Anthony Joshua retained the IBF/WBA/WBO Heavyweight titles with a 7th round stoppage over mandatory challenger Alxander Povetkin in front of 80,000 at Wembley Stadium in London.

Povetkin rocked Joshua at the end of round one with a hard right hand.  Joshua was bleeding from his nose as Povetkin was able to sneak some counter right hands.  In round four, Povetkin was cut over his left eye from a punch.

In round seven, Joshua landed a booming 3 punch combination that sent Povetkin crashing down in his corner.  Povetkin was able to get to his feet, but that only prolonged the inevitable as Joshua pounced on his prey and landed several more flush power shots that had the referee stop the fight as Povetkin fell for a 2nd time at 1:59.

Joshua, 246.5 lbs of Watford, England is now 22-0 with 21 knockouts.  Povetkin, 222 lbs of Russia is 34-2.

Luke Campbell avenged a defeat to Yvan Mendy by turning the tables, and winning a 12-round split decision in a lightweight bout.

Campbell used a nice body attack and moved nicely throughout the 12 round affair.

Campbell, 134.6 lbs of Hull, England won by scores 119-109, 118-111 and 116-112 and is Now 19-2.  Mendy, 134.7 lbs of France is 40-5-1.

In an ugly cruiserweight contest, Lawrence Okolie won a 12-round unanimous decision over Matty Askin.

Okolie was deducted point’s in rounds five for headbutt, in round eight for a low blow, and round 11 for holding.

Okolie, 199.3 lbs of Hackney, England won by scores of 116-110, 114-112 and 114-113 to stay perfect at 10-0.  Askin, 199.8 lbs of Blackpool, England is 22-4-1.

Sergey Kuzmin stopped David Price after round four of their scheduled ten round heavyweight bout.

Price had his moements, but was exhausted after round four, and he pulled the plug on the fight.

Kuzmin, 244.6 lbs of Russia is 13-0 with 10 knockouts.  Price, 265.4 lbs of Liverpool, England is 22-6.

Shakram Giyasov remained undefeated by stopping Julio Laguna in round four of their scheduled eight-round welterweight bout of undefeated fighters.

Giyasov landed a huge flurry that sent Laguna to the canvas, and the bout was stopped at 38 seconds.

Giyasov, 143.2 lbs of Uzbekistan is now 5-0 with five knockouts.  Laguna, 142 lbs of Nicaragua is 14-1.

Follow all the action as Anthony Joshua defends his unified Heavyweight titles against Alexander Povetkin at Wembley Stadium in front of more than 80,000 fans.  The action kicks off at 1 PM ET / 6 PM UK time with a 4-fight undercard featuring former world title challenger Luke Campbell as well as a heavyweight slugfest between undefeated Sergey Kuzmin and David Price.

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Round 1 Good body shot from Joshua..Short hook from Povetkin..Uppercut rocks Joshua

Round 2 Jab from Joshua..Joshua nose bleeding..Hook from Povetkin..Jab from Joshua..Right from Povetkin..Nice Jab from Joshua..16-7 for Povetkin in Power Punches through round 2

Round 3 Right from Povetkin..Hook from Joshua..Good left hook from Povetkin…Good right from Joshua..

Round 4  Povetkin bleeding over the left eye (From a punch)

Round 5 Right from Povetkin..Body shot

Round 6 Good hook from Joshua..Good jab and right from Povetkin..Lead left from Joshua..

Round 7  RIGHT..LEFT …BIG RIGHT …DOWN GOES POVETKIN…HUGE RIGHT ON THE ROPES…POVETKINS FALLS AS THE REF STOPS THE FIGHT

Round 1 Left from Mendy..Straight left from Campbell..Combination from Mendy

Round 2 Body shot from Campbell..combination..Sharp right from Mendy..Right..Good body shot from Campbell..Hard right from Mendy

Round 3  Left to body from Campbell..right from Mendy..Left from Campbell..Body shot..body..Body

Round 4 Right from Mendy..Body shot from Campbell..Combination..Body….Good body..Campbell out;anding Mendy 47-30 through 4 rounds.

Round 5 Campbell boxing well..Body work from Mendy..

Round 6 Good jab from Mendy..Right..Good straight left from Campbell..

Round 7 Right from Mendy…Body shot from Campbell..Right hook..

Round 8 Body shots from Campbell..Counter left

Round 9 Combination from Campbell..Right hook..2 right hooks and straight left

Round 10  Campbell lands a right hook to the body…Campbell lands 130- 752; Mendy lands   98-488 through 10 rounds

Round 11 Good right from Mendy…Right..Sharp left from Campbell

Round 12  Sharp left from Mendy…Hard body shot from Campbell.body shot

119-109, 118-111, 116-112 FOR LUKE CAMPBELL

Round 1 Left hook from Askin..Jab from Okolie…

Round 2 Sharp hook from Askin

Round 3 Okolie lands a body shot..Jab..Askin lands an uppercut..Okolie being warned for using his shoulder.. Okolie landing 32-150 punches…Askin 6-43 through 3 rounds

Round 4 Askin lands a body shot..Counter right

Round 5 OKOLIE DOCKED A POINT FOR A HEADBUTT…Askin lands an uppercut…Okolie warned for a low blow…

Round 6 Jab from Okolie

Round 7 Okolie lands a hard right hand..Right from Askin…Okolie outlanding Askin 53-28 through  7 rounds

Round 8  Right from Okolie.,,OKOLIE DOCKED A POINT FOR HOLDING

Round 9 Jab from Okolie..Body shot

Round 10

Round 11 OKOLIE DEDUCTED A POINT FOR HOLDING…

Round 12 Jab from Okolie

116-110, 114-112, 114-113 FOR LAWRENCE OKOLIE

Round 1 Good combination from Price..Body shot from Kuzmin..Left hook from Price..Good body shot from Kuzmin..Good left hook from Kuzmin..Double jab from Price..

Round 2 Good body shot from Price..Clubbing right..good body shot..right from Kuzmin..Over hand right

Round 3 Good counter right from Price..Hard flurry..Right from Kuzmin..Uppercut from Price..Body shot from Kuzmin..

Round 4 Uppercut from Kuzmin..Price warned for an elbow..Hard right from Kuzmin..Good right for Price….FIGHT IS OVER PRICE QUIT ON HIS STOOL..Price cites an arm injury

Round 1:  Right from Giyasov…Exchanging right hands..Right..Left to the head

Round 2 Good right from Giyasov..Body..Good right..Right down the middle..Left hook..Flurry on the ropes..Body shots..Straight right

Round 3 Overhand right from Giyasov..Good uppercut…Good counter..Body shot..Body shot from Laguna..GIYASOV LANDS A HUGE FLURRY AND DOWN GOES LAGUNA…FIGHT OVER

By Norm Frauenheim-

The heavyweights were supposed to be back. That, at least, was the overdrawn conclusion on that memorable day about 21 months ago when Anthony Joshua got up and stopped Wladimir Klitschko in a fight that was notable for what happened on both sides of the ropes.

To wit:

The fight was terrific.

The crowd, a reported 90,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium, was epic.

But a heavyweight resurrection was – still is – an illusion.

The momentum vanished about as quickly as Klitschko retired amid Joshua’s subsequent performances, both forgettable. Anybody remember his stoppage of Carlos Takam and his decision over Joseph Parker? Didn’t think so. Meanwhile, off-and-on talks for Joshua-Deontay Wilder are a tiresome reminder that business-as-usual means no business-at-all.

The good news, perhaps, is that there’s a renewed chance – there is always another one, of course – to at least revive the heavyweight division.

It begins with Joshua’s return to Wembley Saturday against Alexander Povetkin in front of a projected crowd of 80,000 in a bout that will also introduce UK promoter Eddie Hearn’s DAZN streaming service to the U.S.

Three months from now, Wilder is expected to fight the wildly unpredictable Tyson Fury. An announcement is reported to be imminent for a date sometime in December, perhaps in Los Angeles.

On the blueprint, both bouts look to be penultimate steps toward the only heavyweight fight that matters: Joshua-Wilder. Late last year, it was near the top of every wish-list for 2018. But it didn’t happen for all of the usual reasons. Whatever — whoever — is to be believed, the best hope now is sometime next year. Trouble is, Joshua-Povetkin and the projected Fury-Wilder is a dangerous combination. Both – either – has a real chance to knock Joshua-Wilder off those wish lists altogether.

Guess here, Joshua beats Povetkin, wears him out and down with his powerful upper body. At 39, Povetkin is down to his last chance. There’s motivation in that.

The Russian, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist, also knows his way around the ring. For Joshua, that’s the problem.

Povetkin knows just enough to survive in what could be an ugly 12 rounds against Joshua, who has said he hopes to stop the Russian in the eight. He’ll clinch. He’ll grab. He’ll hold on, beaten on the scorecards yet still standing. Joshua then will find himself having to answer questions about another forgettable performance.

