“This is my opinion of bringing Professional boxing to the Olympics.
Myself having been a past member of the USA Team, I dislike the idea and see nothing good coming of it. It will only put the dream of the `Ordinary boy and girl,` farther out of reach. As we can see with Pro basketball there is no Rags to Riches anymore, just the pick of the litter. The Amateur boxer is the life line of the Olympics.
Thank you. George Foreman
In what has to be looked at as a quite amazingly quick return to action for a world-ranked, indeed IBF mandatory heavyweight contender, New Zealand’s Joseph Parker will fight again in a couple of months. According to The New Zealand Herald, a Parker-Solomon Haumono fight was signed today, with Haumono due in Auckland later today for the official announcement of the July bout. In a day where most big-name heavyweights fight twice, maybe three times a year, Parker’s quick return – from his tough and demanding 12-round points win over Carlos Takam this past Saturday – shows how hungry the 24-year-old is.
David Haye will have to wait a substantial amount of time for that crack at IBF heavyweight ruler, says A.J promoter Eddie Hearn. Haye has made no secret of the fact that he wants a fight with the unbeaten star, convinced as he is about two things: the fight would be an enormous event in the UK (check) and he would be able to beat Joshua, by KO (debatable). But Hearn, in speaking with The Mirror, said Haye “is not on our radar,” and that the fight would not take place until the summer of next year at the earliest.
There was a time, as most fight fans probably remember, when the cruiserweight division – or junior heavyweight as the weight class was also known in its early days – was nothing much of interest to the average boxing fan. And to fighters themselves, the division was nothing more than a stopgap on the way to the glamour and big paydays of the heavyweight division. Not so today.
Saturday night the Charlo brothers and Erislandy Lara paraded their talents for all to see at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Chelsea Ballroom, Las Vegas, NV. Their fights begged for attention. After all, they were being displayed by Showtime as three of the best junior middleweights in boxing, and they were facing very tough opponents.
Jermell was first, and there were serious doubts about whether he was going to measure up. John “Dah Rock” Jackson, (20-3-0, 15KO) son of fearsome puncher Julian Jackson, surprised Jermell “Iron Man” Charlo (28-0-0, 12KO) by boxing instead of slugging.
With all due respect to the Dominic Breazeales and the David Hayes of the world, Anthony Joshua, the unbeaten holder of the IBF heavyweight belt, will engage in what could arguably be looked at as the first real test of his career, certainly his reign, when he faces the man who has just become his mandatory challenger, unbeaten New Zealand star Joseph Parker.
If David Haye’s objective was to impress his celebrity friends in attendance at London’s O2 Arena, then Saturday night’s fanfare complete with bright, flashing laser-lights and thumping loud sound systems would have been just the tonic. The only ingredient missing was a fight. In amongst the It crowd assembled at ringside, spare a thought for any genuine fight fans who had paid good money to watch this debacle. If Haye cares about retaining his boxing credibility then he needs to stop treating real fans of the sport with such disdain.
David Haye-Shannon Briggs, who wins? Go back a couple of months and no-one would have entertained such a question as anything other than a bad joke. Now? The impending collision is still nothing but a curiosity fight at best, a freak show at worst, but it cannot be denied how the two heavyweights with a combined 79 KO’s between them have created quite a buzz. Haye is still phenomenally popular, this despite the fact that he hasn’t fought a world-ranked foe since 2012. Briggs, since taking the George Foreman, keep-busy-against-low-level-opposition-and-get-the-fans-talking route back, has certainly attracted interest; with his mouth and with his fists.
WBO middleweight ruler Billy Joe Saunders has launched a scathing attack on Mexican star Saul Canelo Alvarez. As fans know, Alvarez recently vacated his WBC middleweight title rather than agree to fight Gennady Golovkin (at least he hasn’t agreed to face GGG yet). This has angered many fight fans, Mexican fight fans in particular of course, and Saunders, in speaking with boxingnews24, said Canelo should be ashamed of himself.
On a night Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara successfully defended his WBA Super Welterweight Championship with a hard-fought 12-round unanimous decision over Vanes “The Nightmare” Martirosyan, undefeated brothers Jermall and Jermell Charlo, of Houston, became the first twins in boxing history to hold world titles in the same weight class.
Jermall Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs) retained his IBF Junior Middleweight World Championship with a unanimous 12-round decision over former world champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (30-3, 17 KOs) of Las Cruces, N.M., in the second of three world title fights on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® from The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.