World Cup Boxing Series (WCBS), co-founded by CEO Terry Hollan and matchmaker Guy Taylor, has announced it has signed 2-time world title challenger “Mighty” Aston Palicte (28-4-1, 24 KOs) to a multi-year promotional contract. Palcite is presently ranked IBF #9 and WBO #14 at bantamweight.

Palcite joins lightweight prospect Luis “Koreano” Torres (14-0, 9 KOs) in the relatively new WCBS stable.

This past Saturday, undefeated lightweight prospect Tyler “Short Fuse” Tomlin (13-0, 9 KOs) stopped Charlie Serrano (16-7-2, 5 KOs) in the second round in the Winfield Dunn Center at Austin Peay University in Clarksville, Tennessee. In round one, Tomlin was feeling out Serrano, looking for an opening to land a big shot. That shot came in round two when Tomlin landed a left hook to the liver, sending Serrano to the canvas. Serrano couldn’t continue and the fight was stopped at the 1:45 mark of the second round.

The main televised boxing action this weekend takes place in London.

The weekend kicks off on Friday at the famed York Hall where WBO #4 middleweight Danny Dignum (13-0-1, 7 KOs) defends his WBO Euro belt against Grant Dennis (17-3, 3 KOs). Also on the card is unbeaten IBF #3, WBA #6, WBO #11 bantamweight Lee McGregor (11-0, 9 KOs) against Diego Alberto Ruiz (24-3, 12 KOs).

The main bout of the week is Saturday at the Alexandra Palace where two-time middleweight world champion Daniel Jacobs (37-3, 30 KOs) meets world-rated John Ryder (30-5, 17 KOs) in a twelve round super middleweight encounter on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia). Jacobs is a narrow -175 favorite.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Unified WBA, WBO, IBF, and WBC franchise lightweight champion George Kambosos should soon make a decision on who he will clash with and what venue in Australia in 2022.

“I don’t have a preference on which I want to fight, I would fight them both (Lomanchenko and Haney) on the same night if I had to,” Kambosos told AAP. “It’s about who comes in with the better offer. The ball is in their court to step up to the table and show how much they want this fight. I’ve got all the belts and all the jewels so they have got to travel here.

Kambosos named Marvel Stadium (Melbourne), Rod Laver Stadium (Melbourne), ANZ Stadium (Sydney) and the SCG (Sydney Cricket Ground) as possible venues.

Unbeaten WBA #7, WBO #8 super flyweight David “General” Cuellar (21-0, 14 KOs) scored a sicth round KO over Ricardo “Big Bang” Blandon (15-5, 9 KOs) on Sunday night in Cancun, Mexico. A vicious Cuellar body shot put Blandon down for several minutes. Six straight knockouts for Cuellar, who won the WBC Fecarbox Silver title.

IBF mini-flyweight champion Rene Mark Cuarto (20-2-2, 11 KOs) retained his 105lb world title with a seven round technical majority decision over former world champion Pedro Taduran (14-4-1, 11 KOs) in their rematch on Sunday at the Digos City Gymnasium in Digos City, Philippines. Cuarto dropped Taduran in the second round. Cuarto was deducted two points for an intentional headbutt in round three. Cuarto put Taduran on the deck again in the fifth round. The bout was finally stopped in round seven due to a nasty cut suffered by Taduran and sent to the cards. Scores were 65-64, 66-64 for Cuarto and 65-65. Cuarto previously defeated Taduran twelve months ago by twelve round unanimous decision. This was Cuarto’s first defense.

Former welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman commented on his 12-round unanimous decision over former super lightweight champion Mario “El Azteca” Barrios on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

“This was a comeback fight after two and a half years away,” said Thurman. “I wish I had my best performance, but I did the best I could under the circumstances. “I grade this performance a C+ or B- for myself…we rocked him. We weren’t able to put him down and out, but we had a great performance and a great fight.

“I want the belts. I want the champions. I want to be back on top, so whoever is willing to send Keith Thurman the contract, let’s go!”

Claressa Shields easily retained her collection of world titles outclassing challenger Ema Kozin over ten rounds on Saturday night in Cardiff, Wales.

