The last month of 2018 starts with an intriguing encounter between defending WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder and The Lineal Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury.
With the perfect record of 40-0 with 39 wins by knockout, The Bronze Bomber is the overwhelming favourite to extend that unbeaten record at the Staples Center in Los Angeles tomorrow night.
Unlike when Wladimir Klitschko fought Tyson Fury, Wilder has promised to throw the volume of punches that Klitschko didn’t in order to knockout the unbeaten Fury who has a record of 27-0 with 19 knockouts.
The vastly experienced Cuban Luiz Ortiz who had over 350 amateur fights before turning professional, exploited flaws in Wilder’s unorthodox technique in what was a very close fight where the Judges had Wilder winning by one round before the devastating punching power of the Bronze Bomber knocked out Ortiz in the 10th round.
Fury will have been encouraged by what he saw in the Ortiz fight to believe that he can outbox Wilder and confuse the Champion as he did in dethroning Wladimir Klitschko of the WBA (Super), IBF, IBO and WBO titles. It may also be argued that he has psychologically rattled the Champion and perhaps got under his skin going by what we’ve seen in the build-up to the fight.
Whenever challenged with awkward opponents such as Poland’s Artur Szpilka and Luiz Ortiz, Wilder has responded with conviction in knocking out both challengers and the general consensus amongst the majority of fight fans is that Wilder will again be victorious against a ring-rusty Gypsy King.
The picture-perfect knockout of Tony Bellew reinforced beyond doubt that the Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion Usyk is pound for pound one of the best fighters in the world who will add another dimension to the Heavyweight scene.
Despite being behind by a round on two of the Judge’s scorecards going into the 8th round, there was an air of eventuality that Usyk would stop Bellew who had shown signs of fatigue beforehand in what was a fast-paced contest in which Bellew had early success in the first 4 rounds. Usyk’s razor-like jab started to land more frequently along with his murderous left hand which stopped Bellew in his tracks right at the end of the 6th round which visibly wobbled the challenger.
The end of the fight was brutal and a candidate for knockout of the year in which a flush left followed by another left hook had Bellew almost through the ropes into Promotor Eddie Hearn’s hands who instinctively thought but resisted the idea of helping Bellew back onto his feet. Before the Referee could finish his count, Bellew was clearly in no fit state to continue and the dream of relinquishing Usyk from his Cruiserweight titles was over.
Usyk will now look at being a major player in the Heavyweight division in 2019 and will attempt to follow in the footsteps of Former Cruiserweight Champions Evander Holyfield and David Haye by becoming Heavyweight Champion.
Usyk with an overall record of 335 amateur fights with only 15 losses, has previously won everything there is to win in the amateur ranks having won Olympic gold as a Heavyweight in the 2012 London games along with gold in the Baku World Championships of 2011. Becoming Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion after 15 professional fights is also a world record.
The obvious pedigree of Usyk makes him a major contender for a world title fight in 2019 with Eddie Hearn predicting that Usyk could be a possible Anthony Joshua opponent towards the end of 2019.
Will the extra weight be a major problem for Usyk? The body frame of the Ukrainian at 6ft. 3 inches would suggest not in which he would need to increase his weight by at least a stone from his current fighting weight of 14 stone 4lbs. However a modern Heavyweight such as Anthony Joshua weighs as much as 18 stone while WBC Champion Deontay Wilder’s fighting weight is much closer to Usyk weighing around 16 stone.
It’ll be intriguing to find out whether Usyk can reach the heights of World Heavyweight Champion which with isn’t as impossible as some may think from what we’ve seen so far from “The Monster” so far in 16 fights.
Former World Cruiserweight Champion Tony Bellew takes on the biggest challenge of his career tonight against Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion Oleksandr Usyk.
Described by Bellew as “A Monster”, the Ukranian Usyk has already in just 15 fights captured the WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO titles and is generally acknowledged as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world who has ambitions of moving up to the Heavyweight Division next year in which Anthony Joshua could possibly be a future opponent.
