First off I’ve gotta admit I feel a bit of a prick, last weeks blog on Kel Brook was slating him for dragging his heels on the Vargas fight,and that he was making Eddie Hearn look a cunt, I went on ranting about getting this signed and moving on to bigger things in the US . Now we have Kel Brook vs GGG signed and ready to go on September 10th in the O2 Arena ,London and know what, take a bow Kel Brook and Eddie Hearn for making this happen. 

Hearn had looked to have pulled off a master stroke when he got Chris Eubank Jnr a world title fight with superstar GGG,not only this but looked to have secured it to take place in the UK. All looked to be going well until as predicted in a earlier blog Eubank stalled,making outrageous demands that Eddie outlines in this IFL interview (Hearn on GGG,Brook and Eubanks ) Hearn gave them 24hrs to sign the contract to no avail so he offered it to Kel Brook who took 2hrs to get the deal done .
Now Kel Brook deserves all the credit in the world for taking on the most avoided man in the world of boxing. Kel Brook might say he’s a big welterweight but to come up 13lbs to middleweight to take on a man who smokes everyone he fights, a man who seen Canelo Alverez vacate his WBC Middleweight title rather than fight him takes some balls on Brooks behalf it’s an amazing sign of intent . 

But for every bit of credit Brook gets GGG has some questions to answer, I accept with Eubank being a wanker a fight in the UK was on the verge of collapse,but with Brook having to come up to middleweight is this fight really going to be thy competitive ? .On fight night there will probably be around 2stone between the two boxers,add that in with GGG being a power house puncher who’s hard to evade what chance does Brook actually have . Another match up may have been James De Gale, I believe De Gale would have took it as talk of his unification fight with Jack has gone cold also DeGale will fight anyone so GGG reputation would not have phased him. 

In all honesty I’m intrigued by this fight and set up a brilliant September with Smith vs Canelo,Crolla vs Linares and now Brook vs GGG …..fantastic  

Just for some comedy here is some of Eubank Jnr tweets ,enjoy 

Why does Chris Eubank jnr make it so hard to like him ? Just when I started getting used to his antics,over confidence and his daddy issues that see him trying to act like his father at every opportunity he has now went into overdrive to get on my tits.

Recently we have had Chris snr call out one of the best and complete boxers in the world GGG saying in his funny voice : 

“I don’t see anything like Chris’s speed or power “

This will be GGG with a 92% KO ratio , the same GGG that has Canelo Alverez running scared, vacating his WBC world title to avoid fighting him for it compare that to Chris Eubank jnr,a guy who was schooled by Billy Joe Saunders and was also rocked a couple of times in his fight with Spike O’Sullivan. As I said at the start Iam a Eubank fan and usally I like boxers with arrogance but Jnr like his father seems to push buttons and can wynd me up at times,but unlike his dad he has not backed it up as of yet, arrogance is a luxury you have to earn and Eubank Jnr is nowhere near being able to pull off his egotistical shit. In the same week as calling out GGG the Eubanks announced there plans to have Jnr fight in the Olympics ,fuck me the beginning of the week he’s beating GGG the end of the week he’s intending to go fight ameteurs, to me they are embarrassing to listen to, most of the time when they are on TV interviews I watch through my fingers as I cringe at every unfounded claim made . 

Don’t get me wrong I think a lot of it is a act to get his name out there,there is no such thing as bad press in boxing, his names out there even if it’s just to laugh at these outrageous comments. The thing that gets to me is Chris Snr,who’s had his time in the spotlight pushing in on his sons time, to begin with I thought he was shielding his son form the pressures of the media but now I think he’s riding on Jnrs wave and making him a bit of laughing stock at times. I think what people have to remember is that Chris Eubank Snr ducked a lot fight, yes we had Benn etc but there where big swerves inbetween so to think he will put Jnr in the ring with GGG as he is the now is beyond ludicrous .

Will Jnr ever be humble, no I think the best we can hope for is he moves on from being the pricks prick , that title should stay with his dad .

