Manny Pacquiao is a big favorite over Yordenis Ugas after Errol Spence had to back out of the fight.

Yordenis Ugas vs Manny Pacquiao
Yordenis Ugas +275 (11/4)
Manny Pacquiao -350 (2/7)

Odds courtesy of BetOnline.ag

By Jeff Zimmerman

Fightnews.com® caught up with former 2x world champ Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero as he prepares to face former welterweight titlist Victor “Vicious” Ortiz on Saturday, Aug. 21 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and live on FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View in the new co-main event.

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Eight-division world champion and Philippine Senator Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and WBA Welterweight World Champion Yordenis Ugás previewed their championship showdown during a virtual press conference on Wednesday before they meet in the FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View main event Saturday, August 21 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Ugás steps up to replace Errol Spence Jr. in the main event, as Spence recovers from an eye injury. Ugás had been preparing to make his first title defense in the co-main event and will now face the boxing legend Pacquiao in a career-defining fight, defending the same title that Pacquiao won when he defeated Keith Thurman in his last fight July 2019.

Here is what the fighters had to say Wednesday: Continue reading “Pacquiao-Ugas Virtual Press Conference”

Unified Welterweight Champion Errol Spence, Jr. was forced to withdraw from his blockbuster FOX Sports PBC Pay-Per-View showdown with eight-division and former welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on Saturday, August 21 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas due to a retinal tear in his left eye.

WBA Welterweight Champion Yordenis Ugas will step up to replace Spence and will defend his title against Pacquiao, who won that title when he defeated Keith Thurman in his last fight July 2019. Ugas was preparing to make his first title defense against Fabian Maidana in the co-feature of the Spence-Pacquiao card. Being elevated to the main event against boxing legend Pacquiao means Ugas will get a career-defining fight sooner rather than later.

Spence discovered that he had a torn retina during a pre-fight medical examination in Las Vegas.

WBO bantamweight world champion John Riel Casimero will look to score a career-best victory and successfully defend his 118-pound title for the second time when he faces two-division champion Guillermo Rigondeaux this Saturday live on SHOWTIME from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

“I know that I can make this an easy fight for myself,” said Casimero. “I want him to have some guts and be the exciting fighter he’s shown recently. It will be better for the fans and it will really prove who is the best. A win over Rigondeaux will solidify me as one of, if not the best, fighter in the bantamweight division. My goal is to take care of business on Saturday night, then go after the scared Nonito Donaire.”

Kid Galahad has signed a multi-fight promotional deal with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing. The Sheffield star (28-1, 17 KOs) turned in a superb performance on Saturday as he clinically stopped Liverpool’s Jazza Dickens in eleven rounds to claim the vacant IBF crown at the top of the bill on Fight Camp Week 2.

Trained by Dominic Ingle out of the famous Ingle Gym, Britain’s latest World Champion is targeting supremacy at 126lbs, and has already called for unification fights with the likes of WBC ruler Gary Russell Jr. and WBO Champion Emanuel Navarrete.

“We’ve been working closely with Kid for some years now but it’s great to make it official and sign a multi-fight deal at this exciting stage of his career,” said Matchroom Sport Chairman Eddie Hearn. “His performance on Saturday was faultless and stands him as one of the seven British world champions in boxing right now. I’m looking forward to the future and seeing him in some big unification fights.”

By David Finger

Small club shows at places like Club La Sierra in Hobbs, New Mexico are not the sort of venues where you end up seeing the boxing equivalent of a number one draft pick. If the sport of boxing had a Trevor Lawrence or a Joe Burrow, odds are they would be making their professional debut in Las Vegas on the undercard of a Canelo Alvarez or Manny Pacquiao fight, and not at a local boxing show like the one thrown by local promoter Isidro Castillo on Saturday night. Continue reading “Gonzalez blasts Luna in two”

By Joe Koizumi

The Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, came to an end yesterday (Sunday) with some 11,000 athletes participating from 205 countries.

We watched good losers as well as good winners therein. The Olympic Games provided us with entertainment, excitement and enjoyment. All games, however, were held with no audience in the empty arenas or stadiums.

