August 2020

(Taken from Thursday’s 27/8 press conference).

Jose Ramirez

“After the big win against Hooker, I am ready to go and continue my journey to become undisputed champion. I know Viktor Postol stands in the way of that, and he is a very experienced fighter. I have been training very, very hard for this fight.

“Due to the pandemic, the fight got rescheduled, but I stayed at the gym. I remained composed and patient. I have a great team and my family behind me. I’m a man of faith. I believe everything happens for a reason, and now that I’m here, I can’t wait to showcase my talent on August 29. I want to show the world how much I have grown and matured as a unified champion. My goal is to become undisputed world champion.

“For the first date for this fight, I did a full training camp. The fight got rescheduled the same day I was supposed to depart, but luckily, I didn’t get to the airport. For the second date, I was in camp for five weeks before I got the call that the fight was going to get canceled again. Now, this is another nine-week camp that I’ve been on. My last fight was 13 months ago, but it feels like it was yesterday because I’ve been in the gym the whole year and with this fight on my mind the whole time.”

Viktor Postol

“The first training camp was tough because I came to the U.S. two months before the fight and we actually departed to China for the first fight date. It was a long flight. This camp has also been very long. I came three months before the fight date, but I feel good. I feel ready to fight.

“Jose is a good fighter. He is a good champion, but I know I have a good chance to win this fight. I have the motivation because this fight is for two belts. I’ll be ready.”

Daniel Dubois 242 vs Ricardo Snijders 215

Sunny Edwards 114.5 vs Thomas Essomba 114.1

Sam Maxwell 139 vs Joe Hughes 139

David Adeleye 217.5 vs Phil Williams 258

Willy Hutchinson 173.25 vs Ben Thomas 175.5

Sam Noakes 138 vs Jordan Ellison 137.75

“I would love to fight Dillian and beat him, though. He’s a puncher, he’s tough but he’s open, you never know – it could be next year,” Dubois told Metro.

“It would be a great fight but for now I’ve got Snijders this weekend and then hopefully a big British showdown with Joe Joyce in October.”

Promoter: Queensberry Promotions (Frank Warren)

Venue: BT Studios, London

TV: ESPN+

In a post-fight interview, Tszyu said: “All respect to Jeff, he’s achieved so much. He’s given Australia this platform. This is a young man’s sport and I was better this night.

“I said, Give me competition, someone who can test me. It was sink or swim and I’m not going to sink, I’m going to swim. I want the real world title strap around my waist soon.

“I’ll be back in the gym Monday and I’ll be training, because I know this is not the end, this is just the beginning and this motivates me to keep going.

“It was an honour to share the ring with Jeff.”

Belmar Preciado 125 vs Dennis Contreras 125
(WBA Fedecentro Featherweight Title)

Cassius Chaney 263.2 vs Chauncey Welliver 378
Orlando Gonzalez 127 vs Diuhl Olguin 126
Otar Eranosyan 134.6 vs Deshawn Kennedy 

Venue: Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida.
Promoter: All Star Boxing
TV: Telemundo

So the back and fourth will continue until they (hopefully) fight next year in the heavyweight extravaganza that it would be. Can you imagine the press tour?

As posted yesterday (Thursday) Anthony Joshua gave his harsh viewpoint of the fight between himself and Fury. I will include it below this post. Fury had the short and simple reply:

“I would batter Joshua inside the first round,” Fury said.

With Fury seemingly predicting the outcome of his fights with a crystal ball in his hand, I do not doubt it for one minute that he is not fooling around with the way he sees it.

The whole of yesterdays post including what Joshua had to say just in case you missed it:

Abass Baraou 153.2 vs Jack Culcay 153.7
(IBF super welterweight eliminator)

“I am very happy that Jack is giving me the chance to fight him” said Baraou. “I would also like to thank the Sauerland team for the trust they have placed in me. I immediately agreed to the fight. I have great respect for Jack and what he has achieved. But it is time for a generation change.”

Vincent Feigenbutz 158.3 vs Jama Saidi 157.4
(IBF intercontinental middleweight title)

“I am very pleased that AGON and the Sauerland team were able to work together to make such a great fight,” said Sauerland. “It’s admirable that Abass has the courage to face a world-class boxer like Jack in just his tenth fight. Jack was previously a Team Sauerland fighter so we know what a great fighter he is.”

