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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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Bermane Stiverne already in training camp for Joshua shot: “I have a desire to be a two-time heavyweight champion”

07/13/2016 James Slater

Former WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne is already in training camp, working ahead of a hoped for shot at IBF heavyweight ruler Anthony Joshua at the end of the year. Joshua has spoken of wanting to get a second voluntary title defence in before moving on to face his mandatory, Joseph Parker, early next year. And Joshua said he would be interested in fighting Stiverne, as he feels the fight would have a good chance of going into the later rounds, where A.J is keen to show his stamina (he has of course not yet gone past the 7th-round as a pro).

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Barry Hearn wants to see Anthony Joshua-Bermane Stiverne

07/07/2016 James Slater

IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua would like to have another fight this year, before facing his mandatory challenger Joseph Parker early on next year. Joshua and his team must start negotiations with Team-Parker by November 9, with the fight likely to take place around March time, but Joshua has spoken of wanting to get another voluntary defence in first, in November or December. And Matchroom chairman Barry Hearn told Sky Sports he feels A.J will indeed slot one more fight in before taking on Parker.

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Anthony Joshua expecting a good fight between Wilder and Arreola

07/03/2016 James Slater

It’s a pretty quiet upcoming period for fight fans, with not too much scheduled between now and the July 23rd unification clash between rival 140-pound champions Terence Crawford and Viktor Postol, and then not too much set for the month of August. This coming Saturday, July 9, we should have all been settling down to the eagerly awaited rematch between Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko, but due to Fury’s injured ankle, it looks like we will have to wait and wait for this one.

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Hearn says Anthony Joshua is likely to box in November or December – Parker, Stiverne, Jennings, Pulev all possibilities

07/01/201607/01/2016 James Slater

Who will IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua fight next? His promoter Eddie Hearn, in speaking with the Daily Mail, said we can “expect an AJ return in November or December,” and that there are four names currently in the mix as far as possible challengers. Hearn said Joseph Parker, Joshua’s mandatory challenger, will be accommodated, possibly on the November or December date, or if not then, early next year.

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Parker’s manager: “How is AJ going to go when he’s eating Joseph’s jab all night?”

06/29/201606/29/2016 James Slater

Unbeaten Joseph Parker, the mandatory challenger for Anthony Joshua and his IBF heavyweight title, was confident before this past Saturday’s defence by Joshua against Dominic Breazeale, but the New Zealander and his team are even more confident of taking the title when the fight happens; so says Parker’s manager, Dean Lonergan. Speaking with Sky Sports, Lonergan said he wants the fight to happen this year, ideally in November or December, and that he has no doubt his man will win when the big night comes.

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David Haye: “I don’t get hit. I could see every Joshua shot coming”

06/27/2016 James Slater

Former WBA heavyweight champ David Haye served as a pundit for Sky Sports this past Saturday, to commentate on and analyse IBF heavyweight ruler Anthony Joshua’s KO win over a tough and game Dominic Breazeale. And though AJ got the job done in style, winning via 7th-round stoppage, Haye says he saw nothing to change his belief, his conviction, that he will defeat Joshua if and when the two fight.

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