By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

IBF #10 middleweight Michael Zerafa and IBF #8 Issac Hardman were involved in a physical confrontation ahead of their IBF elimination bout for the number two position on Wednesday at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Both threw punches at each other after accusations of racism.

“He (Hardman) is racist,” Zerafa insisted

Hardman replied, “The remark that I’m racist is crazy. I don’t know where the f–k that has come from. He is clutching at straws and he needs something to get over the line, to make me the bad guy. This guy is the bad guy. Everyone f–king hates this clown. My partner is of color. My two best mates are Samoan. How am I racist? That’s craziness. Just because I’m going to punch this bloke’s head in and he’s Maltese, who cares? I’m going to smash this bloke [and that] doesn’t make me racist.”

Official Statement: We regret to announce that Bob Yalen has today stepped down as CEO of MTK Global for personal reasons. We would like to thank him for all of his efforts on behalf of the business and his leadership of our team.

“I am incredibly proud of the success of MTK Global and I feel privileged to have served as President and CEO since 2018,” said Yalen. “However, the pressure of the last few weeks has been particularly intense. I need to consider the impact on myself and my family. So after four years leading MTK, I think it’s time for me to step aside to take on new challenges.”

Due to unforeseen reasons, this Saturday night’s RDR Promotions card at the 2300 Arena has been postponed. Fans who purchased tickets should seek refunds at the point of purchase. RDR Promotions will be back at the 2300 Arena on Friday night, June 24th. Details of the event will be announced shortly.

Whilst visiting Dubai recently I was introduced to Daniel Kinahan, who has since been placed on a sanctions list by the US Treasury Department, concerning alleged links to drug crimes.

This has generated speculation and attacks on myself and the WBC. I therefore feel it necessary to make it clear that at no time have we had any relationship with Daniel Kinahan. The World Boxing Council deals solely and exclusively with boxing promoters and only they maintain commercial relations in the certification of fights for our titles. Continue reading “WBC Statement on Daniel Kinahan”

The world title clash between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte takes center stage this week, but there is good boxing action all week long.

WEDNESDAY
Middleweight Michael Zerafa (29-4, 18 KOs) takes on unbeaten Issac Hardman (12-0, 10 KOs) in an IBF eliminator at the Melbourne Convention Centre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The bout will air in the U.S. on a $19.99 FITE PPV starting at 3AM ET.

THURSDAY
The final event presented by Boxing Hall of Fame promoter Mogens Palle takes place at the Frederiksberg Hallerne in Copenhagen, Denmark. The card can be seen internationally live on a $36.94 PPV at www.danishfightnight.tv.

DAZN has a super lightweight clash between Joel Diaz Jr. (26-2, 22 KOs) and Mercito Gesta (32-3-3, 17 KOs) from Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.

FRIDAY
DAZN is back with unbeaten super middleweight Ivan Zucco (15-0, 13 KOs) against Marko Nikolic (28-1, 12 KOs) at the Palazzo Dello Sport in Verbania, Piemonte, Italy.

Probellum will stream a WBO bantamweight title clash between world champion John Riel Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs) against mandatory challenger Paul Butler (33-2, 15 KOs) from M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.

SATURDAY
ESPN+ delivers a $69.99 pay-per-view telecast headlined by the WBC heavyweight title fight between world champion Tyson Fury (31-0-1, 22 KOs) and mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs).

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBA #5, IBF #10 middleweight Michael Zerafa (29-4, 18 KOs) returns to the ring against IBF #8, WBO #9 Isaac Hardman (12-0, 10 KOs) on Wednesday at the Melbourne Convention Centre over twelve rounds. The fight will not be televised on Foxtel Main Event because Zerafa pulled out of a bout with WBO #1 Tim Tszyu in 2021 on short notice.

Michael Zerafa: “I get the whole fight game and revving each other up but he’s got no respect for fighters, for family, for people, so it will be good to silence him. Seeing him here today just made me want to punch him in the head even more.”

Isaac Hardman: “He’s a crybaby and he’s too emotional…when I smash him to pieces that’s the end of Michael Zerafa.”

