By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

IBF mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr spoke to Peter Maniatis about challenging unified lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez on June 19 at the LoanDepot Park, Miami, Florida.

TRAINING IN MIAMI

“I am training hard and about to fight Teofimo Lopez (in Miami on June 19) for the undisputed championship with five belts on the line, pound for pound and fighter of the year on the line. My career is on the line and I have put the hard work in.” Continue reading “Interview: George Kambosos Jr.”

By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán / President of the WBC

Countless times I heard my dad begin the story of his life with this phrase: “ A ship set sail from the Far East “ …. And that’s how it all started. A Lebanese man and a Syrian woman, who arrived in Mexico after fate made them take the wrong ship, since they intended to reach Boston, but arrived at the port of Veracruz.” So, José Sulaimán Chagnón, son of Elías and Wasila, was born in Mexico.

On May 30, my dad would have turned 90 years old, and that is why I decided to dedicate today’s column to him and his everlasting memory. Continue reading “A ship set sail from the Far East …”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Three-time world champion Lovemore Ndou talks to Fightnews.com® about WBO#1 Tim Tszyu challenging unified champion Jermell Charlo in 2022 and IBF#1 George Kambosos challenging unified champion Teofimo Lopez on June 19.

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By Przemek Garczarczyk

In a short, but spectacular WBC bridgerweight eliminator, Lukasz Rozanski (14-0, 13 KOs) scored a first round knockout over former heavyweight title challenger Artur Szpilka (24-5, 16 KOs) on Sunday night at the Hala na Podpromiu in Rzeszow, Poland. Szpilka dropped Rozanski in the first ten seconds, but Rozanski roared back to floor Szpilka three times to end it in the very same round!

In the co-feature, cruiserweight Mateusz Masternak (44-5, 29 KOs) took a wide decision over previously unbeaten Adam Balski (15-1, 9 KOs). Scores were 98-92, 99-91 2x.

A clash between super lightweights Carlos “Chuko” Diaz (29-1, 14 KOs) and Elvis “Rockanrolero” Torres (19-1-2, 11 KOs) ended in a seven round no contest on Saturday night at the Grand Hotel in Tijuana, BCN, Mexico. The bout was halted after Torres took an inadvertent punch to the back of the neck and indicated that he couldn’t continue. The Tijuana Boxing Commission ruled the that fight ended with no official result, no contest, at 1:37 minutes of the seventh round. It was a good fight with Diaz scoring a knockdown in round one.

Lightweight Diego “Azabache” Torres (9-0, 9 KOs) demolished Francisco Gabriel Pina (17-18-7, 7 KOs) at 2:59 of the first round. Torres has six KOs in the first round and three in the second.

Flyweight Bryan Mosinos (17-18-7, 7 KOs) won a tight ten round unanimous decision over Juan “Pinky” Alejo (25-9, 14 KOs). Mosinos was down twice, and Alejo was down once. Scores were 95-92, 95-92, 94-93.

WRAM Boxing (William Ramirez) and Nica Boxing (Pablo Osuna) continued their run of monthly events Saturday night at the Nuevo Gymasio Nicarao in Managua, Nicaragua. The light flyweight main event saw local favorite Gerado Zapata (13-0, 5 KOs) defeated countryman Julio Mendoza (14-9-1, 3 KOs) by unanimous decision. Zapata put on a complete performance versus the veteran Mendoza over eight hard fought rounds. The official judges’ scorecards were all 80-72. Continue reading “Zapata decisions Mendoza in Nicaragua”

38-year-old Nonito Donaire is now the oldest world champion ever at 118-pounds after brutally knocking out WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali in the fourth round Saturday night.

“Being at this age is not the question, it’s about my performance,” said Donaire. “About my ability to grow. I believe it matters not what your age is, but how mentally strong you are. What I learned from the [Naoya] Inoue fight is that I’m back. I can still compete at this level. The whole time I was not fighting, I was learning. I’m ready for the next one. Continue reading “Donaire: I’m back and I’m stronger than ever”

WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney successfully retained his world title against Jorge Linares, but after building up a lead he got wobbled at the bell of the tenth round and largely clinched for the rest of the fight.