“I thought there were plenty of moments where the referee should have stopped it,” Shields said. “I give myself an A-. The only thing I didn’t do was get the damn knockout! She took six, seven, eight shots without responding. I thought her corner might have stopped it.”

The real action started after the bout concluded when Shields’ arch-rival Savannah Marshall offered her some robust criticism.

“If you perform like that against me, I’ll absolutely wipe the floor with you,” Marshall told Shields. “You just went ten rounds with an absolute child, people were walking out. Pillow fists. That was embarrassing.”

Shields responded “You couldn’t wipe my drawers. You couldn’t do shit with me. I ain’t no punk. Where your gold medals at?”

If Marshall successfully defends her WBO title later this year, the stage will be set for the two to face off at last.

It’s been three years since WBA featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz defended his 126lb title, but “El Terremoto” now plans to return to the division. “We want to unify and defend our title. We want all the champions at 126 pounds,” said Santa Cruz after shutting out Keenan Carbajal over ten rounds on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

“We’re going to go back to the gym, get better and work on what we did wrong,” Santa Cruz said. “I went good rounds. If I had gone in there and finished him fast, I wouldn’t have gotten the experience I needed. I felt the long layoff a little bit, but I did my best and hopefully the fans loved it and want to see me again.”

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez moved up two weight divisions on short notice and still won the WBC super flyweight title against former champion Carlos Cuadras on Saturday night in Phoenix, Arizona.

“That was a tough ass fight,” said Rodriguez. “He brought out a Jesse Rodriguez I didn’t know was in me. I’m so happy. I knew it was going to be a tough fight, he’s a true warrior, I thought I was going to get him out of there but he’s so strong.

“I stuck to the game plan, used my angles, but in the fifth round I knew he wasn’t going to go so I stayed composed and did my work.”

As for the future, Rodriguez stated, “I feel good at this weight so I will stay here for now but if I get a good fight at 108lbs or 112lbs, maybe I’ll get the winner of Chocolatito vs. Martinez, who knows? – I’m just open to the best fights.”

Years of rivalry and a river of bad blood carried Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Williams into Saturday’s grudge match in Cardiff, Wales, with Eubank dropping Williams four times but unable or unwilling to finish him.

“I wanted to teach that man a lesson, he said some quite menacing things to me in the lead-up to this fight,” Eubank said afterward. “I wanted to punish him – I didn’t want to knock him out in one round, I wanted to punish him.

“Headbutts, headlocks… I am surprised he didn’t get disqualified. But I took it like a man and I punished him like I said I would. It was a fun night. I think I showed some of my critics a different side to me.

“There was no danger, if I had stepped on the gas at any point in the fight he would have been gone. There are levels to this game. Don’t be a big mouth against guys you can get hurt against.”

Former unified welterweight world champion Keith “One Time” Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) scored a twelve round unanimous decision over former super lightweight champion Mario “El Azteca” Barrios (26-2, 17 KOs) on Saturday night inside the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Coming off a 31-month layoff, Thurman progressively busted up the very game Barrios but never came close to getting a stoppage. Scores were 117-111, 118-110, 118-110.

In a clash for the vacant WBC super flyweight title, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (15-0, 10 KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over former world champion Carlos Cuadras (39-5-1, 27 KOs) on Saturday night at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Rodriguez, stepping in on late notice after Cuadras’ original foe Srisaket Sor Rungvisai was forced out due to illness, dropped Cuadras in round three and pulled away to win 117-110, 117-110, 115-112.

In a complete mismatch, WBA female bantamweight champion Jamie Mitchell (8-0-2, 5 KOs) smashed novice Carly Skelly (4-1-1, 0 KOs) in four rounds. Mitchell dropped Skelly in rounds one and two, and got a referee’s stoppage in round four. Time was 1:32. Continue reading “Bam beats Cuadras for WBC superfly belt”

WBA featherweight champion Leo “El Terremoto” Santa Cruz (38-2-1, 19 KOs) took a one-sided ten round unanimous decision over Keenan “Bedo” Carbajal (23-3-1, 15 KOs) in a non-title bout on the Thurman-Barrios undercard on Saturday night at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Santa Cruz was troubled by a cut over his right eye from an accidental headbutt, but otherwise he was a non-stop punching machine as usual. Scores were 100-90 3x.

