Our Cardiff card on July 16 is shaping up to become an epic night of boxing for those in the arena and fans tuning in to the exclusive BoxNation broadcast. The original thinking behind booking the fantastic new Ice Arena was to provide the ideal backdrop for Liam Williams from Clydach Vale to defend his British and Commonwealth titles on home turf against Londoner Gary Corcoran.
The ‘AJ Experience’, as I heard Anthony Joshua’s fight nights at the 02 lovingly dubbed by Sky last week, once again followed a fairly predictable pattern. The only real difference was that the fans were able to gather a bit more footage than usual on their phones, as batteries as well as Joshua, were extended to seven rounds of action.
Liam Smith didn’t need asking twice when it was suggested that he might like to defend his title against a certain Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, live and exclusive on BoxNation. “Yeah, I’m having that,” he said. “That’s the fight I want – let’s get it on.” Well, it is on, the deal is done and dusted and it’s all happening in America on September 17.
After years of posturing we are still none the wiser over who would emerge with the spoils from a mouth-watering match-up between Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson. That one appears still very much parked up in the waiting room and whether it ever materialises remains to be seen.
Those of us in need of a little respite from England’s travails and a European Championship that has been less than gripping, as of yet, will be relieved to have some boxing back on the box this weekend – at a price, of course.
Frank Warren, who promotes WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12KOs), says a unification with WBC/IBF/IBO/WBA champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) is very possible to take place this year - if Saunders is properly paid for the contest.
At the second time of asking, with a UK visa firmly affixed in his passport, Guillermo Rigondeaux will land in Britain in July with the mission of taking on Liverpool’s Jazza Dickens with the WBA world super bantamweight title at stake.
The curtain came down on a fine career at York Hall on Friday night when Enzo Maccarinelli dropped his guard against the heavy hitting Dmytro Kucher in a challenge for the EBU cruiserweight title. That he was still in the punching for titles at the age of 35 and after 49 fights tells you everything you need to know about the man. He is fearless, would take on all-comers and simply loves the sport to such an extent that, while he was prolonging his career under the astute tutelage of Gary Lockett in Cardiff, he was also training up young hopefuls at his own gym in Swansea.
Frank Warren, who at one time promoted Chris Eubank Jr., says the middleweight contender is putting on a front with his continuous challenges to Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs). Golovkin, recognized as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, holds the WBA, IBF, IBO and WBC middleweight world titles.
Liam Smith did what he had to do with his brutal demolition of Predrag Radosevic in Liverpool last weekend. The man from Montenegro – with one previous defeat on his card – didn’t get a chance to show resistance, but the bout served its purpose and kept Beefy busy.