The tributes continue to pour in for The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, as we all knew they would after his sad passing of June 3rd. But one man, IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua, a huge Ali fan, is planning to pay a visual tribute to the great man: by mimicking Ali’s flashy Ali Shuffle. A number of fighters who came after Ali have tried to either win over fans or impress them by doing The Shuffle, and it has not always gone down too well. Seen by many fans as a classless act, by fighters who were not worthy of imitating the incomparable Ali (think Tony Tucker, for example, when he did The Shuffle during his big fight with Mike Tyson; the fans booed and the commentators cringed).
Month: June 2016
Erickson Lubin Blasts Mexico’s Daniel Sandoval
Erickson “Hammer” Lubin (15-0, 11 KOs) earned a third-round stoppage of Mexico’s Daniel Sandoval (38-4, 34 KOs) in their super welterweight contest.
Joe Smith Jr. beats Andrzej Fonfara
In one of the year’s shockers, Star Boxing’s Long Island knockout artist Joe “The Irish Bomber” Smith Jr. (22-1, 18 KOs) stunned heavily-favored power-puncher Andrzej Fonfara (28-4, 16 KOs) with a first round TKO in the scheduled 10-round light heavyweight main event on Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC tonight at UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Rau’shee Warren Wins Majority Decision Over Juan Carlos Payano
Rau’shee Warren (14-1, 4 KOs) earn a bantamweight world championship as he defeated Juan Carlos Payano (17-1, 8 KOs) in a rematch of their August 2015 world title bout.
The three-time Olympian Warren became the first member of the 2012 U.S. team to earn a world title when he was awarded the majority decision over the two-time Dominican Olympian Payano.
Smith Jr. destroys Fonfara; Lubin defeats Sandoval; Warren beats Payano
Hard punching light heavyweight Joe Smith Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs) pulled off a big upset tonight in defeating former world title challenger WBC #2, WBA #3, WBO #4 Andrzej Fonfara (28-4, 16 KOs) in halting him in round one tonight in front of his own fans at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.
Smith timed Fonfara with a right hand and put him down hard. When he got back up, Smith finished him off with a series of hard right hands to that head. The referee stopped it at 2:32 of the round. Fonfara never even had a chance to get warmed up properly. It was over that quickly.
Cletus Seldin defeats Jesus Selig
6/18/16, New York- Star Boxing’s Rockin’ Fights took center stage on Friday night (June 17), and WBC Silver International Champion and WBC World #4-ranked Junior Welterweight contender Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin (19-0, 16 KO’s Long Island, NY) extended his unbeaten streak with his 19th consecutive victory, a rousing first round TKO over Jesus Selig (19-4-1, 12 KO’s Douglas, Arizona) at The Paramount in Huntington, New York. Seldin attacked with thrilling ferocity from the get go. He knocked the seasoned Selig to the mat the first time he landed flush to his head. Selig rose but the writing was on the wall as Seldin went in for the kill. Cletus then drilled a wobbly Selig in what will be a highlight reel knockout for many years to come. The referee didn’t bother to count. The 10-round Junior Welterweight main event headlined the 24th edition of the popular series promoted by Joe DeGuardia.
Deontay Wilder as big as a 37-1 favourite over challenger Chris Arreola!
Shades of Mike Tyson Vs. Buster Douglas? WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder is a whopping favourite to retain his belt with a win over Chris Arreola when they meet on July 16th. A betting site in Alabama – Wilder’s hometown – list the champ as a 37-1 favourite to beat Arreola. Most odds, found on line, have Wilder as around a 25-1 favourite to win next month.
Amir Khan “chasing” return fight with Danny Garcia, still no interest in Kell Brook
Amir Khan, last seen losing his big and brave gamble of a 155-pound fight with Mexican star Saul Canelo Alvarez, is not sounding at all like a fighter who is thinking about retirement. Far from it, Khan is searching – or, to use his exact words, chasing – another big fight; a return meeting with WBC welterweight ruler Danny Garcia. Khan is currently the WBC number-one contender and he wants the fight.
Khan was of course stopped by Garcia back in 2012, inside four-rounds. Can Khan do any better in a rematch? If Khan gets his way, we will find out.
Fonfara vs Joe Smith Jr: The Polish Prince returns on NBC in Primetime
Andrzej Fonfara faces an unknown foe Joe Smith Jr., in a 10 rounds light heavyweight bout in the main event on primetime NBC. The co-feature offers up a rematch from a razor-close fight last August between Juan Carlos Payano and Rau’shee Warren. Fonfara vs. Smith Jr. could be good TV bout but Haymon could have matched Fonfara with a more recognizable name. This would have given the event a fighting chance in a wave of critics that always point toward the PBC. The card will take place in Chicago, Illinois, at the UIC Pavilion.
Eddie Hearn: “Don’t be surprised to see Eubank-Golovkin in September”
Though there are certainly plenty of critics and cynics who say the fight will either never happen at all or that it is a gross mismatch anyway, Chris Eubank Junior’s promoter Eddie Hearn insists talks are well underway, at an advanced stage even, for his fighter to face unbeaten pound-for-pound star Gennady Golovkin. In fact Hearn, in speaking with Sky Sports News HQ, said we should “not be surprised to see Eubank-Golovkin in September.”
Hearn said Eubank must first take care of, and look good against, Tom Doran in defence of his British middleweight belt on June 25th (on the Joshua-Breazeale card in London) but that it could then be an assault on GGG’s collection of world titles.