H. Fury vs. Hunter back on for October
The WBA world title final eliminator clash between Hughie Fury and Michael “The Bounty” Hunter now has a new date confirmed. The two are set to face off at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England on Saturday, October 29th with the winner emerging as the next contender to challenge for the WBA heavyweight title held by Daniel Dubois.
Fury is (26-3, 15 KOs) and ranked at #4 in the WBA, Hunter is (20-1-2, 14 KOs) and rated WBA #2. They were scheduled to fight in July, but the bout was postponed after Fury fell ill during training camp.
Andy Ruiz Training Camp Quotes
Former unified heavyweight champion Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz Jr. held a media workout at his gym in the San Diego area on Wednesday as he prepares to face top contender Luis “King Kong” Ortiz in a WBC heavyweight title eliminator that headlines a FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View on September 4 in Labor Day weekend action at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Andy Ruiz Jr: “I’m feeling really good. The hard work has already paid off and now it’s just time to have fun on September 4. We’re going to let it all out in the ring. Me and Ortiz are coming to be champions, so you know it’s going to be a hell of a fight.
“I’m just ready. I had a long training camp. I know what Ortiz is bringing to the ring and I know what I’m capable of. I just have to stay focused and execute.
“When I try to go for the knockout, it usually doesn’t go my way. I’m training for 12 rounds and if the knockout comes, it comes. You best believe I’m in condition to go hard for all 12 rounds.
“I’ve been training hard because we want to climb back up the ladder of the heavyweight division. That’s why we picked a tough guy like Luis Ortiz. He has a hard style, but I’m positive and confident that I’m going to win this fight on September 4.
“It’s going to be a crazy atmosphere in that arena. All the Mexican fans will be there supporting, and may the best man win. I’m glad that Ortiz is predicting a knockout, because I’m ready for anything. My only prediction is that I’m going to win.
“A matchup against Deontay Wilder would be an amazing fight. The heavyweight division is wide open, but I’m not overlooking Luis Ortiz. If Wilder is next, he’s next. It’s an easy fight to make.
“I feel like I’m in a good state of mind right now. I’m doing everything that I’m supposed to do. I underestimated my last opponent but I’m really focused on what Luis Ortiz brings. This is another chapter for me and my career.
“Ortiz’s age doesn’t matter, especially in the heavyweight division. Because one punch is going to change the whole fight. I just have to be smart and explosive and turn it up when I need to turn it up.
“My team all have the same game plan. We want to be champions and we want to make history. The way you do that is by preparing yourself right here in the gym.
“I want to take advantage of every single moment I have in boxing. Especially for these big fights, because I want to succeed and make the most out of my career.”
Three Heavyweight Fights Impacted By Fury Retirement And WBC Deadline
BY JAKE DONOVAN
The latest retirement announcement by Tyson Fury has prompted action by his last remaining tie to the sport.
It also significantly impacts the importance of three relevant heavyweight fights all scheduled within the next nine weeks.
A two-week deadline has been issued by the World Boxing Council (WBC) for Fury to confirm in writing his official status in the sport. The unbeaten lineal/WBC heavyweight champion from Morecambe, England by way of Manchester recently went public with his insistence that he is forever done with the sport, the declaration coming on his 34th birthday last Friday.
Seeing as how this speech has come several times before, the lone sanctioning body whose title he still possesses will prefer something more binding this time around.
“The World Boxing Council has been in communications with Tyson Fury and his promoters regarding his status as WBC heavyweight champion,” longtime WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman stated. “The WBC has set Friday, [A]ugust 26th as the final day to receive official written confirmation from them.
“No further comments will be made by our organization until then.”
The push by the WBC to get Fury (32-0-1, 23KOs) to fully commit to either severing all ties with the sport or walking back his retirement could potentially have the title available for one of two fights currently scheduled for the fall.
Wilder is the sanctioning body’s number-one contender and in the process of finalizing terms for his targeted October 15 ring return. As BoxingScene.com previously reported, Robert Helenius—ranked number-nine by the WBC—is the frontrunner to land the assignment.
