Promoter Eddie Hearn announced that WBC interim heavyweight champion Dillian Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) will be back in the ring on October 30. The bout will take place at the O2 Arena in London and stream on DAZN. Opponent is the notorious TBA. Whyte returns after splitting a pair of fights with Alexander Povetkin.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

WBO 115-pound champion Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15 KOs), 115, Japan, barely kept his belt as he earned a close but unanimous decision over WBO#2 Francisco Rodriguez (34-5-1, 24 KOs), 114, Mexico, over twelve see-saw rounds on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan. There was no audience at the Ota-city General Gymnasium due to the still rampant COVID-19 pandemic that had forced us under a state of emergency for months. The official tallies were as follows: Yuji Fukuchi, Michiaki Someya and Nobuto Ikehara (all of Japan) identical with 116-112 for the defending champ Ioka. The referee was Biney Martin.

For Ioka it was one of the toughest battles in his career, even including a couple of split decision losses to Amnat Ruengroeng and Donnie Nietes. The energetic Mexican, 29, displayed a good start as he caught the champ with looping left hooks that had him retreating to the ropes. Ioka, 32, covered himself well but Rodriguez maintained the pressure to take the initiative in the second and third sessions. Continue reading “Ioka-Rodriguez Full Report”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO #3 Joseph Parker would welcome fights against WBO #2 Joe Joyce or a rematch with WBC #13 Derek Chisora according to Parker’s promoter David Higgins who told Sky Sports: “I think it’s a good time to be ranked #3 with the WBO. Yes, we would fight Joe Joyce…it’s whoever makes sense…I think the Chisora fight was a close fight and they are both household names, so a rematch could make sense there. Continue reading “Higgins: Parker would fight Joyce or Chisora”

It was announced by Boxxer that heavyweights Hughie Fury (25-3, 14 KOs) and Christian Hammer (26-7, 16 KOs) will clash on October 16 at Utilita Arena in Newcastle, England. Also on that card will be welterweight Lewis Ritson (21-2, 12 KOs) vs. TBA, and WBO female middleweight champion Savannah Marshall (10-0, 8 KOs) against Lolita “The Black Diamond” Muzeya (16-0, 8 KO’s). It was also announced that Boxxer has a deal with Salita Promotions to bring Claressa Shields over to the UK later in the year.

Adrian Granados is determined to prove that he is still a major threat on the world scene by becoming the first man to defeat rising welterweight Conor Benn when they collide on the undercard of Mauricio Lara vs. Josh Warrington 2 at Emerald Headingley Stadium in Leeds this Saturday on DAZN.

‘El Tigre’, a 33-fight veteran who is no stranger to boxing’s biggest platforms, will finally lock horns with ‘The Destroyer’ in front of 20,000 fans at the home of Leeds Rhinos this weekend after their Fight Camp meeting was quashed by a positive COVID-19 test, and the 32-year-old Mexican-American believes he is on another level to the opponents Benn has faced up to this point in his career. Continue reading “Granados: I think I’m better than Conor Benn”

By Joe Koizumi

WBO 115-pound champion Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15 KOs), 115, Japan, barely kept his belt as he earned a close but unanimous decision (all 116-112) over WBO #2 Francisco “Chihuas” Rodriguez (34-5-1, 24 KOs), 114, Mexico, over give-and-take rounds on Wednesday in Tokyo, Japan.

(More to come)

The new WBA ratings have been released and it looks like the title reduction plan is working. There are now five divisions with just one champion recognized.

Dimitry Bivol (light heavyweight)
Jermell Carlo (super welterweightght)
Roger Gutierrez (super featherweight)
Naoya Inoue (bantamweight)
Artem Dalakian (flyweight)

Two more divisions will resolve shortly…
 

1. Murodjon Akhmadaliev will become the sole super bantamweight champion later this month, when the regular title is vacated.
2. Gervonta Davis holds the regular titles at lightweight and super lightweight. He will be giving up one belt after his next fight.

There are a whole slew of mandatory title fights and eliminators in the works to get to the goal of one champion per division.

