For me it was Calzaghe, his fight with Eubank for the vacant title was like something from a Rocky movie. Plus he was able to reinvent his technique to better cope with his hands constantly breaking. The crowning glory was the Lacy fight. Almost everyone thought he was a shot fighter selling his belt to the next big thing, but he absolutely schooled him for 12 rounds instead.
I'll be cheering for you Anthony, but I can't realistically see an upset here.
Crolla is possibly the nicest man in pro boxing and it would be great to see him going out on a massive upset win, but a ridiculously brave loss on the cards is the far more likely result.
Davison has proved his worth with Fury, but BJS didn't fight well under him before he went to Ingle - maybe they were a bit too close as mates for the coach/fighter relationship to work?
He fought by far his best fight under Ingle, so I'm unsure why he'd want to leave. Maybe Adam Booth would be a good fit for his elusive style of fighting?
Hunter has looked good so far at both CW and HW, but this is too soon really. His best scalps at HW are; Ustinov who is huge but ancient, and Bakolie who although a regular sparring partner of Joshua is an inexperienced prospect. Fighting Hunter at this stage is low-reward for Joshua so ideally, he needs someone more tested at the weight. Bearing in mind the opponent needs to be at least USA based if not a genuine American - ideally a New Yorker, the order of preference should be; 1)Ortiz, 2)Kownacki, 3)Ruiz, 4)Bryan, 5)Hunter, 6)Pulev - who although decent is only on the list because he's signed to a US promoter so has some exposure over there.
I understand some of the above have turned down the fight already saying there's not enough time to prepare or they want more money, etc.
Dubois-Gorman was ordered as a British title eliminator recently and still didn't happen. I may be wrong, but my take on their situation is thus; Warren wants Dubois as his HW poster-boy, but he's still raw in terms of boxing ability. Gorman is currently streets ahead of Dubois progression wise and if they fought this weekend would beat him via wide points decision, and Warren knows it. This fight won't be made until ol' fish eyes is confident that Dubois will win.
I heard Finkel say the unification with Joshua or rematch with Fury could be next, but probably not until 2020.
WTF, 1 fight per year?! Is he copying the Gary Russell Jnr business model or something?
Pac-man and his wife are just being normal parents here - we all want our children to have easier lives than we've had ourselves.
I've served my country for the last 16 years. The teenager that joined up would probably not be alive today had I chose not to enlist. I've matured, seen the world, met my wife, had kids and we are about to buy a house but nothing has been easy - and I'm not envisaging an easy ride anytime soon. Despite everything I've gained, I wouldn't want my kids to join any branch of the military unless civilian employment options had completely dried up - not because I'm not grateful for the life I've lived, but because I want my kids to have a better life.
What your suggesting isn't even possible as AJ has rematch clause with Miller in his next fight. So they can't guarantee anything like what your saying. Fact!!!
Yawn, getting bored of the excuses now - The re-match clause is only enacted if the champ loses, which probably won't happen. Wilder will have a similar deal with Breazeale, and I don't expect him to lose either.
There's nothing to stop a contract being signed which relies on the Champ to win an already planned fight. Joshua did this for the Klitschko fight while training for Molina.
The long and short of it is Wilder would take the fight if he's the A-side and it's on a Haymon card, but he can't face being the B-side of the Joshua show on DAZN. He'd rather earn less money to be the main man of his own show.
You mean the multi fight deal that explicitly stated wilder would not fight AJ next, and had no guarantee of fighting him at all.
No I mean the 3 fight deal that encapsulated the already agreed mandatory defence against Breazeale, and had 2 Joshua fights afterwards.
Skipper even offered the Joshua fights to happen regardless of the result of the Breazeale fight - which should be a foregone conclusion anyway unless the ref let's the much heavier Breazeale get away with wrestling Wilder to the point of exhaustion.
But let's not let publicly released facts get in the way of a good team Wilder excuse shall we?