Venue: Havel Studios in Berlin, Germany.
Promoter: AGON, Saurland
TV: Sport 1 & Facebook Live Stream

After announcing last week that he is making a boxing comeback at age 47, Oscar De La Hoya seems to be saying a lot about getting boxing back on track.

From what Oscar is saying, boxing cannot do without its “biggest star” and the return of a man approaching his fifties having been out of the ring for thirteen years. I think there maybe a few that will disagree with him.

“If anyone doubted how badly boxing needs Canelo – the sport’s biggest star – back in the ring, look no further than the terrible ratings from boxing on network TV the last few weeks,” stated the Golden Boy via social media.

“It’s a f**king embarrassment that sports-starved fans are flocking to baseball and the UFC, and largely ignoring the greatest sport in the world. I have been working tirelessly day and night with our partners at DAZN to get a Canelo fight done ASAP and get our sport back on track.”

“I don’t sleep well when these things happen, you care an awful lot about the fighter. Just to clear up how the fight ended, the referee did actually stop the fight. Was Jeff getting badly hurt? No. But the pop wasn’t there, we could just see that the fire was gone,” Rushton said.

“We said to him at the end of the eighth round, ‘Jeff, do you want to go on?’. He shrugged his shoulders. Steven Edwards, the other cornerman, said ‘I think he’s answered the question’. Phil Austin came over and said ‘you’ve had enough’.

“The same thing happened in the Pacquiao fight and we didn’t [stop it]. I didn’t argue this time because the fire was gone. Would you encourage a champion to perform well, or would you let him chuck in the towel? Was Jeff badly hurt? No. Was he excessively fatigued? No. What reason was there for stopping the fight other than he was losing the fight. People expect you to deliver the best performance you can. Jeff Horn had a puncher’s chance of ending the fight, he’s done it before. But the hunger wasn’t there.”

It is sad to report that two time champion Alesandro ” Sandro” Mazzinghi of Italy sadly passed away on Saturday (22/8) at age 81.

Hi finished with an outstanding boxing record of 64-3, 42 KO’s (only being stopped once) in a career from 1964 until 1978. He boxed as a super welterweight.

Rest in peace.

by Kris Anthony (krisanthonyboxing@gmail.com)

Each of the heavyweights at the top of the tree seem to be all taking it in turn to comment (more than usual for some and some out of character) on their fellow combatants. Some have been recently humbled, some plain vengeful (promoters as well).

With Joshua vs Pulev seemingly headed for December (date to be confirmed) and Fury vs Wilder III headed for December 19th, the plan is for Joshua vs Fury in a huge heavyweight showdown in 2021 (if both are successful in their respective fights). It would be one of the biggest heavyweight fights ever (certainly in the UK).

Anthony Joshua briefly spoke on Fury and their proposed fight whilst on Sky One’s A League of Their Own.

“I have a lot of respect for the man, he’s a good family man and a good fighter, but on the other hand, I want to break his head.

“First six rounds, I think, well I know I’m going to take him out then,” Joshua added.

“I have had a shorter career, so I’m fresher. I’ve been in the deep end longer so I can handle the pressure and I believe I’m going to take him out. Fury drew the first and then rejigged his game plan and took Wilder out and schooled him really but I think I’m faster than Wilder anyway, call it what you want, I believe I’m better.”

Interesting.

At 45, it was an ill-advised comeback after 6 years out of the ring but former WBC middleweight champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez  (52-2-2, 29 KO’s) returned to the ring on Friday night (21/8) in Torrelavega, Spain defeating Jose Miguel Fandino (15-7, 8 KO’s).

Sergio looked far better than he did in his last fight with Miguel Cotto, forcing the action from the start dropping Fandino in round six then continuing to batter Fandino for the rest of the round. In round seven, Martinez finished Fandino with a body shot to end it.

“This fight was a rebirth. A kind of debut. I was able to recover sensations and refresh my memory little by little. It was a fantastic fight,” Martinez said to Boxeo desde Adentro.

“So many years have passed since my first fight that there is little I remember. This fight was wonderful. I was able to position myself inside the ring and carry out a strategy,” Martinez added.