The IOC and our Japanese government describe the Games as successful, but how can we say successful under such circumstances that we, despite being a host country, couldn’t even witness the games directly at the venues?

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic was developing worse day after day with more than 5,000 newly infected patients in Tokyo last Thursday. The Games, from July 23 through August 8, all took place amid a state of emergency in Tokyo with all the athletes actually confined in the “bubble.” We truly enjoyed the Olympic Games but must take care of ourselves to avoid the fifth wave of the pandemic with more people getting vaccinated.

“Manny isn’t training this hard to say goodbye. It’s to prove he’s still here!”

Eight-division world champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao has no use for a rearview mirror, at least when it comes to his illustrious boxing career, so says his Hall of Fame trainer of 20 years, world-famous Freddie Roach. Today Manny, 42, begins his final week of training camp, at Hollywood, California-based Wild Card Boxing Club, for his August 21 challenge of undefeated unified WBC/IBF welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr. Continue reading “Roach: PAC-Spence not a goodbye fight”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO light middleweight champion Brian Castano would welcome defending the world 154 pound title against WBO#1 light middleweight Tim Tszyu in Australia if he is offered $10 million.

“If they have the $10 million, I will go to Australia swimming from Argentina and beat him in his own backyard, then take a flight back,” Castano told the Daily Telegraph. Continue reading “Castano: I’d swim to Australia to fight Tszyu”

Former IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. has pleaded not guilty to assaulting a female worker at Bucks Rack City strip club in North Toledo, Ohio. According to police, Easter allegedly punched the 28-year-old woman, who lost consciousness, suffered a split lip and a chipped tooth.

Men

Super Heavyweight
Gold: Bakhodir Jalolov (Uzbekistan)
Silver: Richard Torrez Jr. (USA)
Bronze: Kamshybek Kunkabayev (Kazakhstan), Frazer Clarke (GB)

Heavyweight
Gold: Julio La Cruz (Cuba)
Silver: Muslim Gadzhimagomedov (Russia)
Bronze: David Nyika (NZ), Abner Teixeira (Brazil)

Light Heavyweight
Gold: Arlen Lopez (Cuba)
Silver: Benjamin Whittaker (GB)
Bronze: Alphonso Dominguez (Azerbaijan), Imam Khataev (Russia)

Middleweight
Gold: Herbert Sousa (Brazil)
Silver: Oleksandr Khyzhniak (Ukraine)
Bronze: Eumir Marcial (Philippines), Gleb Bakshi (Russia)

Welterweight
Gold: Roniel Iglesias (Cuba)
Silver: Pat McCormack (GB)
Bronze: Andrej Zamkovoi (Russia), Aiden Walsh (Ireland)

Lightweight
Gold: Andy Cruz (Cuba)
Silver: Keyshawn Davis (USA)
Bronze: Harry Garside (Australia), Hovhannes Bachkov (Armenia)

Featherweight
Gold: Albert Batyrgaziev (Russia)
Silver: Duke Ragan (USA)
Bronze: Samuel Takyi (Ghana), Lazaro Alvarez (Cuba)

Flyweight
Gold: Galla Yafai (GB)
Silver: Carlo Paalam (Philippines)
Bronze: Ryomei Tanaka (Japan), Saken Bibossinov (Kazakhstan)

Women

Middleweight
Gold: Lauren Price (GB)
Silver: Li Qian (China)
Bronze: Nouchka Fontijn (Holland), Zenfira Magomedalieva (Russia)

Welterweight
Gold: Busenaz Surmeneli (Turkey)
Silver: Hong Gu (China)
Bronze: Oshae Jones (USA), Lovlina Borgohain (India)

Lightweight
Gold: Kellie Anne Harrington (Ireland)
Silver: Beatriz Ferreira (Brazil)
Bronze: Sudaporn Seesondee (Thailand), Mira Potkonen (Finland)

Featherweight
Gold: Sena Irie (Japan)
Silver: Nesthy Petecio (Philippines)
Bronze: Karris Artingstall (Australia), Irma Testa (Italy)

Flyweight
Gold: Stoyka Krasteva (Bulgaria)
Silver: Buse Cakiroglu (Turkey)
Bronze: Hsiao-Wen Huang (Taiwan), Tsukimi Namiki (Japan)

In the final bout of the Tokyo Olympics, USA super heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr lost a unanimous decision to Bakhodir Jalolov of Uzbekistan on Sunday in the Kokugikan Arena. Torrez won round one on three of the five cards. In round two, Torrez was deducted a point, plus was given an eight-count. Torrez needed a KO in the last round, but couldn’t get it. Torrez wins the silver. Three of the five USA men’s boxers won silver medals.

