Olly Campbell

Carl Frampton Begins Building Stateside / PBC On ITV ?

Carl Frampton Begins Building Stateside / PBC On ITV ?

After inking his deal with Al Haymon recently, the expected announcement that IBF 122lb champion Carl Frampton would soon appear on the Premier Boxing Champions brand has arrived, with the Tiger’s Bay man fighting Alejandro Gonzalez Jr in El Paso, Texas on July 18th in the 2nd defence of his title.

Not too much is known about Frampton’s Mexican opponent, who at 22 years of age, has only boxed outside of Mexico the once – yet he will be looking to emulate his father, Alejandro ‘La Cobrita’ Gonzalez who pulled off a similar feat in 1995, when he stunned a then undefeated Kevin Kelley to take the WBC featherweight strap when he was just 21 years old – also in Texas.

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Bernard Hopkins Serious About Fighting On / Wants James DeGale

Bernard Hopkins Serious About Fighting On / Wants James DeGale

He will be remembered by history as one of the greatest middleweight titlist’s of all time and the Hall Of Fame will surely already have a spot reserved for him, yet following his incredibly brave and spirited performance against Sergey Kovalev, in which he sustained a severe and comprehensive beating – many felt that Bernard Hopkins had at last taken one trip back to the well too many and that it was time for the curtain to finally come down on the Philly native’s epic, record breaking career.

Among his extraordinary achievements are; the most middleweight title defences in history, longest ever reign at 160 and being the oldest fighter to ever win a world title – so now, being 50 years of age, one thinks what could honestly be left for the modern great?

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Anthony Joshua Eyes Future Wilder / Haye Fights

Anthony Joshua Eyes Future Wilder / Haye Fights

Last weekend we saw big punching British heavyweight prospect Anthony Joshua answer the ‘test’ of Kevin Johnson in emphatic style, making a mockery of the American’s prior credentials of having never previously being stopped throughout his long professional career – the pinnacle of which saw him see the final bell against Vitali Klitschko back in 2009.

The fact he also extended Joshua’s domestic peers Tyson Fury and Dereck Chisora the 12 round distance, has drawn comparisons between the British heavyweight rivals – with a school of thought existing that Joshua could well jump in – and beat – either man tomorrow.

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Willie Monroe Jr Would Love To Earn GGG Rematch

Willie Monroe Jr Would Love To Earn GGG Rematch

Many fans were left pleasantly surprised by 2014 Boxcino tournament winner Willie Monroe Jr in his fight with Gennady Golovkin recently, in which the spirited American was simply outgunned by the brute strength and power of the Kazakh who broke him down and floored him 3 times en route to earning a 6th round stoppage – one which was no doubt hastened by Monroe appearing to say “I’m done” to referee Jack Reiss after rising to his feet.

In spite of that, not many fans gave the light hitting New Yorker a prayer going into the fight, yet he was consistently able to tag Golovkin as the champion moved forward, all the while displaying some slick footwork, decent handspeed and a pure boxing southpaw style that for me, showed he at least has the ability to hang with most of the top 10 at 160lb.

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Brandon Rios : Kell Brook Fight In The Works / Slates Top Rank

Brandon Rios : Kell Brook Fight In The Works / Slates Top Rank

It’s now been almost 6 months since we last saw former WBA 135lb champion Brandon Rios in a ring – forcing a 3rd round retirement from Mike Alvarado in a disappointing end to their all-action trilogy – a fight it’s fair to say Alvarado simply didn’t turn up to on the night.

Since then, Rios has been linked to a couple of other noted ‘names’ – including Ruslan Provodnikov, Lucas Matthysse and, most realistically, IBF 147 boss, Britain’s Kell Brook.

Speaking to fighthype.com to discuss the rumours on social media, Rios attempted to clarify his position by appearing to insist it is indeed the UK fighter who is in the frame to be his next opponent.

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Golovkin: Wants Cotto & All The Belts At 160

Golovkin: Wants Cotto & All The Belts At 160

‘Catchweight King’ seems to be a more appropriate phrase to describe lineal 160lb champion and WBC middleweight boss Miguel Cotto these days, with the fans almost unanimous in their recognition of Kazakh wrecking machine Gennady Golovkin as the division’s numero uno and top name.

Despite being in attendance to watch Cotto destroy Geale last night, Golovkin -the Puerto Rican’s mandatory challenger – appears to again being given the cold shoulder by Miguel and Freddie Roach as they look towards an all but confirmed super fight with Canelo Alvarez later this year.

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Oscar De La Hoya Focusing On Cotto v Canelo / Dismissive Over ‘Comeback’

Oscar De La Hoya Focusing On Cotto v Canelo / Dismissive Over 'Comeback'

After Miguel Cotto’s dominating and destructive performance against Daniel Geale last night in New York, one man rubbing his hands together was Golden Boy chief Oscar De La Hoya, who has told fighthype.com that he is now fully focused on putting together the ‘super fight’ between the Puerto Rican ace and his fighter – Mexican Box Office draw, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez – a clash that is all but a done deal in principle anyway.

Thankfully for the concerned parties, Geale was unable to take the shine of the mooted clash between the two stars – which would have had taken a hit at least financially should the Australian have pulled off the upset.

Speaking post-fight of Cotto’s performance, Oscar said;

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Still Waiting On That Announcement Carl

Still Waiting On That Announcement Carl

It seems every time I write a piece on Nottingham’s Cobra, Carl Froch, there is a downbeat tone to proceedings these days. And that’s not for want of trying. If I were to be writing about one of his past glories then maybe I could inject some enthusiasm, well – I definitely could, because contrary to popular belief, I’m a big Froch fan – and followed his career throughout his domestic days, through the legendary world title winning fight with Jean Pascal, into the Super Six and beyond.

Right up until now.

And since “knocking out George Groves in front of 80k at Wembley” – by virtue of that phrase alone – Carl Froch has become a parody of himself, a cartoon character – and, thanks to his past reality TV turns – a bit of a “celebrity” over here in England.

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Tyson Fury Growing Impatient Over Klitschko?

Tyson Fury Growing Impatient Over Klitschko?

All the focus following his fight with America’s Bryant Jennings was on Wladimir Klitschko facing his mandatory obligations next – meaning Britain’s WBO #1 Tyson Fury – and speculative talk has varied between the fight being made in the UK at Wembley in the Autumn/Fall to perhaps it being yet another Wladimir fight on German soil around the same time.

Yet following all the hype and speculation over recent weeks, things have gone quiet – too quiet for Tyson’s liking, and the 6ft 9″ traveller has taken to twitter to vent his frustrations and attempt to goad the Ukrainian in his own inimitable style, confirming that nothing is yet set in stone – far from it.

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Dirrell Wants DeGale Rematch Above All Else

Dirrell Wants DeGale Rematch Above All Else

After narrowly losing out in his challenge for the vacant IBF 168lb title to Britain’s James DeGale at the end of last month on Al Haymon’s PBC format, Andre “The Resurrected” Dirrell, has spoken to fighthype.com to insist that he wants to do it all again and is prepared to come to the UK to do so.

The American essentially lost the fight due to two early knockdowns, that despite a spirited comeback, were enough to win DeGale the fight, even when it appeared the Harlesden man was flagging in the final third of the contest.

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