Anthony Joshua beat Konstantin Airich with a third knockout, adding to his unbeaten streak. Anthony Joshua is one of the brightest prospects in boxing; Joshua won gold at 2012 London Olympics, and seems to have the physical and technical ability to have a bright future in the professional ranks.

Joshua started the first round looking extremely sharp, landing clean and hurtful jabs, in addition to landing the right hand against Arich. Joshua continued to show his strong jab and right hand in the second round. Airich survived though, and was able to start the third round, the only opponent to date who has seen the third round against Joshua. However, Joshua landed a terrific right hand in the third round which hurt Airich; Joshua followed up and landed a flurry of punches, with one landing when Airich was on the canvas. Airich survived the count, and the referee proceeded to warn Joshua with the punch when Arich was on the floor. After the warning, Joshua looked to finish Arich, and after landing some hurtful punches, the referee stopped the fight, as Arich was seriously hurt. After the fight, Eddie Hearn looking to progress the quality of Joshua’s opponents. Another impressive victory for Joshua.

The fight between Anthony Crolla and Gamaliel Diaz for the WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight ended on a disappointing note, with a clash of heads and a cut to Gamaliel Diaz meant that the fight ended in a technical draw, due to the fight being stopped before four rounds.

Both fighters started at a measured pace, with the first few rounds being hard to differentiate between the two fighters; Crolla was active and measured with the jab, with Diaz landing solid body shots on the inside. A clash of heads at the end of round three opened a serious cut over the eyelid of Diaz. Diaz stayed on his stool when the bell rang for Round 4, and the referee waved the fight off on advice  due to an accidental handbutt. After the fight, Crolla expressed his disappointment of the outcome of the fight, however the promoter of Crolla, Eddie Hearn, stated that he is planning for Crolla to fight WBA lightweight World Champion, Richard Abril, in his next fight.

In an entertaining fight, Sam Eggington was victorious against Denton Vassell via 8th round TKO for the eliminator of the British welterweight title; it was a competitive fight, with both fighters having success before the impressive finish by Eggington. Eggington started the fight looking sharp, landing clean punches against Vassell. In the third round, Eggington landed a terrific left hook, which stunned Denton Vassell; Eggington continued to catch Vassell with clean and hard punches throughout the round, with Vassell showing courage and heart to survive the round. However, this seemed to awaken Vassell, who made the fourth round a competitive and punished Eggington in the fifth round with terrific inside punching, landing solid uppercuts and body shots from the inside and went upstairs to hurt and stun Eggington with terrific straight punches to the chin. The next few rounds were competitive, with both fighters landed good punches. In the 8th round, Eggington stunned Vassell and followed up with landing accurate combinations, stunning Vassell and the referee stopped the fight, with Vassell in no state to continue.

Scott Cardle scored an impressive first round knockout victory over Kirk Gooding to remain undefeated at 16-0 (4KOs). Both fighters started at a quick pace; Cardle knocked Gooding to the canvas with a well-timed counter uppercut after Gooding was defensively open throwing punches. Gooding survived the count, but Cardle continued to land successive punches, especially the straight right hand. After a number of unanswered right hands, the referee stopped the contest, a stoppage which seemed a tad premature. Regardless, Cardle made an impressive statement with this victory.

– Qadeer Ali / @abdulqadeer

– Contributor for www.BehindtheGloves.com

Anthony Crolla believes a big performance on Saturday night can lead him to a World title shot when he defends his WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title against Gamaliel Diaz at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester, live on Sky Sports.

‘Million Dollar’ has seen off Brit foes Gavin Rees, Stephen Foster Jnr and John Murray in his last three fights and now faces the former WBC Super Featherweight champion Diaz in an acid test of his World crown credentials.

Omar Figueroa successfully defended his WBC crown on the undercard of Kell Brook’s magnificent World title win in California and on Saturday night, Miguel Vazquez defends his IBF title against Mickey Bay on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Marcos Maidana rematch in Las Vegas. Terence Crawford defends his WBO crown against Raymundo Beltran and Crolla has already been strongly linked with a clash against WBA champ Richar Abril – and the 27 year old is keeping a close eye on developments as he looks for a huge fight at the end of the year.

