Heavyweight Division

[craigyid14]

Its Joshua/Breazeale June 25th. Not the best but expected.

[craigyid14]

http://www.boxingscene.com/anthony-joshua-dominic-breazeale-finalized-june-25th--103835

[tm7]

Will be a KO1, can't really blame Matchroom though, the IBF gave them bugger all to chose from and they chose the most marketable/profitable fight

[craigyid14]

I reckon he lasts into the 2nd, tickets on sale already. Take it its once bitten..... You not attending? Groves v.s Murray chief support is a nice fight.

[tm7]

(04-25-2016, 11:10 PM)craigyid14 Wrote: I reckon he lasts into the 2nd, tickets on sale already. Take it its once bitten..... You not attending? Groves v.s Murray chief support is a nice fight.

Once is funny, I'm not going to this one. Plus heading back to NZ two days later.

Yea I'm sure Hearn will stack the undercard knowing the main event won't last long.

[craigyid14]

Timed that wrong it'll be freezing by then. Selby will probably be on the card, I reckon Brooks too big for an undercard now, unless its another poor defence. Has Hearn got Saunders?

[tm7]

Out of my hands unfortunately mate. Brook can't afford another easy defence after wailing on mandatory Bizier, they'll call for his head if he fights on an undercard. Saunders is with Frank Warren and was looking to fight Eubank at West Ham but broke his hand or something. Think Selby will have a big fight on it. Plus Connor Benn again, Ohara Davies. Callum Smith return? David Price v David Allen?

[diehard]

Tyson Fury lays into Anthony Joshua’s choice for first title challenger

James Slater - April 25, 2016 - 19 comments

It’s not at all surprising, but heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, upon hearing like the rest of us who newly crowned IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua will be facing in his first title defence, decided to put the boot in. Taking to his oft-used Twitter page shortly after reading how Joshua will defend against Dominic Breazeale on June 25th, Fury started off by saying we should all give Joshua a break, as he is still learning and doesn’t need to face a killer in his maiden defence.

“Lets not give @Anthony Joshua a hard time over his opponent, just remember he has only had 16 fights, & still learning,” Fury wrote.

Not too bad, but then Fury roared back onto Twitter minutes later to let us know he was only joking!

“BTW I was only f*****g joking with you guys, AJ is fighting a total BumCity. @EddieHearn at it again joke, imagine if I was gonna fight Brazile (Breazeale) lol,” he wrote.

In fairness, Fury would likely have got slated had he opted to fight Breazeale in a title defence, but of course, Fury never had the luxury of a voluntary defence. Fury was contracted to fight Wladimir Klitschko in an immediate rematch as we all know. But is Breazeale, 17-0(15) and, like Joshua a former Olympian (not a medallist like Joshua though; Breazeale losing in his first bout at London 2012) really such a bad opponent? Tall, athletic and possessing heart (as he showed in getting off the deck to stop Amir Mansour in his last fight, back in January) the man known as “Trouble” is far from the worst heavyweight title challenger in history, that’s for sure.

But at the same time, you cannot fail to understand why Fury is so annoyed. He has had no easy route to the world title, nor is he having any easy defences. If Fury beats Klitschko again on July 9th, he will then be expected to fight a big name like a Deontay Wilder or – somewhat ironically – an Anthony Joshua in his next fight. There is tremendous pressure on Fury to continue proving he is the best heavyweight on the planet. Of course, a lot of this pressure was put on Fury’s shoulders by the man himself, but it’s true there are no easy fights out there for him.

Will Joshua have an easy night against Breazeale in June?

[diehard]

Joshua opponent named: Dominic Breazeale

Anthony Joshua will make the first defense of his IBF World Heavyweight title against unbeaten Dominic ‘Trouble’ Breazeale at The O2 in London on June 25. Joshua ripped took both the belt and unbeaten record of Charles Martin at the same venue on April 9, and he’ll be looking to take another ‘0’ in his maiden defence.

Breazeale brings a formidable 17-0 record to the UK with 15 wins inside the distance and enters the clash on the back of forcing Amir Mansour to retire after five rounds of their clash in January. The Californian is no stranger to London having represented USA in the 2012 Olympic Games, where Joshua won gold.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am to fight again, especially at The O2 which I have made my fortress,” said Joshua. “My coaches have watched Breazeale for a long time and they knew he was going to be a player in the division and now we get the chance to go war on June 25. It’s sure to be explosive, both of us like to let our hands go and score knockouts, we are both undefeated and both have Olympic pedigree.

“I am looking to get passed Breazeale in style and continue moving towards the unification fight everybody is waiting for. I’m looking forward to being part of a stacked night of boxing and defending my title in style.”

A huge undercard is being pieced together by promoter Eddie Hearn, and the first fight announced is a mouth-watering Super-Middleweights George Groves and Martin Murray in an eliminator bout for the WBA crown.

Both men are hunting a World title shot in the second half of the year, a fourth in the division for Groves and a first at 168lbs for Murray, who boxed three times for a World crown at Middleweight.

“This is a fight I’ve wanted for a while and I’m delighted it’s made,” said Murray. “I’ve had some huge profile fights all over the world in Golovkin, Martinez and Abraham but never had the big one in the UK. This is a fight that British fight fans can really get their teeth into and I’m looking forward to getting the win and moving on to challenging for the World title later in the year.”

“I’m very excited to be defending my WBA international belt against Martin Murray back at the O2,” said Groves. “I’ve had two great performances this year, both in London and the latest one back at The O2. It’s always a happy hunting ground for me.

”Martin is the perfect fight for me at this stage. He’s a seasoned campaigner, who’s boxed at the highest level for quite some time. He is a world level opponent and I’ll have to be fully focused and prepared to beat him.

”A win against Murray on the biggest stage, will open a lot of doors and bring me a step closer to achieving my goal of becoming world champion. I’m fully expecting it to be a war, I can’t wait.”

Promoter Eddie Hearn added: “June 25 is going to be a huge night from start to finish. It’s great that Britain’s newest super star is staying active, many would have still been celebrating but its back to business for AJ. The fight with Breazeale is going to be explosive- he is 6″7 and is one of the few whose KO ratio is up there with Anthony’s. He has come through the similar elite amateur set up and has worked his way into this shot and is ready to go.

“We are looking to put on one of our strongest cards yet at The O2, topped by the huge domestic clash between George Groves and Martin Murray which is set to be a wonderful clash. Watch this space for some more big fights added soon.”

Tickets go on sale today (April 25) at 10am to Matchroom Fight Pass members from the Fight Pass area at http://www.matchroomboxing.com and O2 Priority members at http://www.theO2.co.uk. Tuesday April 26 at 10am sees the venue and AXS pre-sale before tickets go on general sale at 10am on Wednesday April 27.

Tickets priced between £40 to £500 will be available from http://www.theO2.co.uk and on 0844 856 0202

[NakiFan]

This fight will be like the Parker vs Martz fight. Ended with a right hand early.