Michael Collins

Bellew-Chilemba and Crolla-Mathews both end in draws

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In one of the worst decisions I’ve seen in a while, WBC Silver light heavyweight champion Tony Bellew (19-1-1, 12 KO’s) was given a 12 round draw against challenger Isaac Chilemba (20-1-2, 9 KO’s) tonight in Bellew’s home city of Liverpool, at the Echo Arena in the UK.

Chilemba completely controlled the last 9 rounds of the fight, and deserved a clear win by making the 6’2″ Bellew miss again and again with his shots. At the same time, Bellew got away with an awful of fouling in the fight in terms of holding and hitting, throwing a shot after the bell, a head butt and push that occurred after the 1st round had ended, and a handful of rabbit shots.

It look like the referee was just there to watch the fight instead of controlling it. The final judges scores were 116-112 for Chilema, 116-115 for Bellew, and 114-114 even. I scored the fight 117-111 for Chilemba.

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Audley Harrison: I have agreed to fight Deontay Wilder

harrison4 Former 2000 Olympic Gold medalist for Britain Audley Harrison (31-6, 23 KO’s) has agreed to face unbeaten American heavyweight contender Deontay Wilder (27-0, 27 KO’s) on April 27th on the Amir Khan vs. Julio Diaz card at the Motorpoint Arena, Sheffield, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

The card will be televised by Showtime in the United States, but it’s still unclear whether the Harrison-Wilder fight will make it on the televised portion of the card. You would have to figure it would be because it’ll likely be the co-feature on the card.

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Vitali Klitschko: Corrie Sanders was my toughest fight

Vitali Klitschko: Corrie Sanders was my toughest fight

WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko has a great deal of respect for former WBO heavyweight champion Corrie Sanders (42-4, 31 KO’s), who was murdered in South Africa this past weekend by three unknown thugs that robbed the restaurant where Sanders was celebrating a party.

Vitali said to the German news site Bild Plus “Corrie Sanders was the most difficult opponent I ever fought. Corrie was fast, could give and take a punch. His style was dangerous and did not suit me. I was very pleased to be able to win this fight.”

Vitali stopped Sanders by an 8th round TKO to avenge his brother Wladimir Klitschko’s 2nd round knockout loss to Sanders a year earlier in 2003. Wladimir never fought Sanders again after the loss and it’s perhaps wise that he didn’t. Sanders seemed to really have Wladimir’s number, and it might have been a bad idea for Wladimir to fight him again. Sanders almost knocked Vitali down at one point after connecting with a big left hand when Vitali tried to slug with him.

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Dawson: I’m going to use my superior boxing skills against Andre Ward

WBC light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson (31-1, 17 KO’s) doesn’t foresee himself having any problems whatsoever in making weight for his fight against WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward (25-0, 13 KO’s) next month on September 8th at the Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. Dawson, 30, will be moving down seven pounds from light heavyweight to fight Ward at 168 in Ward’s home city of Oakland.

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Steward may not be able to help Amir Khan

Recently there’s been talk of trainer Emanuel Steward being in the running for the position as new trainer for former IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan (26-3, 18 KO’s), if Khan decides to boot current trainer Freddie Roach. However, I’m skeptical about Steward being able to help Khan’s game in any real way.

If Khan’s fragile chin can’t take a healthy shot without him getting blasted out then I think even Steward would be a fail for him. Steward does well with giant heavyweights that have a built in height and reach advantage over their opponents. Khan, 5’10”, is taller than the average light welterweight but not that much taller to where he can just stay on the outside without ever getting his fragile chin touched.

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