Saturday night’s super middleweight fight between Omar Chávez and Misael Rodríguez was cancelled at the last minute at the Vicente Segura Bullring in Pachuca, Hidalgo, Mexico. Both fighters made weight on Friday and were on hand for the bout, however the Rodriguez camp chose not to fight when Chavez rehydrated some ten pounds over an agreed rehydration weight. Omar Chávez is the son of ring legend Julio Cesar Chavez.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Former IBF junior light champ Kenichi Ogawa (29-2-1-1NC, 20 KOs), 131.75, returned to the ring warfare and scored a lopsided knockout of Filipino Alan Alberca (13-9, 8 KOs), 127, after three knockdowns at 1:04 of the fourth round in a scheduled eight on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. The veteran Ogawa, 36, forfeited his IBF belt to Joe Cordina via one-punch second-round demolition in Cardiff, Wales in 2022. Having registered three victories since, Ogawa, a muscular hard-puncher, had a thirteen-month hiatus, but displayed a spectacular finish to impress the audience. His very first left-right shot in the first session badly dropped Alberca flat, but the Filipino barely resumed fighting gamely only to sink with a couple of visits to the deck with vicious body shots in the fatal third. Ogawa is expected to get another title shot to win back the world belt. Continue reading “Ex-IBF champ Ogawa returns, finishes Alberca”

Wins vacant WBO AP 122lb belt

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten Japanese KO artist Subaru Murata (8-0, 8 KOs; amateur 68-12, 15 stoppages), 121.75, impressively acquired the vacant WBO Asia Pacific junior feather belt when he put on a give-and-take performance and finally decked also unbeaten Kaito Yamasaki (9-1, 5 KOs; amateur 24-15, 5 stoppages), 121.75, for the count at 2:46 of the ninth round in a scheduled twelve on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. The fast-moving southpaw took the initiative and floored the game compatriot with a southpaw right hook that had Yamasaki hit the canvas with the glove. But it was Yamasaki that connected with a countering right, badly dropping the aggressor midway in round seven. Busily moving to-and-fro, Murata (no relation to ex-Olympic gold medalist Ryota Murata) had the upper hand again and finally battered him down for the full count. Continue reading “Unbeaten Murata demolishes Yamasaki”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by The Won Promotions

Hard-punching southpaw Thailander Phongthep Homjui (15-1-2, 8 KOs), 139, acquired the vacant WBA Asia super lightweight belt when he edged previously unbeaten Korean KO artist Yoon Tak (7-1, 7 KOs), 139.5, by a hairline split decision (95-94, 96-94, 94-95) over ten hard-fought rounds in on Thursday in Seoul, Korea. It was such a give-and-take affair that it might be called Korea’s Fight of the Year. Phongthep scored an eye-catching knockdown with a southpaw left hook in the end of the opening session. The Thailander was in command in the first three rounds, but the taller Korean took back the initiative from the fourth on with solid combinations upstairs and downstairs. The fading Thailander, however, showed his last surge down the stretch, eking out a very close verdict. The Korean judges might be influenced by Phongthep’s opening attack, though this reporter saw it 95-94 for Yoon Tak, a game hard-hitting prospect. The Korean 140-pounder may deserve a rematch. Continue reading “Homjui edges Tak, wins vacant WBA Asia 140lb belt”

Unbeaten WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball (21-0-1, 12 KOs) stopped challenger Ronny Rios (34-5, 17 KOs) in the tenth round on Saturday night at the M&S Bank Arena in Ball’s hometown of Liverpool, England. The aggressive Ball came out throwing hard. He dropped Rios in round three, then battered Rios for the rest of the round. Rios was game and he bloodied Ball’s nose, but Ball’s brutal attack continued. Ball floored Rios again in round ten to end it. Time was 2:06.

Promoter Dan Otter (Three Lions Promotions) was in Mexico City Friday to meet with WBC President Mauricio Sulaimán for the purse bid between WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian (27-2, 12 KOs) promoted by Don King and mandatory challenger Ryan Rozicki (20-1, 19 KOs) promoted by Otter. The two sides were able to reach an agreement and the bout will now take place December 7 at the Centre 200 in Sydney Nova Scotia, Canada hometown of Rozicki.

“We were able to make a deal with Don King minutes before the deadline and we are overly excited to bring this world title to Canada. Ryan is ready to become world champion and eager to get in the ring,” said Otter.

WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball (20-0-1, 11 KOs) and challenger Ronny Rios (34-4, 17 KOs) both made weight for Saturday’s world championship fight at the M&S Bank Arena in Ball’s hometown of Liverpool, England. Ball weighed 125.1 lbs., while Rios scaled in at 125.6 lbs. Ball-Rios will stream live and exclusively on ESPN+ in the U.S. with fights starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT.