There's little point in anyone chasing a fight with Haye, he could come back but beating him will not earn the respect it once would have. At this point the man can't put much weight/pressure through his legs without rupturing ligaments and tendons all over the shop, so it is pretty much impossible for him to fight anywhere near the best of his ability. Tony Bellew proved that twice already.
So NOT guaranteed then. I think we agreed.
If Eddie wants the fight he'll make a proper simple offer after the miller fight, when he can guarantee a fight with AJ. And the offer doesnt need to involve Wilder selling his soul to Eddie for multiple fights, back stabbing his current team/network, giving exclusive rights to DAZN etc... It just needs to be a simple normal offer.
Would that be similar to the "simple normal" $50m offer that Wilder's team made? You know, the one that was bankrolled by Sky and Matchroom's biggest rival and would have required Joshua to fight on BT Sport under the Boxnation banner and therefore "back-stabbing his current team/network"? You know, the offer that every Wilder fan slated Joshua for refusing when his team was refused access to any information other than "it's $50m, take it or leave it within a 24 hour window"?
I just think it's hilarious that when the shoe is on the other foot for twice as much money, the same people come out with every excuse under the sun to defend Wilder.
Not too sure about that Bob... George Foreman knocked people out and had power comparable to the likes of Joshua and Wilder, whereas Fury is more of a slick points winner.
Don't get me wrong, Fury's personality will attract fans at first but only purists will watch more than a handful of his fights without getting bored.
I missed that press conference due to work, but it sounds like Joshua's starting to drop the PR-training facade a bit. I wouldn't say it reads as Mike Tyson, but possibly Sonny Liston-esque.
I've no problem with a Boxer showing a bit of menace, but let's hope he keeps it around this level. I not a fan of all the WWE style clowning around like Wilder-Fury did or like what Miller seems to be trying. Boxing is a professional sport, and as such it's competitors should behave with dignity and self-respect - they are role models for today's youth after all. WWE Wrestlers, for all their athleticism (some more than others) are basically pantomime actors, and are free to act as such.
C'mon Tyson neither you or Wilder are fooling anybody with this press conference crap. We've all seen the footage of you guys kicking it backstage after stuff like this just laughing it up, these guys are friends. Actually, on second thought looking at the comments, I guess some people are fooled :lol1:
I was thinking the same thing mate, but then maybe one or both of them has had it with the duplicity of the other. Both men seem to see-saw between love and hate for each other, whether it's in person, press conferences, solo interviews or social media posts - depends which way the wind is blowing that day. Maybe all the play acting has taken its toll?
I'll give Tyson Fury this; No current active fighter talks up a fight better than he does. I just hope his actions match his words, as many times in the past they have not.
True. As I said, Fury has helped promote Wilder within 4 months than Wilder's management has done in 10 years. It is tragic that Wilder, WBC Champion of the world is not known in his country
If Fury can't get back to his best and beat Wilder, he should go into the promotion/management business. As has been mentioned, Fury has done more to enhance Wilder's profile in 4 months than Finkel has in 10 years. Plus, If Frank Warren's financial troubles get any worse, the UK will need a new promoter to rival Hearn at some point.
I agree with this, Deontay is just too strong! If he was as pillow-fisted as Tyson Fury, you guys would would be disappointed that we didnt get to see a KO, however Deontay would show off that Olympic pedigree!
But then people would call Wilder boring like Tyson and Hughie, you cant have it both ways I guess.
That's the HW division for you. Don't know about you, but when I want to see matrix-level boxing ability I watch the likes of Loma, Garcia, Crawford, etc in the lower divisions. When I tune in to watch the big guys, I expect to see something more brutal. I like to watch all styles, it all depends on my mood at the time.
Mankind in general has a tendency towards a brutal spectacle, in that way we haven't changed much since the days when Rome's Colosseum was the hottest ticket in live entertainment. That's why the lower you go in weight division, generally the smaller crowds sway more towards the cultured purists, and why the heavier divisions draw the bigger and noisier crowds.
Noel and I were having a totally different conversation, I never made a case that the names mentioned were ATG or HOF. I gave a short list of boxers that Deontay toyed with and demonstrated his elite set of skills and power in those matches.