“The choice of the opponent was thought out. Fandino is not a boxer of extreme danger. Logically, after so many years without fighting, the idea was to go little by little and recover sensations. The first big fight to be faced is the emotional one. There is stage fright that you have to learn how to handle. I always say that emotions are the enemies of competition.

“I felt that in this fight I was able to dominate my reflexes. It has been so long since my last official fight and still I responded well. I know what I can give, I know myself and understand myself.”

WBA super welterweight champion Erislandy Lara and Greg Vendetti square off in the ring this Saturday. The following is taken from an international media conference call that took place on Wednesday (taken from YouTube).

Erislandy Lara: 

“I feel better than ever. I’ve been training hard and working well heading into this fight. I feel stronger than I did a couple of years ago and I’m totally ready for this fight on Saturday.

“The difference people have seen in my last few fights isn’t about my fighting style or even about trying pleasing the fans. I just do what is needed inside of the ring. I have to see what each fight requires me to do. If it pleases the fans, then that’s great. But I’m always focused on doing what I have to do in each situation during each fight.

“I’m not focused on my legacy yet. There is a lot to accomplish still and I want to bolster my standing as one of the best Cuban fighters in history with more important wins.

“I still feel like I can have a lot of success in the rest of my career, so I haven’t set any time frame for when I’ll be done boxing. But once I feel the difference in my training and when the young fighters are really getting the best of me, then it will be something to consider. But it’s not on my mind.

“I really haven’t seen Vendetti at all. I don’t like to watch video of my future opponents. For me, the style will become clear in the first round once we start throwing punches in the ring.

“I firmly believe that I can be the undisputed best fighter in this division. Most of the other champions haven’t faced me yet. We’ll see how it plays out, but I believe that I can come out on top against anybody at any time in a very competitive division.

“I never lost any confidence. Regardless of any circumstances after the Canelo fight or the Jarrett Hurd fight, I always believe in my abilities in the ring. That belief is still very strong. I’m willing and able to fight anyone in the division at any time.

“I want everyone to know that I’m in great shape, I’m feeling outstanding and ready to put on a show Saturday night.”

Greg Vendetti: 

“I think we’ve done all we can to prepare for this fight. Every box is checked. I’m in a position to do my best and I’m excited and confident for this opportunity.

“My trainer has been saying for years that I have a good style to face Lara and once I got the call, I took it as a real sign. I’m really motivated to show everyone what I can do and put on my best performance.

“I look at it like this is just another human like me that I’m facing. He’s made of skin and bones and I’m sure he has his doubts about himself. Maybe about his age and about if I can get to him. I don’t get intimidated by anything in the ring. I’m just really excited to test myself against one of the best fighters of this generation.

“I just have to prepare the best and I can and perform the best I can. I can’t control anything else. Could this be my only title shot? Maybe, but thinking about that won’t change anything in the ring. I just have to give myself the best shot to win.

“It will be a little strange without fans. If anything I think it will help me. It allows me to focus better. It doesn’t matter how much experience you have, the crowd can make you more aggressive than you want to be and influence the judges. If anything, it will help me, but it is what it is.

“I’ve approached this fight like I’m getting the best version of Lara that’s ever existed. I’m not taking him lightly at all. But if you look at his performances as of late, it’s not the same Lara you saw against Angulo and Canelo years ago. The agility is not there as much. It almost seems like he’s doing just enough to try to win these fights and not really going the extra mile to dominate.

“Pressure is the name of the game. I have to be active. I can’t run in and get blasted, but I’m going to try to push the pace as best I can and be as smart as I can. I’m predicting an exciting fight, at least on my end.”

Alfredo Angulo: 

“First thing’s first, I have to focus on Saturday night. Whatever comes next, including a possible fight for the world title, it will only happen if I win. This will be an interesting fight and a great challenge for me.

“Abel Sanchez really has a fountain of youth. I feel rejuvenated and I think the clock has been turned back. My only focus is on working hard and giving the fans a great fight.

“The biggest key for me is my confidence and the input that Abel gives me each and every day. That’s the most important thing that has changed. All the advice that he’s able to give me is so valuable.

“I also get a lot of motivation from the other fighters in the gym with me because they have the same ambition as me. We push each other to get to new heights. It’s not competitive as far as who gets a fight next. But it’s about making each other better.