On October 3, the WBO World Championship Committee issued a ruling granting sanction approval of the WBO/IBF unified middleweight championship contest between Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and Andrei Milkhailovich scheduled for October 4 in Australia. The Alimkhanuly/Milkhailovich was conducted, but only the IBF middleweight championship was at stake.

According to WBO rules, any champion who conducts a contest in the champion’s weight division which is not a defense of the title can result in that title being vacated.

Team Alimkhanuly has now been ordered to “SHOW CAUSE” within the next 5 days as to why the WBO should not declare their middleweight championship “vacant” due to failure to comply with terms and conditions
established in the “resolution” dated October 3.

On Wednesday, October 2, a video went viral of Terence Crawford stating, “if Fundora’s licking his chops over my performance vs Israil Madrimov, then I should be licking my chops because Madrimov knocked Fundora out in sparring.”

Since then, the Fundora team have been receiving notifications of Crawford’s accusations. Hence, on Thursday, October 3, Coach Fundora spoke to Madrimov’s trainer, Joel Diaz, regarding the viral statement made by Terrance Crawford. During the conversation between Coach Diaz and Coach Fundora, Diaz mentioned that Madrimov’s Manager, Vadim Kornilov, was very perturbed at the statements made by Crawford on a sparring session that happened over five years ago in which neither of them ever touched the canvas. Continue reading “Fundora answers Crawford”

WBO #1 ranked Light heavyweight Anthony Yarde returns to the ring as part of BOXXER’s fight night on Saturday, October 19th at the Copper Box Arena in London, live on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland and on Peacock in the USA.

The former two-time world title challenger will provide chief support for the explosive super lightweight contest between fast-rising star Adam Azim and Ohara Davies. Opponent is TBA.

Unified WBO/IBF middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (16-0, 11 KOs) retained his world titles with a ninth round TKO over Andrei Mikhailovich (21-1, 13 KOs) on Friday night at the Star in Sydney, Australia. Alimkhanuly dropped Mikhailovich hard in round two and Mikhailovich looked done but Alimkhanuly let him off the hook. After that, Mikhailovich gamely pressured Alimkhanuly and made the champion work hard, but it was Alimkhanuly who landed the harder shots. Alimkhanuly rocked Mikhailovich again in round nine and the bout was waved off by the referee. Time was 2:45.

IBF junior welterweight champion Liam Paro (25-0, 15 KOs) will make the first defense of his world title against Richardson Hitchins (18-0, 7 KOs) on Saturday, December 7 at the Roberto Clemente Coliseo in San Juan, Puerto Rico, live worldwide on DAZN. Paro returns to the island where he ripped the world title from hometown star Subriel Matias. Hitchins became the mandatory challenger by edging out Gustavo Lemos.

Liam Paro: “All the so-called big guys at 140lbs lost their tongues so I decided to bring on my mandatory defense early against Hitchins and clear the path for 2025. I can’t wait to fight and show again why I’m the top guy at 140! I’m coming to shine again in beautiful Puerto Rico!”

Richardson Hitchins: “For as long as I can remember, I’ve been telling anyone who would listen that I’m the best 140 lbs fighter on the planet. On December 7, I finally get the chance to solidify that. Hats off to Liam Paro, he beat the so-called boogeyman of the division, but I ain’t Subriel Matias. He’s never been in with a fighter like me before. He didn’t want this fight, and it’s for good reason.”

“This is my division. I am the man at 140 and once I get this belt, I’m bringing it back to New York and everything runs through me. And the new!”

A stacked undercard in support of the World championship main event will feature the very best in Puerto Rican talent, led by a mouth-watering Super-Featherweight clash between Henry Lebron and Christopher Diaz.

Lebron (19-0 10 KOs) returns to his homeland for the first time in five years and does so in the biggest night of his career, as the #4 in the IBF looks to press his claims for World title action in 2025 with a big win over a domestic rival and pick up the vacant IBF Latino title in the process. Diaz (29-5 19 KOs) sits pretty at #7 in the WBA, has already tasted World title action and is hungry to do so again, and ‘Pitufo’ puts his WBA Continental Latin America title on the line in a pivotal clash for the immediate futures of both.

“I am very happy with this opportunity to fight again in Puerto Rico in front of my people,”: said Lebron. “This is going to be a great card. We are ready to give a great show. I am counting on all my Puerto Rican Fans!”

