An interesting tweet from British trainer Peter Fury dropped last night regarding his unbeaten son Hughie – cousin of Tyson – potentially fighting WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in America.
September 26th is the penciled in date for the Alabama man’s return, with Fury tweeting;
“Call just came in from USA asking @hughiefury to fight Wilder in 4 weeks. Getting noticed @Tyson_Fury.”
American brawler Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios finally has cause to celebrate, with a probable challenge to WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley provisionally scheduled for November, according to his manager Cameron Dunkin.
Rios hasn’t been in a boxing ring since January when he brutalized old foe “Mile High” Mike Alvarado in their third meeting, forcing the Colorado man to retire after a 3 round beating in which Alvarado simply didn’t turn up.
Brixton’s Dillian Whyte, sporting his new “Body Snatcher” moniker disposed of Brazil’s Irineu Costa Jnr (now 17-5, 15ko) in effortless fashion last night ahead of his penciled in clash with old amateur rival and Olympic gold medalist Anthony Joshua later this year.
Joshua boxes Scotland’s Gary Cornish for the vacant Commonwealth title on September 12th in London, with Whyte scheduled also to box again on that date against a TBA opponent before their eventual November/December meeting.
(Photo credit: Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions) It looks like the curtain could well have come down on the long career of Brooklyn’s Paulie Malignaggi after defeat at the hands of former 140 lb champion Danny Garcia in New York last night, with “Swift” looking the bigger, stronger and bossier fighter throughout the 9 rounds the contest lasted.
Paulie was rocked backward by Garcia’s crisp jab in the opening round and that immediately set the tone of what was to come, with Malignaggi cut around the right eye early and looking like the 15 months of activity, coupled with his advancing years, had taken their toll on him.
Scotland’s former two weight world champion Ricky Burns, now campaigning back down at 135 lbs, had a bizarre end to his fight with Ghana’s Prince Ofutsu last night in Hull when the Ghanaian second threw in the towel midway through the fifth round – ostensibly for no apparent reason.
Yes the fight – a tune up for Burns following his defeat at the hands of Omar Figueroa in Texas back in May – was essentially a mismatch, with the now (15-4) Ofotsu hopelessly out-gunned from the get-go as a gulf in class was immediately evident.
Boxing can be a fickle business. Before both men boxed on opposite sides of the Atlantic on the same night last month, the odds-makers and a large majority of fight fans favoured IBF 122 lb champion Carl Frampton over his Bury based rival Scott Quigg should their sought after domestic grudge match ever come off.
Frampton survived some early scares in his American debut against Alejandro Gonzalez Jr to battle back for a courageous and deserved points win, while Quigg blew away former (2x) Frampton foe Kiko Martinez inside 2 rounds in Manchester, following perhaps the most shaky 1st round of his entire career.
Although he was floored three times and stopped in the 6th round in his world title challenge to Gennady Golovkin earlier this year (muttering the words ‘I’m done’ to ref Jack Weiss), former Boxcino tournament winner Willie Monroe Jr still impressed a few people with his performance, displaying some slick southpaw skills and impressive movement, tagging the Kazakh knockout artist more than is healthy at times, thus leaving many ringside to say – if only he had carried the power to gain Golovkin’s respect? Maybe, just maybe the Kazakh would have been in the first real trouble of his career?
Either way, it was clear after the fight that the New Yorker can come again, and in his latest chat with thaboxingvoice.com, Monroe alluded to a tentative Fall/Autumn return that he hopes may lead to an undercard spot on Golovkin’s October unification fight with French-Canadian banger and new IBF champion David Lemieux.
Big punching New Zealander Joseph Parker sent a further warning signal to the heavyweight division tonight, wiping out Bowie Tupou in a little over a minute in Invercargill with a stunning right hook up close that the Tonga born fighter simply didn’t see coming.
Tupou lay motionless, face down on the canvas for a few genuinely worrying moments before eventually being lifted to his feet. The 23 year old Parker improved to 15-0, 13 early with the 1st round victory – his 9th inside 3 rounds.
There is still no word from Britain’s WBA (interim) middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr (19-1, 14ko) regarding his next move, with February’s win over Russia’s Dmitry Chudinov the last time the Brighton based fighter stepped between the ropes.
A mooted rematch with bitter rival Billy Joe Saunders fell through earlier this year, with the Hatfield southpaw finally securing his mandatory challenge to Andy Lee’s WBO title for September, and a potential fight for Eubank on the undercard against Irishman Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (21-1, 14ko) is now also not going to happen.
It has now been over a year since the first of Marcos Maidana’s back to back fights with Floyd Mayweather, with no immediate signs of the Argentine puncher returning to the ring.
Maidana earned a pair of career-high purses for the dual decision losses to Mayweather and in the months since has been enjoying life in his home country, ballooning in weight considerably and struggling to find the motivation to make a return.
However his manager Sebastian Contursi has said that “Chino” will now be looking to get back in training at the Garcia Boxing Academy in Oxnard, US and see how he feels ahead of a possible in-ring return later this year.