See the new WBA rankings here.

Wasserman Boxing has agreed a multi-fight deal with Boxxer to feature British boxing star Chris Eubank Jr and other fighters from the Wasserman Boxing stable on Sky Sports. The first co-promoted event of this new agreement will take place on October 2 with Chris Eubank Jr (30-2, 22 KOs) headlining at The SSE Arena, Wembley in London against German standout Sven Elbir (18-1, 14 KOs).

Heavyweight Dave Allen (19-5-2, 16 KOs) returned to the ring after almost two years away, stopping Andrea Pesce in two rounds at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge Arena last week. Promoter Dennis Hobson weighed in on Allen’s performance.

“I was pleased with his comeback,” said Hobson. “I wasn’t over-expecting anything from him, but he got the opponent out of there. He’s heavy-handed, exciting to watch, and has plenty of charisma. His opponent wasn’t world class or anything but he was tough and Dave stopped him, whereas others might have struggled to do that. There’s obviously room for improvement, but Dave proved to himself that he still has something. If he works on it then he’ll be a force to be reckoned with again and will win a few titles. I go back a long way with him and love working with him. The next couple of years with him are going to be very interesting.

“Dave Allen needs to win a title. We’ve got to win a title together. We have a connection and I want to win a title with him and get him on my wall of fame!”

By Boxing Bob Newman

They don’t come any nicer than Joey Olivo. The former NABF Light Fly, NABF Fly, USBA Fly and WBA Jr. Flyweight champion, Joey Olivo took time out of his schedule to speak with Fightnews.com®. Olivo discussed how he came up through the tough streets & gangs of L.A., to becoming champion of the world to training youngsters & future world champions at the Norwalk Arts & Sports Complex for the past 29 years.

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By Jeff Zimmerman

WBA super flyweight champ Joshua “The Professor” Franco discussed his trilogy fight with Andrew Moloney, what it’s like training under the guidance of one of boxing’s best trainers in Robert Garcia and the possibility of a dream fight next against the trilogy winner of Chocolatito and Estrada in his hometown of San Antonio plus the rise of younger brother Bam Rodriguez and more in this exclusive Fightnews.com® interview.

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By Bill Green

Carden Combat Sports presents live professional boxing on Saturday from the CHI Event Center Parking Lot D, located in Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha native and former Jr Olympic champion and 5 x Golden Glove champion, Edel Gomez 4-0 with 4 knockouts, out of B&B Boxing Academy will host this year’s annual September Fest event. The 6’2 power punching light heavyweight will face Oklahoma’s Rico “The Hurricane” Cato, who is making his boxing debut, but is no stranger to the fight game as he has 7 pro MMA fights, 1-0 as a kickboxer and quite the reputation as being extremely heavy-handed. Cato stepped in for Gomez’s original opponent Yhorhighness Rezzaq 2-0, out of New Mexico, who tested positive for Covid 19 last week. Continue reading “Nebraska Boxing Card on Saturday”

WBC super featherweight world champion Oscar Valdez has tested for a banned substance in a VADA test. Reportedly, Valdez had Phentermine (a stimulant similar to an amphetamine) in his system. This puts Valdez’ September 10 clash with Robson Conceição in jeopardy.

The WBC announced that pursuant to the WBC Clean Boxing Program protocol, they are…

1) Investigating the matter
2) Appointing an inquiry committee
3) Holding a hearing with Oscar Valdez and his team very soon.

The WBC will make no further comment on the matter until it finishes its due process.

FS1 has added a boxing telecast leading into Sunday’s fight card on FOX. Super middleweight contender Kyrone Davis (15-2-1, 6 KO) will square off against Martez McGregor (8-4, 6 KOs) in an eight or ten round main event. Davis is coming off a draw against two-time super middleweight champion Anthony Dirrell in February.

Also featured are unbeaten prospect Justin Cardona (5-0, 3 KOs) in a six-round super lightweight affair, plus undefeated prospect Travon Marshall (2-0, 1 KO) in a four-round super welterweight bout, and super bantamweight prospect Michael Angeletti (3-0, 2 KOs) looking to remain unbeaten in a four-round duel against undefeated Mexican Alexis Salido (2-0, 1 KO).

