Buglioni had been due to face domestic rival Lee Markham in an immediate rematch of their FOTY candidate just 6 weeks ago, however, in something of a promotional master stroke, Warren has managed to maneuver Buglioni into position for a hometown challenge against the Russian, who himself won the belt in May when he shocked the seasoned Felix Sturm over a 12 round SD. It was just Chudinov’s 13th outing as a professional.
I was off the grid at the weekend so had to catch up on all the action that I had missed on Monday, including Deontay Wilder’s hometown 1st defence of his WBC heavyweight title against Texan, Eric Molina.
And boy, words failed me as those 9 rounds unfolded. Who expected it to last that long?
The dust has settled on the fight and as far as I can see, a few things are pretty apparent. And they are sentiments shared by a majority of the boxing press.
After he upset Anthony Dirrell to take the WBC 168 lb strap out in Chicago recently, it was clear Sweden’s Money Team member and new champion Badou Jack would be facing mandatory challenger George Groves (who had stepped aside to allow Jack to face Dirrell) in his very next outing.
When Groves’ promoter Sauerland Event announced that a deal had been reached between concerned parties faster than expected back in May, it became apparent that the Brit would be traveling Stateside, though an exact date and venue are still to be confirmed.
This Saturday on June 20th, #4 IBF David Lemieux (33-2, 31 KOs) will be fighting for a world title for the first time in his eight year pro career against #1 IBF Hassan N’Dam (31-1, 18 KOs) for the vacant IBF middleweight title at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The Lemieux vs. N’Dam fight will be televised on Fox Sports 2 and Fox Deportes.
Lemieux’s management has slowly been bringing him back since his losses to Marco Antonio Rubio and Joachim Alcine in 2011. Lemieux has since won his last eight fights against weak B and C level opposition. He hasn’t really been tested until now. N’Dam isn’t quite A-level in terms of talent, but he’s a good B level guy with excellent hand speed, and good mobility.
Andre Ward (27-0, 14 KOs) will be making his long awaited ring return on Saturday in a catch-weight fight at 172 pounds against Paul Smith (35-5, 20 KOs) in Ward’s hometown in Oakland, California from the Oracle Arena. While some boxing fans think the 32-year-old Smith is unworthy of facing Ward, it’s not really a big deal.
Ward’s WBA super middleweight title won’t be on the line because of the fight taking place at a catch-weight of 172 in the light heavyweight division. Smith is coming into the fight for the payday, and of course with the hope that he can somehow pull off a big upset against the rusty Ward.
Former IBF 147 pound champion Shawn Porter (25-1-1, 16 KOs) will be fighting at a catch-weight of 144 pounds this Saturday night against former three division world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner (30-1, 22 KOs) on Premier Boxing Champions on NBC at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Porter’s fighting style is the type that the 25-year-old Broner has struggled with in the past in his 2013 loss to Marcos Maidana.
Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions believes that Porter has a very good chance of winning on Saturday, even with him having to drain down to 144 to make the catch-weight. Loeffler likes Porter’s skills, and he sees him coming out on top in this interesting match-up.
Boxing fans are going to have to wait a little awhile before WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) defends his WBC title against his mandatory challenger Alexander Povetkin. Wilder’s trainer Jay Deas says the Wilder-Povetkin fight likely won’t take place until 2016. He says it takes a lot of time to negotiate big fights against fighters like Povetkin and Tyson Fury.
In the meantime, Wilder will be looking to fight against in three months on September 26th against the likes of Tony Thompson or Chris Arreola. It’s a voluntary defense for Wilder so he’s not going to be fighting a top five contender like Anthony Joshua, Vyacheslav Glazkov or Bryant Jennings.
Undefeated superstar Danny “Swift” Garcia (30-0, 17 KOs) will take on Brooklyn’s own Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi (33-6, 7 KOs) at Barclays Center as Premier Boxing Champions will be live in primetime on ESPN on Saturday, August 1 with coverage beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
“It’s going to be a great fight against Paulie on August 1st,” said Garcia. “I’m looking forward to getting in the ring again, in my fifth appearance at Barclays Center, and putting on a great show for the East Coast fans in attendance and the fans watching all over the world. By the end of the night, I will still be the undefeated Danny ‘Swift’ Garcia. To all of the fans that love me, I love you too. This is for you.”
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum recently said this past week that if he can’t get a rematch between his fighter Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. next year, Arum will look to match Pacquiao up against Terence Crawford, the WBO light welterweight title holder. Arum promotes both fighters, so it would be an in house fight for him and easy to make.
While some fans think Crawford would be a dangerous opponent for the 36-year-old Pacquiao, former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. believes Pacquiao would have no problems beating the slender Crawford. Chavez Jr. thinks Pacquiao would KO Crawford.
British heavyweight David Price (19-2, 16 KOs) may have failed in the past in a pair of losses to Tony Thompson, but he feels he’s more than good enough right now to take the strap off WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (34-0, 33 KOs) if the two of them meet up in the near future. Price, 6’8” had the chance to see Wilder’s fight last night against Eric Molina (23-3, 17 KOs), and Price didn’t see too much in Wilder’s performance that impressed him.