Santa Cruz avenges Frampton loss.

In a marvellous fight, former champion Leo Santa Cruz (33-1-1, 18 KOs) avenged his loss to previously unbeaten Carl Frampton (23-1, 14 KOs) with a twelve round majority decision to regain the WBA featherweight title on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. After a tough twelve rounds, scores were 115-113, 115-113 for Santa Cruz and 114-114.

I had the 114-114 draw absolutely outrageous, Santa Cruz pulled away comfortably in the fight, winning by at least 3 points on my card..   Frampton battled hard to keep his crown but was literally out-hustled by the busier and more complete Mexican..

Wilder faces unbeaten Washington in 5th title defence.

WBC World heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) will defend his title against undefeated Californian Gerald Washington (18-0-1, 12 KOs) in the PBC main event on Saturday, February 25, at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

The replacement comes after the original opponent Andrzej Wawrzyk of Poland twice failed mandatory tests for an undisclosed banned substance..

Wilder was extremely disappointed when the news emerged of the drug test failures, but he is 100% happy with the replacement and the chance to return in front of his loyal Alabama fans..

The only blip on Gerald's record is a 2015 split decision draw with tough Amir Mansour, his last outing was last year, stopping Ray Austin in 4..

Washington is a reasonable opponent, but I'd rather have seen the promotion (Which features a heavyweight bout between Izu Ugono and Dominick Breazeale) switch Breazeale to the main event and place Gerald in with Ugono.    Breazeale showed the kind of courage needed in a previous challenge for Anthony Joshua's IBF title last year and in my opinion is far better equipped for the job.

This will be the fifth defence of the title for Wilder, who despite inactivity due to injuries, has proved a reasonably busy champion..  Wilder won the WBC title in January 2015..   Its unfortunate that this is the second time in a row Deontay has been forced to face a replacement opponent due to drug test failures..

Weights from Las Vegas.

Weights from the MGM grand in Las Vegas

Carl Frampton 125 vs. Leo Santa Cruz 125  (WBA featherweight title)

Mikey Garcia 134.5 vs. Dejan Zlaticanin 134.5  (WBC lightweight title)

Lee Selby vs. Jonathan Victor Barros  (IBF featherweight title)
Fight unfortunately cancelled due to Barros failing medical.


Josh Taylor 142 vs. Alfonso Olvera 140

Ivan Redkach 137 vs. Desmond Brock 137.5

David Benavidez 166 vs. Sherali Mamajov 167

Herbert Acevedo 141 vs. Chris Singleton 140

Laduan Barthelemy 126 vs. Jesus Aguinaga 126

Antonio Santa Cruz 117 vs. Victor Torres 116

Gerardo Perez 126 vs. Javier Cepeda 125

The Event is televised by SHOWTIME and promoted by Richard Schaefer's 'Ringstar promotions' hosted by MGM Resorts.

2 time Olympic medalist Ivan Dychko turns pro with MJA.

Two time Olympic super heavyweight bronze medalist Ivan Dychko of Kazakhstan has signed a professional contract with Australia's MJA (Michael Altamura) Entertainment..  The 26 year old, 6 foot 9 inch Dychko hailed an exceptional 181-18 amateur tally, but unfortunately lost out in both games to a Great Britain fighter, a close fight with the now IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in 2012, then a 3-0 defeat to Joe Joyce in last years Rio games..   Altamura recently added 2016 welterweight Gold medalist Daniyar Yeleussinov, to his stable, Yeleussinov also of Kazakhstan is being hailed as one of the hottest secrets in boxing..   Dychko is extremely ambitious and see's the success Anthony Joshua has enjoyed since turning over in 2013, hoping one day to level the score from their 2012 bout..

Selby Las Vegas bout cancelled.

Dreadful news for IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby 23-1 (8 Ko's) Who was due to make a third defence of his title tomorrow night in Las Vegas against Argentinian challenger Jonathan Barros 41-4-1 (21 Ko's) as part of the Santa Cruz v Frampton undercard at the MGM grand..   unfortunately Barros failed the Nevada State athletic control boards medical assessment, and by not meeting with the boards physical requirements, the bout is now cancelled..   Selby won his crown in May 2015 with a victory over Evgeny Gradovich, with subsequent defences against Fernando Montiel and more recently Eric Hunter..    The defence in Las Vegas was a personal dream come true for the Welshman, whom has been often tagged with the nickname 'The Welsh Mayweather."  The huge international platform is something Selby has strived for, and it's a huge blow for him and his team having worked so hard preparing and even managing to make weight on the day of the disastrous news..

