In an interview with USA Today, Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza has made it clear that while both sides want the fight to happen, finalizing the deal is not yet around the corner.
“We’re making meaningful progress but if we were running a race we would still have a ways to go. Everyone is trying to get to the finish line as soon as possible,” said Espinoza via USAtoday.com.
(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) If everything goes right for WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) he’ll be putting an end to the Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) hype and sending him off into obscurity after giving him an embarrassing thrashing at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Stiverne figures that if he knocks the 6’7” Deontay Wilder in shocking fashion, Deontay will be forgotten by boxing fans after this fight and written off as a serious heavyweight contender. As it is, Deontay has been compared frequently with 6’7” American heavyweight Michael Grant, who started off his career with a near identical record of 31-0.
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Heavyweight Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) thinks that WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) has gained confidence from the support from the boxing fans who are pulling for to beat the tall 6’7” American this Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Deontay doesn’t care what the fans are saying, because he feels he’s going to expose the 6’2” Haitian heavyweight as a mediocre heavyweight when he blasts him out in front of the MGM Grand crowd.
(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Deontay Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs) hasn’t yet finished his business with WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs) for this Saturday night, but already Deontay is looking past the fight towards a showdown with Britain’s Tyson Fury. Deontay is up for the clash with Fury if he can’t get a bout against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko.
That’s the fight that Deontay really wants, but he’d settle for a fight against Fury. However, the one problem with that is Fury is the WBO mandatory challenger for Klitschko, and it’s unlikely he’ll take a fight against Deontay before he gets the Klitschko fight. It’s too dangerous, and Fury won’t want to take the chance that he gets whipped by Deontay before he gets his payday fight against Wladimir.
Sam Watson, a close associate of Al Haymon, says that the Floyd Mayweather Jr vs. Manny Pacquiao fight is close to being done. It’s being worked on, and they’re at the part where they’re trying to iron out the Showtime and HBO deal. Both networks will likely be televising the fight on pay per view on the same night.
This part of the deal is going to be tricky, and one can only hope that they don’t mess things up. Pacquiao has reportedly agreed to a 60-40 split of the money.
If Oscar De La Hoya gets his way, boxing fans may soon be seeing a fight between Lucas Matthysse and Ruslan Provodnikov taking place this year. De La Hoya is reportedly working hard to try and put the fight together. It’s a doable fight due to Provodnikov not being promoted by Golden Boy rival Top Rank, and a situation where the Russian fighter needing a win badly after his loss to Chris Algieri last year.
Provodnikov lost his WBO light welterweight title in that fight to Algieri, and he’s done much since then other than beat a 40-year-old Jose Luis Castillo recently.
The hard-hitting Stiverne (24-1-1, 21 KOs), of Las Vegas, defends his title against the unbeaten knockout specialist Wilder (32-0, 32 KOs), of Tuscaloosa, Ala.,- in two days, but if they had their way they’d fight tonight.
Whether its stamina, strength, or experience, the boxing match-ups provide boxing fans with general debatable attributes and abilities for a discussion, and possibly argument in favor of their favorite fighter.
The same goes for the much anticipated Mayweather Jr. vs. Pacquiao scenario.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. fans are confident that their fighter will come out victorious due to his exceptional ring I.Q., ability to adapt during a bout, and of course his speed and style. Floyd fans argue that being a sharpshooter, Mayweather Jr. does well against opponents that throw high volume of shots, which Pacquiao’s style is all about.
Around this time last year I wrote about 3 heavyweights that would have a big 2014 – Lucas Browne, Derek Chisora & Deontay Wilder.
Each had a year of differing success or non success. Wilder is about to fight for the WBC heavyweight title, Browne is trying to angle himself a shot at the WBA interim and Chisora is at a crossroads, perhaps his last crossroads..
This year I have picked just 2 fighters both British boxers who I think will have a huge year and possibly could be in world title contention in 12 months time maybe even sooner.
They are are Dillain Whyte & Adam Etches.
Trainer Freddie Roach is highly interested in a future fight between his fighter WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Cotto lost to Mayweather by a 12 round unanimous decision three years ago in 2012, but that was before Roach took over as Cotto’s trainer. Roach now thinks that with his help, he’d lead Cotto to victory over Mayweather.
The Mayweather-Cotto rematch is definitely an option for 2015 or 2016, and it’s a potential plan-B for Mayweather if the negotiations between him and Manny Pacquiao go down the toilet.