Dino @Djayboxingblog 

We where spoiled last week with the Vargas vs Salido fight and this week we are in for another treat with the mouthwatering fight between Lomachenko vs Martinez which has the potential to be a peach of a fight 

Let’s start with Vasyl Lomachenko : This guy is one of the most exciting talents in boxing and one of my favourites to watch. Lomachenko looks every bit the perfect boxer for fight fans, covers up very well,quick on his feet,can get in land 4 big shots before you know he’s there,even if you tie him down he has perfect timing and efficient accuracy on his counters, infact you won’t see busier boxer ,he has the work rate only seen in the ameteur level. Lomachenko is pretty widely regarded as the greatest ever ameature and with this list of honours who could argue .

But unlike other top class Olympians when turning pro Lomachenko wanted the big fights right from the start in only his 2nd pro fight he took on Orlando Salido for the vacant WBO Featherweight title but as Salido missed the weight by miles and gave Lomachenko his first loss,in a  fight in which turned out to be one of the best fights seen in years .This was no major stain,although  Salido did do a brilliant job on Lomachenko fighting ugly,hitting low raising questions about his ability to deal with this kind of fight .But Salido did look to be a whole weight division if not more above him and it showed when big shots from Lomachenko where just brushed off. Since then Lomachenko has demolished everything put infront of him trying to put to bed any of the questions raised in that Salido bout where obviously he he learned from that lesson .He got his hands on the WBO Featherweight Title against Garry Russell Jnr , a fight in which he schooled a 24-0-0 boxer in his 3rd pro fight. This fight was a masterpiece switching body to head he just wore Russell down to a shell of a man who deserved credit for taking it to the card if nothing else .

Now a look at Roman Martinez: Martinez is a great boxer to watch, loves to stay at length before he looks to land big straight shots which he throws in threes and fours. In the first leg of his double header against Salido he totally outclassed Salido,the same Salido who gave Lomachenko all sorts of problems. He has Salido on the canvas in rounds 3 and 5 with virtually the same shot, a big overhand right, down the middle the same  shot that also took Ricky Burns to the canvas . Martinez doesn’t just look for this big shot, he’s great at switching body to head, his combos are great to watch when they come off . The Puerto Rican also move really well laterally infact looks a lot better when giving away the middle of ring. In his fight against the  King of Scots Ricky Burns,ricky gave him all sort of trouble tho, a great performance from Burns seen him bully Martinez and make him look clumsy at times as Burns went on to take his belt from him. Also in the second fight against Salido,Martinez was very lucky to get away with a draw ,for me Salido dragged him into a dog fight and for me Salido outclassed him in a close fight .

My prediction: Well the old cliche “styles make fights” and these two have styles which should set up a cracker. There’s no doubt Martinez is the more powerful of the both,that big straight right is beautiful to watch,one of the best shots around but I think he will struggle to hit Lomachenko, the Ukrainian doesn’t stand infront of you he comes from unorthodox angles hiring you with quick combos. I think if  Martinez is to win he will have to fight ugly,on the inside and try and drag Lomachenko into a dogfight,try and tangle feet ,anything  to take Lomachenko off his stride . I think Lomachenko will win on points,I just think he will have to much in the tank, look the better fighter and land more big shots as the fight goes on obviously Martinez has that big right hand in his locker which could end it at anytime,so very hard to call.

Dino @DjayBoxingBlog

Live on boxnation 

Well ladies and gentlemen just when you thought boxing was imploding and about to self destruct the sport was given a massive boost and a reminder of why we love it on Saturday….no not that bag of shit show in Liverpool where Liam Smith fought a bum and a full undercard of shit ,I’m talking about the Vargas vs Salido fight in LA . This had all the makings of a classic, two hard hitting Mexicans with balls of steel and this didn’t disappoint .But this blog altho heaping praise on this spectacle is gonna point out that this fight would never have happend in the UK . 