The FOX show starts at 8PM ET/5PM PT with super welterweight Jesús “Mono” Ramos Jr. taking on Brian Mendoza. The event takes place at the Armory in Minneapolis.

It’s official. Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring (23-2, 11 KOs) will defend his WBO junior lightweight world title against former featherweight world champion Shakur Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs) on Saturday, October 23 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta in an event promoted by Top Rank.

Nico Ali Walsh (1-0, 1 KO), grandson of “The Greatest,” Muhammad Ali, looks to make it 2 for 2 against an opponent to be named in a four-round middleweight special attraction.

Herring-Stevenson, Ali Walsh’s bout, and a co-feature will air live on ESPN.

The undercard — streaming on ESPN+ — will see U.S. Olympic silver medalist Duke Ragan (4-0, 1 KO) in a six-round featherweight bout, Ragan’s Olympic teammate Troy Isley (2-0, 1 KO) in a six-rounder at middleweight, Georgia native Haven Brady Jr. (3-0, 3 KOs) in a four-round featherweight tilt, and the A-Town debut of junior middleweight prospect Evan “Yung Holy” Holyfield (7-0, 5 KOs), an Atlanta native and the son of heavyweight legend Evander Holyfield. Continue reading “Herring-Stevenson clash Oct 23”

By Joe Koizumi

The WBO junior bantamweight title bout will take place tomorrow (Wednesday) behind closed doors at the Ota-city General Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan. Japanese defending champ Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15 KOs), 32, scaled in at the 115-pound class limit, while Francisco Rodriguez (34-4-1, 24 KOs), 29, Mexico, tipped the beam at 114, a pound under the limit.

Ioka, a four-division titlist making his third defense of the current 115-pound belt, will be a prefight favorite thanks to his impressive stoppage of previously unbeaten three-class champ Kosei Tanaka on New Year’s Eve.

Rodriguez, however, once held the WBO, IBF 105-pound belts before moving up to the junior bantam category, and has scored fifteen victories in a row including eleven stoppages over such ex-titleholders as Hernan Marquez and Oswaldo Novoa, etc. Continue reading “Ioka, Rodriguez Make Weight”

A great performance by women’s P4P Amanda Serrano was marred somewhat by her trainer/brother-in-law Jordon Maldonado, who taunted Serrano’s opponent Yamileth Mercado all during the fight. Mercado said on social media that Maldonado even taunted her as she got in the ambulance.

Gervonta “Tank” Davis has relinquished his WBA super featherweight title. That means with the interim title eliminated and the gold titlist moving into the top 15, the WBA will go from four champions to one (Roger Gutierrez) in the 130lb weight class.

New WBA rankings will be coming out this week. You can expect wholesale changes as the pioneer organization implements its sweeping reforms.

By TMZ.com

Sunday night was the last time Paul will EVER step back in the ring … at least, that’s what he’s saying on Twitter — claiming he’s now a “retired boxer.” Take this with a grain of salt — Paul’s been known to take a page out of Conor McGregor’s book … and who knows how many times that guy’s retired and un-retired?

Then again, there are reports the fight had INSANE Pay-Per-View numbers, which means Paul will get a fat paycheck … but still, the guy’s only 24 and is one of the top paid fighters in the sport.

So … see you soon, Jake?? Continue reading “Jake Paul Claims He’s Retired From Boxing”

Heavy-handed WBC #13 super welterweight Serhii “El Flaco” Bohachuk (19-1, 19 KOs) battles veteran southpaw Raphael “Trouble” Igbokwe (16-2, 7 KOs) on Thursday, September 16 at the Quiet Cannon at the Montebello Country Club in Montebello, California, the new home of the Hollywood Fight Nights series. The card will be streamed by UFC Fight pass. Bohachuk is looking for his second win after his shock loss to Brandon Adams.

