British Boxing News
One of this year’s most eagerly anticipated matchups has landed exclusively live on BoxNation with undefeated Irish sensation Carl Frampton taking on unbeaten featherweight world champion Leo Santa Cruz next Saturday night (July 30).
The sizzling showdown between two of the world’s very best fighters has long been mooted but at the Barclays Center in New York on July 30th someone’s perfect record will be lost in a clash that on paper is a fight of the year contender.
British boxing promoter Frank Warren has promoted some great fights over the years and he has also witnessed his share of big upsets, where a British fighter shocked the world. Now, ahead of his fighter Liam Smith’s September 17 fight with Mexican superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez – a fight that will actually see Smith enter the ring as the defending champion – Warren is letting us all know we need to get ready for another upset scored by a British warrior.
Welshman Liam Williams (15-0-1) produced a dramatic 11th round stoppage of Londoner Gary Corcoran (15-1) to retain his British and Commonwealth super-welterweight belts.
The pre-fight animosity between the pair resulted in an enthralling contest that swung back and forth, but Williams’ vocal support were eventually rewarded after an emphatically-delivered right hand in the penultimate round that signalled the beginning of the end for the valiant Corcoran.
Bideford-born Langford (17-0) retained his WBO Inter-Continental middleweight belt by defeating former Finnish national champion Timo Laine (15-7) in round seven of their scheduled 10-round title fight at the Ice Arena in Cardiff on Saturday 16th July.
A late replacement opponent stepping in for former German national champion Ronny Gabel, Laine was completely outclassed, outworked, outboxed and outfoxed for the entire 19 ½ minutes, despite entering the contest off the back of an outstanding five-fight winning streak, four of those ending inside the distance.
He lost out on a massive fight with middleweight ruler Gennady Golovkin (either because he was simply too late to the contract table, or due to not seeing the contract in time, depending on which side you listen to) but the career of Chris Eubank Junior goes on. In fact, all the publicity he received over his possible fight with GGG has likely made Eubank a bigger name. But who will he fight next?
Boxing Superstar and Unified Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, (35-0, 32 KO’s) and Undefeated British Boxing Star and Welterweight World Champion “The Special One” Kell Brook, (36-0, 25 KO’s) will hold a New York City Press Conference to formally announce their highly anticipated international showdown on Saturday, September 10 at The O2 Arena in London, England. The world title clash will be televised on Sky Sports Box Office in the United Kingdom and Live on HBO World Championship® Boxing in the United States.
Back in May, underdog Tony Bellew rose to the occasion and put in a contender for best performance by a British fighter this year, when he destroyed the dangerous Ilunga Makabu in three-rounds to take the WBC cruiserweight title. Now, “Bomber” has to hold onto the belt, and his first defence will take place in Liverpool in October, Bellew told Sky Sports.
Tim-Robin Lihaug (15-1, 8 KOs) and his team declared war on Arthur Abraham (44-5, 29 KOs) at today’s final pre-fight press conference ahead of their WBO International Super Middleweight title fight on Saturday night at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.
With just Friday’s weigh-in separating us from fight night, the time for talking will soon come to an end, but today, both fighters and their teams had the chance to share their thoughts on this hotly anticipated match-up.
Former WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne is already in training camp, working ahead of a hoped for shot at IBF heavyweight ruler Anthony Joshua at the end of the year. Joshua has spoken of wanting to get a second voluntary title defence in before moving on to face his mandatory, Joseph Parker, early next year. And Joshua said he would be interested in fighting Stiverne, as he feels the fight would have a good chance of going into the later rounds, where A.J is keen to show his stamina (he has of course not yet gone past the 7th-round as a pro).
Stuart Hall will challenge Lee Haskins for the IBF World Bantamweight title at The O2 in London on September 10, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
The hotly-anticipated rematch between the bitter rivals sees Haskins defend his title for the second time having landed the belt in spectacular fashion with a sixth round KO of Ryosuke Iwasa in June 2015 and widely outpointing Ivan Morales in his first defence in May.