James Slater

Shannon Briggs arrives in UK, says he may not leave – “might just stay here and just knock people out!”

Shannon Briggs arrives in UK, says he may not leave - “might just stay here and just knock people out!”

Former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs arrived in London today, and he says he is looking to fight, “Whoever the British people want me to fight.” Briggs may be well into the veteran stage of his long career and he may be way past the force he once was, but the New Yorker remains both a good talker and a fan attraction.

It’s no secret Briggs wants a big fight with Britain’s David Haye – and he today told Sky Sports how he has “been looking for him [Haye] everywhere” – but the man who once beat the great George Foreman and gave the also great Lennox Lewis a helluva fight says he is open to fights with any of the big-name British heavyweights, including Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.

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Tyson Fury posts his wish-list: wants Klitschko rematch, then Martin-Joshua winner, then Wilder-Povetkin winner

Tyson Fury posts his wish-list: wants Klitschko rematch, then Martin-Joshua winner, then Wilder-Povetkin winner

If heavyweight champion Tyson Fury gets his way, the heavyweight division will see some huge and potentially thrilling match-ups take place in the coming months. Fury must first defeat former champ Wladimir Klitschko – in a return fight that has dragged on and on in terms of being officially announced; maybe the two fighters will clash in a secret location on a secret date! – but after that he wants more big names.

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Robert Garcia doesn’t think Marcos Maidana wants to fight again (and fans who saw a certain photo of Maidana will know why!)

Robert Garcia doesn’t think Marcos Maidana wants to fight again (and fans who saw a certain photo of Maidana will know why!)

A couple of days ago, a photo of Argentine warrior Marcos Maidana surfaced on the internet and it caused quite a response, being re-posted a number of times. Maidana looks very much over his fighting weight in the pic, his stomach bloated and rings of fat evident. Immediately after seeing the picture, fans everywhere came to the seemingly obvious conclusion: the once great action fighter who gave us memorable fights with the likes of Victor Ortiz, Amir Khan, Adrien Broner and, most recently, Floyd Mayweather Junior twice will not be fighting again.

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Lennox Lewis favours Povetkin over Wilder

Lennox Lewis favours Povetkin over Wilder

As fight fans are probably aware, it looks like reigning WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder will have to travel to Russia for what most are calling the toughest fight of his entire career – the May 21st date with Alexander Povetkin. Wilder, unbeaten at 36-0, deserves much credit if he does indeed take the already risky (but mandatory) assignment in the hostile, unfamiliar environment of Russia.

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Carl Frampton says he has “maximum another ten fights” aims to retire by age 33

Carl Frampton says he has “maximum another ten fights” aims to retire by age 33

Unified WBA/IBF 122-pound champ Carl Frampton has told The Belfast Telegraph he is already making plans regarding his retirement from boxing. Though he is probably at his peak now and has many big fights ahead of him, the unbeaten Irishman is already looking at making sure he does not stay in boxing too long.

Next up for Frampton will almost certainly be a summer showdown up at featherweight with thrilling warrior Leo Santa Cruz. If Frampton can get a win there he will have achieved another of his goals: that of becoming a two-weight world champion. And Frampton said he is hoping Santa Cruz will agree to fight him in Belfast, though he says he has his doubts.

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Bob Arum still not convinced Pacquiao’s third fight with Bradley will be his last

Bob Arum still not convinced Pacquiao’s third fight with Bradley will be his last

Will superstar Manny Pacquiao really call it a boxing career and walk away into a fulltime life of politics after his April 9th rubber-match with Tim Bradley? Pacquiao has repeatedly said this will indeed be his last one, but not everyone is convinced – least of all his promoter Bob Arum.

In speaking with Gareth A. Davies in an exclusive for The Telegraph, the 84-year-old Top Rank boss said he strongly feels Pacquiao will, like so many of the other fighters he has worked with his in 50 year career, have the urge to box again.

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Lucas Browne says David Haye is “Full of s**t!”

Lucas Browne says David Haye is “Full of s**t!”

As fight fans have probably read, come-backing former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye has announced how he is “in talks” with new WBA belt holder Lucas Browne and is hopeful he might fight him in his second return fight, set for May 21st at The O2 in London. However, Browne, who is obliged to fight Fres Oquendo as per the WBA’s tournament designed to finally crown just one man as their heavyweight king (there are currently three men staking such a claim: Browne, Tyson Fury and Luis Ortiz) took to Twitter to shoot down Haye’s talk.

In his own colorful, no-nonsense way, the unbeaten warrior known as “Big Daddy,” wrote the following in response to Haye’s claims:

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Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko penciled in for June 4th, Austria now the favorite to host the rematch

Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko penciled in for June 4th, Austria now the favorite to host the rematch

Tyson Fury had to travel abroad, to Dusseldorf, Germany for his shot at defending heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko and it seems likely the new champion will have to travel abroad again for his first defence. The Fury-Klitschko rematch has been worked on for some weeks now, but the date now being talked of is June 4th and the favorite to play host to the fascinating rematch is Austria – the country Klitschko has often used for his training base.

According to an article in The Mirror, Klagenfurt’s 32,000 capacity Woerthersee stadium is now the front-runner to host the fight.

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James DeGale, Badou Jack to co-headline April 30th card, De Gale-Medina, Jack-Bute

James DeGale, Badou Jack to co-headline April 30th card, De Gale-Medina, Jack-Bute

Rival super-middleweight champions James De Gale and Badou Jack want to fight one another in a unification clash, and the plan is for the two 168-pounders to meet later this year. But first the two will co-headline a Showtime card on April 30th. Southpaw DeGale will face Rogelio Medina, 36-6(30) while Jack will face what looks like a far stiffer challenge in former champ Lucian Bute, 32-3(25).

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