BIG-FIGHT PREVIEW CANELO VS SMITH Is Callum on the brink of the performance of the year? DECEMBER 17 2020 THE WORLD’S BEST FIGHT MAGAZINE EST. 1909 WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET FURYRINGSIDE ROADREPORT Joshua expertly dismantles Pulev to clear the path to all-conquering Tyson showdown MY STORY £3.99 VOL. 76 NO. 51 Hennessy opens up on Fury and Froch and looks ahead to a bright future By DONALD McRAE SAUERLAND: FANS TO DECIDE WBSS III / BUNCE ON ‘NEON’ LEON / RETURN OF ‘GGG’ SUBSCRIBE TO BOXING NEWS PRESENTS Six brand new bi-monthly 100-page souvenir GREAT REASONS TO SUBSCRIBE bookazines from the award-winning Boxing News Receive all six issues straight to your door team. We started with the Muhammad Ali vs Joe PLUS your FREE Ali-Frazier cult t-shirt Frazier special. The second edition brings you worth £24.99! Pay just £40.94 by annual 27 exclusive interviews with legends including DD – saving 15% on the cover price. Hagler, Leonard, Foreman, Ali and Holyfield. 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ContentsDecember 17, 2020 THE RETURN OF JOSHUA 16 Our ringside verdict on Anthony’s beat down of Kubrat Pulev Photos: ANDREW COULDRIDGE/GETTY IMAGES & DEAN MOUHTAROPOULOS/GETTY IMAGES UNMISSABLE HIGHLIGHTS >> 24 CANELO vs CALLUM >> 4 EDITOR’S LETTER Why both fighters can argue the timing It’s time to start believing in AJ vs Fury is exactly right for the ace showdown >> 5 TEAM SMITH IN THE USA >> 28 BIG-FIGHT PREDICTION Joe Gallagher talks to BN from America Examining the key factors that will determine the Alvarez-Smith winner >> 8 ‘NEON’ LEON SPINKS Steve Bunce on his rematch with Ali >> 30 PRESSURE IS ON ‘GGG’ Previewing 38-year-old Gennady >> 10 ILL-INFORMED NONSENSE Golovkin’s attempt at a 160lbs record Why The Times have got it badly wrong >> 34 MICK HENNESSY >> 20 PUNCH FOR PUNCH Donald McRae talks to the promoter 34 Redditch, Sheffield and Vegas reports about Fury, Froch and the future >> 32 MORE PREVIEWS SAVE £££ WITH A SUBSCRIPTION British and European titles at stake >> 40 AMATEUR SCENE For more details visit Lessons from Empire Fighting Chance WWW.BOXINGNEWSONLINE.NET/SUBSCRIPTIONS >> 42 THIS WEEK IN HISTORY Floyd and his terrific shoulder pads >> 44 SCOUSE FORTRESS Remembering The Stadium in Liverpool www.boxingnewsonline.net DECEMBER 17, 2020 l BOXING NEWS l 3 EDITOR’S LETTER Photo: ANDREW COULDRIDGE/POOL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES FINAL HURDLE? Joshua Time to bludgeons subscribe Pulev to defeat l THERE are numerous ways to subscribe, including special offers. l YOU can get a print and online Cover photography DAVE THOMPSON/MATCHROOM subscription for £9.99 per month, or digital only for just £4.99. preparation for his immediate rival. any dissenting voices (aside from l FOR more From the moment he signed to fight the WBO, perhaps) or any caveats to information IT’S Charles Martin for the IBF title in 2016, promises. Think back to Joshua-Wilder on all the he’s been asked by reporters and media negotiations; though we were teased subscription what happens next: ‘Once you’ve by Hearn and Shelly Finkel, they options, plus BEGINNING knocked out Martin are you going to were never really in agreement about our special fight Tyson Fury?’ anything. bookazines, Fury of course disappeared. At BN, we’re careful not to get too please visit TO LOOK A Wladimir Klitschko, Joseph Parker and carried away until the fighters are www.shop. Deontay Wilder took the Traveller’s standing in the opposing corners and kelsey.co.uk place in discussions with Joshua. waiting for the first bell. But we sense or call 01959- LOT LIKE… Though the Klitschko showdown was the irresistible showdown is closer than 543-747. predominantly free from intruders, even ever before. The magnitude of this …Joshua vs Fury: At last, the subsequent scrap with Parker, then contest cannot be downplayed. l THE Xmas the WBO champion, was overshadowed Even those esteemed writers that double issue everyone is making the by Wilder. are currently penning misinformed will be in shops