There hasn’t been a big, exciting world heavyweight title fight showdown in Las Vegas for some years now, but this could very possibly change later on this year. New star and reigning WBA/IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua told Sky Sports how he believes the opportunity to fight him in a big rematch fight in Vegas will inspire Wladimir Klitschko; “get his blood boiling again,” is how AJ put it.
Month: July 2017
What next for Jeff Horn? The new WBO welterweight champ calls out Floyd Mayweather!
New WBO welterweight champ Jeff Horn is the fighter all of boxing is talking about right now; or at least the hugely controversial decision victory the Australian warrior pulled off over Manny Pacquiao, THE upset of the year so far, is the hottest topic in the sport today.
The overwhelming opinion is that Horn did not deserve the 12 round unanimous decision that went his way by way of scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice. ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael, for example, had it a wide 117-111 in favour of Pac Man, while Teddy Atlas had it 116-111 for Pacquiao.
Is it time for Manny Pacquiao to retire?
Massive underdog Jeff Horn scored the upset of the year last night by defeating Manny Pacquiao by 12 round unanimous decision; and how the upset has upset plenty of people. The controversy surrounding the scores handed in in Brisbane, Australia is huge, with a number of notable boxing people, such as Teddy Atlas and Lennox Lewis, really tearing into the 117-111, 115-113, 115-113 decision in favour of new WBO welterweight champ Horn.
Horn beats Pacquiao – Round by Round
Suncorp Stadium Brisbane. PACQUAIO V HORN
Stadium is packed. Fight co-promoted by Bob Arum and Duco. Around 50,000 spectators in to watch what is being mooted as the biggest fight card in Australia’s history.
Results: Jeff Horn beats Manny Pacquiao in robbery!
Jeff Horn (17-0-1, 11 KOs) used a roughhouse style of fighting tonight to beat WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (59-7-2, 38 KOs) by a very questionable 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night in front of a huge crowd of 55,000 boxing fans at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia. Pacquiao suffered 2 bad cuts in the fight from a clash of head. Horn was cut over his right eye.
Results: Povetkin defeats Rudenko
Alexander Povetkin (32-1, 23 KOs) rather easily defeated a very fragile looking fringe contender Andriy Rudenko (31-3, 19 KOs) by 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Luzhniki Concert Hall in Moscow, Russia. The fight was almost stopped in the 1st round after Povetkin appeared to injure Rudenko and his neck with a rabbit shot.
“Mayweather knew Manny’s shoulder was f****d up, he targeted it”
Justin Fortune, Manny Pacquiao’s famed strength and conditioning coach, has been talking to Fox Sports out in Australia, both on tonight’s big (in Australia it’s very big) Pac Man vs. Jeff Horn clash and on the one boxing subject that seems never to go away: Pacquiao -Floyd Mayweather.
As fans probably know, both Pac Man and his trainer Freddie Roach refuse to accept that a rematch is so out of the realms of possibility that it has seemingly zero chance of taking place (Mayweather himself has said many times, the book is “closed” on the matter ). And Fortune himself believes that if there is a second “Fight Of The Century” there is only one winner: Pacquiao.
Does Alexander Povetkin deserve a shot at Anthony Joshua?
Russian star and former heavyweight belt holder Alexander Povetkin is back in action tonight, in his first fight of this year; his second fight since failing two pre-fight drugs tests.
The 37 year old faces durable Andriy Rodenko and Povetkin has told Russian media how he hopes for a shot at Anthony Joshua, the current WBA/IBF heavyweight ruler. Povetkin says he is in no way looking past Rodenko, but that he has his eyes firmly on the unbeaten AJ.
ESPN: The new showcase for the pound-for-pound best
You’ve got to hand it to Top Rank boss Bob Arum. After decades spent in the sport, the octogenarian refuses to play it safe. While Arum’s outfit could have made money, quite a bit of it, with the upcoming fights of: Manny Pacquiao – a bona fide superstar, Terence Crawford – a superstar of the future, and Vasyl Lomachenko – for many, the best boxer on the planet today, pound-for-pound – Top Rank instead makes a deal to showcase the three champs on ESPN.
Boxing Rescued
It’s no longer news that Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko put up a five star performance when the duo clashed in what has become a historic event, having 90,000 people parked in one stadium to watch the finest of a boxing bout in recent time. It was a show of two determined athletes who were ready to surpass the odds to become champions. Before this event the sport actually saw an upset when Tyson Fury out boxed the Ukrainian, the build up to that fight went from trash talking to comical display with Fury appearing in a press conference in a batman uniform or regalia. The Brit did something that really impressed me in that he did not accord Wladimir any form of respect, even on fight night the 6foot plus Fury complained about the ring canvass which was attended to. In all it was some form of entertainment stunt put up by him to upset the champion.