Co-featured is light heavyweight Ali Akhmedov (16-1, 12 KOs) clashing with David Zegarra (34-5, 21 KOs) in an eight rounder. Also on the card is light heavyweight Rafayel Simonyan, (9-1, 8 KOs) against Adrian “Montu-Ra” Taylor (11-1, 4 KOs) in an eight-rounder.

The event is presented by Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions and Roy Jones Jr. Boxing in association with World Cup Boxing Series.

By Damon Gonzalez / Latinbox Sports

Super welterweight Harry “Dragon Fly” Cruz (6-2, 2 KO) from Middleburg, FL. stopped Thomas “The Samurai” Turner from Caldwell, ID. at the 1:58 second mark of round three on Saturday night at the St. Petersburg Marriott Clearwater in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Thomas began working Cruz with straight shots backing Cruz up momentarily. Cruz started to get into a rhythm mid-round by pounding Thomas to the body with hard shots on the inside. Turner was dropped twice in the contest. Referee Gene Del Bianco waved off the fight rightfully so after Turner was dropped for the second time. Continue reading “Cruz stops Thomas in St. Petersburg”

Conor Benn has put his Fight Camp disappointment behind him and is now fully focused on stealing the show when he defends his WBA Continental welterweight title against Adrian Granados at Emerald Headingley Stadium in Leeds this Saturday on DAZN.

‘The Destroyer’ was set to headline the first Matchroom Fight Camp event last month before a positive COVID-19 test forced the Essex native to pull out of his clash with Granados on the Thursday of fight week. Continue reading “Benn: I’ve got his number on my worst day”

Some good fights on tap this week.

Great fight on Wednesday in Japan between WBO super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15 KOs) and former minimumweight champ Francisco Rodriguez (34-4, 24 KOs). No U.S. TV as of now.

Saturday on DAZN is the rematch between featherweights Mauricio Lara (23-2, 16 KOs) and Josh Warrington (30-1, 7 KOs), plus welterweight Conor Benn (18-0, 12 KOs) against Adrian Granados (21-8-3, 15 KOs), and undisputed women’s lightweight champion Katie Taylor (18-0, 6 KOs) against Jennifer Han (18-3-1, 1 KO).

Saturday also has a PPV showdown between super lightweight Cletus Seldin (25-1, 21 KOs) and Victor Vazquez (11-5, 5 KOs).

Sunday on FOX is a card topped by super welterweight Jesus “Mono” Ramos Jr. (16-0, 14 KOs) against Brian Mendoza (19-1, 13 KOs).

Say what you will about Jake Paul, but he drew a sold-out crowd of 16,000 fans at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, in addition to a huge SHOWTIME PPV audience for his fight against 39-year-old former UFC Champion Tyron Woodley.

Paul-Woodley and Love-Baranchyk, will air on SHOWTIME this Saturday, September 4. The delayed telecast will be immediately followed by the premiere of All Access: Jake Paul vs. Woodley Epilogue.

Barstool Sports’ two most popular personalities Dave “El Presidente” Portnoy and Dan “Big Cat” Katz hosted betting segments throughout the Paul-Woodley PPV telecast. They made wagers on all five televised fights — and somehow managed to lose every bet all night long.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Australian heavyweight champion Justis Huni (5-0, 4 KOs) has targeted the best European heavyweights according to his promoter Dean Lonergan. “We’d love to have a fight against Derek Chisora, or even a Joe Joyce or a Tony Yoka,” Lonergan told SkySports.

“It’s a perfect launching pad for Justis in the UK. There would be nothing better than him coming off the back of a Commonwealth Gold and doing one, maybe two fights up there as a pro against some big names.”

The Huni camp is also negotiating for a clash against New Zealander Junior Fa, but those talks have seemingly reached an impasse.

After her win Sunday night, WBC/WBO featherweight world champion and women’s P4P Amanda Serrano has her sights set on a future super fight with Ireland’s undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor.

“I want that fight with Katie Taylor in the future,” she said. “First I want to fight the other featherweight champions and become undisputed in my weight class. Then we’ll have two undisputed champions against each other when Katie and I fight.” Continue reading “Serrano: First unification, then Katie Taylor”