Povetkin is physically limited, but smart enough to threaten a Joshua career that needs a dramatic encore of the dynamic resiliency and power displayed in the Klitschko classic.

If Joshua wins, yet wins ugly, it’ll be up to Wilder to provide the kind of drama that fires up a worldwide appetite for a showdown with Joshua, who is an huge hit in the UK, yet has generated mediocre television numbers in the U.S. Wilder is the kind of trash talker who can win over American fans and offend the UK audience.

But can he beat Fury?

More to the point, perhaps, which Fury?

His litany of problems brought on by a crazy lifestyle and substance abuse are no secret on either side of the Atlantic or any other ocean, for that matter. When Fury is right, however, he is as clever a boxer as any among today’s heavyweights. He looks to be exactly the kind of skilled fighter who can give Wilder fits.

Wilder has been written off as one-dimensional for just about as long as he has been a pro. But that one dimension has proven to be unbeatable. His right hand is the biggest punch in boxing, and it might explain why we still haven’t seen him fight Joshua. Joshua got floored by a Klitschko right. Had Wilder landed that right, he’d still be on the canvas.

Nobody has figured out how to elude the Wilder right, or counter it. Fury might be that boxer, if – and precedent suggests it is very big if – he is conditioned and committed to remembering using everything in his versatile skillset.

Best scenario: Joshua gets his eight-round stoppage of Povetkin and Wilder’s right does what it has always done.

Fury-Povetkin isn’t on anybody’s wish list.

On Saturday, October 27, “Fire & Fury” will collide, as IBF #2-rated heavyweight contender Kubrat “The Cobra” Pulev will face Britain’s IBF #5-rated Hughie Fury in a 12-round elimination bout at the Arena Armeec in Pulev’s hometown of Sofia, Bulgaria.

Pulev (25-1, 13 KOs) and Fury (21-1, 11 KOs) will be competing for the right to face the winner of the September 22 showdown between champion Anthony Joshua and challenger Alexander Povetkin.

The event, entitled “Fire & Fury” will be presented by Ivaylo Gotzev and John Wirt’s Epic Sports and Entertainment, together with Fury’s promoter, Hennessey Sports, and will be broadcast live in the UK on Channel 5.

One of the most popular athletes in all of Bulgaria, 37-year-old Pulev is on a five-fight winning streak, including a TKO 3 over former heavyweight champion Samuel Peter. Among his many distinctions, Pulev is a former two-time European and IBF International Heavyweight Champion. He stands 6’ 4 ½” and weighs in around 240 lbs. Pulev’s only career loss came in a challenge for the undisputed heavyweight championship against Wladimir Klitschko in 2014. Fury is the fourth opponent scheduled to face Pulev, as Britain’s Dillian Whyte and Americans Jarell Miller and Dominic Breazeale all declined the fight.

Pulev, who will be having his first bout since partnering with Epic Sports and Entertainment, says Fury better not be looking past him while preparing for this fight.

“The fact that Hughie Fury is coming to Bulgaria when many others ran away speaks volumes,” said Pulev. “I understand that he is very motivated because this is an eliminator fight for a chance at the world title. I suggest he stops thinking about the world title for a moment and come prepared for a real battle. I am already in beast mode and I’m hungry for my return in the ring!”

Fury hails from Manchester and is the current BBBofC British Heavyweight Champion and is trained by his father, Peter Fury. The 23-year-old stands 6’ 6” tall and also weighs in around 240 lbs. In September of 2017, Fury suffered his only career loss, a controversial majority decision to Joseph Parker for Parker’s WBO Heavyweight Championship.

“It’s taken a lot of time to make this fight happen and I want to thank all of those involved,” said Hughie Fury. “I want to fight for world titles and to do that I need to beat the guys at the top of the division. Kubrat Pulev is a serious fight for the mandatory position and I know I’ve got to be the real deal to beat him. I believe I’m going to do that in his back yard where others trembled at the thought of it.”

“We want to be involved in these big fight nights and to go up against the big names that lead the division,” added father and trainer Peter Fury. “To become a world heavyweight champion, you’ve got to overcome every challenge that’s put in front of you. And for Hughie that starts in Bulgaria in October.”

“In this day and age, when some promoters and their fighters opt for the safest bets, Hughie Fury has done the opposite,” said Ivaylo Gotzev of Fury, who has faced his own share of delays and disappointments on his way to this eliminator bout. “Fury has decided to step into the Lion’s Den, and fight Kubrat in his home town of Sofia. This matchup is intriguing, as two of the best in the division step up and face one another. We expect a great heavyweight battle – one that will decide one man’s destiny to fight for the most coveted title in the world – the Heavyweight Championship. To all of Team Fury – you are welcome in Bulgaria!”

Hennessy Sports CEO Mick Hennessy, promoter of Fury, said: “First and foremost I’d like to heap praise on my young fighter Hughie Fury. There’s no pantomime and no theatrics. He’s just a young man, full of respect for everyone he faces, and who believes in giving the fans proper fights and value for money. At just 23 years of age Hughie is a massive talent. He’s not perhaps got the plaudits he deserves, so this is his moment to make the boxing world really sit up and take notice of what he’s capable of.”

“I’d also like to thank my counterparts at Epic Sports & Entertainment for making this fight happen. It’s taken a lot to get to this point, but we were determined to give the fans a fight that they deserve. Both teams are excited about this one.”

The stacked International undercard, along with ticket details, will be revealed shortly.

Former world lightweight title challenger will look to avenge his 1st professional loss when he takes on Yvan Mendy on September 22nd at Wembley Stadium in London on the Anthony Joshua – Alexander Povetkin card.

“This is probably the biggest moment of Luke’s career so far,” Hearn said. “Win and he could challenge Mikey Garcia for the title, lose and his aspirations of fighting for a world title are over. It’s a 50-50 fight and a great addition to what will be a huge night of boxing.”

“I knew that Eddie Hearn would do his best to make this rematch happen and I’ll be fully prepared on Sept. 22,” Campbell said. “Seven fights and 2½ years later, it’s time to confirm that I deserve the chance to fight for the WBC title. I want to clear Mendy off my record. For reasons that I’ve talked about previously, I should have never got in to the ring that night, but what’s done is done, and I can’t wait to right that wrong on my record on fight night.

“Mendy’s always been on my list for sure,” Campbell added. “He’s been winning and it will be a very tough fight. He is a tough competitor, strong and durable. I am now a completely different person and a different fighter all around. I’m 10 times better than I was when he beat me 2½ years ago. I’m bigger, I’m wiser, my boxing ability is 10 times what it was back then.”

“I’m within touching distance of landing a shot at the WBC world title and Luke Campbell is standing in my way,” Mendy said. “I’m willing to fight anyone to get my hands on that green belt. I beat him before and I will do it again. This time he will not hear the final bell.”

https://www.facebook.com/MatchroomBoxing/videos/1634231826699104/

Anthony Joshua will face Alexander Povetkin for the IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight titles on September 22nd in London’s Wembley Stadium, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“I can’t wait to get back in the ring; the end of March feels a long time ago now,” Joshua said in a news release. “Povetkin is a serious challenge that I will prepare meticulously for. He has serious pedigree, and only a fool would underestimate what he brings to the table.

“Training hasn’t stopped for me, but the next 10 weeks ahead will be intense both mentally and physically. I will push myself to breaking point to make sure I am in peak condition for another huge night for British boxing at Wembley Stadium.”

“The battle for the world title has always been my goal,” he said in the news release. “I fought for the moment to face the strongest in the world, and on Sept. 22, I get my opportunity. Anthony Joshua has [three major] belts, and I want them all. I’m glad that our fight will finally take place. The meeting of two Olympic champions in the ring is destined to be a breathtaking event.”

“I can’t wait to return to Wembley on Sept. 22 for what I believe will be one of the biggest tests of AJ’s career,” promoter Eddie Hearn said. “Last time he was there he produced one of the most dramatic fights and endings in the history of the sport, and I expect this fight to be full of energy and drama. Povetkin is a top-three heavyweight and extremely dangerous, but in AJ I see the best heavyweight in the world today and I think we will see a major statement.

“It will be another huge night for British boxing with major championship fights on the card and another one of those special nights and atmospheres that will be watched by millions all around the world.”

Anthony Joshua OBE has committed his future to his loyal UK fight fans with his next two fights to be staged at Wembley Stadium connected by EE in London.

Joshua will defend his IBF, WBA, WBO and IBO crowns at the national stadium in the English capital on September 22 and will return to Wembley Stadium on April 13 next year for his 23rd pro fight.

The Heavyweight king has already set a post-war attendance record at the stadium when 90,000 fans filled Wembley Stadium to watch Joshua stop Wladimir Klitschko in the 11th round of their stunning battle last April.

