It is just over a year ago that “Prince” Charles Martin, looking anything but regal, capitulated in quite disappointing fashion against Anthony Joshua. Martin was attempting to make the first retention of the IBF heavyweight belt he had won in fluke-like fashion – Vyacheslav Glazkov’s knee blowing during their January 2016 fight that contested the belt that had just been stripped from new world ruler Tyson Fury – and he failed miserably.
Month: April 2017
Busy Boxing Weekend Stateside & Across the Pond
The upcoming fight schedule for this weekend is filled to the rim with action-packed fights and if we’re lucky we may even get a fight of the year candidate. Events being staged in Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Liverpool, and Leicester involve different levels of meaning from stern challenges to stay-busy.
Let’s start in Brooklyn, New York at the Barclays Center on leading network in the United States Showtime. Shawn Porter and Andre Berto face off in a fun welterweight matchup with a mandatory slot on the line for Keith Thurman’s WBC’s strap.
Win or lose against Klitschko, Joshua may not be able to keep both IBF and WBA belts
If he manages to defeat Wladimir Klitschko a week tomorrow, Anthony Joshua will add the WBA belt to the IBF crown he already holds – but he might find it impossible to keep hold of both belts for long. As his promoter Eddie Hearn explained to The Star, a victorious Joshua is extremely likely to be ordered to defend the IBF belt against Kubrat Pulev, and the WBA belt against Luis Ortiz.
So, unless “a deal can be done,” Hearn says Joshua is going to lose one of the belts he will exit a rocking Wembley Stadium with if he’s victorious on April 29. More alphabet soup madness, or two good fighters getting what they have worked for and fully deserve? Take your pick, but it really does seem next to impossible for any heavyweight to become undisputed king these days.
Face Off With Max Kellerman: Canelo/Chavez Jr. – Premieres Saturday, April 29 on HBO
Fight fans eager for a revealing inside look at the eagerly anticipated May 6 HBO Pay-Per-View® mega-fight between “Canelo” Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., should mark their calendars to catch an all-new edition of “Face Off,” starring the two prizefighters. “Face Off With Max Kellerman: Canelo/Chavez Jr.” debuts Saturday, April 29 at approximately 12:15 a.m. (ET/PT).
Moderated by Max Kellerman, “Face Off” is an insightful and often gripping interview session in which the two fighters sit down and square off to answer Kellerman’s questions. This marks Alvarez’s third visit to “Face Off,” and the second appearance for Chavez Jr. on the series.
Tomasz Adamek to return in June, will face Solomon Haumono in Poland
You can now add the name Tomasz Adamek to the current list of once great fighters who simply cannot say goodbye and stick to their retirement for good. Once a terrific light-heavyweight and cruiserweight – winning world titles at both weights – Adamek fell short as a heavyweight (although even here, “Goral” picked up some meaningful wins over good names).
Why is it that all of these problems keep following “The Problem?”
As you already know recently Adrien Broner was shot at last night, arrested, and released from jail today. As I sit here in my room, I was thinking why is it that he continuously always finds himself in a messy situation involving the law? Now I am not a fan of his antics outside of boxing and I know a lot of the foolishness he says every time a microphone is placed near his mouth, is to play the villain and sell tickets. What he doesn’t understand is, is that his behavior overshadows his in the ring skill and it turns a lot people off. Now when the cameras are away and you get to talk to him one on one he is a cool dude, but the networks and television doesn’t see that. Majority of fans that follows boxing view him in a negative light.
Dillian Whyte-Mariusz Wach on June 3rd – can “The Body Snatcher” stop “The Viking?”
Dillian Whyte, in the hunt for a shot at a world title, will face a man who has already had one, in Polish giant Mariusz Wach, who he will fight at The O2 in London on June 3. Whyte, 20-1(15) and coming off that December thriller with fellow Brit Dereck Chisora, wanted a big name for his next fight and in Wach, 33-2(17) he has found one.
Kell Brook-Errol Spence promises to headline a stacked card in Sheffield on May 27
A Box-Office offering here in the UK (on Sky Sports pay-per-view) the exciting Kell Brook-Errol Spence IBF welterweight title fight showdown would very likely have sold well and pulled in plenty of armchair fans on its own – just like the Joshua-Klitschko fight (which has been bumped up a little in price, going from the usual Sky Sports p-p-v fee of £16.95 to £19.95).
Does Tyson Fury know something we don’t? Fury says Joshua-Klitschko will not happen as scheduled!
How shocked would you be if the big April 29 heavyweight showdown between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko got postponed due to an injury on the part of one of the fighters? This is just what former, undefeated heavyweight champ Tyson Fury has come out and said he thinks will happen.
Langford vs Khurtsidze Weights
It might be wise to avoid mentioning to Tommy Langford that he’s fighting for a ‘diluted’ version of the world middleweight title when he fronts up to heavily avoided Georgian Avtandil Khurtsidze for the vacant WBO interim strap at Leicester Arena on Saturday week, writes Glynn Evans.