look set to become “Brit-Bashers!”
Super-fight boxing’s loss could turn out to be British boxing’s gain. As stars Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will not be fighting one another any time soon – both now looking at getting it on next September, much to the displeasure of fight fans, 99-percent of which are currently blaming Canelo and his team for the big one not coming off way sooner – the two stars are now focusing on facing a British fighter in their next ring appearance.
Hearn says a Golovkin-Eubank Junior fight “is there to sign if they both want it”
Promoter Eddie Hearn says a fight between Gennady Golovkin and Chris Eubank Junior is desperately close to being made, with just “a few things to tie up but basically if everyone wants this fight then it’s all there to sign.” Speaking with Sky Sports, the Matchroom boss and promoter of British middleweight champ Eubank Jr said he sees the fight taking place in London in the autumn, probably in a big stadium.
Anthony Joshua-Dominic Breazeale weigh-in: Joshua 241, Breazeale 255
Anthony Joshua and Dominic Breazeale have weighed-in ahead of their IBF heavyweight title fight tomorrow night (one of three big heavyweight fights set for the summer that will still actually go ahead as planned: Deontay Wilder-Alexander Povetkin and Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko II both falling apart due to a failed drugs test and a damaged ankle respectively) – and as expected, Joshua looked in tip-top shape.
Tyson Fury – Wladimir Klitschko Postponed
By now, fight fans may have read or heard about heavyweight champ Tyson Fury’s claims that his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, set for July 9, will be postponed due to an ankle injury Fury says he suffered whilst out running ten days ago. So far, we have not heard from anyone else – not Peter Fury, Tyson’s trainer, nor have we heard anyone from the Klitschko camp react to the news. But Fury sounds truly disappointed to have had to have broken this news.
Arum hoping Mike Alvarado can come through Saturday’s fight with Josh Torres; says Crawford, Bradley, Pacquiao, Vargas all possible future foes
Thought former interim WBO 140-pound champ Mike Alvarado was all finished? Most people wrote the gutsy warrior off after his corner retirement of a loss to Brandon Rios in January of 2015. Alvarado was never in the rubber-match, being easily beaten and this loss came after punishing defeats at the hands of Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez. Plenty of people instinctively wrote Alvarado off, after all, suffering three back to back losses is no joke.