The 28 year old has since filled Principality Stadium in Cardiff twice, defending his belts against Carlos Takam in October before unifying the division by taking Joseph Parker’s WBO belt in March – with the two events in the Welsh capital pulling in over 150,000 fans.

With two more sell-outs at Wembley Stadium expected, Joshua will have sold in excess of 400,000 tickets over five huge World title fights, and the fan favourite is thrilled to be back under the arch for his next two blockbuster nights.

“I am returning to Wembley after two mega fights in Cardiff,” said Joshua. “I want to thank the supporters from Wales and Great Britain and also the people of London for patiently awaiting my return.

“Being north London born and raised it is in my blood. The opportunity to fight in such an iconic stadium is normally a once in career opportunity, so to be given the chance to fight there again is amazing. Wembley just added a fourth lion to the den.”

“I’m extremely honoured to get the opportunity to promote two more shows at the national stadium and delighted for British fight fans that Anthony has made this commitment to them,” said promoter Eddie Hearn.

“I don’t think anyone will either forget that night of April 29 against Klitschko and we plan to bring two more dramatic events to Wembley Stadium in September and April. Images from these AJ events make our country the envy of the boxing world and long may it continue.”

James Taylor, Senior Commercial Manager, Wembley Stadium said: “Wembley Stadium is home to the biggest and best sporting events and it is fitting that one of the world’s leading sports stars returns to fight under its iconic arch.

“AJ’s last appearance at the national stadium was a record-breaking event which will be remembered as one of the highlights in the venue’s history. We look forward to welcoming Anthony and his thousands of fans back to Wembley for two huge fights in September and April.”

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has ensured it will be possible to have capacity crowds at both events by working closely with Transport for London who will postpone planned engineering works and provide additional staff.

Sadiq Khan, said: “That incredible night last year when Anthony Joshua defeated Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley in front of a record crowd will go down as one of our city’s greatest sporting events.

“I am absolutely delighted that Wembley is set to host these next two chapters of AJ’s remarkable career. We have once again worked closely with Transport for London to make sure this can happen and to allow for tens of thousands of boxing fans to travel to Wembley Stadium for the fights.

“I have pledged to bring the biggest bouts in world boxing to London and these epic showdowns will cement London’s reputation as the best city in the world for top-class sport.”

An announcement on the opponent for Joshua’s clash in September and ticket details will be made next week.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Boxing is still a heavyweight fight short of completing a comeback that had buoyed a forever-battered business always hoping for a rebound.

But Anthony Joshua-Deontay Wilder proved that not a whole lot has really changed.

Joshua-Wilder remained buried in never, never land amid reports this week that negotiations had failed. For a whole lot of reasons hard to explain and harder to understand, Joshua and Wilder have decided to go their separate ways until at least next April. That’s pretty much the same way they’ve been going for at least the last year.

Welcome to the HoHum division.

It looked as if it might be changing with that lightning bolt of drama on April 29, 2017 when Joshua got off the deck for an 11th-round TKO over Wladimir Klitschko in front of a World Cup-like crowd of 90,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium.

There was promise in watching a historical standard re-surface, looking like the flagship division it once was. There was talk of Joshua fighting in the U.S. in the biggest British invasion since the Beatles.

Instead, there’s just the same old, same old. Plans are for Joshua to fight Russian Alexander Povetkin in a mandatory title defense in September. There’s also talk of Wilder-versus-Dominic Breazeale in the fall.

Both are yawners. Yet, both are dangerous. That’s the trouble with mediocrity. A promising date can always be completely undone by the forgettable. For the casual fans, however, there are only two heavyweights. There’s Joshua. And there’s Wilder.

For the fans who want them –and only them – to fight, Povetkin might as well be a brand of Vodka. He’s not, of course. Povetkin a potential spoiler. In the UK, the guess here is that Joshua prevails.

Like Joshua, however, Povetkin has an Olympic gold medal. He won gold in Athens at a 2004 Games that included Gennady Golovkin’s silver medal at middleweight. Translation: Povetkin knows his way around the ring.

Povetin also has a history of PED use. A positive test led to the cancellation of a May, 2016 bout with Wilder in Moscow. Wilder was willing and able to face Povetkin in Russia. But it’s reasonable to say that the positive test saved the American from a defeat.

Wilder is lots of fun. Wilder, often dismissed one-dimensional, also has the biggest right hand in boxing. The right, an equalizer, has repeatedly saved him from losing on the cards.

It’s a weapon only fool would not fear. Put it this way: Joshua, no fool, got knocked down by a Klitschko right in the fifth. He got up. If Wilder had landed that right, Joshua might have stayed down, flat and finished on Wembley canvas.

Against Povetkin in Moscow, however, Wilder might have had trouble throwing a long punch powered by the leverage he gets from a lanky body.

Unlike Wilder, Povetkin isn’t fun to watch. The Russian’s resume includes a scorecard loss to Klitschko in 2012, also in Moscow. Povetkin tried to smother Klitschko with clinches.

It was hard to watch then. It’ll be hard to watch again. But the tactic will return against Joshua in bout that could smother a chance to watch the only heavyweight fight anybody wants to see.

According to Dan Rafel of espn.com, talks have hit a roadblock in an effort to make a heavyweight unification mega fight between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder.
Wilder took to Twitter early Thursday morning to express frustrations with the Joshua camp’s move to fight Povetkin, calling the British heavyweight boxer “not a stand up guy.”

“We’re disappointed, but we’re not surprised,” said Wilder co-manager Shelly Finkel, who turned 74 on Wednesday, said about the deal falling apart. “Deontay and I thought about this, that they weren’t going to do the fight. We’re disappointed. We wasted a lot of time.”

Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn never responded but then raised the Wilder offer to $15 million. Wilder agreed to the money and to fighting Joshua in the UK. Finkel received a contract late last week that said he would return it to Hearn with comments Friday, which drew Hearn’s ire.

“I immediately thought what a load of bulls—. I spoke to my dad [Matchroom boss Barry Hearn]. He said, ‘They’re playing games.’ When Finkel said, ‘We’ll get it back to you on Friday — six days later — the WBA said enough’s enough. Shelly knew the WBA was calling me every day. Tuesday, I spoke to Joshua and he said, ‘We’re not getting into any purse bids, losing any belts, we’ll fight Povetkin and then Wilder.’ … If you have a so-called manager that received a contract and you want the fight so bad for $15 million and the undisputed title, and you don’t read that within 24 hours and have it back within 48 hours, you’re doing your fighter a disservice.”

“Forget the fact that six days later they haven’t come back with any comments,” Hearn said. “When Finkel sent the email on Sunday he knows the points they want to raise, yet they tell us they’ll send us the comments on Friday. On what planet does that make sense to anybody? Shelly says, ‘They made a bulls— offer and we decided to accept. He didn’t want to do the deal. This deal is not expired, though. This deal is available to sign today, tomorrow, next week, probably in a month. So for all the bulls— about how we’re running, why don’t you call our bluff and sign a contract, and I will sign quicker than your ink will dry [for an April fight].”

Said Finkel: “If he said I have to have it back by Wednesday he would have had it back.”

Hearn said, “I sent a personal email to Deontay and I said to him I’m very disappointed your team did not come back to me with comments on the contract. We hope we can get this fight over the line and we look forward to receiving a signed contract or comments as soon as possible [to fight in April].”

“I said I will give you $5 million to make a defense of your title in America in September or October on DAZN before entering the Joshua fight in April. Therefore, it was a two-fight deal for $20 million,” Hearn said. “But I told him you don’t have to take two fights. You can do your own thing in the fall and then go right into the Joshua fight in April.”

“I have never heard of a rematch clause one way for this kind of fight,” Finkel said. “This is a monster fight and we expected the contract to be like the Klitschko contract [which had mutual rematch considerations]. If Eddie wanted to make the fight he would not have put a one-way rematch clause in there. And to send a contract without a date and site? When I asked on Sunday, he never gave it to us. To me, that’s how you do things if you don’t want to fight. There was no deadline [stated for the Povetkin fight], otherwise we would have gotten back to him sooner.

“I’m not talking about what I said or he said. I have the paperwork, the emails to show what he said. He makes up whatever he wants at the time because he has Joshua and he thinks it gives him credibility and people want to believe him.”

Said Hearn: “Only if Anthony Joshua loses is there a rematch, and it would be in America with a 50-50 split. That was in the written terms.”

Hearn said even though Joshua will be favored, he’s worried about the fight with Povetkin (34-1, 24 KOs), 38, a 2004 Russian Olympic gold medalist. Povetkin, twice caught using performance-enhancing drugs, only lost by decision to Klitschko in 2013.

“Massive danger. I don’t like the fight,” Hearn said. “I think it’s a mad fight to take with the Wilder fight at the door, but that’s AJ. He thinks him and Povetkin is a great fight, a great statement and he’s one of the best heavyweights. He’s not taking easy touches waiting for Wilder. By fighting these guys, Wilder can’t say he’s afraid to fight him.

