Eye of the Tiger has announced the signing of unbeaten super lightweight Arthur Biyarslanov (13-0, 11 KOs), and middleweight Shamil Khataev (12-0, 3 KOs). Shamil is the brother of light heavyweight Imam Khataev (6-0, 6 KOs), a 2020 Olympian also signed by EOTTM.
IBO super middleweight titleholder Osleys Iglesias (9-0, 8 KOs) against Marcelo Coceres (32-6-1, 18 KOs) has been added to Eye of the Tiger’s March 7 show, headlined by the previously announced Quebec vs. Ontario Butler-Rolls showdown, will be broadcast on ESPN+ in the United States.
Unbeaten super middleweight Julian Vogel (13-0-1, 7 KOs) will headline an April 13 SES show at the Ballhaus Arena in Aschersleben, Germany.
Women’s boxing champion Claressa “GWOAT” Shields will return to MMA on February 24 in the first-ever female MMA fight in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Also, Muhammad Ali’s grandson Biaggio Ali Walsh will make his professional MMA debut on the card.
The WBA Championships Committee has ordered a bout between WBA minimumweight champion Thammanoon Niyomtrong and current mandatory challenger Hasanboy Dusmatov. The parties have 30 days to negotiate. If a deal isn’t reached, a purse bid will likely be called. Niyomtrong’s “super champion” status was conditioned to an eighteen month mandatory defense period. His last mandatory fight, however, was on November 29, 2018, so Niyomtrong’s mandatory has been due since May 28, 2020!!! During that period many defenses have fallen through.
Sampson Boxing has announced the signing of undefeated Brazilian cruiserweight Lucas Pontes da Silva (7-0, 7 KOs) to a promotional contract. Pontes da Silva’s father/trainer, Ulisses Pereira, previously worked with former WBO lightweight champion Acelino “Popo” Freitas for more than two decades.
Guy hasn’t made a mandatory in over half a decade and it’s nearly four years overdue…. and it isn’t like he’s unified champion and they’ve been sitting around waiting for their turn in the rotation. The WBA simply DOES NOT CARE.
I had no idea that Mr. CP Freshmart(Niyomtrong) was still “champ”. The WBA is another joke.
Side note, I think it’s funny and cool at the same time how fighters in Thailand choose the name of their sponser as part of or their complete ring name.
I think he’s currently the longest reigning male champion in the sport. They really need to look at themselves. Mandatory is one thing but between Niyomtrong, Erislandy Lara, Goulamirian right now and tons of guys historically (like Charr and Bryan and Shumenov), it just seems so odd that WBA champs, in particular, go YEARS without fighting anyone at all, much less mandatories, and still get to remain champs.
I’ve noticed in muay thai they take the name of their gyms, but the popular ones tend to go by just one name. So, instead of ‘Stamp Fairtex’, they just call her Stamp or it’s Superlek instead of ‘Superlek Kiatmuu9’.
It’s a shame that we do not have a commission or a regulatory organization to keep these ridiculous reigns in check. They somehow slip under the radar to the average person. Lara lost his belt to Hurd like a million years ago and then got it back in a fight I don’t even remember. That was a very long time ago as well. They’ve been a sorry organization for decades.
If it’s not babysitting titles, it’s unreasonable stripping like Ali, Monzón, Rocchigiani(who by the way should have never settled and forced the WBA to sink).
The biggest sponsor that comes to mind is 3K Battery.
Shields will be cherry picking an opponent for her MMA fight. The last time she jumped in the octagon, Shields thought MMA was right up her alley only to suffer a defeat. I think she realized ground fighting and boxing were two different entities at that time. What a wakeup call for her.
I watch neither MMA nor Claressa Shields, so I could care less about what she does.
Ali Walsh, who neither looks nor fights like his grandfather, probably realizes he’s not gonna be a boxing champion, so he’s gonna try a totally different sport.
They said Biaggio Ali Walsh. Is that the same person as Nico? Or is Biaggio a brother of Nico?
“Muhammad Ali had nine children from his six wives at various points in his career and following it. He has six grandchildren from four of his daughters. Two grandsons, Nico Ali Walsh and Biaggio Ali Walsh, are from Rasheda Ali.”
Thanks Gary. I was thinking that and could not find anything on boxrec about Biaggio. It does not appear that Biaggio has had any pro boxing matches.
Thai fighters take the name of their gyms/promoters/sponsors.