“As a proud Puerto Rican, fighting in front of my countrymen on December7 means everything to me,” said Diaz. “There’s no greater feeling than representing my people and putting on a show for them. I’m coming into this fight fully prepared, and I’m ready to leave it all in the ring against Henry Lebron. This is for Puerto Rico, and I won’t let them down.”

Puerto Rican Olympian star Yankiel Rivera returns to action as he makes it back to back fights in his homeland. Rivera (6-0 2 KOs) continued his impressive start to life in the paid ranks with victory over Victor Sandoval on the undercard of Paro’s win over Matias, a sixth success as a pro for ‘El Doctorcito’ and now the 27 year old will be looking to end 2024 with a bang and set up a big 2025, with World title ambitions at the forefront of his mind.

“Just over two years ago, I made my professional debut,” said Rivera, whose opponent will be announced soon. “It has been a tough road full of worthy opponents. I feel that my time has come. We are very close to that World title shot I’ve been dreaming of since I was a little kid. Last June, we packed Manatí. On December 7, we are packing the legendary Roberto Clemente.

“It will be a great honor for me to fight in the same venue where so many great ones have fought, including Trinidad and Gómez. We are going to be in top shape come fight date, and I am giving my people the show they deserve. I want all those great, loyal and knowledgeable Puerto Rican fans to be there for a great night of boxing. It will be a boxing night to remember. I see you there, Puerto Rico!”

There is so much exciting action in store on December 7, and Jalil Hackett will aim so show once again that he has no fear in the infancy of his career as he travels to Puerto Rico for a title defense. Hackett (9-0 7 KOs) was impressive in a big step up to win the WBA Continental Americas Welterweight title on his Matchroom debut against Peter Dobson in July, and ‘Major’ will defend that title in another real test against Puerto Rico’s former amateur standout Jose Roman (13-1 6 KOs) on December 7.

Marc Castro (13-0 8 KOs) is back in the ring after headlining the unique Riyadh Season fight week event at Santa Monica pier in July, and the Fresno talent will be matched over ten rounds at Lightweight as the amateur standout continues to make waves in the pro game.

Stephanie Pineiro (7-0 2 KOs) was impressive in Manati in June where she landed the WBA Continental America and WBO International Welterweight titles against Diana Castro, and the Puerto Rican will end 2024 over eight rounds against an opponent to be announced soon.

There is another fight where undefeated records are on the line as Puerto Rico’s Juan Zayas (10-0-1 8 KOs) takes on Dominican Marcelino Nieves (19-0 13 KOs) over eight rounds at Bantamweight and Matchroom’s Puerto Rican talent William Ortiz (6-0 4 KOs) faces fellow unbeaten Puerto Rican Lionell Colon (6-0 3 KOs) over eight rounds at Super-Lightweight.

“We are thrilled to be back in Puerto Rico with a brilliant main event and stacked undercard,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “Liam was sensational when he ripped the strap from Subriel in June in a career-best performance against one of the most avoided fighters in the sport. Liam was happy to take on that challenge, and he’s happy to take on another difficult but very different challenge in Richardson. I’m fascinated to see how this fight plays out, and while it’s never easy to pit two of our fighters against each other, this is exactly what should be happening in the game – the best versus the best – and for both men it’s the chance to back up what they both say – that they are the man at 140lbs.

“The atmosphere in June in Manati was electric from the opening bell to the end, and we’ve got an undercard line-up that will have the fans on the edge of their seats like that once again. Lebron-Diaz will be a war, Yankiel is ready for a World title and he’ll show that in December, while Jalil has to be commended for taking on another challenge at such a young age.

“It’s action-packed from the opening bell to the last, and we can’t wait to close our 2024 in style in Puerto Rico.”

“It’s a great honor for me to have the opportunity to partner with Eddie Hearn and our friends at Matchroom to bring World championship boxing to Puerto Rico, where we’re combining the best boxing from Puerto Rico with the best boxing in the world,” said Javier Bustillo, Universal Promotions CEO. “I’m grateful with the Puerto Rico Tourism Company and the Municipality of San Juan, who did not hesitate to join us and support this event. It will be a great night of boxing from Puerto Rico to the whole world.”

WBC cruiserweight champion Noel Mikaelian (27-2, 12 KO) will next defend his title against mandatory challenger Ryan Rozicki (20-1, 19 KO). The fight was scheduled to take place in June but was postponed due to Mikaelian’s injury. The fight was rescheduled for September 28, but due to health problems of legendary promoter Don King, the fight could not take place on that night. The WBC will now hold a purse bid for the rights to this important fight, on Friday, October 4 at noon in Mexico City.

