Sometimes in heavyweight boxing a fighter, with just one win, arrives on the world stage and captures the attention of anyone and everyone interested in boxing in a massive way. This was exactly what happened on this day, Halloween, in 1992. Lennox Lewis may already have been known to a good share of fight fans, due to his winning the Olympic gold medal in 1988, but his performance on this night really catapulted the Brit to superstardom.
James Slater
So, what next for Juan Manuel Lopez?
Former two-weight world champ Juan Manuel Lopez showed over the weekend that when he is matched a certain way, he can still fight and he can still win. The 33-year-old southpaw went to war with his bitter rival Wilfredo Vazquez Jnr this past Saturday in an intense, all-Puerto Rican grudge-match, and he won via exciting 11th-round KO. Juanma was out-boxed in the early going of the fight but his power and sheer determination got him the win in the end.
Shannon Briggs says he’s fighting Lucas Browne for the vacant WBA heavyweight title
Former heavyweight champ Shannon Briggs, who has been chasing a big fight with David Haye, seems to think he has found himself a world title chance instead. The vocal 44-year-old, who insists Haye will not face him due to fear, posted on his Instagram account how he will be facing Australia’s Lucas Browne for the soon to be vacant WBA belt.
“BREAKING: WBA to order Shannon Briggs and Lucas Browne to fight for Tyson Fury’s vacated WBA world heavyweight title,” Briggs posted on social media yesterday.
Lennox Lewis picks Wladimir Klitschko’s experience to be too much for Anthony Joshua
Retired heavyweight great Lennox Lewis believes Wladimir Klitschko’s vast experience will prove too much for Anthony Joshua if the two meet next spring as is a strong possibility. Speaking with Sky Sports News HQ, Lewis said he favours 40-year-old Klitschko to beat 27-year-old Joshua, but only “slightly.”
“I would have to say Wladimir [wins] because of the experience,” Lewis said. “We have seen a lot of Anthony Joshua’s fights but he has knocked out everybody so what has he learned?
Samuel Peter Still Fighting…Sort Of / Tim Tszyu the Latest “boxing Junior” Set to Go Pro
“Nigerian Nightmare” Sam Peter returned to the ring this week and hardly anybody noticed. Fighting in Mexico, the former WBC heavyweight champ stopped a 6-9 fighter named Juan Carlos Salas in three rounds. Now 36-3(29) Peter scaled 262-pounds.
Juanma Lopez, Wilfredo Vazquez Jnr to settle simmering rivalry tomorrow night
Can former champions Juan Manuel Lopez and Wilfredo Vazquez Junior still fight? We may or may not find out tomorrow night when the two meet in a very real and very intense all-Puerto Rican rivalry/grudge-match. Both men are way past what they once were – Juanma suffering some truly X-rated KO defeats over the last two or three years – but the genuine hatred they have for one another just might allow both warriors to raise their game and give fans one final, decent performance.
Anthony Joshua-Eric Molina a done deal for Dec 10?
Eric Molina has been the frontrunner to challenge reigning IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua for a few days now and fans will not be at all surprised to see the Mexican/American in the ring with Joshua in Manchester on Dec 10. Yet so far there has still been no official confirmation from Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn.
Yet the fight is up on BoxRec and it seems we will see Molina tackling the 17-0(17) star next. What kind of a fight will it be? Molina, still judged my a number of people by the loss he suffered to Chris Arreola over four years ago, is sick of telling people he has improved since then, when he was inexperienced and it showed. Stopped in the 1st-round (after stunning Arreola himself with a good shot to the head) Molina has had a tough time making people forget about this defeat, but is Molina, 25-3(19) a different fighter today?
Terence Crawford-John Molina Jr likely for Dec 10
According to the man with all the news, Dan Rafael of ESPN.com, Terence Crawford will likely face John Molina Jnr on December 10 in the unbeaten WBC/WBO 140-pound king’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. Crawford, 29-0(20) dominated Viktor Postol in his last ring outing, back in July, taking the WBC belt he now holds along with his WBO.
Molina Jnr, 29-6(23) scored a big win in his last outing, back in June, when he out-pointed Ruslan Provodnikov over 12-rounds. Crawford will enter the ring on Dec 10 as a considerable favourite, but Molina Jnr is never a warrior who can be totally written off. The big news surrounding this match-up, though, is the fact that it will pit a Top Rank fighter against an Al Haymon fighter, without the need for a purse bid.
James DeGale: “My mega-fight would be against Golovkin!”
You can add super-middleweight champ James DeGale to the list of big names who want to fight feared middleweight king Gennady Golovkin. Southpaw DeGale, like GGG a former amateur standout, is the IBF 168-pound champion – and he will next face WBC super-middleweight champ Badou Jack in a big unification fight in January – but he sees GGG moving up one day.
Pacquiao-Golovkin! “That’s the biggest joke,” says Bob Arum – “How could anyone think I’d put Manny in with that beast!”
We’ve seen crazy, even unthinkable fights become reality in the sport of boxing, and just recently we’ve seen some shockers come off (see Canelo-Khan and Golovkin-Brook – both fights coming out of nowhere and causing genuine surprise and stun when first announced). But the recent article that appeared suggesting how promoter Bob Arum was seriously thinking about putting Manny Pacquiao in with middleweight king Gennady Golovkin has been totally discredited – by Arum himself.