Heavyweight triple-header a possibility for Cardiff: Joshua-Pulev, Parker-Price, Chisora-Whyte!

08/30/2016 James Slater

If Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn pulls this off he will be a guaranteed Promoter of The Year award winner in Britain this year. The big plans that are currently underway are for THREE big heavyweight fights to take place on the same night in Cardiff, Wales in either November or December of this year.

According to a news piece in The Mail, Hearn is working, along with others, on staging Anthony Joshua’s second title defence, Joseph Parker against David Price and Dereck Chisora against Dillian Whyte, all at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium. The word now is Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev, the current European heavyweight champion, is the frontrunner to land the shot at IBF boss Joshua. This fight, a solid match-up that could well provide A.J with his stiffest pro test thus far in his career, would be supported in fine style if the other two in-the-works match-ups get made.

Eddie Hearn says David Price won’t get Joshua shot in November; likes the idea of Price-Joseph Parker in a final eliminator

08/25/201608/24/2016 James Slater

It’s still not clear who IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua will be defending his belt against on November 26, but it will definitely not be David Price. Promoter Eddie Hearn had some air time on Sky Sports today, and he repeated the three “most likely” names for Joshua’s next bout: Kubrat Pulev, Bermane Stiverne and Joseph Parker, who is of course Joshua’s mandatory challenger.

Anthony Joshua will fight November 26th, opponent and venue to be revealed soon says Hearn

08/22/2016 James Slater

Anthony Joshua, who was a pumped up analyst at the Rio Olympics, giving his expert opinion on many of the boxing bouts, is now pumped up for his own upcoming fight. Eddie Hearn has announced how the IBF heavyweight champ will fight on November 26th; the venue and opponent will be announced in the coming days. But for the first time in quite a while, Joshua will not be fighting at The O2 in London.

The upcoming venue is interesting, maybe it will be Manchester, maybe Liverpool (“We are changing city,” Joshua said), but the main thing that interests fans is who the challenger will be.

Price trainer Coldwell: “If not [Joshua next] we’ll fight Joseph Parker in order to get the opportunity”

08/17/201608/16/2016 James Slater

David Price really wants a shot at IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua – the man he revealed last week he flattened in sparring many moons ago. Price, under new trainer Dave Coldwell, is finally finding his “nasty side,” according to the trainer who spoke with Sky Sports today. Coldwell says Price is “fed up of being ridiculed and written off,” and now has “the devil in him” as he trains and looks for his next fight.

Coldwell says Price will fight like the huge puncher he is from now on; so it’s goodbye, nice guy, hello merciless puncher. At least that’s what Coldwell says, and he is “loving it.”

David Price says he KO’d Anthony Joshua in sparring, wants opportunity to try and do it again in IBF challenge

08/15/201608/13/2016 James Slater

A couple of days ago, reigning IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua put out a Tweet telling would-be challengers to leave him alone as far as asking for a shot at him unless they are “serious” and not mere hype jobs. Well, fellow Brit and former British champion David Price saw the Tweet and responded to it by stating he wants to fight A.J for his IBF belt. But that’s not all: with his challenge, Price told of a story regarding how he knocked Joshua out in sparring a few years back.

Anthony Joshua-Hughie Fury called for in November; Peter Fury sees “an excellent fight”

08/06/2016 James Slater

Joshua Vs. Fury, for the IBF heavyweight crown this November – it certainly has a ring to it; even if it’s not Tyson we’re talking about, but the world heavyweight king’s cousin, unbeaten contender Hughie Fury. And Peter Fury, trainer of both heavies, says he is keen on his son Hughie challenging Joshua in his next fight. Talking with Sky Sports, Peter said Hughie has been treated for a skin condition and is now in full health when he had in the past been fighting when performing at just “30 or 40 percent.”

Can a Wilder-Joshua clash bring the heavyweight magic back to Las Vegas?

07/29/2016 James Slater

There was a time, in the 1970s and 1980s especially, when almost all the big heavyweight fights took place under the glitzy lights of Las Vegas. Be it George Foreman, Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson or Evander Holyfield, and be it Caesars Palace, The Las Vegas Hilton or The Mirage, most of the heavyweight action was being fought in the Nevada desert. This changed in the 2000s and it’s hard to think of the last massive heavyweight showdown that took place in Vegas.

But this could change next year, so says Showtime boss Stephen Espinoza. Speaking with RingTV.com, Espinoza says there is a “lot of pent up demand” for a big heavyweight occasion in Vegas, and, all being well, rival title holders Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua will be giving these fans what they want before the end of 2017.

Dillian Whyte-David Allen: Allen says he’s “boxed Joshua’s head off on several occasions”

07/28/2016 James Slater

It’s a stacked card in Leeds, UK on Saturday, and the fight of the night might just be the heavyweight clash between two men who appear to have a genuine dislike for another, or at least a healthy difference in opinion. Dillian Whyte will face unbeaten but far less known David Allen in a fight that although not a big fight, could propel the winner into something big. Whyte, beaten only by reigning IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua in a great action fight, is a big favorite to win at the sold-out show, but Allen has been calling for this fight for some time.

Now that he has what he today called his big opportunity, Allen is confident he will win the fight and prove that he belongs “at the top.” Allen, 9-0-1(6) may not have faced any big names in a pro fight, but as he said today at the final press conference before the fight, he has sparred plenty of elite heavyweights – and he says he more than held his own.

Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry: “Joshua is talking to other camps at the moment”

07/26/2016 James Slater

Unbeaten Joseph Parker’s team feel the fight the New Zealander is mandated to have, against reigning IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua, will almost certainly come next year, not this year. Speaking to the media in New Zealand, Team-Parker announced an October 1st date with experienced fringe contender Alexander Dimitrenko and it was also announced how Parker, unbeaten at 20-0, will then almost certainly have another fight after that; while waiting for the shot at Joshua.

“All we know is [Anthony] Joshua is talking to other camps at the moment,” Parker’s trainer Kevin Barry said as reported by stuff.co.nz. “He’s definitely not talking to us. The fact we’re taking this fight on October 1st, there is a pretty fair assumption we’re not fighting Joshua in November. After this fight there’s every indication that, everything going well, we’ll fight another tall guy later in the year.”

Joseph Parker likely to get Alexander Dimitrenko test as final prep for shot at Joshua

07/25/2016 James Slater

It’s not official yet, but New Zealand media feel tomorrow’s press conference hosted by Joseph Parker’s promoter Dean Lonergan will confirm how the IBF mandatory challenger will face experienced Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko in his next fight, penciled in for September. Parker, unbeaten at 20-0 and coming off a 4th-round stoppage of Solomon Haumono, is expected to get his shot at Anthony Joshua late this year or early next year, but he and his team want to gain more experience before the expected trip to London. And this is where 34-year-old Dimitrenko comes in (or is expected to come in according to a report by The New Zealand Herald).

Dimitrenko, 38-2(24) is big at 6’7” and he has mixed it with some good fighters during his 15 year pro career – including Eddie Chambers, Albert Sosnowski and Kubrat Pulev. Parker will be facing the tallest pro opponent of his career thus far and he and his team obviously feel the fight will be great preparation for the Joshua fight.