Ulli Wegner has hit back at claims questioning Arthur Abraham’s (44-5, 29 KOs) motivation prior to his WBO International Super Middleweight title fight with Tim-Robin Lihaug (15-1, 8 KOs) on July 16 at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.
Lihaug’s trainer Thomas Hansvoll had called into question Abraham’s desire, stating that he believed the former two-weight World Champion ‘had lost his hunger’ and after years at the top of the sport was ‘not so interested anymore’.
Isaac “Golden Boy” Chilemba (24-3-2, 10 KOs) is in for the fight of his life against the world’s fiercest light heavyweight Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (29-0-1, 26 KOs) on July 11 in Ekaterinburg, Russia but the 29-year old from Malawi is no stranger to fighting in enemy territory. The grudge match between Kovalev and Chilemba will be for the WBO, WBA and IBF Light Heavyweight World Titles.
James Perella is a highly successful amateur fighter who has amassed an impressive 120-20 record and is ranked the third best boxer in the U.S. for his weight class (152 pounds). He has won the U.S. Championship and the New England Golden Gloves four times (2012 to 2015) in three different weight classes (123, 141, and 152 pounds). Perella was named the Most Outstanding Boxer of the New England Golden Gloves in 2012, received a silver medal at the National Pal Tournament, and won the Region One Championship in 2014. He came close to qualifying for a spot on the 2016 Olympic Boxing Team until a combination of injuries and a pair of extremely close split decision losses put an end to his dream to represent his country.
Irish warrior Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan, last seen being stopped after a game effort against Chris Eubank Junior in December, is aiming for an even bigger fight in the near future. Speaking with Irish-Boxing.com, O’Sullivan revealed how he is now campaigning down at 154-pounds and how he would “love” to face the winner of the September 17th WBO super-welterweight title fight between champ Liam Smith and challenger Saul Canelo Alvarez.
Antonio Tarver, who recently called out British heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte, wants a lot of things: a fight with Whyte, which he feels will lead to a shot at IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua, which he feels would lead to a win that would see him surpass the legendary George Foreman as the oldest-ever heavyweight champ. It might be a long road, but Tarver feels the Whyte fight will see him achieve his latest dream.
Whyte, who boxes in Leeds on July 30, responded to Tarver’s calling him out on Twitter, and Tarver responded to Whyte’s claims that he would “smash him to pieces.” Tarver made it clear, when speaking with Sky Sports, how he wants Joshua and a shot at history, and that a win over Whyte would get him there.
It took a long time to find a date and then it got postponed, now it’s back on again – we hope. The Tyson Fury-Wladimir Klitschko rematch everyone is eager to see for a number of reasons will now take place on October 29th, so says Klitschko manager Bernd Boente and Fury’s uncle and trainer Peter. Boente spoke of the new date with German publication BILD last week and Irish-Boxing.com reports how Peter Fury confirmed the new date for the bout yesterday. The venue will stay the same, The Manchester Arena.
Thomas Hansvoll expects Tim-Robin Lihaug (15-1, 8 KOs) to upset the odds and score a career-defining win over former two-weight World Champion Arthur Abraham (44-5, 29 KOs) on July 16 at the Max-Schmeling-Halle in Berlin.
The Norwegian duo have been hard at work preparing for the WBO International title fight, and although Lihaug enters the bout as an underdog, Hansvoll is confident the 23 year-old has what it takes to beat an ageing Abraham, who he believes has ‘lost his hunger’.
With the recent sad passing of the great Joe Frazier, and the even more recent – in fact still numbing – passing of The Greatest, Muhammad Ali, the world was robbed of two of the finest heavyweight world champions in history. Indeed, Ali and Frazier, who of course gave us THE most fierce and most celebrated rivalry in all of sports, were the king of kings. Ali and Frazier may no longer be with us on this physical plane, but they will live forever.
This distinction, or honour, is one only truly special fighters receive – Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Louis included. But who are the finest, the greatest, the most special former world heavyweight kings who are still with us? In short, who are the greatest living former heavyweight rulers?
Once-beaten British heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte returns to action for the second time since his exciting, but losing, December 2015 fight with Anthony Joshua on July 30, when he will face a TBA in Leeds. Whyte spoke to Sky Sports pundit Johnny Nelson at yesterday’s press conference to promote the stacked Leeds show – topped by the hugely popular Josh Warrington against Patrick Hyland and also featuring Luke Campbell in action and Tyrone Nurse against Tommy Coyle – and he spoke of the problems he has in getting himself a decent fight.
(Photo Credit: Nabeel Ahmad/Premier Boxing Champions) The scene was set for the 2012 U.S. Olympian and Team Captain Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring to take his career to the next level on this Fourth of July weekend but it wasn’t meant to be for the former U.S. Marine, who did two tours of duty in Iraq. The two-time world title challenger Denis Shafikov punished Herring before his corner stopped the one-sided bout 36 seconds into the tenth and final round after Shafikov crushed Herring with two consecutive powerful left hooks that badly staggered him.