Michael Collins

Michael Collins has been a senior writer with Boxing247.com (East Side Boxing) since 2012, bringing over a decade of experience to his coverage of the sport. Known for his steady reporting and clear analysis, he has written extensively on world title fights, contenders, and emerging prospects across the global boxing scene.

Michael’s work combines timely news with thoughtful features, giving fans both ringside detail and broader perspective on the stories shaping boxing today. With his consistency and depth, he remains a respected and trusted voice in the boxing community.

Hughie Fury fights Shane McPhilbin on September 14th

fury564534In something of a slight step up in competition, highly hyped heavyweight Hughie Fury (8-0, 5 KO’s) will be fighting cruiserweight Shane McPhilbin (8-7-1, 5 KO’s) next month on September 14th at the Magna Centre, Rotherhan, Yorkshire.

Hughie, 18, the cousin of unbeaten heavyweight contender Tyson Fury, has been very busy since turning pro in March of this year. Hughie has squeezed in 8 fights in four months, albeit against weak opposition. McPhilbin will continue of this type of match-making, but he’s clearly step up from Hughie’s last two opponents Moses Matovu (4-29-4) and Ivica Perkovic (19-21, 14 KO’s).

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Anthony Joshua makes his pro debut on October 5th in London

joshua434British heavyweight Anthony Joshua, 23, will be making his pro debut on October 5th on the Lee Selby vs. Ryan Walsh and Kevin Mitchell vs. Gary Sykes card at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Joshua, the 2012 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist from Britain, signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sport promotional company.

It was a big decision for the 6’6” Joshua to turn pro, as he had previously set his sights on capturing a second Olympic gold medal in the 2016 Olympics. However, instead of taking that big risk and possibly ending up with nothing, Joshua decided to turn pro and take the sure thing money fighting in the UK in front of what will likely be huge audiences no matter who he faces.

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Bellew poised to get title shot against Stevenson-Cloud winner

bellew64Tony Bellew (20-1, 12 Ko’s) failed the last time he got a title shot against WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly in losing a 12 round majority decision to him two years ago in October 2011. Bellew, 30, is now on the cusp of getting another world title shot, this time against the winner of the Adonis Stevenson vs. Tavoris Cloud fight.

Bellew is tentatively scheduled to fight the winner of that bout on November 30th, which just happens to be Bellew’s birthday. I seriously doubt it being his birthday is going to help him beat either Stevenson or Cloud, because those guys are a step up from Bellew’s recent opponent Isaac Chilemba. We just saw Bellew struggle badly against Chilemba twice and look terrible both times.

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Kubrat Pulev vs. Tony Thompson fight being negotiated

thompson4543A fight between heavyweight contenders Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) and Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO’s) is being negotiated for a fight that would take place in late August on the 24th or September 14th, according to Fightnews.com. The fight will take place in Germany, and both fighters have agreed on it.

Pulev, 32, is ranked #1 by the International Boxing Federation, whereas Thompson is ranked #8. What’s not known yet is whether the Thompson-Pulev fight will be an IBF heavyweight eliminator bout to lock in a mandatory challenger for IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko or not.

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Chisora TKOs Scott in unusual stoppage

chisora100American Malik Scott (35-1-1, 12 KO’s) was on the receiving end up a terrible, terrible 6th round stoppage against Britain’s Dereck Chisora (17-4, 11 KO’s) tonight at the Wembley Arena in London, UK. Scott hit the deck in the 6th after getting hit with a looping right hand that hit him in the back of the head.

Scott stayed down on his knees until the referee counted to 9, and then Scott got back to his feet. The referee halted the fight anyway much to the shock of Scott, his team, as well the British fans. It looked like the referee might have been confused in the amount of fingers he was holding up because Scott was clearly on his feet at the count of 9.

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Chisora: Malik Scott will gas out; he’s going to get stopped

chisora6Heavyweight Dereck Chisora (16-4, 10 KO’s) is predicting that American Malik Scott (35-0-1, 12 KO’s) will run out of gas tonight at some point from his pressure and end up getting stopped before the finish line at the Wembley Arena in London, UK. Chisora thinks he’ll wear Scott down with his constant pressure that he puts on him.

Chisora said to The Sun, “Malik Scott is going to get stopped because he ain’t got a clue. He’s going to gas out. When the thing starts hitting the fan most people fold.”

The thing with Chisora is he doesn’t always win even when he wears down his opponents with his pressure. We saw Chisora tire WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko and Robert Helenius both out and still lose to both of them.

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Malik Scott: Chisora’s a salesman

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Unbeaten American heavyweight Malik Scott (35-0-1, 12 KO’s) sees British heavyweight Dereck Chisora (16-4, 10 KO’s) as mainly a marketing fighter that is best as selling his fights rather than in performing in them. Scott notes that Chisora was able to get a title shot against WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko with only 17 fights under his belt last year. Scott and Chisora will be fighting this Saturday night at the Wembley Arena in London, UK.

Scott said to BoxNation “He’s [Chisora] a salesman. It’s all calculated. He knows what he’s doing. It’s worked for him. I don’t know anybody that had 16 fights and was fighting for the Championship of the World. When you’re in with me you’re dealing with a lot of different attributes. We know about what he’s coming with. He’s coming right at me. I’m going to be setting traps and I’m going to be tagging him…if Dereck wants to f*** all his money up and act stupid, it’s on him. F*** his antics!”

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Chisora: I’m going to do a number on Malik Scott and pack him off to America

scott35Dereck Chisora (16-4, 10 KO’s) has a tough fight on his hands against undefeated American heavyweight Malik Scott (35-0-1, 12 KO’s) this Saturday night in London, UK. The fight is scheduled for 10 rounds instead of 12, so that’s something that could possibly help Chisora because he’s not going to be able to out-box a fighter like Scott.

Chisora believes it’s going to be a fairly easy fight, but his recent performances don’t suggest that’s possible.

Chisora said to the Telegraph, “I’m going to do a real good job on this boy and pack him back off to America, defeated…I’m happy now that I’ve looked into his eyes and I see the boy is scared.”

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