Del Boy en route for chance to avenge loss against Fury in summer showdown

02/17/201402/16/2014 Ronan Smith

The heavyweight division was the particular focal point of the ‘Rock the Box III’ event staged last night, Feb’ 15th, at the Copper Box Arena, London.

The card was stacked with boxers from differing career levels, with some names only known by a handful of loyal fans and others who will be recognised by the global boxing community, but the two main events were heavyweight bouts that could ultimately make an impact on the division.

To write up the recent state of affairs of the heavyweight division would be merely an attempt to reword the many texts to have been already produced on the matter. The bottom line is: it can only get better.

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Smokin’ Joe Frazier: An Appreciation

02/27/201402/16/2014 Blair Frison

Like many fans, my introduction to the sweet science came from watching the highlight reel knockouts of Mike Tyson. A casual viewer at first, I soon became enamoured with the sport after watching such greats as Pernell Whitaker, Roy Jones Jr. and Lennox Lewis. Craving more, I decided to check out some of the great fighters of old. Every now and then, ESPN Classics would spotlight fighters such as Roberto Duran, Mohammed Ali or even Sugar Ray Robinson.

Eventually, I came upon Smokin’ Joe Frazier. I had heard the name, of course, but had not seen any of his fights. They were showing his first fight with George Foreman – Kingston, Jamaica in 1973. I could still feel the electricity all these years later as the fighters entered the ring.

And that staredown.

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Tyson Fury tips-in at a heavy 274-pounds for clash with Joey Abell!

02/14/201402/14/2014 James Slater

The weights are in for tomorrow’s heavyweight doubleheader in London, and the biggest shock/newsworthy item is the poundage Tyson Fury came in at.

Fury tipped-in at 274-pounds, some twenty pounds heavier than for his last fight, while his opponent Joey Abell came in at 241-pounds. Fury did not remove his shirt while weighing in.

In the chief support, Dereck Chisora, who has battled weight problems himself in the past, came in at a solid 238-pounds. His rival, Kevin Johnson, who is aiming to score the upset and ruin plans for a Chisora-Fury rematch in the summer, tipped-in at 240-pounds.

So, the Fury fight will attract most headlines and unbeaten Tyson’s weight has already done so. For those fans who like to bet on the underdog, maybe Abell is a fighter worth betting on.

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Can Kevin Johnson throw a wrench in the plans for a Fury vs Chisora rematch stadium fight?

02/14/2014 Chris Carlson

This Saturday night from the Copper Box Arena in London Dereck Chisora and Tyson Fury will be featured in stay busy fights on Box Nation.

Ok so maybe that’s not how long time U.K. promoter Frank Warren would want it phrased but that’s exactly what this card is and for those who are hardcore enough (or just bored) it will be televised here in the states by Intergrated Sports with an asking price starting at 24.99.

I can hardly blame any boxing fan for not wanting to put his or hers hard earned duckets down for this PPV.

It’s worth mentioning that in the past Intergrated Sports have at least tried to put on entertaining undercard fights to make up for a non pay per view worthy main event or co-features in this case.

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Froch-Groves agree on rematch on May 31st

07/31/201402/13/2014 Bill Phanco

IBF/WBA super middleweight champion Carl Froch (32-2 23 KO’s) and George Groves (19-1, 15 KO’s) have reached agreement for a rematch that is tentatively scheduled for May 31st at one of the huge outdoor football stadiums in the UK. Froch’s promoter Eddie Hearn wants to place it in a stadium that holds 80,000 and he feels that it’ll be the biggest fight ever in British boxing. Whether that’ll be or not is unknown, but what is known is that the two fighters will be splitting a huge 10 million purse for the fight. Groves’ cut of the purse is anywhere from 15-25 percent.

“The British public are behind this and this was almost the only fight out there for me to reasonably take,” Froch said to Sky Sports. “I’ve given the British public what they wanted for years and years and I won’t stop doing it now.”

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Canelo vs. Angulo: “A perfect match-up for Canelo’s comeback”

02/13/201402/13/2014 Joseph Herron

In the unpredictable sport of boxing, anything can and often does happen inside the squared circle on fight night, especially on the world class level. Although a man’s fate can turn with one cracking shot on the whiskers, styles usually dictate the eventual victor and loser.

