Heavywait Boxing – The heavyweight division in boxing is in a state of chaos, and with the recent news that Wladimir Klitschko now wanted to fight sometime in March or April, it makes another heavyweight who is shelving the rest of the 2016 calendar year. Good going Wlad, wait until after you turn 41 to fight again, why not?
Klitschko had been talked about as a December opponent for IBF world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua, and Klitschko had apparently had an alternate plan of facing undefeated Australian Lucas Browne for the vacant WBA world belt.
The negotiations with Joshua saw British promoter Eddie Hearn take the lead in trying to make the fight happen, but Hearn has now been left with a short list of B and C level opponents because his gamble did not play out. Hearn is a practical shoo-in for “Promoter of the Year” and he has elevated Joshua to the point where he has become boxing’s biggest box-office attraction, but at this point he is looking to get Joshua in and out of the ring safely for Decembe,r title pand perfect record intact. The list included David Price, Dereck Chisora before Hearn finally settled on Eric Molina (25-3). Molina was a September of 2015 victim to WBC world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and he is coming off an April KO of Polish veteran Tomasz Adamek.
With an eye towards a future meeting between Wilder and Joshua, Hearn is wise to choose Molina, as it starts to give the two men common opponents. Molina is taking the fight on relatively short notice and he is expected to be a huge underdog at the sports books.
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Deontay Wilder continued on the mend, as he had started to hit the mitts again towards the beginning of October. Everything seems to be on schedule for his recovery from a torn bicep, and April or May of next year is likely when we will see him again.
England’s David Haye is out there, but his name has not seriously come up as a December opponent for Joshua. A match-up between the two would be big money, but it must be taken into account that Haye has not been active in over 4 years. Yes, he fought twice in 2016 but against such grossly mismatched competition that no one should credit Haye with doing anything but cashing a check.
Haye’s name has also come up as a potential opponent for Lucas Browne, as the WBA belt is still vacant as the two men are currently ranked #5 and #6 by that sanctioning body. Also in the mix with the WBA belt is Fres Oquendo (37-8), who lost a controversial twelve round majority decision to Ruslan Chagev for the belt back in July of 2014, but the American has not fought since.
Two heavyweights that are booked to meet each other in Russia are Alexander Povetkin and Bermane Stiverne. Both men are rated with the WBC where Deontay Wilder is champ. Wilder won the belt from Stiverne, while Povetkin had a match with Wilder cancelled due to a failed drug test and ensuing controversy.
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