Heavyweight Division

[diehard]

Yeah, Parker's handspeed would trouble him. I'd put him close to Fa, but Joyce probably has more power. Wasn't impressed with his punch outtage, but like you say, he is relentless. Would have liked to see him in the later rounds.

[diehard]

Heavyweight Destroyer Efe Ajagba Signs Promotional Pact With Top Rank
August 5, 2020 by Top Rank -
Efe Ajagba - Ajagba to make debut under the Top Rank banner in 2020

(Aug. 5, 2020) — Top Rank announced today the signing of undefeated heavyweight knockout artist Efe Ajagba to a long-term promotional agreement.

Ajagba, 26, the Nigerian-born former soccer player, turned pro in 2017 after a decorated amateur career that included a berth at the 2016 Rio Olympics. A three-year professional, he has risen the ranks of the young heavyweights and is already rated in the top 15 by two of the major governing organizations.

Ajagba will make his Top Rank on ESPN debut in 2020 on a to-be-determined bill. He has also enlisted the services of manager James Prince and head trainer Kay Koroma.

“I made this decision to become a better boxer and to advance my career. That’s why I signed with James Prince and Top Rank,” Ajagba said. “When I return to the ring soon, you will see a new Efe Ajagba. Kay Koroma and I are working on my head movement and defense, as I seek to become a more well-rounded fighter.”

“Efe Ajagba is one of the most gifted young heavyweights I’ve seen in quite some time,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “He has immense physical tools and a great work ethic. I have the utmost confidence that we’re looking at a future heavyweight champion.”

At 6-foot-6 and 240-plus pounds, Ajagba (13-0, 11 KOs) is one of the division’s most intimidating physical specimens, a natural puncher with six-first round knockouts on his ledger.

He holds the record for the fastest victory in boxing history when, in August 2018, Curtis Harper walked out of the ring one second after the opening bell sounded.

The disqualification win ended Ajagba’s string of knockouts, and he would score four more knockouts before being taken the distance for the first time in his career. Ajagba last fought March 7 in Brooklyn, knocking out former world title challenger Razvan Cojanu in nine rounds.

[diehard]

Wallin, Kauffman quotes

Heavyweights Otto Wallin (20-1, 13 KOs) and Travis Kauffman (32-3, 23 KOs) square off in a 10-round showdown on the August 15 Showtime telecast from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Wallin will return to the ring for the first time since facing Tyson Fury in September 2019. Wallin opened up a gruesome cut over Fury’s right eye with a legal punch that nearly halted the fight.

Otto Wallin: “I’ve been training steady since the Fury fight and I feel like I’ve developed my game in a lot of ways. Kauffman is a tough veteran that can both come forward or box if he wants to. He’s a fan-friendly fighter and I have to be ready at all times. We have a great game plan as always and I’m in excellent shape. I know I have all the tools to beat Kauffman.”

Travis Kauffman: “This is my first training camp in seven years without Brother Naazim Richardson, but I know that he wouldn’t want me to leave camp and he’d want me to stay focused. Having him pass away while I was in camp was one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with, but there’s adversity in every camp I’ve had. I wouldn’t feel right if there wasn’t adversity to overcome. My father, Marshall, stepped back in as my head trainer. We know we’re facing a young, hungry fighter, but I have more experience than him and I don’t think he can last 10 rounds with me when I’m at 100% like I’ll be on August 15.”

[bart]

Interesting to see whether Wallin is the real deal or just caught Tyson at the right time.

[diehard]

Fury-Joshua fight series could be delayed

Plans are looking less probable for WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and WBA, IBF, WBO champion Anthony Joshua to go straight into a two-fight series against each other if each wins their upcoming title defenses.

The WBC has confirmed this week that if WBC interim world champion Dillian Whyte is triumphant against Alexander Povetkin on August 22, the winner of the upcoming Fury-Wilder III bout, which is scheduled for December 19, must face Whyte in the mandatory defense of the WBC title early next year.

The WBO is already on record saying the Joshua-Pulev winner must next fight mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk.

[diehard]

Finally: Dillian Whyte To Get His WBC Title Shot; Will Face Fury-Wilder III Winner
August 7, 2020 by James Slater

Dillian Whyte - As everyone knows, even fans with merely a slight interest in his career, Dillian Whyte has more than paid his dues and earned a shot at the WBC heavyweight title. In fact, when Whyte does get his shot, the fight could be dubbed “Finally!” Whyte has been waiting and waiting. Now, at last, Whyte can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

As everyone knows, even fans with merely a slight interest in his career, Dillian Whyte has more than paid his dues and earned a shot at the WBC heavyweight title. In fact, when Whyte does get his shot, the fight could be dubbed “Finally!” Whyte has been waiting and waiting. Now, at last, Whyte can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

As per a WBC statement, the winner of the third fight between reigning WBC champ Tyson Fury and former WBC champion Deontay Wilder must then fight Whyte. That big Fury-Anthony Joshua showdown will have to wait (and that’s assuming Fury beats Wilder in the third fight; this the expected result but no guarantee. And now ahead of any Fury-Joshua clash must come a Fury win over Whyte).

Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn has told Sky Sports that Joshua, who he also promotes, will have to wait – “Dillian takes priority,” Hearn said. “Dillian has to have that fight (with the Fury-Wilder III winner) by the end of February, and if it goes into March, it goes into March. Anthony Joshua is boxing in December. He won’t be ready to box again until June-July. Everybody acknowledges that’s the mandatory and that it’s next.”

