“Ruiz has the fastest hands since Ali,” Hughie Fury ready to “take all these champions,” Scott is “a Bentley who can outbox Ortiz”
Today’s heavyweight division may be plenty muddled as far as the man on the street knowing who the world champion is goes (we could soon have as many as six champs, all of them holding a belt of some kind) – but there is no shortage of action.
Fight fans may have read how the folks at Showtime are currently looking to compile a poll, listing the 30 greatest KO’s shown on the network over the last 30 years. A lofty task indeed, even if they get fans’ help.
Indeed, this great sport has produced many thrilling, moving, shocking and even unforgettable knockouts throughout its history. It is of course the possibility of an electrifying, lights out KO that gives boxing its edge, the chance of a KO pulling in the fans.
Whether we like it or nor, whether we are at all excited about it or not, it does seem as though superstars Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jnr will fight again. Or at least there is a very good chance of a rematch taking place. In terms of percentages, Top Rank boss Bob Arum told ESPN.com that he believes there is a “75-percent chance” the two will fight each other again.
Arum confirmed to ESPN.com that Pacquiao – who looked very good indeed in taking Jessie Vargas’ WBO welterweight title this past Saturday in Las Vegas – will “definitely” fight again in the spring. The spring opponent is still to be determined, and Arum says the likes of Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomachenko are possibilities. But that huge money return with Mayweather seems to be the fight most people are talking about.
Imagine how highly heavyweight warrior Joe Frazier would be rated today if he had retired after he had, as he himself put it, “closed the butterfly’s lips” in March of 1971. Often in boxing, it’s crucial, legacy-wise, how a fighter leaves the sport. Too often a once indestructible fighting machine becomes a mere mortal due to the passing of years and the number of hard fights endured.
But heavyweight legend Joe Frazier – who sadly passed away five years ago today – was never going to call it a day after scoring the biggest, most impressive win of his entire career. It was of course March of ’71 when Frazier met Muhammad Ali in a Fight of The Century that lived up to ALL the hype and its lofty billing, and Joe, then aged 27 and at his blistering, unstoppable peak at 26-0 as a pro had truly conquered the world. Why – how – could he possibly walk away?”Smokin’” Joe had plenty of fight left in him, even if the titanic battle with Ali had taken its toll.
It seems we could soon see yet another heavyweight match-up contesting a version of the WBA title. As fight fans know, Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko are set to meet for the “super” version of the WBA belt next March or April (dependent on Joshua coming through okay against his IBF title challenger Eric Molina on December 10) and Shannon Briggs and Lucas Browne are set to rumble, with the “regular” version on the line before the end of the year.
Heavyweight comebacks might be catching at the moment, what with Sam Peter’s recent return and his scheduled December fight with Kubrat Pulev. Another big man set to return after a significant layoff is Cuban Mike Perez. Perez, last seen being stopped inside a round by Alexander Povetkin in May of last year (in what was one of Povetkin’s most impressive showings) will face Avery Gibson, 8-5-4 (2) on December 8 in California.
Returning superstar Manny Pacquiao scored a high-energy, highly impressive win last night in Las Vegas, proving once again he is an absolute force to be reckoned with at welterweight. Pac-Man – who came close to shutting out a game Jessie Vargas over 12 action rounds that seemed to whizz by – may or may not have regained his position atop the 147-pound rankings.
Arguably (and not too many people are arguing against it) the best, most exciting and most talent-rich division in boxing right now, the welterweight division is crammed full of stars, exciting fighters and potentially thrilling match-ups.
Superstar Manny Pacquiao was widely expected to defeat reigning and defending WBO welterweight champ Jessie Vargas in Las Vegas last night, the only real question going in was: would the returning 37 year-old be able to register a KO, his first since way back in 2009? Pac-Man got the win, via 12-round UD (with one judge somehow having it crazily close at 114-113, the other two officials on the ball at 118-109 each) but he failed to get the knockout.
Kubrat Pulev, the reigning European heavyweight champion who was recently in the running to be the next challenger for IBF boss Anthony Joshua, has another fight set instead. According to Pulev’s Twitter page, he will face none other than former WBC heavyweight champ Sam Peter in Sofia, Bulgaria on December 3rd.
Tickets are on sale now apparently.
What to make of this match-up? A few years ago, when Peter was still fighting regularly and was in good shape, weight-wise, this one would have been a big attraction. Maybe it still will pull in the fans in Pulev’s homeland, but what can we expect from Peter, now aged 36 and having had just two fights since 2011 (both low-key wins)?
Will he or won’t he? Will boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior return to the ring for a 50th fight or not? The 49-0 master recently returned to the gym to spar, once again sparking off suggestions that his ring return is imminent. Mayweather, who turns 40 next February, is said to have looked as sharp as ever in the spar session and the thinking is, he must be back sparring for a reason.
And many people think that reason is, Floyd is getting himself ready to rumble; once more at least. It is of course no coincidence that fellow megastar Manny Pacquiao fights tonight, at least Floyd’s returning to the gym to spar so close to Pac-Man’s ring return is no coincidence in the minds of some people.