BoxNation will air a world title tripleheader exclusively live this weekend as the light-middleweight division takes centre stage.
Cuban hotshot Erislandy Lara rematches U.S. Olympian and top contender Vanes Martirosyan as he puts his WBA light-middleweight world title on the line at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas this Saturday night.
WBO World Super-Welterweight king Liam Smith wants a huge domestic showdown with Kell Brook after he’s dealt with Predrag Radosevic. Undefeated Smith makes a hero’s return to Liverpool to make the third defence of his world title on an action-packed night of boxing at the Echo Arena on June 4th, live and exclusive on BoxNation.
Scouse warrior Smith spectacularly announced himself on the world stage last October when he stopped American John Thompson in the seventh round to become Liverpool’s first world champion in 22 years.
With Deontay Wilder’s potentially exciting mandatory defence against Alexander Povetkin now off – due to the Russian star coming up positive for an illegal substance in case anyone didn’t know – fans are wondering who WBC heavyweight king Wilder will fight next. Next in line in the WBC rankings is Bermane Stiverne, the man Wilder beat back in January of 2015 to take the green belt. Could we soon be seeing a rematch?
David Haye has his critics, plenty of them in fact, but two things cannot be denied: Haye’s punching-power and his box-office appeal. This Saturday (on terrestrial channel ‘Dave’ for UK fight fans) the 35-year-old former champ will continue his comeback as he aims for a shot at regaining at least a slice of the heavyweight crown.
Haye, 27-2(25) and beaten only by Carl Thompson (down at cruiserweight and seemingly an eternity ago now in 2004) and Wladimir Klitschko, will face unbeaten but largely unknown Arnold Gjergjaj in London and, assuming all goes well, he will then face vocal former WBO heavyweight champ Shannon Briggs in September.
Murat Gassiev, 22-0(16KO), meets one-loss Jordan Shimmell for a 12-round IBF cruiserweight eliminator in the main event on FS1 this Tuesday night. From its inception, Fox Sports 1’s Toe-To-Toe Tuesday fight series has matched prospects and contenders in real fights, exactly what the fans want to see. It features boxers climbing the ladder in development bouts and champion-level matchups. The Premier Boxing Champions series on FS1 has proved to be consistent in the absence of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.
L. Ellerbe – Thank you. Now we’ll bring the main event. It’s a rematch of the 2012 technical draw and you know both men are going to want to settle the score. So first up I’d like to introduce, he comes to us with 36 and 2 record with 21 KO’s. He’s fighting out of Glendale, California. He represented the United States in the 2004 Olympics. He’s a very very tough fighter. He’s been in with just about everybody. He fought the likes of Ishe Smith,who’s part of the Mayweather promotions stabl, Willie Nelson and Demetrius Andrade. He fought Lara. He’s been a pro for 11 years. He turned pro in April, 2005 and he’s a very very good fighter. And we also look forward to a very exciting fight. Vanes Martirosyan, would you like to say a few words.
Leonard Ellerbe – I would like to thank everyone for joining us on the call today. We have an exciting tripleheader of Super Welterweight World Title fights. It will be headlined by Cuban sensation and WBA Super Welterweight World Champion, Erislandy Lara against exciting challenger and 2004 U.S. Olympian, Vanes Martirosyan in a rematch of their 2012 technical draw.
In our co-main event, and up-and-coming star, the IBF Junior Middleweight World Champion, Jermall Charlo taking on the toughest challenge of his career in former World Champion, Austin Trout.
Tyson Fury, the Heavyweight Champion of the World, was interviewed last week by a video media outlet known as SportsView London. During the interview, Mr Fury made comments that have been viewed by some as offensive.
Mr Fury would like to apologise to anyone who may have taken offence to these comments.
David Haye, the former undisputed cruiserweight ruler and a former WBA heavyweight champ, continues his comeback this Saturday, against unbeaten but little-known Arnold Gjergjaj in a scheduled 10-rounder at The O2 in London. Gjergjaj is young at age 31 and he has a good-looking 29-0(21) record. However, the critics have, well, criticised Haye’s choice of opponent, some even saying Gjergjaj represents a step down from Haye’s first comeback foe, Mark de Mori.
Has Alexander Povetkin’s reputation been forever ruined due to his coming up positive for a banned substance, causing the postponement, perhaps cancellation of his title fight with Deontay Wilder? Already, past Povetkin opponents are second-guessing their fights with the Russian star.