In something of a slight step up in competition, highly hyped heavyweight Hughie Fury (8-0, 5 KO’s) will be fighting cruiserweight Shane McPhilbin (8-7-1, 5 KO’s) next month on September 14th at the Magna Centre, Rotherhan, Yorkshire.
Hughie, 18, the cousin of unbeaten heavyweight contender Tyson Fury, has been very busy since turning pro in March of this year. Hughie has squeezed in 8 fights in four months, albeit against weak opposition. McPhilbin will continue of this type of match-making, but he’s clearly step up from Hughie’s last two opponents Moses Matovu (4-29-4) and Ivica Perkovic (19-21, 14 KO’s).
Mike Alvarado (34-1, 23 KO’s) and the recently beaten Ruslan Provodnikov (22-2, 15 KO’s) have reportedly agreed to terms for a fight televised by HBO on October 19th at the First Bank Center, Denver, Colorado, USA. Top Rank finalized the deal, according to Yahoo Sports.
Fight fans can look forward to a real stacked up card on August 24. With European Light Heavyweight Champion Juergen Braehmer defending his title (against Stefano Abatangelo) and super-middleweight contender Arthur Abraham (against Willbeforce Shihepo) trying to get in position for another world title shot, the show is already loaded with highlights. Now the Sport- und Kongresshalle Schwerin will also play host to a special heavyweight attraction. Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KO´s) and Tony Thompson (38-3, 26 KO´s) will fight it out in an IBF final eliminator with the winner to challenge for the world title.
Credit where credit’s due, most fighters in Nathan Cleverly’s position would avoid a showdown with such a fierce-punching, and unbeaten, rival. There may well be unanswered questions over Sergey Kovalev’s endurance, but why worry about endurance when concussive power in both hands negates the need for such a trait? And who’s to say that the Sergey couldn’t destroy opponents all night long if necessary?
Chip Mitchell: Eddie, let’s first talk about the decision to move down from heavyweight to cruiserweight? Was part of the decision it based more on size or more opportunities in the division? 
OTTAWA, Canada (July 26, 2013) — When heavyweight contender Bermane “B. Ware” Stiverne (21-1, 20 KOs) upset Chris Arreola (35-3, 30 KOs) on HBO this past April 27, in a title elimination bout, it set-up the dangerous Canadian for a super fight versus future Hall of Famer and long-time World Boxing Council (WBC) World Heavyweight Champion, Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KOs).
New York, NY (7/29/13) – Former light heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion Zsolt Erdei (33-1, 18KO’s) isn’t looking for any easy fights after suffering his first professional defeat in a razor-thin and questionable split decision loss to Denis Grachev in the first leg of the Monte-Carlo Million Dollar Super 4 Tournament. Erdei is instead offering up his services to super middleweight kingpin and ESPN.com’s pound-for-pound number two-ranked fighter in the world, Andre Ward.