Their rivalry has been simmering away for months now – and although for the time being at least , both men are pursuing different avenues – the war of words between Russian knockout artist Sergey Kovalev and lineal 175 lb champion Adonis Stevenson shows no sign of abating – with Kovalev coming up with a blunt alternative to his rival’s “Superman” moniker.
Adonis “Piece Of Sh**” Stevenson was his offering to ES news reporting.
Ohh-kay…..
Michael Gerard Tyson was born in Brooklyn, New York, on the 30th of June 1966. His upbringing came on the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville, the latter in particular a dangerous landscape littered with abandoned tenements. His single parent mother had children but no husband and little money. Tyson remembers her as a person incapable of much affection. At 12-years-old Tyson is carrying a gun, mixed up with drugs and violence, and running with the wrong crowd although – as he remembers – there was no other life available to people like him. Or so it seemed.
“Boxing is like any industry, it can sometimes be who you know. And sometimes it’s just more of a game of chance. So when opportunities for big fights come along you’ve got to take them.”
These were the words of an elated Ryan Farrag, 13-1 (2KO’s), shortly after he learned he is set to face former world title challenger Stephane Jamoye, 28-6 (16KO’s), for the vacant European bantamweight belt, which the Belgian has held on two occasions.
The debate on whether boxing is the premium combat sport over mixed martial arts is generally a hollow argument dressed in ignorance. After all, they are two vastly different fighting disciplines only linked by their mutually destructive aim of rendering an opponent unconscious. You are unlikely to wage an impassioned discussion of the respective merits of Rugby versus American football, so why afford the column inches to the tedious boxing – UFC dispute?
Undefeated Welterweight World Champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (25-0, 21 KOs) is ready for his July 11 Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on ESPN fight, the first PBC fight on ESPN. Thurman will meet former world champion Luis Collazo (33-6, 19 KOs) on ESPN at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT live from the USF Sun Dome in Tampa.
The 26-year-old Thurman, who kicked off the inaugural PBC card with a unanimous decision victory over Robert Guerrero, believes he is the best 147-pound boxer in the world.
“I am an evolutionary boxer,” Thurman said. “I change and grow with every camp, every fight, I am here to retain my title and become the undisputed, true welterweight champ.”
After much media speculation over his public indecision and desire to stage a return to the ring at the age of 42, former 6 weight world champ and modern great Oscar De La Hoya has finally decided to officially rule out the idea, releasing a statement via his official Facebook account that should finally put paid to any further gossip in relation to any potential in-ring resurrection.
The “Golden Boy”, who now enjoys his position as CEO of his eponymous promotional company, said;
“Over the last 6 months I’ve had a front row seat as Golden Boy fighters including Canelo Alvarez, Bernard Hopkins, Lucas Matthysse, Jorge Linares and David Lemieux have stepped into the ring and shown what boxing should all be about – a commitment to fight the best, respect the sport and put the fans first.”
The circus that surrounds Floyd Mayweather’s potential opponent for his ‘final’ fight in September has been arguably led by one ‘ringmaster’ – a man who calls himself ‘King’, yet acts more like a Jester in terms of his very public chasing of the lucrative opportunity many – fighters and fans alike – consider him undeserving of.
I am of course talking about Britain’s Amir Khan, who in his ever desperate and public quest to get Floyd between the ropes, has told Ringcast.net that the future Hall of Fame Inductee is “messing his own legacy up” by ostensibly refusing to fight him on September 12th and opting for a ‘softer’ option.
Preston B. (San Francisco, CA): Timothy Bradley has proven time and time again that he’s the best welterweight in the world. I don’t think he gets the respect he deserves and I never understood that. He knows how to win. How did you rate his performance and his talent in general?
Vivek W. (ESB): Timothy Bradley is tough topic to tackle for me at times. I often think back to his fight across the pond against Junior Witter. I had seen him before and studied a few notes on him, but after that performance I became a very big fan. The heart he displayed that night in an effort thousands of miles away in another man’s land was as good as it gets. Where my personal trouble comes with Bradley is his inability to be consistent with those type of performances. We saw him look great against arguably the best Mexican warrior and future Hall of Famer of this era (Marquez); we’ve seen him look awful against the likes of Provodnikov.
The soon-to-go-to purse bids clash between long reigning lineal heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and mandatory challenger Tyson Fury, is set to be one of the biggest heavyweight clashes involving a British fighter since David Haye’s own ill-fated Wladimir challenge and trip to Hamburg 4 years ago – which resulted in the now infamous and oft ridiculed “Toe-Gate” saga in which Haye displayed his injured little toe to the world as “evidence” of his poor performance immediately after the fight.
The fact of the matter remains that like so many before him, Haye came up short against “Dr.Steelhammer” – yet ahead of Fury’s attempt at dethroning the younger Klitschko brother, he has seen fit to speak out and scotch the giant Mancunian’s chances – going so far in ‘The Sun’ as to suggest the fight won’t even take place – saying he’ll be “very surprised” to see Fury actually get in the ring to fight the Ukrainian champion.
On July 18th WBA (reg) 122 lb champion Scott Quigg goes into what will be a fight for comparative purposes when he takes on Spain’s Kiko Martinez in Manchester.
Bitter rival Carl Frampton boxed and beat Martinez twice – the first time in 2013 by 9th round stoppage and then again 18 months later by unanimous decision, to take the IBF 122 lb strap the Northern Irishman currently owns.
Negotiations for a fight between the two Brits recently broke down, with Frampton going on to sign with seemingly omnipotent ‘advisor’ Al Haymon – “The Jackal” is now set to face Alejandro Gonzalez Jr in Texas on the same July 18th date Quigg fights.