Earlier in the evening on SHOWTIME, undefeated heavyweight sensation Anthony Joshua successfully defended his IBF Heavyweight World Championship for the first time with a seventh round knockout of previously unbeaten American Dominic Breazeale at The O2 in London. Below are quotes from Joshua after Saturday’s win on SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL:
Month: June 2016
Tyson Fury “at centre of a doping investigation”
Update: Team Fury statement re: Sunday Mirror allegation:– Team Fury/Hennessy Sports: We are baffled by today’s story in the Sunday Mirror. Tyson Fury absolutely denies any allegation of doping. He looks forward to recovering from his injury and defending his titles against Wladimir Klitschko in October.
More bad news for Tyson Fury. Hot on the heels of the heavyweight champion’s ankle injury that has forced him to postpone his July 9 rematch with Wladimir Klitschko comes a potential bombshell of a news story in The Sunday Mirror. According to the article, Fury is currently “at the centre of a doping investigation” (the exact words used in the news piece).
Hearn says it could be Joseph Parker next for Anthony Joshua
Anthony Joshua fought through a virus in the lead-up to last night’s 7th-round stoppage win over a game Dominic Breazeale, his promoter Eddie Hearn tells Sky Sports. Hearn says there was even a possibility the fight could have been called off. But Joshua won as we know, he retained his IBF heavyweight belt for the first time and he now looks ahead to his next fight. Hearn said Joshua will “take a long rest” first, but that he could return in November; with mandatory challenger Joseph Parker being a strong possibility.
Eubank to meet with Golovkin tomorrow, to discuss possible September fight
Fresh off his crushing win over Tom Doran in defence of his British middleweight title last night, Chris Eubank Junior will now meet with Gennady Golovkin to discuss a potential clash in September. The Star reports how Eubank and his team will meet and discuss a fight with Golovkin tomorrow.
Promoter Eddie Hearns says Eubank Jr is the only world class middleweight eager to face the unbeaten pound-for-pound star.
Miami Actor Aygemang Clay Invokes Jack Johnson on Stage
Veiled as the story of fictional boxing champion Jay Jackson, “The Royale” portrays the hurdlesreal-life Jack Johnson had to clear to become the first African-American heavyweight champion of the world.
“The Royale” has been presented in New York and Chicago, and is now in Miami, FL with local actor Aygemang Clay commandeering the lead role. Jack Johnson was born and raised in Galveston, TX. Ironically, the man who years later would become emblematic of segregation in sports actually grew up in a poor Texas neighborhood largely unexposed to segregation. Although he grew up with a lot of white friends, they were all similarly poor and he was rarely reminded of his skin color.
Keith Thurman defeats Shawn Porter
(Photo: Esther Lin/Tom Casino/SHOWTIME) BROOKLYN (June 26, 2016) – Prizefighting returned to CBS on Saturday with a Fight of the Year candidate as undefeated welterweight world champion Keith Thurman edged former world champion Shawn Porter in a close but unanimous decision scored 115-113 by all three ringside judges.
The 12,718 fans in attendance at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the viewers across the U.S. watching the first primetime boxing event on CBS since Muhammed Ali-Leon Spinks in 1978 were treated to a slugfest between two of the brightest stars in boxing’s glamour division.
Joshua Stops Breazeale; Groves & Eubank Jr Win – Results
Making his first defense of his IBF heavyweight title, Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) gave American Dominic Breazeale (17-1, 15 KOs) a bad beating in defeating him by a 7th round knockout on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Joshua put the game but limited Breazeale down two times in the 7th. The fight was stopped at 1:01 with Breazeale on the canvas unable to get up. He was too hurt.
Breazeale had talked ahead of time of giving Joshua a tough fight, but the only thing Breazeale was the ability to absorb a horrible beating. I’m not sure that Joshua could have withstood the amount of huge shots that Breazeale took if the fight was the other way around.
Arum has October 15th date on hold for possible Pacquiao return – Crawford, Garcia, Broner possible foes
Will superstar Manny Pacquiao come back? In truth, the former eight-weight ruler has not been away for very long at all. Last fighting in April of this year, all of two months ago, Pac-Man won a wide and largely impressive points win over well-known foe Tim Bradley. But Pacquiao said, both before and after the rubber-match, that he would retire to focus on his political duties. But no sooner had Pac-Man been made a senator did talk of his next fight begin.
Instead of fighting each other, GGG and Canelo look set to become “Brit-Bashers!”
Super-fight boxing’s loss could turn out to be British boxing’s gain. As stars Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will not be fighting one another any time soon – both now looking at getting it on next September, much to the displeasure of fight fans, 99-percent of which are currently blaming Canelo and his team for the big one not coming off way sooner – the two stars are now focusing on facing a British fighter in their next ring appearance.
Canelo Alvarez vs Liam Smith on September 17 on HBO PPV
Known for his power and dominance in the ring, Canelo Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) will look to win his third title in the junior middleweight division when he challenges undefeated heavy-hitter Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) for the WBO Junior Middleweight World Championship on Saturday, September 17. A battle between two power-punchers, Canelo vs. Smith promises action between two fighters willing to take a punch in order to secure the next Knockout of the Year. The event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Information regarding venue and tickets will be announced shortly.
“I am very pleased to announce my next fight against Liam Smith, a tremendous fighter with real knockout power, and the WBO junior middleweight world title owner,” said Canelo Alvarez. “I have no doubt that this fight will be give and take, which will fill the expectations of the fans, and I will work with all the enthusiasm as I always do to get the upper hand on 17 September.”