Here in Britain we will be lucky to get a couple of good fights in a year in between them we have Anthony Joshua knocking out bums and Eddie Hearne telling casuals these guys are class boxers elevating AJ who’s beat no1 to near legendary status, we will also have Kel Brook fighting shite and tell ya it’s not his fault Even that weekend there we had Liam “Beefy” Smith fight a guy I could probably batter in a fight for the world title . Do you see the trend here ? British boxers and there promoters don’t want to give you a classic no that would mean risk a belt maybe even get a loss on there record ,shock horror if that ever happens  , here in the UK we are served up shit and told its caviar. The Vargas vs Salido wasn’t even picked up by any British broadcaster that weekend leaving real fight fans ,hungry to see a  real fight trolling the Internet looking for dodgy streams. To be honest I know exactly why the fight wasn’t shown, how could sky or boxnation ask you to foot the bill for boxing if you actually had a real event to compare it to, how could they try and sell Groves vs Murray on PPV undercard after seeing Golden Boy/HBO undercard on Saturday which was class. 

This full event has brought me back from the brink of turning casual and only watching main events and boxers I like. For me being a boxing fan isn’t about seeing a guy out his depth getting knocked out or domestic level fighters being thrown into world title fights to get beat up this seems to be what matchroom has brought to the sport  . For me boxing is about well matched boxers, two guys testing themselves against each other, learning weaknesses as the fight goes on, I love looking out for the next big thing or ones to look out for in a couple years . We boxing fans don’t care that Crolla fights for matchroom and Flannigan fights for Frank Warren, we want to see Crolla vs Flannigan because it will be a cracker to guys from Manchester who went to the same school, the guys incharge of British boxing could not give a fuck of this fight never happens . Another could be Burns vs Crolla but that’s doubtful because both are matchroom fighters. This is killing our game and robbing our boxers of the chance to become a greats even robbing us of our own classic tussel like we seen the other night ,Vargas vs Salido. 

Will we ever get back to a time where boxers and there teams want to know how good they are rather than build a fake reputation Ontop of a boxrec full of bums ? …..my honest thoughts is no ,well not for a long time anyway , not aslong as 17000 wankers will show up to watch David Haye beat up idiots and old asthmatic men, not aslong as Anthony Joshua will defend his title against nobodies and sell out in no time and be on PPV to do it , not  aslong as Hearns and Warrens will fart beside you and say it’s aftershave ,the only people who can save our game is us ourselves,the fights are there let’s make them,you never know we might be as good as we think we are. Until this does change I am starting form the opinion that every world title won by a British boxer is bad for him and the sport because greedy promoter will do anything to not risk it .

Dino 

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Well well well we had two Brits fighting for world titles and my God did they deliver to take us to just the 13 World Champions .

Burns vs Di Rocco : 

I was lucky enough to take this in live at the Hydro and was a good night with a couple of decent fight on the undercard but the main event went as predicted in last weeks blog , Di Rocco was well out of his depth from the start. Ricky Burns right from the off was to quick of the mark for Di Rocco,anytime the Italian tried to open up ,Burns had already landed a solid jab before putting space back between them making Di Rocco miss badly,it seemed Burns didn’t really know what to expect and with Di Rocco’s boxrec suggesting he can hit hard, Burns  used the opening rounds to get this guys measure  . As the rounds came and past Di Rocco just couldn’t close Burns down and was looking further and further out his depth. I had predicted a round 7 stoppage for Burns it turned out I was one  off the mark as it took until round 8 before Burns let the big body shots go on a tired beat Di Rocco which took him down and not come back up which seen Ricky Burns become Scotland’s first ever three weight World Champion. A fantastic occasion in Glasgow and hopefully see bigger oponenets on the horizon.

 Bellew vs Makabu :

Well this was a cracking matchup for the WBC cruiserweight world title ,and I will admit right from the start I thought Makabu would have had the edge but my god did Big Tony Bellew rise to the occasion at Goodison Park. After both fighter where in the ring Bellew’s size advantage was obvious,he looked massive and right from the start got using his jab and looked really strong until just before the bell, Makabu landed a nice shot which took an off balance Bellew to the floor . Bellew’s corner took the interval to calm him down and tell him to stick to his gameplan which Bellew done in round two. When the two where exchanging blows up close in the third it looked dangerous for Bellew until he landed a lovely left which rocked Makabu and that invited Bellew to chase him down and pile on the pressure ,Bellew knew this was the end he just had to find the right shot and he did, with Makabu on the ropes trying to paw Bellew away he is smashed with a cracking left which had him out on his feet . The ref Victor Laughlan stopped the fight right here but Makabu was never getting up infact he was down for the next couple of minutes. Bellew has just put himself in the top three cruiserweight sin the world and deserves every bit of praise he’s been getting ….fantastic big man Dino @DjayBoxingBlog 

