Can Pulev become world champ?

By Andrew Graves @andrewgravess

In his latest bout Kubrat Pulev defeated Tony "The Tiger" Thompson in one of the most boring fights I have ever watched in my entire life. Pulev had so much hype surrounding him coming up to this fight especially after his performance against unbeaten Belarusian Alexander Ustinov finishing him in a superb display in the 11th round defending his IBF International Heavyweight Title for the 3rd time becoming ranked number 1 with the International Boxing Federation.

Captain Huck ends rivalry with trilogy victory!

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97 - @BoxingOpinions1

It was one of the most highly-anticipated months. The build-up to this fight, especially in Germany, was terrific for a cruiserweight bout. The first two fights were action packed and most were expecting it to be even bigger and better this time as they believed it may be third time lucky for Afolabi and he may have finally worked the German out. Unfortunately the fight didn't quite live up to the hype and Afolabi didn't get the victory some were expecting.

Wladimir Klitschko Vs Francesco Pianeta - Fight Preview

Will Pianeta be just another victim of 'Dr Steelhammer'?

By James McKnight @JamesMcKnight83

WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO heavyweight ruler Wladimir 'Dr Steelhammer' Klitschko will defend his titles on May 4 when he comes up against southpaw, Francesco Pianeta. The SAP arena in Mannheim, Germany, hosts this heavyweight title contest. 

Wladimir Klitschko (59-3-0, 50 KO's), needs no introduction. He has been dominating the heavyweight scene since 2004 winning 17 bouts (12 inside the distance), in succession. The only blemishes on his record came in 1998 (Ross Puritty), 2003 (Corrie Sanders), and 2004 (Lamont Brewster). All three of those losses came inside 12 rounds. It is safe to say that 'Dr Steelhammer' has taken a liking to ending contests before the final bell is sounded. 

Klitschko of course has fought southpaws in the past. In 2000, he came up against Chris Byrd whom he beat on points. In 2003, however, Corrie Sanders inflicted only the second defeat of Klitschko's career at the time after a two round demolition job. In 2006, Klitschko rematched Chris Byrd and beat him in 7 rounds. Sultan Ibragimov (2008), Tony Thompson (2008 & 2012), and Rusian Chagaev also suffered at the hands of 'Dr Steelhammer'. 

Arthur Abraham Vs Robert Stieglitz II - Fight Preview

By James McKnight @JamesMcKnight83.

'King Arthur' Abraham aims to defend the WBO super-middleweight title against Robert Stieglitz on Saturday, March 23. 

The pair are set to clash for a second time after their first meeting occurred last August in Berlin, Germany. This time around they meet at the GETEC arena in Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany.

Abraham, 33, is Armenian-born, but is now a resident of Berlin, compared to Stieglitz, 31, who was born in Russia but now resides in Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt. This, of course, now means that Stieglitz has home advantage, whereas before Abraham did. 

Povetkin devastates Rahman!

WBA Heavyweight world champion Alexander Povetkin retained his undefeated record tonight (September 29th) with an emphatic knockout victory over a well-past-his-best Hasim Rahman.

To be honest with you this was exactly the outcome I, and probably most of you were expecting. It was a poor match-up between an "old man" and in-prime world champion. Povetkin was the huge favourite and we saw exactly why in the fight.

Rahman actually looked like he was having trouble walking down the steps towards the ring. Now, when you're making your way to fight a world-class heavyweight in their hometown and you are struggling to actually get to the ring, I think that's time to worry. Rahman actually started relatively well in the first round. His jab was very slow but it was strong and when it did land it was knocking Povetkin back. The only problem was that when Povetkin started to put the pressure on, Rahman just couldn't handle it and his defence was terrible. Povetkin started to land at will and managed to nick the first round. The start of the second was more of the same but when Povetkin decided to step the pressure up once again Rahman just couldn't handle the pace. The 39-year old crumbled under the pressure and looked as though he had just froze. Povetkin came forward and through a flurry of punches and almost every single one knocked Rahman's head back. The referee was forced to stop the fight and end Rahman's title hopes in the second round.

I think it's fair to say that Rahman has to retire now. The American has had a decent career and shouldn't jeopardise his reputation and maybe even his health by attempting to fight at a level he just simply cannot compete at anymore.

For Povetkin it's simple. Either step up the level of opposition or continue to be doubted by most of the boxing fans out there. He is a very good fighter but cannot be called a world champion until he faces a world-class fighter and to be honest with you I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

 

By Jack Price @PriceyJ97.

Geale shocks Germany!

Geale becomes unified middleweight champ.

Daniel Geale has done the unexpected and beaten Felix Sturm in his hometown to become the WBA "super" and IBF middleweight champion of the world. Not only is Geale now the first fighter to beat Sturm in Germany, he is also the only fighter to win two world titles against German fighters in Germany. He did the exact same thing as tonight against Sebastian Sylvester back in May of last year.

It was an impressive and solid performance from Geale throughout the whole fight and a slightly below par performance from Felix Sturm. Maybe it was the non-stop pressure that Geale was piling on him but there was just something about Sturm that wasn't right tonight. Maybe it was age catching up with him.

The first few rounds were close and could have easily been given to either fighter. From around the third round onwards Geale started to increase the intensity of his work rate and pile the pressure on Sturm. This was very effective and won the Australian most of the middle rounds. However, in the third quarter of the fight Sturm managed to pull himself back into the bout and win a couple of the rounds. When it came to the 11th, Geale was just slightly ahead and it was all in the last two rounds. It now depended on which fighter wanted it more. Both men stepped it up a gear but Geale was still producing more punches. The Aussie just won the 11th and performed fantastically in the 12th to leave most believing that he had won the fight.

