Zhang loss may signal the end for Wilder.

The main event on Saturday nights, 5 v 5 show at the Kingdom arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia may have signified a definitive conclusion to the colourful career of former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder after a 5th round knockout defeat at the hands of Zhilei Zhang. Wilder and Xhang entered the bout coming off decision defeats at the hands of Jo Parker and viewed the fight as an opportunity for redemption on a huge PPV stage. Wilder had made it clear that his loss to Parker was largely down to his more civilised attitude having abandoned the evil, destructive alter ego. Wilder did state to the press that there was a realistic chance he could lose to Zhilei and if he didn’t produce the goods on fight night, this could be the final time that we would see Wilder in the ring. The imposing Zhang entered the fight outweighing the former champion by a whopping 68 pounds, with Wilder opting to box at an athletic 214 pounds. Zhang took the action straight to Wilder from the opener, forcing the Alabama fighter to give ground and weather the storm. Wilder was forced to box at long range and negate anything that Zhang chose to set up in short bursts. It appeared by round 3 that Wilder was trying to find clear opportunities to land clean single shots but struggled to set himself under heavy pressure from the Chinese fighter. Wilder found some success and began to rally in the 4th and was able to disorganise Zhang with sporadic success with single right hand attacks. Midway through a sedate 5th round, Wilder over reached with a right hand and was caught clean by a long right hook that grazed his nose, dazed by the shot Wilder appeared disorientated and spun around, almost facing the opposite direction as his opponent, seizing the chance, Zhang capitalised on the damage by landing a vicious right hand that folded Wilder up in a heap, in serious trouble. Deontay managed to beat the count comfortably but in rising appeared unsteady and was stopped by referee Keiren McCann. Wilder now drops to 43-4-1 (42 Ko’s) and appeared a shadow of the dominant former champion that terrorised the division 10 years ago. Zhang isn’t the finished article but moves on towards the promise of some lucrative opportunities at 27-2-1 (22 Ko’s) Wilders hopes of meeting Anthony Joshua or a once lucrative 4th fight with Fury now seem far away in the rear view mirror as the former destructive champion may opt to choose live as a proud family man having reached the lowest point of his career. 

Undisputed. Heavyweight history being made in Saudi.

In the current era of boxing it’s more the norm to see viewing figures rise for less than flattering crossover events including a you-tuber and a noted rapper, influencer or fading former fighter. The days where fans would druel at the sound of a superfight or the return of an iconic champion to roll back the years in a comeback seem far removed to the rear view mirror. The heavyweight division hasn't had a single standout lightning rod since the days of Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson and has dragged its feet for the anticipation of a unified champion for 25 years. Tonight in Saudi arabia we will see possibly the first historic steps in over 2 decades to bridge that gap and attempt to capture the imagination of heavyweight purists when WBC and lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury meets unified 3 belt champion Oleksandr Usyk for all of the marbles and the opportunity to be heralded as the first universally recognised world heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis back in 1999. Both men have made impressive statements at the top of their game with standout wins over Deontay Wilder and Anthony Joshua respectively yet both are guilty of less than stellar performances of late against underwhelming opposition in Daniel Dubois and Francis Nganou, however both are incredibly skilled and stand defiant and undefeated. The anecdote that a good big man will always beat a good little man very often doesnt apply, Michael Spinks is a prime example to contest that theory, Fury isn't just a good big man, hes an exceptional super big man who knows how to use the tools he was blessed with. Usyk these days isn't quite so little, but in comparrison is playing catch up on the physical stakes by giving away 30 plus pounds. Usyk however isn't to be underestimated, he is deceptively quick and unorthadox and always seems to find a means to victory. Its an intriguing match with a huge historic significance and has all the mystical ingredients to have boxing fans excited once again in anticipation of such a landmark step. Both participants appear in fantastic optimum condition and are at the pinnacle of their respective careers, i personally can see a case for either man claiming victory, however the true winner on the grand scheme of things is boxing which will win with this weeks premium global exposure all preluding to the crowning of an undisputed world heavyweight champion. Since fighting men put gloves on their hands, 25 men have claimed the unified title in over 100 years..  We are privileged this weekend to witness number 26.