“Truax is a great boxer and he’s aggressive. He comes and tries to get you out of there. It’s going to be a great matchup and we’re going to give the fans a great fight.

“I’m ready for Saturday night and I can’t wait. It’s going to be a great night for the fans and I’m planning on stealing the show.”

Caleb Truax: 

“The last year and a half was tough for me. I had the cut against Quillin and the Achilles injury. It took about eight or nine months for it to feel back to normal. But I’ve been training on it since January and I’m ready to roll.

“I had a little bit of ring rust in my last fight and it was great to knock it off. Most people thought I dominated, so I don’t know how it ended up so close on the cards, but I got the win and got the rounds in that I wanted. We’re moving forward and ready to put on a show against a higher level of competition in Alfredo Angulo.

“It wasn’t a surprise to me that he won against Peter Quillin. He backed up Quillin and pushed him around the whole night and did what he had to do.

“The Achilles was the first major injury I had in my career, but I’m fortunate to be in the spot that I’m in now. I’m number three in the IBF and I just need to make the most of it against Angulo. At this stage in my career, you have to approach every fight like it’s a must-win and a last chance opportunity.

“I used to be more of a counter puncher who tried to sit back and box, but when I fought Jermain Taylor, it was my first big fight against a top level opponent. I sat back too long and tried to counter. After that fight I reinvented my style and now I consider myself an aggressive counter puncher.

“I think my style matches up pretty well with Angulo. I like when I don’t have to go searching for someone, I haven’t fought someone who wants to come forward in a while.

“Whoever wins could get that opportunity against Caleb Plant, which you have to acknowledge, but none of that happens without going through Angulo first. So I have to take care of what’s in front of me Saturday.”

Tom Brown (TGB Promotions):

“The 154 pound-division is stacked with talent right now. There are some big 154-pound fights on the horizon for Erislandy Lara, but first he has to get past the tough Greg Vendetti. Vendetti is legitimate and he’s going to try to test Lara all night, because he knows he’s getting in there against one of the best.

“I’m also looking forward to the always-exciting Alfredo Angulo going up against the former champion Caleb Truax in a super middleweight title eliminator that will put the winner in prime position for a title fight.”

Venue: Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles

In an interview with William Hill, recently KO’ed heavyweight contender Dillian Whyte gave his opinion on the Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder rematch that looks headed to December 19th.

“I think Fury is going to win again,” Whyte told William Hill. “He’s beaten him twice already and I think he’s going to win again. I think it will be easier this time around. Obviously, he out-boxed him last time and he knocked him out this time, so what is Wilder going to bring?

“He can’t say ‘my punch power, my punch power’ anymore, no. He’s been dominated. Fury took your punch away from you, put you on the back foot and stopped you.

“And then Fury’s also out-boxed him in the first fight when he was rusty, so what’s Wilder going to do? He’s not all of a sudden going to become a great mid-range counter-puncher that you haven’t done for 40-something fights.”

Humble words.

In an interview with William Hill, Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn gave his early opinion on the Tyson Fury vs Deontay Wilder fight that looks headed to December 19th.

“I think Fury has got to be a huge favourite, he’s beaten him twice already really,” Hearn told William Hill. “But Wilder is dangerous. And you never know a fighter’s mindset when they go from achieving what Tyson has achieved with a load of money in the bank.

“How much does that hunger in Fury still exist? You can bet your life the hunger will be there for Deontay Wilder. But Tyson Fury is a big favourite in that fight. He’s really schooled him twice, and I expect him to do so a third time.”

by Kris Anthony (krisanthonyboxing@gmail.com)

Looks like it’s October 31st (Halloween) For Oleksandr Usyk vs Derek Chisora!

This fight was meant to of happened earlier this year (May 23rd at the O2) but COVID-19 KO’ed it but it looks all set. The winner of this fight will be in the mix of the now shorter circle of heavyweight elite and the title fight drama (with Whyte losing at the weekend to Povetkin).

“I had a phone call tonight from Alex Krassyuk, who’s the co-promoter of Oleksandr Usyk saying, ‘Any news? We’re ready to go,’” Hearn told Sky Sports. “They’re the phone calls we’re getting quite a lot at the moment, and the pressure mounts on us to come up with the fight against Dereck Chisora. Dereck is training really hard. October 31st is the date we have penciled in for that fight, but it’s dependent on the current deal driving people through the doors and having some kind of gate or moving it internationally and having a site fee.”