“I’m due a massive fight and if you look at the WBO ratings there’s a good chance I good get a final eliminator to fight for the WBO belt later in the year,” said Crolla. “All those fighters are superb operators but I wouldn’t hesitate in getting in there with them and I would be confident of becoming Britain’s newest World champion alongside Kell and Paul Smith in a couple of weeks. There’s always going to be politics in boxing but I have to keep performing and keep winning.

“I have to make sure I come through Saturday night against Diaz and I am sure if I do so in style then Eddie Hearn will be able to deliver something big for me. Anyone who knows boxing knows that Diaz is a quality operator and they know this is not an easy fight.

“There’s been a lot of talk on social media about a third fight with Derry Mathews but that doesn’t do anything for me at this stage. I’m ranked at number four in the WBO and if I get the win on Saturday I am looking in a really strong position to land a World title shot. The fight with Derry is always going to sell. We’ve had two great fights and I would take a third fight and it will always be a great fight, but at the minute, despite what Derry might say or think, I don’t need Derry now, it’s the biggest fight out there for him but it’s not for me.”

Crolla’s clash with Diaz is part of a great night of action in Manchester as ‘Million Dollar’ provides the chief support to Scott Quigg’s WBA World Super Bantamweight title defence against Stephane Jamoye.

Olympic gold medal hero Anthony Joshua MBE will be hunting an eighth KO win when he takes on Kazakh-born German Heavyweight Konstantin Airich. Scotty Cardle challenges Kirk Goodings for the English Lightweight title with the fight also an eliminator for the British belt, the first of two exciting eliminator contests for the coveted Lord Lonsdale strap as Welterweights Sam Eggington and Denton Vassell clash while local favourites Liam Hanrahan, Sam Hyde, Hosea Burton, Jimmy Kelly and debutant Marcus Morrison and Derbyshire’s Jack Massey are all in action.

– PRESS RELEASE

Anthony Crolla knows his World title dreams will left in tatters if he does not overcome Gamaliel Diaz when they clash for the WBO Inter-Continental Lightweight title at the Phones 4u Arena in Manchester on Saturday September 13, live on Sky Sports.

Crolla is ranked fourth with the WBO and victory over former WBC Super Featherweight champion Diaz will see the ‘Million Dollar’ Manchester man close in on a World title challenge.

The 27 year old is hoping his hometown crowd can help roar him to victory as they have done before, and says he is expecting a tough encounter with Mexican Diaz.

“Early on his career he lost quite a few but since then he has learnt how to fight,” said Crolla. “He is a former World champion and he holds a win over Robert Guerrero.

“This is the most important fight of my career because if all goes wrong for me on September 13 then the big plans I have for World titles back in Manchester won’t happen.

“Every time I fight at this Arena it is special for me. This is the Arena from being a little kid, a schoolboy boxer, watching the likes of Naseem Hamed, Michael Brodie, Ricky Hatton that I have wanted to fight in. So every time I am back here it means the world to me.

“Last time out was a fantastic night for me and the city of Manchester, and the support myself and John Murray received was great.”

Crolla’s clash with Diaz forms chief support to Scott Quigg’s WBA World Super Bantamweight title defence against Stephane Jamoye on what promises to be an exciting night of boxing at the Phones 4u Arena.

Olympic gold medal hero Anthony Joshua MBE will be hunting an eighth KO win when he takes on Kazakh-born German Heavyweight Konstantin Airich. Scotty Cardle challenges Kirk Goodings for the English Lightweight title with the fight also an eliminator for the British belt, the first of two exciting eliminator contests for the coveted Lord Lonsdale strap as Welterweights Sam Eggington and Denton Vassell clash while local favourites Liam Hanrahan and Sam Hyde are joined by former Team GB star Gamal Yafai and Derbyshire’s Jack Massey.

Tickets are on sale now priced £30, £40, £60 and £100 via www.phones4uarena.co.uk or by calling 0844 847 8000. £150 VIP packages are exclusively available through www.MatchroomBoxing.com/ticketsor by calling 01277 359 900.

– PRESS RELEASE