Amir Khan has said the unthinkable, Tyson Fury is fed up with talking about a certain person, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is the kind of free agent you may love to snap up on Championship Manager and Floyd Mayweather is annoying modern-day stars.
We also need to ask: When is a heavyweight really a ‘bridgerweight?’
Here’s our latest Fight Talk round-up.
Backing the enemy…
By any measure 2020 has been a strange year but the sight and sound of Amir Khan lending support to his bitter domestic rival Kell Brook felt all kinds of wrong.
The pair have traded words (sadly never punches) for what feels like forever and with Brook set to face WBO world welterweight champion Terence Crawford on Saturday, Khan has said the unthinkable.
“I wish Kell all the very best to put a stop to his reign,” Khan told Seconds Out Boxing.
“He can do that, Kell’s a good fighter and I’ve always respected him. As a Brit, we have to support our own. Even though we’ve not looked eye to eye, I’m rooting for him.”
Some saw class…
Some saw an agenda…
And some just want to move on.
Fury’s had it with Wilder…
If Khan and Brook are warming to each other, the relationship between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder gets colder with every conspiracy theory, tweet and word uttered.
Wilder has blamed his ring-walk suit and his own team for his defeat to Fury in February. He has also said he had his water spiked and that his opponent had weights in his gloves.
Fury now seems to have had enough of the saga and wants to squash any hope of a trilogy bout.
“He will never get a shot at me now. Finished,” Fury told boxing journalist Gareth A Davies. “For what he has said. Losing is one thing. I don’t even want to give him any air time. That’s it for him.”
A big belt for big (ish) men…
Things could be looking up for Wilder though. He may get to shoot for a world title again against a far smaller man than Fury.
That is because the WBC is set to introduce a new weight division to sit between cruiserweight and heavyweight, with fighters falling between 200lbs and 224lbs eligible.
The new category will be called the ‘bridger’ division – although social media is unanimously in the ‘please no more belts or weight divisions’ camp.
However, Tony Bellew – a former cruiserweight world champion who enjoyed heavyweight success too – sees merit in a new weight category.
“Some heavyweights are in the land of the giants and no fighter in my opinion should lose purely because of size,” Bellew told Boxing Social. “And the most important thing is boxing should be made a safe sport. This will help.”
Canelo makes his business personal
“It was always a deal that was too good to be true,” said 5 Live Boxing’s Steve Bunce.
Just two years ago Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez signed the most lucrative contract in boxing – one that was due to last five years and net him around £278m.
Now the much-decorated Mexican has exited the deal with streaming service DAZN and will go it alone as a free agent. He has even jettisoned Golden Boy promotions, and rumours over his next opponent are rife.
Bunce summed it up: “We are not like any other sport. Boxing is the hardest sport to plan for if you are a television executive. DAZN probably drew up a fantastic list of Canelo opponents. Not one of them landed. What a business.”
The contract chaos could prove fruitful for Britain’s Callum Smith and John Ryder though as they are now reportedly in line for a shot at a fighter viewed as boxing’s golden ticket.
Warm images, cold words…
Teofimo Lopez warmed our hearts this week in posting images of him in his formative years alongside greats of the trade like Lennox Lewis and trainer Freddie Roach.
“Little did these champs know they were taking a picture with ‘The Future of Boxing,'” wrote Lopez, who is now the sport’s breakout star after his win over Vasyl Lomachenko.
He was less complimentary about another legend – Floyd Mayweather.
Lopez is linked with a fight against one of Mayweather’s own stars Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and he did not take the fact Mayweather thinks Davis is the main attraction in that bout very well.
“I collected all the belts and I’m the ‘B side?’ You’re crazy man,” Lopez told IFL TV.
“I will be blunt, I think Floyd is still trying to find ways to stay relevant. He uses ‘Tank’ and talks to the media for him. Let ‘Tank’ be his own man. I think Floyd is crazy.”
Somewhere in Lopez’s attic there must be a childhood photo of him with Mayweather in his prime. We may need to wait a while to see it.
