The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee sent a communication to the team of the super bantamweight champion Brandon Figueroa to inform them that his WBA super bantamweight title will be vacated once he steps into the ring on September 18 in a unification fight against Stephan Fulton at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Due to WBO restrictions, Figueroa’s WBA title cannot be at stake during that fight. According to WBA Rule C-10 10 “unsanctioned fights”, a WBA champion or an officially recognized contender who participates in a fight without the approval or sanction of the Championships Committee, may lose his title or recognized status.

As a result, Figueroa’s super bantamweight title will be vacant as of September 18.

Joshua Franco was informed by the World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee that he is the next mandatory challenger for the WBA super flyweight super championship. The letter signed by Carlos Chavez, Chairman of the WBA Championships Committee, informs the 115lb champion that he must fight the winner of the Juan Francisco Estrada and challenger Roman Gonzalez for the super flyweight championship, which will take place in the next few months. Continue reading “Franco named mandatory challenger for Gallo/Chocolatito”

Eight-division world champion and Philippine Senator Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and WBA welterweight world champion Yordenis Ugás made their grand arrivals in Las Vegas Tuesday ahead of their FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View showdown this Saturday, August 21 from T-Mobile Arena.

Manny Pacquiao: “I am excited to win another world championship on Saturday. I don’t care who has the belt right now, we’ll see who walks out of the ring with it…This could be my last fight, or there could be more. I’m turning 43 in December, and my plan has always been to just go one fight at a time. I encourage the fans all over the world to watch this fight, because you never know.”

Yordenis Ugas: “I’m here to wreck any future plans Manny Pacquiao has in the ring and make sure that Saturday is his last fight.”

IBF #11, WBO #13, WBA #15 super middleweight Daniele “King Toretto” Scardina (19-0, 15 KOs) continues his hunt for a world title fight when he takes on Juergen Doberstein (26-4-1, 7 KOs) for the WBO Intercontinental title at the Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy on Friday, October 1, with all of the action shown live on DAZN.

In the chief support bout, lightweight Francesco Patera (23-3, 8 KOs) looks to extend his six-fight winning streak against Italian veteran Devis ‘Boom Boom’ Boschiero (48-6-2, 22 KOs) as they battle for the vacant WBO Intercontinental lightweight title. Also,  Nicholas Esponsito (14-0, 5 KOs) puts his Italian welterweight title on the line for the first time against Emanuele Cavallucci (12-4-1, 4 KOs).

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO#1 heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk will cause a major upset on September 25 against WBO, WBA, IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in London according to Usyk’s promoter Alec Krassyuk. “I must say for those who do not see the clear reality that Usyk is a heavyweight – Oleksandr is the same size, weight, reach as his idol, “The Greatest” Muhammed Ali. Can anyone say Ali, the best of all time, was not a true heavyweight? So there is no problem there. If Ali can beat the best at that size, so can Usyk,” Krassyuk told MyBettingSites. Continue reading “Promoter: Usyk is same size as Ali”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Australian boxing is in mourning at the passing of former Sydney promoter John McColl at the age of 76 years on Tuesday. McColl boxed as amateur middleweight and light-heavyweight in the 1960’s holding Victorian and New South Wales novice titles. John promoted the early fights of three-time world champion Jeff Fenech and two-time WBC champion Jeff “ Hitman” Harding at the Marrickville RSL club in the 1980s. McColl. John trained Australian champions Wally Carr and Johnny Layton also nationally rated Steve Dennis, Jeff Peate and Teddy Gray.

By Héctor Villarreal

After all foreign boxers having arrived and passed the medical examination, Sampson Boxing and Best Box held the final press conference for the first show of their Boxeo Caliente series, scheduled for Thursday afternoon at Hotel El Panama.

