Heavyweight Schedule for 2018

[Jewish-Reptile]

“The Pin” Szpilka getting ready for Chicago

26-year-old Polish southpaw heavyweight Artur “The Pin” Szpilka (18-1, 13 KOs) can’t wait to be in the ring again. “Fighting in Chicago is almost like fighting in Poland. The best place to be,” said Szpilka, who will be back in action on a June 12 Premier Boxing Champions Spike TV event in the Windy City.

“I’m getting better not every week, but every day working with Ronnie Shields in the “Plex” Houston gym. My promoters are telling me that I have to be patient, but if you ask me I’m ready to fight the best in the world right now. Give me the best, give me WBC champ Deontay Wilder – why not?” stated always very confident Szpilka, whose rival for Chicago will be announced shortly. It won’t be the “Bronze Bomber” Wilder. Not yet.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder will save American boxing

The Fight of the Century between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao earlier this month failed to live up to the hype about as miserably as old daredevil Evel Knievel’s jump over Snake River Canyon in a homemade rocket in 1974.

What boxing needed May 2 was a great fight between great champions, a memorable night that would rejuvenate a sport that has seemingly been locked in a submission hold by Ultimate Fighting Championship and its president, Dana White.

Like many boxing fans, I’m done wasting my time and money watching Mayweather run circles inside a square ring, jabbing and sticking his way to lopsided wins. I’m done with Pacquiao talking tough but putting more effort into his wannabe singing career than the heavy bag.

But I’m not done with boxing.

That’s because of Deontay Wilder.

Who?

Most boxing fans don’t know Wilder or what he’s accomplished.

But Wilder, 29, is the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion. He dethroned Haitian-born Bermane Stiverne of Canada in January to become the first American WBC heavyweight champ since Hasim Rahman in 2006.

Wilder is 6-foot-7 and 220 pounds of thunder from Tuscaloosa, Ala. He won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and is 33-0 with 32 knockouts as a pro. To see Wilder work in a ring is like watching a wrecking ball take on drywall. The results are devastating.

After American heavyweight champs Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield faded, boxing had a good run with the lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions. But those divisions seem to be washed up. Wilder’s arrival couldn’t have come at a better time.

Most boxing observers recognize only Ukraine’s Wladimir Klitschko as the true heavyweight champion. But at 39, the champion’s reign is ending.

It’s been a long time since a heavyweight championship fight was on pay-per-view. But when Wilder eventually takes on Klitschko for the unified heavyweight title, it will be worth my time and money.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Boytsov in a coma.

Former WBO #1 rated heavyweight Denis Boytsov (36-1, 27 KOs) has been seriously injured in a non-boxing incident. According to the Berliner Kurrier, the 29-year-old Boytsov is now in an induced coma in a Berlin hospital. He was found in a subway tunnel between stations with serious head injuries and a hand injury. Police are not commenting on the incident. “Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family,” said his promoter Sauerland Event in a statement.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Olga Boytsov

Boytsovs wife Olga was quoted on Tuesday by the Russian newspaper "Sovetsky Sport" with the words, the Boxers had planned the day of the raid, to watch the Mayweather fight against Pacquiao, with his acquaintances from Hamburg.

"And Hamburg is a city with which we have a special story. Two years ago, Denis has left the boxing stable of promoter Waldemar Kluch. At that time we got threats. Denis got SMS indicating that he would end up in a wheelchair. Ultimately the consultants Denis was attacked in a park and suffered head injuries. After the police intervened. Kluch was sentenced to three years in prison, but set free again three months ago. Although we know nothing precise - the police asked us not to make all of our suppositions publicized. But there may be consequences of that history, "said Olga.

On the Russian website of the athlete it said on Tuesday: "Maybe this depends assassination along with the sports activities of the boxer. About two years ago he has ever received threats. "

His wife added: "In Denis' blood alcohol was discovered. It should have been any additives that are similar to a tranquilizer or a sleeping pill, so that it becomes weaker. (...) The police are investigating. As it was said, is similar to all this by no means an accident. "

She also believes in no accidental conflict, "Denis never spoke about provocations. He did not break the law, even if one was trying to provoke him. I know that excellent, because you tried several times on purpose to hurt him verbally. Once was trying to rob him. But he always found a worthy way out of such situations. He is aware how hard he can strike. We suspect that it comes to those old threats. "

Olga was asked to comment on the information according to which her husband had been tracked to a subway station by someone. She said, "About five hours we have studied the records of surveillance cameras with the police. For the last time Denis is received, as he enters the subway. He's quick, but does not run. Hard to say: Even in general it does not go slowly. But you can see that he enters the subway in a normal and adequate state. However, that was about 11.00 clock - and only at 16.30 clock he was found in the tunnel ".

