Buglioni & Markham To Do It Again

05/23/201505/22/2015 Olly Campbell

After their blood and guts war that more than ably headlined Frank Warren’s recent “Striking Distance” show from the SSE Arena in London earlier this month, Enfield’s “Wise Guy” Frank Buglioni and Romford’s Lee “Banjo” Markham are set to go at it again – after their electrifying first fight ended in (a rightful) draw.

Announced by George Warren on “Bunce’s Boxing Hour” and by Buglioni himself via his twitter feed, the rematch is set for July 24th at the same venue – and each man will be determined to walk out a clear winner and leave nothing in the hands of the judges this time.

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Andre Dirrell and James Degale meet in Memorial Day Matinee on NBC

05/23/201505/21/2015 Chris Carlson

East meets West in a Memorial Day Matinee matchup between James Degale and Andre Dirrell. The card will be broadcast live on NBC from Agganis Arena on the Boston University campus. It pits two one-loss fighters hoping to standout as pros to match their amateur pedigree.

Rarely in life or in boxing do you get a second chance to improve upon your a first impression. Once a fighter loses as a favorite or puts on a poor performance, they can be casted away and shot down the ladder only to have to brush him or herself off and pick up pieces to climb back up again. This generally can be the case for non-popular boxers who don’t have a barn-burner style.

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Deontay Wilder Is Getting A Lotta Slaps

05/22/201505/21/2015 Olly Campbell

Big punching WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder – who fights the limited Eric Molina in a ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ fight for his maiden (voluntary) defence on June 20th – has spoken to FightHub.com to talk Klitschko – promising that should he lose to the dominant Ukrainian champion, his fans the world over have his permission to slap him round the face.

Ever good natured and enthusiastic in his interviews, Deontay is the kind of guy you can’t help but like – OUT of the ring – yet he is pretty far off the mark with his statements here regarding what will happen – if and when he eventually gets the call to fight Wladimir IN it.

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Thurman vs. Collazo Headlines First PBC on ESPN July 11

05/22/201505/21/2015 Premier Boxing

The first live Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN (PBC on ESPN) telecast will feature a star-studded 12-round welterweight matchup between undefeated Keith “One Time” Thurman (25-0, 21 KOs) and Luis Collazo (36-6, 19 KOs) when the series debuts on ESPN on Saturday, July 11, at 9 p.m. ET. The opening fight will showcase a 10-round junior middleweight matchup between undefeated Tony Harrison (21-0, 18 KOs) and Willie Nelson (23-2-1, 13 KOs). ESPN3 will also carry live the preliminary bouts at a time to be determined. The card will be held in Tampa, Fla., at a site to be named.

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Hearn Announces 5 Year Contract Extension With Sky

05/21/2015 Olly Campbell

Matchroom Sports promoter Eddie Hearn has this afternoon announced a 5 year extension to their current exclusive Sky Sports broadcasting contract (which ends next year), meaning that the present Saturday night formula for British fans is set to continue until 2021.

This is sure to elicit a mixed response from fans who, as of late, have grown tired of what they perceive as mis-matches on many of the domestic cards, taking to calling the firm “mis-Matchroom” boxing in jest on social media.

For example, a £5 7-fold bet on the favourites for the last domestic show in Birmingham, that included Matthew Macklin and Anthony Joshua, would have returned you the princely sum of £5.31.

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James DeGale Laughs Off Team Dirrell Insults

05/21/201505/21/2015 Olly Campbell

At yesterday’s media workout ahead of Saturday’s PBC on CBS, James DeGale took some time out to chat to iFLtv about the fight and the laughable situation that saw another of the Dirrell brothers, Willie, hijack proceedings – vocally branding the Londoner a loser – among other things – as the assembled media looked on.

DeGale insists he is in better shape than ever ahead of the history making fight for the vacant 168lb IBF strap, which, should he win, means he will become the first British gold medal winning Olympian to go on and win a world title in the paid ranks.

He said;

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Froch v Golovkin At Wembley?

05/21/201505/21/2015 Olly Campbell

So just a day or two after saying that he would be ‘flipping a coin’ over whether or not he will fight again – Carl Froch appears to be flirting with the idea of another huge Wembley UK show – a la George Groves – yet this time against the murderous punching middleweight Gennady Golovkin, who we saw break apart Willie Monroe Jr on HBO last weekend.

The Daily Mail, as well as multiple other sources online, are reporting that talks for the fight are underway, although I’m incredibly wary of how much of this is ego-satisfying bluster for “The Cobra” and how much of it is credible, thoughtful and ultimately SERIOUS consideration.

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Credible Fights For Hughie Fury /Arreola In The Frame

05/21/201505/20/2015 Olly Campbell

It would appear that the future is looking bright for British heavyweight prospect Hughie Fury (15-0, 8ko) – cousin of Tyson, if a series of late night tweets from his father and trainer Peter are anything to go by.

The young 20 year old heavyweight took a significant step up in class last time out, turning in a confident and mature performance against the more experienced Ukrainian Andriy Rudenko (24-2, 16ko) on the undercard of the Gennady Golovkin/Martin Murray fight in February.

Clearly looking for credible tests for his son, which is always a refreshing thing to hear regarding a young fighter, Peter tweeted the following with regards to the next outing;

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Povetkin v Perez on Friday – Deontay Fights The Winner

05/21/201505/20/2015 Olly Campbell

One fight that sadly seems to have been flying under the radar just a little bit is this Friday’s intriguing heavyweight dust-up between Russia’s Alexander Povetkin (28-1, 20ko) and Irish based Cuban Mike Perez (21-1-1, 13ko) that will be broadcast live from Moscow on Boxnation in the UK/ESPN2 in the States.

The two will be contesting the lightly regarded WBC Silver title, yet the real prize is that this is a final eliminator to face newly crowned champion Deontay Wilder – who will make the maiden defence of his own title against the unfancied and unheralded Eric Molina on June 20th.

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George Groves Tips DeGale To Beat Dirrell – Eyeing The Rematch

05/21/201505/20/2015 Olly Campbell

WBC 168lb mandatory challenger and long time James DeGale rival George Groves, has tipped his old foe to do the business against Andre Dirrell in Boston on Saturday night, saying;

“He’s in with a chance, a real good chance.”

Groves, who holds victories over the Harlesden fighter in both the amateur and paid ranks, told Sky Sports that while he doesn’t think DeGale can get a stoppage “a points win wouldn’t surprise me.”

DeGale is chasing history when he fights Dirrell by attempting to become the first Brit gold medal winning Olympian to go on and win a world title in the paid ranks. The two men will be contesting the IBF strap recently vacated by Carl Froch.

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