Now we are just days out from May 2nd, the world and his wife have a prediction as to how the big fight is going to go.
The latest fight figure to wade in, is Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera, best remembered for his epic trilogy with Mexican rival Erik Morales. Many British fans will also remember him as the man who, for all intents and purposes, ENDED the career of British legend Prince Naseem Hamed, in what would end up being Naz’s penultimate fight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfN-6LPG0Js
Now the dust has settled slightly on Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s (48-2-1,32ko) comprehensive beating at the hands of Poland’s Andrzej Fonfara (27-3,16ko) at the weekend, I can’t help but wonder what the future holds for the son of the Mexican legend. I’m not so sure it’s good.
There’s one more big fight to get excited about before May 2nd, and like last weeks Crawford and Matthysse fights, it’s in danger of being a little overshadowed by this generations “big one”
Dominant lineal heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (63-3, 53ko) returns to America to face relative novice Bryant Jennings (19-0, 10ko) at the world famous Madison Square Garden on Saturday, and in the opinion of this writer, “By-By” needs a miracle bigger than turning water into wine if he is to be victorious.
Now we are less than a fortnight away, the time for the focus on the big fight will naturally grow more intense, and as the proposed date looms, figures from all corners of boxing are giving their opinion on the proposed outcome.
Kugan Cassius of iFLtv recently spoke to Britain’s former unified world cruiserweight champion and WBA heavyweight champion David Haye, to ask him his thoughts on the outcome.
One of the hotly debated topics among fans is whether this fight has come too late for both fighters, each arguably displaying their own (small) signs of decline.
Ahead of the proposed “Fight Of The Century” on May 2nd at the MGM Grand, Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach has told respected British fight journalist Gareth A. Davies of The Telegraph, that were it not for his dedication to the sport as a whole, and in particular to training Filipino wizard Pacquiao, he could be a dead man already.
Roach, who has suffered with Parkinson’s for 23 years, explained the medication he takes daily to combat it often induces suicidal thought.
WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (29-0,17ko) has spoken to FightHype.com ahead of his scheduled “Golden Ticket” appearance on May 2nd’s “Fight Of The Century” under-card, where he is to square off against unremarkable Hungarian fighter Zsolt Bedak (24-1, 8ko)
Santa Cruz, who is looked after by manager Al Haymon, is gushing in his praise of the PBC mastermind, who himself is credited with rejuvenating the career of Floyd Mayweather, at least financially, by helping him out of his prior contract disputes with Top Rank and Bob Arum some years previously.
Last night in Verona, the watching world saw Lucas Matthysse (37-3, 34ko) and Ruslan Provodnikov (24-4, 17ko) deliver twelve brutal rounds that in my opinion adequately delivered on the promise of war. Yet because the much mooted knockout between the punchers failed to transpire, reports by sites like Sky Sports in the UK are saying;
“The predicted slug-fest between the two heavy hitters never really took off”
I guess some folk are never truly happy because in my mind the fight played out much as I thought it would, with the hittable Provodnikov getting banged up by a Matthysse who used more of the boxing skill we knew he had going in. He boxed a sensible fight fight for me and didn’t get caught trading TOO often!!
Essex’s “Rockin” Robin Deakin (1-51, 0kos) often gets referred to as Britain’s “worst” boxer, a label he himself happily revels in. The focus last year of some rather cruel and mocking press in the national newspapers, Deakin, who at the time had his licence suspended by the British board, has taken everything in his stride, even when his right to earn a living was perhaps unfairly taken from him.
After originally being scheduled to box Cuban Richar Abril in place of original challenger Anthony Crolla, Mathews and promoter Frank Warren have had a nightmare week getting a fight on after Abril pulled out of the contest for a SECOND time a week ago (the first in March) and late replacement Ismael Barroso of Venezuela suffered visa problems that meant he too had to withdraw.
The rumours that have been gathering pace for some time in Britain regarding a potential summer fight between Finchley’s Dereck Chisora (20-5, 13ko) (who, incidentally has dropped the ‘c’ from his first name on twitter!) and Liverpool’s David Price (19-2, 16ko) may need to be put to bed after a social media exchange this afternoon between Chisora himself and Price’s promoters Sauerland Event, appeared to kill any hope fans had of the fight being made.
The saga began with a brief tweet from Kalle and Nisse Sauerland, regarding the proposed June 6th return of Price to the UK, and a potential showdown with Chisora. It read;