Jim McDonnell, points the finger at 'Underhanded Mayweather.'

Jim McDonnell, the former world title challenger and trainer of IBF SuperMiddleweight champion James Degale has accused Floyd Mayweather jr, the Promoter and mentor of former WBC SuperMiddleweight champion Badou Jack, of underhanded tactics, following their unification draw a fortnight ago in Brooklyn..  McDonnell is fuming after discovering that Mayweather was constantly checking judges scorecards at ringside and relaying information back to his fighter..  Floyd at one point went over to a ringside official, peered at the scorecard and actually shouted to his fighter, "Your one round down, you need to pick it up."  This kind of behaviour in boxing is illegal, McDonnell states, plus during the ringwalk and entrance to the arena, a member of Degale's team was blocked from entering by a member of the TMT entourage..  In such a hostile environment, McDonnell could see how Mayweather's continual presence at ringside could have a huge influence on ringside judges, he knows how the game works and manipulated a vulnerable situation at ringside..   James kept a very cool head away from home in such hostilities and did extremely well in the circumstances.

Eggington meets Malignaggi on Haye v Bellew card..

Sam Eggington has a great opportunity on March 4th when he defends his WBC International Welterweight title against former world champion Paulie Malignaggi at The O2 in London as part of the huge Haye v a Bellew show televised live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Former British, Commonwealth and WBC international silver champion, Eggington 19-3 (11 Ko's) won his current title in October with an eighth round stoppage of local rival Frankie Gavin in Birmingham in a dramatic battle and is psyched to be facing the former two-weight world champion on such a huge platform..
36 year old Malignaggi 36-7 (7Ko's) held World championships at Super-Lightweight and Welterweight and has mixed company with most of the biggest names in the game is self admittedly addicted to boxing with a deep desire to return to the highest level..
Eggington v Malignaggi is the newest addition to the huge night of action at the O2 when David Haye and Tony Bellew meet in a Heavyweight grudge match, along with Ohara Davies and Derry Mathews settling a social media spat with Davies' WBC Silver Lightweight title up for grabs.

Eddie Futch.. The Master..

