If the 6-year Mayweather v Pacquiao saga/fiasco taught us anything, it’s that it requires co-operative and realistic negotiation to ensure the biggest fights out there are made.
So when pictures emerged of WBA super-bantamweight champion Scott Quigg brandishing a £1.5m cheque composed by promoter Eddie Hearn the eyebrow has to be raised.
James DeGale, who for this writer is Britain’s best and most exciting 168lb fighter, has today been talking to Sky Sports in the UK ahead of his attempt at shattering Andre Dirrell’s “American dream” when the two men meet for the vacant IBF world title on May 23rd in Boston, Mass.
DeGale will travel Stateside after purse bids for the fight were won by Warriors Boxing in an extraordinary $3 million show of financial strength by the outfit who are closely affiliated with influential manager Al Haymon.
The promotional war that has broken out with regards to putting arguably the biggest British fight outside of Kell Brook and Amir Khan together shows no sign of abating.
Yesterday saw Matchroom sport boss Eddie Hearn present a 1.5 million pound cheque and public offer, ostensibly for Carl Frampton, to sign on the dotted line as it were and face Scott Quigg, thus ramping up the intense debate that is stirring on social media regarding the fight and exactly what is hindering it actually happening.
Part of the reason that May 2nd is such a colossal event, is mostly due to the fact that for a long time now, boxing enthusiasts believed that only Manny Pacquiao has the right arsenal to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. Of course aside from their competitive edge, both men have developed very unique personalities over the years, and paired together with their history, they make a great story for the sport of boxing.
One of the more popular questions nowadays, is what would happen if Mayweather Jr. lost the fight?
It appears that British heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte (14-0,11 Ko’s) has experienced yet more heartache in his quest to get relevant fights, announcing that his proposed appearance on 24th April in Corby, Northants, UK is in jeopardy after experienced Russian contender Dennis Bakhtov (39-10,26ko) pulled out of fighting him.
Whyte announced on his twitter, above a picture of Bakhtov: “I was meant to fight this guy on the 24th in Corby. He said yes to the fight, then bottled it! #jokers..”
Harry Reid, a long time senator from Nevada, has voiced his support for Manny Pacquiao in his upcoming bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I always try to help people who help me and no one has been more helpful to me, campaign wise, who’s been a personality, than Manny Pacquiao. I wish them both well and they’re good for the sport but Manny Pacquiao broke training on two separate occasions to come and campaign for me and I can’t forget that,” stated Reid.
Swimming is a great aerobic enhancer and surpasses the benefits of running as far as endurance and lung capacity are concerned. It opens up the alveoli and increases the feel good factor. It brings up the overall fitness level and tones the whole body of a boxer relaxing every muscle as well during warm down in the water. Swimming is a low impact activity and injury in the pool is extremely rare (slipping in the shower is another story). The old school of thought used to believe swimming developed the wrong back and shoulder muscles and affected the range of motion for boxers. The same school preached that free weights were poison for the boxing body.
SACRÉ BLEU! We have all heard of France’s New Wave style of filmmaking but has FLOYD “Money” MAYWEATHER decided to incorporate New Wave training into his preparations for his battle against Fighter of the Decade Congressman MANNY “Pacman” PACQUIAO or is he just a fish out of water? Their welterweight world championship unification battle takes place Saturday, May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
The Bury star joined promoter Eddie Hearn in Matchroom Sport’s offices in Brentwood to confirm the offer live on Sky Sports News, which was sent to Frampton’s team earlier in the day.
Unbeaten World champions Quigg (WBA) and Frampton (IBF) have long been on a collision course, and after issuing the offer to the Belfast man, Quigg is hoping that they can clash in a summer blockbuster.
With the impressive win, Beterbiev’s stock has risen, and it brings the potential prospects of a bout between him and former amateur foe Sergey Kovalev one step closer to possibly becoming a reality in the distant, but not too distant future.