All Whyte has to do now is come through okay in his fast-approaching August 22 fight with Alexander Povetkin. It would be a crying shame for Whyte and for his fans if he were to suffer the upset and get beaten by Povetkin, after waiting all the time he has and having fought so hard (wins over Dereck Chisora, Lucas Browne, Joseph Parker, Oscar Rivas) to earn his title shot.

But assuming Whyte does get past Povetkin, he is confident he can and will then beat either Fury or Wilder. Whyte has called out both men a number of times and now, at last, he is within touching distance of getting what he wants. Who has Whyte the better chance of defeating, though – Fury or Wilder? If the odds are to be obeyed, Whyte will be challenging Tyson Fury in either February or March of next year. And what a massive fight that would be for British boxing.

Fury Vs. Whyte is not as huge as Fury Vs. Joshua, but it could prove to be the better, more competitive fight.

[bart]

As long as Povetkin doesn't upset the apple cart.
I like Dill great interviews but just wonder whether he too confident right now... looked appalling v Wach, sacked his trainer - been fulltime in Portugal and rumour on the web is had no sparring.
AP on the other hand sparring Delboy and Dave Allen.
He should get the win as I don't think AP has the power anymore but still has the ability to outwork a static Dill.

[diehard]

Povetkin will be 41 next month. He's heaps better boxer than Whyte, but does he have anything left? I see him winning in an upset.

[diehard]

Hearn Calling For Fury Vs. Wilder 3 To Be Canceled
August 9, 2020 by Michael Collins -

Alexander Povetkin, Deontay Wilder, Dillian Whyte, Eddie Hearn, Tyson Fury - Dillian Whyte's promoter Eddie Hearn is insisting that Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III should be canceled after learning that the fight could be moved to February 2021.

Dillian Whyte’s promoter Eddie Hearn is insisting that Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III should be canceled after learning that the fight could be moved to February 2021.

Hearn is ready to place Fury vs. Whyte in Saudi Arabia or the Matchroom Fight Camp, where he claims it’ll bring in 1.5-2 million buys on pay-per-view.

World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman has told WBC mandatory Whyte (27-1, 18 KOs) that he can fight for the title by the end of February 2021. However, those plans will be dashed if Fury vs. Wilder 3 is moved to February 2021.

Bob Arum, the promoter for Fury, wants to move his trilogy match from the end of December 2020 to February of next year to take advantage of the boxing fans possibly being allowed back into fights.

If Arum stages Fury-Wilder 3 this December, the chances are that the fans won’t be able to attend it live because of the rules against crowds. With a live gate, Fury-Wilder would make many millions.

Moving the fight to February of next year increases the chances that fans will be allowed back in by that time, provided there’s a vaccine by that point.

“If he does, then I think that fight should be canceled,” said Hearn to IFL TV in talking about the Wilder vs. Fury 3 fight getting moved to February 2021.

“I think Dillian Whyte should be enforced immediately as the mandatory for Tyson Fury. We’ve already got a deadline by the end of February. Why can’t they do the fight?”

Dillian Whyte's promoter Eddie Hearn is insisting that Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III should be canceled after learning that the fight could be moved to February 2021.
Can Hearn stop the contractually bound Fury vs. Wilder 3 fight from taking place next February? We’ll have to see if that’s the case. You can understand it from Arum’s side why he’d want to wait until 2021 to schedule Fury’s fight against Wilder.

What Hearn doesn’t understand is how many boxing fans that will be angry at him if his actions lead to the Fury vs. Wilder 3 fight being canceled. While some Brits would be interested in seeing Whyte and Fury fight, Americans won’t. They want to see Wilder and Fury battle it out again,

Arum will argue that he needs more time to schedule Fury’s rematch with Wilder because of the pandemic. You can’t expect Arum, Fury, and Wilder to lose out on millions of dollars that will be generated from staging the fight in front of a live crowd in February.

For Wilder and Fury, this isn’t a simple fight that they can stage in Arum’s backyard in Beverly Hills, California. They need an audience to take advantage of the money they can make from that fight, and it’s not fair for them to miss out on all that revenue.

Whyte can afford to wait a little while longer for his title shot against the Fury-Wilder winner. It’s not going to be the end of the world if Whyte has to wait another four or five months for his title shot.

Hearn is leaving out the fact that Whyte still has to get past Alexander Povetkin on August 22 before an start looking to a title shot against Fury or Wilder. Whyte might not win that fight, and if he doesn’t, won’t Hearn look silly for all his complaining.

Povetkin has only lost to Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua, and those are two fighters way out of Whyte’s league talent-wise. The former WBA heavyweight champion Povetkin has proven himself capable of beating the B and C-level heavyweights during his career.

Dillian Whyte's promoter Eddie Hearn is insisting that Tyson Fury vs. Deontay Wilder III should be canceled after learning that the fight could be moved to February 2021.
Whyte is a B-level guy at best, but he borders on C-level when he’s not in shape like in his last fight against Mariusz Wach.

“The pay-per-view numbers are huge for that fight,” said Hearn of a fight between Fury and Whyte. “Why not do that now? But you’ve got to beat Povetkin. He [Arum] messaged me saying he wants to talk to me tomorrow, so we’ll see,” said Hearn.

“We can do Fury against Dillian Whyte now. We can do it on pay-per-view. It’s a monstrous fight. It does 1.5, 2 million buys. Anywhere,” s

[bart]

I think Hearn just trying to look actively working for Dillian- he knows the trilogy is signed and sealed so he has no power to change that - WBC has announced Whyte gets the winner but just watch Hearn change his tune when this roles about and he has a chance to promote Fury v AJ... thats when we will see EH dedication to Whyte. ( BTW Whyte is on a fight by fight basis with matchroom -AJ is a fully fledged matchroom fighter).