By Héctor Villarreal

In the main event of the KO Drugs all-female card on Friday night, Mexican Jessica Nery Plata (28-2, 3 KOs) came from behind to beat Yesica Bopp (37-3, 17 KOs), from Argentina, to claim the WBA light flyweight belt, which had been a property of “La Tuti” Bopp for 13 years. Nery based her offense on very strong left hooks to the middle body, which paid back by the final rounds of the fight, held at Majestic Casino in Panama City, Panama. Scorecards were 97-93 for Bopp and 97-93, 96-94 for Nery who won by split decision.

Former WBA superbantam champion Chantal Martínez, (20-8, 8 KOs) escaped with a majority decision over Colombian model Mónica Henao (4-2-4, 3 KOs). Continue reading “Nery ended Bopp’s 13-year reign”

By Joe Koizumi

So shocking was coverage on Japan’s Sports Hochi yesterday (Friday) on former WBC, OPBF female flyweight champ Go Shindo (16-4, 11 KOs), 34, who will make a comeback — this time as a male boxer — to be the very first example here in Japan. Shindo, whose previous real name was Megumi Hashimoto, legally became a male in July 2017 and married a girl named Ayuka then and there.

She, nay he, retired from boxing accordingly. His current legal name is Go Hashimoto, who established a boxing fitness gym to cultivate young athletes in his native Wakayama city. It is very lately that Go expresses his wish to return to action as a male boxer, saying, “I’ve made up my mind to come back. Will do my best not to have people say he was formerly a girl. This is my life. As I really want to fight again, I’ll do so.” Shindo resumed training at Green Tsuda gym since last October. Now very muscular through weight training, Go reportedly sometimes knocked down a male sparring partner. The Japan Boxing Commission (JBC), according to Sports Hochi, says, “Since there have been no example of a female boxer turning to a male boxer, we may have to consider making a rule for such an application at first.” Go Shindo is very much willing to participate in a comeback bout within this year. Bon voyage.

By Przemek Garczarczyk

Unbeaten featherweight Kamil Laszczyk (31-0, 10 KOs) barely kept his unbeaten record against unheralded Ismail Galiatano (10-3-3, 2 KOs) on Friday night at the Obiekt Rekreacyjno Sportowy Rondo in Konin, Poland. Łaszczyk was dropped in round two, but came back to win a close, but unanimous decision by scores of 97-93, 96-94, 95-94.

In a WBA welterweight eliminator between unbeaten fighters, “Captain” Gabriel Maestre (4-0-1, 3 KOs) and Taras Shelestyuk (19-0-1, 11 KOs) battled to a ten round draw on Friday night at the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Maestre seemed to have a slight edge, but in the end scores were 97-93 Shelestyuk, 96-64 Maestre, 95-95. It was two-time Venezualan Olympian Maestre’s first fight since his controversial bout with Mykal Fox last summer.

Former WBA super welterweight champion “Golden Jack” Culcay (30-4, 13 KOs) topped Khalil El Harraz (14-2-1, 1 KO) over ten rounds on Friday night at the AGON Sportpark in Berlin, Germany. Scores were 98-92, 98-92, 97-93. Five straight wins for Cuklcay since returning to the 154lb division after testing the waters at middleweight.

Unbeaten super welterweight Haro Matevosyan (15-0, 9 KOs) scored a one-sided twelve unanimous decision over former WBA interim champion Johan Perez (27-10-2, 16 KOs). Scores were 120-108, 118-110, 118-110.

Unbeaten super welterweight Vincenzo Gualtieri (19-0-1, 7 KOs) outpointed Dario Socci (14-7-2, 6 KOs) over twelve 120-108, 118-110, 119-109.

Unbeaten middleweight Thomas Piccirillo (10-0-3, 4 KOs) scored a sixth round KO over Leonard Carrillo (15-3, 14 KOs). A crushing shot to the chin finished Carrillo at 3:00 of the sixth.