By Bob Caico

Mikiah Kreps 122.4 vs. Mayerlin Rivas TBD
(WBA Fedelatin bantamweight title)

Gerffred Ngayot 136.2 vs. Wilfredo Flores 135.6
Alexander Castellano 122.8 vs. Dominique Griffin. 121.4
Spencer Wilcox 140.4 vs. Da Shaun Johns 142.2
Michael Vega 141.6 vs. Chris Ortiz-Velez 142.6
Joseph Mesi 242.2 vs. Michael Shaw 221.4

Venue: Seneca Niagara Casino, Niagara Falls, NY
Promoter. All Star Boxing
TV: ESPN Knockout (Latin America)

Before Australian super welterweight Tim Tszyu arrived stateside in Las Vegas for training camp to prepare to take on unbeaten IBF world champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, the former WBO 154-pound champion held his customary pre-camp in Thailand where he was joined for the first time in years by his father, International Boxing Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu.

“It was a good bonding experience,” said Tim Tszyu. “Straight after my last fight I asked him to get some work in, and I didn’t think he’d actually say yes, but he did. We reconnected and it was a good experience that was years in the making. It was good to connect as father and son, and as a fighter.” Continue reading “Tim Tszyu reunites with Kostya Tszyu”

Unified WBO/IBF middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly (15-0, 10 KOs) and challenger Andrei Mikhailovich (21-0, 13 KOs) both made weight for Friday’s middleweight championship fight at the Star in Sydney, Australia. Alimkhanuly weighed 159.5 lbs, while Mikhailovich scaled in at 159.9 lbs. Alimkhanuly and Mikhailovich were previously scheduled to fight in July, but Alimkhanuly was forced to withdraw prior to the weigh-in.

Janibek-Mikhailovich will top a special early-morning world championship card streaming live and exclusively on ESPN+ in the U.S. with fights starting at 5 a.m. ET/2 a.m. PT.

Update: The WBO has now sanctioned Janibek-Mikhailovich. Originally, the bout was sanctioned only by the IBF.

On November 16, the Saudi capital Riyadh will host the “Latino Night,” to be broadcast free to boxing fans worldwide. DAZN will stream the major fight night globally for free, with additional broadcasters in the region to be announced soon. The event will feature a unification battle between WBA cruiserweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and WBO cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith.

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez: “I will become the first Mexican cruiserweight unified champion. It’s exciting because my dream will come true this November 16. I’ve been putting everything into training, a lot of work, hard work. Thank you, everyone.”

Chris Billam-Smith: “I’ve been written off many times before. Last time out against Richard Riakporhe. I was going into his backyard, his soccer stadium, and it was all about him, and it was his night, and I went and scored the party, and unfortunately for the Latinos, on November 16, I’ll be doing exactly the same again.”

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In the co-main event, former unified champion and U.S. Olympian Jose Ramirez will face WBO #1 Arnold Barboza Jr. in a 12-round lightweight WBO title eliminator.

Jose Ramirez: “It’s time for me to make a statement. And this is one of those fights where I’m gonna make a statement and get those belts back…Barbosa says he’s been chasing the fight since 2019. Now that he stands in the way for me to reclaim my titles it’s time to get that fight on.”

Arnold Barboza Jr: “I’ve been wanting this fight since 2019 for whatever reason it never happened. I’ve tried every form, you know. I called him out so many times…like I said, this fight is personal. You know, I’m coming with everything.”

By Mauricio Sulaimán
President of the WBC – Son of José Sulaimán

I finally returned from a long trip on which I visited London and Madrid with wonderful results.

On one hand, I was present at a majestic boxing event at Wembley Stadium, when the attendance record was broken with 96 thousand fans, and on the other hand, I was where it all begins, in the boxing gyms of Madrid. It was a sensational trip in many ways. I held important meetings with Lennox Lewis and Adrian Ogun, officially presented her green and gold belt to our women’s champion, Caroline Dubois, spent a good time with WBC representatives Geraldine Davies, David Walker, and Ciro Orcini, and had a wonderful meeting with HE Turki Alalshikh and Sela with formidable plans for 2025.

Spain is a very important country for the World Boxing Council, a founding member of the body in 1963, headquarters of the presidency of the European Boxing Union for several decades under the leadership of Don Ruben Martinez, and host country of several annual conventions, in addition to some great champions in history: Jose Legra, Pedro Carrasco, Perico Fernandez, Miguel Velazquez, and the Lince de Parla, Javier Castillejos. Continue reading “The Return of Boxing in Spain”

Undefeated lightweight Joshua James Pagan (10-0, 4 KOs) will now take on veteran Haskell Rhodes (31-6, 16 KOs) in a newly announced main event in the next edition of “Big Time Boxing USA” at the iconic Coca-Cola Music Hall in San Juan, P.R., on Friday, October 18.