“Again, Usyk vs Chisora is a really important fight. When this thing started, I had three main names and that was to deliver Whyte-Povetkin, Usyk-Chisora, and Joshua against Pulev,” said Hearn. “And to make sure the other stable could have the opportunities, keep moving forward and progressing their careers.”

We all know it just takes one punch to finish or turn a fight around and the Whyte vs Povetkin fight was such a great example. Usyk will be the favourite and I believe he will come through on a points victory, but. Heavyweight boxing is so intriguing and so violent. With the current mix at top level, and assuming Usyk wins, how about him against the winner of Whyte vs Povetkin II with the winner then facing whoever is triumphant with the Joshua, Pulev, Fury and Wilder merry-go-round? Makes sense to me and all (should) be happy.

If all is just that simple.

One thing is for sure is that we have an intriguing addition (Usyk vs Chisora was already there but seemed in doubt with Chisora not wanting to fight without a live audience). Joshua vs Pulev. Fury vs Wilder III. Whyte vs Povetkin II and now Usyk vs Chisora. Hevyweight boxing is now back.

Adrien “The Problem” Broner, the former four-division world champion has been sentenced to seven days in jail (again). This time it was for violating probation.

He was in the Ohio courtroom (Cleveland) on Wednesday according to Cleveland.com. Judge Sherrie Miday told Broner that she hoped the seven day sentence would be a “wake-up call.”

Known as “the problem”, the nickname was originally intended as a problem to other fighters, not a problematic life in and out of jail. Somehow I think the judges hope of a “wake-up-call” will not come to fruition.

It is a shame as he had a promising career that had already covered multiple titles in multiple weight divisions. He could of accomplished so much more.

“I saw Dave Coldwell’s little speech and it made me chuckle because Dillian has enjoyed having a go at everyone else. He’s always calling Tyson Fury – who went to Wladimir Klitschko and Deontay Wilder’s backyards as a huge underdog – a coward,” Warren told Sun Sport.

“He has made some serious slanderous accusations about Anthony Joshua being a drug cheat, including posting a video of the Verve song ‘The Drugs Don’t Work’ after his loss to Andy Ruiz Jr. He’s talked about Ruiz Jr having his hardest fight against diabetes, when his hardest fight was at short notice against AJ because Dillian didn’t have the bottle to take it himself.

“And he has constantly called Derek Chisora a donkey despite him not kicking off a fuss when he was robbed in their first fight. If these fighters and fans have enjoyed Dillian’s defeat then it is only because he has made a career out of slagging others off. To put it very simply, what goes around, comes around.

“What was that tracksuit thing even all about, didn’t they have bigger things to worry about? Now everyone has to be respectful but they can turn up to the weigh-in dressed up in costumes to try to embarrass the Russian visitors. I didn’t see Povetkin’s lot crying on social media when they were getting stick and laughed at. boxing is a small world and people have short memories so if you are going to give it out, then you better be ready to take it on the chin better than they have.”

“I’ve never been this excited for a fight before in my life. I was excited for the first fight. Now, it’s like turning pro all over again. I’m buzzing. I want to go to training now. I’m forcing myself to take the two weeks’ rest,” Whyte told Sky Sports.

“It’s all good. I learn quick. I just can’t wait to get back in there. I want to go now. I have been hounding Eddie every day to hear what they are saying about this rematch. There’s certain moments in your career that does something to you. The loss to Anthony Joshua done something to me. This time, this has done something else to me again. It’s crazy, I feel young and youthful. I feel good. It’s probably going to be the end of November, early December, so let’s see.

“People forget, I’m still improving. I never proclaimed to be the complete article. My style of fighting is also different from the traditional boxing style of fighting, because of my background, where I come from, and what happened to me in life. I need to approach it in a way where I take everything on board that has been said, and all the advice I’m getting, and mix it into a way that works for me, into my style. I’m not all of a sudden going to become a Klitschko and fight Povetkin like a Klitschko. I’m not going to become a Joshua, or whatever. I have to do what I do, how I do it, and make adjustments and that’s the key word, adjustments.”