Usyk is the overwhelming favourite to win tonight but this will not be the first time that Bellew will be an underdog having beaten Former Cruiserweight and Heavyweight Champion David Haye twice where he was on both occasions not favoured to win in what was a Heavyweight contest.
However Usyk is very much at a different stage in his career compared to The Hayemaker who clearly in hindsight was a shell of the fighter he once was with the emphatic defeat against Bellew convincing Haye to retire at the age of 37.
When previously facing a fighter in his prime as World Light-Heavyweight King Adonis Stevenson, Bellew was totally outclassed and stopped in Round 6 but it could be argued that Bellew has matured as a fighter since that loss which was 5 years ago and had previously lost only once to Former Light-Heavyweight Champion Nathan Cleverley which he later avenged in the Cruiserweight division.
Bellew wishes to bow out of Boxing in a blaze of glory and should he capture the Undisputed Cruiserweight crown, there will be a strong case for Bellew to go down in history as causing one of the biggest upsets in a British ring.
Anthony Joshua’s ruthless demolition of the vastly experienced Povetkin in only his 22nd fight begs the question as to whether AJ is on the same path of the all-time great finishers in the history of the Heavyweight Division.
Having exposed an opening in Povetkin’s defence in the 7th round, Joshua seized upon the opportunity like a Lion with it’s prey and relentlessly pulverized Povetkin with a barrage of devastating combinations to knockout his opponent with a killer’s instinct which was reminiscent of a peak Mike Tyson against the likes of Pinklon Thomas and an ageing Larry Holmes.
What was impressive watching Joshua was the fact that by his own admission he wasn’t at his best with his preparation for the fight with illness seemingly contributing to a sluggish start in the early part of the fight where Povetkin was successful early on landing some heavy shots that had the Wembley crowd concerned that the 39 year old Povetkin could be on the verge of a sensational upset against the undefeated Joshua.
An emphatic victory in the end for Joshua which will increase the appetite for a showdown with Wilder should as expected he get past the “Gypsy King” Tyson Fury.
Will Joshua in time be comparable with the greatest Heavyweight finishers in Boxing history? Here are some sensational endings to watch featuring Mike Tyson and Joe Louis.
Andrew Golota will be remembered in Boxing folklore for all the wrong reasons when it could have been all so different.
His two fights against Former Undisputed World Heavyweight Champion Riddick Bowe were fascinating not only for the same dramatic endings but also what occurred outside of the ring in the first fight and the two contrasting sizes of Bowe for the first and second fight.
Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe’s last fight before facing Golota was the 3rd and final fight of the trilogy against Holyfield in which he was victorious having stopped Holyfield in the 8th round. Having not fought in 7 months, Bowe found it very difficult to get motivated for a fight against Golota in which he was expected to win relatively easy. For the first fight, Bowe who had constantly had battles with keeping his weight down, weighed in at 252 lbs which was way off what many considered his best fighting shape which was around 235 lbs.
One of Bowe’s key assets was his jab but right from the outset, Golota landed more jabs and was winning the early rounds despite being warned by Referee Wayne Kelly for persistent low blows which finally resulted in Golota being deducted a point in round 4 and again in the 6th round in which Golota was clearly beating up Bowe and in prime position to possibly end the fight.
Having received a final warning that another low blow would result in an automatic disqualification, Golota again launched another low blow to Bowe in the 7th round which ended the contest.
Complete mayhem took place in the ring in which one of Bowe’s entourage hit Golota in the head with a walkie-talkie which opened up a cut which later required 11 stitches. Golota’s trainer Lou Duva also collapsed in the ring with chest pains and needed to be stretchered out of the stadium. Outside of the ring, chaos continued amongst fight fans which resulted in 10 arrests with 8 Policemen injured with 9 spectators hospitalized.
The rematch which took place 5 months later saw a drastic change in Bowe’s condition in which he was back to his best fighting weight of 235 lbs which was identical to the weight in which he defeated Holyfield to become world champion in their first fight. It was evident from the start that Bowe’s best fighting days were gone as he looked drained from perhaps losing the 17 lbs too quickly and legendary trainer Eddie Futch had also left his camp frustrated from Bowe’s continuous lack of discipline in weight control.