“The fans want to see that,” said Haney. “They want to see if I can go in there and walk my opponent down. Hit him with big shots. I showed I can do it all, I can box, I can bang, I can take a shot and face adversity and get the job done.

“It was a good shot, but I wasn’t hurt, sometimes when you get hit by a good shot, you have to be smart, continue the game plan, and I did that and got the win. Continue reading “Haney: I wasn’t hurt”

By Miguel Maravilla

Newly crowned WBC bantamweight champion and Future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire (41-6, 26 KOs) of San Leandro, California by way of the Philippines previously undefeated champion Nordine Oubaali (17-1, 12 KOs) of France with a fourth round knockout. Here is what Donaire had to say at the post fight press conference.

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Continue reading “Nonito Donaire Talks Victory Over Nordine Oubaali”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

38-year-old former four-division champion Nonito Donaire (41-6, 27 KOs) became the oldest man to win a bantamweight title by knocking out 3:1 favorite and previously unbeaten WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali (17-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Starting off with the jab, Oubaali and Donaire figured each other out. Oubaali began to let his hands go in the second but Donaire swung wildly as the champ proceeded cautiously. Going toe to toe in the third, a huge left hook by Donaire dropped Oubaali. He got up, but another left hook found its mark once again dropping Oubaali face-first to finish the round. Donaire then finished Oubaali in the fourth round dropping him for a third time with a left hook, right uppercut combination. Referee Jack Reiss waved off the bout at 1:52 of the fourth.

Unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) scored a twelve round unanimous decision over former three-division ruler Jorge Linares (47-6, 29 KOs) in the Michelob Ultra Arena at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The speedy Haney stood his ground but still outboxed Linares for much of the fight. Linares came on strong late and had Haney wobbled, but he was too far behind. Scores were 116-112, 116-112, 115-113.

WBC female super lightweight champion Chantelle Cameron (14-0, 8 KOs) scored a fifth round TKO against former champion Melissa Hernandez (23-8-3, 7 KOs) in the Haney-Linares co-feature in the arena at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Cameron was in control the whole way and scored a knockdown in round four. Mercy stoppage by referee Celestino Ruiz as the 41-year-old Hernandez still had plenty of fight in her. Time was 1:08.

In a battle between two Golden Boy Promotions stablemates, WBC #15 middleweights rated Jason Quigley (19-1, 14 KOs) won a hard fought ten round majority decision over Shane Mosley Jr (17-4, 10 KOs) for the WBO NABO title. Good two-way action the whole way. Judges had it 95-95, 97-93, 96-94.

In a final eliminator for the IBF super featherweight title, Azinga Fuzile (15-1, 9 KOs) scored a seventh round KO over Martin J. Ward (24-2-2, 11 KOs). Fuzile dropped Ward in round four. Fuzile then dropped Ward again in round seven and Ward’s corner pulled their man out. Time was 2:45. Ward may have suffered a knee injury.

Light heavyweight prospect Khalil Coe won his pro debut by second round KO over Nathaniel Tadd (2-5, 1 KO). Time was 1:10. Tadd down three times.

Unbeaten welterweight Reshat Mati (10-0, 7 KOs) outpointed Ryan Pino (8-7-2, 4 KO) over six rounds by scores of 60-54, 58-56, 58-56.

Unbeaten female featherweight Ramla Ali moved to 3-0, 0 KOs, with a six round unanimous decision over Mikayla Nebel (4-9, 1 KO). Scores were 60-54 3x.

Unbeaten super welterweight Amari Jones (2-0, 2 KOs) scored a first round stoppage against Jonathan Ryan Burrs (3-3, 0 KOs).

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Puerto Rico’s Subriel Matias (17-1, 17 KOs) stopped Batyr Jukembayev (18-1, 14 KOs) of Kazakhstan at the end of round eight in an IBF junior welterweight title eliminator in the co-feature bout of the evening. Going toe to toe inside in the first two rounds, Matias and Jukembayev didn’t take a step back. In the fourth round, Matias dropped Jukembayev. Continuing to fight, Jukembayev regained his composure and connected solidly.

