Boxing Superstar and Unified Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, (35-0, 32 KOs) and Consensus #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World, WBC Flyweight World Champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, (45-0, 38 KOs) top the 2016 “Best Fighter” category for this year’s prestigious ESPY AWARDS.
Fans can vote for Golovkin or Gonzalez HERE. Presented by ESPN, the 2016 ESPY’s will be telecast on July 13th, LIVE on ABC (8pm ET, 5pm PT) from the Microsoft Theatre in Downtown Los Angeles.
“Retired” boxing master Floyd Mayweather Junior might well go down in history as the finest defensive fighter of all time, and while such a distinction would certainly please Mayweather, he is already very happy – relieved, even – to have been a defensive fighter throughout his long career. Mayweather might not get the love a classic slugger gets (think Arturo Gatti or Matthew Saad Muhammad) and he has often been called “boring” and a “safety-first” ring operator, but Floyd doesn’t seem to care – he is happy he was the way he was (hard to hit) and today in full possession of his faculties as a result.
WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman may need a substantial rest after the quite breathtaking battle he and Shawn Porter (who will also need to recharge his batteries) put on this past Saturday, but Thurman has no shortage of future big fights. One man who says he “needs” to fight Thurman is IBF welterweight ruler Kell Brook. Speaking with Sky Sports shortly after Thurman’s thrilling, FOTY candidate of a win, Brook said he feels that if he and Thurman clash, the excitement would even top the Porter war.
Shortly after the completion of the Canelo-Khan fight, Gilberto Mendoza, (president of the WBA) said he was waiting for his counterpart WBC Mauricio Sulaiman, to make the most expected fight between Saul Alvarez and his “mandatory” Gennady Golovkin.
Unfortunately, we all know what happened, the Mexican fighter gave up his middleweight title days after his famous post interview (after knocking out Amir Khan in 5 rounds) in where he challenged Triple G and went too far stating that it was time to stop “F around” and that he was ready to put his gloves on and get it on that same night.
I must applaud Mr. Keith Thurman for two things. For one, for him and Shawn Porter the fight the fans want to see at the right time. Secondly, for wanting to fight on free TV. To bring boxing back to mainstream we need more of that.
In his post-fight interview he states,” I don’t want pay-per view. I don’t want you to pay for this entertainment. I don’t want you to pay for this entertainment. There’s too much world-class athletic entertainment for free. I want all of America to see…I didn’t have HBO growing up. I didn’t have Showtime growing up. And if you have HBO and you have Showtime, and they make it a pay-per-view, now you’ve got to come out of your pocket some more. I’m not trying to gouge the American people and the American public. I want to get everybody on my side. I want everybody to have an opportunity to witness One Time. And I want boxing to come back to the forefront of network television.”
MASHANTUCKET, CT (June 27, 2016) – Rising middleweight contender Sergiy “The Technician” Derevyanchenko (8-0, 6 KOs) will take on former world champion Sam “King” Soliman (44-13, 18 KOs) in the 10-round main event of Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN & ESPN Deportes on Thursday, July 21 from Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, CT.
Televised coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT and features a middleweight showdown between hard-hitting Ievgen Khytrov (13-0, 11 KOs) and California’s Paul Mendez (19-2-2, 9 KOs) in 10-rounds of action.
Former WBA heavyweight champ David Haye served as a pundit for Sky Sports this past Saturday, to commentate on and analyse IBF heavyweight ruler Anthony Joshua’s KO win over a tough and game Dominic Breazeale. And though AJ got the job done in style, winning via 7th-round stoppage, Haye says he saw nothing to change his belief, his conviction, that he will defeat Joshua if and when the two fight.
One thing fight fans readily agree on is the fact that the almost ludicrously talent-rich welterweight division is the best, the most entertaining and the most competitive weight class in boxing today. But something that is very much up for debate is this: who is the best 147-pound operator in the sport today? With the “retirement” of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, fans have wondered which fighter will become the undisputed pick as the best in the world.
Back in the glory days of the heavyweight division, the 1970s, heavyweight kings Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and George Foreman were, quite literally, world champions. Fighting in exotic faraway places such as Jamaica, Zaire, Kuala Lumpur and The Philippines, these giants boosted their fame, popularity and earning power by becoming globetrotters. Now, new heavyweight star and reigning IBF champion Anthony Joshua wants to emulate these greats, his number-one hero Ali especially.
On one hand, you can’t “win” this record unless you’re a great fighter, your odds of winning virtually ironclad.
On the other hand, I don’t think any fighter really wants to hold the record for Most Times On The Wrong End of Ring Magazine’s Upset of the Year.
In 2003, Wladimir Klitschko lost his WBO heavyweight title by way of 2nd round knockout, delivered courtesy of the late, great Corrie Sanders’ infamous left hand.