The "Berliner Kurier" had a police spokesman was quoted as saying: "A metro driver noticed lying between the tracks man on Sunday before about 16:30 clock between Bismarckstraße stations and Wilmersdorferstraße. He was taken to hospital with a head injury, operated on immediately and has since been intensive medical care. "

As the German newspaper reported, citing reliable sources, Boytsov should have been in front of someone on the run when he ran into the subway tunnel. Who followed him there, but it is not clear, it said.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Something to make you laugh.

Kellie Maloney, who as Frank Maloney served as the manager to former world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis, is seen Thursday after undergoing a sex change.
You can take Frank Maloney out of boxing but you can't take boxing out of Kellie Maloney.

Just weeks after former boxing promoter Frank Maloney completed a sex change, the now female manager behind former world heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis says she's back in the game.

"I may have had a body modification," Maloney — who now goes by the first name of Kellie — said Thursday after announcing the resumption of a 30-year career as a promoter, "but I haven't had my brain altered just yet."

The 62-year-old, who under her previous male name and face helped steer Lewis to heavyweight titles in the 1990s and early 2000s, is now planning a fresh start while managing two fighters.

Those are Scottish heavyweight Gary Cornish and English amateur Tony Jones.

Maloney credited Jones' knock on her door, asking if she could manage him, for getting her back in the sport — high heels and all.

"I'm not ready to take up knitting and sit at home," she said. "A light just went off in my head. I love boxing, it's my passion, and I thought, 'Why don't you go back in there?'


"I know there are going to be the sort of remarks I won't like to hear," she said of critics, "but it's all part of the world I'm going into. A baying crowd that has had too much to drink? It'll be like water off a duck's back."


Her first appearance back in boxing circles is scheduled for Glasgow on May 23, when Cornish and Jones are scheduled to fight.

Though she has the same skills and experience as her revered male predecessor, Frank Maloney, she states: "I have to start at the bottom and work my way up."

"If I can achieve half of what Frank Maloney achieved, it will be a bigger achievement."

Maloney's transition, completed earlier this month, came after two years of undergoing such challenges as hormone therapy, hair removal electrolysis and counseling.

Last August the twice-married father of three publicly announced that she was switching from male to female. Around that time she also appeared on the reality TV show, "Celebrity Big Bummer"

Maloney says she is not daunted by re-entering the macho world of boxing, and believes her presence can change perceptions.

"I haven't set out to change the world and be a crusader, and I still don't think I am, but I think people have realized that transsexuals are normal, the same as everyone else," she said, speaking in central London.

"I am very contented, very at ease with myself. I'm ready to come back into the real world and step back into the world of boxing," he said.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Something to make you cry, Magomed Abdusalomov.

GREENWICH, Conn.Mago is in the bedroom. You can go in.

The big man lies on a hospital bed with his bare feet scraping its bottom rail. His head is propped on a scarlet pillow, the left temple dented, the right side paralyzed. His dark hair is kept just long enough to conceal the scars.

The occasional sounds he makes are understood only by his wife, but he still has that punctuating left hand. In slow motion, the fingers curl and close. A thumbs-up greeting.

Hello, Mago.


Former heavyweight boxer Magomed Abdusalamov in his family's rented home in Greenwich, Conn., April 30, 2015.
This is Magomed Abdusalamov, 34, also known as the Russian Tyson, also known as Mago. He is a former heavyweight boxer who scored four knockouts and 14 technical knockouts in his first 18 professional fights. He preferred to stand between rounds. Sitting conveyed weakness.

But Mago lost his 19th fight, his big chance, at the packed Theater at Madison Square Garden in November 2013. His 19th decision, and his last.

Now here he is, in a small bedroom in a working-class neighborhood in Greenwich, in a modest house his family rents cheap from a devoted friend. The air-pressure machine for his mattress hums like an expectant crowd.

Today is like any other day, except for those days when he is hurried in crisis to the hospital. Every three hours during the night, his slight wife, Bakanay, 28, has risen to turn his 6-foot-3 body 210 pounds of dead weight. It has to be done. Infections of the gaping bedsore above his tailbone have nearly killed him.

