ARUM VS. WHITE WAR OF WORDS; JOSHUA IS BOXING SCENE FIGHTER OF THE YEAR
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 05 Jan 2018
Top Rank boss Bob Arum thinks UFC President Dana White is staking in the sport of boxing in order to salvage his firm. Arum stated that UFC's deterioration is the main reason for White's shift to boxing. "By coming in the business, he is really admitting that boxing is the more popular sport,? Arum told TMZ. ?And in order to keep his company alive, he has to go into the boxing business."
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UFC's most popular superstar, Conor McGregor, fought Floyd Mayweather, and lost by a tenth round TKO last August at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. White co-promoted the pay-per-view contest with Mayweather Promotions. The fight generated more than 4 million pay-per-view buys, second highest earning boxing match in history and as a result several boxing stars have called out a fight with McGregor.
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This year, White and his UFC comrades are planning to join the sport of professional boxing using the "Zuffa Boxing" firm, which is the sister company at UFC. Earlier, White warned Arum as the UFC boss aims to gain great accomplishments in the boxing business, and believes that he can overtake Arum in the industry.
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?You?ll see, Bob,? White said. ?We?ll see at the end. Bob?s the same guy who said the UFC would never work, and the UFC was loosing ?oodles? of money, whatever the f*** ?oodles of money? means. Look at what we?ve done and look at where we are. I mean, come on. At the end of the day, we?ll see who stands where when the smoke clears and the dust settles." According to White, McGregor, is looking for a rematch with Mayweather.
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Terence Crawford, Mikey Garcia, Vasyl Lomachenko and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai were among the best boxers who made lots of frenzy this year and were strong candidates to win the "Fighter of the Year" award. But Anthony Joshua made a spectacular resurgence against Wladimir Klitschko and the British boxing star did a magnificent showing which revitalized the very prestigious heavyweight division. His memento included his 10th-round stoppage of Carlos Takam in his next bout. So these reasons made BoxingScene chose Joshua as its ?Fighter of the Year.?
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The 6-feet-6, 250-pound Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs) made more impact on the sport of boxing than the 28-year-old Joshua did in 2017, according to BoxingScene. He recovered from a knockdown in the sixth round to stop Klitschko (64-5, 53 KOs) of Ukraine in the 11th round of their heavyweight title fight. That memorable showdown attracted a huge record crowd of 90,000 at the Wembley Stadium.
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Then about 78,000 fans filled up the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, to watch Joshua destroyed Takam (35-4-1, 27 KOs) of Cameroon on October 28, showed the undefeated heavyweight champ's exceptional celebrity potential in the United Kingdom.
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WBO welterweight titlist Jeff Horn (18-0-1, 12 KOs), who stopped Gary Corcoran in the eleventh round on December 13, was reported to be considering a fight with fellow Australian Anthony Mundine with a $ 2 million purse offered for the undefeated champion. But Horn is mandated by WBO to fight Terence Crawford (32-0, 23 KOs).
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Bob Arum told BoxingScene.com, "The answer is no and no. He's not seriously contemplating it because he doesn't have that option." The Mundine fight happens if Horn decides to vacate his title. But it seems as though he is not seriously considering the All-Australian match. "Jeff is a terrific young man, he just became a father as you know and Glenn Rushton his manager and trainer is a terrific guy," added Arum. "I can't say what it is but we've made plans for the next fight for Jeff Horn."
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Anthony Mundine is a former rugby league player. As a professional boxer, he has held the WBA super middleweight title twice between 2003 and 2008, and the IBO middleweight title from 2009 to 2010, and the WBA interim super-welterweight title from 2011 to 2012. Before his shift to boxing, Mundine was the highest-paid player in the National Rugby League (NRL). He considers himself as Australia's best all-round athlete.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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