ballencrieff

Lots of talk about Moses Itauma being finally stepped up, and will face former WBC Interim Champion Dillian Whyte. Old Dillian isn't anywhere near the level he was at 6 years ago. But if he can get it right in the gym then he'll be the toughest test Itauma has been given. I think it's a great fight. For too long Itauma has been touted as a contender, despite never beating another contender. Not sure he's beaten anybody in the Top 15. So I'm happy to see Moses finally being tested by someone who's going to be firing back. https://www.skysports.com/boxing/news/12183/13380541/dillian-whyte-in-talks-for-moses-itauma-british-heavyweight-fight-in-saudi-arabia-in-august

I didn't think they'd replace Dubois with anyone in the Top 10 so it was a surprise they picked Bakole to fight Parker. It seemed like madness to put a serious opponent opposite Parker, with his WBO mandatory position on the line, at such short notice. Now, this Bakole fight seems like a lot less of a risk. Firstly, they made Martin take THREE flights - Congo to Ethiopia to Dubai to Saudi. Yes it was in Business Class but Turki and his ilk have private jets and could have brought him over in comfort and style. This way, he's flying commercial, changing planes, hanging around for airport layovers and arriving at 2am on the morning of the fight!! Now we learn he's clearly not been training. Martin Bakole weighed about 285 lb for the Jared Anderson fight. He's turned up 30 lbs heavier for the Parker fight. He's going to be slow and will gas quickly. In contrast, Parker has looked very mobile and elusive in his last few fights - although Joe has come in heavier than normal as well, for some reason I can't fathom. Given all that, it seems like this is going to be an easy night for Joe and a painful experience for Martin. Bakole may even get so tired he'll get knocked out. And the Saudi's are paying him less than £500k if the reports coming out are to be believed.

Never mind Usyk vs Fury. The real monster heavyweight championship fight this Christmastime is going to be the return of Mahmoud Charr finally defending the belt he first won in 2017. He'll be taking on Kubrat Pulev on 7 December 2024 in Sofia, Bulgaria. After years of anticipation building, it's a fight that's sure to break all box office and PPV records. https://www.boxen1.com/mahmoud-charr-vs-kubrat-pulev-neu-angesetzt-89077/

So, according to what Frank Warren has told British media, Anthony Joshua didn't have a rematch clause going into the Dubois fight. AJ has a contractual obligation for one more fight with Riyadh Season - that's his deal with the Saudis. But Dubois doesn't have to give him a rematch according to Queensbury. Team Dubois would love to do it again it seems and think it would be even more devastating second time around, and easy money for DDD. The boxing pundits are pretty much unanimous that there shouldn't be a rematch, with Simon Jordan being the only contrary voice. Most want AJ to retire or have one last fight against Fury. I would like to see that if Fury loses vs Usyk. But even this older, less mobile version of Fury should still handle Joshua easily. He might have to carry him for the first few rounds just so it doesn't end too quickly. AJ could always land one and change the fight, but that's a 10%-20% chance of happening. Interview: www. youtube. com/watch?v=92covzCx2ts

His stock had dropped enormously since he won Olympic Gold and got a megadeal for TV rights from Canal+ but I'm still intrigued to see whether Yoka can come back and be a contender again. It seems no network is bothering to cover his fight tonight, except Canal+ who probably have a legal requirement to televise it. So it appears you have to make do with French lang commentary if you want to watch. Not a big deal as they throw in English boxing phrases all the time and if you know how things work, it's generally obvious what they're saying. If he loses to Merhy tonight, not sure whether Yoka still has a career as a fighter. And Canal+ will be desperate to never feature him again. We're maybe 60-90 mins away from the fight. Merhy has looked good in the buildup...

I used to think the undisputed matchup between the current belt holders would be a toss up, and that Usyk's speed and timing would be a good counterweight to Fury's size and tactical smarts. But since the Dubois fight every pundit is proclaiming that Usyk's big weakness has been exposed, he really doesn't cope well with big shots to the body, with the view that every future opponent will target that weakness. Fury is not exactly a clean fighter anyway and has a "by any means necessary" attitude to the sport. Given that, has the balance now tipped heavily into Fury's favour? Or can we assume from Usyk's battles with big punchers like Dubois and AJ that he can survive any onslaughts that Fury might unleash?

