Can bold Beefy bring home the bacon?
ALAN HUBBARD’S PUNCHLINES – 10.7.16
Viewers may have missed out on the return between Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko this weekend – now looking to be rescheduled for October once the travails of Tyson are sorted – but they certainly won’t disappointed with a compensatory BoxNation blockbuster on September 17 when Liverpool’s WBO super-welterweight champion Liam Smith travels to travels to America to meet Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
I like this fight. I am not saying Beefy can win it in America but he will give it one hell of a go.
He’s a cannier scrapper than guts-and-glory Amir Khan, and doesn’t hang his chin out to dry. And defensively he’s sound as a pound, as they say on Merseyside.
My hunch is that he’ll still be in there mixing it with the mighty Mexican at the end but whether he’ll get the verdict is open to debate. But at least it is worth a shot.
I rate his chances of beating Alvarez better than Kell Brook’s of upsetting Gennady Golovkin. Slim to none in fact, and as the immortal Muhammad Ali used to say, Slim has just left town.
The Kazakh bodysnatcher will cut him in two by the halfway stage when they meet in a surprise twist at the O2 on September 10.
Chris Eubank and son have been left with egg on their faces after some typical shilly-shallying over the proposed match between junior and Triple G.
Doubtless Eddie Hearn will now appreciate what other promoters have discovered- that dealing with Eubank snr is a total nightmare. As Frank Warren put it, ‘he’s a nutter… impossible to deal with. You lose the will to live.’
Golovkin will defend his WBC, IBF, WBA and IBO middleweight belts but Brook, as he will be fighting above the welterweight limit, will retain his IBF title. So he really has nothing to lose – except the fight.
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Whither now Eubank and son?
My understanding is that the Eubanks failed to meet the deadline for signing to fight Golovkin and were making demands such as ‘operational control’ of the promotion, including ticket prices and even wanted to pick their own TV commentary team.
This begs the question of where to dad and lad go from here. Young Chris may not be too pleased with the father and his handling of negotiations. Not for the first time, either.
And will the marriage with Matchroom now survive?
Of course, a return with WBO world middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders should be a biggie, not to mention a bit of a hassle.
Joe’s jock strap up for grabs
Boxing memorabilia turns up some odd items – but one of the strangest is about to go up for auction. It is the jock strap worn by Joe Frazier 45 years ago when he beat Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden.
The item dates back to Ali-Frazier I in 1971, known as “The Fight of the Century”, one of America’s most historic sporting events. Frazier – who, like Ali, was undefeated – won by unanimous decision.
Frazier gave the jock to a friend on the night of the fight, who held onto it for almost 40 years before selling it to a memorabilia dealer in 2009.
It is now being put up for auction tomorroq bid is $5,000.
Apparently the fact that it has never been washed may push the selling price even higher.
The gloves worn by Ali in that fight were sold some time ago for $25,000. No-one seems to know what he did with his jockstrap – it certainly isn’t on display in the Ali exhibition at the 02!
Best of Manchester
Mancunians appreciate good fights-and fighters- as much as they do their footy so they will be interested in BoxNation’s Boxing Matters tomorrow evening (Monday) when my old sparring partner Colin Hart and I debate the merits of one of Britain’s most famous boxing citadels with Alex Steedman.
We look at great battles from Belle Vue to the Manchester Arena via the Free Trade Hall, Velodrome, Old Trafford and the City of Manchester Stadium.
And great Mancunian fighters from Frank Johnson and Jackie Brown to Terry Flanagan and Anthony Crolla.
Plenty to argue about, such as the best fight ever seen in Manchester.
No doubt in my mind about the best performance. That was the Joe Calzaghe master class against Jeff Lacy.
Best slugfest though surely was that night of great emotion when Ricky Hatton defeated Kostya Tszyu. We also voted the Hitman our Number One Manchester fighter.
Tune in and see what you think.
FIGHTING TALK
Golovkin is fighting who? I don’t believe that. That’s crazy. I mean, Golovkin is fighting a welterweight? That is absolutely f****** crazy.
Top US promoter Bob Arum on learning of the Golovkin-Brook deal and that the British fighter wouldn’t be meeting his man Jesse Vargas.
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Everything agreed from our side, now waiting for @ChrisEubankJr, who all of a sudden has lost his pen…
Gennady Golovin’s tweet suggests he guessed him and Eubank was never to be.
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They offered me a body protector and I didn’t think I’d need it. Sod’s Law, I ended up cracking a rib.
George Groves on the perils of even sparring with GGG.
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There’s no way I’ll be bullied like he bullies people. I’m taking my title over there and I’lm bringing it back home.
Liam Smith is convinced he’ll hit the jackpot against Canelo in Las Vegas.
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The witch-hunts continue and we’ll just keep training, stepping in the ring and winning. That’s it.
Trainer Peter Fury says ring life will go on for nephew Tyson despite the world heavyweight champion’s current vicissitudes.
