By Daniel Hughes: This coming Saturday, 13th February at the Sportsman’s Lodge, Studio City in the suburbs of Los Angeles will host a card to be televised on Unimas ‘Solo Boxing Tecate’ the series that showcases the upcoming Hispanic talent.
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Errol Spence Jr – The welterweight primed for a big 2016
By Daniel Hughes: It seems 2016 will see a changing of the guard in the welterweight scene, fighters have retired like Floyd Mayweather and of course Manny Pacquiao will be set to follow him after facing Timothy Bradley once again. Time waits for no man and boxing is certainly a sport that historically fighters that retire should stay that way.
Finances and ego sometimes leads to the warriors of old lacing them back up again. The lure of PPV dollars and TV companies and promoters offering large sums, hard to turn down maybe we will see either or both fight again, don’t rule it out.
The welterweight scene has a void to fill for sure and TV will be looking for a star to step into the picture. The UK has of course Kell Brook and Amir Khan a fight that would make both millions here, but a fight that sells worldwide, frankly at this point no.
Billy Joe Saunders – Out to make his point
By Daniel Hughes: This Saturday, on the 19th of December in Manchester, England, boxing fans will at last see Andy Lee face Billy Joe Saunders for the WBO middleweight title. Style wise, both fellow southpaw fighters also with similar backgrounds. It is the third time scheduled, twice postponed and a factor in removing the casual boxing fans interest.
The venue and country of the fight has been moved, and both men are from a traveling background. Both personable men, will no doubt see the irony in that fact. Both fighters are used to the versatility life brings and being true fighting men it will not bother either in the slightest.
Jack Dempsey: The story of marketability and ability
By Daniel Hughes: The heavyweight championship of the world, the richest prize in sport as often quite rightly spoken of back in the day, bygone days of boxing making both front and back page news transatlantic wide. The heavyweight champion, like a president, known worldwide the vastly underrated Jack Johnson who on the aptly named boxing day 1908 created history for many reasons, the template of knowing his worth once he reached the boxing summit.
He had ability, avoided by fear and politics, but when he became champion he also became a fighter that developed his marketability the first of many that would follow. Many despised him for no other reason for the color of his skin, no one could ignore his skill set, he made money, he dressed well and lived life to the full, you couldn’t ignore him and at the time the world he lived in he gave hope to many.
Jack Johnson by 1915 had of course lost his title to Jess Willard a changing of the guard a revered champion gone and replaced by a fighter who let’s just say fitted a lot of agendas of the time a whole lot better.
Eubank Jr – It’s about levels
By Daniel Hughes: This Saturday night the main support fight between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte at the O2 Arena, North Greenwich, London 12th December will be between middleweights Chris Eubank Jr and Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan. It is a fight that O’Sullivan the man from Cork, Ireland has been calling for the last three years.
On Saturday night he gets his wish, opportunity and payday to deliver what he has promised, defeat for Eubank Jr.
The usual pre-fight war of words for me has been just that, it’s boxing it is frankly par for the course, claim and counter claim, reality being when the first bell sounds. Eubank Jr when interviewed relaxed and for me focused and confident, fazed never, not in his make-up let alone the usual link to his father, who the O’Sullivan camp have a link to they have close up knowledge of encountering Eubank Jr’s father.
Smith-Fielding: Fireworks night in Liverpool
By Daniel Hughes: The Echo Arena, Liverpool, England plays host to a much anticipated domestic super-middleweight match-up Saturday 7th November, when the unbeaten #1 WBC super middleweight contender Callum Smith and Rocky Fielding meet in a fight where the winner almost certainly will get a crack at world honors. Local rivals for sure, but both will be looking no further than for both will be the toughest test of their respective careers to date come Saturday night.
Mayweather – Nothing personal just business
By Daniel Hughes: The boxing world has certainly always been about the bottom line, money whatever the currency of choice you maneuver the pieces to whatever position that suits the people in power, and it’s not often the protagonist’s the man in the middle being the man with power, the fighter.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26 KOs) goes into the Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs) fight as in my opinion as many a sure fire winner. In many ways, record intact, bank balance enhanced and like him or not, Mayweather controlled his own destiny. Judge his career as you decide. He’s the best ever not for me but of his generation certainly.
Boxers building careers from foundations-The small hall UK shows
By Daniel Hughes: The building of a fighter can often be made easier by the recognition of an esteemed amateur career, managers and promoters falling over themselves to sign the next big thing. The reality of the paid ranks is totally different for many fighters that will start and end careers at domestic level, worldwide.
Artur Beterbiev: The light-heavyweight stepping out of the shadows
By Daniel Hughes: The light heavyweight division has two fighters who most writers and fans would love to see face each other as one of the potential fights of 2015,the hard hitting duo Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson.
The division’s top two ranked fighters have been on a potential collision course for some time, promotional politics of course so far it seems have been the spanner in the works of giving the fans a fight that everyone would want to see. The Russian at 32 seemingly at his peak, Stevenson the Canadian at 37 you would hope would want the biggest money fight out there in the division.
Richard Commey The wildcard in the Lightweight rankings
By Daniel Hughes: The world lightweight scene at the moment paints a very wide open picture for fighters looking to get their chance to get ranked, involved and to stake a claim in getting themselves a world title shot at any of the recognized current 135lb champions.