It’s no secret that middleweight king Gennady Golovkin wants two things more than anything else as far as his boxing career is concerned: a mega-fight with Saul Alvarez, and to own all the major middleweight belts. The Alvarez fight will have to wait (probably until next September at the earliest) but a fight with reigning WBO 160-pound champ Billy Joe Saunders could happen in the next few months – if Saunders really wants it, according to Triple-G’s representative Oleg Hermann.
James Slater
Liam Smith and Kell Brook could meet as they attempt to come back from stoppage defeats
Kell Brook lost in a brave and exciting attempt at taking middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s belts. Liam Smith lost in a brave and exciting attempt at defending his super-welterweight title against Canelo Alvarez. Now, as both fighters attempt to bounce back after losing their unbeaten records, word is the two warriors who enhanced their reputations in defeat could meet each other in what would be a British super-fight.
Brook, who is still healing after taking considerable punishment from GGG just over a week ago, said post-fight that be feels his future is at 154, while Smith, who suffered cuts and an injured jaw in his battle with the Mexican superstar who pulled in an astonishing 50,000 fans, will also need time to recover before he can box again. But as a comeback fight, Brook-Smith would certainly prove an attractive fight to fans of both men. It would be a risky fight no doubt, but both Brook and Smith have proven they are more than willing to take risks in order to become great fighters.
Canelo Alvarez: We offered Golovkin the fight, he didn’t want to accept
As expected, the big talking point after Canelo Alvarez’ challenge of WBO 154-pound champ Liam Smith was not the result – a dominant 9th-round KO win by the Mexican star – it wasn’t the bravery of the vanquished Smith, and the talking point wasn’t Canelo’s overall performance. No, the big talking point was, and is, will Canelo now fight middleweight king Gennady Golovkin next?
And in speaking after his victory, Canelo, who also revealed he hurt his right hand in the early going of the Smith fight, said Golden Boy offered GGG a deal “about a month ago.” According to Canelo, the offer was “twice or three times as much [money] to make the fight. He didn’t want to accept.”
Chris Eubank Junior: From the GGG fight, to the Langford fight, to no fight!
What a perplexing figure former British middleweight champion Chris Eubank Junior really is. The vocal, seemingly cocksure fighter has, in the past month or so: gone from being on the verge of challenging world middleweight ruler Gennady Golovkin in a £million pound fight (and beating him, according to Eubank Jr and Senior) to being set to defend his British title against the far less known Tommy Langford for a far less substantial payday, to vacating the British title and now having no next fight in sight, at all.
Veteran scribe Colin Hart says Tyson Fury should win this year’s British Fighter of The Year award
The last 12 months have undeniably been great ones for British boxing. Going back to last September up to the present day, the world has seen some terrific performances from British fighters both at home and abroad. And next week sees the prestigious British Boxing Board of Control’s annual awards dinner. There is stiff competition this year as far as who will lift the British Fighter of The Year trophy.
Does Gennady Golovkin have to go up in weight to become a legendary fighter? Floyd Mayweather says so
Does a fighter, especially these days, have to go up through the weight classes, winning world titles in each one as he goes, to become a true great? It seems, with the vast number of weight classes there are in the sport today (certainly vast in comparison to the traditional 8 weight classes of yesteryear), fans have an urge to see a talented champion move up to try and conquer another weight class almost as soon as he has collected belt-one.
Case in point: middleweight king Gennady Golovkin. GGG has pretty much cleaned up the 160-pound division (save getting and winning the fight he, and we, want so much, in Canelo Alvarez) and there are cries for him to move up, not only to 168-pounds but also to 175-pounds. Is this asking too much of a fighter who is not that big for a middleweight in the first place? Golovkin has spoken of going up to super-middleweight himself, once he has collected all the middleweight titles (just the WBO strap to go) but does he need to do so to become a great, a legend?
Canelo Alvarez, Liam Smith make weight, both men tip-in at 154-even
There were no issues at today’s official weigh-in for tomorrow night’s WBO 154-pound title clash between defending champ Liam Smith and challenger Saul Canelo Alvarez. Both men tipped-in at 154 pounds exactly and both fighters looks to be in great physical condition. Canelo was first to the scale and though he stripped naked to make 154, he made it at the first attempt; putting an end to this week’s rumours that he had been struggling with his weight.
Alexander Dimitrenko says Joseph Parker is “not ready” for him, says he lost to Carlos Takam
Alexander Dimitrenko has arrived in New Zealand ahead of his October 1 fight against unbeaten Joseph Parker, and the experienced Ukrainian says that it will be just this, his experience, that sees him to victory over the current IBF number-one contender. But Dimitrenko, ten years the older man at age 34, says he does not look at Parker as an unbeaten fighter – Dimitrenko says he saw Parker’s big win over Carlos Takam and that he felt Takam won the bout.
Dillian Whyte-Ian Lewison to clash for vacant British heavyweight crown next month
Dillian Whyte and Ian Lewison will clash on October 7 in Glasgow, Scotland, with the vacant British heavyweight title at stake. A solid and intriguing match-up, Whyte-Lewison will see two fighters who each have an exciting style going at it. Whyte, 18-1(14) will be having his second crack at winning the British crown, having failed, in a great action fight, against Anthony Joshua in what is his sole pro loss (being stopped in the 7th-round of a fight that saw both men hurt in December of last year).
Anthony Joshua: If I beat Wilder, they’ll say he’s s**t
Unbeaten heavyweight star (some say future superstar) Anthony Joshua says he is finding it hard getting respect. Already a huge name in the UK, Joshua’s many fans pay to see him fight, fully expecting him to win by KO, and then afterwards the critics say Joshua merely bowled over an opponent he was always going to beat anyway. This is how A.J, 17-0(17) and yet to be extended beyond the 7th-round, says he feels.
Speaking with City AM, the IBF heavyweight champ who is now in training for his second title defence, set for November 26 in Manchester, says it is tough when people are comparing him to the likes of Tyson, Ali and Holyfield.