“It’s in the hands of Deontay Wilder. So every Instagram video he posts saying Joshua doesn’t want the fight, shut up. Come back with the comments on the contract and we’ll work it out [for April].”

Said Finkel: “Eventually, Joshua’s going to have to fight us.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder accepted terms sent by the team of fellow champion Anthony Joshua for a possible mega-showdown this fall.

“We have agreed to the terms that Eddie has put out to us for a fight in the U.K. Deontay has accepted his terms to fight in the U.K.,” said Wilder adviser Shelly Finkel said. “Deontay sent an email to Joshua [Sunday] night, and I sent one [Monday] to Barry Hearn and Eddie telling them that we officially accept the offer to fight under the terms they gave us and to send us the contract.”

“Now we will see if they live up to it or if they try to go through with the fight with [mandatory challenger Alexander] Povetkin first. Hopefully, we’ll get an answer in the next couple days,” Finkel said. “If they change their mind, the $50 million [against 50 percent of the event] we offered them [to come to the United States] is still on the table. That is still for them if they want it.”

“There’s no [percentage] split, but they’ve offered us a good purse. Not as good as we feel it should be, but we want the fight, and we’re willing to take what they offered,” Finkel said. “We wanted a percentage, but we didn’t think we could get it done in a quick time frame, so we said let’s take what they’ve offered us. Deontay wants this fight.”

Wilder addressed Joshua’s fans on social media on Monday, writing, “The $50M offer for him to fight me next in the U.S. is still available. Today I even agreed to their offer to fight Joshua next in the UK. If he prefers the fight in the UK, the ball is in their court. It’s up to them to choose.”

“The U.S. TV is Eddie’s call,” Finkel said. “We have a preference for Showtime because we’ve been with them.”

According to Dan Rafael, the mega-showdown between heavyweight champions Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua could happen, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Shelly Finkel, one of Wilder’s co-managers, told ESPN on Monday night that he is “optimistic” that a deal can be struck for the world’s top big men to fight this fall and that the location of the fight is not an issue on their side.

Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing has said that Joshua and trainer/manager Rob McCracken want the fight in the United Kingdom. Finkel said it is not an issue.

“I met with Eddie’s father, Barry [Hearn, head of Matchroom], this past Friday in New York and it was a good meeting,” Finkel said. “I’m hopeful that they will get back to me this week and that something can be done to make the fight in the fall. I’m optimistic.

“If [fighting in the United Kingdom] is a condition for us to get the fight, that will not be an impediment on our side. There are still some roads to cross but hopefully it will happen and we’ll see the fight this year. If we’re going to make the fight, the place where it will take place isn’t going to be the problem. We have no problem going to the U.K. It never was a problem. Deontay has never had a problem with that.”

Finkel said they continue to work with Joshua’s side on the split of the revenue.

“We’ve had conversations and I think the gap is close,” he said. “We feel it’s a lot closer.”

Barry Hearn said whatever happens needs to be done soon.

“They’ve got to make a decision realistically in the next few days,” he said. “I think both of them want to fight each other, but there’s obviously hurdles to come over. Is Wembley [Stadium] available? What’s the American pay-per-view situation for American broadcasters on a show in the U.K.? Is it the right time to fight Deontay Wilder? Fight’s only going to get bigger. Fight fans will tell you, ‘We must see it now!’ Of course, they’re not involved in the financials.

“The last word on this is Anthony Joshua’s. Our job is to say, ‘Here is the menu, you pick the main course,’ because Anthony Joshua calls the shots. He’s the financial king in heavyweight boxing and in the world of boxing. There’s no one running close. He makes the call.”

Joshua could also fight Povetkin in a mandatory bout, though it is a dangerous fight and likely worth significantly less than a fight with Wilder. Eddie Hearn and Vadim Kornilov, one of Povetkin’s representatives, are working on a deal though the Povetkin camp is aware that it is the backup plan to Wilder.

“We are finalizing negotiations for Joshua versus Povetkin for September of this year. We are hoping to come to a deal by the end of the month,” Kornilov told ESPN. “Joshua versus Povetkin is the most competitive fight in the heavyweight division today. Wilder versus Joshua has a lot more hype, but in my opinion Povetkin is a much tougher opponent for Joshua and it’s a 50-50 fight.”

“[Joshua] wants to box in the U.K. next. We’ve extended that offer to Wilder. Everything is good in terms of the spirit between the two camps. We’re talking. Povetkin is ready to go, so we have to make our move shortly. I reckon in the next week or two we’ll be looking to make a decision. We need to decide whether it’s Wilder or Povetkin next because the clock is ticking and Joshua is ready to get back in camp and defend his title. An announcement on the next Joshua fight is coming within the next week or two.”

Finkel said he is aware that Povetkin (34-1, 24 KOs), 38, of Russia, is a fallback option for Joshua, but that the Wilder side is not looking at other opponents yet.

“We’re not even thinking about it,” he said. “we’re hopeful to make this fight. This is the fight we’re focusing on only. Our goal is to make the fight with Joshua and that’s all we feel we should focus on.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the team of Deontay Wilder offered Anthony Joshua $50 for a Unification bout this fall.

Shelly Finkel, who manages Wilder along with Al Haymon and trainer Jay Deas, said the offer is for $50 million against 50 percent of the event revenue, meaning Joshua would make no less than that figure no matter how much the fight generated. If the fight generated more than $100 million, which Finkel believes it could, Joshua would make even more, and if it lost money, the Wilder side would be on the hook to pay Joshua.

“It’s a giant number,” Finkel said. “But it’s also a giant fight.”

Finkel detailed additional elements of the offer for what would be a pay-per-view fight in the United States; all of Joshua’s title fights have been on pay-per-view in the United Kingdom, his home country. Finkel said the offer calls for the Wilder side to select the location of the fight, but they would look to do it in the United States, probably Las Vegas.

He also said there would be no rematch clause and the fight would have to be next for each man. As for the timing of the bout, Finkel said it would take place between September and the end of the year.

“It has to be the next fight for each of them,” he said. “No rematch clause, and it’s for all the belts. We asked for them to send us an acceptance [by the end of Thursday]. Joshua [previously] asked for $50 million against 50 percent, and we gave it to them. They probably don’t believe it’s this big of an offer, but it’s an unbelievable offer. I hope they accept. Deontay is thrilled and believes Joshua will take it.”

“Anthony, get your man Eddie and [his father] Barry Hearn to check their email. I got something special for you,” Wilder said. “By the way, all the money’s in the bag. So I expect you’ll be a man of your word.”

“To me, this look like a PR move, but it’s something we obviously take seriously,” Hearn said. “I’ll be asking for a contact and also some answers to some important questions, like where is the fight going to be?”

“There’s no second fight in the offer. That’s not the end of the world if the deal is right,” Hearn said. “There are obviously other things that need to be addressed. Joshua has a number of existing broadcast deals in multiple territories [though he is a free agent in the U.S.]. Also the offer comes from Deontay Wilder and, with all due respect, he doesn’t have $50 million, so we need to know where the money is coming from. We want to do the fight in the U.K., but if we get an acceptable and secure offer, we’ll certainly look at it and take it seriously.

“They said we have to accept the fight by [Thursday], which is ridiculous when we have questions that need to be answered,” Hearn said. “But we have a meeting on Friday, and we will go through the offer. I’d like to see a contract and see where the money is coming from, and the location of the fight is important. We don’t have a problem doing it in America, even though we’d like to do it in the U.K.”

Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing is set to offer a fight for WBC Heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder to take on his fighter, IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“We’re going to put an offer together this week and look to continue the conversation with Wilder’s team,” Hearn said.

“We’ll be talking about whether Joshua fights again in July or August or we go straight into a Wilder fight in October or November,” Hearn said.

“I spoke to Stephen Espinoza to talk about mapping it out, and he said [a Joshua-Wilder fight] works best for him in September or December.”

“I said we either fight in July or August and then we see what happens, but I want to do a deal now,” Hearn said. “Even if we both fight this summer, I am looking to reach an agreement on this fight prior to our next fight, where we have already signed to fight Wilder in December. Because of the fan demand, it’s important that the fight is actually made now even if they fight one more fight.”

“What I am saying is that I want to make the Joshua-Wilder fight in 2018,” Hearn said. “The question is do we have a fight in the summer and then box Wilder in December or do we go straight into the fight in September or October. That is one of the things I will be speaking with Joshua and Rob about. But the only way I think we should have an interim fight is if the Wilder fight is signed.

“We want it. Joshua wants it bad. It’s the biggest fight in world boxing and it’s for the undisputed world championship. Nobody should be saying Joshua doesn’t want it. He wants it. Look at what he has already done in 21 fights. Nobody should doubt his desire to be in these big fights.”