Bowe was knocked down for only the second time in his career in the 2nd round and seemed to be on his way to defeat however he made a miraculous comeback after a good 3rd round in which 15 unanswered punches put Golota down for the first time in his career. Golota, cut over the eye and still dazed, responded by throwing low blows on two separate occasions before the round had ended in which he was deducted another point by Referee Eddie Cotton having also received a deduction in the 2nd round for headbutting Bowe.
A revived Golota came back strongly in the 5th round by putting together 11 unanswered punches which put Bowe on the canvas and from there on Golota seemed to be in control of the fight winning the next three rounds. Despite warnings from his trainer Lou Duva not to throw punches to the body, another right-left combination to Bowe’s groin ended the fight in another disqualification.
Bowe never fought again as a top level fighter and fight fans were left wondering what could have been if he had shown dedication to training he had demonstrated for his first fight against Evander Holyfield and not had spells where he was overweight. What many fight fans did not know at the time was that Bowe and Lennox Lewis had agreed to fight in September 1996 in which the Golota fight was looked at merely as a tune-up before the Lewis fight.
Lewis later went on to destroy Golota in 94 seconds of the 1st round while Golota later went on to face Mike Tyson in 2000 where having hit the canvas in the first round, had to be persuaded to continue with the fight by his corner before refusing to come out for the third round despite the protests of his corner to continue with the fight where he seemed perfectly capable of continuing.
Check out the highlights of the two fights between Bowe and Golota.
A generation of fight fans will have missed out on witnessing the explosive punching power of former British, European and WBU champion Wayne Alexander who at one stage seemed destined to be the heir-apparent to the Dark Destroyer Nigel Benn at Light-Middleweight.
His one-punch demolition of Mehrdud Takaloo to win the WBU title was his finest hour in a fight career that had at times lengthy bouts of inactivity where Alexander admits to lacking motivation and discipline at times during his career over a period of 11 years in which he fought 27 times with a record of 24 wins and 3 defeats.
Alexander however had the heart of a lion and with notification of just one day stepped in as a late replacement to take on WBO Light-Middleweight Champion Harry Simon who he rocked in the 2nd round before losing by TKO in the 4th round.
Enjoy some of the devastating knockouts of “Alexander The Great”!
According to WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman, a fight between WBC Heavyweight Champion and Former Heavyweight Champion Tyson Fury is very close to being a reality at the end of the year.
Having sailed through his farcical comeback fight against the little-known Sefer Seferi, Fury returns to the ring on the 18th of August to fight the experienced Francesco Pianeta who has fought the likes of Wladimir Klitchko, Oliver McCall, Frans Botha and Kevin Johnson in a career that has lasted 13 years with 35 wins out of 40 fights.
The “Gypsy King” should have no problems in getting past Pianeta who only last year was stopped by Kevin Johnson in 7 rounds who is scheduled to be British Heavyweight prospect Daniel Dubois’s next opponent on the 6th of October.
The prospect is mouthwatering to see whether Fury can cause another major upset and wrestle the WBC title away from Deontay Wilder who would be perhaps an even stronger favourite than Wladimir Klitchko was to defeat Fury due to the lengthy inactivity Fury has had outside the ring.
Wilder who showed major flaws in his last title defence, looked at times a punch or two away from being knocked out against Luis Ortiz. His unbeaten record of 40 wins with 39 knockouts is impressive with his victory over Ortiz perhaps been his most impressive to date.
Despite the considerable weight advantages that a conditioned Fury would have in the ring against Wilder, Wilder’s punching power and unorthodox style of fighting would surely test Fury’s ability to absorb punishment which Klitchko surprisingly didn’t execute in what was an extremely dull fight.
Fury would have a better chance of winning if he fought Wilder next summer with a few more fights under his belt but surely there can be only one outcome should this fight happen at the end of the year.