Christian Tapia 129.6 vs. Luis Lebron 130
(WBC Continental super featherweight title)

Brandon Pizarro 142 vs. Vitor Jones 141
Dezmond Lucas 147 vs. Ryan Pino 147.2
Jan Carlos Rivera 143 vs. Michael Ogundo 141.2
Jeffrey Villanueva 118.4 vs. Juan Gutierrez 117.2
Brendan O’Callaghan 160.2 vs. Derrick Vann 162.8
Anthony Ramirez 141.2 vs. Cesar Espinel Maldonado 140.6

Venue: Live! Event Center at Live Casino & Hotel Philadelphia
Promoter: Hard Hitting Promotions
Stream: Hard Hitting Promotions Facebook Page PPV
1st Bell: 7 PM ET

Undefeated middleweight prospect Ardreal “Bossman” Holmes (12-0, 5 KOs) returned from a 27-month layoff to take a ten round unanimous decision over Vernon Brown (13-2-1, 9 KOs) on Friday night night at the Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel in Deadwood, South Dakota. 97-93, 96-94, 98-92.

Lightweight Edwin De Los Santos (14-1, 13 KOs) scored a second round KO over previously unbeaten Luis Acosta (12-1, 11 KOs). De La Santos dropped Acosta in round one and finished him with a left hand at :48 of round two.

Welterweight Giovanni Márquez, the son of former world champion and ShoBox commentator Raul Márquez, won his professional debut by four round unanimous decision against Nelson Morales (2-1, 0 KOs). Scores were 40-36, 39-37, 39-37.

Unbeaten welterweight Dean Sutherland (13-0, 4 KOs) outpointed Corey McCulloch (4-2-1, 0 KOs) on Friday night at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen, Scotland. Sutherland dropped McCulloch in round five and cruised to a 98-90 win.

Other Results:
Edward Donovan KO1 Mike Jurik (super lightweight)
Calvin McCord W6 Rustem Fatkhullin (super lightweight)
Ryan Gall W6 Alexey Tukhtarov (welterweight)

The WBO Championship Committee has ordered negotiations between the camps of Zhanibek Alimkhanuly and Danny Dignum for the WBO interim middleweight title.

On February 22, the WBO had issued a notice letter ordering Team Jaime Munguia and Team Zhanibek Alikhanuly to commence negotiations. The parties were granted 10 days to reach an agreement. Due to Team Munguia’s “refusal and lack of interest to fight Alimkhanuly,” the Committee has moved on to Danny Dignum.

The parties herein have 10 days to reach an agreement. If an accord is not reached within this time frame, a purse bid will be ordered with a minimum acceptable bid of $200,000.

Lightweight star Keyshawn Davis, the Olympic silver medalist, has a non-COVID-related virus and was forced to withdraw from his March 19 bout against Esteban Sanchez at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

The new ESPN-televised opener will feature junior welterweight prospect John “El Terrible” Bauza (16-0, 7 KOs) against veteran Tony “Lightning” Luis (29-4, 10 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Bauza joins a pair of his Puerto Rican countrymen atop the MSG bill, as super middleweight Edgar “The Chosen One” Berlanga battles Steve Rolls in the 10-round main event. Xander Zayas takes on Quincy LaVallais in the eight-round co-feature.

Former light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs) will move up to cruiserweight to face Tervel Pulev (16-0, 13 KOs) on May 14 at the Forum in Los Angeles and be streamed live worldwide via PPV or the TrillerVerz subscription on FITE. This is 38-year-old Kovalev’s first fight since facing Canelo Alvarez in November 2019. Pulev, the 2012 Bronze Medalist at the Olympic Games, is the younger brother of two-time heavyweight world title challenger Kubrat ‘The Cobra’ Pulev (28-2, 14 KOs), who will clash with Andrey Fedosov (32-3, 26 KOs) over ten rounds in the co-feature.

