Official results from the Weigh in from Dortmund, Germany, for the WBC cruiserweight championship of the world:
Marco Huck – 90,5 kg – 199,5 lb
Mairis Briedis – 90,5 kg – 199,5 lb
Christina Hammer – 72,0 kg – 158,73 lb
Maria Lindbergh – 70,0 kg – 154,32 lb
We’ve seen some shocking, unlikely match-ups get made just recently in boxing; where two men from different weight classes, sometimes with more than one weight class between them, got it on in a catch-weight bout. Recently, no-one saw Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan coming, or Gennady Golovkin-Kell Brook; while going back a few years, the Manny Pacquiao-Oscar De La Hoya fight was widely ridiculed when it was first announced.
Might a Tony Bellew-Chris Eubank Junior clash be the next catch-weight contest that will get shot down initially but then just might catch on with the fans? Due to a highly entertaining and amusing twitter battle between the two British stars, Eubank – the former British middleweight champ who recently moved up to 168 pounds and won the lightly regarded IBO belt at the weight -called Bellew out.
Promoter Eddie Hearn has announced how his heavyweight star Tony Bellew will “100 percent fight again in 2017.” Speaking with Sky Sports News HQ yesterday evening, Hearn said that “Bomber” will have the final say on his next move but that a big fight rematch with David Haye is among the options for the Liverpool warrior.
Bellew suffered a hand injury in the shocking fight with Haye, Haye of course tearing his Achilles, but Hearn is sure he will be fighting again this year.
Tony Bellew really did open up the possibility of all manner of big heavyweight fights for himself with his shock win over David Haye. We’ve heard talk of a possible title shot, against heavyweight champs Deontay Wilder and Joseph Parker and now, believe it or not – a Bellew-Tyson Fury fight is being suggested.
Although he suffered a major injury in his losing fight with Tony Bellew, David Haye is not talking like a man who is resigned to retirement. Haye, who had to take many months off after undergoing a 2012 career-threatening shoulder op, has now undergone surgery on his torn Achilles tear. But although Haye, 36, seems to be a fighter who has a career in tatters, he insists he will still “carry on my path to become No 1 in the world.”
Tony Bellew, with his big upset stoppage win over David Haye sure caused massive ripples in the heavyweight division. Now being looked at by two of the reigning world heavyweight champs as a realistic and legit challenger, “Bomber” could be on the verge of landing himself a shot at either the WBC or the WBO crown.
WBO ruler Joseph Parker is interested in a lucrative fight with Bellew, and WBC king Deontay Wilder is also not ruling it out. It’s probable, highly so, that both unbeaten heavyweights feel Bellew would be relatively easy picking, with the big payday attached to the fight too big to pass up. But Haye badly underestimated Bellew and we all saw what happened there.
By Mauricio Sulaiman: What a wonderful week it was for boxing and the WBC. Shinsuke Yamanaka defended his WBC bantamweight title for the 12th time with an impressive seventh-round TKO in Japan. Mexican “Churritos” Hernandez traveled to Thailand and won the vacant WBC flyweight title via third-round TKO. WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew knocked out David Haye in a heavyweight fight. Heather Hardy defended her WBC International title, representing women at a major event. Erickson Lubin became a mandatory contender at super welterweight by knocking out Jorge Cota, and Keith Thurman unified the welterweight division with a split decision win over Danny Garcia.
In terms of drama, excitment, and raw emotion, Haye vs Bellew was a classic that will be talked about and debated for years to come. The inordinate bad blood that flowed in the lead up made the stakes involved higher than most world title fights have in recent times. That it also brought the sport into disrepute is a feeling that will not be shared by Eddie Hearn or Sky Sports given the number of PPV buys it undoubtedly generated precisely because of the bad blood and vicious pre-fight rhetoric, most of it from David Haye.
Whatever he decides to do next, it has to be agreed how Tony Bellew, the fighter all of British boxing is talking about right now, has had some great career. Bellew shocked the odds in winning the WBC cruiserweight title against Ilunga Makabu last year, while last night, in the most incredible fight of 2017 so far, Bellew stunned the sport with his wild and crazy win over David Haye.
People will be talking about last night’s fight for some time, yet already fans are asking what move “Bomber” will make next. Retirement, on the back of his biggest win and payday, could be a tempting option for the 34 year-old, but it’s also possible – believe it or not – that Bellew could get a shot at one of the world heavyweight belts.
Wow! Tonight at a sold-out O2 in the heart of London, British boxing witnessed one hell of an amazing, even crazy fight. The result: Bellew TKO 11 Haye, doesn’t come anywhere near close to telling the full story.
Haye, who suffered a terrible injury to his right ankle (or Achilles; we must await a full explanation) in the 6th round, was basically a one-legged fighter from the 6th on – yet he refused to quit! Bellew blazed away, scoring a knockdown, the end seemingly not far away, but instead Haye gutted it up like never before in his career and the two went to war in incredible fashion.