Who would have predicted at the beginning of the week that Frank Warren would be on the radio come Friday in a heated conversation with Dillian Whyte’s lawyer? Their argument over the airwaves was the highlight of five days that was gearing up to a packed weekend of action which takes you from Buenos Aires to London to Las Vegas via Leeds and Minneapolis.
While the word Escrow may be replaying over and over in your head here are some of the other week’s news stories that you may have missed. Welcome to the March 26 edition of Hooks and Jabs.
Charlie Edwards has joined his brother Sunny at Probellum. The former WBC flyweight champion signed a promotional deal this week with Richard Schaeffer’s outfit and the 29-year-old now has his sights set on creating history and a legacy for himself.
“I want titles at super-flyweight and to move through the weight divisions, it is my intention to go down as one of the greatest fighters in British boxing history,” he said.
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Boxxer’s tournament series returns on April 16 at Coventry’s Sky Dome live on Sky Sports. The lightweight division is the focus this time around and hard-hitting Rylan Charlton leads the eight-man event. Also included are Dylan Cheema, Tion Gibbs, Scott Melvin, Otis Lookham, Shaun Cooper, Joe Hughes, and Brooklyn Tilley. The format sees 3 x 3-minute rounds in each fight with the winner walking away with prize money at the end of the night.
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Another addition has been made to the Canelo Alvarez-Dmitry Bivol May 7 undercard in Las Vegas. Mexico’s Gabriel Valenzuela (25-2-1, 15 KOs), who caught the eye in his win against Robbie Davies Jr one year ago, faces Matchroom USA’s Montana Love (17-0-1, 9 KOs) in a super-lightweight contest. Also, this week it was confirmed that the IBF heavyweight title eliminator between Filip Hrgovic and Zhilei Zhang would also be on the bill at the T-Mobile Arena.
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Britain’s Jack Massey will make the first defence of his IBO cruiserweight title on April 30. The 28-year-old beat Bilal Laggoune to win the belt in November at the Bolton Whites Hotel. There has been no announcement on an opponent, but the Chesher cruiser will return to the same venue where he beat the Belgian. The card will be broadcast on FightZone.
“I’m ready to put in another knockout performance and prove I’m one of the best cruisers in the world,” said Massey
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Hannah Rankin will defend her WBA and IBO female super-welterweight titles on May 13 at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro. The Scot faces Mexico’s Alejandra Avala live on FightZone but is eyeing a unification against WBO champion Natasha Jonas this year.
“That would be a great fight for women’s boxing – both Tasha and I, world champions, in the same weight class, in this country – both flying the flag really high for women’s boxing and pushing it forward and trying to be the change in the sport that we want to see,” Rankin told Sky Sports.