From the off Iam just gonna to tell you the IBF have done James DeGale “a turn” as they say in Britain . This fight was supposed to be DeGale 22-1, 14 KOs) vs Jose Uzcategui (24-1, 20 KO) But Uzcategui couldn’t make the fight due to illness so Medina (36-6, 30 kos) has been named as the IBFs next manditory challenger. Now I hear you say “36 wins 30kos this guys good what ya talking about ” well don’t buy into that when ya scratch the surface of that record you see wins against guys  with 22 losses 0 wins aswell as nobody’s probably fought in a bar in Mexico all apart from J’Leon Love (21-1, 11 KOs) this victory is why he is IBF #3 ,none of these fights against anyone anywhere near James DeGales level tho.

 James DeGale I don’t think will be happy with this favour he’s been threw from the  IBF . DeGale is a boxer who wants to build a reputation in the US and a lasting legacy and this fight won’t add anything to it .DeGale is one of the hungriest boxers out there,he openly boasts about wanting to be a two weight world champion once he’s had his unification fight with Badu Jack (all going well and to plan on Saturday for DeGale and Jack) he wants to go up to 175lbs to take on Adonis Stevenson and take that title aswell ,there’s also the possibility of a massive domestic fight with Callum Smith the fight I want to see,while the rest of boxing is avoiding Gennady Golovkin,James DeGale has challenged him to come up to super middleweight and fight him so when you put all that in the equation you can feel DeGales frustration with this fight .

My view on this fight, it is where it belongs ,on an undercard the IBF have made a complete arse of this but definitely watch this space,this could be a massive 2,3 years for DeGale and British boxing 

Dino

  I have watched kell Brook work his way from domestic superstar to IBF Welterweight Champion of the world after that convincing show against shawn Porter in LA, at the time I remember thinking “oh god we could have the real deal British Superstar here” but since then for one reason or another that momentum has gone and I can only feel for Kell who would have thought to have been in some of the biggest fights in the world by now . After two successful title defences  Brooks was stabbed in the leg while on holiday in Tenerife in an unprovoked attack which seemed to come   At the worst possible time for Brook.  

  Now like any sports fans,boxing fans are thickle,we have short memories and when Brook made his comeback in a very unappealing mandatory defence against Canadian Kevin Bizier ( 25-3-0 17kos),talk about a fight that didn’t capture the imagination, granted it was good for Kell to get back in ring but even a Brook who could have been shaking off some ring rust got him out of there in two rounds. Before and after the fight you got the feeling from Brook he was embarrassed by this fight and was just wanting it out the road to line up bigger fights.Before the fight Kell made a big statement saying he wanted Amir Kahn,personally I don’t know if he’s at Kahns level of stature or ability yet but I think this was a cry from Kell to his management team as to the kind of fights he wants. Amir Khan shot some insults at Kell calling him “king of the mediatorys” and calling on him to show some ambition and take the fight with Miguel Cotto. Although I think this would be a massive risk for Brook to move up to Cottos weight , I think he could do it and keep his speed and power ,this is the kind of fight Kell needs to build world class reputation and he knows it. He has said “il walk to the US for the Cotto fight”,I find it to often when we have a good champ we don’t like pushing them onto the next level and I don’t think Kell Brook wants to be one of these champs whithout  a lasting legacy .  
If Amir Khan loses to Conelo Alverez will it bring him close to taking a fight with Brook ? Honestly….I doubt it I think Amir has had the big fights under his belt,built a transatlantic fanbase and has a PPV appeal , in two years time I’m sure if Brook gets his way and gets Eddie Hearn working FOR HIM putting up an offer Garcia or Vargas can’t refuse and let Kell do his job,  he will be right up there with Amir , but one thing is for sure if these big fights don’t come Brook will be on AJ undercard in a couple years time wondering what the hell happend .