Then, with the help of a young caretaker, Baka has gotten two of their daughters off to elementary school and settled down the toddler. Yes, Mago and Baka are blessed with all girls, but they had also hoped for a son someday.

They feed Mago as they clean him; its easier that way. For breakfast, which comes with a side of crushed anti-seizure pills, he likes oatmeal with a squirt of Hersheys chocolate syrup. But even oatmeal must be pureed and fed to him by spoon.

He opens his mouth to indicate more, the way a baby does. But his paralysis has made everything a choking hazard. His water needs a stirring of powdered food thickener, and still he chokes eh-eh-eh as he tries to cough up what will not go down.

Mago used to drink only water. No alcohol. Not even soda. A sip of juice would be as far as he dared. Now even water betrays him.

With the caretakers help, Baka uses a washcloth and soap to clean his body and shampoo his hair. How handsome still, she has thought. Sometimes, in the night, she leaves the bedroom to watch old videos, just to hear again his voice in the fullness of life. She cries, wipes her eyes and returns, feigning happiness. Mago must never see her sad.

Bakanay Abdusalamova, Abdusalamov's wife, and her injured husband and a masseur in the background.
When Baka finishes, Mago is cleanshaven and fresh down to his trimmed and filed toenails. I want him to look good, she says.

Theirs was an arranged Muslim marriage in Makhachkala, in the Russian republic of Dagestan. He was 23, she was 18 and their future hinged on boxing. Sometimes they would shadowbox in love, her David to his Goliath. You are so strong, he would tell her.

His father once told him he could either be a bandit or an athlete, but if he chose banditry, It will kill you. This paternal advice, Mago later told The Ventura County Reporter, made it a very easy decision for me.

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Mago won against mediocre competition, in Moscow and Hollywood, Florida, in Las Vegas and Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He was knocked down only once, and even then, it surprised more than hurt. He scored a technical knockout in the next round.

It all led up to this: the undercard at the Garden, Mike Perez vs. Magomed Abdusalamov, 10 rounds, on HBO. A win, he believed, would improve his chances of taking on the heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, who sat in the crowd of 4,600 with his fiancée, the actress Hayden Panettiere, watching.

Wearing black-and-red trunks and a green mouth guard, Mago went to work. But in the first round, a hard forearm to his left cheek rocked him. At the bell, he returned to his corner, and this time, he sat down. i think its broken, he repeatedly said in Russian.

Maybe at that point, somebody the referee, the ringside doctors, his handlers should have stopped the fight, under a guiding principle: Better one punch too early than one punch too late. But the bloody trade of blows continued into the seventh, eighth, ninth, a hand and orbital bone broken, his face transforming.

Meanwhile, in the familys apartment in Miami, Baka forced herself to watch the broadcast. She could see it in his swollen eyes. Something was off.

After the final round, Perez raised his tattooed arms in victory, and Mago wandered off in a fog. He had taken 312 punches in about 40 minutes, for a purse of $40,000.

In the locker room, doctors sutured a cut above Mago's left eye and tested his cognitive abilities. He did not do well. The ambulance that waits in expectation at every fight was not summoned by boxing officials.

Blood was pooling in Mago's cranial cavity as he left the Garden. He vomited on the pavement while his handlers flagged a taxi to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital. There, doctors induced a coma and removed part of his skull to drain fluids and ease the swelling.

Then came the stroke.

It is lunchtime now, and the aroma of pureed beef and potatoes lingers. So do the questions.

How will Mago and Baka pay the $2 million in medical bills they owe? What if their friend can no longer offer them this home? Will they win their lawsuits against the five ringside doctors, the referee, and a New York state boxing inspector? What about Mago's future care?

Most of all: Is this it?

A napkin rests on Mago's chest. As another spoonful of mush approaches, he opens his mouth, half-swallows, chokes, and coughs until it clears. Eh-eh-eh. Sometimes he turns bluish, but Baka never shows fear. Always happy for Mago.

Some days he is wheeled out for physical therapy or speech therapy. Today, two massage therapists come to knead his half-limp body like a pair of skilled corner men.

Soon, Mago will doze. Then his three daughters, ages 2, 6 and 9, will descend upon him to talk of their day. Not long ago, the oldest lugged his championship belt to school for a proud show-and-tell moment. Her classmates were amazed at the weight of it.

Then, tonight, there will be more pureed food and pulverized medication, more coughing, and more tender care from his wife, before sleep comes.