WBC number four-ranked Frank Sanchez is also rumored to appear on the October 15 show featuring Wilder.
England’s Joe Joyce and New Zealand’s Joseph Parker—number two and three in the WBC, respectively—are set to collide on September 24. Joyce is the mandatory challenger for the WBO, which ranks Parker at number two. Fighting for the vacant title would certainly be a worth trade-off for Joyce to give up his spot in line for a crack at the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua heavyweight championship rematch, if there is a choice to be made.
The alternative would be to declare both fights as a four-man boxoff, ordering the winners to face each other.
Meanwhile, at least one symbolic title previously in Fury's clutches will be made available this weekend.
Fury has taken more pride in boasting lineal championship status than nearly any other boxer in recent memory. He was equally proud of carrying The Ring magazine heavyweight title, which was the first physical (if symbolic) title he relinquished upon his latest retirement speech. Confirmation was provided to the publication, an important distinction and allowing for the belt to be on the line for this weekend’s Usyk-Joshua rematch, which already includes Usyk’s WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO titles on the line.
Fury (32-0-1, 23KOs) won the WBC and Ring heavyweight title in a seventh-round knockout of Deontay Wilder in their February 2020 rematch at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The feat also reestablished heavyweight championship lineage which was broken following his first “retirement” from boxing in 2016 in the midst of a backdated two-year suspension stemming from a 2015 positive drug test.
Two title defenses have followed for the unbeaten 6’9” heavyweight, both ending inside the distance.
Fury survived two knockdowns to score three of his own in an eleventh-round knockout of Deontay Wilder in their epic trilogy clash last October in the universally hailed 2021 Fight of the Year. The win was followed by a sixth-round knockout of countryman and mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte on April 23 in front of 94,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, immediately after which Fury insisted that he was done with the sport.
Most observers dismissed the claim, such skepticism validated when talks surfaced of his fighting later this year. There was also the hope of his challenging the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch—which takes place Saturday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia—in hopes of crowning an undisputed champion.
As only he could do, Fury took a drastic detour from that conversation. He instead claimed to be seeking a third fight with Derek Chisora, a veteran gatekeeper whom he twice before handled. There was minimal interest in such a fight and plenty of public posturing from the pair of British heavyweights.
Talks of such a fight died on the vine, with Fury claiming his departure from boxing soon thereafter.
Fury’s first championship reign came in a November 2015 unanimous decision win over Wladimir Klitschko in Dusseldorf, Germany. The upset road win saw Fury claim the lineal/WBA/IBF/WBO/IBO heavyweight championship, though never successfully defending any of the titles.
The IBF title was the first to become available, when Fury refused to honor a ridiculous demand for an immediate mandatory title defense against Vyacheslav Glazkov. The remaining titles were to be at stake for Fury’s rematch with Klitschko, which was twice postponed and eventually canceled outright in marking the beginning of the end of his first championship reign.
Fury reportedly suffered an injury to postpone their scheduled July 2016 clash, before torching plans—and his career—after testing positive for cocaine as discovered through random pre-fight drug testing. The development came as it was learned that Fury also tested positive for nandrolone surrounding a February 2015 win over Christian Hammer. The development wasn’t learned until well after his win over Klitschko, though eventually coming with the punishment of a two-year ban.
By then, Fury had relinquished all remaining alphabet titles. There was confusion as to whether he would never fight again, frequently walking back such claims over the course of his 30-plus month ring absence while also battling alcoholism, substance abuse and severe depression.
Fury is in a much better place mentally, physically and financially this time around. Given that, there is greater belief that he could be done for good and off to the next chapter in his life. That will come for sure by no later than August 26, if the WBC’s deadline is to be honored.