USA lightweight Keyshawn Davis dropped a close split decision to Cuban Andy Cruz in the gold medal match on Sunday in the Kokugikan Arena on the last day of the Tokyo Olympics. The bout was all even going into the last round which all five judges gave to Cruz. Davis gets the silver medal. Cuba secured its fourth boxing gold medal.

In a clash for the vacant WBA welterweight title, unbeaten Gabriel “Captain” Maestre (4-0, 3 KOs) took a close twelve round unanimous decision over 6’4 late sub Mykal Fox (22-3, 5 KOs) on Saturday night at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Maestre was able to recover from an early knockdown in round two that Fox scored with a blistering counter left hand that Maestre never saw coming.

“When I was knocked down, I didn’t see the punch coming,” said Maestre. “He didn’t really hurt me though so it was no problem to get up and keep going.” Continue reading “Maestre wins WBA interim welterweight title”

Prospect Robin “Grave Digger” Ellis (4-0, 4 KOs) stopped local journeyman Jorge Ballestros (4-20-3, 3 KOs) in round 2 of their scheduled for 8 round featherweight bout. The bout took place at the Gym Boxeo San Antonio de Palmito, in Sucre, Colombia. Ellis was aggressive from the start versus the more experienced Ballestros. The “Grave Digger” displayed his hand speed connecting with a variety of punishing rapid combinations to the head and body. Ballestros was game but the three minute onslaught of these punches had taken its toll and he did not answer the bell for round 2.

It was the second knockout for Ellis in 7 days having stopped former world title challenger Luis Carillo (18-18-1, 16 KOs) last Saturday at the Yolimar Hostal and Camping in Tolu, Sucre, Colombia. Ellis of Jamaican descent is from New York but resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is trained by Jeff Mayweather and managed by Andy Kim.

In an all-British clash for the vacant IBF featherweight title, Kid Galahad (28-1, 17 KOs) punished Jazza Dickens (30-4, 11 KOs) until the bout was stopped at the end of round eleven on Saturday night at Matchroom HQ in Brentwood, Essex, England. It was a savage beatdown.

Heavyweight Fabio Wardley (12-0, 11 KOs) defended his English title with a first round KO against Nick Webb (17-3, 13 KOs). Webb got off to a good start, but Wardley turned the tables and battered Webb to the deck at 2:30 to end it.

Popular heavyweight Alen “The Savage” Babic (8-0, 8 KOs) won by fifth round TKO against granite-jawed Mark Bennett (7-2, 1 KO). Babic, who gave up 62 pounds, punished Bennett the entire fight. The bout was finally stopped after round five.

Heavyweight Johnny Fisher (3-0, 3 KOs) kayoed Danny Whitaker (4-4, 0 KOs) in round two. Three knockdowns. Time was 1:08.

Popular Australian female bantamweight Ebanie Bridges (6-1, 3 KOs) returned to the UK to stop Bec Connolly (3-10, 0 KOs) in three rounds. Bridges dropped Connolly in round three and the bout was stopped moments later. Time was 1:22.

Courtesy Jim Jenkins, Sacramento Bee

Even without marquee participants, Sacramento’s once-robust boxing persona still has a pulse. Little formal advertising was needed for fight-starved fans, after a pandemic, to overflow a 1,000-plus-seat hotel venue Friday night.

Local welterweight David Melgoza (6-1), however, couldn’t completely sate their appetite, losing the main event by majority decision to Elias Diaz (11-0) of San Diego. The judges’ scores in the eight-round, no-knockdown match between unbeatens were 76-76, 78-74 and a puzzling 80-72 favoring Diaz, stronger in the home stretch. Continue reading “Sacramento Boxing Rebounds”

Men’s gold medal matches from Kokugikan Arena.

