This Week In Boxing: Olympic Triumph, Galahad World Champ & AJ-Usyk Sell Out
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Another week full of swirling rumors, medal winning and newly crowned champions. Let’s take a look back at what happened this week in boxing (August 2 – August 8, 2020).
Team GB Make Medal Tally History
Closing their Olympic effort in style, Team GB boxing took home six medals this week, the most hauled in the modern era. Outstanding performances from Galal Yafai and Lauren Price secured gold, whilst others including; Ben Whittaker and Pat McCormack took silver.
Frazer Clarke proved to come short in his hopes for gold, however, a bronze is enough to be proud of in a fantastic showing from Team GB. Karis Artingstall also took bronze.
Cuba would top the standings with four gold medals and one bronze. Julio Cesar la Cruz and Andy Cruz were among the notable names to lift Cuba to glory.
Among Team USA’s standards it would be unsatisfactory, claiming three silvers and one bronze.
Kid Galahad Crowned at Fight Camp
In his second time of asking and in a rematch against former British featherweight champion Jazza Dickens (30-4, 11 KOs), Kid Galahad (28-1, 17 KOs) is the new IBF world featherweight champion after a solid boxing performance saw Dickens pulled out in the 11th round.
Dickens, who suffered a bad cut at the start of the fight, proved to worsen throughout the bout and was withdrawn by his own corner to prevent any further injuries.
Looking towards the future for Galahad, a stacked featherweight division sees an array of top class fights being made towards the back end of 2021. In Fight Camps second consecutive showing, Alen Babic (8-0, 8 KOs), Fabio Wardley (12-0, 11 KOs) and Ebanie Bridges (6-1, 3 KOs) also had their hands raised.
Undisputed King Josh Taylor to Return
After the massive domestic scrap between Liam Smith (29-3, 16 KOs) and Anthony Fowler (15-1, 12 KOs) was announced before the start of the week, it seemed to be a great week of fight building rumours.
According to ESPN, Josh Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) will defend his undisputed super-lightweight titles on December 18 against mandatory challenger Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs). The fight is set to take place at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow.
It could be the perfect start to life as undisputed king for Taylor, or, a testing domestic battle.
Wembley to be Packed for AJ
Heavyweight icon Anthony Joshua (24-1, 22 KOs) will defend his WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO titles against WBO mandatory Oleksander Usyk (18-0, 13 KOs) on September 25 in-front of a sold out Wembley Stadium.
The tickets which went live early this week were available for nearly a day before they were snatched up by boxing fans. The fight adds to the long list of venues AJ has sold out so far, it will be the second time he will pack out Wembley to 90,000 fans.
Fight Developments in the USA
Across the pond, the undercard for Manny Pacquiao vs. Errol Spence Jr. was announced –
- Yordenis Ugas vs. Fabian Maidana (WBA Welterweight title)
- Victor Ortiz vs. Robert Guerrero (Welterweight)
- Mark Magsayo vs. Julio Ceja (Feathweight)
Whilst our fascinated eyes await Jake Paul (3-0, 3 KOs) vs. Tyron Woodley in the ring, it was announced that Daniel Dubois (16-1, 15 KOs) and Tommy Fury (6-0, 4 KOs) will travel to America to feature on the undercard. Fury will face Anthony Taylor (0-1) at a catchweight of 180 pounds, whereas Dubois will face Joe Cusumano (19-3, 17 KOs).
The WBO have ordered purse bids for Jamel Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) vs. Shakur Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs). The fight will see Herring defend his WBO super-featherweight strap against mandatory challenger and young talent Stevenson.
Finally, in the ever blossoming Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (56-1-2, 36 KOs) news, it is looking more likely he will face Dmitry Bivol (18-0, 11 KOs) in mid-September.
Expected to be fought at catchweight it is unlikely to see Canelo’s titles on the line.
Fight fans were disappointed to find out talks had broken down with Canelo and Caleb Plant (21-0, 12 KOs). The fight would’ve seen two superstars in the ring for the undisputed super-middleweight titles.
What to Expect Next Week
Fight Camp will return live on DAZN again next weekend. Joshua Buatsi (14-0, 12 KOs) will top the bill as he faces Ricards Bolotniks (18-5, 8 KOs) in the light-heavyweight division.
It is to be expected for more developments on the Canelo situation as we are getting closer to seeing who the king of boxing wants to face next.
With Olympic boxing over, expect to see many great celebrations of the best amateur boxers in the world right now.
Finally, John Riel Casimero (30-4, 21 KOs) and Guillermo Rigondeaux (20-1, 13 KOs) will fight next weekend for the WBA and WBO bantamweight titles in California.
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