Matty Askin, 17-2 (10KO’s), is in confident mood ahead of his British and Commonwealth cruiserweight title shot against Ovill McKenzie, 23-12 (12KO’s), on 14th March.
The 26-year-old will top the bill on a lively Frank Warren promoted show in Widnes, including former World champion Enzo Maccarinelli and the exciting Ryan Farrag among others.
Speaking to FKSports, Askin confirmed everything was on track ahead of the biggest fight of his career.
Scott Quigg is set to return reiterating once more that he is willing to fight Carl Frampton anywhere to get the fight on everyone’s lips made.
The reigning WBA super-bantamweight champion recently required surgery on a hand injury sustained in the 9th round of his title defence against Hidenori Otake in November.
The procedure was a success and two weeks out from being allowed to uncork his right hand again, Quigg, 30-0-2 (22KO’s), has told FKSports he is gunning for IBF champion Frampton, 19-0 (13KO’s).
Heavyweight contender Tyson Fury is a polarising character indeed. Fond of antagonistic commentary leading up to, during, and after a fight, not to mention being partial to a bit of abusive chat on Twitter or Facebook, the 6’9’’ giant from Manchester isn’t at all bothered about upsetting fans or fellow boxers in the slightest. To many this makes him an entertaining and colourful character, bringing an element of theatre to the “big-man” division, which has been longing for such a shot of adrenaline in many people’s eyes. To others, he comes across as arrogant and unruly, rude and obnoxious, with little or no respect for his opponents or for the sport in general.
It was a whirlwind 48 hours, not with Eddie Murphy but with Mexico’s greatest fighter ever, the incomparable Julio Cesar Chavez at his homeland in Culiacan, a city in northwestern Mexico. Julio is an all time great, a master in the ring, a hall of famer, a true legend in boxing and, most importantly, a hero to his people in Mexico.
Julio Cesar Chavez was being honored by the Culiacan people with a huge, 11½ ft. raised statue of him placed in one of the city’s most visited areas. Celebrities and thousands of fans joined the festivities and we were there.
Today marks the 25th anniversary of the biggest upset in boxing history, and quite possibly the entire history of sports. Twenty-three year old “Iron” Mike came into the fight with an incredible record of 37-0, with all but four bouts ending by way of knockout – most in the early rounds. Along the way, Tyson had picked up the WBA, WBC and IBF heavyweight titles, making him the undisputed heavyweight champ and one of (if not the most) feared boxers in the history of the sport. His opponent James “Buster” Douglas came into the fight at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan with a 29-4-1 record, and had been knocked out three times in prior bouts.
After half a decade of strained negotiations, social media sparring, racial slurs and break-ups over drug testing protocols, it appears that boxing’s two most prized assets may finally be prepared to trade in their intolerable courting for a one-night, dysfunctional marriage of fistic brilliance. Notice the choice of the modal verb ‘may’; quite simply, the certainty of a ‘will’ or a ‘must’ has seemed and still seems a tad fanciful in the context of a Floyd Mayweather – Manny Pacquiao landmark bout.
Why the renewed optimism for the premiere bout being launched then? Well, coming into 2015, widely acknowledged pound for pound kingpin, Mayweather, is entering the final year of his lucrative contract with US television network Showtime which guarantees him two further fights this year. With the ripened age of 38 less than a month away, Mayweather has admitted for some time that 2015 will be his last rodeo; one in which he hopes to deliver a brazen exclamation mark to his protestation that he is the greatest fighter of all-time. With his perennial rival Pacquiao, battle hardened at 36 and with a myriad of bruising encounters lining his recent history (not least a knock out loss at the hands of Welterweight Juan Manuel Marquez in 2013), then the marketability and plausibility of the mega-fight are all reaching an apex at this juncture. With this in mind, the projected date of May 2nd, or never, is the forecast for the fight amongst the boxing intelligentsia.
If Paul Smith can become the WBO world champion in his fight against Arthur Abraham he is promised a huge fight. Who that would be is unsure but Eddie Hearn has tossed around names such as James DeGale, George Groves or Carl Froch even. Whether any of these type of fights will come off remains to be seen but first of all Smith has to pull the Abraham victory out of the bag.
In the first fight I had Smith losing to Abraham but the scores must have been closer than the ones the judges has on the night. 111-117 twice and 109-119, were the final scores and the moment they were announced there was outrage amongst the Smith fans.
In an interview with IFL TV Eddie Hearn again referenced his plans to set up a big money and exposure fight for IBF welterweight champ Kell Brook in the summer of 2015.
Eddie Hearn now has said that Juan Manuel Marquez is the number one fight that they want, as Marquez is the biggest name out there available for Brook. Whilst they understand that Mayweather and Pacquiao are a bit out of their reach currently, everyone else is on the hit list and the first now on that list is Marquez.
Anthony Joshua is back in the gym in training for his April fight. Joshua took a little time off from his busy fight schedule after discovering a stress fracture in his back.
Now Joshua is back in the gym sparring, training and getting prepared for his bout on April 4th. After that he is expected to take part in the Kevin Johnson fight, therefore the TBE opponent we will see him fight next likely wont be a dangerous puncher or someone capable of upsetting Joshua as that would spoil the Johnson fight and end the Joshua express.
Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn has made the announcement that 90% of the terms are agreed regarding the proposed fight between Omar Figueroa and Ricky Burns.
Hearn made the point to announce that the largest remaining issue was with weight as he initially believed the bout would be contested at a catch weight of 138 pounds, however now Figueroas people are now saying the fight will happen at the full super lightweight limit of 140lbs. Burns may not be fully comfortable at 140 and we know Figueroa isn’t happen with 135 so with this issue the negotions are ongoing, however we hope they get settled as this is a fantastic matchup.