Fury’s potential rivals to fight it out on same card

NEW YORK: Four fighters seeking a potential showdown for an undisputed heavyweight boxing crown against Britain’s Tyson Fury will meet on the same New York card on January 16, promoters revealed Tuesday.

Undefeated challengers Charles Martin and Vyacheslav Glazkov will fight for the vacant International Boxing Federation world title on the same Brooklyn card where unbeaten American Deontay Wilder defends his World Boxing Council crown against Poland’s Artur Szpilka.

US southpaw Martin, 22-0 with one draw and 20 knockouts, puts his 16fight win streak on the line against Ukraine’s Glazkov, 21-0 with one drawn and 13 knockouts.

The fight was added to Wilder — 350 with 34 knockouts-making his third title defense against Szpilka, who is 20-1 with 15 knockouts. Fury won the World Boxing Association title last month by taking a unanimous decision over Wladimir Klitschko, the long-time champion from Ukraine who is set for a rematch. Fury also won three other crowns, including the IBF title he quickly vacated.

That set up the heavyweight title double-header, the first such bouts in Brooklyn for 115 years, and those winners could meet to unify the crowns and be ready for the Fury-Klitschko winner late next year to decide an undisputed king. “I want to become a world champion so I can go down in history as a top heavyweight,” Martin said.

“Glazkov is a great fighter. He’s undefeated, so I know it’s going to be a tough fight, but I’m coming in to be victorious.”

It’s the first world title bout for both fighters. It will be Martin’s fifth fight within a year and a week and Glazkov’s third fight in 10 months. “I am looking forward to getting back in the ring and finally getting my opportunity to fight for a world title,” said Glazkov. — AFP