Thrives under Santa Marta Beach heat

Unbeaten featherweight prospect Dominique Francis (13-0, 9 KOs) of Miami, Florida successfully defeated local favorite Manuel Felipe Gonzalez (11-3, 11 KOs) of Colombia by ten round unanimous decision. The bout took place Wednesday morning in the highly popular beach tourist city of Santa Marta in Colombia. The official scores were all in favor to Francis 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92. Continue reading “Francis victorious, remains unbeaten”

ESPN+ will stream the heavyweight clash between top contenders Joe Joyce (14-0, 13 KOs) and Joseph Parker (30-2, 21 KOs) on September 24 from the AO Arena in Manchester, England. The stream also feature female champion Amanda Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs), who will attempt to unify her WBO and WBC featherweight titles against unbeaten IBF champion Sarah Mahfoud (11-0, 3 KOs). Joyce-Parker will be broadcast live in the UK on BT Sport Box Office.

An interesting lightweight bout will headline RDR Promotions debut on September 23 at The Clarion Hotel in Essington, Pennsylvania, as ShoBox alum Nahir Albright (14-2, 7 KOs) will take on undefeated Estivan Falcao (11-0, 6 KOs) in a bout scheduled for six-rounds. Falco is the brother of Brazil’s Olympic Silver Medal winner Esquiva Falcao (30-0 as a pro) and Bronze Medal winner Yamaguchi Falcao (21-1-1 as a pro). Continue reading “Boxing back in Essington, PA”

The WBA world title final eliminator clash between Hughie Fury and Michael “The Bounty” Hunter now has a new date confirmed. The two are set to face off at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England on Saturday, October 29th with the winner emerging as the next contender to challenge for the WBA heavyweight title held by Daniel Dubois.

Fury is (26-3, 15 KOs) and ranked at #4 in the WBA, Hunter is (20-1-2, 14 KOs) and rated WBA #2. They were scheduled to fight in July, but the bout was postponed after Fury fell ill during training camp.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

The camps of Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are reportedly already in negotiations for a potential undisputed heavyweight championship bout in Saudi Arabia. Per the Daily Mail, Prince Mohammad Abdulaziz, the Saudi minister for sport, is on the record as saying “we are very interested in the fight.”

The mega-bout would likely take place in the city of Riyadh on December 17. The 2022 World Cup final is slated to take place the next day in nearby Qatar. The combination of the epic Fury-Usyk showdown and the World Cup final on the same weekend would be huge for the sporting profile of the Middle East.

In part three of this four-part interview with Fightnews.com®, ring legend Bernard Hopkins pulls no punches as he prepares to embark on the biggest fight of his career outside the ring.

By Jeff Zimmerman

Bernard Hopkins is confident that the Spence-Crawford fight will take place, which would delay a title shot for Golden Boy’s rising star Vergil Ortiz Jr. Ortiz Jr. has been the WBO mandatory to Crawford’s title for quite some time.

“Let me tell you why that fight is not going to fall through,” Hopkins explained. First, Crawford is not dumb. He’s very, very intelligent and smart out of the ring just as well as in the ring. Second, they are going to ask too much from him to come to the PBC regime, Al Haymon. He doesn’t want to be a part of that, he just wants to fight. So, he doesn’t want to be a part of the PBC. ‘I am who I am. I got a title; I’m just coming with this.’ He doesn’t want to be locked in. I don’t blame him. He just got out of a situation. Why do you think he made that move to do that move?