Matias was the aggressor in the fifth pressing as Jukembayev boxed off the jab keeping his distance. Halfways through the Puerto Rican Matias continued to land big shots on Jukembayev. In the seventh, the Kazakh fighter landed a clean power shot that staggered Matias to end the round. Matias continued to attack as Jukembayev’s right eye was swollen shut. Jukembayev did not come out for the ninth round as the fight was stopped by the corner.

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Opening up the Showtime telecast unbeaten 2016 U.S. Olympian Gary Antuanne Russell (14-0, 14 KOs) stopped Jovanie Santiago (14-2-1, 10 KOs) of Puerto Rico in a 10-round super lightweight. Russell let his hands go from the start connecting with the solid straight left but Santiago pressed despite getting tagged. The hand speed was evident from Russell in round two as he outworked Santiago and beat him to the punch. It was all Russell in round three as he outworked and connected Santiago with a series of punches. In round four, a short right hand by Russell dropped Santiago. He was up quickly but Russell went for the finish as he connected with a series of power punches as the Puerto Rican held on.

Coming out for the fifth round, Russell boxed patiently working the jab as Santiago was cut above his eye. Letting his hands go in the sixth, Russell backed Santiago with power shots and continued to chop him down connecting with the right hook. Santiago’s corner had seen enough as they stopped the fight at the end of the sixth round. Continue reading “Oubaali-Donaire Undercard Results”

Showtime Sports dropped an early release of the full 30-minute Inside Mayweather vs. Paul Special that premieres tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT ahead of tonight’s Oabaali-Donaire telecast.

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By Joe Koizumi

The state of emergency in ten Japanese prefectures was strictly extended until June 20 yesterday (Friday) by our government. They are Tokyo, Osaka, Aichi, Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Hokkaido, Hyogo, Kyoto, Okayama and Okinawa. Originally it was scheduled to end on May 31, but the COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t yet ceased and the hospital care system is facing a severe situation (according to Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister of coronavirus measures, former amateur boxer of Tokyo University). Accordingly, the following boxing shows have been re-scheduled as follows:

June 7 @Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Japanese 105-pound title bout
Masataka Taniguchi vs. Tatsuro Nakajima
OPBF female 105-pound title bout for vacant title
Yuko Kuroki vs. Mizuki Chimoto
Japanese female 118-pound title bout
Kanako Taniyama vs. Yuko Henzan

June 10 @Korakuen Hall, Tokyo
Japanese 140-pound title bout
Daishi Nagata vs. Masahiro Suzuki

Continue reading “New schedule, Japan’s state of emergency extended”

WBA light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal has commented on testing positive for three banned substances, which forced him out of next Sunday’s title defense against Badou Jack on the Mayweather-Paul card.

I am shocked and embarrassed. I would never voluntarily take illegal substances. I’ve always fought for a clean sport and will continue to do so. I’m one of the first modern boxers to insist on random testing and I’ve passed countless tests during my 13 years at the highest level of boxing.

I want to assure all my fans that this is an isolated incident and I’m willing to do whatever it takes to prove it. Continue reading “Jean Pascal Statement”

By Ron Jackson

Veteran 36-year-old Tshifhiwa “Atomic Spider” Munyai retained the South African lightweight title for the first time in an action-packed encounter, with a ninth-round stoppage win over the #1 rated Khaya “Destroyer” Busakwe at the Sandton Convention Centre on Friday night. Continue reading “Munyai wins in nine to retain SA title”

By Joe Koizumi
Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Japan-based Brazilian JBC#4 Cristiano Aoqui (16-8-2, 11 KOs), 140, scored an upset decision (77-74 twice, 77-76) over JBC#2 Akihiro Kondo (32-10-2, 18 KOs), 139.75, over eight see-saw rounds on Friday in Tokyo, Japan. Aoqui’s opening attack prevailed over Kondo’s experience as he floored the veteran with a solid right following a left hook in round two. Kondo, former national champ who previously failed to win the vacant IBF 140-pound belt, losing to Sergey Lipinets on points in Brooklyn in November 2017, came back hard with heavy body shots, but Aoqui responded with body bombardments to make it a give-and-take affair. His aggressiveness carried Aoqui to a well-received victory.

Promoter: Ichiriki Promotions.

Photos