British Boxing News
BADOU JACK
“I’m very excited for this fight. We had a tremendous camp. We’re ready to go. I don’t talk much. I’m all about fighting.
“Groves is absolutely not in my head. I’m focused and mentally strong on my task at hand. I won my biggest fight that I’ve had up to date, he didn’t. He has had two shots at the title and has lost them both.
“Groves got famous for getting knocked out by Carl Froch. He’s a good fighter, but I’m very comfortable that I’m going to beat him.
A number of months ago, George Groves promised James DeGale that he would fight him if he managed to defeat Andre Derrell in a fight for the vacant IBF Super-Middleweight title, something DeGale went on to do on May 23rd.
If Groves himself manages to gain the WBC Super-Middleweight belt from Badou Jack when he fights him on Saturday, the showdown between the two brits is bound to take place. However, four time world champion Carl Froch, who famously beat George Groves twice, does not rate either of the fighters.
In an exclusive interview with Lonsdale he said: “I think they’re both equally as poor as each other.
Provided both men come through their respective fights this weekend against Gary Cornish and Brian Minto, then unbeaten British heavyweight rivals Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte will indeed definitely be fighting on December 12th at London’s O2 Arena.
However, one is tempted to feel a little sorry for Whyte, who since signing to fight the Olympic gold medalist – and after being promised two decent warm up’s in preparation by promoter Eddie Hearn – has almost been treated as an afterthought in terms of getting him solid opposition, with a thrown together late notice opponent of Dominick Guinn being switched again last week to lower tier 40 year old cruiserweight, Minto.
WBA (reg) bantamweight champion Jamie McDonnell, has joined the chorus of passionate British fans outraged at some of the ‘unofficial’ US scoring of his entertaining rematch bout with Tomoki Kameda last Sunday, that saw experts such as Paulie Malignaggi and ESPN’s Dan Rafael, as well as many others in North America, seemingly favouring the out-hustled and out-worked Kameda.
The official scorecards of 116-111, 115-112 and 117-110, just about told the whole story between them, as in the eyes of this writer, after giving the left-hook happy Kameda rounds 1 and 2 – which he clearly won – it was difficult to give him too much else for the rest of the fight, although while scoring is indeed subjective, and many rounds were close, it’s a stretch how anyone could possibly have had Kameda ‘comfortably’ ahead, as Paulie Malignaggi suggested he did, on twitter.
If he manages to upset the odds and dethrone long-time heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko in Germany next month, then Britain’s colourful 6ft 9″ challenger, Tyson Fury, says it will not be the realisation of a dream for him, merely the start of one, as he is in boxing to be the best fighter Britain has produced, and ultimately, to become a ‘superstar’.
“I aim for the stars and winning a world title will not be the fulfillment of a dream for me. It never has been,” Fury said to Sky Sports.
This Saturday in Vegas, at the MGM Grand, Britain’s George Groves attempts to make it third time lucky, when he challenges Sweden’s Badou Jack for the “Ripper’s” WBC super middleweight title, on the undercard of the much-maligned Floyd Mayweather/Andre Berto headline PPV fight.
With the lack of enthusiasm for what many deem a flagrant cherry pick in Mayweather choosing Berto for dust-up number 49, Groves, who twice challenged Carl Froch for world honours, thinks his time to be crowned champion has at last arrived, and he feels he may even be able to upstage the self-professed “TBE” with the performance he plans on putting on beneath the headliners.
Exciting isn’t a word one regularly associates with British cruiserweight contender Tony Bellew (25-2-1, 16ko), and nothing changed in that regard last night either, after another forgettable, 8 round “late-notice” bout against Latvian journeyman, Arturs Kulikauskis (16-26-5), in Leeds.
Bellew, without trainer Dave Coldwell, who is in the US with WBA (reg) bantamweight champion, Jamie McDonnell, made hard work of a mobile, but limited, survivor in Kulikauskis, and went hunting for the punch to finish things from the get-go, enjoying limited success in a difficult to watch contest that set the tone of almost the entire underwhelming fight card from the First Direct Arena.
Ahead of his October 24th challenge to long dominant lineal champion Wladimir Klitschko, that takes place at the 56,000 capacity Esprit Arena, in Dusseldorf, Germany, Britain’s Tyson Fury has stated that if he can’t beat what he sees as an aging fighter in the champion, then he must be, by his own admission, ‘useless’.
Displaying a now trademark straight-forwardness, Fury has also expressed his concerns at getting a points decision in the champs adopted homeland – something many Brit fighters have struggled with over the years – and the 6ft 9″ giant is more than prepared for the fact he will get no favours of ANY kind in Deutschland.
Britain’s insanely popular featherweight contender Josh Warrington (21-0, 4ko) goes to battle in Leeds tonight in a defence of the Commonwealth title, against Australia’s Joel Brunker, in what will represent the toughest test of the Yorkshireman’s career to date.
The relatively intriguing headline fight at the First Direct Arena, is carrying an otherwise average-at-best card, and Warrington will need to be at his very best if he is to prevail against the dangerous former Olympian, whose sole blemish is a stoppage loss to current IBF 126lb champion, Lee Selby, 10 months ago.
As announced on ‘Bunce’s Boxing Hour’ one of this year’s most exciting fights has landed on BoxNation with knockout artists Gennady Golovkin and David Lemieux set to produce a spectacular showdown on October 17th.
The two world champions meet head-to-head in one of the most eagerly anticipated unification clashes in 2015, as they look to prove who is the best middleweight on the planet, live and exclusive on the world’s number one boxing channel.
Kazakh hitman Golovkin has risen to become among the most electrifying fighters around accumulating 30 knockouts in his 33 wins, picking up the WBA, IBO and interim WBC world title belts along the way.