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.

Fury chooses not to face Pulev in IBF eliminator; Haye fight now likely

fury2Unbeaten British heavyweight Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) will likely be facing former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye next after the purse bid for the Fury vs. Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO’s) IBF eliminator bout was cancelled when Fury’s management opted not to take part in it.

The winner of the Fury-Pulev fight would have become the IBF mandatory challenger for IBF heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko. Fury and his promoter had talked about wanting to take that course for a title shot against Wladimir, but it looks like they had a change of mind.

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Froch: I know how to beat Andre Ward now

ward445If IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch chooses to face Andre Ward in his next fight, he believes he now holds the knowledge of how to beat him this time. Froch’s plan involves him coming on late in the fight when Ward tends to tire out a bit and win by outworking him.

Froch said to the guaradian.co.uk “If we fight again, I know what to do. Late on, he tires. At super middle, he struggles…he’s got to come here.”

Well, Froch won’t ever get to test his theory if he never faces Ward again and right now the rematch between them will likely not happen. Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn appears more interested in putting Froch back in with Mikkel Kessler again for a third fight.

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Froch decisions Kessler

froch2000IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (31-2, 22 KO’s) labored to a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night over WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (46-3, 35 KO’s) at the O2 Arena in London, UK. The judges scored the fight 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113. The last score was the more accurate score compared to the other two.

Froch barely beat Kessler. Had Kessler won the 12th round, I would have scored it a draw. It was pretty sad scoring of the fight. Neither looked good. You can’t say Froch looked good because he spent the entire night missing punches and throwing a limp jab that would have been easily countered by a good fighter like Andre Ward.

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Atlas picks Froch to beat Kessler

froch1000ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas is picking IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) to defeat WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s) in their fight tonight at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Atlas’ reasons for going with Froch echo a lot of the same reasons others are picking Froch. He feels that Froch has improved considerably in the three years since he last fought Kessler in 2010, and sees him as a more confident fighter at this stage in his career despite being a year older than Kessler.

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Kessler’s promoter: Froch is starting to crack from the pressure

_SJ19921Kalle Sauerland, the promoter for WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s), thinks IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) is showing the hallmarks of a fighter that is mentally crumbling under the pressure of his big-fight rematch with Kessler this Saturday night in London, England.

Earlier this week, Froch talked of potentially killing Kessler in the ring this Saturday, and Sauerland sees that as a sign that Froch is going to pieces.

Sauerland said this about Froch as quoted by the Dailystar.co.uk “We think this type of talk shows that Carl is cracking up under the pressure. This is the biggest fight that Carl has ever been involved in…he’s the favorite and his fans expect him to win, so maybe he’s feeling the pressure.”

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Chilemba expects to KO Bellew on Saturday night

bellew5#3 WBC light heavyweight contender Isaac Chilemba (20-1-2, 9 KO’s) wants to take the judges out of the equation this Saturday night in his rematch against #1 WBC Tony Bellew (19-1-1, 12 KO’s) at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Chilemba fought well enough to deserve a victory last March when he fought Bellew in Liverpool, England, but the judges saw it differently and scored it a 12 round draw. This time Chilemba will be looking to knock Bellew out.

Chilemba said to Sky Sports “I’m not a guy who looks for a knockout. The way I feel this time, I would be very surprised if he goes 12 rounds…this time I’m going to take every round.”

What’s not known by many boxing fans is that Chilemba went into his fight with Bellew last March with a chest cold, and he barely breath. He didn’t want to cancel the fight and toughed it out, giving away many of the rounds in the first half of the fight.

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Froch goes overboard with comments about Kessler

froch966There’s a right way and a wrong way to try and hype a fight, and IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) showed a prime example of the wrong by talking about possibly killing his opponent WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s) in their unification fight this Saturday night in London, UK.

Froch said this to Telegraph.co.uk “If I have to I will kill this f***** [Kessler]. I will kill him. It sounds brutal, it sounds horrible, but that is what it means to me…when I smash his face in, I am going for the kill.”

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Kessler looking to beat Froch in front of his own fans

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WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s) beat IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) soundly three years ago in Herning, Denmark in front of Kessler’s Danish fans and a small spatter of Froch’s British fans. This time when Kessler faces Froch on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, England, Kessler will be looking to whip Froch in front of a huge crowd of Froch’s British fans.

Kessler wants to show that his win last time wasn’t because he was fighting at home in Denmark. It was because he was the more talented fighter than the upright, easy to hit Froch.

Kessler said “I want to show Carl and all of his boxing fans that I’m better than him.”

Well, if the fight follows the pattern of their last fight, Froch will come out aggressive; taste some of Kessler’s power and back off immediately. Last time, Froch fought in spurts where he would come at Kessler for some exchanges and then back away after Kessler got the better of him. The fight followed this pattern until late in the fight when it clear that Froch was well behind in the fight and needed to sweep the championship rounds in order to have a chance to win.

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Bellew plans on overwhelming Chilemba with punches on Saturday

bellew64#1 WBO light heavyweight contender Tony Bellew (19-1-1, 12 KO’s) will be trying to erase the controversy of his previous fight when he faces #3 WBC Isaac Chilemba (20-1-2, 9 KO’s) in a rematch this Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

The fight is buried on the Carl Froch vs. Mikkel Kessler card, and you have to wonder if this was an intentional move by Bellew’s promoter Eddie Hearn in case Bellew gets boxed silly again by Chilemba and it ends up as a huge buzz kill for all the Brits at ringside and watching on television.

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Audley Harrison changes his mind about retiring, will fight on

harrison323British heavyweight Audley Harrison (31-7, 23 KO’s) says he’s changed his mind about retiring from the sport, and he’ll be continuing with his career, such as it is. Audley had said he was retiring after he was blasted out by unbeaten Deontay Wilder (28-0, 28 KO’s) in one round on April 27th in Sheffield. We should have known that Audley wouldn’t stay retired because he seems to be remaking his career after every defeat.

Audley said this to BBC: “I can’t walk away with that performance [against Deontay]. If I do it would haunt me until I’m old and gray. I got up, they should have let him come to finish me and let me show what I got.”

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