Britain’s Joe Gallagher has proven his credentials as a world class trainer many times and he has trained, or is training, a number of world champions. A genuinely huge achievement in the Manchester trainer’s career will come on September 17th, though – if his fighter Liam Smith can score the big upset over Mexican superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez. And Gallagher – a man who has shown time and again how he is a mastermind when it comes to planning the downfall of his fighters’ rivals – is hugely confident going into the Las Vegas bout.
James Slater
Arum wants to make Gilberto Ramirez a pay-per-view fighter, says a win over Golovkin would do it
Latest Mexican star in the making, Gilberto Ramirez, the WBO super-middleweight champion, has what it takes to become a pay-per-view star – so says his promoter Bob Arum. Arum, speaking with Yahoo! Sports, said he believes the unbeaten 25 year-old can defeat feared middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, if GGG moves up from 160 to 168 to tackle Ramirez, and that such a win would make “Zurdo,” as Ramirez is known, a genuine box-office attraction.
Parker’s manager: “How is AJ going to go when he’s eating Joseph’s jab all night?”
Unbeaten Joseph Parker, the mandatory challenger for Anthony Joshua and his IBF heavyweight title, was confident before this past Saturday’s defence by Joshua against Dominic Breazeale, but the New Zealander and his team are even more confident of taking the title when the fight happens; so says Parker’s manager, Dean Lonergan. Speaking with Sky Sports, Lonergan said he wants the fight to happen this year, ideally in November or December, and that he has no doubt his man will win when the big night comes.
Haye speaks on Fury’s injury, is disappointed Klitschko return got delayed
As fight fans will likely recall, heavyweight contender and former WBA champ David Haye twice pulled out of fighting Tyson Fury due to suffering an injury – a cut eye and then a shoulder injury that needed surgery – and Fury really put the boot in, claiming Haye was scared to face him. Now, in light of Fury’s ankle injury postponing his big rematch with Wladimir Klitschko, Haye could perhaps be forgiven for putting the boot firmly back in.
Instead, Haye said to Sky Sports that he is as disappointed as everyone else who wanted to see the July 9 encounter, and Haye said he feels Fury will be able to recover fast and “get back on it,” (Haye meant back on it with regards to training, not boozing!)
Floyd Mayweather is oh, so glad he was a defensive fighter; looks at Ali, his uncle as a reminder of boxing’s dangers
“Retired” boxing master Floyd Mayweather Junior might well go down in history as the finest defensive fighter of all time, and while such a distinction would certainly please Mayweather, he is already very happy – relieved, even – to have been a defensive fighter throughout his long career. Mayweather might not get the love a classic slugger gets (think Arturo Gatti or Matthew Saad Muhammad) and he has often been called “boring” and a “safety-first” ring operator, but Floyd doesn’t seem to care – he is happy he was the way he was (hard to hit) and today in full possession of his faculties as a result.
Keith Thurman-Kell Brook: who wins?
WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman may need a substantial rest after the quite breathtaking battle he and Shawn Porter (who will also need to recharge his batteries) put on this past Saturday, but Thurman has no shortage of future big fights. One man who says he “needs” to fight Thurman is IBF welterweight ruler Kell Brook. Speaking with Sky Sports shortly after Thurman’s thrilling, FOTY candidate of a win, Brook said he feels that if he and Thurman clash, the excitement would even top the Porter war.
David Haye: “I don’t get hit. I could see every Joshua shot coming”
Former WBA heavyweight champ David Haye served as a pundit for Sky Sports this past Saturday, to commentate on and analyse IBF heavyweight ruler Anthony Joshua’s KO win over a tough and game Dominic Breazeale. And though AJ got the job done in style, winning via 7th-round stoppage, Haye says he saw nothing to change his belief, his conviction, that he will defeat Joshua if and when the two fight.
So, who’s the best welterweight in the world?
One thing fight fans readily agree on is the fact that the almost ludicrously talent-rich welterweight division is the best, the most entertaining and the most competitive weight class in boxing today. But something that is very much up for debate is this: who is the best 147-pound operator in the sport today? With the “retirement” of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, fans have wondered which fighter will become the undisputed pick as the best in the world.
Anthony Joshua wants to be a WORLD champion, says he’d love to fight in Nigeria or Ghana
Back in the glory days of the heavyweight division, the 1970s, heavyweight kings Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman were, quite literally, world champions. Fighting in exotic faraway places such as Jamaica, Zaire, Kuala Lumpur and The Philippines, these giants boosted their fame, popularity and earning power by becoming globetrotters. Now, new heavyweight star and reigning IBF champion Anthony Joshua wants to emulate these greats, his number-one hero Ali especially.
Tyson Fury “at centre of a doping investigation”
Update: Team Fury statement re: Sunday Mirror allegation:– Team Fury/Hennessy Sports: We are baffled by today’s story in the Sunday Mirror. Tyson Fury absolutely denies any allegation of doping. He looks forward to recovering from his injury and defending his titles against Wladimir Klitschko in October.
More bad news for Tyson Fury. Hot on the heels of the heavyweight champion’s ankle injury that has forced him to postpone his July 9 rematch with Wladimir Klitschko comes a potential bombshell of a news story in The Sunday Mirror. According to the article, Fury is currently “at the centre of a doping investigation” (the exact words used in the news piece).