Also featured on the undercard are junior middleweight Evan ‘Yung Holy’ Holyfield (9-0, 6 KOs) in a scheduled six-rounder, and junior middleweight Fernando ‘El Feroz’ Vargas Jr. (5-0, 5 KOs), featherweight Amado ‘El Malvado’ Vargas (3-0, 2 KOs) and pro-debuting lightweight Emiliano Vargas, who all compete in four-rounders. Evan is the son on Evander Holyfield, and the other three are sons of three-time junior middleweight world champion Fernando ‘El Feroz’ Vargas.

Boxing will be followed by a to be announced Verzuz battle.

Six years after the physical disappearance of the World Boxing Association (WBA) Emeritus President, the family of the pioneer organization remembers a man who left a mark and a great legacy.

Discipline, perseverance and love, three of the pillars of Mendoza’s life (March 30, 1943 – March 11, 2016), who fell in love with boxing and worked for the sport, fought for the rights of its protagonists and proposed changes that would allow it to be better for everyone.

That made him an undisputed leader who took the reins of the WBA in October 1982 and remained until 2016 itself. Continue reading “Remembering Gilberto Mendoza”

Leigh Wood 125.5 vs. Michael Conlan 125.4
(WBA featherweight title)

Caoimhin Agyarko 159.25 vs. Juan Carlos Rubio 159.25
Terri Harper 133.25 vs. Yamila Belen Abellaneda 134.25
Gary Cully 134.5 vs. Miguel Vazquez 134
Sandy Ryan 144.5 vs. Erica Anabella Farias 141
Nico Leivars 120 vs. Jose Hernandez 121.25
Thomas Carty 271 vs. Michal Boloz 260
Thomas Whittaker Hart 178 vs. Ben Thomas 176.5

Venue: Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN

Canadian promoter Dan Otter of Three Lions Promotions will present an event on March 19th at the Hamilton Convention Centre, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main event will feature Brandon Brewer (21-1-1, 11 KOs) taking on fellow Canadian and unbeaten Antonio Napolitano (5-0, 3 KOs). The bout is scheduled for 10 rounds and with vacant World Boxing Council United States (USNBC) middle title at stake.

The eight round co-feature will have the return of former world title challenger Ryan Rozicki (13-1, 13 KOs) vs Mexico’s German Garcia (7-3, 7 KOs). Rozicki fought valiently this past October as the underdog dropping a close decision to the heavily favored Oscar Rivas for the newly vacant WBC bridgerweight title. The Rozicki-Garcia fight has both fighters entering with 100% KO ratios in their perspective wins. Continue reading “Rozicki returns March 19”

Olympic gold medallist and unbeaten heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov (9-0, 9 KOs) has signed a co-promotional deal with Probellum and DiBella Entertainment. Standing at 6’7, the huge punching Jalolov – known as the ‘Big Uzbek’ – fights Kamil Sokolowski over eight rounds on March 18 in Dubai.

Other Probellum signings include unbeaten super bantamweight Carl Jammes Martin (18-0, 15 KOs) and featherweight contender Jazza Dickens (30-4, 11 KOs).

Judge Ian John-Lewis, who scored last week’s Josh Taylor vs. Jack Catterall fight 114-111 in favor of Taylor, has received a slight demotion for his widely criticized scoring on that fight. Catterall’s response on social media was “Not good enough.”

Here is the British Boxing Board of Control Statement:

MR IAN JOHN-LEWIS
APPEARANCE BEFORE THE
BRITISH BOXING BOARD OF CONTROL

Following an internal review of the scoring of the Josh Taylor v Jack Catterall contest by all three appointed judges, the Stewards of the Board decided to call Mr. Ian John-Lewis to appear before them to explain his returned card.

Having considered Mr. Ian John-Lewis’ explanation, the Stewards of the Board decided to downgrade Mr. John-Lewis from an A Star Class to an A Class Official.