Unbeaten super welterweight Jesus “Mono” Ramos (18-0, 15 KOs) scored an impressive sixth round TKO over Vladimir Hernandez (13-5, 6 KOs). A barrage of punches prompted a referee’s stoppage at 2:21.

Former two-division world champion Luis “Pantera” Nery (32-1, 24 KOs) scored a ten round split decision over previously unbeaten Carlos Castro (27-1, 12 KOs) in a super bantamweight bout. Nery dropped Castro in round one, but Castro got the jab working after that. The smaller Nery had to grind hard to win 96-93 95-94 on two cards. Castro was up 95-94 on the third card. Continue reading “Santa Cruz, Ramos, Nery victorious”

WBA #1, WBC #3, WBO #5 middleweight Chris Eubank Jr (32-2, 23 KOs) scored a twelve round unanimous decision over WBA #6, WBC #6, WBO #7 Liam Williams (23-4-1, 18 KOs) on Saturday night at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff, Wales. Eubank dropped Williams in rounds one, two, four and eleven, but Williams managed to go the full twelve. Scores were 116-109, 116-108, 117-109.

Olympic female gold medallist Claressa ‘GWOAT’ Shields (12-0, 2 KOs) successfully defended her WBA, WBC and IBF middleweight titles by ten round unanimous decision against Ema Kozin (21-1-1 11 KOs). One-way traffic from Shields, but she couldn’t get the stoppage. Scores were 100-90 3x.

Heavyweight Otto Wallin (23-1, 14 KOs) won a very forgettable eight round decision over journeyman Kamil Sokolowski (11-25-2, 4 KOs) in an off-TV bout. Score was 79-74.

Welterweight Chris ‘Rock ‘n’ Rolla’ Jenkins (22-4-3, 8 KOs) won an eight round decision over 38-year-old former unified world champion Julius Indongo (23-5, 12 KOs). Score was 78-75. Continue reading “Eubank, Shields, Wallin win decisions”

By Ron Jackson

It has been reported that former South African and multiple world champion Zolani Marali passed away yesterday after an incident in the Eastern Cape. He was 44.

Born on 5 May 1977 in Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape he was an outstanding amateur and won the flyweight title at the 1999 South African championships and won a bronze medal at the All-Africa Games in the flyweight class.

Zolani made his pro debut on 25 February 2001 at the Mdantsane Indoor Centre winning on a sixth-round technical knockout over Andile Sota (7-7-4). Continue reading “Former SA and world champion dies at 44”

Promoter Oscar de la Hoya announced on social media that unbeaten lightweight Ryan “Kingry” Garcia is back in action April 9 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Garcia (21-0, 18 KOs) will be fighting for the first time in 15 months against Emmanuel Tagoe (32-1, 15 KOs), who has fought all but two of his bouts in Ghana. DAZN will stream.

Keith Thurman 145.5 vs. Mario Barrios 146.5
Leo Santa Cruz 128.75 vs. Keenan Carbajal 129
Luis Nery 121.75 vs. Carlos Castro 121.5
Jesus Ramos 152.5 vs. Vladimir Hernandez 153.5

Abel Ramos 145.75 vs. Lucas Santamaria 145.5
Ryan Karl 145.5 vs. Omar Juarez 142

Venue: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas
Promoter: PBC
TV: PPV ($74.99), FOX

Carlos Cuadras 114.4 vs. Jesse Rodriguez 114.1
(WBC super flyweight title)

Jamie Mitchell 117.2 vs. Carly Skelly 116.2
(WBA female bantamweight title)

Raymond Ford 126 vs. Edward Vazquez 125.9
Lorenzo Smith 111.5 vs. Fernando Diaz 111
Khalil Coe 179.5 vs. Dylan O’Sullivan 177.9
Elijah Garcia 163.5 vs. Antonio Hernandez 162.5
Adam Stewart 234 vs. Alvin Davis 223.9
Aaron Aponte 139 vs. Louis Jourdain 138.8

Venue: Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN

Junior bantamweight knockout artist David “El General” Cuellar battles Ricardo Blandon in the 10-round main event this Sunday in Cancun, Mexico. Cuellar-Blandon headlines a card that will stream live on ESPN+.