“First of all, I want to thank the boxers for their seriousness on being very close to their fight weights. Also, thanks to the Panamanian Boxing Commission for having done a great job as always” said promoter Sampson Lewkowicz. “The amateur show, starting 2pm is for us the most important part of the event, not only to help us to discover a new generation of good fighters but to help rescue youngsters them from the streets,” he added. Continue reading “Final Presser for Boxeo Caliente in Panama”

Promoter Lou DiBella announced that Mexican heavyweight prospect Elvis “El Kora” Garcia (11-0, 8 KOs) will take on Joel Shojgreen (10-2, 9 KOs) in an eight-rounder for the WBC Continental Americas bridgerweight title on Friday night at Sycuan Casino Resort in El Cajon, CA. The bout will air on UFC Fightpass. Continue reading “Elvis Garcia takes aim at regional bridger title”

Universum Box Promotion has a good heavyweight title doubleheader this Saturday night at the famed Universum Gym in Hamburg, Germany. In the main event, WBA #13 heavyweight Zhan Kossobutskiy (15-0, 14 KOs) of Kazakhstan faces off against Philadelphia’s Joey “The Tank” Dawejko (21-8-4, 12 KOs) for the WBA International title.

In the co-feature, unbeaten Hamburg-based Cuban heavyweight Jose Larduet (5-0, 4 KOs) takes on Santander Silgado (30-8, 24 KOs) for the vacant WBC Latino title.

Also seeing action is super middleweight Avni Yildrim (21-4, 12 KOs) who looks to end a three-defeat losing streak against Slavisa Simeunovic (37-51, 31 KOs). The two-time world title challenger comes off defeats to Jack Cullen and two world title losses to Saul Alvarez and Anthony Dirrell.

The Championships Committee of the World Boxing Association (WBA) has ordered a fight between WBA super featherweight champion Roger Gutierrez, and interim champion Chris Colbert. A communication was sent to each fighter’s team, granting them 30 days to negotiate as from August 16, ending on September 15.

The WBA C.11 championship rule states that the champion must defend the title against the official challenger every nine months from the date he obtained the belt. In Gutierrez’s case, he won it last January 2 and his term will expire on October 1. Continue reading “WBA orders Gutiérrez-Colbert”

Ring legend Manny Pacquiao and WBA welterweight super champion Yordenis Ugas will be making their grand arrivals today at Toshiba Plaza (3780 S Las Vegas Blvd) at 5:30 pm local time. Masks are required at all events.

WBA featherweight world champion Leigh Wood has signed a multi-fight promotional deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing. Wood (25-2, 15 KOs) stopped Xu Can in the 12th and final round to claim the WBA world title in a big upset at the top of the bill on the first week of Matchroom Fight Camp in Brentwood, Essex last month.

Wood created history by becoming only the second ever boxer from Nottingham to become a world champion – following in the footsteps of former IBF super-middleweight world champion Carl Froch who was watching on from ringside. Continue reading “Matchroom inks WBA champ Leigh Wood”

Update: The opponent for Pedro “Roca” Campa will be Ernesto “Junior” España (31-1-1, 26 KOs).

Promoters Zanfer Boxing and 2M Box Promotions announced a September 28 show featuring super lightweight Pedro “Roca” Campa (32-1-1, 22 KOs) in a ten-rounder against TBA with a limited audience at the Parque La Ruina in Hermosillo, Mexico. Campa is 5-0-1 since his loss to journeyman Carlos Jimenez in 2017.

The co-feature is featherweight Sergio “Chirino” Sánchez (14-1, 8 KOs) facing Alexis Reyes (17-6-1, 7 KOs) in an eight-rounder. In a clash of unbeaten featherweights, Bryan “Latino” Acosta (17-0, 8 KOs) meets Fernando “Masas” Romero (10-0, 9 KOs). Featherweight Saúl Robles (10-1-1, 7 KOs) meets Bryan Antonio Zúñiga (4-3-3, 3 KOs) in a six-rounder. And, super featherweight Jorge “Pilón” Lara (29-2-2, 21 KOs) faces Francisco Gabriel Piña (18-15-7, 7 ko’s) over eight rounds.