Whilst the Board were satisfied that Mr. John-Lewis’ scorecard did not affect the overall result of the contest, the Stewards of the Board did have issue with his margin. Continue reading “BBBofC demotes Taylor-Catterall official”

Unbeaten welterweight Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (15-0-1, 10 KOs) of Philadelphia hosted a media workout today at the WildCard Boxing Club ahead of his fight against fellow stablemate Alexis Rocha (18-1 (12 KOs) on March 19. Their 10-rounder fight will be the co-main event to Vergil Ortiz, Jr. vs. Michael McKinson at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center in Downtown Los Angeles and will be streamed live, worldwide, on DAZN.

Below is what Cobb had to say about his upcoming fight:

“I can’t wait for this fight. I love every single opportunity to get out there and show the world what Blair ‘The Flair’ is all about. Each moment, each day, I am getting better and better. Every day I am refining my craft, inside and outside of the ring and people are going to see it come March 19. Continue reading “Cobbs ready for spotlight”

Ardreal Holmes 156 vs. Vernon Brown 157.25
Luis Acosta 133.5 vs. Edwin De Los Santos 133.75
Giovanni Márquez 143 vs. Nelson Morales 144.25

Venue: Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel in Deadwood, S.D.
Promoter: Holden Productions
TV: Showtime

By Héctor Villarreal

Yesica Bopp 108 vs Jessica Nery Plata 107.25
WBA female light flyweight championship

Monica Henao 135 vs Chantal Martinez 136
Veronica Zuluaga 116 vs Marian Salazar 118
Nataly Delgado 115 vs Clara Lescurat 114
Paulina Angel 125.5 vs Itzel Reyes 120.5

WBA KO to Drugs all-female card
Laguna Premium Boxing Promotions
Majestic Casino, Megapolis Outlets, Panama City, Panama.
Tickets $10
First fight 8pm

More photos

Saturday, March 12
Mary Help of Christians Church
6400 E. Chelsea Street
Tampa, FL 33610
12:00 Noon

Continue reading “Celebration of Life for Walter “Butch” Flansburg”

Ryan Adams 165.6 vs. Khainell Wheeler 167,3
Kenny Robles 141 vs. Naim Nelson 139.9
Jonathan Rodriguez 119.6 vs. Jose Flores Chavez 118
James Bernadin 135.7 vs. Kevin Asmat 135.1
Julian Gonzalez 134.1 vs. Carlos Padilla 138.9
LeAnna Cruz 113.7 vs. Anyela Lopez 115.3
Quadir Albright 141.6 vs. Antonio Wattell 140.6
Thanjhae Teasley 147.4 vs. Daniel Jiles 147.5

Venue: Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem, PA
Promoter: King’s Promotions
1st Bell: 7 PM ET
Stream: Flo Combat

WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood and challenger Michael Conlan faced off at the final press conference ahead of Saturday’s world title action at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, shown live worldwide on DAZN, (excluding New Zealand and Australia).

Leigh Wood: “There’s no excuses after the fight – the best man will win…This is fairy-tale sh*t, honestly, of all the arenas for Carl [Froch] I was at in the seats screaming, I’m now headlining in the same arena. This isn’t the peak or where I stop, I’m going to go further than this. The city ground fight that you’ve tangled in front of me for so long, you [Eddie Hearn] said after this fight it’s happening, so I’ll hold you to that but eyes on Saturday night first. I’m coming to get the job done and look good doing it.”

Michael Conlan: “I know what kind of performance is coming on Saturday night, this is the most relaxed and calm I’ve ever been in a fight week. I don’t feel any pressure, I’m here in the opponent’s back garden and I’ve got to rip the belt off him. Everyone’s here to see him, I’ve got fans coming in the thousands already so it’s nothing new…I’m just here to do a job, I hope Leigh has had a fantastic training camp, I hope he’s the best Leigh Wood there’s ever been because I believe I will be. It’ll make it all the sweeter when I beat him.”

By Héctor Villarreal

Women and men will fight separately on the two boxing cards confirmed by Laguna Premium Boxing Promotions and The World Boxing Association for the upcoming weekend, in the return to Panama of the WBA KO to Drugs International Festival.

