As the four pre-eminent heavyweights of the past decade; Fury, Joshua, Wilder and Usyk, jostle in the departure lounge of their mid-thirties, a crop of aspiring heavyweights are eager to emerge as the preeminent contender beyond the long shadow cast by the ageing quartet. Among them, 26-year-old British heavyweight Daniel Dubois. This weekend, on the... Continue Reading →
It is almost twenty years since Evander Holyfield lost by Unanimous Decision to Larry Donald at New York’s Madison Square Garden for the vacant NABA Heavyweight title. A result and performance which left the wilting 42-year-old former Heavyweight Champion as a peripheral figure in the title picture and, to use the cinematic boxing vernacular, ‘all... Continue Reading →
As Tyson Fury’s legs succumbed to the punches Oleksander Usyk was detonating about his temples in the 9th round of their undisputed heavyweight title clash, it brought to mind the work of renown Steeplejack, and Fury’s fellow Lancastrian, Fred Dibnah. Famous for his affable smile and fearless enterprise in climbing mill town chimneys of the... Continue Reading →
The three pounds an effervescent Ryan Garcia elected not to shed in advance of his seismic victory over Devin Haney at the Barclays Center in down town Brooklyn last Saturday, or, if you prefer, the three pounds that proved beyond the chisels of his dedicated sculptors, dependent on the narrative most pliable to your viewpoint,... Continue Reading →
It is the equality of opponents that creates boxing’s finest nights not the greatness or dominance of one or the other. Fabio Wardley and Frazer Clark left London’s O2 Arena on Sunday night as a conspicuous example of this age-old truism. Wardley, the British and Commonwealth Champion, retained his titles with a draw few could... Continue Reading →
How much regret Keith Thurman will feel at the unharvested fruit that fell from the branches of his prime years is difficult to measure. He remained infuriatingly inactive through injury and choice, watching and narrating as contemporaries; Porter, Brook and Garcia fought and eventually made way for Spence, Crawford and now their own successors.
Eventually, boxing always returns to the big men. Heavyweights transcend the traditional boundaries of boxing in ways Middleweights and Welters never can. Enthralling the masses; from trailblazer Jack Johnson, to Jack Dempsey, from Joe Louis to Mike Tyson and of course the greatest of them all, Muhammad Ali too. On Saturday, the boxing circus will... Continue Reading →
Article first appeared at gambling.com Joshua to WIN 2/7 BETFRED Joshua to WIN by KO 13/2 William Hill Much is written about whether Anthony Joshua, 26-3 (23ko) is the same fighter he was in 2016 when first exploding on to the world-scene as an aggressive, come forward puncher. Either by evolution, or as a result... Continue Reading →
Article first appeared on Gambling.com Dubois to win by decision 15/8 with BETVICTOR On Saturday in Riyhad, Saudi Arabia, amidst the huge Day or Reckoning card, Daniel Dubois arrives at a crossroads in his boxing career. Triumph, and some of the lustre lost in defeat to Joe Joyce and Oleksander Usyk will be restored, defeat,... Continue Reading →
Article first appeared on gambling.com Describing the first fight after the loss of a pristine record as a ‘comeback’ is problematic but nevertheless commonplace. It is one of the many tenants of the modern cult of the unbeaten fighter. An ideology with far fewer followers in bygone eras when activity was king. Ryan Garcia, 23-1 (19ko), is the latest to find himself cast... Continue Reading →