IBF light flyweight world champion Felix Alvarado (37-2, 32 KOs) of Nicaragua dominated Israel Vazquez (10-5-2, 7 KOs) of Puerto Rico en route to a non-title first round TKO on Saturday night in Frisco, Texas. Vazquez was a late replacement for the original opponent Erick Lopez who was scheduled to face Alvarado in a world title fight. Alvarado always the true professional moved forward with the change. Despite the bout’s non-title status, Alvarado still weighed in less than the world title fight limit scaling in at 107.5. Fightnews spoke with Alvarado. Continue reading “Felix Alvarado eyes unification next”

By Mauricio Sulaiman
Son of Jose Sulaiman / President of the WBC

This coming Saturday, August 21, Manny Pacquiao will step into the ring in search of a triumphant return. He was scheduled to fight WBC and IBF world champion, undefeated American Errol Spence Jr.

Unfortunately, during the mandatory exams that boxers must undergo, an injury was detected in the retina of Spence’s left eye and he had to undergo surgery, which is going to keep him out of the ring for some time. Now, Pacquiao will face Cuban Yordenis Ugás.

I received an emotional letter from our champion Errol Spence Jr., in which he thanks the World Boxing Council (WBC) for giving him the support to keep him as champion; the easy way out would have been to sanction Pacquiao vs. Ugas for our title. Or also to open an interim, but it was not like that. The WBC ratified support for him, and the medical report was satisfactory, so he will return to the ring as soon as healed and safely possible. Continue reading “Manny Pacquiao and the welterweight division”

By Zach Hirsch

Former boxing contender Julio “The Cuban Lover” Garcia (25-8-2, 11 KOs) makes his Bareknuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) debut this Saturday versus Elvin Brito. The 5 round (BKFC) middleweight bout will take place at the Coast Coliseum, Biloxi, Mississippi. At the peak of his career, Garcia won 14 fights in a row and was an entertaining fighter. He fought multiple times on the Fox and ESPN networks. His last professional fight was in 2018.

Upset specialist and 62-bout veteran boxer Derrick Findley will also make his (BKFC) debut on the same card versus Kaleb Harris. Findley fought a number of notable fighters with respectable losses to future world champions Andre Ward, Andre Dirrell, and Gilberto Ramirez. He also had his share of upsets, defeating prospects Richard Pierson, Donovan George, and knocking out former world title challengers Ronald Hearns, Andrzej Fonfara, and Antuan Echols. Findley last fought in 2019.

The event is Promoted by Bareknuckle Fighting LLC- David Feldman and will be shown on Bare Knuckle TV app bktvapp.com.

Unbeaten super welterweight Jesús “Mono” Ramos Jr. (16-0, 14 KOs) will duel Brian Mendoza (19-1, 13 KOs) in a 10-round showdown that headlines on FOX Sunday, September 5 from The Armory in Minneapolis. Ramos is the nephew of WBA #2, WBC #14 welterweight contender Abel Ramos. Mendoza is coming off a win against Thomas LaManna.

The card also features unbeaten lightweight Starling “El Poli” Castillo (15-0, 12 KOs) battling former title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos (34-5-2, 21 KOs) in the 10-round co-main event, plus WBA #12 middleweight Armando “El Toro” Reséndiz (12-0, 8 KOs) kicks off the broadcast against all-action Marcos “Madman” Hernández (14-4-2, 3 KOs) in a 10-round fight.

Twenty years ago, with only one world title to his name, unknown Manny Pacquiao received a call to fight IBF junior featherweight champion Lehlo Ledwaba on short notice. The rest is history.

“Ugás is in a similar situation,” says Pacquiao. “He was already training for a welterweight title fight on the same card as mine so he too is ready to make the most of this opportunity. I know what Ugás is feeling because twenty years ago I was Ugás. I am not taking him for granted. In fact, I am taking him as seriously as I took Errol Spence. I will not make the same mistake Ledwaba made with me. I still have the same hunger to win. I live for it. I have had a great training camp and I am well-prepared. I want to prove to everyone, especially Yordenis Ugás, that I am still here. My title was given to Ugás. That is not how you become a champion. You earn it by winning it inside the ring. We will fight for the title. That is the proper way a champion is crowned.”

