JOE SMITH, JR. Tips Scales at 173 lbs., ANDRZEJ FONFARA Weighs in at 174.5 lbs. for PREMIER BOXING CHAMPIONS ON NBC – Star Boxing’s Long Island knockout artist Joe “The Irish Bomber” Smith Jr. (21-1, 17 KOs) weighed in at 173 lbs. for his national television debut against another power-puncher, Andrzej Fonfara (28-3, 16 KOs), who tipped the scales at 174.5 lbs. for tomorrow night’s (Saturday, June 18) 10-round main event on Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on NBC from UIC Pavilion in Chicago.
Martin Murray says George Groves got his name from losing twice to Carl Froch – and believes he’ll look to shift the blame when he beats him in their clash for the WBA International Super-Middleweight title clash at The O2 on Saturday June 25, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Murray believes Groves is too focused on being the ‘a-side’ of their battle, rather than focusing on the fight itself, as the Brit rivals look to move into line for a crack at the World title in the second half of the year.
Mexican superstar Saul Canelo Alvarez will fight again on September 17th, RingTV.com reports – but there are three different venues being considered for Canelo’s return and, more seriously, no confirmed opponent. Alvarez will fight, Golden Boy’s Eric Gomez says, either at The MGM in Las Vegas, at Madison Square Garden in New York or at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. At which weight? Gomez says Alvarez will box anywhere from 154 to 160, with “everybody” in that weight range being considered as an option.
(Photo credit: Premier Boxing Champions) Hall Of Fame Boxing announcer Al Bernstein calls the June 25 Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter welterweight title match “a fight for the fans.” Al continued, “I call it that because it has all the elements of a match that resonates with boxing fans. It checks all the boxes, both men are in their prime, the contrasting styles in the ring should make it fascinating and both men are highly motivated because they feel this is the most important fight of their careers.”
Heavyweight great Mike Tyson used to visit the gravesite of the legendary Sonny Liston (and maybe still does) and, legend has it, Tyson would carry out imaginary conversations with the 1960s heavyweight king who was so mysterious in so many ways. Tyson found inspiration from his visits with Liston and another fighter who aims to become the next heavyweight ruler, in New Zealand’s Joseph Parker, has reportedly been paying homage to Liston at his final resting place just outside of Las Vegas.
Providing they each win their upcoming tune-up bouts, Sergey Kovalev and Andre Ward, both unbeaten and rated highly in the various pound-for-pound rankings, will fight on November 19th at The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. ESPN.com reports the fight will be available on HBO pay-per-view. A genuinely intriguing, hard to pick fight, Ward-Kovalev is a classic boxer Vs. puncher match-up.
Outside of a Kovalev-Adonis Stevenson unification clash, Kovalev-Ward is the biggest and best fight that can currently be made in the 175-pound division.
The great Roberto Duran turns 65 today, June 16th. Arguably the finest living fighter, the finest lightweight in history and one of the greatest Hispanic boxers of all time, Duran, Hands of Stone, is a hero to millions and a huge influence on many thousands of fighters, both past and present. Duran turned pro way, way back in February of 1968 (LBJ was president, Muhammad Ali was in exile, George Foreman had not yet won his Olympic gold medal) and he won his first world title, the WBA lightweight crown, in June of 1972 (“Tricky Dicky” was now president, Ali had returned, lost to Joe Frazier and was on the comeback trail anew, Foreman was an unbeaten 35-0 contender).
This is how long the cherished Duran had been a part of fight fans’ lives. Duran would beat everything in his path at 135-pounds, then beat the new US superstar Sugar Ray Leonard at welterweight, then win world titles up at 154 and 160 and fight to earn a quite astonishing, 103-16-(70) pro record! Imagine that today? No, I can’t, either.
Lou DiBella
Thank you for being with us for the Keith Thurman vs. Shawn Porter Welterweight Championship conference call, SHOWTIME Championship Boxing, on CBS, presented by Premier Boxing Champions, to be at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Saturday, June 25, live at 9:00 pm Eastern Time, 6:00 pm Pacific Time.
Tickets for the live event are on sale now. They can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, by calling Ticketmaster at 1800-745-3000, or at the box office at the Barclays Center.
Big George Foreman, with the passing of the great (or greatest) Muhammad Ali, has become the oldest living former world heavyweight champion, and the 67-year-old legend sure has a number of tales to tell. Foreman has literally seen it all, done it all, and lived to tell the story of it all. George has had some quite amazing life, no doubt. But despite all he has witnessed, the incomparable Ali still leaves George somewhat mystified and in awe.
These past two weeks have seen Foreman share with us all his memories of Ali, and George has paid great tributes to the former three-time king. One of the more interesting things Foreman had to say about his one-time archenemy came on the latest episode of Jim Lampley’s The Fight Game. Foreman spoke of an unexpected phone-call from Ali, “in the late ’70’s.”
LONDON (June 16, 2016) – Undefeated World Ranked Heavyweight Contender and 2012 U.S. Olympian Dominic “Trouble” Breazeale (17-0, 15 KOs) arrived at London Heathrow Airport on Thursday afternoon ahead of his world title challenge against IBF Heavyweight Champion Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KOs) on Saturday, June 25 on SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL® from The O2 in London, live on SHOWTIME.
Confident as he’s been since the fight was announced, Breazeale was met by the local media upon his arrival.