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.
Former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko has already said a number of times ahead of his April fight with Anthony Joshua how age is not, and will not be, a factor. Although he will be 41 come the April 29 fight for the IBF and WBA titles, Klitschko says this is merely a number and nothing more.
And, in a more recent interview with Eirsport, Wladimir says that he actually got faster as a fighter with age. Klitschko also says he has “ a lot of weapons” at his disposal and he will decide on the night which one he uses against the unbeaten Joshua.
Have we seen the best of former 140-pound champ Amir Khan, maybe even the end of his winning fights at the top level – or can the now 30-year-old bounce back from his crushing KO loss to Canelo Alvarez in 2017? Khan, who is excited to get back in action having had an op on his troublesome right hand, told The Bolton News he is positive he can win a world title at welterweight.
Khan Tweeted yesterday how his next opponent will be announced “soon” and the British star told The Bolton News how he will win that welterweight title and that after he does so, “people will forget about the defeats.” Khan of course suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the much bigger and heavier Canelo, and there are plenty of critics out there who feel Khan may have suffered irreparable damage from the heavy KO.
Unbeaten New Yorker Jarrell Miller, an unbeaten heavyweight contender with an explosive mouth to match his punching power, insists he should get first crack at recently crowned WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker – not Hughie Fury or David Price.
As Sky Sports have reported, Miller, Price and Fury are on the short-list of challengers for Parker’s maiden title defence, pencilled in for April 8. But Miller, known as “Big Baby” is not only dismissive of both Fury and Price, he also has no respect for Parker – who he calls “a bum.”
It’s no secret that Don King is, and has for a long time been, a Donald Trump supporter. The two larger than life public figures have a mutual admiration for one another and yesterday, in an impromptu presser that has to rank as one of the most bizarre even in the world according to Trump, the two faced a stunned media gathering in Florida.
Okay, this isn’t really a boxing story, but with not too much going on in the sport at this time of year, the Trump, King get together is at least interesting. The two men, without much warning, surprising those few reporters on the scene at Trump’s luxurious Mar-a-Lago club in sunshine Florida, appeared on a staircase and answered questions. Throughout the short session, King – who waved his customary US flag, as well as an Israeli flag – repeated his famous “Only in America” slogan, as well as Trump’s catchphrase “Make America Great Again.”
Call them The Fabulous Three if you like, or maybe even Champions Forever. For between them, James Toney, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Junior dominated the middleweight/super-middleweight divisions in the 1990s. A great trio of fighters who rivalled one another for supremacy (Jones and Hopkins fought as did Jones and Toney; what a shame Toney and Hopkins never got it on) each former middleweight king fought on into their forties.
Joseph Parker may have made history by becoming the very first heavyweight champion (WBO version) to come out of New Zealand, but the unbeaten star wants more – lots more. According to David Higgins of Duco Events, Parker is likely to be in attendance at Wembley in April when IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua meets former undisputed king Wladimir Klitschko in a fight that will also contest the WBA belt.
Why? Because Parker aims to call out the winner for a massive unification fight.
It’s that time again, and the various publications and boxing websites are listing their respective picks for Fighter of The Year. Far from an easy choice to make this year, there are a few great fighters who enjoyed a stellar 12 months and are arguably deserving of the honour.
Let’s break it down:
It’s one of the most intriguing rematches in boxing and it could happen in March. Vasyl Lomachenko, for many The Fighter of The Year, has been beaten by just two fighters in his entire career, amateur and pro – and the pro defeat, to tough Mexican Orlando Salido, remains the sole unavenged blemish on the super-featherweight champ’s C.V.
But, according to “Hi-Tech” himself, the rematch is very likely for March, in either Las Vegas or Los Angeles.