It seems P-4-P star and reigning WBO super-featherweight champ Vasyl Lomachenko got overly hopeful, even jumped the gun, when he recently stated how his next fight would be a return meeting with Orlando Salido. According to Top Rank boss and Lomachenko promoter Bob Arum, Mexican warrior Salido “Chickened Out” of a rematch.
Speaking with RingTV.com, Arum said Salido – the only man to have beaten Lomachenko as a pro – asked for “crazy money.”
Chris Eubank Junior seems to be about the most stubborn and hard-headed fighter you could care to mention today. He may also be the most arrogant. Ahead of his February fight with little known Renold Quinlan for the equally little known (and little regarded) IBO super-middleweight belt, the former British middleweight champ who will be moving up eight pounds, claims he doesn’t even need a trainer.
It might be partially due to the reported $20 million Michael Koncz says Manny Pacquiao wants guaranteed for the fight, but Pac-Man will NOT be facing Terence Crawford this year. So said Bob Arum when speaking with The Manila Bulletin.
Instead, the Top Rank boss wants to take Manny on the road – possibly as far afield as Australia or the Middle East. Arum says the Crawford fight could still take place, in America, but not in the first half of 2017.
It’s one of two defeats that really bothers Amir Khan, and the former 140-pound champ remains ever hopeful he will get a chance to avenge it one day. The fight in question is the 2012 stoppage defeat Khan suffered at the dangerous hands – his left hand in particular – of Danny Garcia.
The hugely controversial points defeat to Lamont Peterson aside (this too being a loss Khan has never forgotten about wanting to avenge) the Garcia loss bugs Khan the most. Ahead on the cards and outboxing “Swift” at the time of the crushing stoppage (Khan still on his feet trying to fight back at the time of the referee’s timely stoppage) Khan is convinced he will beat Garcia in a return meeting.
Bob Arum has spoken about his desire to see Manny Pacquiao fight Terence Crawford and Freddie Roach, while acknowledging the fight would be a tough one for Manny, says it could happen. But yesterday, in speaking with The Manila Bulletin, Pac-Man’s right hand man Michael Koncz put a potential spanner in the works by stating how the Filipino superstar will only agree to a fight with the unbeaten pound-for-pounder if he is guaranteed a whopping great $20 million payday.
Britain’s James DeGale, a fighter who has done things the hard way – fights on the road, tricky opponents, frustratingly long enforced layoffs – believes he will get the respect he is due after he beats Badou Jack in their big 168 pound unification fight on January 14.
In fact, Olympic gold medal winner and reigning IBF super-middleweight champ DeGale compares himself to the great Joe Calzaghe and the position he was in when entering his crunch fight with Jeff Lacy in 2006. DeGale told ESPN.com that like Calzaghe did with his blistering win over Lacy, he will prove he is the best in the world with a commanding win over Jack.
As expected, Danny Jacobs is pushing himself to the absolute limit as he gets ready to challenge unified middleweight king Gennady Golovkin in March. Jacobs has began his 10 week training camp and, in what must have proven quite costly, “The Miracle Man” has brought in three world class fighters as sparring partners – the three Russian fighters all being legit middleweight contenders in their own right.
For those of you who, like myself, somehow missed it in 2016 when it was released, there is a great new book out on the simply unforgettable three-fight rivalry warriors Aturo Gatti and Micky Ward engaged in back in 2002/2003, that just has to be read. If you didn’t get a copy – released as it was just before Christmas – and you care anything for the Gatti-Ward fights, then “Intimate Warfare: The true story of the Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward trilogy” is a must.
The way things stand right now, 2017 promises to be a big year for boxing; with blockbusters such as Klitschko-Joshua, Golovkin-Jacobs, Thurman-Garcia, Haye-Bellew all set and others, such as GGG-Canelo and Wilder-Joshua possibilities.
But will 2017 provide fight fans with everything they want? Here are a few things this writer wishes for over the coming 12 months:
Unbeaten heavyweight contender Hughie Fury has confirmed that he is currently in negotiations with WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker and how he fully expects to challenge the New Zealander on Parker’s scheduled April 8 defence.
Speaking with Sky Sports, Fury, cousin of course of former heavyweight king Tyson Fury, said he is willing to travel to New Zealand for the fight and that after he beats Parker, he will look to unify the heavyweight titles.