Andrew Golota was once a tremendous talent in the heavyweight division, who was a perennial rated contender for the better part of a decade. During that time Golota was widely viewed as an A-level talent who was unable to succeed at the highest level in order to secure himself as an A-level boxer.
Reigning WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder had originally been slated to square off against highly regarded contender Alexander Povetkin back on May 21. The fight. However, wound up being postponed by the WBC after Povetkin had reportedly tested positive for a substance known as meldonium – a recently banned substance added to the ever growing list of illegal performance enhancers.
With the highly anticipated showdown between two of boxing’s most elite talents, Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward, scheduled to take place in November, only one obstacle remains before the best fight than can be made in all of boxing becomes a reality. That happens August 6 when Andre Ward takes his final tune-up bout against Alexander Brand. For his part, Kovalev just took care of business in his final bout before the mega fight with Ward when he outpointed Isaac Chilemba by unanimous decision yesterday.
Following the uncertain controversy and apparent postponement of the highly anticipated heavyweight showdown between WBC champion Deontay Wilder and Alexander Povetkin, Wilder decided to press forward and look another direction. He will instead be defending his title belt against the once highly regarded Chris Arreola on July 16 in Wilder’s home state of Alabama.
When heavyweight champion Tyson Fury makes his first lineal defense on July 9 against former long reigning champion Wladimir Klitschko, he will be attempting to do something only half a dozen champions in boxing history have ever tried to do before – successfully make a first defense in an immediate rematch (with no in between bouts) against the former champ he had just beaten to become the champion..
Vasyl Lomachenko made history on Saturday night when he defeated Roman ‘Rocky’ Martinez to capture the WBO super featherweight title in his 130 pound debut. For Lomachenko this is only his 7th professional contest, giving him the unique distinction of becoming the fastest fighter to ever win world championship titles in more than one weight class. Lomachenko had previously won the 126 pound version of the WBO belt when he defeated Gary Russell Jr in his 3rd professional match. He defended that title three times before venturing north to challenge Martinez.
Oscar De La Hoya had an extraordinary boxing career which included many big fights, a lot of big victories, and numerous championship belts during his 16 year career. He won titles at 130, 135, 140, 147, 154, and 160, and he had the distinction of becoming the first boxer to ever win fights in 6 different weight classes.
Canelo Alvarez recently decided it was time to relinquish his WBC middleweight title rather than face fellow titleholder Gennady Golovkin in a unification bout. Many fans are outraged over Canelo’s reluctance to face Golovkin. It remains to be seen how this will ultimately impact Alvarez’s career and drawing power. But in the midst of this recent disappointment for boxing fans, many observers are comparing this situation to one that occurred back in the early 1990s when undisputed heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe deposited the heavyweight version of the WBC title into a trash bin rather than face his mandatory Lennox Lewis.
Wladimir Klitschko’s rise to heavyweight dominance wasn’t always smooth sailing. The long time dominant heavyweight champion had several major setbacks on the road to greatness before joining forces with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward. He had already suffered defeats at the hands of Ross Puritty and Corrie Sanders prior to teaming up with Steward, and then when the two had their first fight together, Wladimir suffered another devastating loss at the hands of Lamon Brewster. It was a disappointing start for the new duo, and in the end it would be the only fight they would lose together before Wladimir began his dominant reign which lasted nearly 10 years where Wladimir had hardly lost any rounds along the way.
Canelo Alvarez successfully defended his middleweight crown this weekend when he scored a highlight reel knockout against a ballooned up version of welterweight Amir Khan. This was not a situation like when Ray Leonard challenged Marvin Hagler, or even like when Oscar De La Hoya challenged Bernard Hopkins. This was something different altogether. Not only was Canelo defending the highly coveted middleweight crown below the 160 pound limit, but he was also facing an opponent who had mediocre success at 147 and had never even competed north of that weight class. This has become a sad and growing trend in the middleweight division, where the title hasn’t been defended at the official 160 pound weight limit in years.