Some good heavyweight fights in there:
Pedraza-Commey Weights from Tulsa, Oklahoma
Jose Pedraza 139.8 vs. Richard Commey 138.8
Jared Anderson 241.4 vs. Miljan Rovcanin 230.6
Richard Torrez Jr. 225.4 vs. Marco Antonio Canedo 215.8
Tiger Johnson 141.8 vs. Harry Gigliotti 140.6
Efe Ajagba 232.2 vs. Jozsef Darmos 239.2
Jeremiah Milton 245.6 vs. Nick Jones 217.2
Kelvin Davis 141 vs. Sebastian Gabriel Chaves 142.6
Frevian Gonzalez 135.8 vs. Gerardo Esquivel 135.6
Abdullah Mason 135.2 vs. Angel Rebollar 133.6
Dante Benjamin Jr. 174.2 vs. Leandro Silva 175
* The Haven Brady Jr.-Manuel Guzman fight was called off after Brady missed the 128-pound contract weight by three pounds.
Venue: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Promoter: Top Rank
TV: ESPN, ESPN+
Heavyweight Explosion
While the main event tonight on ESPN features super lightweights Jose Pedraza and Richard Commey, the undercard in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is stacked with three big name heavyweights plus a hot up-and-coming heavyweight prospect.
The co-main event on ESPN features the long-awaited return of unbeaten heavyweight terror Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson (11-0, 11 KOs) against Miljan Rovcanin (24-2, 16 KOs) in an eight round bout. Opening the show, 2020 Olympic super heavyweight silver medal winner Richard Torrez Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs) looks to make it three knockouts in a row versus Marco Antonio Canedo (4-2, 2 KOs) in a bout scheduled for six.
The ESPN+ stream will include heavyweight destroyer Efe Ajagba (15-1, 12 KOs) against Jozsef Darmos (14-4-3, 10 KOs) in an eight round affair. Also seeing action is unbeaten local heavyweight prospect Jeremiah Milton (5-0, 4 KOs) against Nick Jones (9-4, 6 KOs) in a six rounder.
Somewhere Cedric Kushner is smiling.
Heavyweight Explosion Results
Four big heavyweight bouts on tap on Top Rank’s card at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma…
Heavy-handed heavyweight destroyer Efe “The Silent Roller” Ajagba (16-1, 13 KOs) blew away Jozsef “The Gladiator” Darmos (14-5-3, 10 KOs) in two rounds. Pretty much one-way traffic. Ajagba dropped Darmos twice in round two to end it. Time was 1:15.
Unbeaten local heavyweight prospect Jeremiah “Dreamland” Milton (6-0, 5 KOs) laid out Nick Jones (9-5, 6 KOs) with a right hand in round two. Jones missed a wild roundhouse punch leaving himself open and Milton turned out the lights. Time was 2:49.
Fury posts $953m asking price for unification bout with Usyk
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has set a seven-day deadline to arrange a unification fight with Oleksandr Usyk and has demanded a purse of NZ$953 million.
Usyk retained his WBA [Super], IBF, WBO and IBO belts after winning his rematch with Anthony Joshua on Sunday while Fury retired after beating Dillian Whyte in April.
Promoter Frank Warren has said a bout with Fury is "the only fight" Usyk wants and Fury has given until September 1 for it to be arranged.
He posted on social media: "For all these suitors out there that want to make the fight, I'm going to give you all seven days until September 1st to come up with the money, if not thank you very much, it's been a blast, I'm retired.
"All offers submitted must be to my lawyer in writing with proof of funds, so let the games begin."
Fury, who said he was walking away from boxing less than a fortnight ago, said in a TalkSPORT interview he would want $953 million to make the fight with Usyk happen.
After the Ukrainian beat Joshua in Saudi Arabia at the weekend, Warren said: "The challenge is going to be meeting the financial expectations of both guys. It has to be much bigger than that [Usyk v Joshua II] because you've got two undisputed fighters and the first time the four belts have been on the line.
"It's a unique situation and what adds to it is that they are both undefeated, which is quite unusual."
If the fight did happen, the winner would become the first undisputed heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis in 1999-2000, only the sixth of all time and the first of the four-belt era following the rise of the WBO.