By Jimmy Tobin

Heavyweight, Anthony “AJ” Joshua won a unanimous decision over Joseph Parker before a capacity crowd at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, Saturday night. The scorecards, lopsidedly in Joshua’s favor, reflected clearly the privilege he enjoys across the pond, but were hardly egregious as a tally that would edge the fight to Parker. So let us not bemoan too long judging that, however predictable, however convenient, renders the proper verdict. Joshua-Parker was anything but an entertaining fight, but the right man won, and if that is scant consolation for a dreadful 12 rounds, it is worth remembering that boxing often fails to provide even that justice.

It takes two earnest fighters to deliver a spectacle—no, wait, that is not what Saturday taught us, is it? No, the alchemy of the spectacular includes two parts earnest fighter and one part competent referee—and Saturday proved that by means of negation. Referee Giuseppe Quarterone injected himself into the action with a frequency and timing that left the fighter’s themselves confused. Too often he shimmied between Joshua and Parker, who took barely a step back between them, expressing not quite intent befitting the moment, but indifference enough Quarterone’s involvement as to make that involvement merely intrusive. The least a referee in a dull fight can do is become invisible when aggression percolates through the drudgery. Yet it was at these times that Quarterone was impossible to miss.

But enough about the officiating: it, like the judging, showed a preference for Joshua, but not one he needed to secure victory. Besides, referees, like judges, can be rendered irrelevant by the action. That involves some danger, of course, something neither Joshua nor Parker was particularly compelled to tempt.

Parker found enough success with his jab, his feints, his counters to make Joshua largely holster his weapons. But when the moment came to capitalize on that success, to add a right hand to the double jab, or weave inside behind it, when the moment for daring arrived, Parker passed. If his was a winning strategy, it might conceivably be expected to have won him the fight; yet Parker only fought to win until it became clear that his plan, absent the quantum of spirit demanded by the stakes, was not a winning won—whereupon he settled for a moral victory, handing Joshua his first decision win.

Nor is Joshua absolved of his role in what was his first eminently forgettable fight. He may have opened up enough to wed Parker to his inconsequential mix of jabbing and feinting, but when it was clear that Parker was either content to lose or unable to win, Joshua, perhaps because he was unnerved, perhaps because he was at a loss for how to deliver a stoppage, perhaps because he was content to coast, simply chaperoned Parker to defeat. He must reckon every fight, the future of boxing, not only with his opponent but with the expectations he has engendered and profited from, and on this night fell markedly short of the latter.

Is Joshua suspect then? Hardly. Had he knocked stiff Klitschko, Takam, and then Parker, he would earn, even grudgingly, the respect of his critics. Yet somehow, wins over all three, including stoppages of Klitschko (inarguable) and Takam (suspect) diminish significantly Joshua’s present and potential. Strange that, especially from those who hold Parker in some esteem. There is a chance Joshua benefitted from his history with Klitschko, their sparring sessions instilling in Joshua the confidence to take forcibly the mantle. Takam though has made a few bones begriming idols of late and Parker is fighter enough to trouble anyone in the division.

It would appear then, that Joshua is one of the few fighters denied the charity of a difficult night. He was an accomplice Saturday, yes, and that might be crime enough to deep-six him were he the only champion ever guilty of it, were he not in but his twenty-first fight, were the style matchup not so poor—were he defeated or even clearly hurt. Grant-Golota this was not. How quickly people discredit a fighter for simply winning. Better a return to the days of Tyson Fury? Have you forgotten what a miscarriage of violence his title-winning performance against Klitschko was? And the carnival that was his defenseless title reign?

Such short memories. Boxing, perhaps more than any other sport, makes us prisoners of the moment. Something about the action, the way the image of one man unmaking another (or not) not only refashions our recollection of the past but, often with too little evidence, manipulates our projections into the future. The schedule conspires here as well, for with so many quiet months between fights a fighter’s last performance often becomes his defining one—until, of course, he fights again and that definition changes, until the irons of another moment shackle us to its message. You can see this process at work with Joshua: reverse the order of his last three fights so that he rebounds from his first decision win over Parker to knockout Takam and Klitschko and how easily does Joshua defeat incumbent nemesis, Deontay Wilder? As if Joshua or his future has changed so drastically over the course of a year.

Matchmaking will set Joshua again on his concussive way, because Eddie Hearn understands that the best way to remedy a bad night is to give people something else to talk about and, more importantly, because the list of opponents who can stymie Joshua is short. Soon after Joshua will make the fight everyone wants from him. And the moment that night will imprison us, and perhaps even the fighters, for some time.

Manchester ace Crolla is an ambassador for boxing’s exciting and revolutionary new entertainment brand that brings together eight unbeaten welterweights in thrilling toe-to-toe action at the Manchester Arena on Friday, April 27.

“Million Dollar” had the greatest night of his career there, the fifth-round knockout of Darleys Perez in November, 2015 that brought him the WBA title, and the 31 year old stayed in contention for another title shot with a points win over game Mexican Edson Ramirez at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Crolla overcame a nasty cut on his right eye midway through his 10-rounder after heads clashed – but he stayed calm and held his boxing together to go on and win unanimously, and widely, on the three judges’ scorecards.

His crucial big-fight experience, accrued over nearly 12 years as a professional in 42 fights, with English, British, Commonwealth, International and World title honours under his belt and potentially more to come, ensures Crolla is an ideal mentor to the fighters, alongside former World Champions Ricky Hatton and Paulie Malignaggi.

Ultimate Boxxer contender Andy Kremner was watching the fight – and felt inspired.

“I’ve always followed the Manchester fighters,” said Kremner, “and Crolla is definitely one of my favourites.

“You have to admire someone who’s been through everything Anthony’s been through and still got to the top.

“He lost fights early in his career, we thought his career was over after he was badly injured chasing burglars – and it wasn’t easy for him on Saturday night either.

“That was a nasty cut he picked up, but Anthony just got on with it and got the job done.”

Ultimate Boxxer Isaac Macleod said: “I would love to see Anthony win back the world title. His story is so inspiring to other fighters. It’s a ‘Rocky’ story – and unlike ‘Rocky,’ it’s real. Anthony is proof of where hard work and self belief can get you.”

There’s talk of a possible match between Crolla and Matchroom stablemate Luke Campbell later this year.

Crolla, who held pound-for-pound fighter Jorge Linares to a draw in a world-title challenge, said:

“I’m looking for big fights sooner rather than later.

“I’m going to have a break for a few weeks and I’m looking forward to ‘Ultimate Boxxer.’

“I’ve looked at the fighters taking part and it’s wide open. One of them is going to be star and I’m looking forward to finding out who it’s going to be.”

ULTIMATE BOXXER I will take place at the Manchester Arena on April 27. Tickets are available from www.ultimateboxxer.com

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By Bart Barry-

SAN ANTONIO – This city shouldn’t’ve had to factor in this column. With a soldout heavyweight title fight in a Welsh rugby stadium Saturday there should’ve been no room for a treatment of comedian Bill Burr’s new material. Yet here we are.

The plan, I suspect, was to write all about the incredible spectacle that just happened in Cardiff, an Easter-themed heavyweight resurrection tale about what hopefulness now visits all aficionados but especially those of us who make weekly filings, but instead there came an -egghunt for some way to embellish both Joshua-Parker and Bill Burr and set them together in a messy, vital basket. Neither of them inspired the passion requisite for fashioning 1,000 words from 300-word subjects. And as I write this without knowing how those 1,000 words’ll get achieved, I can’t be certain their combination’ll turn the trick either (but in a meta twist, these 100 or so words of anxiety about getting 1,000 words reduce the trick to 900 [actually 875]).

Saturday’s was AJ’s first mediocre showing on sport’s biggest stage. It’s tempting to write it made a unification match with Deontay Wilder more likely. Let’s succumb to that temptation.

Joshua didn’t show any new physical vulnerabilities, exactly; he’s still a touch chinny and stiff. But Joseph Parker’s jab and counterpunching might’ve excavated a bit of psychological fragility previously unknown to Joshua’s growing legion of American fans (Brits generally seem keener and more-interested observers of their prizefighters and may have noticed this wrinkle years ago). When Parker soldout and went after Joshua, driving forward hastily and perhaps carelessly, Joshua was available to be moved if not always hit.

Moving a heavyweight prizefighter is difficult work – you’re up against an unsurpassable sum of human will and inertia. Joshua went backwards to the ropes several times and revealed his sole strategy for dissuading an onrushing Parker was to set Parker in a leftarm headlock and try to clock him with a right uppercut on the way out. Not a bad strategy against a shorter man. Also not a strategy to try against a taller man. And certainly no way to dissuade a 6-foot-7 lunatic like Wilder.