“The only thing Terence Crawford needs for real, is a good mouthpiece that knows what the hell he’s doing and knows his worth like he knows it. He will save a whole lot of money and some headaches. So, to me and the way I know how they talk about the old bushy hair King, but a lot of them in there and want to be just like Don King in a different way. And they cover up by saying we pay our fighters a lot more than everybody and they keep all the money, that’s just a smoke screen. That’s a jab and then a right hand knocks you out. I know the game. I know the game.” Continue reading “Bernard Hopkins: No Punches Pulled, Part 3”

Tuto Zabala’s All Star Boxing, Inc has joined forces once again with Producciones Deportivas and will return to Mexico this Friday, August 26 at the beautiful Foro ZINA in Zinacantepec. Mexicans Ernesto Salcedo (13-2, 10 KOs) and Hytan Ramos (11-5-2, 3 KOs) will headline the show in a rematch fight with the vacant World Boxing Council FECARBOX super bantamweight title at stake. Continue reading “All Star Boxing returns to Mexico this Friday”

Unbeaten featherweight prospect Dominique Francis (12-0, 9 KOs) of Miami, Florida takes on local favorite Manuel Felipe Gonzalez (11-2, 11 KOs) of Colombia. The 10 round bout will take place Wednesday morning in the highly popular beach tourist city of Santa Marta in Colombia. This will be the third time Francis has fought in Santa Marta having previously impressively scored two knockouts. The ripped and ready Francis is stepping up versus the hard punching Gonzalez who has a 100% knockout percent. His corner will be manned by his father Smith Francis and trainer Derick Santos. Both fighters made the contracted weight on Tuesday.

By Mark Vaz

Jimmy Farrell, 69, a well-known and highly respected trainer from Quincy, MA passed away Monday after a long battle with cancer. Born in nearby Rockland, MA, Farrell campaigned in the 1970’s in the featherweight division as a pro, retiring with a record of 17-4-3, 6 KOs. Farrell trained under his father the late Jim Farrell, Sr, also a Boston area promoter, as well as hall of famer Cus D’Amato in Catskill, NY.

Jimmy operated several gyms in Quincy area over the years during a career that spanned nearly five decades and produced over 40 amateur champions as well as dozens of professionals, including Mark DeLuca, Ryan Kielczewski, Steve Vukosa, Chris and Vinnie Traietti, Nick and Mike Morganelli and Nick Cyr. Continue reading “Trainer Jimmy Farrell passes”

By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán and president of the WBC

Ready to enter the last quarter of 2022 with an incredible closing plan for this year that has been superb for all the boxing world.

We have experienced action inside and outside the ring, the World Boxing Council platform has been extremely active, including the participation of thousands of people who make up this great family and this is a reason to celebrate, since just two years ago we lived with enormous concern, without knowing what would happen next with our world, derived from a pandemic that caused devastating effects to all.

Boxing was essential for the lives of millions of people to have hope, inspiration and confidence that things would continue, and life would return to normal. Boxing took the initiative and showed the world it could be done.

Boxing shows were held without an audience in the famous bubbles of the United States, Mexico, Nicaragua, England and some other countries; The WBC Talks kept the boxing and sports community entertained and informed for months; The virtual WBC Convention that was held in 2020 instead of doing the easy thing of throwing in the towel and cancelling that annual meeting, where all the important points for the administration of our organization are discussed. So today it only remains to look forward and continue with great events in the ring as well as in society. Continue reading “A spectacular end of the year is coming!”

Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, will be the site where unbeaten super welterweight Sebastian “The Towering Inferno’’ Fundora defends his WBC interim title against former title challenger Carlos Ocampo live on Showtime October 8.

Tickets for the event, which is promoted by TGB Promotions and Sampson Boxing, go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, August 24 at noon.

Star Boxing has announced that it has signed Ivan “El Terrible” Redkach (26-6-1 18 KOs) to an exclusive promotional agreement. He will be campaigning at 135 lbs moving forward. Redkach is excited to get back in the ring, “For some reason, my career froze for a year. I’ve had a good rest and I didn’t sit still waiting for my time. I trained hard for a year, being told there is a fight, then there would be no fight.

“Boxing is my job, it’s my life. I’ve been in boxing since I am 6 years old, and I’ve come a good way. I have the experience. There have been ups and downs, but I’ll be back in the ring soon and you’ll see my desire to win. I’m very grateful to Star Boxing and Joe DeGuardia to further my career. Together we’ll become world champion.”

