According to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, Manny Pacquiao won’t be naming his next opponent tonight after all. Pacquiao, 36, was supposed to name his next fight on April 9th on the 84-year-old Arum’s truTV fight card tonight in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Arum had two of his Top Rank fighters Tim Bradley and Terence Crawford scheduled to be there, and it was a dead cinch that Pacquiao was going to make his old promoter a very, very happy man by naming one of those guys as his next opponent. But unfortunately for Arum, Pacquiao won’t be naming his next opponent as of yet.
Vladimir S
Whyte: Joshua has been angry ever since I beat him
Unbeaten Dillian Whyte (16-0, 13 KOs) will be fighting Commonwealth heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (14-0, 14 KOs) this Saturday night I a grudge match for the vacant British heavyweight title at the O2 Arena in London, UK. The two fighters do not like each other at all period. Whyte says that the two of them at one time got along with each other fine, but that all changed shortly after he dealt the 6’6” Joshua a defeat six years ago in a three round amateur fight.
Dibella expects Szpilka to go all out against Wilder
Promoter Lou Dibella thinks Polish underdog Artur Szpilka (20-1, 15 KOs) will let it all hang out in his title challenge next month against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “Bronze Bomber” Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) in their fight on January 16th on Showtime at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Dibella believes that Szpilka will go after the 6’7” Wilder in the same way that Polish cruiserweight Krzysztof] Glowacki tore into long-time WBO cruiserweight Marco Huck to score an 11th round knockout last August to win the WBO title. Glowacki and Huck both hit the deck in that fight in one of the most exciting contests of the year thus far.
Chisora to fight on Joshua vs. Whyte card on Saturday
Former world title challenger Dereck Chisora (23-5, 15 KOs) will be making a quick turnaround by fighting on this Saturday’s Sky Box Office card against TBA at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Chisora, 31, just fought last Saturday night in defeating Peter Erdos in five rounds in Hamburg, Germany. Chisora didn’t sustain any damage in that one-sided fight, so he was able to be put on this Saturday’s Anthony Joshua vs. Dillian Whyte card at the O2. Chisora will be replacing featherweight Josh Warrington.
Deontay Wilder to fight Artur Szpilka on January 16th
Deontay Wilder (35-0, 34 KOs) will be back in the ring for a voluntary defense on 1/16 against Polish slugger Artur Szpilka (20-1, 15 KOs) in a fight televised by Showtime Championship Boxing from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The opponent isn’t as interesting as some of the names that were mentioned as possibilities like Shannon Briggs, Amir Mansour and Vyachyeslav Glazkov.
Shannon Briggs rejects fight against Deontay Wilder
WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has had a really tough time trying to get an opponent for his voluntary defense on January 16th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. An opponent that was reportedly close to signing for the Wilder fight, Vyacheslav Glazkov, opted to walk away from the fight and go a much easier route by fighting for the IBF heavyweight title that was stripped from Tyson Fury earlier Tuesday.
Now it seems that 43-year-old Shannon Briggs is the lasted fighter to turn down a title shot against the 6’7” Wilder. According to Dan Rafael, the money wasn’t what they were looking for.
Breaking news: Tyson Fury stripped of IBF title
The IBF sanctioning organization did their job today in dutifully stripping their reluctant heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) of his IBF title for him failing to agree to defend the title against #1 IBF mandatory challenger Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov. The move clears the way for Glazkov to fight for the vacant IBF title against unbeaten #4 IBF Charles Martin for the title.
The 6’7” Fury captured the IBF title last Saturday night in edging the past his prime 39-year-old Wladimir Klitschko by a dull 12 round unanimous decision at the ESPRIT Arena in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Pacquiao expected to face Tim Bradley next
Former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs) will have his next opponent announced this Friday during the truTV card, according to Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum. It’s unknown why Arum is waiting for that card in order to announce the fight, but it would appear that he’s trying to drum up interest in the card, which is headlined by the aging 33-year-old super bantamweight Nonito Donaire fighting Cesar Juarez.
Tyson Fury calls out Lennox Lewis
After his recent win over the 39-year-old Wladimir Klitschko, IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (25-0, 18 KOs) has expressed interest in facing the 43-year-old Vitali Klitschko and now the 50-year-old Lennox Lewis. It’s unclear why Fury wants to take on some of the older heavyweights that once graced the sport of boxing, but it looks like Fury has dialed himself in to fighting the elder statesman in order to possibly get easy paydays.
We’re not exactly seeing Fury chomping at the bit to get at the younger heavyweights that are still in their prime.
Fury: “Team Klitschko are extremely good at cheating!”
Tyson Fury: ‘I had it from good sources not to touch anything in the changing room’
“I went home dehydrated before I even touched anything. I was so frightened of being drug tested and failing the drugs test. I didn’t want to take drinks or food from anyone.”