(Photo Credit: Louis Tinsley – Tom Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions) WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 3, 2016) – Fighters featured on the March 5 HBO Boxing After Dark telecast shared their final thoughts ahead of Saturday’s fights at the final press conference today in Washington, D.C. WBA Interim Heavyweight Champion Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz (24-0, 21 KOs) was joined by Tony “The Tiger” Thompson (40-6, 27 KOs) ahead of their clash in the main event on the HBO Boxing After Dark telecast on Saturday.
Muhammad Ali postpones trip to UK until the summer, wants to meet the Queen in his final visit
Heavyweight legend Muhammad Ali had hoped to be in the UK today, to officially open the “I am the Greatest” exhibition honoring his life and career at The O2. But, as reported by The Mirror, the 74-year-old icon was told by doctors that he needed to build up his strength for the long flight from the U.S. Reportedly, Ali, who has been bravely battling Parkinson’s since being diagnosed in 1984 (but many of Ali’s fans believe the great man was actually suffering from the disease a fair bit sooner than then; perhaps as early as the late 1970s, when he was of course still fighting at the highest level) will get his fitness levels up as high as is possible for a man who has Parkinson’s, and the plan is for “The Greatest” to then visit the UK, and the exhibition, in the summer.
Tyson Fury’s promoter Mick Hennessey on the next fight: “100-percent, it’s Wladimir in the rematch”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STEArRmWHxc
Tyson Fury’s promoter seems to know more than his fighters does! Just this past Saturday, when speaking with Sky Sports, the heavyweight champion said he had “no idea” who, when or where he was fighting next. But today, in speaking with Sky Sports himself, Fury’s promoter, Mick Hennessey, confirmed it will be Klitschko next for Fury, in the contracted rematch.
With the WBA ordering Frampton to defend against Rigondeaux next, “Rigo” asks the new WBA/IBF champ, “Are you a coward?”
Yesterday, BBC Sport reported how the WBA have ordered Carl Frampton to fight Guillermo Rigondeaux by July 27th or face being stripped. As fans know, unbeaten Irishman Frampton added the WBA title to his IBF 122-pound belt with a points win over Scott Quigg this past Saturday. Back in late 2015, Rigondeaux, also unbeaten, was stripped of the WBA (and the WBO) title for inactivity and Quigg, the interim WBA champ, was elevated to full champion.
Lucas Browne – Ruslan Chagaev on Saturday
LUCAS BROWNE: “I HAVE 24 MILLION AUSSIES BEHIND ME”
LUCAS BROWNE believes he’ll have a whole nation supporting him when he steps into the ring to face WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev in Grozny on Saturday night (March 5).
While there will be few Australians to cheer him on in the arena this weekend, Browne feels everyone in his homeland will be turning on their TV sets and hoping for him to make history.
Stacey Reile declared GFBG featherweight champion
Stacey “Stay Lo” Reile holds the distinction of winning the first International Boxing Federation (IBF) female featherweight title. Reile is now also the first female featherweight champion of another sanctioning body: the newly formed Global Female Boxing Guild (GFBG). The sanctioning body is solely for women’s boxing and does not sanction title fights for men. Reile was recently presented the GFBG featherweight championship belt at a ceremony in Miami Beach, Florida. When Reile obtained the IBF female featherweight title in 2011, it was after she won a boxing match against Dahiana Santana. This is different from how she obtained the GFBG featherweight title because she did not have to fight anyone to receive it.
Canelo-Khan quotes from LA
LOS ANGELES (March 2, 2016) – WBC, Ring Magazine and Lineal Middleweight World Champion Canelo Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs) and former two-time world champion and resurgent contender Amir “King” Khan (31-3, 19 KOs) made their final stop off their three-city international press tour in Los Angeles at the Universal CityWalk to discuss their upcoming May 7 showdown at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Canelo Alvarez: I’m not a middleweight
Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez wants to make a deal. Speaking today at the second stop in the three-city promotional tour to hype the upcoming May 7 Canelo-Amir Khan fight, Alvarez – as quoted by RingTV.com – made one thing clear: he is not a middleweight.
As fans everywhere know, the demand for Canelo, the lineal middleweight champion of the world, to fight Gennady Golovkin, the interim WBC and reigning IBF and WBA 160-pound king, is at a fever pitch right now. Everyone wants to see this fight get made, but Canelo said that both he and GGG will have to “feel comfortable” and that “the conditions have to be right.” before this super-fight can get done.
Ortiz-Thompson clash this Saturday will not be a title fight, WBA declined to sanction “stay-busy” fight
It probably won’t matter to the fans who plan to tune in to see the bout on Saturday night, but the fight between interim WBA heavyweight champ Luis Ortiz and short-notice challenger Tony Thompson will not be a sanctioned title fight. The WBA, as reported by ESPN.com, decided against sanctioning the contest, largely due to the fact that Thompson, though a good and experienced heavyweight, is not currently ranked in the WBA’s top-15 at the weight.
Chris Eubank-Nigel Benn III? Yes, it could actually happen
For those fans who always felt bitter middleweight/super-middleweight rivals Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank had unfinished business to attend to back in the 1990s, by way of a third fight, there could be good news. Benn, who retired with a 42-5-1(35) record in 1996 after back-to-back losses to Irishman Steve Collins, recently made noise that suggested the 52-year-old was genuinely interested in returning to the ring to face the monocle-wearing fighter that so managed to get under his skin back in the day.