Matchroom weigh in results: Joshua v Helenius show.

The weigh in for Saturdays Matchroom show at the O2 proved colourful today at the Westfield Shopping centre in London. The undercard fighters all made weight headed by Campbell Hatton’s 141.8 to Tom Ansell’s 141.9.

Other undercard weigh in results;

George Liddard 162.3 vs. Bas Oosterweghel 164.7

Brandon Scott 131.9 vs. Louis Norman 133.9

Maiseyrose Courtney 114.4 vs. Gemma Ruegg 113.8

Following this the heavyweights all tipped in appropriately starting with unbeaten Johnny fisher weighing 242 to Harry Armstrong’s 250. 

The highly ranked Filip Hrgovic weighed in at 243 to his opponent Dempsey Mckean’s 245 in an interesting battle of unbeaten contenders. The entertainment started when the popular former heavyweight title challengers Dereck Chisora and Gerald Washington took to the scales. Both fighters are self admittedly friends out if the ring and with tongue in cheek, Chisora verbally challenged Washingtons last minute attempt to request more money from the promotion, Washington denied this as the headstrong Chisora told his adversary that he would eat him alive even if he does decide to run. Both men weighed 252 and 237 respectively. At the stare down Chisora removed his opponents sunglasses and invited eye contact before the pair departed. The Londoner ignored a cordial handshake attempt from Washington before both men exited the stage. Finally both last minute replacement Robert Helenius and former unified champion Anthony Joshua stepped to the scales. Helenius was outweighed by Joshua 249 to 250 respectively. As both fighters faced off Joshua removed his gaze as the Finnish import continued to stare across at him with his face transfixed. Joshua asked Helenius if he was ok and if he had a problem with him, Helenius briefly replied that he didn’t as Joshua accused him of acting unnecessarily. There were no handshakes and a frosty departure of the pair as AJ appeared irked by his opponents frosty approach. 

Venue: O2 Arena, London, England
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN

Helenius replaces Whyte to face Joshua on 12th August at O2 London.

A red hot PPV attraction or not, the recently scheduled Anthony Joshua v Dillian Whyte bout did make a lot of sense. Joshua, Hearn et al appear to have exhausted all avenues leading to Fury and we’re viewing a victory over Whyte as premium preparation for the muted Deontay Wilder fight that still appears to remain part of the short term plan. Whyte and Joshua both have 3 defeats since their first meeting and have 8 years of added maturity since their last meeting. The prelude to the fight seemed surprisingly civil making the fight appear more intriguing to the average onlooker. Unfortunately this past week the revelation dropped that Dillian Whyte’s Vada test sample had returned an adverse finding, causing a postponement due to the close proximity of the event. Many of his peers have been unforgiving in the days since the news dropped, Whyte had twice previously failed drug tests, notably in 2012 and 2016 when he tested positive to Methylhexaneamine and Dianabol respectively. Whyte has served a ban for the first offence and with such a huge opportunity resting on the Joshua fight, justifying the findings may prove an uphill battle for the Brixton man. With a week to go, Hearn and Joshua did release a press statement to clarify that they still intended to continue with the promotion and find an appropriate replacement. With 5 days to go rumours were running rampant with warhorse Dereck Chisora appearing as the clear front runner to face AJ on the 12th followed by IBF ranked Filip Hrgovic and US import Gerald Washington, both of which are scheduled to appear on Saturdays show. Tuesday 8th August brought us the revelation that Finland’s Robert Helenius would replace Whyte and save the highly publicised show. Helenius appeared on a high profile stage last October when he was starched in a round by Deontay Wilder in Brooklyn but more interesting, he scored a 3rd round knockout only 3 days ago over one Mika Mielonen in Finland. So Joshua v Helenius will feature at the O2 with an interesting chief support featuring former world title challengers Dereck Chisora and Gerald Washington, and tough IBF ranked Filip Hrgovic taking on the largely untested prospect Dempsey Mckean, both undefeated. It’s unknown as of yet if the show will be a paid Tv event but will be broadcast on DAZN globally. 

Undefeated Agit Kabayel returns in January.