In the men’s flyweight final, Great Britain’s Galal Yafai took a 4-1 split decision over Carlo Paalam of the Philippines. Gold medalist Yafai is the younger brother of former world champion Kal Yafai and former Euro champ Gamal Yafai.

In the men’s middleweight final, Ukrainian Oleksandr Khyzhniak dominated Brazilian Hebert Sousa for two and a half rounds, then Sousa detonated an explosive left hook to the jaw that dropped Khyzhniak. He got up wobbly and the bout was halted. Dramatic come-from-behind KO finish.

Weights for Saturday night’s Jeter Promotions card at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.

Brandon Chambers 123.6 vs. Donald Stewart 127
Thyler Williams 141.2 vs. Jordan Morales 141.9
AJ Williams 166 vs. Ricardo Barrerril 165
John Leonard 125.9 vs. Jalen Woodmoe 119.8
Naheem Parker 138.8 vs. Joshua Zimmerman 138.2
Jaqeem Hutcherson 122.1 vs. Elie Charles 122.5
Matthew Castro 150.3 vs. McArio DelCastillo 153.4
Evan Harker 147 vs. Alvin Scott 154.7
Steve Moore 143.8 vs. Antonio Allen 146.1

Promoter: Jeter Promotions
Venue: 2300 Arena
First Bell: 7:00 PM ET (Doors 6:00 PM)
Stream: Flo Combat

By David Finger

Boxing fans in New Mexico have suffered mightily under the Covid-19 pandemic, with almost no shows or events in the Land of Enchantment for the last year. But things are slowly starting to return to normal in the squared circle, and tomorrow night boxing fans will get a chance to see two of Southeast New Mexico‘s hottest prospects square off in an exciting card promoted by Isidro Castillo and School of Hard Knocks Promotions. The ten fight card will take place at Club La Sierra in Hobbs, New Mexico Saturday night (August 7th) with the first fight set to kick off at 6:15 PM. Continue reading “Boxing returns to New Mexico Saturday night in Hobbs”

Unbeaten featherweight Michael “Mick” Conlan (16-0, 8 KOs) claimed the WBA interim featherweight title with a twelve round unanimous decision over former junior featherweight world champion TJ Doheny (22-3, 16 KOs) on Friday at Falls Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Conlan dropped Doheny with a body shot in round five. Scores were 119-108, 116-111, 116-111.

“As Senator Pacquiao correctly said after this lawsuit was filed in June, he has an absolute right to participate in the August 21 bout with Errol Spence. Today the Court agreed and resoundingly rejected Paradigm’s injunction publicity stunt in a strong and detailed decision. Senator Pacquiao looks forward to his bout with Mr. Spence on August 21.”

Dale Kinsella
Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump Holley LLP

Gabriel Maestre 146 vs. Mykal Fox 146.4
(WBA interim welterweight title)

Eimantas Stanionis 148.6 vs. Luis Collazo 148.8
Devon Alexander 154 vs. Lucas Santamaria 148.6
Petr Khamukov 166.6 vs. Marco Delgado 166.8
Ryan Karl 144.8 vs. Edgar Ramirez 144.8
Joahnys Argilagos 117.6 vs. Luis Javier Valdes 120
Breeon Carothers 135.6 vs. Phillip Percy 135.8

Venue: The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Promoter: TGB Promotions
TV: FOX

The World Boxing Council represented by its President, Mauricio Sulaiman from Mexico and WBC Middleweight Champion, Jermall Charlo along with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation represented by its Chairman, Rick Figueroa, met The Governor of the State of Texas, Honorable Greg Abbott yesterday at the State Capitol in Austin Texas.

The WBC Awarded Governor Abbott the Award “Hero for Humanity” recognizing his exemplary dedication and performance during the Covid 19 Pandemic which has hurt the world at all levels possible and imaginable.

“It was during the darkest times when the leadership of Governor Abbott rose to take actions which paved the way to the activation of the State, the country and the world in specific scenarios like the sport of boxing, it is my great honor to present this award on behalf of all the members of The WBC representing 170 countries of the world,” said Sulaiman. Continue reading “The WBC and TDLR visit Texas Governor Greg Abbott”