Cruiserweight and Heavyweight thread.

But apart from Hrgovic there aren't many who can oppose Kuzmin. If Joshua ran from him for the whole fight in amateurs and won questionable decision at best than I think we have blazing prospect on our hands.

 

Zhilei Zhang back on July 20th

 

“I felt fantastic, it was like having my debut again. I’ve had a long time out the ring and I needed some rounds, so I was taking my time,” Fury said to skysports.com. ”The calibre of opponents will keep on rising. I will be better next time. I’m going to have a world title by the end of the year — that’s a promise.”

P.S. I wouldn't be that optimistic about the title thing. Next year but not this year. He needs to get back into rankings slowly but surely. But realistically speaking he won't achieve title shot this year.

 

Amateur news:

Quarterfinal of the President's cup in Kazkahstan, in the 91 kg category.

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Semi final of President's cup in Kazkahstan, in the 91 kg category.

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Final of President's cup in Kazkahstan, in the 91 kg category.

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In Russia they aren't using helmets for a long time, same goes for France and Cuba. And same goes for semi-pro WSB tournament.

 

Deontay Wilder accepts terms to fight Anthony Joshua in the U.K.

Heavyweight world titleholder Deontay Wilder has agreed to the terms offered by Anthony Joshua's camp for them to meet for the undisputed title later this year in Joshua's home country of the United Kingdom, Wilder co-manager Shelly Finkel told ESPN on Monday.

Whether the fight, easily one of the biggest in boxing, gets signed remains to be seen, but the Wilder camp said they've agreed to the terms in the latest offer made by Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing.

"We have agreed to the terms that Eddie has put out to us for a fight in the U.K. Deontay has accepted his terms to fight in the U.K.," Finkel said. "Deontay sent an email to Joshua [Sunday] night, and I sent one [Monday] to Barry Hearn and Eddie telling them that we officially accept the offer to fight under the terms they gave us and to send us the contract."

Hearn did not respond to text messages from ESPN seeking comment, but it was late at night in England at the time.

The key hang-up in the talks has been where they would fight. Joshua is a massive star in the United Kingdom, where he has drawn sellout crowds for his past three fights: 90,000 at Wembley Stadium in London and 78,000 for his past two fights at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. He insisted on having the fight there, even if the overall revenue for the event could be greater in Las Vegas.

The Wilder camp held out hope of him agreeing to come to the United States, but on Sunday night, Wilder and his team said they notified Eddie Hearn and his father, company boss Barry Hearn, that they had accepted the terms offered to them.

"Now we will see if they live up to it or if they try to go through with the fight with [mandatory challenger Alexander] Povetkin first. Hopefully, we'll get an answer in the next couple days," Finkel said. "If they change their mind, the $50 million [against 50 percent of the event] we offered them [to come to the United States] is still on the table. That is still for them if they want it."

Finkel, who said he and Wilder co-manager Al Haymon talk daily and are on the same page, said the offer Wilder accepted is a two-fight deal with terms agreed to for a rematch that would take place in the United States.

For the fight they said they agreed to for later this year, Finkel said the target date is Sept. 15, but the fight could be in October or November because Sept. 15 is the proposed date for the rematch between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, which they would not compete with.

Although Finkel wouldn't specify how much money Wilder would earn, Hearn has made two previous offers of $12.5 million and $15 million. Finkel said they accepted a guaranteed purse but did not get a percentage of the overall event that they wanted, meaning Wilder was likely offered a large enough guarantee above $15 million to make it worthwhile to forgo a percentage.

"There's no [percentage] split, but they've offered us a good purse. Not as good as we feel it should be, but we want the fight, and we're willing to take what they offered," Finkel said. "We wanted a percentage, but we didn't think we could get it done in a quick time frame, so we said let's take what they've offered us. Deontay wants this fight."

Wilder addressed Joshua's fans on social media on Monday, writing, "The $50M offer for him to fight me next in the U.S. is still available. Today I even agreed to their offer to fight Joshua next in the UK. If he prefers the fight in the UK, the ball is in their court. It's up to them to choose."

While Joshua's fights are televised on Sky Box Office pay-per-view in the United Kingdom, his contract with Showtime expired following his March 31 title unification win over Joseph Parker, so a Joshua-Wilder fight could go to the highest bidder in the U.S.

"The U.S. TV is Eddie's call," Finkel said. "We have a preference for Showtime because we've been with them."

Another possible outlet is the Perform Group's DAZN sports streaming service, which is due to launch in the U.S. later this summer, with Hearn's recently agreed to eight-year, $1 billion deal to provide boxing content due to begin in September. A Joshua-Wilder fight on the service would raise its currently nonexistent American profile, but it would also limit the U.S. revenue for the bout.

