Two huge fight cards this weekend, happily not going head-to-head like last Saturday night.

Saturday night in Las Vegas on DAZN, we have WBC lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) taking on WBC interim titleholder JoJo Diaz (32-1-1, 15 KOs). The fighters have been going at it on social media, so this is shaping up to be a good one.

Sunday night in Los Angeles on Showtime PPV, Gervonta “Tank” Davis (26-0, 25 KOs) defends against Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs).

Haney is a 6:1 favorite, and Davis is a whopping 14:1 favorite, however, both Diaz and Cruz are considered live ‘dogs so these should be good fights. Undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos is expected to be on hand at both fights. Continue reading “Fight Week”

The WBC has been working with the WBO, IBF and WBA to try to address important topics together, especially the mandatory rules for champions who hold two or more championship belts. That is an ongoing process between the four organizations. The goals are to begin 2023 with a single procedure to establish mandatory bouts, and to design an elimination system to manage together the organizations’ mandatories in cases of champions of more than one organization.

The WBC Board of Governors approved addressing the mandatory rules within the WBC to protect the integrity of boxing, and to provide the best fights to the fans and the industry informed promoters, managers, and broadcasters that they have initiated a process to establish the mandatory fights for unified and undisputed champions. Continue reading “WBC Mandatory Fights Update”

By Joe Koizumi

Japanese 130-pounder Kenichi Ogawa’s IBF coronation warmed all the hearts of our aficionados. Ogawa (26-1-1-1NC, 18 KOs), 33, had a rollercoasting career and displayed a four-year perseverance caused by his unfortunate forfeiture of the once-acquired but later stripped IBF belt. It was in December 2017 that the hard-punching Japanese, formerly a nippon-kempo (a sort of karate) specialist at Meiji university, temporarily won the vacant IBF junior light belt by edging Tevin Farmer by a hairline split decision (116-112, 115-113, 112-116) in Las Vegas. Ogawa, however, tested positive for Androstanedior, and Teiken Promotions strongly and persistently denied his intake of any forbidden drug by submitting a lot of proofs, but in vain. The Nevada State Athletic Commission, four months later–in April 2018, reversed it into a no contest, and the IBF eventually denied Ogawa’s belt and declared it vacant again. Pitifully, Kenichi was fined twenty percent of his purse, and was suspended for six month by the NSAC. The Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) followed the verdict and also suspended him for a year from his Farmer bout. Continue reading “Ogawa’s coronation warms Japan’s heart”

The long-awaited showdown between British welterweight standouts Amir Khan and Kell Brook was formally announced at a press conference in London today. The fight will take place Saturday, February 19 at the AO Arena Manchester and will air live and exclusively in the UK on Sky Sports Box Office. Khan and Brook came face-to-face today when they squared off following the packed-out press conference.

“You’ve never acknowledged me. I’ve heard you saying ‘Who is Kell Brook?’ I know you know who I am. I can’t want to spark you. I am going to retire you.”
-Kell Brook

“I am coming levels down. The people want to see this fight, the people want to see me punch him in the face. It’s time to put him in his place and hopefully move on to bigger and better things.”
-Amir Khan

More quotes…

The rematch of the unofficial 2021 New England Fight of the Year will headline the December 18th “New England Future VIII” event, presented by Rivera Promotions Entertainment (RPE) at Webster Town Hall in Webster, Massachusetts. Super lightweights Wilfredo “El Sucaro” Pagan (6-1-1, 3 KOs) and Carlos Marrero, III (2-6-2), fought to an entertaining six-round split draw this past August 14th in Worcester (MA). This is Webster’s first professional boxing event in 27 years. Continue reading “Pagan-Marrero rematch set”

Bitter rivals Amir Khan and Kell Brook will finally enter the ring on February 19 to square off in one of the most highly-anticipated encounters in British boxing history. BOXXER and Sky Sports will formally announce the fight at a press conference in London this afternoon, with the news set to delight boxing fans who have clamored to see the two antagonists do battle for nearly a decade. The long-awaited encounter will take place at the AO Arena in Manchester.