What I think I sensed in Joshua, and this may all be grasping projection, was a light dusting of Sonny Liston’s aversion to crazy people. Joshua has remarkable composure and grace. Where you look for hints of fear or weakness in many fighters’ ringwalks, a compensatory need to not be overwhelmed by the moment or enjoy it too much, in Joshua you watch to admire its manly comportment, its nonchalance, its unaffectedness. He is being Anthony Joshua. Life for AJ is a meritocracy; he’s the biggest, strongest, bestlooking man in his noble profession so there’s little wonder 80,000 people attend his events.

Deontay Wilder scatters much of that. Joshua’s a better boxer? Sure, like every other guy Wilder has haywired. Joshua is a gold-medalist? Wilder was so shocked by his bronze medal he named himself after it. Joshua casually strides into combat? Wilder anger-thespians his way to the ring in a garish mask.

And if you go straight back when Wilder activates the acid windmill you get bladed like a bather beneath a propeller.

None of these thoughts occurred to me till Saturday. Wilder’s weardown of Luis Ortiz made it possible to imagine there was some reason in the Alabamian’s rhyme, yes, but most of us still imagined Joshua casually 1-2-3ing his way to Wilder’s unconsciousness. I’m less certain now. After how conclusively Parker’s jab stalled Joshua’s pace and aggression I’m slightly open to a Ricardo Mayorga vs. Vernon Forrest scenario – whereby rage, inefficiently applied power, and desperation-of-intent overwhelm craft, reason and preparedness.

*

None of that has a smidgen to do with the dateline above. There’s no symmetry between what happened Saturday evening in Cardiff and what happened at Majestic Theatre’s early show, so let’s not be insulting and pretend there is. Just this: I watched Saturday’s fight in bored silence with a friend the same way I watched Saturday’s standup show in general mirth with a few thousand strangers.

Bill Burr’s latest is not his best. This can be measured by an insightful metric he provided not long ago: When a comedian awakes with a sore throat it means he’s been yelling a lot because his material is not strong as it should be. Burr’s throat was doubtful sore Sunday morning, but it was nearer to sore than his Netflix specials anticipate.

There’s a novel sort of arc Burr employs across an hour of comedy: He ingratiates himself with his audience then insults his audience then rescues the show by reingratiating himself with the audience. It’s a seduction technique that works like a threepunch combination: The closer will always land if you have the balls to commit fully to each maneuver no matter how iffily their predecessors go.

San Antonians proved, by Burr’s onstage admission, both too initially accommodating and too difficult to insult. Not until he did his antihero bit – there’s nothing heroic about being the sailor on an aircraft carrier who points the way to war for fighter pilots – in a place that last year trademarked itself “Military City USA” did Burr’s insults gain much purchase. And even then it was a lone, virtuesignaling voice, offpace enough with the rest of the polite South Texas crowd to feel like a plant. Burr now struggles, when he struggles, for the same reason every comic does: With our current overabundance of information it is increasingly difficult to say something that is both genuinely surprising and genuinely funny.

In order to make a redneck rendition of an AR-15 rifle riff surprising, in other words, you now must spice it with so much twang and obliviousness as to miss spontaneity, by way of caricature.

*

One last thought about our recrudescing heavyweight division. Much as there’s a chance Deontay Wilder crazies his way past Anthony Joshua there’s a chance Tyson Fury crazies his way to a 12-0 shutout of Wilder. Then Joshua outbusies Fury.

All of these fights happen in soldout arenas and stadiums in the U.S. and Europe. And suddenly we have at least a silverish era in the heavyweight division.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

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Doors Open – 4.50pm – first bell 5pm

6 x 3 mins Super-Middleweight contest

MOSE AUIMATAGI Jr v MORGAN JONES

11st 12lbs 6oz 11st 13lbs 6oz

(New Zealand) (Aberdare)

6 x 3 mins Light-Heavyweight contest

JOSHUA BUATSI v BARTOLMIEJ GRAFKA

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10 x 3 mins WBA International Lightweight Championship @ 9st 9lbs

JOE CORDINA v HAKIM BEN ALI

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(Cardiff) (Belgium)

Followed by

10 x 3 mins WBA International Welterweight Championship @ 10st 7lbs

JOSH KELLY v CARLOS MOLINA

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Followed by

10 x 3 mins Lightweight contest

ANTHONY CROLLA v EDSON RAMIREZ

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12 x 3 mins WBA Bantamweight Championship @ 8st 6lbs

RYAN BURNETT v YONFREZ PAREJO

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12 x 3 mins WBA Inter-Continental Heavyweight & WBO International Heavyweight Championship

ALEXANDER POVETKIN v DAVID PRICE

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Followed by

12 x 3 mins WBA, IBF, WBO & IBO Heavyweight Championship

ANTHONY JOSHUA v JOSEPH PARKER

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CARDIFF, WALES (March 30, 2018) – IBF and WBA Heavyweight World Champion Anthony Joshua weighed-in at 242 ¼ pounds and WBO Champion Joseph Parker measured 236 ½ pounds Friday before a capacity crowd at Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff for their Heavyweight World Championship tomorrow live on SHOWTIME.

The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins live at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT from ringside at Principality Stadium where nearly 80,000 fans will match boxing’s all-time indoor attendance record, initially set in 2017 in Joshua’s title defense against Carlos Takam at the same venue.

Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) scaled his lightest in 10 fights, and more than 10 pounds lighter than his October 2017 defense of the IBF and WBA titles, while Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) measured 10 pounds lighter than all three of his world championship bouts.

“Carrying around a bit of extra weight makes things difficult,” Joshua said. “I’ve been running well, training well. There’s been tough times in camp, but losing that little bit of extra weight has made things that little bit easier.

“It’s a perfect weight for the fighter I’m about to face tomorrow because he’s nimble and he’s quick. I’ve got boxing skill and I can control him, but I think the lighter I am the more I’ll be able to match him for speed.”

Parker, who will make his third defense as champion, took note of Joshua’s lighter weight.

“(Joshua’s weight) makes me think that he’s taking the fight very seriously,” Parker said. “There’s not much of a weight difference, which is good. I think we’re both going to be fast tomorrow night. We’re both going to move well and throw some big bombs.

“I saw confidence in Joshua. He’s a good champion. I saw confidence so I’m expecting a really good fight.”

American Steve Weisfeld, New Zealand’s Ian Scott and Britain’s Steve Gray have been assigned as the three judges scoring from ringside. The third man in the ring will be Italy’s Giuseppe Quartarone.

“I’m not worried about a decision,” Parker said. “We’ve done everything we can in training to prepare. The biggest thing for me is the challenge of fighting someone like Joshua. If it goes into a dark place, how long will I stay there for? How fast can I come back?

“I’m here for a good fight. I’m here for a war. You’re going to have to give everything to beat me.”

The massive global event will be watched in more than 215 territories throughout the world, a distribution figure that is on par with some of the biggest boxing events in history.

“You have to remember that even though I’m heavyweight champion of the world, there’s another belt I’m fighting for. In my mind, I’m a challenger,” Joshua said. “Scrap my belts. I’m challenging for the WBO heavyweight championship of the world. That’s what I’m going for and that’s what my mindset is. I’m hungry. I’m determined. I’m willing to go the distance or I’m willing to take risks and take him out early. I just want to secure that win one way or another.”

This will be just the 11th unification in heavyweight history. Previous winners of unifications include Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis and Wladimir Klitschko. The last fighter to win a unification between undefeated champions was Mike Tyson in 1987.

“These wins are creating history,” Joshua said. “This type of fight where two champions who are undefeated come together is history. The last person to win was Mike Tyson thirty years ago. If I do win, I haven’t spoken about it much, but providing I do get this win we’re going to set history in late 2018. I’ll become undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.”

The Heavyweight unification blockbuster clash between Anthony Joshua MBE and Joseph Parker will be broadcast in an incredible 215 territories from Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday night.

Joshua and Parker lay four belts on the line in an historical night in the Welsh capital, and the clash of the two unbeaten Heavyweight rulers has grabbed the attention of the world’s premier TV broadcasters.

The main event heroes are on the biggest networks in their home nations with Sky Sports Box Office in Britain and Sky Arena in New Zealand and TV3 in Samoa and will captivate TV audiences in boxing mad nations in the US with Showtime, Canada and Germany with DAZN, SFR in France and Main Event in Australia.

Fight fans from Honduras to Holland, Panama to Poland and Finland to French Guyana will be able to witness the action live, and promoter Eddie Hearn believes the figures prove that AJ is the biggest draw in world sport.

“The incredible international TV sales for Saturday night’s event prove that Anthony Joshua is main man in the game,” said Hearn. “At 10.30pm on Saturday night, the attention of the sporting world will be focused on Principality Stadium as these two unbeaten giants put it all on the line – British boxing has never been in better shape and we’re proud to yet again make history with AJ.”

By Norm Frauenheim-

Anthony Joshua can strengthen, if not secure, his claim on being the face of a tribal game Saturday against Joseph Parker because of an ongoing mess that leaves a lot of questions about Canelo Alvarez.