By Hesiquio Balderas

“We fought a few years ago in the PanAm Games and he got the win, he went on to capture the gold medal. He isn’t an easy task, I will be prepared,” said WBC Super Featherweight World Champion Oscar Valdez. “Obviously I see it as a rematch fight. I want to bring the fans excitement and have a great fight. It’s not going to be easy but it’s my time – and time to get revenge against Conceição.”

The fight will take place September 10 at Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona, Valdez’ second home and he will be surrounded by family members and friends. “I will put on a great performance for the fans, I’m willing to die in the ring as I am a warrior. I will give it my all to please the fans!”

FOX is planning a free boxing telecast on Saturday a few hours before the Manny Pacquiao vs. Yordenis Ugás pay-per-view event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The FOX broadcast begins at 3:30 p.m. ET/12:30 p.m. PT and features unbeaten lightweight contender Frank Martin (13-0, 10 KOs) battling Ryan Kielczweski (30-5, 11 KOs) in a 10-round attraction, rising lightweight prospect Jose Valenzuela (8-0, 5 KOs) competing in an eight-round fight against Esteban Sanchez (17-1, 8 KOs) and heavyweight prospect Steven Torres (4-0, 4 KOs) squaring off against Justin Rolfe (6-2-1, 4 KOs).

The 5th class of the Alabama Boxing Hall of Fame held its induction ceremony Saturday at Skyy South Gym in Coffeeville, Alabama. Pictured (L-R) are Pro Boxer inductee Tracy Harris Patterson of Grady, AL (40 miles south of Montgomery), Master Class boxer of the year Dr. Ted Cox, Coffeeville Mayor Dwight Pugh, John Tillman (son of deceased Manager/Trainer/Promoter inductee Jerry Tillman), and Support Personnel Larry Bright. Other inductees included Eric “Butterbean” Esch in the Amateur/Toughman category and old timer Sgt. Sammy Baker. The event featured youth sparring and a fish fry.

By Ron Jackson

One of South Africa’s top boxing officials and fighters Alfred Buqwana died on Tuesday, He Was 79.

Many boxing fans remember Alfred Buqwana as an excellent referee and judge, but it could be forgotten that he had an outstanding professional career as a featherweight from 1962 to 1975. Continue reading “Former fighter and official Alfred Buqwana dies”

Pro boxing returned to Worcester, Massachusetts last night as Rivera Promotions Entertainment (RPE) and Shearns Boxing Promotions presented “New England’s Future VII” at the famed Palladium.

Undefeated heavyweight Cassius “C.O.G.” Chaney (21-0, 14 KOs), promoted by Maun Events, won a 10-round unanimous decision over game Shawndell Terell Winters (13-6, 12 KOs), a former NABA heavyweight champion, in the main event.Neither fighter was hurt during the fight, although three consecutive rights from Chaney in the third round did buzz Winters.

Popular Hartford fighter Richie “Popeye The Sailor” Rivera, promoted by Star Boxing, rolled to his 20th career victory without a loss, stopping Ernesto “Gatti” Berrospe Rivas (11-18, 6 KOs). All it took was one powerful right to the Mexican’s body, which came at the 2:16 mark of round one. The powerful Rivera, who is a former UBF light heavyweight and ABF Continental Americas cruiserweight champion, added the vacant NBA Intercontinental cruiserweight strap to the collection. Continue reading “Chaney, Rivera victorious in Worcester”

By Bob Caico

Gerffred Ngayot and Alex Castellano of Buffalo won their 4-round bouts in Erie PA Saturday night. Ngayot who trains at the Buffalo Boxing Club improved to 4-0 scoring his 3rd KO over David Boria (0-2). Castellano of Victory Boxing raised his record to 5-1 with a unanimous decision win from Deron Smith (0-6-2). Continue reading “Results from Erie, PA”