British heavyweight Tyson Fury (21-0, 15 KO’s) hasn’t had much luck in getting a heavyweight title shot against the Klitschko brothers. Fury is asking Wladimir to give him a heavyweight title shot straightaway without him having to fight for the shot in an eliminator.
Fury just flat out wants the title shot without having to fight his way into position. Will Wladimir does this for Fury? I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were Fury waiting for that to happen.
“If Wladimir Klitschko offered me a fight I’d go there and I’d smash his jaw all over the ring for him and he knows that,” Fury said to On the Ropes Boxing Radio. “Emanuel Steward told him that he would get knocked out by me. He knows he’s gonna get knocked out by me, his brothers retired because he didn’t want to fight me and now he’s trying to avoid me. I’ve been chasing him for two years and he wont fight me.”
Photo: ©Russell Pritchard – Belfast sensation Carl Frampton has opened the door to a spectacular world title showdown with Leo Santa Cruz next year.
Last Saturday, Ireland’s top-rated middleweight contender and world title challenger Matthew “Mack the Knife” Macklin (30-5, 20KO’s) once again put himself back into the title picture with an impressive 10-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated highly regarded prospect Lamar Russ. The bout against Russ came on HBO, the fourth consecutive bout for Macklin on their airwaves.
It was in January of 2013 that I first met the Fury family. I’d just beaten the snow out of the UK by twelve hours and was sitting in a freezing Dutch ferry terminal waiting for a lift from Peter Fury – a man I’d never met – to spend a week in the famous Fury training camp in Belgium. The Ferry ride had been tortuous; high seas and an even higher crew had meant a sleepless night and much paranoia. I was the first writer or journalist to ever set foot in the remote Fury HQ. It was a land few had even considered. Rumours of the harshness of the camp had reached my ears, but there was little in the way of facts. I had to see for myself, for good or ill. Two and a half months later, Tyson Fury would bamboozle the American press, beat Steve Cunningham without Peter in his corner, and sing to a bemused Madison Square Garden crowd. I wasn’t to blame.
In the aftermath of his controversial 9th round victory over unbeaten George Groves, Carl Froch is left with an array of options. The manner of the stoppage win left many fans with more questions than answers after referee Howard Foster appeared to stop the fight prematurely. Groves protested that he was not that badly hurt and could have recovered, while the Froch camp argues that the referee stole a convincing knockout victory from them. Either way, the ending robbed both fighters of a satisfactory conclusion to the bout.
U.K fight fans who were looking forward to meeting heavyweight legend Mike Tyson this week in London will be disappointed by the news that Tyson has been banned from entering the UK due to a change in UK immigration law.