Last night, on the under-card of Tony Bellew’s fantastic KO win over the dangerous Ilunga Makabu, heavyweight contender David Price returned to winning ways. Fighting for the first time since his July 2015 KO loss to Erkan Teper – who subsequently failed a post-fight drugs test and was banned from boxing – 32-year-old Price made short work of Czech Republic heavy Vaclav Pejsar. Price decked the 9-2(8) 31-year-old in the opening round and finished the job in the 2nd. Pejsar is no top contender, but he had never previously been stopped and he had won his previous four fights.
James Slater
Tony Bellew in bullish mood ahead of title fight with Ilunga Makabu, eyes cruiserweight clash with David Haye!
Tony Bellew is supremely confident heading into tonight’s WBC cruiserweight battle with fellow puncher Ilunga Makabu in his native Liverpool. Bellew, who will go to war at the home ground of his beloved Everton football club, insists nothing Makabu, 19-1(18) can do will prevent him from realising his dream and capturing the vacant green belt. Bellew is sure his moment of destiny has arrived and he is even talking about who he would like to fight after he’s beaten Makabu: none other than former undisputed cruiserweight champ and former WBA heavyweight ruler David Haye.
Surely the end for Sugar Shane Mosley; thanks for the great fights
We surely saw the final ring appearance of the once great Sugar Shane Mosley last night. Beaten to the punch by the thankfully not too murderous-punching David Avanesyan in an interim WBA welterweight showdown, the 44-year-old looked nothing like the sizzling lightweight sensation he once was. Those people who said all along that Mosley should not come back were proven right; even if Mosley proved he still has heart and the stomach for a fight.
Conor Benn makes it 2-0 as a pro with points win over Luke Keleher
Tonight on the Ricky Burns-Michelle Di Rocco card in Glasgow, Scotland, 19-year-old super-lightweight Conor Benn won his second pro bout with a four-round points win over Luke Keleher. Benn was unable to get the KO he seemed desperate to get, but he won the exciting if scrappy affair with his sheer, sometimes quite reckless aggression. 29-year-old Keleher, who did well not to be overwhelmed and indeed gave as good as he got in a couple of the all-action rounds, falls to 2-5-1(1), he has not yet been stopped as a pro. Benn won by the sole scoring official’s card of 40-36 but Keleher may feel aggrieved not to have been awarded at least one even round.
Evander Holyfield says Anthony Joshua has “a great chance” at breaking Marciano’s legendary 49-0 record
It’s one of the most famous and revered set of numbers in the sport of boxing: heavyweight immortal Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record. Ever since “The Rock” said goodbye to the ring with his perfect ledger, have heavyweights tried to break the record the hugely popular fighter (hugely popular in both life and in death) left behind. Larry Holmes came closest, in 1985, when he defeated Carl Williams to extends his record to 48-0. A controversial and very bitter (for Holmes) loss to Michael Spinks in a heavily hyped fight that same year ruined Larry’s aims to tie with Marciano’s magical numbers.
Lou DiBella says no opponent yet picked for Wilder’s upcoming voluntary, confirms it will not be David Haye
Though Mexican/American contender and former two-time world heavyweight title challenger Chris Arreola is, according to a number of sources, the current frontrunner to face WBC champ Deontay Wilder in his upcoming voluntary defence, promoter Lou DiBella has said that so far no choice of opponent has been decided. DiBella, speaking with Sky Sports, discussed the fact that the available opponents for the fight, targeted for July, consist of “slim pickings.”
Chris Arreola the frontrunner to face Deontay Wilder next, sources say
According to a number of publications – The LA Times and RingTV.com to name just two – Mexican/American heavyweight Chris Arreola is very much in the frame to challenge WBC king Deontay Wilder in Wilder’s next fight, his fourth voluntary title defence. In fact, Lance Pugmire of The LA Times, in revealing info he has received from “two officials close to the situation but unauthorised to speak publicly about the talk,” writes how Arreola is Wilder’s choice as far as his next challenger.
Eubank Junior on how he would beat GGG: “I see slowness, I see a weak defence”
British middleweight champ Chris Eubank Junior keeps talking about world middleweight king Gennady Golovkin and a potential fight between the two. And Eubank Jr, not at all lacking in confidence and self belief, insists he can beat the feared puncher known as Triple G. In fact, take away Golovkin’s power, Eubank says, and GGG becomes a “slow” fighter with “a weak defence.”
Speaking with Voice Of Sport, 26-year-old Eubank Jr, said the only way Golovkin beats him is by knocking him out; something he insists would not happen if the two fought.
Gerald Washington cuts short his vacation to prepare for shot at Deontay Wilder
In a story that neatly follows on from the article regarding just who WBC heavyweight king Deontay Wilder – who has been granted the right to take a voluntary defence in light of what happened with his mandatory defence against Alexander Povetkin – will fight next, unbeaten Gerald Washington has revealed how he has cut short a vacation in Hawaii so as to get back in the gym and prepare for what he calls an opportunity he has been waiting for for a long time.
Sugar Ray Leonard on Floyd Mayweather Junior: “He would have held his own in my era, I would have beat him”
Whenever the subject of Dream Fights comes up, fans often ponder what would have happened had classy, skilful and artistic welterweights Sugar Ray Leonard and Floyd Mayweather Junior met. Mayweather, who walked away with a stunning 49-0 ledger (maybe for good, who knows) believes he is “T.B.A,” The Best Ever. This opinion on the part of “Money” is not shared by all fans, but some people do agree with his bold claim.