WBA light flyweight world champion, Argentine Yesica Boop (37-2, 17 KOs) and her title challenger Mexican Jessica Nery Plata (27-2, 3 KOs) faced off at the final press conference held on Wednesday afternoon at Majestic Casino, where they will star the all-female event on Friday night.

The main card scheduled for Saturday night at the Arena Roberto Duran is headed by former bantamweight super champion, Panamanian Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno (40-6-1, 13 KOs) facing Mexican Gustavo Piña (10-3-2, 5 KOs), as well as undefeated Mexican lightweight Miguel Madueño (27-0, 25 KOs), the opponent for the other local former super world champion Jezreel “Invisible” Corrales (25-4, 10 KOs).

Saturday, March 19 promises to be a night full of action as Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev (8-1, 6 KOs) of Indio, CA returns to the ring for the first time in 2022, to face seasoned veteran David “La Pantera” Zegarra (34-7, 21 KOs) of Lima, Peru. The fighters are set to face off in a 10-round light heavyweight fight as part of the DAZN broadcast. Then, opening up the DAZN broadcast, undefeated fighter Evan Sanchez (9-0, 6 KOs) from Parlier, CA will participate in a 6-round welterweight fight against Alejandro Munera (6-6-4, 5 KOs) from Medellin, Colombia.

The event is headlined by #1 WBO ranked and undefeated heavy-hander, Vergil Ortiz Jr. (18-0, 18 KOs), of Grand Prairie, Texas taking on #3 WBO ranked, undefeated welterweight Michael “The Problem” McKinson (21-0, 2 KOs) of Portsmouth, Great Britain in a 12-round fight for the WBO International Welterweight Title . The co-main event of the night will pit Orange County’s Alexis “Lex” Rocha (18-1, 12 KOs) of Santa Ana, CA against Philadelphia’s Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (15-0-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight fight. The event will take place at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center in Downtown Los Angeles, streaming live, worldwide on DAZN. Continue reading “Melikuziev returns on Ortiz-McKinson undercard”

Some updates to this weekend’s boxing action…

FRIDAY

ShoBox returns with a tripleheader topped by undefeated super welterweight Ardreal Holmes (11-0, 5 KOs) against Vernon Brown (13-1-1, 9 KOs) live on SHOWTIME from Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Fightzone.uk has a free worldwide stream from the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen, Scotland, headlined by unbeaten welterweight Dean Sutherland (12-0, 4 KOs) against the dreaded TBA.

FloSports has a $29.99 PPV at Wind Creek Bethlehem in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Super middleweights Ryan Adams (8-4-1, 6 KOs) and Khainell Wheeler (6-1, 5 KOs) clash in the eight-round headliner. Some undercard action will air on Facebook’s FightNight Live page.

SATURDAY

WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood (25-2, 15 KOs) makes his first world title defense against 2-time Olympian Michael Conlan (16-0, 8 KOs) at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, streamed live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia as usual). Former IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (44-10, 17 KOs) is in the co-feature against unbeaten Gary Cully (13-0, 7 KOs).

FITE.tv has a free stream from the Conrad Dubai topped by super welterweight Fatih Keles (14-1-1, 8 KOs) against former WBA interim titleholder Diego “La Joya” Chaves (28-8-1, 23 KOs).

FITE.tv also has a PPV stream featuring a lightweight clash between two-time WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison (27-3-2, 15 KOs) against Razak Nettey (22-5, 16 KOs) at the Rivals Gym, Wishaw, England. The 44-year-old Harrison is returning to the ring for the first time since 2013. This event is available through their new $4.99/mo FITE+ plan.

Undefeated super featherweight Christian Tapia (13-0, 12 KOs) takes on Luis Lebron (18-2-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-rounder from the Live! Event Center at Live! Casino & Hotel in Philadelphia. The show will be streamed on a $19.99 Facebook PPV on the Hard Hitting Promotions page.

SUNDAY

Fightzone.uk has a free worldwide live stream featuring welterweight Samuel Vargas (31-7-2, 14 KOs) taking on Przemyslaw Runowski (19-2, 5 KOs) from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.