right noises Famously, ahead of Joshua’s fateful nonsense that boxing has no place in on December 24 defence against Andy Ruiz Jnr in New society – Matt Dickinson of The Times, and available York last year, American reporters shame on you – will struggle to ignore to download on OXING is far from struggled to muster a single enquiry the sheer size and appeal of it. December 22. perfect but when it about Ruiz and instead, gets it right, when two days before Joshua l SPARE a thought The it makes a fight lost in a huge upset, he ARUM, HEARN for Callum Smith Opening B everyone wants was fielding question this week. Ordinarily, Bell... to see, there is no after question about the AND WARREN his showdown with greater spectacle in then-WBC champion. ARE ALL Canelo Alvarez would l The Boxing sport. That sense of After Joshua avenged have been BN’s main News podcast, anticipation before Ruiz, Fury thrashed UNITED IN cover image, he’d be available every the opening bell, Wilder and Tyson was THEIR DESIRE surrounded by British Wednesday whether you’re again the name on the press and his mission to night, is ringside, in the media’s lips throughout TO MAKE IT conquer the Mexican attracting stands, sitting in a the build-up and superstar would be thousands of Matt pub or watching aftermath of AJ taking care of Kubrat everywhere. listeners. at home, is simply Pulev. The worldwide pandemic has made Christie l Every week incomparable. Nothing is more frustrating for a travelling to San Antonio impossible for @MattCBoxingNews we tackle There’s a tell-tale fighter, when they’re trying to focus many but nobody in Team Smith should the biggest Editor sign that the fight on the job at hand or when they want doubt that British fans will be at home subjects, ask approaching is a some time to enjoy their victory, to rooting for him. the difficult truly great fight when only the fighters be expected to turn their attention to The razzmatazz of a big event can questions, involved are discussed in the build-up. a completely different opponent. But be distracting for fighters, particularly preview and Think about it. In pretty much every what we shouldn’t doubt is that both in fight week, so one wonders if the review, while Floyd Mayweather event from 2010, Joshua and Fury are now only thinking lack of British attention may work in looking back Manny Pacquiao was the elephant about each other. Callum’s favour. It’s a huge ask but Smith through boxing in the room and vice-versa each Five years after Joshua fought Martin, arguably has the best chance of anyone history. time Pacquiao was in action during the questions about what happens next in and around the super-middleweight that period. Ahead of their belated will hopefully stop, at least for a fight division to beat Canelo. It’s far from a l Listen (& rate showdown in 2015, all talk was purely or two. Joshua vs Fury would appear foregone conclusion. & subscribe) on the upcoming contest. to be all anyone is now interested in. And if he wins, his story will suddenly via Apple, Since arriving on the world stage, The promoters are saying the right become the biggest of the year. Spotify and all Anthony Joshua has rarely been in a things: Bob Arum, Eddie Hearn and major podcast Follow us and keep up to date fight where questions about future Frank Warren are all united in their platforms. opponents haven’t blighted his desire to make the fight. There isn’t @BoxingNewsED BoxingNewsOnline 4 l BOXING NEWS l DECEMBER 17, 2020 www.boxingnewsonline.net GUEST COLUMN ‘IT’S A DOG EAT DOG FIGHT’ Photo: GEORGE WOOD/GETTY IMAGES From San Antonio trainer Joe Gallagher looks forward to Callum Smith’s clash with Canelo Alvarez HEN we arrived No one wants to have coronavirus, see a vicious Canelo. Because he as Callum applies himself and he has in America they no one wants to be responsible for knows they’re in a huge fight. to understand whatever that referee said, what’s your having it and making this fight not Callum has always wanted the tells you in the changing room, it’s purpose? And happen.