Promoter and matchmaker Sam Labruna

Friday in Verbania, Piemonte region in Italy, Tony Dixon was slated to fight Mirko Natalizi (11-0, 7 KOs) in a ten-rounder for the vacant WBC International Silver super welterweight title. Dixon, however, will be replaced by Rico Mueller (28-4-1, 19 KOs). Mueller last fought on July 31, losing inside the distance against Anthony Fowler. The card will be streamed live by DAZN.

Yordenis Ugas Statement: First of all I wanted to apologize for not coming to thank everyone who was supporting me in person after the fight. I have a fracture in my eye and in the next few days, the doctors will say how they will treat it. Last night, I spent all morning in a hospital and I write these words with only one eye. The other one is still closed. But it’s very important for me to write to you.

I want to thank my family, my team and every person who was supporting me. I want to congratulate Errol Spence Jr, a great champ, and sharing the ring with him was an honor. He came as always sharp, and in the last rounds he hit me in the eye and everything was even more difficult…the best man won in the ring.

We have come this far by taking our wins and losses with humility. I am sad but at peace. Come back from the dark. And already at this point, I’ve fought amateur Crawford, Porter, Pacquiao, Spence, some of the best fighters in history and future Hall of Famers. I’m proud of what I’m doing in and out of the ring. I have won millions of hearts. With the favor of God, there are great days to come… we will recover and come back stronger. Thank you all.

By Jeff Zimmerman

Errol Spence Jr speaks to media after his tenth round stoppage of Yordenis Ugas for welterweight unification at AT&T Stadium Saturday night.

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By Jeff Zimmerman

Trainer of Errol Spence Jr, Derrick James, answers questions from the media after Spence stopped Yordenis Ugas in the tenth round of their welterweight unification showdown.

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By Jeff Zimmerman

“Showtime” Shawn Porter sitting ringside for Spence Jr-Ugas reacts right after Spence’s big win and the potential showdown with Terence “Bud” Crawford for the undisputed welterweight title.

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By Jeff Zimmerman

Lightweight rising star Frank “The Ghost” Martin reacts to his stablemate and mentor Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr big win versus Yordenis Ugas and talks about a title shot for himself in the near future.

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By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

In a WBA/WBC/IBF welterweight unification battle, Errol Spence Jr (28-0, 22 KOs) from Dallas stopped Yordenis Ugas out of Cuba (27-5, 12 KOs) in round ten on Saturday night in front of a raucous 39,946 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas in a tough, gritty fight.

The southpaw Spence Jr. opened the fight with his right jab and straight lefts to the body as Ugas looked to time and counter Spence over the first couple of rounds and had some success doing so. By the third, Spence picked up the pace as he landed his overhand left and uppercuts and his patented body shots. The fourth round was much the same as Spence worked his way inside of Ugas and scored to the head and body.

Spence took charge in round six with combinations and uppercuts, before a big right hand by Ugas knocked his mouthpiece out. Spence looked away to find it and Ugas capitalized with a perfectly placed right hand that temporarily wobbled Spence as he bounced off the ropes. Referee Laurence Cole eventually stopped the action and Spence was able to retrieve his mouthpiece and fully recover and went back on the attack the last part of the round. In round seven, Spence was in kill-mode as he went for the knockout and got his hometown crowd in a frenzy, but Ugas showed his warrior spirit and countered with some nice counter shots of his own.

In round eight, Spence Jr. continued the onslaught and forced the referee to halt the action to have the ringside physician look at the right eye of Ugas, that was almost completely shut. By the tenth round it was target practice for Spence who smelled blood and kept pounding Ugas on the inside as he tried desperately to end the fight with a knockout. And right before he could, Cole went back to the doctor and this time was advised to stop the fight. The official time was 1:44 as Spence Jr. earned the TKO victory. Continue reading “Spence stops Ugas, unifies WBC, WBA, IBF belts”

By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

In a battle of undefeated welterweights on the Spence-Ugas undercard, WBA regular welterweight champion Radzhab Butaev (14-1, 11 KOs) from Russia went toe-to-toe with Lithuanian Eimantas Stanionis (14-0, 9 KOs) over twelve hotly contested rounds. Stanionis came away with the split decision win in a fight that was physical from the opening bell to the very end. Butaev was deducted a point in the eleventh round by referee Rafael Ramos for holding Stanionis head down, but fortunately it did not impact the scores. The scores read 114-113 for Butaev and 116-111 and 117-110 for Stanionis. Continue reading “Stanionis dethrones Butaev via split decision”

By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

Isaac Cruz vs Yuriorkis Gamboa
Lightweight world title contender Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (23-2-1, 16 KOs) out of Mexico City, Mexico, was exactly that, a Pitbull as he dropped former featherweight champ Yuiorkis Gamboa from Cuba (30-5, 18 KOs) four times enroute to a fifth-round knockout of the scheduled ten. Time was 1:32.