Lewis Crocker (12-0, 7 KO’s) W RSF 7 Louis Greene (12-2, 7 KO’s)

(WBO European Welterweight Title)

Greene knocked down in round 1 and twice in round 7.

Liam Taylor (22-1-1, 10 KO’s) W PTS 10 Darren Tetley (20-1, 9 KO’s)

Tetley was down in round 2 and round 3. Scores were 96-93, 96-93, 95-93.

Lee McGregor (9-0, 7 KO’s) W RSF 5 Ryan Walker (11-2, 2 KO’s)

Referee Phil Edwards waved the fight off at 16 seconds of the 5th round. Walker protested as he believed he could continue. 

Fearghus Quinn (1-1) W PTS 6 Robbie Chapman (6-4)

A successful pro debut for Quinn. The score was 60-54.

Gary Cully (11-0, 5 KO’s) W PTS 8 Craig Woodruff (10-6, 4 KO’s)

Cully down in round 5. Score was 77-75.

James McGivern (1-0) W PTS 6 Jamie Quinn (7-103-2)

A successful pro debut for McGivern. Score was 60-54.

Venue: Production Park Studios in Wakefield, UK

Promoter: MTK

TV: YouTube/iFLTV Live / ESPN+APP

Luis Torres (10-0, 8 KO’s) W PTS 10 Jose Luis Vazquez (10-2, 3 KO’s)

(Vacant WBC Youth Silver Lightweight Title)

Vazquez was knocked down at the end of round one. The scores were 79-72, 76-73, 77-72.  A ten round fight?

Santiago Dominguez (22-0, 17 KO’s) W KO 1 Adalberto Borquez (30-20-1, 27 KO’s).

(WBC Fecarbox Welterweight Title)

Late substitute Borquez was knocked down 3 times in the first round and was stopped at 2:49.

Jermone Jones, Jr. (6-0, 6 KO’s) W KO 4 Mario Israel Vera (6-2, 0 KO’s).

Time of the stoppage was 1:01.

Venue: Marinaterra Hotel & Spa in San Carlos (Sonora) Mexico.

“The fact of the matter is I don’t need any of their fighters, they need me. I’m the only undefeated world heavyweight champion out there. All the rest have been beaten, left by the wayside, stopped and battered. They need me. I’m a standalone Gypsy King giant ruling the division, ruling the roost,” Fury told BT Sport.

“I don’t need any of their money, I don’t need what they can bring to the table, but for the fans you want the biggest fight possible and the biggest fight out there now is me against Joshua. They have nothing to lose, they’ve already been knocked out and beat. I’m the only one who has got something to lose, that big 0 (no defeats) I’m carrying around with me.

“All these boxers, the Joshua’s, the Chisora’s, the Whyte’s, the Povetkin’s, all these people are on a similar level. I see them as four, fives and sixes. And at any time they can take each other out. It shows you what level they’re at.

“As you saw on Saturday, if you overlook someone you get banged on the chin.

“I just want to concentrate on Deontay Wilder, the most dangerous fighter on the planet and history has ever had. I know Deontay Wilder is the most dangerous heavyweight fighter out there.”

Tim Tszyu (16-0, 12 KO’s) W TKO 8 Jeff Horn (20-3-1, 13 KO’s)

“I want everyone to know my name’s Tim, not ‘the son,’” said Tszyu. “This is a young man’s sport and I was better this time…it was an honor to share the ring with Jeff.”

Horn added, “Tim was young, hungry, he’s an absolute champion…he’s now is the #1 in Australia. He wasn’t before this. He was saying he was but he certainly earned it now.”

Issac Hardman (7-0, 6 KO’s) W KO 1 Jamie Weetch (12-3, 5 KO’s)

Middleweight contest.

Time was 2:20. Weetch was down twice.

Liam Wilson (7-0, 5 KO’s) W KO 2 Jackson Woods (4-2-1, 4 KO’s)

Lightweight contest.

Time 2:42. Woods was down once in each rounds.

Joel Camilleri (19-6-1, 8 KO’s) W PTS 8 Adam Copland (5-2, 3 KO’s)

Middleweight contest.

Scores were 79-73, 78-73, 79-73 with Copeland down in round 2.

Shannon O’Connell (19-6-1, 10 KO’s) W KO 7 Kylie Fulmer (7-1, 6 KO’s)

Woman’s super bantamweight contest.

