World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight championship bout between defending champion Vitaly Klitschko (37-2, 36 KO’s) and the unbeaten American contender Chris Arreola (27-0, 24 KO’s) takes place in the early hours of Sunday morning (3am UK time) at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles. It is a fight that many Americans are hoping is the beginning of the end to the eastern dominance in heavyweight boxing. American dreams lay with the determined challenger, Arreola, 28, who says, “It’s going to be a changing of the guard. Very simple. The steel curtain is closed and now I own it.”

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Current WBC heavyweight boxing champion, Vitali Klitschko, announced recently he is to fight up-coming American, Chris Arreola, on the 26th of September in Los Angeles. 38-year-old Klitschko opted for the undefeated Arreola, after British hopeful, David Haye, pulled out citing a back injury as the reason prior to the bout. Klitschko is looking for a big pay-day and by staging the fight in Los Angleles, Arreola’s hometown, is guaranteed of that at least. Ironically, ths biggest pay-out Klitschko would ever receive is a fight against his brother, current IBF and WBO champ, Wladimir Klitschko. But that fight will never take place after the brothers promised their Mother they would never fight one-and-other in the ring.

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Vegas is the place to be this weekend as Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao put their respected belts and reputations on the line this Saturday. The MGM Grand will host the fight of the year so far and the bookies have made it clear they fancy the Philippino over the Englishman. Pacquiao’s speed and ability to throw stinging cluster punches makes him favourite in the early rounds. However, if Hatton can weather the early Pacquiao storm and take the fight to the later rounds then you have to fancy Hatton’s superior physical ability will wear Pacquiao down.

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Yesterday, Ricky Hatton’s lawyer, Gareth Williams, announced that the up-coming bout between Ricky Hatton and Filipino southpaw, Manny Pacquiao, is off! Seemingly, Pacquiao, was demanding a 60 – 40 split of the fight purse in his favour. Hatton’s camp were adamant that the split should be 50 – 50, giving Pacquiao, the current WBC Lightweight Champion, a very nice earner worth around £8 million. But Pacquiao spurned the offer by insisting as WBC champ he takes the higher cut. A stalemate was met and depite Hatton’s camp offering a 52 – 48 split in Pacquiao’s favour, yesterday the talks collapsed and the fight is now off.

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I know we have barely ripped of the cellophane on this brand new year but one thing that has myself extremely excited this year is British Boxing. I mean for the first time we have some lively potential young stock coming through. We also have the comeback kings in Hatton and Khan. Plus the majestic and limitless Joe Calzaghe. There might even be a return for freed jailbird Scott Harrison if hopefully he can beat the personal demons.

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They say ‘Pride comes before a fall’, well in Amir Khan’s case, it was the stinging left hook of Columbian, Breidis Prescott. And now just after one fight Khan has sacked his trainer Jorge Rubio. It all smacks of desperation, somehow. The trainer has been made the fall-guy, but there must be others accountable.

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There is one thing about the Olympics that really makes the games worthwhile and that is Boxing. So many great fighters and champions of this sport made an early name for themselves at the Olympics and here’s hoping boxing betting fans that the Beijing 2008 Olympics follows this trend.

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Boxing betting fans and Calzaghe worshippers alike appear to regard this fight as a foregone conclusion. Calzaghe is odds-on favourite for punters looking for free bets to begin their Calzaghe betting campaign. Bernard Hopkins, at 43, is seen as a man past his prime who will put up a skilled opposition to our Joe but will run out of steam in the seventh or eighth round. It’s hard to argue with this analysis but can we be sure that Hopkins, self-styled as ‘The Executioner’, but seen as more like ‘The Fox’ by his trainer, hasn’t got a trick or two up his wily sleeve?

Hopkins’ trainer is Freddie Roach and he believes his camp has come up with an effective plan to beat Calzaghe. He sees the Welshman as having an unorthodox style of boxing which can be addressed and undermined by his opponent using a combination of style and experience. Roach points out that Calzaghe always fights the same fight and has never faced an opponent like Hopkins who has deciphered his opponent’s method and knows how to neutralise it. He also reckons his age is not an issue with the belief that its about the beatings you have taken, none in his case, rather than the years.

There’s one thing for sure, it won’t be a walkover. Calzaghe’s fans will go through some nail biting moments while Hopkins exercises his still powerful and punishing right hand. Every trick he has learned in his 20 year professional career will be brought to bear on the Welshman. Sports betting fans may disagree with this but it might be worth a look at the various online betting options beyond the simple result to maximise the chance of coming out on top. And don’t forget that live betting will be widely available for those wanting to keep up with the ups and downs of these two impressive opponents.

World Cruiserweight Title, O2 Arena, 8th March – The boxing world, along with sports betting fans everywhere, seethes with anticipation for the World Cruiserweight Title match between David Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli at the O2 Arena this coming Saturday. Legendary promoter, Frank Warren, declares it to be the biggest all-British clash since Nigel Benn fought Chris Eubank in 1993. David Haye advises ‘If you’ve never been to a boxing event, this is the one to go to, no doubt about it’.

Online betting bookies favour Haye as a slight favourite but opinion is divided as to who will dominate here. Some say that, if Enzo can hang in there, he may be able to capitalise on Haye’s tendency to go ‘wobbly’ in later rounds. London’s Haye took the WBC and WBA cruiserweight belts from France’s Jean-Marc Mormeck in Paris last November and his only career defeat came in his eleventh fight where he succumbed to superior combat but has since shown no shortage of style or heart. All but one of his nineteen victories has come inside the distance.

Maccarinelli too has only one defeat on his CV, way back in his fourth fight. Twenty one of his victories have also been knockouts and these fighters both hit just as hard. As Maccarinelli put it, ‘We’ve got two boys who pretty much fight the same way – rip the other guy’s head off’. Frank Warren and both men insist this is a fight that sells itself. As Haye put it: ‘We don’t have to prove ourselves outside the ring, we’re two of the most aggressive fighters out there’.

Online betting fans please note Franks Warren’s final words on this, ‘We’ve got the two biggest punchers in world boxing facing each other – we’re going to see something very special’.

Kevin Anderson and Kevin McIntyre meet at Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall tonight to battle it out for the British Welterweight title. Title holder, McIntyre, who won the last time the pair fought, insists there will be a repeat performance in tonight’s rematch which will be shown live on Sky Sports. Boxing betting sites will be seething with action as the two Scots vie for supremacy.

Anderson believes he will regain his title after losing it to McIntyre last November at the Magnum Centre when the postman from Paisley capitalised on Anderson’s underestimation of his threat and took the match on points after a fabulous exhibition of his skills. He has become a bit of a celebrity in Paisley after the TV presentation of the fight and he won’t want to give that up too readily. Commentators insist that Anderson will not be making the same mistakes tonight, however, and that he will safely regain the title.

Sports betting enthusiasts might well agree with this analysis given that Anderson had not fully rested prior to the November match after his earlier twelve rounder with challenger Francis Jones. There can be no doubt that tonight’s meet will be a fascinating and exciting struggle between two contenders who are both really out to win.

I won’t be mortgaging the house to back Anderson’s challenge but I may well nose around the free bets on offer on various online betting sites and back the hunger of a challenger who wants his title back.