Undefeated, globally ranked heavyweight Agit Kabayel 22-0 (14 KOs) will return to the ring next month to face once beaten Agron Smakici 19-1 (17 KOs) on January 28 at the RuhrCongress Hall in Bochum, Germany. The European Boxing Union have officially sanctioned the bout for their vacant title, which Kabayel has owned on and off since 2016 when he beat Chris Lewandowski. Victory would be Kabayel’s second official reign as European champion. Kabayel most notable victory was a title defence in 2017 over two time world title challenger  Derek Chisora. Kabayel is a capable yet low key fighter who has only boxed 4 times in nearly 4 years, the appearances however have been in decent company against Kevin Johnson, Pavel Sour, Evgenios Lazaridis and Andriy Rudenko. The victory over Kevin Johnson in 2021 earned Agit the vacant WBA Continental heavyweight title.

Mills Lane passes, aged 85.

Sad news that Hall of Fame referee Mills Lane has passed at the age of 85 in his home City of Reno, Nevada. Lane, the district attorney best known for his no nonsense approach and the catchphrase ‘let’s get it on,’ was the middle man in a number of major boxing matches, spanning 4 decades including the infamous Tyson v Holyfield rematch in 1997 where he was forced to disqualify the former champion for the notorious double bite incident. Mills also officiated Hagler v Antuofermo, Tyson v Berbick, several of Larry Holmes world title defences along with Muhammad Ali’s bout with Bob Foster. The final world title bout that Judge Lane refereed was a 1998 world middle weight title fight between Bernard Hopkins and Robert Allen, ironically the fight was stopped and deemed a no contest when Mills physically broke the fighters from a clinch and accidentally pushed Hopkins out of the ring in round 4. After retiring as a referee and ringside official, Lane starred and hosted a reality TV court show for a number of years. Unfortunately, Lane suffered a debilitating stroke in 2002 that left him partially paralyzed and unable to speak. Lane was respected and loved by all that knew him in court, in the ring and in life, a wonderful man who will be sorely missed. 

Dubois stops game Lerena in 3 after early crisis.

WBA regular heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois 19-1 (18 KOs) overcame a huge crisis on the Fury v Chisora undercard on Saturday when he climbed off the floor three times in the opener against Kevin Lerena 28-2 (14 KOs) before rallying in round three to stop the South African challenger with a devastating volley of punches. The highly unfavored Lerena hurt Dubois half way through round one with a shot to the temple forcing the once beaten title holder to take a count. Moments later Dubois took a second count without a punch being thrown and 15 seconds after this knockdown took a third knee when he appeared unsteady on his feet. Daniel appeared to injure his ankle when he was unbalanced from the initial punch in round one and struggled to maintain his balance for the remainder of the round. Trainer Shane Mcguigan told reporters after the bout, it was sick or swim, crisis can’t be prepared for and Dubois literally had to dig deep and show immense character to halt his unbeaten opponent two sessions later. Referee Howard Foster halted the fight to prevent the challenger from taking unnecessary punishment. Incidentally the bell did ring to end round 3 as Lerena was taking the count from Foster, and wasn’t offered the opportunity to recover between rounds, yet when Dubois was hurt badly in round 1, he walked to his corner with 9 seconds left in the round and was allowed to do so. Despite the finish appearing clinical from Daniel, the performance at large was unimpressive and exposed a lot of flaws to capitalise on. 

Fury dominates a defiant Chisora en route to a 10th round stoppage.

WBC world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury 33-0-1 (24 KOs) entertained and controlled former 2 X foe Derek Chisora 33-13 (23 KOs), before forcing a stoppage in the tenth of an easily forgettable all British heavyweight title. 60,000 on site fans attended the spectacle at The Tottenham Hotspur stadium and celebrated what was a dominant performance by the self proclaimed Gypsy King. The always competitive Derek Chisora came to fight and offered a determined body hustle in the early rounds. Unfortunately Fury established control with the jab and began walking Chisora onto crafty uppercuts and counters. Despite his bravery and courage Chisora appeared to run out of ideas towards the latter rounds and became open house for Fury’s intelligently selected shots. By the 10th referee Victor Loughlin carefully observed Chisora who’s resolve appeared to be hanging by a thread. With 9 seconds lift in the session, Fury landed a crisp cluster coercing Laughlin to call a halt to the action. 