Venue: County Bank Stadium (Townsville) Queensland, Australia.

by Kris Anthony (krisanthonyboxing@gmail.com)

After his absolute mauling of American Shawndell Winters from Saturday (Whyte vs Povetkin card), Alen “The Savage” Babic kept to his promise and nickname as he demolished the american in two rounds. Babic 4-0, 4 KO’s (14st 9lbs) sent Winters 13-4, 12 KO’s (13st 12lbs) back to the US with his tail between his legs after just a total of 5 minutes and 20 seconds of ring action.

We learnt more about Babic in this fight than the previous 3 fights combined as they were all against journeymen that had a losing record. This fight showed that he is indeed savage and we have some fun times ahead with him. Only snag….he is light for a heavyweight and that will probably be his downfall when at some point he will have to face one of the divisions behemoths. If only he could fight at cruiserweight.

He is looking to fight and climb the rankings as soon as possible after what is the best performance of his short career (Winters was just his 4th fight).

Eddie Hearn is apparently putting a fight card together next month with WBA International light-heavyweight champion Joshua Buatsi set to headline. Babic will probably be on the undercard.

Eddie Hearn said: “We still don’t know how good ‘The Savage’ is. We know he’s a right f–king handful and a complete lunatic, but what happens after four or five rounds?”

Whilst it is just a rumour, at some point a match up with Dave Allen is said to happen. Until he meets the big boys, there will be for sure some savage times ahead.

by Kris Anthony (krisanthonyboxing@gmail.com)

With Alexander Povetkin’s KO of Dillian Whyte helping the well documented heavyweight mess of who was to fight who with the circle of Joshua, Fury, Pulev, Wilder and Whyte…all eyes are now on Joshua vs Pulev and Fury vs Wilder III. Both sets of fights are seemingly headed for December.

Anthony Joshua has not fought since regaining his titles from Andy Ruiz in December and his promoter Eddie Hearn clarifies some of the confusion that still lingers:

“AJ wants to fight this year and he will fight,” Hearn told the Sun.

“Hopefully by December we will be in a situation where we can have a full, or close-to-full, O2. Because when you talk about no crowds causing a hole in budgets, his is around £5 million. But he will fight, he has to, otherwise it will be a year out of the ring. We have to get him back in 2020.

“I would put him on behind closed doors now, yes. The numbers wouldn’t be as good but he is prepared to do it.

“Right now, the plan is still to fight Pulev, as he is the mandatory challenger,” Hearn added.

“But this situation has put everything up in the air and there are a lot of moving parts. Joshua wants to fight Fury but he wants the WBC belt more.”

Whyte losing to Povetkin moved one hurdle out of the equation, two more pieces are still left to go. Fingers crossed, Joshua fights Pulev and wins. Fury fights Wilder for the third time (pffft) and wins. If this was all to go to plan, Joshua can then fight Fury for all the titles and then defend (whoever wins) all the belts against the winner of the rematch between Whyte and Povetkin (the Whyte camp are aiming for November).

Hopefully there will be ONE champion with nobody moaning about mandatory’s. Fighters happy, governing bodies happy and more importantly, the fans will be happy.

We can only hope.

With Dillian Whyte exercising the rematch clause that was in place with the Alexander Povetkin fight (Whyte was knocked out after having Povetkin down twice and was way ahead on points), Tony Belew has put himself into position to offer some advice to Whyte with what he has to do:

“I think there’s adjustments that need to be made on his part and I’ll speak to him. He definitely needs to make changes and there’s just a few other little things he needs to learn. But I definitely believe Dillian Whyte will still get to the final destination and become a heavyweight champion of the world,” Bellew told Talk Sport.

“Just the right opponents at the right time. We’ve gotta remember, 1,000 days he’s been waiting to challenge for the WBC world title. And for 800 of them days Deontay Wilder’s been the world champion – a man who didn’t want to face Dillian Whyte, didn’t wanna know. He was facing taxi drivers instead of facing Dillian Whyte.

“It’s wrong what’s been done to the lad, but he’s now in this very strange position where he’s gotta go into the rematch and his career is on the line. I believe Dillian will beat Povetkin. I think he needs to go in there and perform basically the same. Just, when you go in for the final finish, you’ve got to be alert and aware.”