BT Sport Boxing Launch Night - Lomachenko v Sosa, Smith v Williams, Flanagan v Petrov

[Master]

Terry Flanagan: Anthony Crolla bout possible but unification fight a priority

WBO lightweight champion Terry Flanagan is open to a bout with Anthony Crolla but believes he "will have bigger fish to fry" if he beats Petr Petrov.

Flanagan, 27, will defend his title for a fifth time when he meets the 34-year-old Russian in Manchester on 8 April.

He then hopes to fight WBA champion Jorge Linares, who beat Crolla for a second time in six months on Saturday.

"I think I can beat Linares," Flanagan told BBC Sport. "I think I have the style to beat him."

"Anthony Crolla was made for Linares. I wouldn't be walking in like Crolla was. I truly believe I'm the best in the division.

"If people want the Manchester showdown with Anthony that is possible if the money is right but first and foremost I want the unification fights."



Flanagan - who went to the same Manchester high school as Crolla - believes his promoter Frank Warren offered Linares more money to face him than Crolla, adding the Venezuelan "took the easier option".

Since Crolla's defeat in the rematch with three-weight world champion Linares, Warren has said he would need to win "at least two non-championship fights" in order to be ranked sufficiently with the WBO for any meeting with Flanagan to take place.

Crolla's promoter Eddie Hearn has stated Flanagan does not have the necessary profile to form part of a bout which would create a sufficient payday for his fighter.

"With me and Anthony having rival promoters it's hard to make fights," Flanagan told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast. "At the minute I've got bigger fish to fry, the likes of Linares. I've got options, first and foremost get this one right.

"Petr Petrov is in the prime of his career and we're in for a tough one, we have to be 100% on it or those big fights in the summer would be out the window."

Flanagan goes into the bout unbeaten in 32 fights, while Petrov boasts 38 wins and two draws from 44 contests.



Terry Flanagan: Anthony Crolla bout possible but unification fight a priority - BBC Sport

[Alpha]

Makes sense. A win over Petrov puts Flanagan square in the mix with Linares and Garcia. Crolla needs to work his way back.

[Fenster]

Flanagan is the least known Brit "world" champ ever. Bet most on this forum haven't got a danny who he is.

He and his team were moaning about Sky ignoring him the other night even though he was mentioned lots of times. Selective hearing. For him to get any big fight he'd need to dump Warren and spend a year getting the Eddie/Sky treatment, or accept the peanuts that he's worth instead of playing the everyone is swerving him spiel (that's a pop at his promoter not him).

[Alpha]

Flanagan is the least known Brit "world" champ ever. Bet most on this forum haven't got a danny who he is.

He and his team were moaning about Sky ignoring him the other night even though he was mentioned lots of times. Selective hearing. For him to get any big fight he'd need to dump Warren and spend a year getting the Eddie/Sky treatment, or accept the peanuts that he's worth instead of playing the everyone is swerving him spiel (that's a pop at his promoter not him).

Do you think he could get an unification with Easter?

[Fenster]

That's the last fight I would expect as Easter is an "unknown" title holder like Turbo. Flanagan will continue to defend his belt against solid/obscure opponents whilst claiming all the big names are swerving him (that's his promoters m.o.)

[smashup]

