British boxing promoter Frank Warren has promoted some great fights over the years and he has also witnessed his share of big upsets, where a British fighter shocked the world. Now, ahead of his fighter Liam Smith’s September 17 fight with Mexican superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez – a fight that will actually see Smith enter the ring as the defending champion – Warren is letting us all know we need to get ready for another upset scored by a British warrior.
James Slater
Amir Khan says he would fight Conor McGregor
While talk has apparently quieted over the possibility of a super fight between boxing master Floyd Mayweather Junior and MMA star Conor McGregor, another high profile boxer has thrown his hat into the ring and said he would take a fight with McGregor: Amir Khan. Speaking with Flocombat.com, the former 140-pound world champion said that he has serious doubts Mayweather – the man he chased for months whilst in search of a massive fight, all to no avail – would ever agree to fight McGregor in an MMA fight, but he himself would do so.
“McGregor is a massive name in MMA and I’m a big name in boxing, so, globally, I think it would be a massive fight,” Khan said. “I don’t think [Floyd] Mayweather would want to fight under MMA rules. I’ve been fighting all my life, so for me, I don’t think it’d be a problem for me to learn and switch over to the sport.”
20 Years Ago Today: Muhammad Ali’s finest Olympic victory
Being too young (unfortunately) to have seen the great – The Greatest – Muhammad Ali fight live, even on TV, the first indelible memory I have of the immortal legend occurred twenty years ago today. Ali, by this time ravaged by Parkinson’s, quite simply made around half the world’s population shed a tear as he bravely forced his almost uncontrollable arms to assist him in accepting one of the finest honours that can be bestowed upon any athlete: that of lighting the Olympic Torch in the opening ceremony of the planet’s most-watched sporting celebration.
Canelo Alvarez: “I only made Amir Khan go up one weight class”
Mexican superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez has taken his share of criticism for not yet agreeing (in writing) to face Gennady Golovkin in the middleweight showdown the entire world wants to see, and rightly so. But Canelo, in speaking with RingTV.com, lashed out at GGG, and the middleweight champion’s upcoming fight with welterweight titlist Kell Brook. Canelo does not agree how his catch-weight fight with another Brit in Amir Khan is comparable to GGG-Brook, as Brook is having to go up two full weight divisions, and Khan had to go up just eight-pounds.
Arum says Pacquiao’s return will happen Nov. 5th – against either Crawford or Vargas; Garcia out
Pac-Man’s back. Manny Pacquiao, the superstar who “retired” in April, will fight in Las Vegas on November 5th, promoter Bob Arum said, as reported by The LA Times. The venue will likely be either The MGM Grand, Thomas and Mack or The Mandalay Bay – but who will the opponent be? According to Arum there are now two names in the frame: light-welterweight champion Terence Crawford and welterweight titlist Jessie Vargas.
Adonis Stevenson says he wants the Ward-Kovalev winner, won’t make a prediction until Ward has fought Alexander Brand
Those fans who want to see one fighter universally accepted as THE light-heavyweight champion of the world (and what boxing fan doesn’t want this!) might have reason to feel optimistic over what WBC 175-pound king Adonis Stevenson said today. Speaking on a media call to hype his upcoming July 29 defence against the once-beaten (and possibly very dangerous) Thomas Williams Junior, Stevenson – as picked up by RingTV.com – said yes, he would very much like to face the winner of the big Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward clash set for November.
Take time to think before calling a fighter a quitter
Many people who know boxing say it’s a crazy sport and how the competitors involved have to be at least part crazy to want to fight, to take punches, to sacrifice so much, for the means of making a living. Maybe boxing fans, or a good deal of them, are also crazy. Just this past weekend, we saw two top class fighters going into battle against the elite of their respective division, this whilst being considerable underdogs themselves. The two fighting men in question being Chris Arreola, who was as game as they come against WBC heavyweight ruler Deontay Wilder, and super-bantamweight “Jazza” Dickens, who tried his best again WBA king and pound-for-pounder Gulliermo Rigondeaux.
Deontay Wilder will be out of action until 2017, will undergo two ops
One of the problems a monstrous puncher can face is hand injury. WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder was in great pain both during and after his dominant win over a tough and game Chris Arreola, due to breaking his right hand on the Mexican/American’s rock of a head, and because of the tear to his biceps he also suffered during the 8th-round corner retirement win.
Gerald Washington, Andy Ruiz Junior both win by KO, retain unbeaten records
Deontay Wilder and Chris Arreola were not the only big men fighting last night, there were two young (ish) and unbeaten heavyweights in action also. On the card in Alabama, Gerald Washington went to 18-0-1(12) with a 4th-round KO over veteran Ray Austin, 29-8-4(18). While in Detroit, Michigan, 26-year-old Andy Ruiz Junior stopped another veteran in Josh Gormley, via 3rd-round TKO. Ruiz is now 28-0(19), Gormley, who was having just his fourth fight since 1999, falls to 22-5(21) and the 42-year-old’s comeback looks to be over.
What next for Deontay Wilder, Chris Arreola?
WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder came out of last night’s fight with Chris Arreola with a number of things: a win, his fourth title retention, respect for an Arreola who was “as tough as I always thought he was going to be,” and, perhaps most seriously, a broken right hand and an injured bicep. Wilder, who improved to 37-0(36) with the 8th-round corner retirement win over a game and at times crazily tough Arreola, must now see a specialist, before he will know how soon he can fight again.