A new article courtesy of GQ Magazine, taken as it is from a new book by gifted writer Elliot Worsell, professes to list “The five most devastating knockouts in boxing history.” Though the clearly well thought out list is a good one, such a top-5 is, and can only be, subjective; down to opinion.
You don’t say! “Money” is having money problems? Mayweather asks IRS for time to pay his taxes
If superstar/moneybags Floyd Mayweather Junior ever runs the risk, or is currently running the risk, of going broke, then what chance have we mere mortals got! Fans may have read the recent story that informs us how the 40 year old great, who has earned an estimated $700 million during his boxing career – $220 million alone from the 2015 Manny Pacquiao “Fight of The Century” – has asked the IRS for time to pay his 2015 tax bill until after he picks up the expected payday bonanza he will get from his August “Super Fight” with MMA’s Conor McGregor.
No Andre Ward-Adonis Stevenson unification next; Stevenson “headed for an Eleider Alvarez fight early in the fall”
Though fight fans would very much like to see a light-heavyweight unification showdown between Andre Ward, recent KO winner over Sergey Kovalev, and Adonis Stevenson, the WBC king, it doesn’t look like happening. Not this year anyway.
Yvon Michel, Stevenson’s promoter, told Radio Canada that Ward “never rushes his decisions,” and that after his win over Kovalev, he “spoke of the possibility of going to cruiserweight or heavyweight.”
Controversial referee Marlon B. Wright passes away
In sad news from Canada, top referee Marlon B. Wright died on Friday (July 7), having lost his battle with skin cancer. Wright, born in Jamaica but relocating to Montreal, Canada at a young age, was just 51 years old.
Over his refereeing career, Wright worked a number of big fights, including bouts featuring world champions such as Lucian Bute, Gennady Golovkin, David Lemieux and Kell Brook. Tributes from fighters like Bute, Lemieux and light-heavyweight champ Adonis Stevenson have been coming in.
Results: Lebedev defeats Flanagan
WBA cruiserweight title holder Denis Lebedev (30-2, 22 KOs) got back on the winning track tonight in beating Australian Mark Flanagan (22-4, 15 Kos) in defeating him by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision on Sunday night in front of a big crowd at the DIVS in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
Josh Taylor halts Ohara Davies in bad-blood battle, retains Commonwealth 140 pound title
In a genuine bad blood match-up that had been preceded by plenty of trash-talk and a near brawl at the weigh-in, unbeaten 140 pounders Josh Taylor and Ohara Davies engaged in a battle that lived up to the hype last night.
Taylor, 9-0 going in, proved too tough, too clever and too good for Davies, 15-0 going in. The fight in Glasgow, Taylor’s home town, was eventful though. Southpaw Taylor, seen by many as a definite world champion of the future, decked the cocky, arrogant Davies in the 3rd, and it looked for a time as though the fight would end quickly.
Daniel Dubois wins his first pro title with fourth win, Hughie Fury eases through exhibition tune-up
Last night on Frank Warren’s show at The Copperbox in London, red-hot heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois advanced to 4-0 as a pro with a ludicrously easy second round stoppage of late replacement foe Mauricio Barragan of Uruguay.
Dubois, still only 19 years old, flattened Barragan in the 2nd with a body shot, halting the much smaller man at the 1:41 mark of round two. Dubois picked up the WBC heavyweight Youth title with the predictable win.
World Boxing Super Series seedings
Cruiserweight:
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Marco Huck
Murat Gassiev vs. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk
Mairis Briedis vs. Mike Perez
Yunier Dorticos vs. Dmitry Kudryashov
Super Middleweight:
George Groves vs. Jamie Cox
Callum Smith vs. Erik Skoglund
Eubank/Abraham winner vs. Avni Yildirim
Juergen Braehmer vs. Rob Brant
Where are they now? Q and A with Darren” Checkmate” Maciunski
By: Lou McLaughlin – Darren” Checkmate” Maciunski was a former top level super welterweight contender in the 1990’s. He fought from 1992 through 2002. Interestingly, he got his fighting nickname “Checkmate” from having been an avid chess player as a young teenager and compares boxing to a chess match. He finished his career on a win against Leo Edwards and a record of 20 -8 in 2003. His record does not adequately describe his career. He had 40 amateur bouts before turning pro and fought many of the major names of that era including Kevin Kelly and Fernando Vargas. He had wins over vastly more experienced boxing luminaries veterans Meldrick Taylor then 34-3- 1 and James McGirt 73-4-1. He fought on major televised networks including HBO, USA’s Tuesday Night Fights, and ESPN. His career took him to Australia, Denmark, and Italy.
Under-card shaping up for Mayweather-McGregor, Gervonta Davis confirms he will defend his IBF title on the bill
There are plenty of fans who are critical of the upcoming, fast-approaching Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor “Super Fight;” with plenty of these same fans declaring how they will boycott the August event buy not paying for it. Fair enough, if the crossover bout is not your thing, but will a good number of fans find themselves getting pulled in by a stellar under-card?