Dillian Whyte's sparing partner, Alen "The Savage" Babic v Niall Kennedy. Babic is gaining a bit of a name for himself. He's not much good, but he's fun.
Babic has had a long standing public feud with his countryman Filip "El Animal" Hrgovic, and thinks he would get the better of Hrgovic, but I somehow doubt it. The latter is a bit clunky, but has real power and an amateur record that's pretty impressive. He took a bronze at the Rio Olympics. Babic is trying to stir up a fight, but Hrgovic says he hasn't earned a fight yet. Filip Hrgovic isn't at title stage, but he's ok. For mine he's in the Daniel Dubois, Tony Yoka, Joe Joyce, Efe Ajaba class. A prospect. Hrgovic is unbeaten in 11 bouts with 9 KOs. His last fight was a pad job. His opponent is rated 656 by BoxRec.
Some good news for UK boxing fans. Frank Warren has announced that the Daniel ‘Dynamite’ Dubois 15-0 (14) and Joe ‘Juggernaut’ Joyce 11-0 (10) bout has been scrubbed as a PPV fight and now will be shown live on BT Sport for free on November 28. This is a really interesting fight with the 23 year old Dubois facing the 35 year old Joyce who is being pushed hard and fast because of his advanced age and late start as a pro.
Flicking through the Sky Documentaries channel last night and I cam across one on Sonny Liston which was a really good watch. What a man, what a boxer, but what a tragedy that he got caught up with the ugly side of the boxing world at the same time. Loads of conjecture on how he died, murdered or overdosed, it was a damn shame which in the end. Some of the black n white pictures of his boxing matches, well I say matched as some of them were brutally one sided, but he had one hell of a jab on him... I know his name was tarnished with the company he kept but by the looks of it he was some champion, some boxer and 'A Man' as inscribed on his grave...
There's an interesting fight in Las Vegas on tomorrow night. The former WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Emanuel Navarrete will fight Ruben Villa for the WBO Featherweight Title, a belt vacated by Shakur Stevenson who moved up to the junior lightweight ranks. Nevarrete went on a tear up after winning the Super Bantamweight from Isaac Dogboe. He made 5 defences of his new title in just 9 months, but always battled with the weight. After vacating the belt, he was immediately ranked No1 as a Featherweight. No 2 in the rankings is Villa. Nevarrete is a tallish, pressure fighter who loves to let his hands go. And punches with power. Of his 31 wins, 27 have come inside the distance. He's fun to watch. Even though he now has no title and only 1 Featherweight bout behind him, he's ranked No 2 in the world behind the IBF Champion Josh Warrington. Ruben Villa is a young man with a following. With just 5 stoppages in his unbeaten 18 fight career, he's going to have his hands full with his hard charging opponent. Villa is an inch shorter, but will have to give up a massive 7 inches in reach. I'm not sure that Villa will be able to keep Nevarrete off him, and the betting suggests the same. Nevarrete 2-5, Villa 2-1. I think Nevarrete will be looking to bigger and better things in the near future. Maybe Warrington, Santa Cruz, Gary Russell Jr. etc.
I don't know what happening, but it looks as though the Fury - Wilder might not happen any time soon. Apparently Wilder had 30 days after his defeat to hit the refight button, which he did. That fight was to take place on July 18, but Wilder called it off because of injury. The contract allowed for a 90 day extension in case if injury. It was then shifted to October 3, and then onto December 19. Now because of other competing sporting events in the US, Wilder's team want the fight moved into 2021, but Fury isn't having a bar of it. He's sick of waiting and wants to be back in the ring before the year is out. According to Coppinger, if Fury refuses to take the fight into 2021, he isn't contractually obligated to do so. Both Frank Warren and Bob Arum have said that it now looks unlikely that the Fury - Wilder clash will happen this year. They've both stated that Tyson Fury's next opponent won't be Wilder and the fight will take place in the UK in December. Of course all of the above could be just pressure on team Wilder to get them to fight in December. Who knows?
Tyson has said it's off. Is it even a fight anybody wants to watch? I know I wouldnt. Too much of a beat down last time to make it even interesting this time round.
I'm guessing that most of you view cage fighting as akin to wrestling, so apologies if anyone's feathers are ruffled! I've taken to watching Bellator on Saturday night (or, as was the case this week, BBC I-playerLive in the afternoon) When I was a Sky subscriber I used to watch UFC, but pauperism forced cut backs! The current hot ticket is one Michael Venom Page, he can occasionally be blunted but he hasn't lost while I've been watchimg him. He reminds me a lot of Chris Eubank in his prime - the showmanship part, not the boxing. You can find MPV on youtube - check him out. Ocassionally you get a boring grappling type of match, but for the most part it is very watchable. Give it a try if you haven't before
Uysk v Chisora is the most interesting. Though I think Uysk will wear him down and Derreck will eventually quit or be stopped.
Dave Allen was invited across to spa Usyk. He was impressed by what he found. The ad in the clip is cringe worthy though.
Wanna know about a decent fight on the horizon? There just happens to be one this weekend in Las Vegas. Well actually it more than just a decent fight, it's a "****IN' BALL BUSTER." Vasyl Lomachenko, a man with only one loss in 396 amateur bouts, and one in the pro ranks, meets a young, hungry monster named Teofimo Lopez, a man with brutal power in both hands. Both men have world titles at stake. Loma has been there and done it all, but at 32, can he hold off the 23 year old lion who will be the naturally bigger fighter? Hi-Tech has worked his way up from 126 pounds to 135, while Lopez has been at this weight since day one and has height and reach on the great Ukrainian. A taste of what to expect in this epic clash.
