I see Bristol's IBF Bantamweight Champion Lee " Playboy " Haskins climbs into the ring in Cardiff tomorrow for the first defence of his belt. He took out the Interim Title in June last year when he stopped Japan's Ryosuke Iwasa in the sixth. He was then to take on the IBF Champion Randy Caballero for the full title on the under card of the Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto in Vegas. But when Caballero weighed in a massive 5.5 pounds over the 118 limit, the fight was cancelled and the champ was stripped of his belt. The Interim Champion Lee Haskins was then later installed as the full title holder. Tomorrow's bout will see the Mexican Ivan Morales (younger brother of Eric) try to rip the belt away from Haskins. The bookies though don't give him too much of a chance. He goes into the fight as a 4-1 underdog, while Haskins is 4s on. Morales looks as though he's a hand picked kill for the new champ, as he's only rated 13 by the IBF. But I wish Haskins the very best of good luck, and I hope he can give himself a nice nest egg for the rest of his life.
And yet again, drugs in sport rears it's ugly head in Russia. The WBC mandatory challenger to Deontay Wilder's belt, Alexander Povetkin has failed a drug test, causing next weekend's bout to be postponed. A VADA test has returned a positive to Meldonium, the same substance that saw Maria Sharapova brought undone. Since being listed by WADA in January, a couple of hundred athletes have tested positive. According to a US patent of 1984, it's listed as a “growth stimulator for animals and fowl." It's now sold in Russia and former Soviet countries as a treatment for such things as angina and heart attacks where the heart is being starved of oxygen. With the prospect of no fight taking place, Wilder's purse of $4,504,500, now sitting in escrow in the United States, will probably have to settled in the courts. As Povetkin has broken his contract by returning a positive sample, Wilder's promoter Lou DiBella feels that his camp on a firm footing when it comes to the legal stouch. They are well out of pocket.
A sidelight to the above piece. The promoter of Povetkin, Andrey Ryabinsky has said that the so called cancelation of the bout by DiBella is a non issue. As far as he's concerned, it's just a postponement. He's of the opinion that his charge Povetkin has not failed a test. He's stated that the meldonium concentration levels are 15 times lower that those mandated by WADA. He said that new tests will be done then a new date will be set for the fight. Wonder what WADA will have to say?
According to FightWord, Manny Pacquiao will ask the people of the Philippines whether they'd like him to fight at the Olympics. What a joke. He's stated that he's interested, but surely this would only cheapen his legacy? And what if he decides to do it, will other big names follow suit? It seems that the serious pros are not too keen on the idea. But if the Pacman is the first to step away, will it inspire others? Imagine seeing Mayweather, proudly drapped in the flag of the good old US of A, standing before a camera and telling the world that he just can't let Pac prick get away with such a cheap stunt, before he jets off to Rio to uphold the honour of boxing. ****ing absurd. Anyone offering 5,000-1?
And the biggest story of the week? Canelo Alvarez vacates his WBC title. After Alvarez pounded Cotto into submission, he was ordered by Mauricio Sulaiman to face Golovkin. But Canelo's team said they needed a prefight before the big clash, so Sulaiman gave him what he needed, that bout against Khan. Golden Boy were told that they would have 15 days after that fight to come to terms with GGG. It didn't happen, so yesterday he gave up the belt. Golovkin has now been promoted from Interim to Full WBC champion. Alvarez stated. “After much consideration, today, I instructed my team at Golden Boy Promotions to continue negotiating a fight with Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin and to finalize a deal as quickly as possible,” Alvarez said. “I also informed the WBC that I will vacate its title. For the entirety of my career, I have taken the fights that no one wanted because I fear no man. Never has that been more true than today. I will fight ‘GGG’ and I will beat ‘GGG’ but I will not be forced into the ring by artificial deadlines. I am hopeful that by putting aside this ticking clock, the two teams can now negotiate this fight, and ‘GGG’ and I can get in the ring as soon as possible and give the fans the fight they want to see.” I don't think Canelo is afraid of Golovkin, but I don't know what the hell is going on here.
De La Hoya is playing hard ball and saying Alvarez is the bigger name. It's gonna come down to $$$ as always.
Lee Mcgregor fights for the British title next weekend at Bantamweight..Alhambra theatre in Dunfermline...then the following week tops the bill at his home show at Tynecastle Stadium.
Another easy night for him Ron (Round 3 or 4 for me) I'm more interested in watching unbeaten New Zealander Joseph Parker take on Carlos Takam (11am Saturday Morning SS3) in an elimator for AJ's IBF belt. I've heard good things about him but have never seen him fight.
I'm looking forward to this fight too Red. This is a huge step up for the young Kiwi who record stands at 18-0 with 16 KOs. And Carlos is no slouch either, he's rated at 3 by the IBF and has only lost twice in 36 fights and one of those was to Povetkin. Parker is ranked 4. He's fought a much better class of opponent than the Kiwi as well. I've seen a few of Parker's fight on film and he can be quite impressive, but he can put in an ordinary one as well. Finger's crossed.
I dont think so amatuer boxing other than major Games doesnt get much coverage. Lee has fell between the stools being only 19 not quite ready for Rio...so next stop Commonwealth Gold Coast...although hes under pressure to turn pro his camp want him to go to the Gold Coast first.
