Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko fight card and preview on Showtime and HBO Boxing

Get the details here on this weekend’s major Heavyweight showdown – Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko. This Saturday, April 29 is the biggest Heavyweight boxing fight in years when Anthony Joshua (18-0; 18 KO) takes on Wladimir Klitschko…

Get the details here on this weekend’s major Heavyweight showdown – Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko.

This Saturday, April 29 is the biggest Heavyweight boxing fight in years when Anthony Joshua (18-0; 18 KO) takes on Wladimir Klitschko (64-4; 53 KO).

On paper, Joshua vs. Klitschko is for the WBA, IBF, and IBO Heavyweight titles. But in reality, it’s about so much more. This is the young, exciting knockout artist in Joshua rising up to take out the elder statesman of the division. Klitschko ruled over the division alongside his brother for years, and during that time, many fans saw their interest in Heavyweight decline. In 2015, Wlad lost in a huge upset to Tyson Fury, but numerous out of ring problems have kept Fury sidelined ever since. Now, it’s either time for Wlad to regain his throne, or time for a new young gun to take over and establish himself as the sport’s #1 Heavyweight (with the caveat of Fury, waiting in the wings). It’s a fight that could almost single-handedly bring Heavyweight to the front of boxing for many fans. And it’s a true pick ’em fight, one where we could get a classic for the ages, or where either man could be truly exposed – Joshua for his inexperience, Klistchko for his age.

For this historic match-up, HBO and Showtime have been forced to work together, as each station represents one of the combatants. Showtime will air the fight live Saturday afternoon at 4:15 p.m. ET, with HBO showing a tape-delayed replay at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT Saturday night. For international fans, the full card starts at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sky Box Office. Here, we’ll be covering the Showtime broadcast as it airs.

Join us live this Saturday April 29 for live fight coverage of Klitschko vs. Joshua.

JOSHUA vs. KLITSCHKO FIGHT CARD
Showtime, Sat. Apr. 29, 4:15 p.m. ET live
HBO, Sat. Apr. 29, 11:00 p.m. ET replay
Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko

Sky Box Office, 1:00 p.m. ET
Scott Quigg vs. Viorel Simion
Luke Campbell vs. Darleys Perez
Katie Taylor vs. Nina Meinke

Joshua vs Klitschko: Live fight online coverage, preview, analysis

Get your full fight coverage right here for Wladimir Klitschko vs. Anthony Joshua in a Heavyweight superfight this Saturday, April 29 on Showtime and HBO. This Saturday, April 29 is the biggest Heavyweight boxing fight in years when Anthony …

Get your full fight coverage right here for Wladimir Klitschko vs. Anthony Joshua in a Heavyweight superfight this Saturday, April 29 on Showtime and HBO.

This Saturday, April 29 is the biggest Heavyweight boxing fight in years when Anthony Joshua (18-0; 18 KO) takes on Wladimir Klitschko (64-4; 53 KO).

On paper, Joshua vs. Klitschko is for the WBA, IBF, and IBO Heavyweight titles. But in reality, it’s about so much more. This is the young, exciting knockout artist in Joshua rising up to take out the elder statesman of the division. Klitschko ruled over the division alongside his brother for years, and during that time, many fans saw their interest in Heavyweight decline. In 2015, Wlad lost in a huge upset to Tyson Fury, but numerous out of ring problems have kept Fury sidelined ever since. Now, it’s either time for Wlad to regain his throne, or time for a new young gun to take over and establish himself as the sport’s #1 Heavyweight (with the caveat of Fury, waiting in the wings). It’s a fight that could almost single-handedly bring Heavyweight to the front of boxing for many fans. And it’s a true pick ’em fight, one where we could get a classic for the ages, or where either man could be truly exposed – Joshua for his inexperience, Klistchko for his age.

For this historic match-up, HBO and Showtime have been forced to work together, as each station represents one of the combatants. Showtime will air the fight live Saturday afternoon at 4:15 p.m. ET, with HBO showing a tape-delayed replay at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT Saturday night. For international fans, the full card starts at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sky Box Office. Here, we’ll be covering the Showtime broadcast as it airs.

Join us live this Saturday April 29 for live fight coverage of Klitschko vs. Joshua.

