Usyk won the WBO Inter-Continental cruiser weight title and his 3rd place in the WBO rankings suggests a showdown with cruiser weight king Marco Huck (Muamer Hukić) in the near future. Tony Bellew and Krzytof Glowacki occupy the top two spots but getting past them should be a formality for Usyk.
Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York was treated to a historic sold out match-up between two of the most exciting gladiators in boxing as Lucas “La Maqina”” Matthysse (37-3, 34 KO’s) took a majority decision victory over “The Siberian Rocky” Ruslan Provodnikov (24-4, 17 KO’s) in a 12-round junior welterweight bout on the split-site doubleheader on HBO Boxing After Dark ®.
Presented by Banner Promotions and Golden Boy Promotions, the action packed night showcased two athletes fighting in the prime of their careers, with a title shot in the 140-pound division likely hanging in the horizon.
Confident and determined, Andrzej “The Polish Prince” Fonfara (27-3, 16 KOs) spoiled the ring return of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (48-2-1, 32 KOs) in resounding fashion Saturday night, flooring the former middleweight champion one time en route to a one-sided ninth-round TKO in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING live on SHOWTIME.
Fonfara, of Chicago by way of Radon, Poland, dropped Chavez, of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico, with a wide left hook 50 seconds into the ninth round before a boisterous crowd of 8,636 predominately-Chavez fans at StubHub Center. It was the first time in 52 professional fights that Chavez had hit the canvas from a punch.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s career took a major hit tonight with him getting stopped at the end of the 9th round by the big punching light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara (27-3, 16 KOs) in their fight at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Fighting at a catch-weight of 172 pounds, Chavez Jr. was shockingly dropped the 9th round by Fonfara. Chavez Jr. was really hurt to the extent that he wasn’t going to be able to recover after the round ended. In between rounds, Chavez Jr. quit on his stool instead of coming out for the 10th and taking more punishment.
Fonfara was deducted a point in the 7th for the use of his shoulder. It was kind of a petty foul to be called by the referee Jerry Cantu, but thankfully the point deduction didn’t have any effect on the result of the fight.
On Saturday, April 25, Madison Square Garden in New York will host a significant event that hasn’t been a part of the venue’s calendar for a few years now: a heavyweight world boxing championship fight.
Wladimir Klitschko (63-3-0) will defend his titles against undefeated Bryant Jennings (19-0-0).
For some boxing fans, an undefeated fighter has a higher stock value so to say. After all, when a fighter has never lost, they are a winner. That is until the competition gets harder, and their 0 becomes threatened.
After originally being scheduled to box Cuban Richar Abril in place of original challenger Anthony Crolla, Mathews and promoter Frank Warren have had a nightmare week getting a fight on after Abril pulled out of the contest for a SECOND time a week ago (the first in March) and late replacement Ismael Barroso of Venezuela suffered visa problems that meant he too had to withdraw.
The rumours that have been gathering pace for some time in Britain regarding a potential summer fight between Finchley’s Dereck Chisora (20-5, 13ko) (who, incidentally has dropped the ‘c’ from his first name on twitter!) and Liverpool’s David Price (19-2, 16ko) may need to be put to bed after a social media exchange this afternoon between Chisora himself and Price’s promoters Sauerland Event, appeared to kill any hope fans had of the fight being made.
The saga began with a brief tweet from Kalle and Nisse Sauerland, regarding the proposed June 6th return of Price to the UK, and a potential showdown with Chisora. It read;
Tonight in Liverpool, after what has been nothing short of an unfortunately farcical situation, hometown man “Dirty” Derry Mathews (37-9-2, 20ko) will step into the ring against Canadian late replacement and unknown quantity, Tony Luis (19-2, 7ko).
It’s a fight that has ended up being for the vacant WBA interim lightweight strap, and after the circus that promoter Frank Warren has had to endure to put it together, Derry is lucky really to be fighting anybody at all.
In a spectacular performance Crawford floored the undefeated former unified featherweight titleholder four times. At first the Cuban Olympic gold medalist appeared to be putting on a boxing clinic, however the Omaha fighter stayed calm, made adjustments, and completely turned the fight around in the 5th with a knockdown. His switch to southpaw, proved effective, and definitely demonstrated his ability to adapt.
There exists no happier man in Liverpool than exciting bantamweight prospect Ryan Farrag, 13-1 (2KO’s), who was recently announced as the mandatory challenger for the coveted British title held by Lee Haskins, 31-3 (13KO’s).
The announcement made by the British Boxing Board of Control on 9th April called for purse bids to be conducted on Wednesday 13th May, with the bout to take place no later than the end of July.