Other than mounting controversy, it’s hard to know what’s next for Alvarez, boxing’s pay-per-view leader since Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s exit.

Chances that Alvarez’ middleweight rematch against Gennady Golovkin will happen on May 5 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena look increasingly unlikely after the Nevada Athletic Commission filed a formal complaint against him on Thursday for testing positive on February 17 and again on Feb. 20.

The Nevada Commission is expected to rule at a meeting re-scheduled for April 18. It had originally been scheduled for April 10.

The complaint appears to be the first step toward a suspension of Alvarez, who says Clenubuterol was found in his system nearly three weeks after the fight was announced on January 29 because of tainted meat he says he ate while training in Guadalajara.

Even before Thursday’s filing, there were plenty of signs that a suspension looms. HBO pulled its ads for the fight. The MGM Grand said it is offering ticket refunds.

Translation: Fewer and fewer people think the fight will happen, at least not on May 5, an annual Mexican holiday that some fans have now dubbed Cinco de Maybe.

According to the complaint, Alvarez faces a suspension of nine to 24 months. It can be reduced by as much as half if Alvarez is deemed to be cooperative and credible. He is expected to speak to the Commission at the April 18 hearing.

The best guess is that the Commission issues a six-month suspension dating back to the first positive test, Feb. 17.

That would mean Canelo would be eligible to fight on August 18, opening up the possibility that the rematch could move to September 18, two days after Mexico’s Independence Day celebration on Sept. 16.

Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a controversial draw last Sept. 16, also at T-Mobile. That one begged for a rematch and still does.

All of this is happening just as the unbeaten Joshua, the IBF and WBA champion, gets ready to defend his belt (Showtime 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT) in Cardiff, Wales, against Parker, also unbeaten and a likeable New Zealand heavyweight with the WBO title.

The Cardiff fight at a soccer stadium is expected to draw a crowd of about 80,000. That would mean Joshua has draw 250,000 customers over his last three fights, including a reported 90,000 at London’s Wembley Stadium for his stoppage of Wladimir Klitschko last April.

Those are numbers that suggest Joshua is already more popular than Canelo.

A sensational performance against Parker would leave little doubt.

Potential erosion in Alvarez’s popularity coincides with UK promoter Eddie Hearn’s plans to introduce Joshua to an American audience, perhaps against Deontay Wilder, who promotes himself better than anybody else has or could.

This week, Wilder has caused a mild storm by refusing to attend Joshua-Parker, apparently because he wouldn’t be allowed to go face-to-face with Joshua after the fight.

Face-to-face, the only Joshua-Wilder meeting that matters is at opening bell. That looks more like a when than an if.

Especially amid a growing flap that leaves fans frustrated and looking for a new, fresh face with a future still untainted by filings, complaints, hearings and possible suspension.

Ricky ‘The Hitman’ Hatton is convinced heavyweight hero Anthony Joshua will write another chapter in British boxing’s golden era in Cardiff on Saturday night.

Joshua looks to add Joseph Parker’s WBO belt to his IBF and WBA Super titles at the Principality Stadium and Hatton said: “I can’t see anything other than a Joshua win.

“Parker has quick hands for a heavyweight and he could give Joshua problems for a few rounds.

“But can he do it for 12 rounds is the question.

“I don’t think he can.

“I can see Joshua getting to him in the middle rounds and stopping him in the second half of the fight.”

Joshua is British boxing’s biggest star since Hatton was in his pomp around a decade ago.

Hatton now has a stable of fighters – including unbeaten heavyweight Nathan Gorman – and is also an ambassador for ‘Ultimate Boxxer,’ an exciting new single elimination tournament that premiers on Friday 27th April at the Manchester Arena with eight unbeaten welterweights going toe-to-toe.

“This is going to be the start of something that could be very, very exciting.” Said Hatton.

“Sky Sports and BT Sport are both doing a great job for boxing, but ‘Ultimate Boxxer’ is being shown on the internet and you can be seen by so many people on the internet these days.

“‘Ultimate Boxxer’ is a great opportunity for young fighters who might not get a chance on Sky Sports or BT Sport. There’s every chance ‘Ultimate Boxxer’ will uncover a star – or maybe two.”

‘Ultimate Boxxer’ is being held at the venue where Hatton dethroned pound-for-pound fighter Kostya Tszyu in 2006 and became a legend.

Hatton was a huge fans’ favourite, thousands followed him to the States for fights with Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, but he said: “This is the most successful time for British boxing I can remember.

“We’ve got good fighters coming through, lots of champions and the heavyweight champion of the world.

“The heavyweight scene in Britain is exciting. We could see Dillian Whyte face Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury is coming back to win his titles back.”

ULTIMATE BOXXER I will take place at the Manchester Arena on April 28. Tickets are available from www.ultimateboxxer.com

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Brooklyn, NY (March 29, 2018) Undefeated Brooklyn based heavyweight contender JARRELL ‘Big Baby’ MILLER will watch closely this Saturday night, March 31, 2018, as WBA/IBF Heavyweight World Champion ANTHONY JOSHUA faces undefeated WBO Heavyweight World Title Holder JOSEPH PARKER in front of an expected crowd of over 80,000 boxing fans at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, England.

Said the 29-year-old Miller, “The excitement continues in the heavyweight division as Anthony Joshua steps back in the ring on Saturday against Joseph Parker and no one is more excited than me.”

“A victory by Joshua will put me one step closer to joining him in the ring and will give me the chance that I’ve been working all my life to get and NO ONE deserves this more! I’m the wildcard that’s going to shake this division up and give the fans what they want to see.”

“I’m here to stay and I will get the respect I deserve. I will not be denied. My focus right now is to add another win on April 28th with a knockout victory over Johann Duhaupas and then ‘Big Baby’ Miller is coming for my heavyweight crown and my respect. The world will know my name!”

On Saturday, April 28, 2018, Miller, (20-0-1, 18 KO’s) will face former world title challenger, JOHANN “The Reptile” DUHAUPAS, (37-4-0, 24 KO’s), of Abbeville, France, over 12-rounds in a WBA World Heavyweight Title Eliminator. The bout will serve as the co-feature to Matchroom Boxing USA’s sensational boxing card, ‘Straight Outta Brooklyn’ emanating from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY and televised live on HBO World Championship Boxing beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Miller is currently world ranked #3 by the WBO, WBA and IBF.

The heavy-handed Jarrell Miller scored two dominant stoppages in 2017. Fighting for the first time at Barclays Center on July 29, 2017, Miller stopped former world title challenger Gerald Washington at the end of eight rounds.

Following that up most recently, Miller stopped former world title challenger Mariusz Wach in the ninth round on November 11, 2017 in his first appearance at NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Headlining ‘Straight Outta Brooklyn’ on the HBO telecast, former Middleweight World Champion and BROOKLYN BOXING Ambassador DANIEL JACOBS, (33-2-0, 29 KO’s), returns for a 12-round middleweight showdown against undefeated, world ranked Polish contender MACIEJ SULECKI, (26-0-0, 10 KO’s).

Advance tickets for ‘Straight Outta Brooklyn’ starting at $42 may be purchased by visiting Ticketmaster.com, BarclaysCenter.com, or calling 800-745-3000. Tickets for the event can also be purchased at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center. For information on group sales, call 844.255.9647.

Previously announced in an outstanding women’s world title unification bout, WBA Lightweight World Champion KATIE TAYLOR, (8-0-0, 4 KO’s) of Bray, Ireland returns to Barclays Center battling over 10-rounds against IBF Lightweight Women’s Champion VICTORIA ‘La Leona’ BUSTOS, (18-4-0), of Rosario, Argentina.

From the boxing rich country of Kazakhstan, the sport’s next big star, 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist, welterweight DANIYAR YELEUSSINOV will compete in a six-round bout in his can’t miss pro debut.

Additionally, fighting in a scheduled 10-rounder on the undercard, fast-rising unbeaten knockout artist SHOHJAHON ERGASHEV, (11-0-0, 11 KO’s), a native of Uzbekistan, now fighting out of Brooklyn, NY will face China’s ZHIMIN WANG, (10-2-0, 3 KO’s).

Brooklyn police officer and undefeated lightweight prospect DIMASH ‘Lightning’ NIYAZOV, (13-0-0, 6 KO’s), will be making his Barclays Center debut in a six-round bout.

Fighting in a six-round bout on the undercard, exciting welterweight prospect JULIAN SOSA, (11-0-1, 4 KO’s), originally from Mexico, now fighting out of Brooklyn, NY, will battle for the fifth time at Barclays Center.

Also seeing action from boxing rich Clones, Ireland, ‘Lethel’ Larry Fryers, (6-0-0, 2 KO’s), will fight in a six-round welterweight bout.

Further details on these bouts will be announced shortly.

