James Toney victorious in his “final” fight, stops Mike Sheppard to win WBF belt

05/14/2017 James Slater

Last night in Michigan, in a fight that was barely covered, 48 year old future Hall of Famer James Toney improved to a quite amazing 77-10-3(47) with a TKO win over veteran journeyman Mike Sheppard. Toney, weighing a hefty 249 pounds, unloaded some hurtful body shots, sending Sheppard down.

The younger man (Sheppard is 41) got up but was counted out in the act of rising, the fight waved off. Sheppard is now 24-21-2(10).

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It will be Kubrat Pulev next for Joshua if Klitschko retires, says Hearn

05/13/2017 James Slater

Anthony Joshua, the recently crowned IBF/WBA heavyweight king, is arguably THE hottest fighter in the sport right now, yet his next fight will be decided by the man AJ beat in stunning fashion last month.

Wladimir Klitschko, the proud ex-champ who, despite losing in an heroic effort, raised his game to tremendous heights on April 29, has a rematch if he wants to take it. It is now up to the 41 year old: will he retire, or will he demand the rematch, maybe in October or November of this year? Joshua says he is happy to fight “Dr. Steel Hammer” a second time – and the entire boxing population wants to see a sequel, the April battle was so great – even in Germany.

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Golovkin-Canelo: The Super-Fight everyone is talking about; and here are a few reasons why

05/10/201705/10/2017 James Slater

It’s the biggest fight of the year, no doubt, and already fight fans everywhere are talking about the September 16 showdown between middleweight king Gennady Golovkin and star challenger Canelo Alvarez. And there are plenty of things to talk about with this mega-fight.

Aside from discussing who will win the big fight, fans are currently mulling over the following things:

The fight will not be fought at a catch-weight.

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Golovkin vs Canelo Is Official At Last!!

05/07/201705/07/2017 James Slater

From a dud comes an explosion of an announcement: GGG-Canelo is official at last!

Though yesterday’s heavily hyped “Battle of Mexico” showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Junior failed to deliver the great fight we were hoping for – the one-sided nature of Canelo’s performance and the perceived poor effort of Chavez Jr. forcing the fans in attendance to boo frequently – fans did not leave the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas totally unhappy.

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Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker: Worlds Apart

05/07/201705/06/2017 James Slater

It was always going to be a tough job for Joseph Parker: he was never going to be able to send fight fans home as happy and as excited as they were last Saturday night. Parker’s rival, WBA and IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua, gave the world a thrill with his terrific rumble with Wladimir Klitschko, and today Parker had the far less interesting task of dealing with late replacement foe Razvan Cojanu.

Parker, the WBO champ won okay, but the New Zealander looked far from impressive in labouring to a 12 round decision win. Worst still, Parker, 22-0 (18) put fans to sleep. No, it wasn’t all Parker’s fault – Cojanu was a replacement for Hughie Fury (who pulled out of the Parker fight with a bad back ) and the unheralded challenger used all of his 6’7″ to lean on smaller man Parker. It made for a dull fight.

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Exclusive Interview: Shawn Porter

05/03/2017 James Slater

Shawn Porter: The most exciting fighter today? The best welterweight in the world without a world title?

Former IBF welterweight champ Shawn Porter scored an impressive stoppage win over fellow former champ Andre Berto recently, earning himself a shot at the WBC crown currently held by Keith Thurman.

Thurman and Porter went to war in a thriller last summer, with Thurman winning a close and hard-fought 12 round decision. Porter craves a shot at revenge against “One Time;” even more than he wants a second fight with Kell Brook, the only other man to have beaten him.

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Ranking today’s top-10 heavyweights – now who’s top dog?

05/03/2017 James Slater

Together, heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko gave their sport, and their weight class in particular, a huge boost with their great action fight. With Tyson Fury out of action and with WBC heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder not yet facing a genuine risk of an opponent while he has been champion, the April 29 fight was largely sees as the two best heavyweights facing one another.

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Apparently, the weight is “dripping off” Tyson Fury as he trains for ring return

05/02/2017 James Slater

Is it eighteen pounds or is it 22? According to the man himself, unbeaten former heavyweight king Tyson Fury, it is eighteen pounds he has already shed whilst training in sunny Marbella; while according to his good friend, reigning and undefeated WBO middleweight champ Billy Joe Saunders, Fury has already loss 22 pounds in weight.

The world is now waiting for a Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua superfight, a fight that would in all probability surpass the enormous box-office success this past Saturday’s Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko enjoyed. As to whether Joshua Vs. Fury would result in as good a fight, well, that’s an entirely different story. But the boxing world does want to see the two undefeated twenty-somethings go at it, and Fury is, according to himself and to Billy Joe, working hard to make it happen.

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2017 could turn out to be an epic, Year of The Rematch

05/02/2017 James Slater

This year, an exciting one already for boxing fans, promises further great fights, and a good number of them could be rematches. A rematch happens either because there was a return clause in the contract or due to public demand, and this year we can either definitely, in the case of some fight returns, or likely, in other cases – look forward to:

Andre Ward-Sergey Kovalev II (on for June), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai-Roman Gonzalez II, Keith Thurman-Shawn Porter II and Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko II.

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Anthony Joshua is “boxing’s biggest star;” who would you prefer to see him fight next: Klitschko, Wilder or Fury?

05/02/2017 James Slater

Thanks to his quite thrilling, hugely impressive stoppage win over Wladimir Klitschko, two-belt holder Anthony Joshua is currently being showered with all manner of plaudits; most of them well deserved. The unbeaten heavyweight ruler has been called “boxing’s biggest star” by some, who claim AJ has taken the mantle of the sport’s biggest attraction from the one and only Floyd Mayweather.

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