Heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) has ignored American heavyweight contender Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder’s attempts to get him in the ring despite it being a fight that would help Fury in a huge way if he won. However, Fury now is saying that he’ll agree to fight Deontay if he beats Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson (29-3-1, 15 KO’s), a guy that Fury easily beat by a 12 round unanimous decision last December.
Fury said on his social media site: “At Bronzebomber [Deontay Wilder], if you can beat Kevin ‘Kingpin’ Johnson, I’ll definitely give you your fight with me!!!! What do you say? I know Kevin will fight.”
I don’t think for a second that Fury, #5 WBO, #6 WBC, #8 IBF, would hold up his end of the bargain if Deontay did take the fight with Johnson and knock him out. Without it being written in a contract, Fury could then just ignore Wilder like before and continue to fight other guys.
Mason N. (Bronx, NYC): I never saw the Matthysse victory over Peterson coming the way it did! Your Facebook post was almost spot on! What did you see coming into the fight that Peterson and a few of us didn’t?
Vivek W.: Although I predicted a Matthysse victory via split decision, the main premise of my argument that supported him winning was the fact that I don’t think we ever quite knew what we had in Peterson. We saw him gut out a few tough victories, but we also saw him buzzed quite a bit, and actually dropped 3 times in the past. One of those knockdowns came at the hands Timothy Bradley who has never been known as a hard puncher, highlighted in his abysmal 11 knockouts in 30 pro fights. When we look at the core of those knockdowns and those near knockdowns, each and every time they came as a result of his reckless penchant for staying in the pocket and trying to bang.
Last night in Atlantic City, in “The House That Gatti Built,” we all saw a brutal and highly efficient display of what all boxing fans both love and, deep down, crave: KO punching power. Argentine 140-pound KO King Lucas Matthysse blew away the previously unstopped Lamont Peterson, in so doing giving the sport a high-energy jolt of excitement.
For as much as we can appreciate a master boxer, like, say, a Floyd Mayweather Junior, there is nothing quite like a lights out master such as Matthysse. That said, who are the single hardest punchers in boxing today from heavyweight on down?
Last week, David Haye had to temporarily postpone his 29th of June comeback against Manuel Charr due to a hand injury. Team Hayemaker do hope this fight can be remade, but they are already planning a clash with the Mancunian Monster Tyson Fury before the year’s end.
Haye’s trainer and manager Adam Booth told Sky Sports News, “The plan is Manuel Charr then we will look later on this year. We are interested in the fight [with Fury] – it’s a huge domestic fight in the UK.”
“I would like to fight anyone in the top ten world rankings: Dmytro Kucher, Ola Afolabi, BJ Flores, Thabiso Mchunu, and there are others. I am willing to fight any and all of these guys.”— Olanrewaju Durodola
Nigerian-born cruiserweight Olanrewaju Durodola (15-1, 14 KOs) defeated Victor Barragan on April 20 in Saint Joseph, Missouri to capture the vacant WBC Continental Americas cruiserweight title. I was recently afforded a chance to catch up with the Kansas City resident to speak about his boxing career and future aspirations. Durodola, who goes by the ring moniker “God’s Power”, also discussed how his former profession in law enforcement and his Olympic boxing experience helped him develop as a boxer. Here is a complete transcript from the interview:
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello Olandrewau. How is everything going today?
OLANREWAJU DURODOLA: Oh! Everything is going fine, thank you.
CIANI: Great! Now you’re coming off of a fourth round stoppage against Victor Barragan last month. How would you evaluate your performance?
Marv G. (Charlotte, NC): Despite the layoff, time in jail, and partying, I really thought Mayweather looked incredible. Do you think Guerrero was just a joke? Or do you think Floyd is really that good?
Vivek W. (ESB): We’ve seen quite a few fighters around the sport enter the ring with far less time off and the effects the layoff is typically very much pronounced. I don’t care who you are and what your profession is, you’d be hard-pressed to see anyone take that amount of time off and still be able to execute at such a high level. I saw a few things that let me know Mayweather isn’t totally who he used to be. But in the end, what I saw most is that he doesn’t have to be. Michael Jordan at 90% was still heads above everyone across from him. In the case of Floyd Mayweather, I don’t think things are any different.
“This dude Dierry Jean don’t even know what he got himself into, man. When they signed that contract, they signed that contract because they thought that this was going to be an easy contest. This is not a contest. This is a fight!”—Cleotis Pendarvis
This Friday night on SHOBOX: The New Generation, a clash between junior welterweight contenders Cleotis Pendarvis (17-3, 6 KOs) and Dierry Jean (24-0, 16 KOs) will take place in order to determine the new IBF mandatory challenger. Last night I was afforded the opportunity to speak with Pendarvis, and the 26 year old Los Angeles southpaw shared his views on his upcoming opportunity. He also discussed a number of other topics, which included his boxing philosophy, working with Sugar Shane Mosley as his chief sparring partner for Friday’s match, future aspirations, Floyd Mayweather’s dominant victory over Robert Guerrero, the showdown between Lucas Matthysse and Lamont Peterson, and more. Here is a complete transcript from that interview:
GEOFFREY CIANI: Hello boxing fans. This is Geoff Ciani from East Side Boxing, and I am here today with junior welterweight contender Cleotis Pendarvis. How’s everything going today, Cleotis?
CLEOTIS PENDARVIS: Oh, it’s going on man. It’s going fine. It’s going well. You know I’m just toning it down. Camp went well. I’m basically ready.
CIANI: Great! Now your big fight coming up this weekend against Dierry Jean is an IBF eliminator bout that will be televised on Showtime. You said camp went well and that you’re basically ready. Can you tell us a little bit more about your training and preparations?
Audio:
PENDARVIS: You know just in and out on a daily basis putting the miles in, the sparring in. One of the chief sparring partners was Shane Mosley and I brought in some young talent, which is around the same age as myself, very strong and powerful guys just to prepare me for the best Dierry Jean come May 10. I put in the work and did everything that I felt like I needed to do, and now camp is toning down. I’m ready to fly out and go out there and put on a performance for the world.
(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) My pre-fight ‘just the facts’ article made reference to a quicker, sharper, Money Mayweather with the return of good legs which were rested and not overtrained. Rest and pace were the recipe of success for the 36 year old. Following the Rigondeaux and Canelo fights where both men won using ‘boxing skill’, Mayweather had to put on a show to rival or exceed both men’s performances and that he did. Floyd Sr. working ‘Lil’ Floyd’s corner as chief 2nd for the 1st time in 13 years, did his part strategizing and giving good corner instructions between rounds.
Floyd fought toe-to-toe for spells and then used his legs for better ring generalship, lateral movement and advantage when needed. He beat Guerrero to the punch throughout the fight and made the Gilroy Ca., native MISS 80% of his punches. Defense that was ‘so so’ for the Cotto fight was ‘great’ for the ‘May Day’ main event. Floyd’s offensive output was conservative but most dominant and effective in rounds 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11; especially rounds 8 and 11.