Warren having a dig at "Mr Stubhub" aka Hearn

Much as it was a scrap we were extremely keen to put on for the British fight fans, it looks like the Manchester lightweight derby between Terry Flanagan and Anthony Crolla has gone by the board – for now, at least. Twice we have tried to tempt Crolla to the table with offers to fight his city rival in a fight which would have resonated far beyond the Manchester boundaries, but both times he opted for the challenge of attempting to overthrow the Venezuelan stylist Jorge Linares. Unfortunately, he has twice come up short and I am afraid that Terry is nobody’s consolation prize.
In any case, Turbo Terry has got serious business of his own to attend to before we make definitive moves regarding his next fight – and he can’t afford to misfire. Petr Petrov provides a genuine threat to Terry’s unbeaten record on April 8 at the Manchester Arena. He wanted a test and, believe me, he has got one on his hands with Petrov. Crolla suffering back-to-back defeats is the reason his team now appear prepared to talk turkey. Were he still in possession of a belt I am sure they would’ve carried on as if Terry didn’t exist. Much like the Sky commentary team and assorted pundits. Professionally – if you can call them professional – the lack of recognition for a genuine world champion is disgraceful. If Crolla had come away with the spoils at the weekend, all the subsequent rhetoric would have been about Mikey Garcia and a jaunt over to Vegas. Now he remains beltless, the post-fight briefing to the press was all about how he might be willing to step in with Terry if I am prepared to pay him a million quid. Market values don’t generally go up so sharply following bad defeats, so it will be interesting to see if he commands such a fee should he go in with say Ricky Burns, as was suggested. Crolla might win popularity contests in Manchester, but Terry wins fights and that is what it is all about at the end of the day. Terry doesn’t need to take any backward steps now and wants to be in fights that will increase his stock. Linares might well be mandated by the WBC to face the champion Garcia and sort out this nonsense with the ‘Diamond belt’ at the same time. However, an alternative for Linares is a unification against Terry and that is what we are exploring at the moment, while not taking the threat of Petrov lightly. Terry is a far more wily and cunning customer than Crolla, who Linares seemed able to pick off with considerable ease. To my mind, Terry has got more about him and is not one to just walk onto repeated punishment as Crolla did when he was outclassed by the super-slick Linares that Joe Gallagher wanted to pull him out at the end of the eleventh. Crolla, to his credit, showed grit, guts and determination to make it to the final bell and can take pride in giving it his all. Linares would be a great fight for Terry and one I am hopeful we can put together. First things first though and we have an absolute bonanza of boxing to look forward to on April 8, with quality fights from top to bottom of the card. It was somewhat bemusing to hear that Eddie Hearn was attempting to underplay the public interest in the show with spurious claims of how many tickets have been sold. It was a stupid claim and one that I am not really going to get into because everyone will see on the night how many people are there. Perhaps it was just a typically childish reaction to seeing three of his fighters suffering chastening defeats. Anyway, it is all a bit rich coming from Mr StubHub, friend of the fans. At least our tickets are available at the box office as opposed to the secondary market sponsor! Our Manchester show features a clutch of fights that, on any other platform, would come at a cost of 17 quid to the TV viewer and I believe the fans are in for a treat. Whichever way you choose to watch it you are onto a winner – be that box office, BT Sport or BoxNation. Take your pick and enjoy.

[Fenster]

Frank isn't having a pop at Eddie is he? Blimey! He spends more time at his press conferences talking about Matchroom fighters than his own.

So Crolla has twice ducked Flanagan... yeah, ducked him to face one of the best fighters in the world. Bet Frank was more than willing to let Flanagan fight on a Matchroom card on Sky too.

Hearn revealed the Flanagan card has sold 400 tickets at the box office and the arena has been halved off. Frank hired a van to sit outside the MEN on the night to advertise his card

The BoxNation mob always play the "Sky ignore us" card, as though they promote all the Sky fighters. They don't even let their presenters mention Sky shows on twitter let alone their magazine shows or live bills.

[Master]

Saturday night, HBO presents a big fighter in action as Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1; 5 KO) faces Jason Sosa (20-1-4; 15 KO) for the WBO 130 pound world title.

Vasyl Lomachenko is the reason to watch this fight - an absolute phenom, Lomachenko turned pro in 2013, and is already a legitimate two division world champion. He’s fighting as a professional for only the 9th time here, yet he’s already considered by many analysts to be the #1 pound for pound fighter in all of boxing. That status was given an unexpected boost a few weeks ago when Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez, widely considered #1 at that time, lost in an upset. With Gonzalez out, it seems either Lomachenko or Andre Ward has to be #1. This fight likely won’t change anyone’s opinions on Lomachenko, but it should set up what is next for him - perhaps a third world title up at Lightweight, or perhaps some louder volume to the talk of Lomachenko vs. Pacquiao in a dream fight.

Also on the broadcast is the latest from undefeated Cruiserweight Oleksandr Usyk in a good test against Michael Hunter. This will be Usyk’s first fight under new trainer Anatoly Lomachenko. Rounding out the fight is another Ukranian fighter with a similar pedigree, 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist Oleksandr Gvozdyk, who faces Cuba’s Yunieski Gonzalez.

Join us live this Saturday night April 8 for live fight night coverage of HBO Boxing Lomachenko vs. Sosa live on HBO.

LOMACHENKO vs. SOSA FIGHT CARD
HBO, Sat. April 8, 10:00 p.m. ET

Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Jason Sosa
Oleksandr Usyk vs. Michael Hunter
Oleksandr Gvozdyk vs. Yunieski Gonzalez

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2017/4/3/...is-live-online

[Alpha]

That's the last fight I would expect as Easter is an "unknown" title holder like Turbo. Flanagan will continue to defend his belt against solid/obscure opponents whilst claiming all the big names are swerving him (that's his promoters m.o.)

That's why I thought a unification between the 2 would be worth while. I would raise the stature of the winner. I like Flanagan but I think he may be out of his league against Linares and definitely against Garcia.