Heavyweight Shake Up Continues – The weekend of March 5th saw Heavyweight boxing action all over the world as the big changes in the division continue to grab hold.
March 5th saw Cuba’s Luis Ortiz move his record to a perfect 25-0 with a sixth round stoppage over the sturdy Tony Thompson. For Ortiz, it was a “stay-busy” fight in which he was heavily favored, though the hard-hitting slugger already appears to have trouble getting opponents to sign on the dotted line. Thompson is a 44 yar old who falls to 40-7 overall in his career. He entered the fight with a reputation of being a “tough out” but Ortiz was methodical in breaking him down and getting the stop half way through the fight.
On the other side of the planet, WBA Heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev took on Australia’s undefeated Lucas Browne and wound up getting stopped in the 10th round. Browne’s win marks the first time an Australian has held a piece of one of the more recognized world titles, and that puts Browne in a very interesting spot. Browne is now 24-0 with 21 knock outs and he could be in line to lure a few opponents to Australia and pull in a couple of pay days.
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Heavyweight Shake Up Continues
The big names and titles are making everybody wait. In November when Tyson Fury defeated Wladimir Klitschko to start the current era of change in the heavyweight division, Klitschko invoked his re-match clause within a week of the fight. The first dates reported for the re-match were for April or May. Unfortunately, more than three months have passed and there is no date set. The timeframe now likes like June or July, and though the fight is going to happen in England, the details are still up in the air. Though there is no doubt that Klitschko deserves a re-match the Heavyweight world would be even more exciting if the big Ukrainian was NOT Fury’s next opponent.
It also appears as if WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder will be taking his show on the road to Russia for his next defense. Opponent Alexander Povetkin and his promoter won the WBC’s purse bid. Wilder wanted to avoid going to Russia if he could, and there was talk that he would be vacating the belt but Wilder deserves credit for taknig the risk and challenge.
The enxt big fight on the Heavyweight calendar sees the IBF World Heavyweight belt on the line as Charles Martin travels across the pond to England to defend his title against unbeaten Anthony Joshua. Though he holds the belt that Tyson Fury and Wladimir Klitschko once held, Martin is generally untested. The fight is interesting because the same can be said of Joshua. He is a 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist whose career has been handled with “Kid Gloves” by promoter Eddie Hearn.
There is a herd of Heavyweights looking for fights and jocketing for position. Thereis word of a potential showed down between ranked fighters Carlos Takam of France and New Zealand’s Joseph Parker. Should that fight happen, the winner could be in a unique position to challenge Browne for his belt.