Hearn has said that he is also close to a deal with Povetkin (34-1, 24 KOs), 38, of Russia, Joshua could fight both this year, and they were trying to figure out which order to do the fights, though Povetkin would be a risky fight before taking on Wilder for far more money.

The 28-year-old Joshua (21-0, 20 KOs) won a world title in 2016 and has made five defenses, including a 10th-round knockout of former longtime unified world champion Wladimir Klitschko in the consensus 2017 fight of the year and unifying three belts with the win against Parker on March 31. Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs), 32, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, won his belt in 2015 and has made seven title defenses, including scoring a massive 10th-round knockout of then-unbeaten top contender Luis "King Kong" Ortiz in a riveting fight on March 3 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook posted odds on the potential fight back in early April. Currently, Joshua is a -200 favorite and Wilder a +170 underdog.

 

Today I announce my retirement from professional boxing. They say you can’t play boxing. Yet, as I write this retirement statement, and reflect on my time in the sport, I can’t find a better way to describe the ride.




Thanks to boxing, I have been able to live my unencumbered childhood dream; a dream my dad, Deron, facilitated the moment he took me to Fitzroy Lodge amateur boxing club as a nervous 10-year-old.

From the very start, my parents encouraged and supported me, and convinced me I could achieve anything I set out to do, so long as I gave my very best. This proved the catalyst to me believing I could always win in life, no matter the circumstances. It also led to me giving my heart and soul to boxing for 27 years.

On reflection, my 16-year, 32-fight professional career was one of two halves.

In the first eight years, everything ran smoothly. I had 25 fights and became the first ever British boxer to unify the cruiserweight division (WBA, WBC and WBO World Championships).



I then achieved my childhood dream when I beat WBA Heavyweight Champion of the World Nikolay Valuev, the seven-foot-two, 150-kilogram ‘Beast from the East’, in a real life ‘David and Goliath’ match.

Lifting that World Heavyweight Championship meant I’d fulfilled a promise I’d made to my mum, Jane, at the age of three. It also meant I was the second boxer in history – after Evander Holyfield – to win world titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight. That was an incredibly proud moment for me and my family and friends.

Yet it was in the second half of my career where I really discovered what it meant to fight and be a fighter.

If I had it my way, I would have fought as many as 16 times in the second half, the last eight years. But, unfortunately, during this time my faulty body only allowed me to step through the ropes on seven occasions – four wins, three losses – and often it was a fight just getting to the ring in one piece.

In the past five years I have snapped (fully ruptured) both biceps, my rotator cuff and my Achilles tendon. All four injuries were potentially career-ending and each of them required operations with months of intense rehabilitation.

 

Deas said the fight could be anywhere from September to November to avoid conflict with a potential Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin rematch in September.

Deas said he’s not authorized to discuss details of the potential purse and that the venue and date are up to Joshua’s camp.

"We offered $50 million, which is what he said he wanted," Deas said to the AP. "And he then turned it down. Then they came back with a much, much, much smaller offer for Deontay, which would have been even less than Deontay would have made in the United States, and wanted him to still travel to the U.K. for the fight. And we said yes.

"The reason we did was because Deontay is investing in himself. He wants this for the fans and he wants this for his legacy and he knows that being the undisputed heavyweight champ of the world will give him the financial gain as he proceeds. Even though we would have liked a better deal, Deontay said yes."

Wilder posted on his Twitter account Monday that the $50 million offer to fight in America is still on the table.

"Today I even agreed to their offer to fight Joshua next in the UK," he said in the tweet. "If he prefers the fight in the UK, the ball is in their court. It’s up to them to choose."

Now, the two biggest heavyweight names could be poised to meet next.

"If they keep their word, then we’ve got a fight," Deas said. "So we’re fully expecting to go to the U.K. and we’re ready. We’re ready to do it tomorrow. All they have to do is tell us where to be and when to be there, and we’ll be there."

 

"I want him to get some rounds. I want him to get mentally fit, get that bit of weight off so he's then training for a fight rather than training to get weight off," Warren told

"Ali wasn't suicidal," said Warren referring to Fury's battle against his own mental health problems.

"Ali wasn't depressed, wasn't in therapy... although he had his problems. He didn't balloon up to the weight that Tyson did. For money, we could have thrown him in the deep end from day one but that's not what this is about.

"We delivered what we said we'd do. He had a warm-up fight and he'll have another warm-up fight (on August 18)."

"He (Charr) was supposed to be at ringside (on Saturday) but he couldn't get his visa in time!" Warren told

"I'd roll the dice with that fight. I would just do it but we can't."