On August 13, 42-year-old former heavyweight title challenger Kevin “Kingpin” Johnson (35-20-1, 9 KOs) went the eight round distance with unbeaten Igor Shevadzutskiy (10-0, 8 KOs), and even gave Shevadzutskiy some problems. On Saturday, Kingpin returns in another eight-rounder against another unbeaten fighter in Victor Faust (9-0, 7 KOs). The event takes place at the ECB Boxgym in Hamburg, Germany.

Faust, also known as Victor Vykhryst, will be fighting for the first time since he went life and death with Iago Kiladze in January. He was supposed to fight two weeks ago, but his opponent pulled out with COVID.

“I’m going to end the fight early and not go the full distance with Johnson!” proclaimed Faust.

In part two of this four-part interview with Fightnews.com®, ring legend Bernard Hopkins pulls no punches as he prepares to embark on the biggest fight of his career outside the ring.

By Jeff Zimmerman

The super fight of Spence-Crawford is still not on the calendar [although media reports say November is targeted for the undisputed welterweight title]. Hopkins, however, gives high praise to WBO champion Terence Crawford and believes he is the guy to beat at 147.

“I respect the fighter that gets on TV or any other chance he gets to make it known [he wants to fight],” said Hopkins. The only person I can say right now, I’m 100% serious, then saying some BS on social media that you are willing to do this or do that. No, you’re not. You have to listen to your master. You got to listen to who’s thinking for you before you think for yourself.

“I respect Terence Crawford man. Not only has he shown up to support his stablemates, but he has shown up to say, ‘hey guys, I’m here, I got my eyes on y’all.’ And he hasn’t shown up sinning and grinning, he has shown up, ‘I’m here, I’m respected and I’m getting respect and I’ll give it back, I’m here.’” Continue reading “Bernard Hopkins: No Punches Pulled, Part 2”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Undisputed lightweight world champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (in Los Angeles) and “Ferocious” George Kambosos Jr. (in Melbourne) participated on a split feed kick-off press conference to kickoff their October 15 (October 16 in Australia) rematch at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. Haney-Kambosos 2 will be broadcast in prime time in the United States, live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes & ESPN+ and live on Main Event and Kayo in Australia.

While the first fight was one-sided in Haney’s favor, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum says George Kambosos warns people not to count out Kambosos.

“If he approaches the fight differently, he has a good, good chance,” Arum said to FoxSports. “If he fights the same fight that he fought last time, he has no chance. We’ll have to see which George Kambosos shows up. The one who fought and beat Teofimo Lopez or the one who fought from the outside and wasn’t aggressive against Devin Haney.” Continue reading “Haney-Kambosos 2 Kick-Off Press Conference”

The World Boxing Council has announced that its 60th annual convention will take place in Acapulco, one of the most beautiful beach attractions in the world. Arrival and welcome cocktails will be Sunday, November 6 and the official opening ceremony takes place on Monday November 7. The final day of activities and departure is Friday November 11.

Mental health of boxers will be the main topic to be discussed during the medical seminar to be held at the World Boxing Association (WBA) Centennial Convention, which will take place at the Caribe Royale Hotel in Orlando, Florida, from December 11-14. The WBA and its Medical Committee will have as its main banner a problem that is affecting many fighters today and that needs to be watched closely and treated properly.

“The mental health of our athletes will be the central theme of the Medical Seminar of our WBA Centennial Convention, to be held next December in Orlando, Florida,” said WBA President Gilberto Jesus Mendoza.

There have been several cases recently among very prominent names who have had to withdraw from fights, take extended breaks and even think about retirement due to their situation, which makes it necessary to address the issue in a more direct way. Continue reading “WBA Centennial Convention to focus on mental health”

By Bob Ryder

Toledo’s Albert “Prince” Bell will face Dominican Republic’s Nicolas Polanco in the 10 round main event at the Huntington Center in downtown Toledo for promoter Vick Green’s Pulse Boxing on Saturday, September 3. Up for grabs will be the WBO NABO super featherweight title which is currently vacant. Bell brings his perfect (21-0, 6 KOs) record into the match as he continues his drive for a top ten ranking. Polanco (20-2-1, 11 KOs) will be competing in the United States for the first time and this will be only his second fight outside his native county. Polanco hopes to rebound from a tough majority decision loss in his last fight in which he lost to Jaime Arboleda in Panama despite knocking Arboleda down twice. Bell possesses solid boxing technique, smooth and hard to hit, and has won most of his fights in dominant fashion despite his low knockout percentage. The challenge for Polanco will be to get Bell to mix it up in hopes of landing a big shot but given Albert’s past performances he faces a tall task. Continue reading “Bell vs Polanco Headline Toledo Show”

