Weekly Round Up
In recent news, November saw the return of the Philippine legend Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, who recently retired after beating a good Tim Bradley. Manny was up against WBO champ Jessie Vargas on the 5th Nov. The fight was a shutout with Pacquiao knocking Vargas down in the second & cruising to a unanimous victory. There are talks that a second fight with Floyd Mayweather may be on the cards in 2017, so watch this space !! In other news from the weekend of action in Monte Carlo, our very own Stephen “Swifty” Smith (one of the four Scouse Smith brothers), was in action for the WBA super-feather title against a very strong Jason Sosa. Smith was put down in the second but fought back & showed true heart & put in a gutsy performance to go the distance. Unfortunately Smith just came up short on this occasion but this was definitely the fight of the night ! On the same bill Jamie McDonnell won a very controversial decision against a tough opponent in Loborio Solis for his WBA Bantamweight title. The belt should have been given to Solis, but somehow McDonnell won on a unanimous decision. Martin Murray was also back in action after losing to George Groves & outpointed a decent fighter in Nuhu Lawal. |
Look AheadThis weekend is an absolute boxing treat for all boxing & fight fans. The contest for the best pound for pound fighter on the planet, takes place on Sat 19th Nov in none other than “Viva Las Vegas”. The fight itself see’s American, Andre “SOG” Ward take on Russian, Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev for the WBO/IBF/WBA light Heavy titles. More importantly it will crown the best P4P boxer on the planet. (not including Floyd). The likes of GGG, Canelo, Lomachencko & Crawford are all in with a shout for the P4P title, but no one can dispute the class & pedigree of Ward & Kovalev. This is an old school America vs Russia, Power vs Skill shootout & every boxing fan will be keeping an eye on this one!
On the same bill P4P contender Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko will be climbing into the ring with the hard hitting Nicholas Walters for the WBO Super-feather weight title. Lomachencko is pure class & his footwork should be too much for the Jamaican Walters, who can bang with the best of them. Another great fight on an amazing Vegas bill ! Enjoy guys & girls !!!! There is also boxing action taking place on Friday 18th Nov, at The Wembley Arena with George Groves back in action against the German Eduard Gutknecht, for the WBA international super middleweight title. Should be an easy night for Groves but the German has a decent record. |
Boxing NewsThe heavyweight division has been blown wide open with the recent news that Tyson Fury has vacated & was subsequently banned from boxing for "substance abuse". This has created a large chasm in the division with every heavyweight worth his weight, putting their hat in the ring for a title shot.
We have our very own champ in Anthony Joshua, who is the current IBF champ & was due to fight the legend Wladimir Klitschko on Dec 10 in Manchester, for his IBF & vacant WBA belts. However Klitschko had to pull out due to injury. AJ’s camp have assured fans that the fight will still happen, should AJ come through his fight with stand in fighter, Eric Molina on the 10th. To clarify Molina is a walk over, so this fight looks likely for April 2017. The current WBC champ is Deontay “Bronzebomber” Wilder who is currently out of action after having surgery on his hand. He will be out for another 6 month at least, so will have to await his return to the heavyweight mix. That leaves the vacant WBO title, which is up for grabs & will go to the winner of the bout between Joseph Parker of New Zealand & Andy Ruiz from USA/Mexico. Parker should come out on top & sets up some great unification fights is 2017 !!!! |
Top BetsThis weekend is all about one fight & one fight only, Ward vs Kovalev. The bookies are split on this one but my money will be on a Ward points win. However, if Kovalev detonates a hook to body or head of Ward, it could be all over.
Ward on points will be odds of about 10/11 depending on site & a £5 bet will return £11 appox. The fight is in Vegas so will be on the in the early hours of Sunday morning 20th Nov (between 4am to 5am). Get your bets on but most importantly enjoy the fight & let’s see who really is the P4P champion of the world. |