Cruz went right after the Cuban Gamboa from the opening bell and looked to end the fight early, but Gamboa showed his veteran savviness and held Cruz to survive the round. Gamboa came out the aggressor in round two and hoped he could catch the young bull off guard. But instead, Cruz quickly turned the tide and finally put Gamboa on the canvas for the first time right before the round ended. The knockdown started with a right to the body, followed by two big blows to the head. Round three was much of the same as Cruz was going for the kill as a left hook to the jaw put Gamboa down again.

In the fourth round, Cruz almost put Gamboa down early, but instead had to wait a little longer to score his third knockdown of the fight by left hook. And finally in the fifth and final round of this back-and-forth scrap, Cruz landed a left, quickly followed by a devastating overhand right that sent Gamboa to the ropes and referee Mark Calo-oy grabbed Gamboa right away and waived it off with Gamboa shaking his head. Continue reading “Undercard Results from Arlington, Texas”

Welterweight Conor “The Destroyer” Benn (21-0, 14 KOs), currently rated #5 by all four major sanctioning bodies, lived up to his nickname by annihilating Chris “The Heat” van Heerden (28-3-1, 12 KOs) in less than two rounds on Saturday night at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. Benn hurt southpaw van Heerden with a right hand, then blasted him down to the canvas to end it at :59. Benn, the son of former world champion Nigel Benn, retained his WBA Continental title.

European cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith (15-1, 11 KOs) scored an eight round KO over former champion Tommy McCarthy (18-4, 9 KOs). Last year Billam-Smith beat McCarthy by split decision. This time he left no doubt, laying out McCarthy with a barrage of punches. Time was 1:28. Billam-Smith is rated IBF #3, WBO #3, WBA #5, WBC #8.

Lightweight Campbell Hatton (7-0, 2 KOs), son of former champion Ricky Hatton, outpointed Ezequiel Gregores (3-10, 0 KOs) over six rounds. Scored 60-54.

WBC female super featherweight champion Alycia Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs) scored a one-sided ten round unanimous decision against Edith Matthysse (17-12-1, 1 KOs), who failed to make weight. Scores were 100-90 3x.

“Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver” Jack Cullen (20-3-1, 9 KOs), now campaigning as a light heavyweight, won an 80-72 eight round shutout against Vladimir Belujsky (12-3-1, 8 KOs).

Report and photos by Bob Ryder

Lightweight Albert “Prince” Bell scored a comprehensive one-sided eight round decision over Nicaragua’s Martin Diaz in the main event of promoter Vick Green’s Pulse Boxing Promotions at the Glass City Center (formerly the Seagate) in Toledo, Ohio. Bell had not fought in his hometown for 3 1/2 years and he drew a very good crowd to watch him display his boxing skills. “Prince” Bell controlled this contest in every way as Diaz was totally unable to generate any offense. Bell’s left jab was in constant use mixed in with an occasional right hand. Diaz was never in danger of getting stopped or knocked down but had no answer to Bell’s ring generalship and in reality did not throw nearly enough punches to trouble Bell in any way. Scores were 80-72 from all three judges as Bell improves to (21-0, 6 KOs). Diaz traveled a long way to receive a boxing lesson in declining to (18-12-2, 8 KOs). Continue reading “Bell dominant in Toledo ring return”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

After falling short at his shot at a world title, featherweight Ruben “Drac” Villa (19-1, 6 KOs) of Salinas, California returned to the ring in stopping veteran Horacio Garcia (35-6-1, 25 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico in nine rounds Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario in the Thompson Boxing Promotions “Path to Glory” main event. Continue reading “Villa stops Garcia in 9”

Undefeated heavyweight Mike Balogun (19-0, 15 KOs) scored a second round KO over 5’7 journeyman Sergio Ramirez Marin (20-8, 12 KOs) in an eight-round contest on Friday night at the Garden Theater in Detroit, Michigan. Balogun, a former collegiate and NFL linebacker, sent Marin to a knee with a short left and Marin was counted out. Time was 1:49.

