Ricky Burns to fight for third world title in May, will face Italian Michele Di Rocco in Glasgow for WBA light-welterweight belt

03/04/2016 James Slater

Scottish warrior Ricky Burns, the former WBO super-featherweight and lightweight king, will get a chance to become a three-weight ruler in the summer, as he will challenge Italian Michele Di Rocco in Glasgow on May 21st for the regular WBA light-welterweight title which is vacant.

32-year-old Burns, 39-5-1(13) has only won three of his last seven outings and he had a bad spell in late 2013 to the summer of 2014, when he was held to a controversial draw by Raymundo Beltran (in a fight where Burns suffered a broken jaw and was deemed lucky to have escaped without a loss) and was then beaten on points by Terence Crawford and Dejan Zlaticanin. More than a few fans and experts felt the man from Coatbridge, Scotland was finished.

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Ten years on: retired great Joe Calzaghe looks back on his “masterpiece” against Jeff Lacy

03/04/201603/04/2016 James Slater

1,006 punches: that’s how many Welsh dragon Joe Calzaghe threw in a fight that is exactly ten years old today.

Amazingly, when looking back on the display of sheer dominance Calzaghe put on inside The MEN arena in Manchester, he was the underdog entering the fight with unbeaten star in the making Jeff Lacy. Calzaghe, who had a history of injuries and of pulling out of fights, was supposed to be smashed by the Floridian puncher some were calling “the next Mike Tyson.” Instead, British boxing bore witness to one of the finest, most ruthlessly efficient performances in ring history.

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Muhammad Ali postpones trip to UK until the summer, wants to meet the Queen in his final visit

03/04/201603/03/2016 James Slater

Heavyweight legend Muhammad Ali had hoped to be in the UK today, to officially open the “I am the Greatest” exhibition honoring his life and career at The O2. But, as reported by The Mirror, the 74-year-old icon was told by doctors that he needed to build up his strength for the long flight from the U.S. Reportedly, Ali, who has been bravely battling Parkinson’s since being diagnosed in 1984 (but many of Ali’s fans believe the great man was actually suffering from the disease a fair bit sooner than then; perhaps as early as the late 1970s, when he was of course still fighting at the highest level) will get his fitness levels up as high as is possible for a man who has Parkinson’s, and the plan is for “The Greatest” to then visit the UK, and the exhibition, in the summer.

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Tyson Fury’s promoter Mick Hennessey on the next fight: “100-percent, it’s Wladimir in the rematch”

03/03/2016 James Slater

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STEArRmWHxc

Tyson Fury’s promoter seems to know more than his fighters does! Just this past Saturday, when speaking with Sky Sports, the heavyweight champion said he had “no idea” who, when or where he was fighting next. But today, in speaking with Sky Sports himself, Fury’s promoter, Mick Hennessey, confirmed it will be Klitschko next for Fury, in the contracted rematch.

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With the WBA ordering Frampton to defend against Rigondeaux next, “Rigo” asks the new WBA/IBF champ, “Are you a coward?”

03/03/2016 James Slater

Yesterday, BBC Sport reported how the WBA have ordered Carl Frampton to fight Guillermo Rigondeaux by July 27th or face being stripped. As fans know, unbeaten Irishman Frampton added the WBA title to his IBF 122-pound belt with a points win over Scott Quigg this past Saturday. Back in late 2015, Rigondeaux, also unbeaten, was stripped of the WBA (and the WBO) title for inactivity and Quigg, the interim WBA champ, was elevated to full champion.

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Canelo Alvarez: I’m not a middleweight

03/03/201603/02/2016 James Slater

Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez wants to make a deal. Speaking today at the second stop in the three-city promotional tour to hype the upcoming May 7 Canelo-Amir Khan fight, Alvarez – as quoted by RingTV.com – made one thing clear: he is not a middleweight.

As fans everywhere know, the demand for Canelo, the lineal middleweight champion of the world, to fight Gennady Golovkin, the interim WBC and reigning IBF and WBA 160-pound king, is at a fever pitch right now. Everyone wants to see this fight get made, but Canelo said that both he and GGG will have to “feel comfortable” and that “the conditions have to be right.” before this super-fight can get done.

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Ortiz-Thompson clash this Saturday will not be a title fight, WBA declined to sanction “stay-busy” fight

03/03/201603/02/2016 James Slater

It probably won’t matter to the fans who plan to tune in to see the bout on Saturday night, but the fight between interim WBA heavyweight champ Luis Ortiz and short-notice challenger Tony Thompson will not be a sanctioned title fight. The WBA, as reported by ESPN.com, decided against sanctioning the contest, largely due to the fact that Thompson, though a good and experienced heavyweight, is not currently ranked in the WBA’s top-15 at the weight.

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Chris Eubank-Nigel Benn III? Yes, it could actually happen

03/02/2016 James Slater

For those fans who always felt bitter middleweight/super-middleweight rivals Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank had unfinished business to attend to back in the 1990s, by way of a third fight, there could be good news. Benn, who retired with a 42-5-1(35) record in 1996 after back-to-back losses to Irishman Steve Collins, recently made noise that suggested the 52-year-old was genuinely interested in returning to the ring to face the monocle-wearing fighter that so managed to get under his skin back in the day.

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Hughie Fury to face tested heavyweight Nagy Aguilera on March 26th Eubank-Blackwell bill

03/02/201603/01/2016 James Slater

Unbeaten heavyweight contender Hughie Fury, cousin of course of reigning heavyweight champ Tyson Fury, will face a tested and experienced fighter in Nagy Aguilera in his next bout. Set to face the 20-9 operator from The Dominican Republic on the March 26th card at Wembley that will be headlined by middleweights Nick Blackwell and Chris Eubank Junior who will meet in something of a grudge-match, 21-year-old Fury could have a good fight on his hands.

Aguilera, aged 29 and long time based in New York, has been in with a number of notable names, including: Oleg Maskaev, Sam Peter, Antonio Tarver, Chris Arreola, Tomasz Adamek and, more recently, unbeaten U.S heavyweight hopes Dominic Breazeale and Gerald Washington. Okay, most of these fighters have beaten Aguilera but, with the exception of Peter and Arreola, they have not stopped him. And Aguilera is coming off a win – he travelled to Poland last September, where he stopped a 16-1 Marcin Rekowski.

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Julio Cesar Chavez not happy with his son, suggests he retires if he cannot maintain discipline

03/02/201603/01/2016 James Slater

Mexican living legend Julio Cesar Chavez maintained an incredible work ethic throughout his great career and it was this discipline and hard work that was a big factor in his success. Julio Chavez Junior has inherited some of his father’s skills and toughness yet, as fans are well aware, Junior has had his share of problems when it comes to retaining both focus and discipline; what with the 30-year-old’s notorious problems making weight.

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