Nobody was quite sure what to expect when the judges scorecards came in. We were all remembering the decisions that Sturm was gifted against the likes of Martin Murray and Matthew Macklin and we thought this was going to be the same. But it wasn't! Geale was announced the winner by a split decision. The judges scorecards were 116-112 to Sturm and then 116-112, 116-112 to Geale.
At this moment, the German crowd fell silent in disbelief. Their man had not been given the decision and he was not world champion for the first time in ten or so years.

The future for Sturm and Geale awaits to be seen, but one thing I am very sure of is that we can expect to see Daniel Geale in some very big fights in the near future!

Cleverly looking likely to defend against Simcic...

WBO light-heavyweight champ Nathan Cleverly.

Denis Simcic.

Prepare yourself for disappointment! Because once again Nathan Cleverly is looking set to defend against another 'nobody'. Many top boxing sites have reported that the Welshman's next defence of his WBO light-heavyweight world title will come against Denis Simcic of Germany.

As most of you probably won't know who Simcic is (because I didn't before this fight was announced), I'll just give a few background details on him: He is a German-based Slovenian that has a pretty decent record of 28-1, 14 KO's. He last fought in March of this year and won the WBO European light-heavyweight title. And although he hasn't really done much to earn it, he is ranked at No.3 by the WBO.
Now, looking at him like this (on paper) he looks like a pretty decent fight but unfortunately this isn't the case. The German-based Slovenian hasn't really fought anyone of much note and is looking like to be another Tommy Karpency style fight for Nathan Cleverly. Simcic isn't a journeyman so he will be coming to win but it is very unlikely that he will be victorious.

Nothing has been confirmed yet, but a lot of rumours have been circulating that the fight will take place at Cardiff's Motorpoint Arena in October. A press conference is scheduled for Monday September 3rd and all details should be announced then.

Abraham becomes two-weight world champ!



Abraham (centre) with the WBO super-middlweight title. 



'Amazing!' That is the only word I can use to sum up this fight. Maybe the intensity and the excitement of the event was just increased because it had been so long since any of us boxing fans had seen a world class televised fight. But anyway, you're not here to hear me ramble on about how excited I am that the boxing season has started again. You're here to read about what actually happened in the highly anticipated super-middleweight fight between Arthur Abraham and Robert Stieglitz.

I think the reason that this fight was as good as it was, is because both men wanted it so bad. It was a crossroads fight and both of them had something to prove. I think it's fair to say that going into this fight we were thinking that if Abraham didn't win then his career as a world-class fighter was over. On the other hand, we all also knew that Stieglitz was desperate to be victorious because he had to prove that he belonged with the top-level fighters at super-middleweight.

It was clear from the beginning that Abraham was not fighting with the same game-plan that he usually does. For anyone who has seen the German-based Armenian fight before, you will know that he usually just lasts through the first half of the fight without really throwing any punches and then from around the 6th or 7th round onwards he tries to wear his opponent down until they give up. But this time things were different. The 32-year old came out strong and fast and clearly won the first round. This was a sign that he knew that this was potentially his last chance at proving he was a force to be reckoned with at super-middleweight. Howeveer, Stieglitz was not just going to lay down and let Abraham walk away with the opportunity. The German-based Russian came back strong and threw more punches in the next few rounds than Abraham probably did in the whole fight. He even hurt the usually iron-jawed Abraham on occasions. When it got to the eighth round, I had it scored even and there were just no clues as to who was going to win. Abraham had just won the last round but he was looking very tired, whereas Stieglitz had blood pouring from his right eye and a bruise above his left but was still looking fresh when he threw his punches. The next four rounds were once again very close, except for the last round which Stieglitz clearly won.

At the end of the fight I had it scored 115-114 to Abraham but I could have easily had it the other way round. The judges scorecards were 116-112, 116-112 & 115-113, all in favour of Abraham. There was no arguments about the winner, I just think the scorecards were slightly wide.

One thing I did notice on Twitter after the fight is how many people were now fans of Stieglitz even though he lost th fight. A lot of people had not really seen much of him before and even though he lost, he still showed a lot of heart and courage and also proved that he can compete with some top-class fighters at the weight.

Abraham is now in the best position he has been in since moving up to super-middleweight. He is now a two-weight world champion and back up there with the top-level fighters. Whilst I don't think there's much chance of him beating the likes of Andre Ward and Carl Froch, there's still a lot big fights out there for him.

Povetkin Vs Rahman taken off the Chisora-Haye card!

Alexander Povetkin.

The anticipated heavyweight title fight between Alexander Povetkin and Hasim Rahman has been removed from the show at Upton Park on July 14th, which is headlined by the highly anticipated grudge match between David Haye and Dereck Chisora. Instead the bout has been made the headline fight on a show in Hamburg, Germany on the same night.

Sauerland CEO Chris Meyer claims that the reason they made this decision is because of organisational concerns and potential problems with the TV time. Meyer explained that if the fight took place in London, there was no guarantee that it could be broadcast live in Germany.

This could be the true reason, but it is more much likely that they just didn't want all of the controversy and problems that are surrounding this fight. The fight has attracted a hell of a lot of interest from the fans, positive and negative, but there are some people who do not want this fight to happen. However, many of these people have given up trying now. They have just accepted that this fight is going to happen whether they like it or not.

It unclear now, as to what will be made chief-support on 'Licensed To Thrill' on July 14th. They could bring a big fight in at short notice, but the much more likely solution is that they will boost one of the undercard fights to chief-support and hype it up a lot more than it deserves.