Lucian Bute is Fully Fit and Returning on Saturday Night in Canada

Former IBF 168 lb champion Lucian Bute will return to the ring on Saturday night after 19 months out of action through injury to face little known Italian fighter Andrea Di Luisa over 10 rounds in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

The last time we saw Bute in a ring was January of 2014 when he dropped a wide decision to another Canadian based fighter in Jean Pascal, and a mooted December 2014 return was also dropped when he suffered a back injury in training – yet with all those problems firmly behind him, the now 35 year old Bute has insisted he is in confident mood ahead of his return.

Speaking at yesterday’s final presser, he said;

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Andy Lee/Billy Joe Saunders Postponed Until October 10th / Moved to Manchester

WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee’s defence of his title against Hatfield’s Billy Joe Saunders, that was scheduled for Thomond Park, Limerick, Ireland has been postponed until October 10th and moved to the M.E.N Arena in Manchester, England.

In a joint statement last night from co-promoters Frank Warren and Adam Booth, it was claimed the Irishman is suffering from a virus that means the September date was potentially in jeopardy;

“Andy’s had a virus and he’s recovering from it, or he’s about recovered from it, according to Adam Booth, who’s contacted me.,” Warren said.

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Weights: Tarver 217 vs. Cunningham 204, Huck 199 vs. Glowacki 198

With just two days to go until their Premier Boxing Champions on Spike showdowns, fighters participating on the Friday, August 14 card at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey held a press conference Wednesday at B.B. King’s Blues Club & Grill in Manhattan.

Televised coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET/PT and is headlined by a 12-round heavyweight showdown between Antonio “Magic Man” Tarver (31-6, 22 KOs) and Steve “U.S.S.” Cunningham (28-7, 13 KOs). Also featured on Spike is cruiserweight world champion Marco “Captain” Huck (38-2-1, 26 KOs) defending his title against Polish contender Krzyzstof Glowacki (24-0, 15 KOs) and Polish heavyweight Artur Szpilka (19-1, 14 KOs) taking on Cuba’s Yasmany Consuegra (17-1, 14 KOs).

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Golovkin-Lemieux breaks pre-sale records at MSG, over 6,000 tickets sold

New York City (August 12, 2015) A new Madison Square Garden box office record has been set by the highly anticipated World Middleweight Championship Title Unification between WBA/IBO and “Interim” WBC Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (33-0, 30KO’s), and IBF Champion DAVID LEMIEUX (34-2, 31KO’s) headlining the historic venue on Saturday, October 17.

A pre-sale of over 6,000 tickets established a new record at the “Mecca of Boxing”, shattering all previous marks for boxing events.

“The interest from fans in this middleweight title unification has been overwhelming,” said Tom Loeffler, Managing Director of K2 Promotions. “Madison Square Garden has never had a faster pre-sale for a boxing event. “

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Roman Gonzalez/Brian Viloria a Done Deal for Golovkin/Lemieux PPV

After a fair bit of rumour, speculation and conjecture surrounding who would be in the opposite corner for the second HBO appearance of Nicaraguan flyweight sensation Roman Gonzalez, it has been confirmed that Hawaii’s Brian Viloria will indeed be the man challenging the P4P star on October 17th in New York on the Golovkin/Lemieux undercard.

Excitement is building for the fight, that many are hoping will see the 34 year old “Hawaiian Punch” – a former champ at light-fly and unified champ at flyweight – provide Gonzalez with his toughest test to date.

Clearly in confident mood, Gonzalez said of the fight;

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Martin Murray Added to Matchroom Leeds Show

St Helen’s Martin Murray has been pretty active since moving to 168 lbs and signing for Matchroom Sport earlier this year, with two outings against low-tier opposition in the last seven weeks already, yet the 3x world title challenger has now also been added to the September 5th show in Leeds, UK to fill the void left by Gavin McDonnell.

McDonnell will instead head out to the US to be with twin brother Jamie ahead of his WBA (reg) bantamweight world title defence against Japan’s Tomoki Kameda, and promoter Eddie Hearn has confirmed he will have Murray included in a title fight on the bill.

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Sullivan Barrera: “I Want a Jean Pascal Fight”

Unbeaten Cuban light heavyweight prospect Sullivan Barrera (16-0, 11ko) , who fans last saw on the under card of Sergey Kovalev’s destruction of Nadjib Mohammedi last month, has publicly called out Canadian former world champion Jean Pascal.

Pascal boxed Barrera’s friend and fellow Cuban Yunieski Gonzalez on the same card in an all action thriller that saw the Haitian born fighter get the nod in a controversial decision – something former amatuer standout Barrera hasn’t taken kindly to – and he sees it as his duty to right the wrong as it were.

Speaking to ESPN.com, he said;

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Rhonda, Now You’ve Gone Too Far

Rhonda Rousey has proven to be one of the most exciting personalities in sports. She has a sharp mind and proves to be a good person to interview. She never backs away from tough questions, and never backs done when challenged. So far she has been perfect in the sport of caged fighting. The most impressive part of her undefeated record is how quickly she dispatches her foes. Her opponents know she’s famous for a particular “arm bar” type submission hold. But, knowing that and preventing it from happening are two different things.

However, to believe she could actually beat someone like Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is amusing. The suggestion comes with the caveat that it be a no rules brawl. Rousey attempts to convince her fans and others that Floyd would be at a big disadvantage in such a contest. A “no rules” contest would lesson or eliminate Floyd’s superior boxing skills.

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Dereck Chisora: “I Have a Choice of 3 Opponents – Teper, Jennings or Browne”

An interesting tweet appeared on former world title challenger Dereck Chisora’s (21-5, 14ko) twitter account this afternoon, embedded with a short video discussing his immediate future options, that according to the Finchley fighter are European heavyweight champion Erkan Teper, American world title challenger Bryant Jennings, or Australian heavyweight contender Lucas Browne.

Chisora, who blasted out Beka Lobjanidze with the first serious punch of their fight last month in London, said in the clip;

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Anthony Joshua Sizes Up the Competition: Klitschko, Wilder & Fury

Matchroom Sport have a lot invested in Britain’s London 2012 Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua (13-0, 13ko). The Watford born fighter has been embarking on the familiar career arc taken by nearly all young prospects, steadily increasing his level of opposition as the world waits to find out if he is indeed the real deal.

Joshua boxes Scotland’s Gary Cornish on September 12th in a fight many are viewing already as a foregone conclusion, including it would seem, Sky Sports, who have an exclusive broadcasting deal with Joshua’s promoters at Matchroom and have today published AJ’s assessment of the rival heavyweight big guns, including Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder and, ahead of their fight, Cornish himself.

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