Unbeaten British heavyweight prospects Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14ko) and Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13ko) met head-to-head for the first time ahead of their Dec. 12 ‘Bad Intentions’ fight today in London, with Whyte placing his hand on Joshua’s heart, saying ‘we’re gonna do this.’
The two will square of on an as-yet-unconfirmed, though what’s expected to be PPV, bill from the O2 Arena, in what promoter Eddie Hearn today called ‘the biggest UK fight of the year.’
Esteemed German trainer, Ulli Wegner, has once again hooked up with WBO 168 lb champion, Arthur Abraham ahead of ‘King’s’ fight with British challenger, Martin Murray on November 21.
The 73 year old, long-time Sauerland cornerman, has returned from an Achilles injury and is back in the gym with Abraham, who has been looking rejuvenated of late, ahead of what will be the fifth defence of his title against the Brit, at the TUI Arena in Hannover.
Two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist and reigning World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight world champion VASYL LOMACHENKO (4-1, 2 KOs) kicked off Fight Week today with a training camp Media Workout at the Robert Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, Calif. Lomachenko will defend his title on Saturday night against WBO No. 7 world-rated contender ROMULO KOASICHA (24-4,14 KOs), of San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
The wait for UK fans is at last over as it’s been officially announced that super-bantamweight rivals, Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg are set to meet in a huge IBF/WBA unification early next year.
After much to-ing and fro-ing between the two camps over recent weeks and months, a February 27th date for the fight at the Manchester Arena was announced live on Sky Sports News in the UK this afternoon.
WBO super featherweight champion, Roman Martinez (29-2-3, 17ko) and Mexico’s Orlando Salido (42-13-3, 29ko) have already waged two extremely entertaining, high-octane battles this year, and are now looking set to wage a third in the none too distant future.
The two fighters attended last week’s WBO convention in Orlando, Florida, with their respective teams, and saw the sanctioning body approve a sought after third meeting between them.
Tyson Fury isn’t short of belief going into his crunch heavyweight world title fight with dominant champion, Wladimir Klitschko, later this month in Germany, comparing both his outlandish character and desire to be at the very top of the sport, to the legendary Muhammad Ali.
Ali, then a brash, young Cassius Clay, pulled a stunning upset over Sonny Liston in 1964 to launch his own legendary star and win the world heavyweight crown, and the oft-vocal Fury claims to see more than a few comparisons with the “Louisville Lip,” especially given his own over-the-top antics at September’s London presser, as well as the underdog status he will carry into the ring against a Klitschko who is 11 1/2 years undefeated.
It’s looking like Amir Khan (31-3, 19ko) hasn’t given up on his dream of an eventual fight with Manny Pacquiao next Spring, insisting that talks between the two camps have restarted.
What is for certain is that the Filipino superstar is set to bring the curtain down on his long and illustrious career with a swansong outing next April, and rumour has been rife that talks have opened for a Mayweather rematch at what will then be the newly opened MGM Arena, although the self-professed “TBE” has allegedly scotched these rumours, insisting he stays retired.
New WBA (sup) 126 lb champion, Leo Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17ko), has announced that he intends to vacate his WBC super bantamweight title and continue to campaign at featherweight.
The unbeaten Mexican, who is looked after by the elusive and influential Al Haymon, has landed in China ready to attend this years WBC convention, whereby he intends to inform them of his plans.
Whether it ends up being for the WBA (sup) 200 lb title or not, veteran British promoter Frank Warren has claimed that 46 year old Roy Jones Jr (62-8, 45ko) is the ‘ideal’ fight for Enzo Maccarinelli (40-7, 32ko) at this late stage of his career.
Earlier rumours about a dust-up between the American former great and the 35 year old Welshman became true last week at a public unveiling in Russia, where the bout is set to take place on Dec. 12.
Oxnard-based trainer, Robert Garcia, has also weighed in on the issue of Canelo Alvarez insisting any Gennady Golovkin fight must be at 155, by partly echoing the sentiments of Teddy Atlas, in that GGG may have to concede if he ultimately wants to be a PPV attraction.
Garcia was full of praise for the dominant WBA/IBF champion, who has been on a wrecking ball mission at middleweight, and who claims he wishes to clean house in the division before moving up for bigger fights.