Despite being one of the hardest punchers within the talented 154 pound weight division, most boxing pundits and experts believe that Alfredo Angulo is tailor made for Canelo Alvarez’s explosive counter punching prowess.

This past Tuesday night on “The Pugilist KOrner” radio show, expert trainer Joel Diaz gave us his take on the volatile March 8th PPV main event.

“Alfredo is a good friend of mine, but you know I’m always going to speak to truth about how I see things,” admitted the hard working California based trainer. “I think that his personal and professional issues set him back.”

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Shannon Briggs looking in superb physical shape for comeback fight against Kertson Manswell

02/13/201402/12/2014 James Slater

In a sport that has been and will continue to be absolutely littered with comebacks, boxing and its fans have to be persuaded over time that a former champ climbing back through the ropes has any kind of genuine shot at enjoying any real success. The latest name to get set for a ring return is Shannon Briggs, the former lineal and WBO heavyweight ruler.

Briggs is 42-years-old now and he hasn’t fought since being badly beaten – in a valiantly brave or foolishly stubborn effort, depending on your opinion – by Vitali Klitschko in October of 2010. Briggs, 51-6-1(45) will face sometimes dangerous journeyman Kertson Manswell, 24-8(18) in Atlanta on February 23rd. Briggs still believes he can regain a world title and the Manswell fight will, he hopes, be the first step towards bigger things.

One thing that might make Briggs’ comeback look at least something like realistic is the physical shape “The Cannon” appears to have got himself in. Briggs has posted plenty of pictures of himself on his Twitter account and, sporting a shaven head to go with the muscles, Briggs looks to be in great shape. Of course, looks can be deceiving, but it does seem as though Briggs has been working very hard in the gym.

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Ricky Burns Is Preparing For War Against Terence Crawford On March 1

02/12/201402/12/2014 John Wight

When Ricky Burns climbs into the ring at the SECC in Glasgow on March 1 to defend his WBO lightweight title against unbeaten American challenger, Terence Crawford, he will be entitled to feel like a man returning to the scene of a crime he never committed but was convicted, tried, and found guilty of nonetheless.

The trials and tribulations that Burns endured in 2013 were more than staggering they were inhuman, even for a fighter as experienced as he is. Not once but twice he was forced to reach down into that place which resides in every human being but in normal people is buried so deep after years spent avoiding risk, danger, and hardship that they don’t even know it exists; and even if they did they would have no need of it anyway. It’s called the human spirit and from it is derived the will to endure unspeakable agony in the process of prevailing against seemingly insurmountable odds.

The German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, once wrote: “When you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.”

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Mayweather taking his time in announcing his next fight

02/12/201402/11/2014 Rob Smith

Floyd Mayweather Jr. appears to be in no hurry whatsoever to make an announcement for who he’ll be facing on May 3rd in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather took the trouble to have a web poll created on his Mayweather Promotions site that purported to pick his next opponent. When Khan easily won the vote 57 percent to 43 percent over Marcos Maidana, it was widely assumed that Mayweather would make an announcement on Monday that the 27-year-old Khan would be his next opponent, but that’s not happened.

Here it is Tuesday, and Mayweather isn’t saying a word about who will be facing him in his next fight, even though he will need as much time as possible to try and drum up interest in his next fight if it is Khan that he’s facing. That’s a very unpopular choice for Mayweather, and he’s picked the wrong date for him to be fighting Khan by selecting the Cinco de Mayo holiday weekend.

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Khan gets a miracle

02/12/201402/11/2014 Robert Jackson

Taking a look at the fighters who seem to have nine lives – Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, you can now add Amir Khan to that list. Having gone 2-2 in his last four fights, Khan is on the verge of cashing in a lottery ticket, by fighting P4P best Floyd Mayweather Jr. Having stuffed the Floyd Mayweather.com website ballot box Khan’s come from behind win over Marcos Maidana tells us just how badly Khan wants to fight Mayweather. And on top of it all Khan thinks he can win!

I am not one for listening to all of Khan’s talk, he’s a good fighter but not an elite fighter in my view, he reminds me a little bit of Victor Ortiz. While he’s training to face one fighter, he’s always talking about another fighter that he’d like to face down the road, leaving room to underestimate the guy he’s about to fight.

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