JOSHUA vs. KLITSCHKO FIGHT CARD
Showtime, Sat. Apr. 29, 4:15 p.m. ET live
HBO, Sat. Apr. 29, 11:00 p.m. ET replay
Anthony Joshua vs. Wladimir Klitschko

Sky Box Office, 1:00 p.m. ET
Scott Quigg vs. Viorel Simion
Luke Campbell vs. Darleys Perez
Katie Taylor vs. Nina Meinke

Cody Garbandt Says The More he Knew T.J. Dillashaw, The More of a D*ckhead he Became

Cody Garbrandt’s stance on T.J. Dillashaw hasn’t softened one bit. The bad blood between “No Love” and Dillashaw is still brewing. Garbrandt is set to defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight title against Dillashaw on July 8 for UFC 213. The latest season of “The Ultimate Fighter” sees Garbrandt and Dillashaw as opposing coaches. […]

Cody Garbrandt’s stance on T.J. Dillashaw hasn’t softened one bit. The bad blood between “No Love” and Dillashaw is still brewing. Garbrandt is set to defend his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight title against Dillashaw on July 8 for UFC 213. The latest season of “The Ultimate Fighter” sees Garbrandt and Dillashaw as opposing coaches. […]

Super Prospect Aaron Pico on Bellator Debut and Working with Freddie Roach

0-0.
In certain contexts, it’s a pretty auspicious pro MMA record. One of those contexts occurs when you see the 0-0 on a pay-per-view card. There aren’t many modern fighters this side of CM Punk who make their professional debuts on a stage people she…

0-0.

In certain contexts, it’s a pretty auspicious pro MMA record. One of those contexts occurs when you see the 0-0 on a pay-per-view card. There aren’t many modern fighters this side of CM Punk who make their professional debuts on a stage people shelled out $60 to see.

To get away with that, you’ll need someone who stands out from the crowd based on non-MMA activities.

How does the greatest MMA prospect of all time fit the bill?

Fight fans will vote with their wallets June 24, when 20-year-old Aaron Pico enters the pro MMA cage for the first time—and in no less a venue than New York City’s venerable Madison Square Garden. He’ll do so against a relatively unheralded lightweight in Zach Freeman (8-2).

“It feels good,” Pico told Bleacher Report in an exclusive interview. “This is where I’ve always envisioned myself. It’s not the last time I’ll fight in front of the fans at MSG.”

He’s not lacking for confidence. And that’s good, because plenty of other, more established Bellator stars didn’t make it onto this card, only the second pay-per-view event in Bellator history and its first in New York. Bellator: NYC will follow the cable-televised Bellator 180.

Does Pico feel strange about receiving this opportunity? No. And with his long history on the international wrestling circuit—he chose to forgo college for global competition, then last year fell just short of making the U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestling team as a teenager—he’s received a taste of pressure before.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “This is what I wanted to do. I’ve always done it at the highest levels. We’re going to be champions of the world. I’ve proven myself time and time again. In wrestling, I was young and taking on men. I know what I’m capable of doing.”

Although his training home base remains American Kickboxing Academy in Fresno, California, alongside stars like Daniel Cormier and Luke Rockhold, he’s branching out to other high-profile camps. He is now training with Eddie Bravo at 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu. Boxing work takes place under the gifted eye of Freddie Roach and the staff at Wild Card Boxing, famous home to Manny Pacquiao and a slew of others.

“He’s always helping me,” Pico said of Roach. “We’ve really been welcomed there. When you step into Wild Card, it’s just a feeling you get that everyone’s there to just work and push each other to do good. I see my hand speed coming. … It’s upped my level, for sure.”

On paper, Freeman would appear to be a weak opponent for Pico’s debut. That may be by design, as Bellator officials probably aren’t very interested in watching one of the sport’s top prospects drop his first contest.

But Pico, perhaps not surprisingly, doesn’t see it that way. Yes, he has called out bigger names before, but he’s been waiting a long time to make his MMA debut, having trained in combat sports for years and recently moving past a serious knee injury. Speaking with a measured voice, Pico genuinely doesn’t seem to be thinking about much of anything else beyond Freeman in Madison Square Garden.

“Freeman is a tough opponent,” Pico said. “But I want to take on the challenge. I’m not training to fight lower-level fighters.”

 

Scott Harris writes about MMA for Bleacher Report. For more, follow Scott on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

McGregor’s Manager Talks Mayweather Fight: Don’t Believe Everything You Read

The biggest superfight in the history of combat sports could very well just be on the horizon. UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. are on the cusp of meeting inside of the squared circle, as UFC President Dana White revealed that ‘The Notorious One’ would be making a whopping $75

The post McGregor’s Manager Talks Mayweather Fight: Don’t Believe Everything You Read appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The biggest superfight in the history of combat sports could very well just be on the horizon.

UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor and boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. are on the cusp of meeting inside of the squared circle, as UFC President Dana White revealed that ‘The Notorious One’ would be making a whopping $75 million for the potential showdown. Only on hurdle remains, however, before the bout can be officially locked in – coming to an agreement with ‘Money’ at the negotiations table.

McGregor’s manager, Audie Attar, joined The MMA Hour earlier today (Mon. April 24, 2017) to discuss the potential boxing bout, saying that nothing is set in stone quite yet (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“Listen, I think there’s fan interest, and I think that’s brought us to a point where this may happen,” Attar said. “But we’ll see. Nothing is set in stone. I think it’s one of those things that’s a work in progress, but it’s definitely trending in the right direction.”

