Analysis, features, news plus more – on European football and sports galore!
Rotherham’s light-middleweight prospect Junaid Bostan ended a six-month layoff with a third-round stoppage on short-notice to improve to 10-0 as a pro, while there were contrasting decision wins for James Flint and Pat McCormack on the Catterall-Prograis card, which finished earlier than expected after the evening’s co-main event was cancelled two hours before ringwalks. Continue reading “Catterall-Prograis: Bellotti-Gomez shelved as Bostan, Flint and McCormack all prevail”
Two-time world light-welterweight champion Regis Prograis has looked poor in his last two bouts and knows, aged 35, he might not get another opportunity as good as this on enemy soil to upset the favourite and thrust his name back into world title contention. Jack Catterall avenged his Josh Taylor defeat and doesn’t need any additional motivation for their Co-Op Live main event. Continue reading “Catterall wary of Prograis after under-par displays before they headline Manchester”
They did battle in Riyadh five months ago to widespread acclaim and rightly so, as an undisputed world heavyweight champion was crowned for the first time since Lennox Lewis 25 years prior. While a strict sanctioning body means not all the marbles – just unified titles – will be on the line a second time, that doesn’t detract from another compelling clash. Will we get a definitive ending here? Continue reading “Usyk-Fury 2 presser: A tantalising heavyweight rematch needing few words”
A characteristically slow start was importantly overshadowed by a strong finish in the championship rounds as Artur Beterbiev’s aggressive pressure and never-ending jeopardy behind his punching power saw the 39-year-old edge past Dmitry Bivol to win undisputed light-heavyweight honours after a 12-round technical battle between two unbeaten champions that didn’t disappoint. Continue reading “Beterbiev crowned undisputed king after razor-thin majority decision win vs. Bivol”
Queensberry’s new signing Fabio Wardley made good on his promise to produce a statement showing, blasting Olympic bronze medallist Frazer Clarke in their rematch to retain British heavyweight honours. Elsewhere, IBF cruiserweight world champion Jai Opetaia showed levels as he forced a merciful stoppage inside six rounds vs. European titleholder Jack Massey. Read on for more.
Continue reading “IV Crown undercard: Wardley ices Clarke in R1, Opetaia breezes past Massey and more”
Seven months after their thrilling first contest for British heavyweight honours, Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke 2 feels like a fitting chief support bout before another division gets an undisputed world champion when unbeaten light-heavyweight pair Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol duel for a piece of boxing history. Read what all had to say, on the eve of weigh-in day in Riyadh. Continue reading “IV Crown: Final presser as war awaits in Wardley-Clarke 2, Beterbiev jaws at Hearn”
Kieran Farrell, a former Central Area lightweight champion, was forced to cut short his career at 22 in 2013. A decade on, he’s part of Daniel Dubois’ training team and the Mancunian was honest about the IBF world titleholder’s preparations for an evening catapulting him into a new light, toppling Anthony Joshua as the former unified heavyweight king eyes an immediate rematch.
Continue reading “Dubois’ coach Kieran Farrell: Easier than we thought, rematch unwise for Joshua”
13 months ago, Daniel Dubois was downtrodden and downbeat on his way back from Wroclaw after suffering a second career defeat – this time with contentious circumstances preceding it – against Oleksandr Usyk. Who would’ve thought, little over a year later, that he’d have knocked out the country’s superstar at a record Wembley crowd and become a legitimate world titleholder himself? Continue reading “Dubois: My time and redemption story, after R5 KO world title win vs. Joshua”
Are you not entertained? Daniel Dubois started sharply, reeled off a series of knockdowns before a thunderous counter right-hand flattened two-time unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in their thrilling firefight – successfully defending the IBF world title in-front of a record 98,128 attendance at Wembley. Continue reading “Dubois drops, dismantles Joshua in five rounds to retain IBF heavyweight title”
Canelo Alvarez did as most expected he would, a third-round knockdown the catalyst as he humbled unbeaten challenger Edgar Berlanga during an arduous 12-round affair to defend his unified super-middleweight world titles before again insisting he was the best once more. Terence Crawford watched ringside while Dmitry Bivol returns in an undisputed bout on Oct. 12, so what’s next? Continue reading “Canelo adds Berlanga to list of hungry lions tamed with UD12 win – what’s next?”
The risk vs. reward battle of their proposed IBF, WBO welterweight world title unification bout meant this was always an unlikely possibility given one boxer is aligned with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom stable, the other steadily built by ESPN and Bob Arum’s Top Rank machine – leverage, high asking prices, back-and-forth versions of transparency playing out in public is never a positive sign. Continue reading “Brian Norman vs. Jaron Ennis unification plans shelved after messy public discourse”
Many questioned whether the hype was premature after a blunt display over ten rounds during a showcase co-main event opportunity four months ago. In response, #1 WBO world ranked super-middleweight contender Diego Pacheco delivered another highlight reel moment in passing the toughest test of his career thus far overnight against Maciej Sulecki with bigger plans on the way. Continue reading “Pacheco’s plaudits return with career-best win over Sulecki as 168lb options emerge”
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