The latest boxing top stories and breaking news
While it seems the majority of people agree with the majority draw the three judges collectively handed in after super-middleweights James DeGale and Badou Jack went to war in a great fight, some, including Floyd Mayweather, are extremely unhappy with last night’s decision.
We really could be in for a great year here in 2017 if we get both Canelo Alvarez-Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr and Canelo-Gennady Golovkin. We’ve already got Canelo-Chavez, as was of course confirmed yesterday, and unless Chavez upsets Alvarez, we should get the really big one in September. Let’s face it, Canelo cannot use his “I’m not a middleweight” card any longer, agreeing as he has, to face Chavez at 164.5; well above the middleweight limit. If Canelo can fight at that weight, he can fight GGG at 160, right?
But before the hoped for September super-fight rolls around, we have a potentially great fight to look forward to on May 6 (and not forgetting the GGG-Danny Jacobs fight on March 18, which could also be special; as well as being another potential spanner in the works regarding the GGG-Canelo showdown, as Jacobs could perhaps upset the middleweight king).
You hear ‘49-0. Undefeated. Beat 25 World Champions. Dominating the game since the 90’s. He must be the greatest’.
This article will prove that this statement is very hollow.
Floyd Mayweather only dared to be elite, but not a Great. He just dared to be elite long enough to become a Great, but never intentionally dared to be Great.
Unified Middleweight World Champion (WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO) GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN (36-0, 33 KO’s) and WBA Middleweight Champion and Mandatory Challenger DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS (32-1, 29 KO’s) hosted a massive contingent of Southern California media on Wednesday in Downtown Los Angeles to promote their highly anticipated showdown set for Saturday, March 18 at “The Mecca of Boxing”, Madison Square Garden. The championship event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Still interested in a possible Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor “super-fight?” Money Mayweather sure is, and he’s gone on record as saying he will pay the UFC star the figure of $15 million, along with a slice of the Pay-per-View revenue, for the fight to happen – under boxing rules.
Mayweather, speaking on ESPN’s “First Take” yesterday evening, said “Let’s make it happen.”
The proposed Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn fight in Australia is reportedly very close to being finalised. All that is required now, says promoter Bob Arum, is for the money to be right. Arum says Pac-Man is “on board” for the fight against the unbeaten Horn, but that the money needs to be put up before the fight can be signed off and made official.
“Manny thinks Jeff is a very live fighter – in the sense that he’s a come ahead guy and he says it will be a tremendous fight and a good challenge for him,”Arum told The Sunday Mail. “We are very excited about this fight. Jeff is a very good fighter – I don’t know if he beats Manny Pacquiao but he’ll give him a tremendous fight.”
It seems P-4-P star and reigning WBO super-featherweight champ Vasyl Lomachenko got overly hopeful, even jumped the gun, when he recently stated how his next fight would be a return meeting with Orlando Salido. According to Top Rank boss and Lomachenko promoter Bob Arum, Mexican warrior Salido “Chickened Out” of a rematch.
Speaking with RingTV.com, Arum said Salido – the only man to have beaten Lomachenko as a pro – asked for “crazy money.”
By Paul “Paparazzi” Jones & Justin Jones – As the world celebrates the New Year, we reflect on the sweet science in 2016 by unveiling our yearly boxing awards:
Carl ‘The Jackal’ Frampton
Honorable Mention
In the wake of Anthony Joshua’s latest victory and after the announcement of his 2017 contest against a fighter of note in Wladimir Klitschko, we look to discuss if the IBF Heavyweight Champion will ever gain the respect of ‘hardcore’ boxing fans or will be forever seen as a poster boy for ‘casuals’ and the increasing wave of new boxing fans.
Joshua is an Olympic Champion, and however you view his victory over Charles Martin in terms of credibility, he is also a recognised World Champion. Whilst he hasn’t yet been pitted against the divisions top level operators he appears to receive very little acclaim for his achievements to date from many long standing boxing fans.
Much disputed, debated and demeaned too, boxing’s pound-for-pound list remains the definitive way to single out the best boxers in the world.
Making the selection for 2016 requires serious deliberation, as changes must be made. 2016 is only the second year in approximately 11 years of boxing that Floyd Mayweather is not at the top of boxing’s pound-for-pound list.