David Lemieux fails to make weight, De La Rosa fight off

03/11/2016 James Slater

In a disappointing turn of events, middleweight star David Lemieux failed to make weight for tomorrow night’s fight against James De La Rosa. The fight, agreed for a catch-weight of 163-pounds, fell apart when Lemieux came in at a heavy 165.6-pounds – really nowhere close to the agreed poundage.

De La Rosa, no doubt disgusted, walked away and refused to negotiate any deal with Lemieux that would allow the fight to go ahead with Lemieux at the higher weight. De La Rosa made weight. Lemiuex was hoping to bounce back from his October defeat to Gennady Golovkin but now he faces an unknown immediate future.

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Alexander Povetkin vs. Deontay Wilder will take place in Russia

03/09/201603/09/2016 Vitali Shaposhnikov

A Russian promotional company World of Boxing had recently won the bidding war for the Alexander Povetkin (30-1-0) vs. Deontay Wilder (36-0-0) bout, which will now be taking place somewhere in Russia, with the Moscow Olympic Stadium probably being the likely venue.

Wilder will be guaranteed $4.5 million, and Povetkin a much slimmer number of $1.9 million.

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Interview: Joseph Parker discusses Carlos Takam, training camp and his newfound German ancestry

03/08/201603/08/2016 Bryce Wilson

In every promising sports career there comes a breakout moment, a crossroads junction where hype meets reality. That moment has arrived for unbeaten prospect Joseph Parker as he commences preparations to face the always dangerous Carlos Takam in a fight, that if victorious, will see him transition from prospect to contender.

In 2015 Parker cut a swathe through his opposition, obliterating all who faced him with a string of booming knockouts courtesy of his powerful right hand. Despite this impressive run of performances Parker wasn’t immune from criticism as sceptics were quick to claim that his opponents were either over matched, over the hill or just plain underwhelming. ‘He needs to start stepping it up’ seemed to be the consensus of opinion while Parker kept busy in his work, fighting and winning six times in a little over ten months. This accelerated schedule saw him rewarded with a swift rise through the world rankings.

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Kevin Barry Interview: ‘There is a lot more to come from Joseph Parker.’

03/07/201603/07/2016 Bryce Wilson

As quickly as Tyson Fury changed the landscape of the heavyweight division with his against-the-odds defeat of Wladimir Klitschko, so it fractured again with the IBF immediately splintering off and declaring their title vacant.

In their own way the IBF may have done heavyweight boxing a favour as it has cleared a path for two of the sport’s most promising young heavyweights, Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker, to step up and sign the most significant fights of their respective careers.

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“King Kong” Ortiz Squashes “Tiger” Thompson; Jessie Vargas Scores a Career-Best Win Against Ali

03/06/201603/06/2016 Neil Dennis

The DC Armory was alive with action as Luis Ortiz continued his charge on the heavyweight division against rugged veteran Tony Thompson.

Early action saw local favorite Damon Allen (9-0, 4 KOs) dominate a game Angel Aispuro. He landed to the body and head at will, but Aispuro was defiant. At times, he gave Allen a right or left to the head to think about. However, Aispuro took a heap of punishment that culminated with a serious cut to his right ear. Referee Billy Johnson called it 2:17 into the sixth round.

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Lucas Browne stuns Ruslan Chagaev with 10th-round TKO, takes WBA heavyweight title

03/06/201603/05/2016 James Slater

In a surprisingly entertaining heavyweight battle, Australian slugger Lucas Browne scored a big upset win in stopping defending WBA champ Ruslan Chagaev in the 10th-round in Grozny, Russia. Browne, who had been wobbled in the 5th and heavily decked himself in the 6th, came back to pull out a right hand from nowhere which dropped the durable if aging Chagaev in round-ten.

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Sadam Ali vs. Jessie Vargas highlight busy weekend on HBO and Showtime

03/04/2016 Chris Carlson

This weekend marks the second Saturday on the schedule were HBO and Showtime feature dueling fight cards. After a slow February, boxing fans get a plethora of fights this weekend. It would have been nice if either network could have placed one of these cards somewhere last month. Boxing fans are accustomed to taking one on the chin, so beggars can’t be choosy when it comes to a stacked schedule on March 5th.

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Canelo Alvarez: I’m not a middleweight

03/03/201603/02/2016 James Slater

Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez wants to make a deal. Speaking today at the second stop in the three-city promotional tour to hype the upcoming May 7 Canelo-Amir Khan fight, Alvarez – as quoted by RingTV.com – made one thing clear: he is not a middleweight.

As fans everywhere know, the demand for Canelo, the lineal middleweight champion of the world, to fight Gennady Golovkin, the interim WBC and reigning IBF and WBA 160-pound king, is at a fever pitch right now. Everyone wants to see this fight get made, but Canelo said that both he and GGG will have to “feel comfortable” and that “the conditions have to be right.” before this super-fight can get done.

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Hughie Fury to face tested heavyweight Nagy Aguilera on March 26th Eubank-Blackwell bill

03/02/201603/01/2016 James Slater

Unbeaten heavyweight contender Hughie Fury, cousin of course of reigning heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, will face a tested and experienced fighter in Nagy Aguilera in his next bout. Set to face the 20-9 operator from The Dominican Republic on the March 26th card at Wembley that will be headlined by middleweights Nick Blackwell and Chris Eubank Junior who will meet in something of a grudge-match, 21-year-old Fury could have a good fight on his hands.

Aguilera, aged 29 and long time based in New York, has been in with a number of notable names, including: Oleg Maskaev, Sam Peter, Antonio Tarver, Chris Arreola, Tomasz Adamek and, more recently, unbeaten U.S heavyweight hopes Dominic Breazeale and Gerald Washington. Okay, most of these fighters have beaten Aguilera but, with the exception of Peter and Arreola, they have not stopped him. And Aguilera is coming off a win – he travelled to Poland last September, where he stopped a 16-1 Marcin Rekowski.

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Frampton calls out Santa Cruz on Twitter; Rigondeaux Tweets how he’ll fight Frampton, Quigg and Santa Cruz!

03/02/201602/29/2016 James Slater

(Photo credit: Matchroom Boxing) Go back a few years, and nobody in the boxing world, or any other part of the world, had any idea what Twitter, or a Tweet, was. Yet today, Twitter seems to be one of the most commonly used methods when a fighter either has big news to tell or wishes to call out an opponent. Within hours of the big but ultimately less than thrilling Carl Frampton-Scott Quigg super-bantamweight unification fight, Guillermo Rigondeaux, the universally accepted best 122-pounder on the planet, took to Twitter to both ridicule and call out Frampton.

Rigondeaux is rightfully demanding a fight with new IBF/WBA champion, yet he has gone one, well, actually two better, and has called out Frampton, Quigg and Leo Santa Cruz. Rigo Tweeted how he will, after he’s fought Jazza Dickens on March 12th, fight Frampton in April, Quigg in May and then featherweight champ Leo Santa Cruz in June! And as hungry (read starving) as the masterful Cuban is for the big fights he so clearly deserves, he probably would see out this hectic schedule if he was permitted to do so!

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