Eddie Futch was born in Hillsboro Mississippi in 1911 but moved with his family to Detroit when he was five years old. The Futch family lived in the Black Bottom section of the City..   Futch played semi-professional basketball with the Moreland YMCA Flashes and planned to attended the YMCA College School at the University of Chicago, but the Great Depression changed his plans and forced him to work shifts at The Wolverine hotel to bring much needed funds into the family home...  Here Eddie would meet friend and trainer / Promoter Don Arnott..  In 1932, Futch won the Detroit Athletic Association Lightweight Championship, and in 1933, he won the Detroit Golden Gloves Championship. Eddie trained at the Brewster Recreation Center Gym, and often sparred with the future champion Joe Louis. However health issues and a potential heart murmur prevented Futch from turning professional, and he began training boxers. Eddie Futch was a phenomenal trainer, perhaps the greatest strategist who ever lived. He prepared fighters to perform their best at the highest levels of the sport for several decades.  The list of Champions who worked under Futch's tutelage include Don Jordan, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Riddick Bowe, Michael Spinks, Alexis Arguello, Marlon Starling, Wayne McCullough and Montell Griffin ...  Jordan however was Futch's first world champion, crowned in 1958.
Eddie Futch was noted for his work with heavyweights, he was first hired by Joe Frazier, and his chief cornerman and manager Yank Durham to help him prepare for a fight in 1967, with Scrap Iron Johnson..  He trained Frazier to stay low and create a sense of perpetual motion and pressure Johnson consistently ..  Futch was using Fraziers height as an advantage, making the opponent continually punch down, making Joe a tough target to hit without taking as much punishment as a boxer with a more conventional fighting style would.
The tactic proved to be highly effective, and Frazier remained undefeated, winning the New York title from Buster Mathis, the man he had replaced in the Tokyo Olympics and WBA crown from Jimmy Ellis with solid knockouts. All of which led to the inevitable victorious showdown with Muhammad in March 1971 at New York's Madison square Garden.. Futch would be by Joes side for all three historic bouts with Ali..  Eddie would train four of the five men who would beat Ali..
For Kenny Norton Futch's master plan for his first Ali fight was for Ken to try and out-jab Ali. Although a pressure fighter, Norton had a good jab. Futch reckoned this would play mind games with Ali, who was so proud of his own jab. The plan seemed effective..    For Frazier v Ali 1, Futch told Frazier to wear down Ali with persistent body punches,  Futch also believed that Frazier's constant bobbing and weaving would make Ali uncomfortable because he would often have to punch down , which was something he was not used to doing. Finally, Futch noticed that Ali's uppercuts were thrown sloppily and technically incorrectly, he instructed Frazier to throw a left hook over the top of Ali's right uppercuts, and told his fighter to beat Ali to the punch when doing so, something that worked perfectly in the 15th round when an exhausted Ali threw a half-hearted uppercut, Frazier feinted a left and then unleashed a huge sweeping left hook at Ali's head, which floored him and created an famous moment in boxing history.
Frazier won the fight by a unanimous decision and was recognized as the undefeated, undisputed heavyweight boxing champion of the world.
Four and a half years after the Fight of the Century, Frazier and Ali met for a third and final time in a fight known as the "Thrilla in Manila" in September 1975. Futch served as Frazier's manager and chief second for the fight, having inherited those duties from Durham who died from a stroke shortly after Frazier's defeat by Foreman in 1973.
Futch's would ultimately save Joe from himself in the 14th round of one of the most brutal heavyweight fights ever witnessed..  A decision Frazier held bitter against Futch for years..  Eddie would stand alongside dominant heavyweight champion Larry Holmes another of the elite club to beat Ali, then prepare another Ali tamer in Jamaican Trevor Berbick, albeit against a much faded Ali..
Eddie would then work with his fighter Holmes nemesis,  Michael Spinks, who would become the only light heavyweight in history to arrest the heavyweight title..
Following Michael Spinks defeat at the hands of Mike Tyson, Eddie had no invested interest in a ranked heavyweight, until he met Riddick Bowe..  Everyone labeled Bowe a quitter, an underachiever who wouldn't rise when the going got tough, but Futch had faith..  Eddie said "he'd judge Bowe as he found him" and after brief introductions Futch set Bowe a strict training regime while he was supposedly out of town..  This was the acid test..  On a cold winters morning unsupervised would this underachieving quitter set out on his 5 mile runs at 5am..  Futch watched from a vantage point unbeknown to Bowe and to the young mans credit, he never missed a beat..  Futch proclaimed that he would make Riddick Bowe a champion.  31 fights later he would fulfill his promise to Futch and outpoint Evander Holyfield in Las Vegas to claim his crown..  Unfortunately after Bowes defense against Britains Herbie Hide Futch left understudy Thell Torrence in charge, washing his hands of his young charge who had began to lack discipline, at 84 years of age Futch didn't have time for bullshit..    Eddie still had the magic to steer Montell Griffin towards becoming the first man to beat Roy Jones Jr. and Wayne McCullough one of the most exciting champions in his division..    October 10th 2001 , Eddie Futch passed away in Las Vegas...  I was in town the week of his life celebration at Caesars Palace, it was the final farewell of one of boxings leading lights..   An extraordinary man..

Wilder to face replacement on February 25th, Wawrzyk fails drug test.

Shocking news concerning Deontay Wilders February 25th return to the ring to defend his WBC heavyweight title, scheduled opponent Andrzej Wawrzyk 33-1 (19 Ko's) has failed two mandated drug tests, Vada caught Wawrzyk for an unknown anabolic steroid only days ago, B samples are yet to be put under the microscope, but as of now, the Polish fighter has been scrapped as challenger in this event..