Goodbye, Mago.

He half-smiles, raises his one good hand, and forms a fist.

[Jewish-Reptile]

WBA heavyweight contender Tyson Fury (24-0, 18 KOs) says he’s going to obliterate IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs) once he gets him inside the ring at some point in the future.

The 26-year-old Fury could get his shot at Klitschko later this year unless Klitschko retires or vacates his WBO title. Fury is the WBO mandatory challenger for Wladimir after he beat Dereck Chisora by a 10th round stoppage in November 2014.

Fury is now waiting for his mandatory title shot against the 39-year-old Wladimir. Fury has already had one tune-up fight against Christian Hammer, and it’s unclear if he’ll take another one because the Wladimir fight might not take place until the end of the year if then.

“If I ever get hold of Wladimir I will smash him in bits.” said Fury via Britishboxers. “He is a **** house man he wouldn’t spar his shadow.”

Fury doesn’t have the kind of punching power to worry a guy like Wladimir, but he can possibly outwork him. That’s definitely a way that Fury can beat the Ukrainian. We saw how bad Wladimir looked in his recent win over American Bryant Jennings last month. Wladimir couldn’t pull the trigger on his shots, and looked like an old fighter.

If Wladimir looks like that against Fury, then I can possibly see him losing the fight. Wladimir will obviously nail Fury with some big shots along the way. If Fury can’t get out of the way of those punches, then I can see him getting knocked out because he’s not going to be able to take Wladimir’s best shots without dropping for the 10 count.

Fury, 6’9”, is bent out of shape because Wladimir supposedly did spar him in the past when Fury wanted to spar him. At the time, Wladimir was getting ready for a fight against the much shorter Chisora, and he didn’t see it being helpful for him to spar against someone totally unlike the fighter that he was planning on facing. The Chisora fight ultimately didn’t take place after Wladimir suffered an injury during training camp.

“I had my head-guard on I said go on let’s have a spar and he said no I’m only sparring small guys, because at the time he was going to be fighting Dereck Chisora, and he was scared of Dereck Chisora,” Fury said. “I said to him, I can beat Dereck Chisora never mind you, and then I went on a few months later and beat Dereck Chisora.”

Big deal, Fury beats Chisora. That doesn’t mean anything. We already saw David Haye do a much better job of defeating Chisora than Fury did.

If Fury gets whipped by Wladimir this year, it’s going to be a big setback for Fury because he’ll need to rebuild his career slowly. He’s young enough to come back from the defeat, but he’ll need to be selective in the type of opponents he faces because he won’t be able to risk his hide against a talent like WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. That’s a bad match-up for Fury due to Wilder’s hand speed, size and power.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Alex Leapai distances himself from Joseph Parker as he prepares for Manuel Charr

Former heavyweight contender Alex Leapai has distanced himself from a fight with exciting Kiwi Joe Parker but said business would be taken care of if the New Zealand prospect stood in the way of another crack at the world title.

Leapai (30-6) will try to break a two-fight losing streak when he travels to Russia to fight Manuel Charr (27-3) in Moscow on May 22, a bout crucial to his resurgence after heavy losses to undisputed champion Wladimir Klitschko (KO5) and American journeyman Malik Scott (UD).

He's barely been in better shape, fighting at his lowest weight (110kg) in years and with sharper vision after surgery to both eyes to remove cataracts that had been severely limiting his eyesight.

Leapai had barely been able to read a keyboard or road signs, let alone try to avoid a night-ending jab from Klitschko, who continues to dominate the division at the age of 38 amid swirling rumours of his impending retirement.

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"My reactions were just too slow. The punches had already landed. They told me I was going blind in the right eye and the left eye was on the way as well. But I can see again, put it that way," Leapai said. "I thought it was just normal but it was pretty bad. It got to the stage where I couldn't even read the signs on the road. It was that bad. Even a keyboard. I got it fixed and it's like brand new."

The 35-year-old remains determined to prove he was more than a Cinderella story that had a shot at the title then faded from view. The 192cm Charr will tower over Leapai, who has struggled against taller men but hopes the German stays in the pocket to trade power shots.

"Charr is going to be tough. But he's going to be right there. That's the style of fighting that I love. I'm going there to make a statement," Leapai said. "I've trained very hard for this fight. It's the lightest I've been in the past three years. I feel good, my eyes are good, I just can't wait to get in there and get into smash mode."

