Unbeaten Ryan Burnett (17-0, 9 KOs) unseated International Boxing Federation World bantamweight champion Lee Haskins (34-4, 14 KOs) by a 12 round split decision on Saturday night at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Burnett dropped Haskins twice in the fight in knocking him down in the 6th and 11th rounds. Both fighters were cut from a clash of heads in the 2nd round.
Brandon Rios is picking Saul “Canelo” Alvarez o defeat IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) on September 16 on HBO PPV. Rios says he likes Golovkin as a fighter, but he has to go with Canelo due to how good he looked in his last fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
The Marquis of Queensbury Rules for boxing were written long before Andre Ward’s parents were born. The World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association were formed long before Andre Ward was born. The ideals of “clean punching”, “effective aggression”, “ring generalship”, and “defense” were placed into the verbiage of scoring a professional boxing match long before Andre Ward laced up his first glove. Therefore the “blame” for his ability to win within the rules of the sport by which he has made his living cannot be placed on his shoulders.
The World Boxing Council has ordered a WBC middleweight title eliminator match between #1 Jorge Sebastian Heiland (29-4-2, 16 KOs) and #2 Jermall Charlo (25-0, 19 KOs) with the winner of the fight to be the mandatory challenger to WBC 160 pound champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin.
Former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (33-3-1, 24 KOs) will be fighting this Sunday against Aaron Herrera (32-6-1, 21 KOs) in a 10 round fight in what Rios hopes will take him back to the top of the welterweight division. Rios-Herrera will be televised on Premier Boxing Champions on FS1 & Fox Deportes this Sunday on June 11 at The Pioneer Event Center in Lancaster, California. The start time for the Rios vs. Herrera is at 10:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. PT.
IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (22-0, 19 KOs) says he’s hopeful that he can get Danny Garcia or Manny Pacquiao in his next fight. Spence says he wants to fight WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman at the start of 2018, as long as he’s healed up from his elbow surgery that he recently had to repair a problem.
Former IBF junior middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (25-0, 19 KOs) recently moved up to the 160 pound division, and he’s already the biggest threat to Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Danny Jacobs. Jermall is ranked No.2 by the World Boxing Council at 160, and he could soon by facing #1 WBC Jorge Sebastian Heiland in a WBC middleweight title eliminator on July 29 on the Adrien Broner vs. Mikey Garcia card. That’s next month.
Earlier today, the news of the July 15 fight between IBO super middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr. and Arthur Abraham was officially announced. Eubank Jr. will be defending his International Boxing Federation 168-pound title against former 2 division world champion Abraham at the Wembley Arena in London, England. This is a fight that Abraham can win if he throws enough punches.
Tony Bellew was hoping to get a title shot against one of the heavyweight champions Deontay Wilder or Joseph Parker, but it looks like he’s going to have to settle for a rematch with36-year-old David Haye. That fight is the 34-year-old Bellew’s best payday available to him, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.
The IBF won’t stand in Anthony Joshua’s way from fighting Wladimir Klitschko in a rematch, as long as he does it by December 2. Joshua is supposed to be defending his IBF heavyweight title against his mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev next if he wants to keep the belt. However, the International Boxing Federation has decided to let Joshua fight Wladimir in a rematch FIRST before he defends the IBF title against Pulev.
Oscar De La Hoya says he wanted to make sure that he snatched the September 16th date in Las Vegas for the Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin BEFORE Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor could take the date. Call it paranoia on De La Hoya’s part if you want, but it’s better safe than sorry.
IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. (22-0, 19 KOs) is targeting both WBA/WBC champion Keith “One Time” Thurman and WBO champion Manny Pacquiao in unification fights. Spence, 27, will be fighting in September in Dallas, Texas. Thurman is out of commission with an elbow injury, so there’s zero chance of him fighting Spence next. Pacquiao has a fight against Jeff Horn on July 2 against Jeff Horn in Brisbane. Australia. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum isn’t going to put him back inside the ring so quickly against a dangerous puncher like Spence.
Oscar De La Hoya is already predicting that his fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) will be knocking out middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) in their fight in 3 months on September 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This is very ambitious of De La Hoya to pick Canelo by a knockout.