As for what makes this fight between McGregor and Mayweather so massive, Attar believes it is the immense amount of fan interest from the combat sports world:

“I think first and foremost it’s just the fan interest,” he said. “I think Floyd and Conor organically just going back and forth, that kind of picked up the fan interest. Credit to Dana White and the UFC for recognizing a huge opportunity and wanting to be involved. I think that’s really the…I would say evolution of this whole thing.

“I think in today’s age of social media and media picking up on story lines and banter, people can also quantify and measure the viability of something like this from a business standpoint. It’s all happening organically, which is good.”

Attar then spoke of McGregor’s tendency to set ridiculously high goals for himself, and through the power of visualization, the heavy-handed Irishman somehow ends up accomplishing them. This situation with making the fight against Mayweather happen is no different, and everything is trending in the right direction:

“I can tell you that Conor is the type of athlete and individual when he focuses on something, he works towards it, and a lot of his focus and visions end up becoming a reality,” Attar said. “I think that’s something he’s always subscribed to in his career. I think it’s all trending in the right direction.”

Attar went on to reveal that no deadlines for a deal have been issued, and nor will they, but also stressed people to not believe everything they read as nothing has been done yet:

“Well, I would tell you, don’t always believe everything that you read,” he said. “Everything that’s great in life and business is always going to have some challenges and complications. But nevertheless if you work and keep your head down, and don’t bitch and moan about how tough something is, you don’t really focus on that negative energy. And so I haven’t. Everything has been organic like I said. And nothing’s done yet, so we’ll see how it all plays out.

“If it happens it would be an amazing thing for all parties involved.”

The post McGregor’s Manager Talks Mayweather Fight: Don’t Believe Everything You Read appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Bellator MMA signs former UFC strawweight title challenger Valerie Letourneau

The Bellator women’s flyweight division has been bolstered with the signing of former UFC strawweight contender Valerie Letourneau.

Another former UFC title challenger is Bellator bound.

If you watched Bellator 178 on Friday night, you may have noticed that they had one-time women’s strawweight title contender Valerie Letourneau in attendance and spotlighted on camera. That evening, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported that a deal to sign the Canadian was close to being finalized. As of Monday, Bellator PR confirmed it is now official.

Letourneau (8-6) made her UFC debut as a bantamweight in June 2014, beating Elizabeth Phillips by split decision. She made the move down to strawweight at UFC 186, beating TUF 18 runner-up Jessica Rakoczy by unanimous decision. After besting Maryna Moroz, Letourneau earned a title shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 193, and lost by unanimous decision. Letourneau then fought Joanne Calderwood in a special women’s flyweight matchup last June, suffering a third-round TKO defeat. In her final UFC fight before the promotion released her, Letourneau missed the strawweight limit and lost a listless split decision vs. Viviane Pereira at UFC 206.

No champion has been crowned in Bellator MMA’s women’s flyweight division, but Ilima-Lei Macfarlane figures to be the top fighter, and further impressed fans with her armbar of Jessica Middleton last week. Anastasia Yankova is the other feature fighter but she’s not once actually fought at 125 lbs under the Bellator banner. Signing Letourneau, who is surely best suited for 125, provides Bellator with depth and likely an instant contender in the division.

The Bellator women’s flyweight division has been bolstered with the signing of former UFC strawweight contender Valerie Letourneau.

Another former UFC title challenger is Bellator bound.

If you watched Bellator 178 on Friday night, you may have noticed that they had one-time women’s strawweight title contender Valerie Letourneau in attendance and spotlighted on camera. That evening, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported that a deal to sign the Canadian was close to being finalized. As of Monday, Bellator PR confirmed it is now official.

Letourneau (8-6) made her UFC debut as a bantamweight in June 2014, beating Elizabeth Phillips by split decision. She made the move down to strawweight at UFC 186, beating TUF 18 runner-up Jessica Rakoczy by unanimous decision. After besting Maryna Moroz, Letourneau earned a title shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 193, and lost by unanimous decision. Letourneau then fought Joanne Calderwood in a special women’s flyweight matchup last June, suffering a third-round TKO defeat. In her final UFC fight before the promotion released her, Letourneau missed the strawweight limit and lost a listless split decision vs. Viviane Pereira at UFC 206.

No champion has been crowned in Bellator MMA’s women’s flyweight division, but Ilima-Lei Macfarlane figures to be the top fighter, and further impressed fans with her armbar of Jessica Middleton last week. Anastasia Yankova is the other feature fighter but she’s not once actually fought at 125 lbs under the Bellator banner. Signing Letourneau, who is surely best suited for 125, provides Bellator with depth and likely an instant contender in the division.