“Khan and Brook are icons of the sport in Britain and this will be an iconic encounter. Their rivalry has simmered for years, they are still by far the best welterweights in the country and the eyes of the world will be on them when they square off in February to finally settle the question about which of them is the better man,” said Ben Shalom, BOXXER’s founder and CEO. Continue reading “Khan-Brook finally clash on Feb 19”

By Boxing Bob Newman

At the recent WBC convention in Mexico City, it was announced the undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez would move up two weight divisions to challenge WBC Cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu in a history-making fight. This prompted another move- to allow for an interim WBC super middleweight title fight between WBC mandatory challenger and former two-time WBC champion, David Benavidez and likely, the #2 ranked David Lemieux. Although Lemieux was not named specifically by the WBC board of directors, it seemed logical due to his #2 ranking.

Sources close to this situation say that Sampson Lewkowicz, promoter of Benavidez and Camille Estephan, promoter of Lemieux, have reached a stalemate at this point in their negotiations, to make the match. Continue reading “Benavidez, Lemieux, Jermall Charlo in mix for WBC interim super middle title”

40-year-old journeyman Mike Guy (13-7-1, 6 KOs) ended a two-year drought Saturday night and surprisingly won the vacant WBC USNBC super middleweight title at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, with a ninth-round knockout win over Kendrick Ball Jr. (17-2-2, 11 KOs), headlining an eight-fight card promoted by CES Boxing.

The 5’8 Guy entered as the underdog against the 6’2 Ball, but once the bell rang Ball was no match for Guy’s aggressive, come-forward approach; Guy had little trouble working his way to the inside and eluding Ball’s jab, dropping Ball with a hard, overhand right in the opening round. Guy continued the onslaught in rounds three and four, though Ball did a better job defensively by not absorbing as much damage. Continue reading “Mike Guy wins USNBC super middle title”

WBO/WBC super bantamweight world champion Stephen Fulton Jr. and former champ Brandon Figueroa discussed their all-action unification clash in Las Vegas.

“It was the robbery of the year,” said Figueroa. “The fans who watched this live know who won. I always come to fight and I did that all night…I hurt him like five or six times. I put the pressure on for the whole 12 rounds, landed the cleaner shots and hurt him. I thought I only lost four rounds at the most.”

“It was an amazing experience,” said Fulton. “The judges made their decision and we can run it back. I was catching him in between every shot he was throwing. He was making it sloppy and rough. I was landing a lot of clean shots. He was throwing wild shots that the fans were enjoying, but he was hitting my arms a lot.”

By Jeff Zimmerman

Triad Combat post-fight presser with host Ray Flores and Team Captain’s Shannon “Let’s Go Champ” Briggs and “Rampage” Jackson plus the main event winner and former heavyweight boxing contender Kurat Pulev.

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“Helluva fighter, but I won tonight man. Everybody knows that,” stated former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez after being dethroned by George Kambosos Saturday night.

“The referee raised my hand. I won tonight. I don’t care what anybody says, yo. I won tonight. At the end of the day I’ve been here, I’ve done that. I want to thank God. I want to thank everybody that came out tonight. Look. I ain’t no sore loser. I take my wins, I can take my losses. I’m a true champion. I came out here. I did what I had to do, and I went out there and I did my best. I don’t care what anybody says man. I am as real as they come. This is ‘the takeover’ man. We don’t stop. We keep coming. Yo. I love you all. I won this fight.

“You know what man? I know what it is. I know how these people work. The referee knew I won tonight. Everybody knew I won tonight and I’m just thankful…I don’t believe it was a close fight at all. At the end, I scored it 10-2!”

In an action-packed super bantamweight unification clash, undefeated WBO champion Stephen “Cool Boy Steph” Fulton Jr. (20-0, 8 KOs) took a twelve round majority decision over previously unbeaten WBC champion Brandon “Heartbreaker” Figueroa (22-1-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday night inside Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas.

It was rock’em, sock’em robots as both boxers traded punches non-stop the entire fight. It was Figueroa’s activity (1,060 punches thrown) against Fulton’s accuracy (37% connect rate) and judges scored it 114-114, 116-112, 116-112 for Fulton. Rematch please.

In a huge upset, George ‘Ferocious’ Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 KOs) won a twelve round split decision over undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo ‘The Takeover’ Lopez (16-1 12 KOs) and seized his WBA, IBF, WBO, and WBC franchise on Saturday night at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Kambosos dropped Lopez with a big right hand at the end of round one and largely outboxed Lopez until round nine, which Lopez clearly won.

