By Bill Phanco: Undefeated heavyweight contender Robert Helenius (18-0, 11 KO’s) will be fighting this Saturday night in a scheduled 10 round bout against Britain’s Michael Sprott (37-19, 17 KO’s) in Helenius’ second fight of his comeback from a serious injury when they meet on the undercard of the Arthur Abraham vs. Robert Stieglitz 2 fight at the GETEC Arena in Magdeburg, Germany.
Haye to fight on July 6th in UK; Povetkin, Helenius and Banks possibilities
By Jeff Sorby: Former WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (26-2, 24 KO’s) has decided to go the mandatory route to get a title shot against one of the Klitschko brothers after meeting with his trainer/manager Adam Booth to decide which way to go in his career. Haye plans on fighting next on July 6th at a still to be determined venue in the UK against possibly Alexander Povetkin, Robert Helenius or Johnathon Banks.
Haye, 32, had tried to circumvent going the mandatory challenger route by calling out the Klitschkos to try and entice them into a fight by letting them know how much money they would get for fighting him. However, Wladimir Klitschko already beat Haye two years ago by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision, and he’s not interested in the least to fight him again.
WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko seems to be debating whether to continue his boxing career, and he too isn’t interested in facing Haye. The guy for Haye to target obviously is Wladimir because he does plan on continuing to fight, but Haye will have to lock himself down as his mandatory challenger before Wladimir will be forced to either fight him or give up his title by vacating it or having it stripped from him.
Amir Khan at the end of the line in 140 lb. tourney
By Michael Collims: Former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (27-3, 19 KO’s) only has to win one fight against Julio Diaz (40-7-1, 29 KO’s) next month on April 27th to find himself waiting for the winner of the four-fighter 140 pound tournament put together by Golden Boy Promotions.
Khan, 26, will face the winner of a set of matches in November involving WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (25-0, 16 KO’s) facing Zab Judah (42-7, 29 KO’s) on April 27th at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York, USA, and Lucas Matthysse (33-2, 31 KO’s) vs. IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson (31-1-1, 16 KO’s) on May 18th at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA.
The winner of the Judah-Garcia & Peterson-Matthysse will face each other in a fight that could take place in the summer. The winner of that fight will then face Khan in November. In other words, Khan only has to fight one each opponent in non-top 15 ranked welterweight Julio Diaz, whereas the fighter that meets him in the finals will have to have gone through two tough fights to get to Khan.
Is Timothy Bradley as good as we thought he was?
by Robert Jackson – The title of this article has got to be the question that everyone is asking around the water cooler today. Bradley went ‘tooth and nail’ against a fighter who everyone expected him to easily outbox, at times almost getting KO’d. The Russian,…Provodnikov with limited boxing skills, had never in his 6 year career faced an opponent of Bradley’s stature and was chosen as a walkover/tuneup for Bradley who’s looking for more lucrative fights. Having fought most of his career as a Jr welterweight Provodnikov stepped up to the 147lb class to face WBO champion Bradley.
If you were to look at Provodnikov’s boxing resume there are no elite fighters to speak of prior to facing Bradley, expecting most – prior to the fight to disbelieve him able to put the beating on Bradley that he did Saturday nite.
HBO parts with Golden Boy Promotions
By Rob Smith: HBO Boxing will reportedly no longer be purchasing fights from Golden Boy Promotions, according to Yahoo Sports News. In the immediate future, this will mainly have an effect on Golden Boy fighters WBC lightweight champion Adrien Broner and IBF light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins, as they were two of the remaining Golden Boy fighters that will still having their fights televised on HBO.
Emmanuel Tagoe returns against Pontillas in Accra April 20
By Prince Dornu-Leiku – World title chasing Emmanuel Tagoe AKA Game Boy makes a return to the ring on April 20 when he fights Filipino, Ronald Pontillas in Accra for the vacant WBO Africa Junior Lightweight (a title Tagoe once held) and vacant WBA International Junior Lightweight belts live on Supersport.
The flamboyant Ghanaian showman will be fighting for the first time under the wing of BabyJet Promotions since signing a 3-year management and promotional deal with the syndicate owned by Ghana national soccer team captain, Asamoah Gyan.
BabyJet Promotions have already outlined comprehensive plans to get Tagoe (20-1, 8 KOs) to world championship glory next year and the fight against 23 year old Pontillas from Philippines is the first of many intended to keep the Ghanaian in shape and improving.
“I was Concussed” – Bradley wins brutal affair over Provodnikov
The first thing HBO’s Max Kellerman asked Timothy Bradley to comment about was what he … read more
Joshua Clottey backs Agbeko to beat Melendez
By Prince Dornu-Leiku — Former IBF Welterweight champion, Joshua Clottey is confident compatriot Joseph King Kong Agbeko will overcome eColombia’s Luis Mendelez to win the IBO Bantamweight title when they clash in Accra on March 24.
Clottey was present at the Bridge Boxing Gym in the Ghanaian capital on Thursday when Agbeko held an open training session beamed live to the world by Ghana’s leading sports television station, Metro TV. And Clottey who was even made to mockingly interview Agbeko live on TV, believes King Kong is primed for victory.
“At this stage with just a week to the fight, he doesn’t need to train so hard but just focus on his speed. I think with what I’ve seen here today, Agbeko is in good shape and will go for the win. I’m sure he will win by a knockout, even if he doesn’t knock him out then he will win by a wide margin,” Joshua Clottey said at the event.
Menay Edwards Prepares for Latvian invasion
Menay “the emperor” Edwards fresh from a shut out win over former British Champion Shane McPhilbin takes on his toughest test to date on April 5th in the Goodwin Promotions promoted “Its Banjo time” show at Grays Essex when he takes on World ranked number 77 (Boxrec) Arturs Kulikauskis (9-15-3).
Timothy Bradley, Ruslan Provodnikov Give Us The FOTY So Far!
By James Slater: Bradley’s 12-Round UD over Provodnikov thrills the fans! Where to start with … read more