By Shane Saroya – EM TV Sport, Port Moresby
An international group of boxers prepare to battle in Brooklyn.
American, Deontay Wilder, will take on Artur Szpilka of Poland for the WBC title, while Ukrainian, Vyacheslav Glazkov, will fight American, Charles Martin, for the vacant IBF crown.
A wide-open scramble among heavyweights is underway, illustrated by a pair of world title fights in boxing’s glamour division in a historic night for the sport in Brooklyn on Saturday.
American, Deontay Wilder, puts his WBC title on the line against Artur Szpilka of Poland, and Ukrainian, Vyacheslav Glazkov, takes on American,Charles Martin for the vacant IBF crown in a glittering Barclays Center fight card.
The title double-header marks the first heavyweight championship bouts staged in Brooklyn in 115 years, since James Jeffries knocked out James Corbett in the 23rd round in 1900 on Coney Island.
Wladimir Klitschko ruled the heavyweights for nearly ten years but last November was shoved off his perch by Briton Tyson Fury, who scored a unanimous decision in Duesseldorf.
Fury collected the WBA, WBO and IBF belts but relinquished the IBF title by booking a rematch with Klitschko instead of fighting a mandatory IBF title bout.
That has reopened jousting for the prized honour of being undisputed heavyweight champion, last achieved by Lennox Lewis in 1999.
Wilder (35-0 with 34 knockouts) and Szpilka (20-1, 15 knockouts), trying to become Poland’s first world heavyweight champion, are learning their out-of-ring, promotional moves.
On Wednesday, the two shoved and jawed at one another in an explosive moment while posing for pictures on the 57th floor of 4 World Trade Center.
Glazkov, former Olympics bronze medallist, takes a 21-0-1 record into the bout against Martin, 22-0-1.
Wilder, said he was saving his actions for the ring. They’re gonna need it.
Szpilka, speaking through an interpreter, said he was ready for a fight.
Source: Reuters