Lopez knocked down Kambosos in round ten, but Kambosos survived. Kambosos rebounded in round eleven. In the end, scores were 115-111, 115-112 Kambosos, 114-113 Lopez.

Unbeaten super bantamweight contender Ra’eese Aleem (19-0, 12 KOs) scored a ten round majority decision over Eduardo Baez (20-2-2, 7 KOs) in the Fulton-Figueroa co-feature on Saturday night inside Dolby Live at Park MGM in Las Vegas. Scores were 95-95, 96-94, 98-92.

Unbeaten bantamweight Gary Antonio Russell (19-0, 12 KOs) had his hands full with Alexandro Santiago (24-3-5, 13 KOs). It was all out war for ten rounds with Russell taking a razor-thin majority decision. Scores were 95-95, 96-94, 96-94.

In a clash for the vacant IBF super featherweight title, Kenichi Ogawa (26-1-1, 28 KOs) won a brutal twelve round unanimous decision over Azinga Fuzile (15-2, 9 KOs) on Saturday night in the Lopez-Kambosos co-feature at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Ogawa dropped Fuzile hard in round five, but Fuzile survived. Ogawa dropped Fuzile twice in round twelve to punctuate a 115-110, 115-110, 114-111 victory.

By Jeff Zimmerman at triadside

In the main event of the inaugural Triad Combat, former heavyweight boxing world title contender Kubrat Pulev stopped former 2X UFC heavyweight champ on his feet in the first round at Globe Life Park in Arlington, TX, in front of 20K plus raucous fans that included a concert from heavy metal band Metallica. Team Rampage won 14-11 over Team Shannon.

Pulev showed he was clearly better on his feet than the Brazilian jiujitsu specialist Mir as he landed early to the head and body of Mir. Mir showed good movement and even got Pulez in a clinch, but soon after Pulev was able to get Mir off him. And with one second left in round one of the scheduled 9, Pulev landed an overhand right that was quickly followed up by a left hook that sent Mir to the ropes as he appeared to be out on his feet. Referee Dan Miragliotta looked at Mir closely and waved it off with Mir still standing. Continue reading “Pulev crushes Mir in Triad fight”

Unbeaten 6’6 heavyweight Zhilei “The Big Bang” Zhang (23-0-1, 18 KOs) scored a second round TKO over journeyman Craig Lewis (14-5-1 8 KOs) on Saturday night on the Lopez-Kambosos undercard at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Zhang, 38, dropped Lewis twice in round two and the bout was stopped. Time was 2:10.

Unbeaten featherweight Raymond Ford (10-0-1, 6 KOs) dominated and stopped Felix Caraballo (13-4-2 9 KOs) in round eight. The ref waved it off at 2:10.

Other Results:
Ramla Ali W4 Isela Vera (super bantamweight)
Christina Cruz W6 Maryguenn Vellinga (flyweight)
Anthony Herrera TKO2 Jonathan Herrera (bantamweight)

By Jeff Zimmerman

MMA legend Vitor Belfort talks about the new TRIAD COMBAT format tonight as part of Triller Fight Club, the fallout of the Oscar De La Hoya fight due to Covid, evening the playing field between boxing and MMA, and much more in this Fightnews.com® exclusive at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.

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By Ron Jackson

In one of the poorest decisions in the South African ring in recent years Ayanda Ndulani retained the IBO minimumweight belt on a split decision over Siphamandla Baleni at the International Convention Centre in East London on Saturday night. Judges Tony Nyangiwe and Simphiwe Mbini scored it 117-111 and 116-112 for Nduleni and judge Lulama Mtya handed in a card of 118-114 in favor of Baleni.

In a poor fight with holding and pushing and numerous warnings from the referee Alan Matekane, Baleni crowded the champion who was unable to keep the shorter and busier challenger on the outside throughout the fight. After very little action in the first round with the champion possibly shading it, the fight developed into a mauling affair with the better scoring punches coming from the challenger.