The Oklahoma native and Las Vegas-trained Rhodes, 36, steps in for Trevor Thonson, who faced travel issues forcing him to pull out of the scheduled 10-round bout that will air live globally on DAZN.

Looks like WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (30-0, 28 KOs) will face WBA super featherweight champion Lamont Roach Jr. (25-1-1, 10 KOs) next. Davis-Roach will likely land on December 14, possibly in Houston. Official announement to come soon.

Former world champion Sunny Edwards and 2020 OLympic gold medalist Galal Yafai faced off at the kickoff press conference ahead of their all-British flyweight clash on November 30 at BP Pulse LIVE in Birmingham, England, shown live worldwide on DAZN.

Sunny Edwards: “I’ll be real, I really like Galal. We’ve spent a lot of time sparring, we’ve spent time on Team GB together, and even when he’s your rival because he’s getting picked for stuff over you, it’s not really about that. I’ve had a good relationship with Kal, Gamal said a few things on social media whether he’s trying to get in my head or sell the fight, or just let me know that he doesn’t like me, it doesn’t really matter to me, the fight is between me and Galal, we’re representing the Edwards name and the Yafai name.”

Galal Yafai: “Do you think I’m going to allow Sunny to come to Birmingham and just run rings around me? And do you think he’s just going to let me pressure him and beat him up? It’s not going to happen, we’re both going to do what we can to win…trust me, I do not want to Sunny, and he doesn’t want to lose to me.”

Iwao Hakamata finally declared not guilty in retrial

By Joe Koizumi

It was a very sad story which, however, eventually turned dramatic and heart-warming in the end. Having been detained 48 years, former boxer and ex-convict on death row Iwao Hakamata, 88, was finally sentenced not guilty in a long-awaited retrial at the Shizuoka District Court in Japan on Thursday. It was in 1966 that he, an employee, was arrested and accused of murdering four persons of the employer’s family. It was the time that boxing itself was discriminated as poor people’s hungry sport and participants were also looked down by society. Hakamata was once forced to confess to have committed a murder due to the severe torture by the prosecutor twelve hours every day for nineteen days straight.

His elder sister Hideko, 91, had repeatedly appealed to the court that Iwao should not be guilty thanks to the nationwide support including warm and strong cooperation of former OPBF champ Shosei Nitta, then the secretary general of the JPBA (Japan Professional Boxing Association, that is, the club owners union) and other ex-boxers such as Satoshi Iida, Hiroyuki Sakamoto, Yutaka Manabe, etc. They battled against the discrimination to boxing and fought against injustice forced on Hakamata. Continue reading “The “Japanese Hurricane Carter” is vindicated”

The undercard is coming together for the October 26 Hollywood Fight Nights event presented by Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions at the Commerce Casino Events Center in Los Angeles, California. In the main event, undefeated IBF #13, WBC #15 featherweight Omar Trinidad, (16-0-1, 12 KOs) makes the second defense of his WBC Continental Americas title against IBF #4 Hector ‘La Maquinita’ Sosa, (17-2, 9 KOs) over twelve scheduled rounds.

Welterweight Gor Yeritsyan (18-1, 14 KOs) returns to action in an eight-round bout against an opponent to be named. The Freddie Roach-trained Yeritsyan was scheduled to face Mylik Byrdsong who was tragically shot and killed Sunday night in Los Angeles. Byrdsong will be honored on October 26 with a ceremonial ten-count. Continue reading “Oct 26 Commerce Casino card shaping up”

Undefeated heavyweight Tsotne “Mr. T” Rogova (10-0, 7 KOs) passed the toughest test of his career, winning a ten round unanimous decision over Alexander “The Great” Flores (19-5-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at Pacific Palms Resort in City of Industry, California. Rogova captured the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) U.S. heavyweight title by scores of 99-90, 97-92, 96-93.

Unbeaten cruiserweight Dusty Hernandez Harrison (37-0-1, 23 KOs) won by third round knockout against Darin Austin (11-2, 8 KOs) on Saturday night at the Patapsco Arena in Baltimore, Maryland. Harrison, 198, dropped Austin for the count with a hard right hand. Time was 3:00.

In the co-feature, welterweight Rashad Kilpatrick (8-3, 3 KOs) scored a six round unanimous decision over Devonta Jones (3-4, 3 KOs). Both fighters were down in a good scrap. Scores were 57-55, 57-55, 58-54.