From garden punch-ups to battles between YouTubers and NBA stars, here are five stories in the world of boxing that you might have missed this week…
Eddie Hearn Is Ready For The Matchroom Fight Camp
“It’s going to be f**king epic,” said a very excited Eddie Hearn about the first weekend of his much-anticipated Matchroom Fight Camp, a series of boxing cards that will take place at Hearn’s Essex mansion.
A ring has been purposely built in the garden for the shows which kicks off with Ted Cheeseman vs Sam Eggington this weekend live on Sky Sports. The second card will be headlined by Natasha Jonas vs Terri Harper, a third on August 14 will feature Jason Cash vs Felix Welborn before the shows conclude with Dillian Whyte’s PPV heavyweight showdown with Alexander Povetkin on the 22nd.
Along with the ring, marquees, dressing rooms and even a helipad have been added to Eddie’s Brentwood pad. This is going to be epic.
Anthony Joshua vs Kubrat Pulev Pencilled In For December
Anthony Joshua will have to wait until the end of the year to get a chance to defend the titles he won back from Andy Ruiz in 2019, according to his promoter Eddie Hearn.
Because crowd sizes for boxing are not expected to be raised by the government to 50 per cent capacity until mid-winter, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, AJ’s next fight against Bulgaria’s Kubrat Pulev has been pushed back from October to either December 5 or 12.
“I’ve just spoken to Josh and although he’s champing at the bit to fight again he gets it.
“The most we could hope for in October or November is a crowd of about 2,000. We can’t even rely on going somewhere abroad like Saudi for a big site fee because every country has a coronavirus problem.”
YouTuber Joins Mike Tyson vs Roy Jones Jr. Card And PPV Cost Revealed
More and more information about Mike Tyson’s boxing return against former four-weight world champion Roy Jones Jr. has been filtering through and, as many expected, there will be at least one YouTube star fighting on the undercard.
Jake Paul, brother of Logan, will fight NBA star Nate Robinson on the September 12 card in California in a six round bout. The PPV cost for the entire show is $49.99 in the US and, reportedly, £39 in the UK - we’re not sure the addition of YouTube stars can convince fight fans to fork out for this one.
Mike Tyson Reveals Family Aren’t Entirely On Board With His Comeback
Mike Tyson’s family probably won’t be in attendance for his big comeback this year with the former heavyweight champion revealing to talk show host Jimmy Fallon that they aren’t eager to see his ring return at the ripe old age of 54.
"My kids think I should sit my old ass down, but what do they know?” Tyson told Fallon, “I'm very confident. They don't know how to fight, neither one of my kids can beat me in a fight so what are they talking about?"
He’s got a point.
Vasyl Lomachenko Set For An October Return
Vasyl Lomachenko, the wizard-like Ukrainian who’s arguably the best fighter pound-for-pound on the planet is set to return to the ring for the first time in a year to face the highly-rated Teofimo Lopez on October 3.
Lomachenko, the fastest boxer to win titles in three weight divisions, hasn’t fought since last August when he beat Hull’s Luke Campbell at the O2 Arena but looks like he’s finally set to compete for the first time in 2020 with his manager Egis Klimas claiming that “everything is done our side” with regards to negotiations with Lopez.