I'd 100% agree with you on the power, Wilder definitely has a case to be recognized as the biggest single puncher in living memory of any fan of the sport. As to elite skills..... the only time I have been reasonably impressed with Wilder's boxing ability was in the 1st Stiverne fight when it went to points. To be fair when someone hits that hard they don't have to be the most skillful boxer, just skillful enough to connect flush a couple of times within 36 mins.
My only gripe with Wilder's boxing style is that until the moment he connects it's not easy on the eye, but if you're looking at making a highlight-reel full of of 5-10 second clips, Wilder's your man.
The rematch will be in the U.K.
Maybe they can be on the undercard on the 13th April or risk having the fight. In Brentford leisure Centre or York hall
If there is a rematch in the UK on a Frank Warren card, there may as well be one camera permanently on the crowd. All of his recent shows seem to get disrupted by mass brawls among the fans - which end up taking up more headlines than what happens in the ring.
Lololololol
Even Fury and Seferi paused their joke of a fight to watch the crowd scrapping. Before that there was the trouble at the Saunders-Munroe fight, then there was the trouble in Brentwood last month. All-in-all that's 3 shows in less than 18 months having crowd trouble, Warren should re-name his company to "Road House Promotions".
You didn't appreciate watching Fury shut down a man who had barely lost a round in 12 years?
Stick to football, casual.
As a one-off tactic against a unified world champ who's a certainty for the HoF it's more than acceptable. In that situation winning is winning regardless of the method, as it would be against a champ who's a one punch KO artist like Wilder. But similar tactics against supposed lesser fighters, fringe contenders and journeymen don't wash with me.
Joshua doing what 99% of UK doing then when this fights on. No worse than Wilder not turning up to his recent fights, Wilder was even offered payed analysis work which was turned down. All this wanting to square up to possible opponents in the ring is more WWE than Boxing. If it's what some people want to do then they maybe should go sign a contract with Triple H and the McMahon's.
A prime UK-Gold-medalist Audley Harrison!
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Chris 'Nightmare' Arreola! Nicolai Firtha, you remember how Firtha rocked Tyson Fury? Now go look at what Deontay did to him! You guys are unbelievable! Malik Scott in one round! Siarhei Liakhovich WOW!!! Stop it!
The same Audley Harrison that looked terrified during every second of his fight with David Haye before getting sparked in the 3rd? Also got sparked out by the glass-jawed David Price inside a round? Lost to journeymen Michael Sprott, Danny Williams, Martin Rogan and Dom Guinn? These losses were all before he was served up as a sacrificial lamb to Wilder.
Audley Harrison is a perfect example of an amateur stand-out who's transition to the paid ranks got lost in translation.
Liakhovic; who has lost to old man Shannon Briggs (could stop there, but....), Andy Ruiz, Jennings, Helenius and Valuev?
Arreola, a fat journeyman who makes Lucas Brown look like a sculpted Adonis?
The only one on your list that has any relevance to the Fury fight is Malik Scott, who boxes in a similar way to the big gypsy i.e running, dancing and holding - only he's a bit smaller and not as good at.
Povetkin is apparently on the April 13th card ... Usyk wouldn't / would he ?
It'd definitely be a watchable fight; but Povetkin's slightly shorter than Usyk, so it wouldn't really show how he can handle someone who's at least 6'5 and 240lbs.
Truth. So much truth. Everyone seems to think Wilder actually cares about getting outboxed when he fights. That includes the guys who get in the ring with him.
At some point hit might prove Wilder's downfall, but time will tell. If Fury is back at his very best on 01st December he is slick and awkward enough to win on points, but that's a big if.
Failing that it'll take someone who's also a concussive puncher but can box a bit as well like Joshua, or to a lesser extent Whyte.
Maybe some of the guys that regularly come in at over 260Lbs like Miller, Joyce, Breazeale could manhandle him to the point of exhaustion? It don't look pretty in the ring but it worked well for Whyte against Parker until he started getting tired himself in the later rounds.