Bantamweight Ja’Rico O’Quinn (15-1-1, 8 KOs) rebounded from his first loss with a one-sided eight round unanimous decision over Jobert Alvarez (20-3-2, 7 KOs). Scores were 80-72 3x.

In a clash of unbeaten heavyweight prospects, Michael Pirotton (6-0, 3 KOs) punished Jonathan Gruber (3-1, 2 KOs) for five rounds before the bout was waved off. Time was 1:58.

Unbeaten super featherweight Joshafat Ortiz (10-0, 5 KOs) took an eight round unanimous decision over Derrick Murray (15-5, 5 KOs). Scores were 76-75, 77-74, 77-74. Murray was deducted a point in round six for continually losing his mouthpiece.

Lightweight Gavin Gwynne (15-2, 3 KOs) hammered out a twelve round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Luke Willis (11-1, 1 KO) in a clash for the British and Commonwealth titles on Friday night at the iconic York Hall in London. Scores were 117-113, 118-110, 115-112.

Unbeaten super featherweight Sultan Zaurbek (13-0, 9 KOs) won by fifth round KO over Nicolas Nahuel Botelli (11-7, 6 KOs).

In a fight for the English super welterweight title, Sam Gilley (14-1, 7 KOs) stopped previously unbeaten Drew Brown 12-1-1, 1 KO) in round nine.

Super lightweight Fonz Alexander came up short against Jimmy Croxson to bring his record to 7-125-1, 4 KOs.

Errol Spence Jr 146.25 vs. Yordenis Ugas 146.75
(WBC, WBA, IBF welterweight titles)

Isaac Cruz 136.5 vs. Yuriorkis Gamboa 134.5
Jose Valenzuela 138.75 vs. Francisco Vargas 134.5
Cody Crowley 144.4 vs. Josesito Lopez 146.5

Radzhab Butaev 146.5 vs. Eimantas Stanionis 146.5
(WBA regular welterweight title)

Brandun Lee 142.5 vs. Zachary Ochoa 141.25

Venue: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Promoter: TGB Promotions
TV: Showtime, PPV

Former world champion Angel ‘Tito’ Acosta (22-3-1, 21 KOs) will face Janel Rivera (18-8-3, 11 KOs) in a 10-round super flyweight fight on May 12 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. Also on the card, Victor Morales (15-0-1, 8 KOs) will fight Alberto Torres (11-4-3, 4 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight co-main event. Rudy Garcia (12-0-1, 2 KOs) will take on Diukl Olguin (15-22-5, 10 KOs)  in an 8-round super bantamweight fight. Other prospects on the card include Yahu Blackwell (3-1, 2 KOs) in a scheduled 8-round heavyweight fight, and Eric Tudor (2-0, 2 KOs) will participate in a 6-round super welterweight fight.

Super lightweight Ernesto “Tito” Mercado (5-0, 5 KOs) remained undefeated scoring his fourth consecutive first round knockout, this time against veteran Daniel Evangelista Jr. (20-14-2, 16 KOs). The six-round bout, promoted by Englebrecht Promotions & Events on the popular Fight Club OC series, took place at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, CA. Mercado came out guns blazing as soon as the bell rang and send Evangelista to the canvas in the opening minute of round one, then followed up with two more knockdowns before the referee stopped the bout at the 1:37 mark. Continue reading “Mercado demolishes Evangelista”

Conor Benn 146.5 vs. Chris van Heerden 145.8
Chris Billam-Smith 199.5 vs. Tommy McCarthy 199.5
Alycia Baumgardner 129.4 vs. Soledad Matthysse 133.6
Jack Cullen 171.7 vs. Vladimir Belujsky 172.7
Campbell Hatton ?? vs. Ezequiel Gregores ??
Cyrus Pattinson 148.8 vs. Alexey Tukhtarov 152.1
Jordan Thompson 197 vs. Mariano Angel Gudino 199.9
Thomas Whittaker Hart 175.3 vs. Ben Ridings 174.1
Luke Evans 140.7 vs. Miguel Cesario Antin 141.3
James Metcalf 163.2 vs. Evgenii Vazem 159.2

Venue: AO Arena, Manchester, England
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN