Hughie Fury pulls out of Joseph Parker fight citing injury; Parker’s promoter angry

04/23/201704/23/2017 James Slater

In disappointing news, it has been confirmed that Hughie Fury has withdrawn from his scheduled May 6 challenge of WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker. Citing an as yet undisclosed injury, Hughie, cousin of former world heavyweight king Tyson Fury, caused some concern by not having yet arrived in New Zealand when the champion already had. Now we know why the Furys had not yet touched down in New Zealand.

The fight, a clash of unbeatens, would have been an interesting affair, but now Parker is left looking for a late replacement. Parker’s promoter, David Higgins, is understandably angry at the pull-out news, and he has questioned Fury’s desire to face his fighter.

Results: Jermell Charlo KOs Charles Hatley

04/23/201704/23/2017 Showtime Boxing

Jermell Charlo defended his WBC Super Welterweight World Championship in dominant fashion with a devastating sixth-round knockout of mandatory challenger Charles Hatley in the co-main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.

Charlo (29-0, 14 KOs) landed the crisper shots from the opening bell, using a sharp left jab to set up a remarkably efficient straight right. The Houston native Charlo, the younger twin of undefeated former 154-pound champion Jermall, floored Hatley (26-2-1, 18 KOs) midway through the third with a textbook left-right combo that stunned his fellow Texan.

Porter destroys Berto – Results

04/23/201704/23/2017 Showtime Boxing

Shawn Porter scored a ninth round stoppage of Andre Berto to become the WBC’s mandatory challenger to unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, presented by Premier Boxing Champions, Saturday night on SHOWTIME from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

With the convincing victory, Porter potentially earns a rematch with Thurman, who he narrowly lost to last June in a 2016 Fight of the Year candidate at Barclays Center, the home of BROOKLYN BOXING™.

Valdez, Ramirez and Magdaleno all win – Results

04/24/201704/23/2017 Rob Smith

WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez (22-0, 19 KOs) had his worst performance of his career in having to battle doubly hard to win a 12 round unanimous decision over Miguel Marriaga (25-2, 21 KOs) last Saturday night at the SubHub Center in Carson, California. The fight was shown on Top Rank PPV.

Results: Martin Murray decisions Gabriel Rosado

04/23/201704/22/2017 Jeff Sorby

In moving back down to middleweight, Martin Murray (35-4-1, 16 KOs) kept his career alive on Saturday night with a 12 round majority decision win over high level journeyman Gabriel Rosado (23-11, 13 KOs) on Saturday night at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. Murray used his precise punching to win rounds over the 31-year-old Rosado, who got off to a bad start in the first 7 rounds.

Results: Avtandil Khurtsidze destroys Tommy Langford

04/24/201704/22/2017 Rob Smith

Avtandil Khurtsidze (33-2-2, 22 KOs) pulled off a minor upset on Saturday night in defeating #3 WBO Tommy Langford (18-1, 6 KOs) by a 5th round knockout to win the interim World Boxing Organization middleweight title at the Leicester Arena, Leicester, Leicestershire, United Kingdom.

Khurtsidze was losing the fight until connecting with a hard left to the head of Langford that put him down on the canvas. Langford sprang back to his feet only to have referee Phil Edward stop the fight. Langford was none too happy about the fight being stopped. He wanted to continue fight, and for good reason, he was winning.

Results: Arthur Abraham defeats Robin Krasniqi

04/23/201704/22/2017 Rob Smith

Arthur Abraham (46-5, 30 KOs) showed that he still has a little left in the tank in defeating Robin Krasniqi (46-5, 17 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night in their WBO 168 pound title eliminator in Erfurt, Germany. Abraham buzzed Krasniqi with a big power shot in round 6, and then never looked back in dominating the remainder of the fight against timid opponent.

Red-Hot British heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois improves to 2-0 (2) tonight in Leicester

04/22/2017 James Slater

Just two weeks after his embarrassingly easy pro debut (an easy win that came well inside a minute), red-hot 19 year old heavyweight “Dynamite” Daniel Dubois made it 2-0(2) tonight in Leicester.

The exciting prospect was, thankfully, matched significantly tougher tonight, facing Cameroonian 2012 Olympian Blaise Mendouo, who was 3-1(0) coming in, but the result was never in any doubt. Possessing power, speed and youthful aggression, Dubois hurt his man in the opening round, landing two stiff right hands to the head. The much smaller Mendouo (who had boxed as a cruiserweight in his own early pro career) did manage to tag the 6’5” giant with a counter shot, briefly getting the attention of Dubois, and for a fleeting moment it seemed we just might have a fight on our hands.

Vitali Klitschko will be at Wembley, supporting his brother in Joshua showdown

04/22/2017 James Slater

There really could be quite a throng of heavyweight greatness, either past, present or future, at Wembley on April 29 (a week today as if any heavyweight fan needed reminding!). Wladimir Klitschko, himself a future Hall of Famer, will of course fight Anthony Joshua, the next heavyweight great in the opinion of quite a few people, and two WBC heavyweight rulers, one past one current, have confirmed their attendance.

Deontay Wilder will be there, scouting his possible next opponent, and Vitali Klitschko – for some people the superior fighting Klitschko brother – will also be in the house, assisting his younger brother. Vitali, taking a break from his political duties in Kyiv, will be close to his brother as “Dr. Steel Hammer” attempts to take both the IBF and the WBA belts next week.

Joseph Parker arrives in New Zealand ahead of Fury defence, wonders where Hughie is

04/22/2017 James Slater

A smiling, confident and upbeat Joseph Parker arrived in New Zealand earlier today, two full weeks ahead of his WBO heavyweight title defence against Britain’s Hughie Fury. Aside from telling the media how much he is looking forward to showing his stuff in the ring on May 6, the unbeaten champion spoke of his slight concern over the fact that Fury has not yet arrived in New Zealand.

It seems a little odd to both Parker and his trainer Kevin Barry, that Fury has not arrived well ahead of fight time so as to fully recover from the inevitable jet lag the flight from the UK to New Zealand causes.