Thought former interim WBO 140-pound champ Mike Alvarado was all finished? Most people wrote the gutsy warrior off after his corner retirement of a loss to Brandon Rios in January of 2015. Alvarado was never in the rubber-match, being easily beaten and this loss came after punishing defeats at the hands of Ruslan Provodnikov and Juan Manuel Marquez. Plenty of people instinctively wrote Alvarado off, after all, suffering three back to back losses is no joke.
James Slater
Klitschko calls Fury “An imbecile champion”
Wladimir Klitschko’s main motivation going into his July 9 rematch with Tyson Fury seems to be Fury’s mouth, and his very real desire to close it with a gloved fist. It’s no secret Klitschko does not like some of the things Fury has come out with in recent times – indeed, Fury has caused nothing but outrage in some quarters, what with his views on everything from homosexuality to the Jewish race – and the ex-champ who was dethroned by Fury last November has again laid into Fury for his verbal outbursts.
Klitschko was not in any way satisfied by Fury’s apology for his recent on-line video that featured him talking about, amongst other things, how “the Jews own all the banks.” Fury issued an apology stating he is neither a racist nor a bigot, but Klitschko has called for Fury to be banned from boxing, or suspended.
Canelo – Golovkin: De La Hoya says verbal agreement reached for Sept 2017
It seems we will have to continue playing the waiting game as far as getting to see a middleweight showdown between stars Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez. According to Canelo’s promoter Oscar De La Hoya, who put out a Tweet that has been reported by a number of sources jumping on the story, he and GGG’s promoter Tom Loeffler reached an agreement for the fight to be held off until next September.
Dillian Whyte says don’t be surprised if Briggs KO’s Haye
Heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte does not see the upcoming, agreed fight between former heavyweight champs David Haye and Shannon Briggs as a mismatch. Far from it, Whyte says he will not be at all surprised if 44-year-old Briggs KO’s 35-year-old Haye. Speaking with The South London Press, Whyte – will face Ivica Bacurin, his third change of opponent, on Saturday’s Joshua-Breazeale card – said he has been hugely disappointed by the quality of Haye’s comeback opposition.
Get ready for the cruiserweight fight of the year: Krzysztof Glowacki-Oleksandr Usyk on for Sept. 17th
In what will almost certainly be the most interesting and exciting cruiserweight world title fight of 2016, and possibly a FOTY candidate, period, WBO ruler Krzysztof Glowacki will meet mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk in the champion’s homeland of Poland on September 17th, ESPN.com reports. An absolutely fascinating, can’t-miss fight between two powerful and talented unbeaten fighters, Glowacki-Usyk is as close to a 50-50 fight as you could mention.
Kell Brook picks Shawn Porter to beat Keith Thurman on Saturday
IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook is an ideal person to predict this Saturday’s big welterweight clash between Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter, having been in there with Porter; being the only man to have beaten him. Brook won a very close decision over Porter back in August of 2014, to win the IBF belt he now holds and looks to defend against Jessie Vargas, the WBO champ, in a September unification (that still has not been 100-percent finalized).
Brook scored the biggest win of his career in winning a majority decision over Porter – since then, Brook has been ranked as the number-one welterweight in the world by Ring Magazine as well as a top-10 pound-for-pound fighter by “The Bible of Boxing” – and he now picks Porter to upset Thurman in their WBA title clash.
Lewis rates Tyson Fury as number-one heavyweight
Lennox Lewis: “Can [Anthony] Joshua box? No, because he hasn’t reached that level yet”
Retired heavyweight great Lennox Lewis is not one of those people who agree with claims – recently made by Matchroom’s Barry Hearn – that Anthony Joshua is the best heavyweight in the world today. Speaking with The Mirror, Lewis hinted towards a belief that Joshua might become number-one in the division in the future, but he said that right now Tyson Fury is the best big man on the planet.
Who are the 5 best Heavyweights in Britain today? David Price breaks it down
British boxing is thriving at present, with the world champion number well into double digits, and the UK has a lot of talent in the glamour division: heavyweight. Tyson Fury is of course THE heavyweight champion, while talented would-be megastar Anthony Joshua holds the IBF belt. Along with this, Great Britain has a number of top contenders at heavyweight. But who are the 5 best British big men on the scene right now?
Kubrat Pulev-Mariusz Wach in the works for September/October
Kubrat Pulev, last seen winning the vacant European heavyweight title with a 12-round split decision over Dereck Chisora (the fight was not seen as that close in the opinion of nearly everyone apart from one official) will face Poland’s Mariusz Wach in his first defence, Novinite.com reports. The fight does not have a confirmed date yet, but is expected tp go ahead in either September or October, with the likely venue being Sofia, in Pulev’s hometown of Bulgaria.
David Price insists: “I’ve still got a massive amount to offer”
David Price returned to winning ways at the end of last month, scoring an impressive and, most importantly, confidence boosting KO victory in Liverpool (never mind the calibre of the opponent, Price was happy to get back in there and let his fists fly). The win came after an agonising period for the heavy-handed contender, what with him losing to Tony Thompson and then Erkan Teper – both fighters later failing drugs tests, their wins over Price being severely tainted as a result; Price rightfully feeling cheated.