19-year-old Conor Benn has some mighty boxing boots to try and follow, but the teenager who will box his pro debut on the Anthony Joshua-Charles Martin bill in London on April 9th, insists he is very much his own man. The son of British legend and two-weight king Nigel Benn, Conor, who will face Luke Keleher in a four-rounder at super-welterweight, told The Evening Standard that unlike Chris Eubank Junior, he does not want his father taking away any of the limelight.
Unbeaten New Zealand heavyweight Joseph Parker has his biggest career test on May 21st, when he will, in an IBF elimination bout, face experienced French-based Cameroon heavyweight Carlos Takam. The fight will go ahead in New Zealand, much to the delight of Parker and his team, but Takam is unlikely to be overly fazed, having boxed in both Russia and Canada during his pro career.
Takam, 33-2-1(25) is 35-years-old and he was knocked out by Alexander Povetkin four fights ago, but he has good results on his record, including a win over Tony Thompson (when Thompson still had way more to offer than he did in his recent loss to Luis Ortiz) and a draw with a then unbeaten Mike Perez. Takam has won three in a row against so-so opposition since the loss to Povetkin (his other defeat coming on points to Gregory Tony of France way bay back in 2009).
As fight fans may have heard, former WBA heavyweight champ David Haye today officially announced how he will face unbeaten, but largely unknown, Arnold Gjergjaj on May 21st in what will be Haye’s second comeback fight of 2016. But while the fight announcement may have surprised some – Gjergjaj is a 29-0 fighter with a string of KO’s and he could prove to be a real threat to 35-year-old Haye despite his low profile in the UK and the lack of big names on his record – a very familiar face crashed today’s press conference and arguably stole the show.
Former two-weight world champion David Haye today announced that he will face undefeated Arnold ‘The Cobra’ Gjergjaj on Saturday May 21 at The O2 in London as he continues his journey back to the summit the heavyweight division.
Statement by Lucas Browne: I made clear to the public last week that I intended to do all that I can to clear my name after the devastating news of the positive drug test following my successful defeat of Ruslan Chagaev for the WBA Heavyweight World Championship.
I am now able to report to you that on February 29th shortly after having arrived in Chechnya I was subjected to a randomly timed drug test by VADA. This was a test of blood and urine. The post fight test was a urine only test. I would like to again stress it was myself and my team who requested the bout be subject to VADA testing.
OSCAR DE LA HOYA, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions: Thank you for joining us on the international media call for David Lemieux versus Glen Tapia, which will be the co-main event for the exciting upcoming battle between Canelo Alvarez versus Amir Khan on May 7 at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas live on HBO Pay-Per-View.
This will be the first of our series of weekly media conference calls with the under-card fighters for Canelo versus Khan.
NEW YORK (March 29, 2016) – The SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL presentation of the IBF Heavyweight World Championship between undefeated American titlist Charles Martin and fellow unbeaten British Olympic Gold Medalist Anthony Joshua will air live on SHOWTIME at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 9 from The O2 in London.
An encore presentation will air later that evening on SHOWTIME EXTREME at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Today, one of boxing’s most well known, most hard working, most successful and, at times, most controversial figures celebrates an amazing 50 years in the sport. The man is Top Rank promoter extraordinaire, Bob Arum. Arum is 84-years-old but, unlike the man who was once his archrival, Don King, he is still very much at the top of his game, promoting some of the biggest names in the sport.
Actually, in the 1980s and ’90s, King and his domain eclipsed Arum and his empire; thanks in large part to King having the majority of the heavyweight division – including its star fighter Mike Tyson – firmly in his clutches. But Arum was always there, as he seems to have been forever, and he never lost the passion for the sport he first found in the mid 1960s.
(Photo credit: Lawrence Lustig/Matchroom Boxing) LONDON (March 29, 2016) – IBF Super Middleweight World Champion James DeGale held an open media workout on Tuesday in London as he prepares to make the second defense of his title against mandatory challenger Rogelio Medina on Saturday, April 30, live on SHOWTIME from the DC Armory in Washington, D.C.
In the main event of the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING doubleheader (10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT), WBC 168-pound champion Badou Jack defends his title against former longtime titlist Lucian Bute. The winners will meet in a super middleweight world-title unification fight later this year.
The upcoming Deontay Wilder-Alexander Povetkin WBC heavyweight title fight will take place at Megasport Arena in Moscow – Povetkin’s promoter, Andrey Ryabinsky has confirmed. Ryabisnky won the purse bidding battle for the fight with a big $7.15 million bid and Wilder, 36-0 (35) will have his sixth pro fight outside of America as a result. A great night is expected in May, with the main event expected to prove both interesting and exciting – with a good under-card of further potential knockouts thrown in.