Eric Molina: I don’t want to hear any excuses after the fight

Eric Molina: I don't want to hear any excuses after the fight

With news coming that former heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko will be in attendance in Manchester for Anthony Joshua’s IBF title defence against Eric Molina, some people are wondering if Joshua will be at all affected by the sight of the man he is set up to meet in a huge fight next March/April. Will Joshua try too hard to impress Klitschko? Will he take his eyes, and his concentration, off the man in front of him?

Joshua told Sky Sports how he aims to make the fight, his second title defence, “look easy.” Molina says there is no way AJ will have an easy night next month, and the Mexican/American also made it clear he does not want any excuses if Joshua underestimates him and winds up losing in a big upset. Molina told Sky Sports that he wants to face a Joshua who is fully focused and is taking his challenge seriously.

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Lomachenko: As good as Ali? Better than Mayweather?

Lomachenko: As good as Ali? Better than Mayweather?

There is no doubting the talent of two-weight champ and reigning WBO super-featherweight king Vasyl Lomachenko. It is also undeniable that the 28-year-old Ukrainian is hovering as close as can be to the top spot, pound-for-pound. Some fans and experts suggest “Hi-Tech” is already fully deserving of the top spot.

That much is debatable – considering the formidable talents of special fighters such as Andre Ward, Roman Gonzalez and Gennady Golovkin – but promoter Bob Arum, who looks after the finest, most prominent 7-1 boxer in history, has ensured even more debate amongst fight fans. We’ve already read the Top Rank boss’s statement, one made from the heart, regarding how Lomachenko has impressed him more than any fighter since the peak Muhammad Ali – but Arum also says he feels the southpaw talent is more of a fully formed package than the one and only Floyd Mayweather Junior (who, like the immortal Ali, was once promoted by Arum).

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Floyd Mayweather again boasts about his wealth, calls people talking about his ring return “Backseat drivers – the joke’s on you”

Floyd Mayweather again boasts about his wealth, calls people talking about his ring return “Backseat drivers – the joke's on you”

Retired superstar Floyd Mayweather is annoyed at the way certain people involved in the sport continue to talk about, and call for, his ring return. Every week or so, a story breaks suggesting “Money,” now aged 39 and having last fought over 14 months ago, will return to the squared circle soon. But Mayweather, who has said again and again that he is content in retirement, sure seems to mean what he says.

Just yesterday, Mayweather put out a message on social media, in which he both ridicules those people who continue to talk about him returning for fight number-50, and boasts about his incredible wealth.

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Lebedev vs. Gassiev: Get ready for an explosion in Moscow!

Lebedev vs. Gassiev: Get ready for an explosion in Moscow!

Forget the cold war, this one will be red-hot! This Saturday in Moscow, Russia, we just might have The Fight of The Year, as cruiserweights Denis Lebedev (never in a bad fight) and Murat Gassiev (brutal KO artist) meet in a fight that has attracted plenty of attention amongst hardcore fight fans. These same fans, and a whole lot of boxing experts, are split as to who wins.

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Andre Ward says Team-GGG didn’t want to fight until 2018, so he moved up to 175

Andre Ward says Team-GGG didn't want to fight until 2018, so he moved up to 175

According to Andre Ward, we fans could have, indeed, would have, seen a super-fight between he and middleweight king Gennady Golovkin this year had Team-GGG been willing to take the 50-50 fight that was offered to them. Speaking with TMZ Sports, Ward, now the unified light-heavyweight champion, said Golovkin was not willing to fight him until 2018, so he made the decision to move up in weight and challenge Sergey Kovalev.

“I think the fight with Golovkin should have happened before the Kovalev fight,” Ward said. “That fight was talked about, our teams had some correspondence, and it just didn’t work out. I’m not here to expose them or throw them under the bus or nothin’ like that. But I will be honest with the fans because there is a lot of confusion out there. They didn’t want the fight. They flipped it and said we were ducking and dodging. If you read the e-mail [of an offer for the fight] it was clear – we gave them a 50-50 split so there wouldn’t be any arguments.”

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Tagoe to now fight South Africa’s Fana for IBO title

Tagoe to now fight South Africa’s Fana for IBO title

Ghana’s Emmanuel ‘Game Boy’ Tagoe will now have to beat former world champion, Mzonge Fana to win the IBO Lightweight world title this Friday, December 2 at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra following the withdrawal of hitherto opponent, Fernando David Saucedo of Argentina.

Initially billed for November 25, Saucedo had requested and got the fight postponed by a week in order to recover from a reported broken hand in training. But with barely 4 days to fight night, the Argentine has now completely pulled out of the fight, necessitating a change in opponent for Tagoe.

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Tyson Fury – what a difference a year makes

Tyson Fury – what a difference a year makes

This time last year, British heavyweight Tyson Fury was on top of the world. Today he is pretty close to rock bottom. It was exactly 12 months ago today when heavy underdog (4-1 against) Fury travelled to Düsseldorf, Germany to challenge the world champ Wladimir Klitschko – a heavyweight great who had dominated for over a decade, last losing a fight way, way back in 2004.

Despite the huge odds against him, Fury feinted, boxed, taunted, tricked and at times punched his way to an upset decision victory. Klitschko, who may or may not have had a rare off-night (we may never know if Klitschko can perform better against Fury as now, a rematch looks unlikely) couldn’t figure out the taller, quicker man. The win ranks as one of the finest in British boxing history and Fury returned home a hero. For a while.

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HBO Embarrassed by Walters’ No Mas!

HBO Embarrassed by Walters' No Mas!

Poor HBO. Saturday night at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Jim Lampley and Max Kellerman started the night off by spending many minutes trying to justify the controversial decision in the Andre SOG Ward over Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev fight. The explanation went this way. Max explained that after reviewing the tapes, he came up with the same score as the judges. They scored it 114-113 for Ward. Max said he had it in favor of Kovalev, but he quickly whitewashed his own opinion by saying, I understand why the judges voted for Ward! Hence, there really wasn’t an explanation, only an excuse. The fact is HBO’s hopes for a classic match-up ended up looking more like an MMA bout with Ward trying to garner points for a “take down”.

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Lomachenko Stakes His Claim for Fighter of the Year with Walters Stoppage

Lomachenko Stakes His Claim for Fighter of the Year with Walters Stoppage

He came, He saw, He annihilated. Two-time Ukrainian Olympic gold medalist and two-division world champion VASYL LOMACHENKO (7-1, 5 KOs), successfully defended his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior lightweight title by stopping undefeated former World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight champion NICHOLAS “Axe Man” WALTERS (26-1-1, 21 KOs), of Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Saturday at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Walters told referee Tony Weeks he did not want to continue after the seventh round. The fight was televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing®.

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Video: Vasyl Lomachenko vs Nicholas Walters – Post Fight Recap

YouTube video

Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KOs) successfully defended his WBO junior lightweight championship belt when he dominated Nicholas Walters (26-1-1, 21 KOs) en route to a 7th round stoppage victory. Many boxing observers expected this to be a competitive contest between two elite boxers from this weight range. What transpired, however, was something completely different. Lomachenko made things look easy in there. Between the 7th and 8th rounds, Walters had informed referee Tony Weeks that he did not wish to continue. This ending left many fans disappointed, but the end result is that Lomachenko dominated and he looked sensational doing so.

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