WBO Middleweight World Champion Billy Joe Saunders has vowed to put David Lemieux ‘out like a candle’ when the bitter rivals square off at the Place Bell in Laval, Quebec this weekend, live on BT Sport HD2 and BoxNation.
Hatfield star Saunders will be fighting overseas for the first time in his professional career when he makes the third defence of his crown against the hard-hitting Lemieux in his own backyard, and is unfazed by fighting in hostile territory.
Unified Women’s Super Middleweight World Champion Claressa Shields met with local members of the media and took part in an open-to-the-public workout on Tuesday at Kronk Gym, exactly one month away from defending her 168-pound WBC and IBF titles against undefeated IBF mandatory challenger Tori Nelson on Friday, Jan. 12 live on SHOWTIME.
Simon Vallily has insisted that “Christmas is cancelled” as he focuses on his English title shot on the undercard of George Groves’ massive World Boxing Super Series clash against Chris Eubank Jr.
Sauerland Promotions have confirmed that MTK Global-managed cruiserweight Vallily will clash with defending English champion Arfan Iqbal on February 17 on a huge night for world boxing when Groves and Eubank meet in the WBSS super-middleweight semi-final at the Manchester Arena.
Undefeated two-division world champion TERENCE “Bud” CRAWFORD (32-0, 32 KOs), from Omaha,is ready to move out of the junior welterweight division and up to the welterweight class. Crawford, the 2014 Fighter of the Year, became boxing’s first undisputed world champion in 15 years when he knocked out fellow unified world champion Julius Indongo over the summer.
Earlier today in Brisbane, Australia, Jeff Horn made a successful first defence of the WBO welterweight title he won by sensationally upsetting all-time great Manny Pacquiao back in July. Horn, who was well ahead on all three cards at the time, got the TKO win over Cororan of Great Britain in the 11th round. Time was 1:35 and Corcoran, who was pouring blood from a damaged left eye, was saved by his corner who signaled to the referee how he had had enough.
There are still a few significant fights to be fought before 2017 comes to a close – the WBO middleweight title fight between champ Billy Joe Saunders and David Lemieux in Canada this Saturday (Dec. 16) – but by and large, all the big fights have been settled. And it’s been a pretty good year overall for fans of The Sweet Science; even if the past 12 months could also have been a bit better (more big heavyweight title fight action would certainly not have gone amiss).
A coaches view of the Lomachenko vs Rigondeaux fight Saturday night
Like many of you, I watched the fight last Saturday night with great anticipation. All week long my gym was abuzz with predictions as to who would come out on top. Basically, the gym was pretty evenly divided with a slight majority leaning towards Lomachenko because of his age and size. Everyone had an opinion and almost every possible outcome must have been discussed …expect one…that one was unthinkable.
Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse (38-4, 35 KOs), the current WBA Inter-Continental and WBO International Welterweight Champion of Chubut, Argentina held a press conference today at Malbec Argentinean Cuisine in Santa Monica ahead of his fight for the vacant WBA Welterweight World Championship against undefeated Thai superstar Tewa Kiram (38-0, 28 KOs) in a 12-round battle at the “Fabulous” Forum in Inglewood, Calif. In the second main event, Mercito “No Mercy” Gesta (31-1-2, 17 KOs), who was also in attendance, will challenge Venezuela’s Jorge “El Nino De Oro” Linares (43-3, 27 KOs) in a 12-round championship bout for Linares’ WBA, WBC Diamond, and Ring Magazine lightweight titles. The event will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark® beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.
Undefeated light heavyweight Richard “Popeye The Sailor Man” Rivera scored a second-round technical knockout victory at 1:48 over veteran Roberto “El Viejo” Valenzuela from a left hook which Valenzuela was unable to get up from. Rivera improved to 5-0, 4 KOs, with all his wins coming this year.
As fans everywhere know, Guillermo Rigondeaux quit on his stool after six-rounds had been completed in his hugely anticipated fight with Vasyl Lomachenko; the Cuban southpaw claiming he had injured, maybe even broken his left hand. The quit job angered many, and the X-Ray results that have been revealed today – courtesy of a news feature via RingTV.com – are sure to add fuel to the fire of hate being currently aimed at “Rigo.”