Fight night in Birmingham and Texas!
Friday 8 May 2015 16:00, UK
Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao has come and gone, but the big fighters are still on Sky Sports this weekend - check out these five scraps on Saturday night from both sides of the pond.
Anthony Joshua
There will be no love lost when Britain’s big heavyweight hope makes his Midlands debut against Raphael Zumbano Love, the latest challenger tasked with thwarting Joshua’s knockout power.
Eleven opponents have already been obliterated by Joshua but he’ll be looking to make up for lost time after returning from a break in April, following a back injury. He’ll box again on May 30 but first must dispose of a fellow knockout specialist.
Brazilian visitor Love has won 36 of 47 fights, with 29 stoppages, but at 34-years-old will he have enough to stop the rampaging Joshua? Tune in if you think there will be another brutal knockout…
Ricky Burns
Fighting on American soil for the first time, Burns’ latest attempt to revive what was once a stellar career is the stuff of Hollywood screens. Travelling a long way from home at his lowest ebb since he first laced the gloves, an undefeated Mexican-American stands in his path.
The former two-weight world champion from Glasgow has endured tough times since breaking his jaw against Raymundo Beltran and losing his title to Terence Crawford and now opposes the daunting Omar Figueroa to move back into championship contention.
Figueroa, also a former world champion, has won all 24 bouts and will have a partisan home state crowd on his side, as well as bookmakers who heavily favour him to send Burns home with his career in tatters. The stage is set for the Scotsman…
Jamie McDonnell
If the Doncaster puncher required big fights to get the juices flowing once again, travelling Stateside to fight a fellow world champion should do the trick.
WBA bantamweight title-holder McDonnell fights on Burns’ card in Hidalgo, Texas, against WBO champion Tomoki Kameda in a sizzling contest where victory would establish the Englishman alongside Juan Carlos Payano who holds a different version of his belt.
McDonnell has fought just once since last May’s win on the Carl Froch v George Groves undercard at Wembley and now faces the 31-0 undefeated Kameda in his American debut.
The Japanese star, aged 22, boasts more US experience but his imposing record provides a target for McDonnell’s fists to sky-rocket himself among the world’s elite.
Matthew Macklin
Despite a knockout defeat in his last outing, Macklin’s return to boxing in his hometown of Birmingham could be the spark needed to reignite his world title ambitions.
He comes up against Ferenc Albert - a 22-year-old from Hungary with a 12-7 record - in an eight-round middleweight contest that will be noteworthy if Macklin can rise to the occasion of fighting at home again.
Eight fights have passed since he toppled Shalva Jomardashvili in the second city, stoppage wins and losses coming in Las Vegas, New York and Germany among other locations. Now back where he knows best, could a crack at Andy Lee or Danny Jacobs’ championship titles be next?
Callum Smith
His brother Paul has established himself at world level after two title matches with Arthur Abraham and another mega-fight coming up against Andre Ward, but it’s time for a second Smith sibling to fire his way into the public eye.
Taller and rangier than Paul, Callum has won all 15 pro outings and meets Oleg Fedotovs in Birmingham aiming to further demonstrate his potential.
Blessed with a violent body shot, Smith believes wiping the floor with his Latvian foe Fedotovs (19-21) will open the door to a high-profile opportunity in his hometown of Liverpool this summer.
Watch live boxing from Birmingham and Texas on Saturday night at 7.30pm on Sky Sports 2 HD.