The 20-year-old Cuellar (20-0, 13 KOs) has won five straight fights by knockout, a run that began in November 2019. He went 2-0 in 2021, knocking out Karim Arce Lugo in nine rounds and stopping former world champion Moises Fuentes in the sixth. Blandon (15-4, 9 KOs) has never been knocked out, and two of his defeats have come by split decision. He fought last October, dropping a competitive decision to French prospect Elie Konki in France. Continue reading “ESPN+ adds Sunday boxing telecast”

Undefeated welterweight knockout artist Vergil Ortiz Jr. (18-0, 18 KOs) will clash with WBO #3 ranked Michael “The Problem” McKinson (21-0, 2 KOs) on March 19 in a 12-round fight for the WBO International title at University of Southern California’s Galen Center in downtown Los Angeles and will stream live, worldwide, exclusively on DAZN.

Ortiz is a 10:1 favorite, but McKinson promoter Eddie Hearn likes his man’s chances. “Michael has got the style to beat Vergil, who for me is already a top five welterweight in the world, a brilliant and powerful fighter. There’s only certain styles that can beat him, and Michael has a style to cause Vergil all sorts of problems.”

Ortiz promoter Oscar De La Hoya stated that Vergil is ready to fight against the elite in the division starting with McKinson.

Chris Eubank Jr. 160 vs. Liam Williams 159

Claressa Shields 159 vs. Ema Kozin 159.5
(WBC/WBA/IBF/WBF female middleweight titles)

Otto Wallin 253.5 vs. Kamil Sokolowski 234.5
Julius Indongo 146.5 vs. Chris Jenkins 149
Steve Robinson 242.5 vs. Shane Gill 252
Caroline Dubois 138.4 vs. Vaida Masiokaite 138
Harlem Eubank 141.5 vs. Viorel Simion 139.5
Samuel Antwi 146.5 vs. Conah Walker 146
Rhys Edwards 127 vs. Ruslan Berchuk 125

Note: The boxers did not face-off for the media and fans at this time, they will participate in the face-off at 5pm today at the City Hall, Cardiff, which is open for media and fans to capture the boxers’ as they go face-to-face for the final time.

Venue: Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff, Wales
Promoter: BOXXER
TV: PPV ($29.99) in the US, Sky Sports in the UK

Jono Carroll will face Serif Gurdijeljac in the co-main event on the opening night of Probellum Evolution in Dubai next month. Probellum’s first shows of 2022 take place at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium over consecutive nights, on March 18 and 19. The first night will be headlined by French fighter Estelle Mossely’s IBO world lightweight title match against Argentina’s Yanina del Carmen Lescano, and Carroll’s opponent for the supporting bout has now been confirmed, with Carroll (21-2-1, 6 KOs) set to face Gurdijeljac (21-6, 8 KOs).

The tensions between Russia and Ukraine have prompted former heavyweight champions Viitali Klitscho and Wladimir Klitschko to speak out. Wladimir announced he has enlisted in Ukraine’s reserve army, while Vital, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, warned that there will be a “painful price” for any aggressions.

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Super flyweights Carlos Cuadras and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez came face-to-face for the first time Thursday at a press conference in downtown Phoenix 48 hours before they meet for the vacant WBC world title at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona on Saturday night, live worldwide on DAZN.

Carlos Cuadras: “This is what I desire the most in the world, to be a champion again. Whoever is in my way, it was meant to be Rungvisai but he got sick, so we have Jesse and I am ready. As the fight progresses, you’ll see my experience show. I’ve seen Jesse fight and I know he’s a great fighter, I will be careful but more than anything, I will give him his medicine.”

Jesse Rodriguez: “The size is not a problem. A lot of people are saying that I have to gain weight to go up to 115 pounds, but I walk around at 130 pounds so I have had to lose weight and I’m a big 108-pounder so at 115 pounds it’s just going to be another beautiful performance. This is my moment, I am born to perform and on Saturday night, a star will be born.”