The 23-year-old Parker has just finished a stint sparring in the Klitschko camp and there is a growing buzz around his potential despite just 13 professional fights, 11 of which he's won by stoppage. He travelled with Leapai to Germany in April last year, toughing out a win on the undercard, before returning home and dealing with every comer in impressive style.

The boxers have become friends and Leapai said he would rather not take on the youngster but the fact remains it would be a high-profile fight in both nations, with a potentially handy purse at stake. "I wouldn't see myself fighting Parker. He's going to be the next in this region to take over and I hope he goes a long way. It's about putting this side of the world on the map," Leapai said. "Good luck to him. My main goal is to get up and win a world title. If he does get in the way, it just has to be."

Parker fights in Palmerston North on June 13 against a TBC opponent, with unbeaten Brisbane welterweight Jeff Horn to feature on the undercard.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Tyson Fury's camp confident of luring Wladimir Klitschko to UK for world title fight

Tyson Fury's world heavyweight title fight against Wladimir Klitschko is heading towards a purse bid but the Briton's promoter Mick Hennessy is still confident the fight will be staged in England.

Fury (24-0, 18 KOs) is the mandatory challenger to world No.1 Klitschko (64-3, 53 KOs), who holds the WBA, WBO and IBF world title belts.

Talks between the two camps have yet to result in an agreement and Hennessy believes the date and venue are most likely going to be decided by which promoter wins the purse bid next month.

"Right now the fight looks like it's heading for a purse bid," Hennessy told ESPN.

"There's a big case for it being held in the UK and big money for it, so I don't know if it will happen in Germany just because it might go to a purse bid. I think the fight could happen any time from September to November."

Hennessy is working with fellow British promoter Frank Warren to stage Klitschko-Fury at an outdoor stadium in England and to be broadcast live on subscription channel BoxNation.

The odds of winning the purse bid will be stacked heavily in 39-year-old Ukrainian Klitschko's favour since the champion is entitled to 80 percent of the winning bid.

However, Hennessy is confident of making Klitschko travel to the UK to box for the first time since 2000, with Wembley Stadiums one of the venues under consideration.

Klitschko made an 18th title defence with a comfortable points win over Bryant Jennings in New York last month, while unbeaten Fury, who at 6ft 9in is three inches taller than the champion, last boxed in March.

[Jewish-Reptile]

Liverpool heavyweight David Price will 'give the city a reason to believe' again

Liverpool heavyweight David Price will 'give the city a reason to believe' in him again

Heavyweight David Price will fight in Liverpool for the first time in two years next month.

The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist has vowed to give “the people of this city a reason to believe” in him again.

Pricey has not fought in Liverpool since back-to-back defeats to Tony Thompson in 2013.

And now he’s hoping to confirm a European title fight against undefeated German Erkan Teper for his homecoming on June 26.

Since those two devastating losses to Thompson, Price has gone back to the drawing board and teamed up with Sauerland Promotions – a move he credits with his improving fortunes.

“I know a lot of people lost faith because of what happened to me,” said Price.

“I was moving forward like a juggernaut and there was a lot of buzz and excitement around; then it just came to a sudden halt. It was disappointing for a lot of people but none more so than myself.

“If someone had have come up to me back then and said that in two years time I’d be signed with an excellent, professional promotional outfit; four wins back in to the game and potentially fighting for a European title in Liverpool – I would have taken their hand off.

“For me, on June 26, it’ll be about me giving the people of this city a reason to believe they have a potential heavyweight champion of the world.

“It would be perfect if it was for the European title which would put me in a great position moving forward.”

Despite the horrors of 2013, Pricey doesn’t look back, admitting that those fights are “part of my story now”.

“I don’t think of the Arena as a haunted house,” he said. “My main memory of it, is walking out for the Audley Harrison fight and the place was electric; I’ve never experienced an atmosphere like it.

“That tunnel and walking into the ring is special. Those other memories are buried deep away.

“Overcoming my demons wasn’t about going back to the ECHO; it was about stepping back into a boxing ring. People will see the new improved, more relaxed, version of David Price.”

The 31-year-old is one of several British heavyweights aiming to make a dent on the world stage, with Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua both making waves in the division.

“It looks like we’re about to enter a bit of a golden age for heavyweight boxing in this country,” said Price.

“One which is better than anything in recent memory, and to be part of that is fantastic. There are big fights to be made among those boxers and those fights are going to involve me - without a doubt!”