Wilder 37-0 (36 Ko's) has suffered this predicament in a previous bout with Alexander Povetkin in 2016, where he was forced to face a replacement in Chris Arreola...  The show which will be televised by Fox Sports, from Birminghams Legacy arena in Alabama will go ahead as scheduled, will Deontay boxing an opponent to be announced..  WBC number 17 ranked Dominick Breazeale 17-1 (15 Ko's) appears on the show against tough New Zealand based Pole Izu Ugonoh 17-0 (14 Ko's) it's not impossible that either guy could fill in to face Wilder, but I'm hearing that the most probable replacement is Californian Gerald Washington 18-0-1 (12 Ko's) who's only blemish was a 10 round draw with rugged Amir Mansour in 2015..  The opponent will be announced within 24 hours.

Battle of Blackpool, Rose v Arnfield added to Crolla v Linares 2 card.

In a fight which holds more significance on a local level, Blackpool's two most prominent middleweights meet in an unlikely clash for the WBA international title on March 25th at the MEN in Manchester..   27 year old Jack Arnfield 23-2 (6 Ko's) is the current holder, an on form fighter who appears to be improving each time out..   Since a 3 round loss in a prizefighter tournament in February 2015 to Cello Renda, Jack got the rare opportunity to box for the British title on short notice, dropping a Unanimous decision to hard punching Nick Blackwell in November, climbing off the floor in a courageous showing..   Last September Jack once again went into the lions den, taking on the highly regarded John Ryder for the WBA international title, Jack showed  great versatility in this fight earning a unanimous verdict that was highly contested, and only last weekend he defended the title successfully against former opponent Michael Hall in Preston, stopping Hall at the end of the 11th in a fight where Jack showed great discipline, sticking to a game plan against a highly competitive challenger..  Arnfield is no doubt the fresher on form fighter.
Brian Rose however has been to the mountain and back, the 31 year old held the British Super welterweight title, beating the very capable Prince Arron in December 2011, making 3 solid defences, before stepping up to face the unbeaten WBO champion Demetrius Andrade in Brooklyn..   Rose would learn a lot about himself in this fight, although losing via a 7th round stoppage, he now understood what it would take to hang with the big boys..  Rose 29-4-1 (8 Ko's) would step back into class 8 Months later, taking on the dangerous Carson Jones in his home town of Blackpool, disaster struck as Rose was stopped in the opening round of what could have been a springboard back onto the world scene..  6 Months later in Hull, Brian avenged the loss to jones on points, setting the score straight to move on with his career, but in April of 2016, Rose would narrowly miss out on the IBF intercontinental middleweight title as Matthew Macklin would just do enough to sway the judges over 12 at the O2, a fight that I had Rose winning comfortably..   Brian last boxed in October, beating Stiliyan Kostov on points over 8 in Birmingham..
The two fighters know each other intimately, having once been stablemates, both coached by the very respected Bobby Rimmer, before Arnfield parted ways to join forces with former world title challenger and now trainer Michael Jennings..  Rimmer, still with Rose with have an interesting introspective on his former charge, having spent hours cultivating his style in the gym..  Both guys are friends and both know in which direction this fight could send them, a win for Arnfield could earn him a British title shot, whereas a loss would set him back to square one..  But for Brian it's more vital, a win would rejuvenate his career, whereas a loss could signal curtains on a once promising career..    It's a very interesting fight.

David Avanesyan meets Lamont Peterson Feb 18th on Broner, Cincinnati card.

Russian WBA interim Welterweight Champion David Avanesyan (22-1-1, 11 KOs) looks set to make a second defence of his championship against former two-time world champion Lamont Peterson (34-3-1, 17 KOs) over 12 in a match that will feature as the co-main event of the Showtime card on Saturday, February 18 from the Cintas Center at Xavier University in Cincinnati. David impressed last time out when he won a unanimous decision over former four time, two weight world champion Shane Mosley in Glendale Az last May..  Peterson hasn't boxed in over a year since outpointing the unbeaten Felix Diaz in October of 2015.
The main event will feature the return of former four division world champion Adrien Broner as he takes on tough Adrian Granados.

SHOWTIME Tv coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT as unbeaten light heavyweight contender Marcus Browne (18-0, 13 KOs) tackles former world title challenger Thomas Williams Jr. (20-2, 14 KOs) over 10.