CARDIFF, WALES (March 28, 2018) – Undefeated Heavyweight World Champions Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker made their first appearance in Cardiff on Wednesday, working out before a packed house of enthusiastic fans at St. David’s Hall just three days before their Heavyweight World Championship Unification this Saturday live on SHOWTIME.

The near-capacity crowd at the National Concert Hall of Wales is a prelude to the record-tying audience expected at Principality Stadium on Saturday where nearly 80,000 fans will match boxing’s all-time indoor attendance record, initially set in 2017 in Joshua’s title defense against Carlos Takam at the same venue.

The SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast begins live at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT from ringside in Cardiff as IBF and WBA Champion Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) and WBO Champion Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) meet in just the second unification between undefeated heavyweight champions in history.

The 6-foot-6 Joshua will make his fifth defense as champion against the 6-foot-4 Parker, who defends his title for the third time. Joshua owns a 100 percent knockout ratio while Parker has never been knocked down as an amateur or professional.

Here’s what the fighters had to say on Wednesday:

ANTHONY JOSHUA:

“This is bigger than last time. Boxing is bigger than ever right now. This is the golden era and I’m happy to be a part of it.

“It’s good news that he wants a war. In boxing, all you need is a good chin and a right hand but I’ve been working on finesse, technique, counter punching. I hope Joseph Parker falls into my booby traps because I’m going to set him up with some power shots as well. Yeah, I’ll be up for a war. I’ll hopefully be up for some blood, sweat, and cheers from my corner.

“Physically I believe in my ability. I’m focused and I understand it’s a boxing match and the people are expecting the pinnacle of boxing. Hopefully they’ll be able to see me through to victory.

“You need to still keep that challenger’s mind-set. I’m still the challenger in my head, and sometimes I don’t want to be seen with the belts around me too much. Now that I’m the hunted, it’s no time to just put my feet up and relax. I’m out there defending my throne on Saturday night.

“I can’t worry about it [futures bouts]. Saturday night is where it’s at. Saturday night is big enough. Saturday night is massive.”

JOSEPH PARKER:

“Since we’ve been here we’ve been welcomed with open arms. I expect a good crowd, a fair crowd. There are a lot of people supporting Joshua here, but we have a lot of support back home. It’s great to see all my family and friends here, and we’ve got some support here, as well.

“All Black (New Zealand rugby) style has always done well here in Wales, so I’m looking to keep that record clean.”

“I think some of the things our team has said has gotten under his skin. I’m not unhappy. He looks a little unhappy and a little tense. I think everyone’s different in how they approach a fight. We’re quite relaxed and calm. I’m excited about this fight, but it’s a controlled excitement.

“Klitschko’s a great fighter and champion who we respect, but Klitschko is Klitschko. I’m a different story altogether. I’m young and hungry, I’m fit and strong and I got my speed back. I will show that on Saturday.

“I’ve got the speed, power, skills, technique, all of the above.

“See you soon, [Anthony Joshua]. Let’s go to war!”

LONDON (March 27, 2018) – Undefeated heavyweight world champions Anthony Joshua and Joseph Parker kicked off fight week with a tense faceoff at the sprawling Sky Headquarters outside London as they approach Saturday’s Heavyweight World Championship Unification live on SHOWTIME from Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

The British sensation Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) owns the IBF and WBA titles, while New Zealand’s Parker (24-0, 18 KOs) is the reigning WBO Champion. The two will meet on Saturday in just the 11th unification in heavyweight history in front of what is expected to be nearly 80,000 boxing fans at the national stadium of Wales.

The blockbuster matchup marks just the second heavyweight championship unification between undefeated world titleholders. The last fighter to emerge victorious from a matchup of unbeaten heavyweight champions was Mike Tyson in 1987.

Here’s what the fighters had to say at Tuesday’s press conference.

ANTHONY JOSHUA:

“I feel like this is what we have to do. If champions don’t face off, then we won’t bring excitement to boxing, and I feel like we heavyweights are the flagbearers for the sport.

“I’m peaking, but what I need to do is remain where I am. If you want to see my peak then I need to face stern challenges. The better opponent, the better I get.

“We embrace the challenge of facing an undefeated champion. He’s a champion, he’s done well for himself. He’s quick and he can take a punch.

“I have to mentally say the fight will go 12 rounds in my head, but if I had to pick I’d say nine rounds. I win by knockout, 100 percent.”

“For a long time, I’ve had to rely on my strength and my physicality. Over the 10 years I’ve been boxing, I’ve built a lot of mental strength as well. And now I’m combining the two. I feel confident and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

“I take it one thousand percent one fight at a time. A lot of talk has been happening about AJ vs. Deontay (Wilder). People need to be realistic. I’m looking at Joseph Parker, who is a lively challenger. He’s a champion for a reason.

“Let’s say we look into a crystal ball and I’m victorious, then we can start talking about future plans. But, for now, my future starts on Saturday. That’s where I’ve got to look to and not really beyond that moment.

“There’s definitely a fear of losing because it keeps me going. I have to make sure I stay focused on the task at hand. The fear of losing keeps me motivated because I know how quickly the tables can turn. One minute you’re the man and the next you’re not.

“I’m definitely preparing for a 12-round fight. One hundred and ten percent. It isn’t a problem to go the distance. But let’s say I’ve got 20 quid in my pocket and I’m looking at Joseph Parker vs. Anthony Joshua. I believe Anthony Joshua will knock Joseph Parker out, myself.”

JOSHEPH PARKER:

“I feel ready, confident and sharp. I feel better than ever, and I’m taking these belts back to New Zealand.

“I see Joshua as a great champion. The reason why we wanted this fight is because we respect what he’s achieved in the boxing world. We respect his team and what they’ve been able to achieve on this side of the world. And we love challenges. We see him as a big challenge and that’s the reason we want to fight him.

“I feel it’s my time. I’m young, I’m fast, I’m strong. And I’m determined to win. I’m not here for a payday. I’m here to take those belts back with me. I’m here to be part of history. I’m not doing it just for myself. I’m doing it for my team, my family and my country.

“He’s at his best. I’m at my best. This is the perfect time for the fight. There are going to be no excuses. Whoever wins is the best on the day.

“I’m going to beat Joshua. I haven’t decided how I want to beat him yet. I don’t know if it’s a knockout or if it’s points or decision. We’ll see how I feel on fight night. But I’m going to be undefeated going home with the belts. These are mine.

“I’m in the best shape ever. Whoever wins is the better man. There’s no excuses on my side. I’m feeling great, I’m feeling strong and I’m going to leave it all in the ring. I’m punching hard, I’m punching with way more speed so I’m looking to put on a display.

“This is the perfect time because he’s undefeated. He’s got belts that I want. We’re both at the top of our game now and it’s a good time to see who the best is.

“I’m confident I’m going to win. I’m taking the belts home.”

ROBERT McCRACKEN, Joshua’s Trainer:

“Parker is a different opponent than Takam or Klitschko. He’s undefeated, so he doesn’t believe he can lose. But being fast and being calm and relaxed doesn’t prepare you for getting into a ring with Anthony Joshua. Not just the size of him, he’s very imposing in the ring, but he hits you and you don’t know where you’re getting hit. I think we’ve seen that in all of his contests to date.

“Anthony’s in great shape. He’s looking forward to the fight and he just sees it as another fight on the ladder to trying to become the undisputed champion. That’s the reason why the fight is taking place.

“Parker’s the WBO champion. He’s a good fighter. He’s unbeaten and he’s a challenge that AJ is up for.

“He ticks all the boxes. He can box. He can fight. He’s a devastating puncher, himself. And he can take a devastating shot, so he’s improving all the time. He’s learning all the time. He’s already the unified champion. He’s already an Olympic gold medalist. It’s part of the journey that he sees himself becoming the undisputed champion.”

KEVIN BARRY: Parker’s Trainer

“These are two guys that are young, two guys that are at the top of their game. Usually, when you have two very skillful, undefeated fighters in the ring together it will come down to who can execute the game plan the best on the night. I’ve said all along that I believed out of all the heavyweight champions, that Joseph Parker has the best skill. I believe he can do more. I believe he has the fastest hands. On Saturday night, we’ll find out whether I’m dreaming or whether I’ve been right all along.

“I think we’ve had our best training camp, and I know trainers say that all the time but over the last two years, we’ve had a really rough time with Joseph’s elbows. I think it’s shown in his performances. We’ve had a couple of surgeries just prior to Christmas last year. This camp, 11 weeks in Las Vegas, have been the most enjoyable time that Joe and I have spent together in the five years that we’ve had.

“We decided right from the get-go that we were not going to let the occasion beat us. One of the huge strengths of Joseph Parker has always been the way he controls his emotions. I’ve said on several occasions, whether it’s 800, 8,000 or 80,000, it will be the same Joseph Parker smiling all the way to the ring. Joseph has wanted this challenge for so long, an opportunity to prove that he is the best heavyweight in the world. Obviously, we believe that he beats Joshua or otherwise, we wouldn’t be here.”