The battle between two-time Olympic gold medallists Vasyl Lomachenko and Guillermo Rigondeaux on December 9th at Madison Square Garden will be shown exclusively live on BoxNation.
‘The Channel of Champions’ will air the dream matchup featuring two men regarded as boxing’s greatest ever amateurs as part of the channel’s exclusive output deal with promoters Top Rank.
It hasn’t taken long for the news of Luis Ortiz’ failed drugs test to reach British heavyweight Dillian Whyte – and Whyte sees opportunity in the demise of the Cuban’s November 4 fight with Deontay Wilder.
Whyte, who has wanted and called out for a shot at Wilder and his WBC crown for some time, took to his twitter account a couple of hours ago, basically writing how Wilder must now face him instead of Ortiz.
“No excuses now, I’ll take Ortiz’ place,” wrote Whyte, adding the words, “Eddie Hearn make this fight now.”
In terrible news, it has been confirmed by multiple sources that heavyweight Luis Ortiz has testesd positive for a banned substance in a pre-fight drugs test that was conducted by VADA a week ago. Ortiz was of course to have challenged WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder on November4; this fight is now off.
It remains to be seen whether or not Wilder, unbeaten at 38-0 will still fight on the November date (some people have suggested he may fight former foe Bermane Stiverne in a return; Stiverne being the fighter who took step-aside money to allow Wilder to face Ortiz instead – but this is nothing more than speculation at this point in time).
Following the blockbuster battle between Tony Bellew and David Haye earlier this year, the two nemeses will once again go to war in The Rematch at The O2 on Sunday December 17, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
After a fiery build up, Haye and Bellew met at the Greenwich venue in March this year and served up an explosive encounter which left fans on their edge of their seats. Both fighters went toe to toe for a thrilling 11 round contest. Haye bravely fought on despite fully rupturing his Achilles in the sixth round, Bellew was victorious after Haye’s team eventually threw the towel in.
Gatekeeper. Many casual and hardcore fans alike use the term in a negative sense. Defining someone who did not capitalize on their hype. Maybe a fighter who couldn’t make the most of their amazing talent. A fighter who reached the top of the sport only to flame out quickly. To refer to these fighters as “failures” or “busts” is doing the fighters and the sport a disservice. For starters boxing is a brutal sport. It takes years away from your life. Any person willing to choose this life deserves respect and admiration.
“Showtime” Shawn Porter vs. Adrian Granados Highlights Stacked Undercard for Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz Event On Saturday, Nov. 4 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Presented by Premier Boxing Champions
Undefeated Contender Sergey Lipinets Faces Akihiro Kondo for Vacant IBF Junior Welterweight World Title in Opening Bout of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® Tripleheader Live on SHOWTIME® at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT – Plus, Heavyweights Bermane Stiverne and Dominic Breazeale to Meet in 10-Round Attraction Streaming Live Online via SHOWTIME Sports®
Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez is not the only fight that needs a rematch. Featherweights Carl Frampton and Leo Santa Cruz, who are currently all tied up at 1-1, also need to fight again – in a rubber-match that could be as thrilling as it would be evenly fought.
Seemingly a long time ago now, and immediately after scoring an impressive 5th round stoppage win over former champ Lucian Bute, unbeaten light-heavyweight contender Eleider Alvarez called for his earned shot at reigning WBC 175 pound champ Adonis Stevenson. Alvarez, 23-0(11) has fought once since, when he won a close decision over another former champ in Jean Pascal in June, but he has wanted to fight Stevenson, 29-1(24) so, so bad.
Canadian power-puncher David Lemieux recently put out a tweet, in which he declared how his “tools are sharpening up and [ I am] ready to destroy soon.” It’s exciting that the former IBF middleweight champ, arguably the single hardest puncher in the sport today, pound-for-pound, is set to be back in action – even if we don’t yet know for certain who he will be facing on December 2.
WBC Champion Mairis Briedis (90,1 kg) (22-0, 18 KOs) and Mike Perez (22-2-1, 14 KOs) (89,5 kg) are ready for Saturday’s Ali Trophy quarter-final at the Arena Riga, Latvia. “I can’t wait for tomorrow,” said Briedis, the WBC champion who was supported by a loud crowd of Latvian countrymen at Friday’s weigh-in Riga.
“Every fighter in this to tournament deserves to be here. I am not an odds maker, so I don’t do predictions. I can only promise that I will do my best to win in front of a sold-out arena and make my countrymen proud!”