Official registration opened Wednesday for the Centennial Convention of the World Boxing Association (WBA), to be held December 11-14 at the Caribe Royale Hotel in Orlando, Florida. The completion of a century by the pioneer organization makes this event one of the most important of the year and those wishing to attend this great event can register at the link provided below.

Important topics that affect boxing today will be discussed, such as the search for a single champion, mental health for boxers, science applied to boxing, safety issues, among other aspects that will be announced in the coming weeks. Continue reading “Registration for the WBA Convention is officially open”

Super lightweight Kenneth Sims Jr. (18-2-1, 6 KOs) became the new WBA intercontinental champion by knocking out Cristian Ruben Mino (22-6-2, 17 KOs) on Sunday night at the Caribe Royale Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Sims Jr. settled the fight in the fifth round after showing superiority throughout the bout. He knocked down Mino once in the fourth round and twice in the fifth forcing the referee to stop the action.

After a crazy busy Saturday last weekend, we have only one main boxing event on the docket this Saturday. It’s a good one.

ESPN/ESPN+ presents a stacked card headlined by two former world champions as Jose “Sniper” Pedraza (29-4, 14 KOs) battles Richard “RC” Commey (30-4, 27 KOs) in a 10-round junior welterweight clash at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The card also features a ton of heavyweight action. The ten round co-feature has undefeated Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson (11-0, 11 KOs) returning against Miljan Rovcanin (24-2, 16 KOs). In addition, Efe Ajagba (15-1, 12 KOs) and Trey Lippe Morrison (18-1, 17 KOs) will see action in separate bouts.

Some other streams may pop up, including a Murat Gassiev fight on Friday, so we’ll keep you posted.

In this 4-part interview with Fightnews.com®, ring legend Bernard Hopkins pulls no punches as he prepares to embark on the biggest fight of his career outside the ring.

By Jeff Zimmerman

The legendary Bernard Hopkins is about to pick a fight with one of the heavyweights of boxing outside the ring and he’s not holding back.

Hopkins is no longer going to sit idly quiet. This is nothing new for him as fighting is in his blood and keeping quiet is not his forte.

And it started long before his amazing 28-year pro career where he won world titles at middleweight and light heavyweight that finally culminated as a first ballot Hall of Famer this past June in Canastota, NY. Continue reading “Bernard Hopkins: No Punches Pulled, Part 1”

Heavyweights Cassius Chaney and Juiseppe Cusumano blew out overmatched competition on Saturday night at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Chaney (22-1, 15 KOs) smoked Matt McKinney (9-6-3, 6 KOs) in round one, while Cusumano (21-4, 19 KOs) took out Dennis Ventura (4-2, 3 KOs) in round two.

Photos: Sumio Yamada

Check out this GIANT Navarrete-Baez photo gallery for some incredible shots, plus the scorecard.

Photos

Former WBA minimumweight world champion Carlos Cañizales (24-1-1, 18 KOs) of Venezuela retained his WBA Fedecaribe light flyweight title by way of TKO in round one over Armando “Ichiro Ozeki” Torres (26-22, 19 KOs) of Mexico. The event took place at the Auditorio BB in Mexico City, México and promoted by Producciones Deportivas.

Cañizales patiently waited for his moment to land a hook to Torres’ face which left him visibly hurt. His corner opted to stop the fight to prevent any further punishment. The offical time of the stoppage was 2:05. The victory keeps Cañizales on course for an opportunity to fight current WBA light flyweight champion Hiroto Kyoguchi. Continue reading “Ex-champ Cañizales stops Torres in Mexico”