Alternatively unified heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk along with the undefeated Joe Joyce took in the action from ringside, and approached the Gypsy King on the ring apron in a slapstick exchange to hype potential future challenges. Fury appears to be the man to beat in the division and the options include return matches with Wilder and a superfight with Joshua along with unification with Usyk, however the challenge of the bell schooled and stubborn Joe Joyce was be the most likely fight to happen in 2023. 

Fury did make a comment to suggest that he has injuries to his right hand and right elbow that he will need to attend to prior to his next ring appearance.

Fury v Chisora 3 weigh in results.

WBC World heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and former world title challenger and twice former foe Derek Chisora weighed in today ahead of tomorrows championship showdown tomorrow night at Tottenham Hotspur’s Stadium in London along with a packed undercard. 

Tyson Fury came in at 268 pounds whilst his challenger Derek Chisora tipped in at 260 pounds. 

In the chief support, reigning WBA regular heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois weighed 240 pounds whilst his South African challenger Kevin Lerena came in 9 pounds lighter at 231 pounds. 

Yvan Mendy weighed 134 pounds vs. Denys Berinchyk’s 134 pounds for their European Lightweight title fight. 

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Promoter: Top Rank, Queensberry
TV: ESPN+ (USA), PPV (UK)

Roy Englebrecht promotions, Fight night results from Costa Mesa.

In a battle of two local Heavyweights Kaleel Carter 4-2, (3 KOs) broke a two fight losing streak to knock out previously unbeaten Ricky Frausto 7-1 (1 KO) in the third round of a scheduled 6 on Thursday night in the Englebrecht promotions Fight Club main event at the Hangar at the OC Fair & Events Center in Costa Mesa, California. Frausto started off fast with good movement and crisp combinations as Carter patiently looked for clever counters. The bout appeared to be an evenly balanced match going into the third and looked as though it may be headed for the full course until Carter stunned Frausto with a clean right hand, Carter capitalised and landed a series of unanswered shots that left Frausto out for the count. 

The undercard at the Hangar saw Super Featherweight Tayden Beltran score a first round Tko over Trenton Gibson whilst Antonio Garcia stopped Josias Gonzalez in the third stanza of  a scheduled 4 at Super Welterweight.

Roy Englebrecht Promotions & Events have sold out every single Fight Club OC show in 2022.

1500 were in attendance. 

Jalolov continues unbeaten streak by stopping Harper in 4.

Uzbekistan’s 2021 Olympic Super heavyweight Champion and world ranked Professional Bakhodir Jalolov 12-0 (12 KO’s) continued to climb steadily towards world title contention by scoring a clinical 4th round stoppage over the stubborn Curtis Harper 14-9 (9 Ko’s) on the Zepeda-Prograis undercard at the Dignity sports park in Carson California on Saturday night. Jalolov started patiently behind the jab keeping Harper at long range for the first couple of sessions, the tempo appeared to change as Harper showed some teeth by attempting to rough Jalolov up by hitting on the break. The Florida man seemed to wake the Usbek up with an attempted rabbit punch for which referee Thomas Taylor issued a stern warning. Jalolov found his range towards the end of the third and dropped Curtis with a well timed left hook concluded with a vicious straight right. Harper survived the round but knew what was in store for the 4th. Jalolov continued to establish the jab with spite in the fourth and soon found his mark with a series of accurate shots that put Harper on the floor for a second time, Harper hailed his huge frame off the canvas but was saved from himself by Thomas Taylor who called a halt to the action. Time was 1:53 of the session. 

After the victory Jalolov made it very clear that he is more than ready for anyone in the top 10 and announced himself as a threat to the major players in the division. Jalolov is indeed a big strong and capable heavyweight but may need an ounce of seasoning if he wants to be successful as an elite player. The Brooklyn based fighter is steadily overwhelming fighters with mixed to winning records but has yet to make his mark against a valued name to catch the publics attention. Harper put up little resistance having previously outpointed the undefeated Chris Thun and several years ago dragged Chris Arreola into a life and death battle that many saw in his favour. Harper is a durable yet unpredictable opponent who really only served as a time filler on this occasion.