The finest defensive boxer ever: Floyd Mayweather Junior? Willie Pep? Nicolino Locche? Pernell Whitaker?

01/04/201601/02/2016 James Slater

On this day in 1964, in Norfolk, Virginia, Pernell Whitaker was born. Known today as one of the finest defensive fighters in the history of the sport – or arguably as the best-ever – the gifted southpaw achieved plenty as both an amateur and a pro boxer.

Winning a silver medal at the 1982 World Amateur Championships, Whitaker, who was soon given the nickname of “Sweet Pea” due to his slick skills, went one better and captured gold at The Pan American games the following year. Then, capping off a superb amateur career, Whitaker, as part of the celebrated U.S team of 1984, won gold at the Los Angeles Olympics.

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Ike Ibeabuchi a free man, plans to fight on Manny Pacquiao card in April

12/29/2015 James Slater

1990’s heavyweight contender Ike Ibeabuchi – who scored some very impressive victories in compiling a 20-0 (15) career before being incarcerated for sexual assault in July of 1999 – is a free man and is planning to return to the ring at age 43.

According to an exclusive by Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Ibeabuchi – who was released by the Nevada prison system in February of 2014 and then, after being held by the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, becoming a free man in November of this year – plans to fight on the under-card of the upcoming April 9th card set for Las Vegas (with Pacquiao still to announce his opponent).

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Land of the Giants: The Heavyweight Landscape in 2016

12/26/201512/26/2015 Mark Klimaszewski

As we wind down another year on the boxing calendar, 2015 has turned out to be a significant year for the Heavyweight division in particular. In January, Alabama KO artist Deontay Wilder won the WBC belt from Bermane Stiverne with a classy display of distance and skill (against many fans’ expectations) to capture the green belt by a wide decision. Suddenly, the U.S.A had a heavyweight fighter they could get behind; one who had already displayed his concussive punching power and now proved he could box the full twelve rounds as well.

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Andy Lee vs. Billy Joe Saunders: A Traveling Man Tussle in Manchester

12/18/201512/18/2015 Chris Carlson

This Saturday night live on BoxNation (Showtime Extreme in U.S.) Andy Lee and Billy Joe Saunders take center stage at the Manchester Arena. Lee is the more accomplished fighter with real one-punch knockout power. Saunders is unbeaten and will need to use his skills rather than heart to secure the victory. Both fighters come from traveling backgrounds so the WBO belt comes secondary to pride and heritage.

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Anthony Joshua – Tiger Tiger, learning fast…

12/17/201512/16/2015 Jim Dorney

Saturday’s fight card in London heralded the arrival of a new player in the world heavyweight scene – Anthony Joshua.

Joshua has hardly flown beneath the radar until this point – that’s not been possible given his heavyweight gold medal from the London 2012 Olympic games. That said, last weekend’s fight against Dillian was his first serious test in the pro ranks, and it proved a very entertaining and gripping fight.

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Open Letter to Roy Jones Jr.

12/14/201512/14/2015 Vivek Wallace

As a scribe of the sport for over a decade and a fan for many more, what we witnessed this past Saturday qualified as one of the most troubling moments I’ve ever personally witnessed. In the aftermath, I sat quietly and analyzed all the rhetoric online from a mass of fans who felt they had the answer to the question, “why” (does Roy Jones continue to fight)? The overwhelming response of course was harsh condemnation. “Maybe he needs the money”…..”He’s gotta be broke”….yada, yada, yada. Neither of those possibilities could be proven, but going deeper in thought, revealed an answer that probably could.

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Top 10 Heavyweight Boxing Matches 1990-2015 (A Fan Documentary)

12/14/201512/14/2015 Rummys Corner

Nineteen years ago today Riddick Bowe and Andrew Golota fought a rematch in Atlantic City, New Jersey in one of the most brutal and entertaining bouts in heavyweight history. The fight isn’t as memorable as ‘The Thrilla in Manila’, ‘The Rumble in the Jungle’, or the ‘Fight of the Century’, and it isn’t remembered as well as many other magnificent contests that took place during the rich history of the heavyweight division. But the rematch between Bowe and Golota is every bit as brutal and every bit as entertaining as any heavyweight match ever put to film.

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Deontay Wilder and the heavyweight division – A perspective

12/01/2015 Jim Dorney

by Jim Dorney: I used to write fairly regularly for this site, prior to the birth of my children. Since then, I’ve still kept up with boxing but haven’t found the time to write about it.

However – I’ve observed some negativity and xenophobia on this site of late which compelled me to make a writing comeback of sorts. Hopefully (assuming it’s published) this article might present a balanced perspective into the division and one of the fighters who often tends to be the subject of the articles and forum debates that tends to veer off into trash-talking – Deontay Wilder.

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Wilder says He’ll Travel to UK for Fury Fight

12/01/201512/01/2015 Olly Campbell

WBC heavyweight champion, Deontay Wilder, has claimed he is prepared to travel to the UK to fight new WBO/WBA/IBF champion, Tyson Fury, in an attempt to unify the division.

The American is set to box a 3rd optional defense of his title in January, by virtue of the fact mandatory challenger, Alexander Povetkin will not be ready for their due-date until April/May 2016, although the Beijing ’08 bronze medalist has claimed he has one eye on Fury, who will likely first fight Wladimir Klitschko in a summer ’16 rematch.

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Tyson Fury Laughs at Mention of Deontay Wilder

11/30/201511/29/2015 Olly Campbell

New WBO/WBA/IBF heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, has warned WBC belt holder, Deontay Wilder, that ‘he will have to wait’ for any unification fight due to his rematch obligations to Wladimir Klitschko, though warned the American ‘I’m bred to be a fighter’ and laughed at the very mention of his name.

Following Fury’s fantastic win over Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Wilder wrote two social media messages, the first of which said – ‘I see you @Tyson Fury #ImComingForYou,’ followed by another message in block capitals that read, ‘I’m officially the best heavyweight champ of the world. Haters can acknowledge it or look foolish trying to deny it.”

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