British Boxing

British Boxing News

Haye: I can give Vitali the mega-fight his resume is missing

haye324By Michael Collins: David Haye (26-2, 24 KO’s) still isn’t giving up in his seemingly hopeless pursuit of a big money fight against 41-year-old WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (45-2, 41 KO’s) despite the apparent lack of interest coming from the 6’7” Ukrainian. It seems like the more Vitali ignores Haye, the more Haye continues to talk up a fight between him and Vitali.

Haye said to the telegraph.co.uk “There’s nobody else in heavyweight division that can give RTL the viewing figures…But the bottom line is that he’s a fighter and hopefully he wants the fight the fans want. He’s never had that flagship fight, that one mega-fight that people will always remember him for.”

I don’t think Haye would be a fight that would make much of a serious impact on Vitali’s resume to tell you the truth. Having Haye on his resume would be pretty much about the same as having other guys like Shannon Briggs, Samuel Peter and Corrie Sanders.

Ricky Burns’ next title defense postponed

burns43By Michael Collins: WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) won’t be back in the ring on January 26th as previously scheduled, according to his manager Alex Morrison. Burns wants to rest up a little more and then come back in February or March, according to the BBC.

Burns still doesn’t have an opponent in mind for his next fight, but we do know it won’t be WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner, as Burns turned that fight down for some reason. Boxing fans really want to see Burns fight Broner, but Burns isn’t ready yet.

Broner has his own theory for why Burns isn’t interested in fighting him, saying to Fighthype.com “He don’t want to fight me…He’s trying to milk the game. He knows after he fights me, he’s not going to be s***.”

Tyson Fury turns down big offer for David Price bout

By Michael Collins: Undefeated heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (20-0, 14 KO’s) has reportedly turned down a big £1 million offer from British promoter Frank Maloney for a fight against the unbeaten 6’8” David Price (15-0, 13 KO’s) for an all British clash in June, possibly in Anfield or London.

Bellew to face Chilemba in WBC 175 lb eliminator on March 30th

By Michael Collins: Tony Bellew (19-1, 12 KO’s) will be trying to put himself in position for a title shot when he faces Isaac Chilemba (20-1-1, 9 KO’s) on March 30th in a WBC light heavyweight title eliminator bout at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. #3 WBC Bellew can’t afford to lose this fight if he wants to get a shot against WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson this year.

Both fights are going to be very tough for the 30-year-old Bellew because these aren’t the typical fodder opponents that he’s been dining on most of his career. Chilemba is one of the best fighters in the division, and might even be good enough to beat WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly, who beat Bellew by a 12 round majority decision in October 2011. Chilemba can really bring and he’s got some good wins on his resume with victories over Maxim Vlasov, Edison Miranda and a nice draw with Thomas Oosthuizen.

Bellew has gotten too used to blowing out weak opposition and it’s going to be interesting to see how he adjusts to someone he can’t take out and who keeps coming forward. Bellew looked mighty stressed out in his recent fight against Miranda last year in September. Bellew won the fight by a 9th round TKO, but he was clearly bothered and worried about Miranda’s big power.

Froch will find out this week who his next opponent will be

froch3232By Michael Collins: IBF super middleweight champion Carl Froch (30-2, 22 KO’s) will learn this week which guy he’ll be facing next – Mikkel Kessler or Adonis Stevenson. Froch, 36, has made it no secret that he wants the rematch with Kessler next, as he lost to the Dane by a 12 round unanimous decision in April 2010 and he’s been bugged about the loss ever since.

Froch thinks he should have won the fight but boxing fans as a whole disagree and saw Kessler as the rightful winner. The Kessler rematch, if it can be made, will give Froch and Kessler a $2 million payday. That’s good money for super middleweight. It’s obviously not even close to the kind of cash that superstars like Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. rake in each time they fight, but then again Kessler and Froch aren’t on the radar screen in terms of worldwide popularity like those two talented fighters.

Froch told the Nottingham Post “We should know something in the next few days. If the Kessler fight is finalized we can apply for an exemption from the IBF. If we have to give up the belt to fight Kessler, so be it.”

If Burns doesn’t face Adrien Broner in 2013 then A.B should forget about him

burns4545By Michael Collins: WBO lightweight champion Ricky Burns (35-2, 10 KO’s) has had two opportunities to face unbeaten Adrien Broner (25-0, 21 KO’s) and on both occasions he chose not to face him. The first time was last year when Burns held the WBO super featherweight title and Broner was in line to face him as his mandatory challenger.

Burns then complained about having difficulties making weight and then moved up to 140 and was given the WBO lightweight title. Next, Burns, after beating Kevin Mitchell and Paulus Moses, he was given another chance to fight Broner on February 16th. Burns instead decided not to take the fight and instead he’ll likely be defending his WBO 135 lb strap in late January.

In the meantime, Broner will be facing British contender Gavin Rees on February 16th in what pretty much amounts to being a sick mismatch at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA. If Broner comes through that fight without a scratch, he could be fighting on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. undercard on May 4th. Right now, he’s still penciled in due to his February 16th fight being so close to that date. Unless he massacres Rees like many boxing fans think he will, it’ll be kind of risky to have him fighting only three months later.

Gavin Rees Will Challenge Adrien Broner In Feb: Can “The Rock” Stop “The Problem?”

broner34By James Slater – Welsh warrior Gavin Rees was understandably disappointed when his scheduled December rumble with John Murray fell apart due to the Manchester man failing a pre-fight medical, and the only thing that kept his spirits up was his promoter Eddie Hearn’s vow to get him a major title fight in early 2013. Well, Hearn (for my money 2012’s boxing promoter of the year) has delivered: getting “The Rock” a February 16th shot at reigning WBC lightweight king and current hotshot Adrien Broner.

Rees, the former WBA light-welterweight champ, wrote on Twitter: “Time for me to become a two-weight world champ.”

Hearn told BBC Sport that “terms have been agreed with the American’s camp, Golden Boy Promotions.”

As fans know, there was a chance undefeated Broner would face Scottish hero and current WBO lightweight boss Ricky Burns next, but that particularly intriguing match-up must go on the backburner, for now at least. Broner Vs. Rees is almost as exciting-looking a match-up though.

Brook: I’m bringing Devon Alexander’s title back to Britain

brook251By Michael Collins: Unbeaten challenger Kell Brook (29-0, 19 KO’s) feels really confident and eager to get inside the ring to challenge IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander (24-1, 13 KO’s) next year on February 23rd in their clash at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

Brook said on his twitter “I’m going to be so ready. Get ready! I’m bringing a world title back to Britain!”

It’s not realistic that Brook will be bringing anything back to Britain other than a wounded ego after getting out-pointed or even possibly stopped by Alexander. You have to remember that Brook has faced such poor opposition his entire career and he finally was put in a little tough against Carson Jones last July, and he had major problems in that fight.

Jones gave Brook a real beating in the last seven rounds of that fight, and had him hurt in the 12th.

Brook thinks the reason why he struggled was because of his conditioning, but it looked more like the fact that Brook couldn’t handle meeting resistance.