Reported by the BBC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/61942835 Tommy Fury has been denied entry to the US before his scheduled press conference with Jake Paul on Wednesday. The British boxer is due to fight YouTube star Paul on 6 August in New York. But Fury revealed on social media he had been stopped by US authorities at Heathrow airport on Tuesday. "As soon as I entered the airport I got pulled to one side and I was told by a Homeland Security officer that was there, that my ESTA had been denied and I wasn't able to travel to the USA for a reason that I apparently know," added Fury. British citizens have to apply for a visa online before they are allowed to board a flight to the US. Normally just a formality. Perhaps Tommy has his visa approval blocked for the same reasons as his brother Tyson. I can't imagine there being any other reason but who knows. If he can't fly over for the press conference, what are the chances he'll be allowed to fly over for the actual fight? Could be another cancellation coming soon.

As reported by BBC: "Deontay has set his family financially secure so he doesn't have to fight to make a living. But retiring is not in his plans at all and not something we've discussed. He will be back in any form he wants to be. He's a big-time fighter and he doesn't belong down there with the other guys, he needs to be in high-level fights and main events." I'm glad to hear it. I'd still like to see him fight Ruiz, Parker, Joyce, Helenius, Hrgovic, Yoka. He ducked Elite fighters for most of his career, so we don't know what level he's actually performing at. And so it would be good to see him against genuine contenders. And then maybe have him take on AJ or Whyte if he's victorious over a couple of the current Top 15.

He doesn't seem like someone who will want to retire. AJ, Usyk, Whyte, Joyce aren't realistic options. So who would be the best opponent to bring him back into contention? Ortiz is a waste of time IMHO. Ruiz is a good option I think, to prove he's still relevant. Rivas, for the Bridgerweight title, might be a good idea. They'd both get paid well and Wilder might become two-weight champ, albeit in the fake division.

Came across this explantion when looking for the answer to this question about why boxing is in a big mess. https://youtu.be/n5oh71xAXY0 I still think promoters are the big problem because paying off or strongarm the sanctioners, referees and judges to favour their fighters. Even this week we seen very suspicious judging. Also they protect fighters from strong challengers to keep the gravy train and profits rolling in. So best not fighting the best and unifications not happening enough. But maybe I'm wrong. Is it sanctioning bodies are the biggest villains? :feedback:

Not sure what's going on, but some really weird messages coming from the World Boxing News Twitter account. So either it's been hacked or Phil Jay has been on the crack pipe during the Usyk-AJ fight. {"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\tAJ-Usyk 3.png Views:\t47 Size:\t93.6 KB ID:\t31101825","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"31101825","data-size":"custom","height":"389","title":"AJ-Usyk 3.png","width":"477"} {"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\tAJ-Usyk 2.png Views:\t45 Size:\t95.2 KB ID:\t31101826","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"31101826","data-size":"custom","height":"488","title":"AJ-Usyk 2.png","width":"476"} {"alt":"Click image for larger version Name:\tAJ-Usyk 1.png Views:\t45 Size:\t91.6 KB ID:\t31101827","data-align":"none","data-attachmentid":"31101827","data-size":"custom","height":"370","title":"AJ-Usyk 1.png","width":"502"}

My money's on Michelle by TKO in R1-3. {"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","title":"Obamas Boxing.png","data-attachmentid":31082773}

I think this is just another promotional trick. He's "retired" from boxing and then when he announces a comeback - against another non-boxer - there will be much social media fanfare and buzz in order to sell more tickets for the next fight. According to The Sun: JAKE Paul has QUIT boxing after defeating former UFC champ Tyron Woodley on Sunday. The 24-year-old claimed he banked £72million in the big fight before telling his social media followers he was done in the ring with his record standing at 4-0. Just hours after beating Woodley, Paul took to Twitter to reveal he was hanging up his gloves. The YouTuber simply wrote: “Updated status: Retired boxer.” Paul won his fourth professional fight in the early hours of Monday morning after a split decision that the judges scored 77-75, 79-74, 75-77. After a cagey first three rounds, the fight burst into life in the fourth as Woodley finally went on the offensive. Things settled back down again towards the end of the eight rounds and the judges declared Paul the winner.