The “Gypsy King” has hit the canvas on two occasions in his career and I can only see one outcome which would be Wilder knocking out Fury to leave fight fans craving even more for an April 2019 showdown at Wembley against Anthony Joshua. However an all-British clash between Fury and Joshua would be something special if Fury was to shock the world again!
Dereck Chisora’s thunderous knockout of Carlos Takam was a reminder that all it takes in Boxing is just one devastating punch to change the outcome of a fight.
On Referee Howard Foster’s scorecard, Takam had won 6 of the 7 rounds before Chisora’s brutal knockout of Takam in round 8 who had looked on occasions a punch or two away from stopping Chisora with Foster watching closely.
The jackpot punch has revived crowd-favourite Chsora’s career who has previously fought for the world title against Vitali Klitchko and has featured on many top of the bill contests against fighters such as Former Heavyweight Champion David Haye, Tyson Fury on two occasions and Heavyweight contender Kubrat Pulev.
Many fight fans would like to see a grudge rematch against Dillian Whyte which Chisora lost on a split decision in which it would not have been a very controversial decision had Chisora been judged the winner.
Whyte is on a crest of a wave after defeating Joseph Parker and although a grudge rematch against Chisora would be a mouthwatering prospect, Whyte seems reluctant to fight Chisora again just now as he is perhaps one more fight away from fighting for a world title whether it be a rematch against Anthony Joshua next April or perhaps WBC Champion Deontay Wilder should both fighters remain undefeated.
After Chisora’s stunning victory, his popularity as a fighter has never been higher and he will be keen for a big-money fight against a top 10 fighter. Perhaps a rematch against Takam would appeal to fight fans in what was arguably the best fight of the night or could Joseph Parker be a potential opponent who will be keen to prove that he can still be a major contender in the Heavyweight Division despite losing his last two fights.
Former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Lennox Lewis has an exceptional record of defeating every man he has faced in the ring having avenged the two knockout losses to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman.
However despite being born and raised in East London for the first 12 years of his life before emigrating to Canada to live with his Mother, Lewis was not treated as the prodigal son when he returned to London as a professional in 1989 having left our shores in 1977.
Having won the 1988 Olympic Super-Heavyweight Gold medal representing Canada against America’s Riddick Bowe, Lewis achieved glory throughout his career with wins over all the great Heavyweights of the golden era of the 90’s with the likes of Evander Holyfield and Iron Mike Tyson while Riddick Bowe relinquished his WBC Heavyweight Title soon after his hard-fought win over Evander Holyfield without facing Lewis.
In the domestic battle against Frank Bruno for the WBC Heavyweight Title, Bruno was clearly favoured by the majority of the 25,784 crowd at Cardiff Arms Park in Wales in which prior to the fight Bruno had sued Lewis for calling him an “Uncle Tom” (a black man who excessively seeks approval for his actions from a white person)
Lewis in the ethnic community received far more support than Bruno due in part to openly giving back to inner city areas such as Hackney by setting up a college called the Lennox Lewis College which was aimed at helping disadvantaged youngsters learn basic skills in a variety of subjects to help gain employment.
Bruno however was ridiculed in some quarters for doing Pantomime when not Boxing and adverts such as a Robinson Crusoe HP sauce advert which offended a large number of the black community.
Bruno in an epic battle with Lewis was clearly winning the fight before walking on to a spectacular counter punch from Lewis which stopped Bruno in his tracks and forced a stoppage in round 7.
Lewis’s recent Tweet on Twitter celebrating Canada Day and recently America’s Independence Day where he has homes in Florida and Ontario along with Jamaica begs the question whether returning to fight professionally for Britain was purely for commercial gains rather than any patriotic desire as Britain had not had a World Heavyweight Champion in the 20th Century until Lennox Lewis was declared the WBC Heavyweight Champion on December 14, 1992.
In hindsight, does this really matter with British fight fans where today they see Anthony Joshua filling out 80,000 stadiums and without question having allegiance to Britain along with embracing his Nigerian heritage.