Ndulani (47.50kg) improved his record to 12-2-1, 4 KOs, and Baleni’s record dropped to 18-4-2, 6 KOs. Continue reading “Ndulani retains IBO belt with disputed decision”

The highly-anticipated clash between Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Williams has been rescheduled to January 29th at the Motorpoint Arena Cardiff.

Originally scheduled for December 11, the bout – presented by BOXXER and Sky Sports Boxing, in association with Wasserman Boxing – moves to the new year as a result of Williams aggravating the shoulder injury sustained during his world title fight against Demetrius Andrade in April.

Following a series of scans and consultations with medical experts, Williams has been advised that the flare-up can be treated without surgery and that the bout can take place at the end of January. Continue reading “Eubank-Williams pushed back to Jan 29”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Naoki Fukuda

Japanese 154-pound champ Hironobu Matsunaga (20-1, 13 KOs), 155.25, engaged in a non-title go with former welter ruler Ryota Yada (20-8, 17 KOs), 152.25, and lopsidedly battered him en route to a well-received stoppage at 2:49 of the sixth round in a scheduled eight on Friday in Tokyo, Japan. Matsunaga, a stout-built southpaw bulldozer, kept whipping the ex-champ from the outset, weakened him in every round and finally accelerated his attack to prompt the referee’s intervention. The victor Matsunaga said he would renounce his national belt, while the loser Yada announced to call it quits. Continue reading “Matsunaga halts Yada in six”

WBA female featherweight champion Erika Cruz (14-1, 3 KOs) won a ten round split decision over Melissa Esquivel (12-2-1, 4 KOs) to retain her world title on Friday night at the International Convention Center in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. Scores were 97-93 Esquivel, 97-93, 98-92 Cruz..

NABO lightweight titleholder Angel Fierro (19-1, 15 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO over Cristian Bielma (18-4-1, 7 KOs). The free-swinging Fierro cracked Biela with a massive overhand right in round four. Bielma turned his back and the bout was immediately stopped. Time was 2:08. WBO #8 Fierro is trained by Erik Morales.

In a clash of unbeaten super middleweights, Aaron Silva (9-0, 6 KOs) scored an eight round unanimous decision over Raul Salomon (8-1, 8 KOs). Scores were 77-75, 78-73, 78-74. Silva scored a knockdown in round three.

Super lightweight Gabriel Gollaz Valenzuela (24-2-1, KOs) stopped Juan Jimenez (30-20-3, 20 KOs) at 1:59 of the first round.

Mark Dawson Jr. 145.8 vs. Paul Kroll 150
Isaiah Johnson 139.5 vs. Anthony Young 141.5
Rashan Adams 130 vs. Deo Kizito 132
Derek Starling 269.5 vs. Darryl Clark 241.5
LaQuan Evans 156.5 vs. Eliezer Olmeda 155.5
Temirlan Raimkulov 159 vs. Kareem Gladney 162.5

Venue: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia
Promoter: RDR Promotions
1st Bell: 7 pm ET
Stream: BXNGTV,com

Makabu-Mchunu collide; winner gets Alvarez

The world’s greatest boxing promoter, Don King, will return to his home state of Ohio on January 29, as he presents a world championship fight pitting WBC cruiserweight champion Ilunga Junior Makabu (28-2 with 25 KOs) and the number one challenger, WBC silver champion Thabiso Mchunu (23-5, 13 KOs) at the W.D. Packard Music Hall in Warren, Ohio.

In addition to Makabus-Mchunu, a special 10-round heavyweight sensational attraction will pit undefeated Jonathan Guidry (18-0-2, 10 KOs) against Alonzo Butler (34-3-2, 25 KOs).

King, who represents Makabu, came to an agreement with Mchunu’s representatives on the 12-round world championship fight, and the winner will advance to fight Mexico’s great champion Canelo Alvarez in the month of May. Alvarez will be ringside to see who his next opponent will be. Continue reading “Canelo Bowl set for January 29”

Brandon Figueroa 121.75 vs. Stephen Fulton 121.75
(WBC/WBO super bantamweight unification)

Raeese Aleem 121.75 vs. Eduardo Baez 121.5
Gary Antonio Russell 117.5 vs. Alexandro Santiago 118

Venue: Park Theater, Las Vegas
Promoter: TGB Promotions
TV: Showtime