“This year we stood up against adversity and now we are ready for a great 2021. Simply the pioneers!”

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By Jeff Zimmerman

DeeJay Kriel and trainer Derrick Harmon.

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By Jeff Zimmerman

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By Jeff Zimmerman

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By Jeff Zimmerman

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By Jeff Zimmerman

Franchón Crews-Dezurn, Glen Dezurn, Barry Hunter.

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By Joe Koizumi

In a greatly anticipated encounter of Japanese compatriots, WBO junior bantamweight champ Kazuto Ioka (26-2, 15 KOs), 115, very impressively kept his belt as he sent previously unbeaten Kosei Tanaka (15-1, 9 KOs), 115, to the deck twice with a well-timed left hook in the fifth and sixth and finally halted him at 1:35 of the eighth round on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. It was a beautiful demonstration of Ioka’s skills in averting Tanaka’s opening attacks and precisely counterpunching him with the picture-perfect left hooks. The ref was Michiaki Someya, Japan, who made a well-timed stoppage to save the battered and bloodied loser from further punishment.

Former WBC flyweight ruler Daigo Higa (17-1-1, 17 KOs), 118, wrested the WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight belt by flattening defending titlist, compatriot Yuki Strong Kobayashi (16-9, 9 KOs), 117.5, at 0:45 of the fifth session in a scheduled twelve. Higa had swept all rounds prior to the trick happening with his vicious uppercut to the face.

(More to come)

By TMZ.com

Logan Paul’s a “fake fighter” who has no business being in the ring with Floyd Mayweather … so says his own brother, Jake, who tells TMZ Sports the dude is “f***ked” against the 50-0 boxer. Of course, the YouTube superstar is set to face off against “The Best Ever” in a boxing exhibition on Feb. 20 … a fight that has been met with mixed reactions. Continue reading “Jake Paul rips brother’s exhibition with Floyd”

IBF light flyweight world champion Felix Alvarado (35-2, 30 KOs) of Nicaragua defends his title versus mandatory challenger and former world champion DeeJay Kreel (16-1-1, 8 KOs) of South Africa this Saturday. The bout will take place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. The bout will be on the undercard of the main event between Ryan “Kingry” Garcia (20-0, 17 KOs) vs Luke Campbell (20-3, 16 KOs) for the WBC interim lightweight title. Alvarado’s twin brother Rene Alvarado (32-8, 21 KOs) will also be defending his WBA super featherweight world title vs Roger Gutierrez (24-3-1, 20 KOs) of Venezuela on the undercard. Continue reading “Felix Alvarado looks to make statement Saturday”

Programming Note: The DAZN telecast begins at 3PM ET / noon PT.

WBO mandatory challenger Shawn Porter says Top Rank needs to make a better offer if they want him to challenge WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.

“I’m not taking a million,” said Porter on his podcast. “I did the best I could to send a message to Bob Arum and I also know people who know Bob and I told them ‘Tell Mr. Arum I don’t mean any disrespect and I know that he doesn’t, but if you’re gonna lowball me, don’t do it! If you feel that’s the way you get out of fighting me, that’s weak. Don’t do it! However, if you want to make the fight happen, don’t lowball me. I’m worth more than a million dollars.’

“Eff a million dollars. I’m gonna keep it as clean as possible but I’m not fighting Terence Crawford for a million dollars!”

By Joe Koizumi

Under such an usual situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic with our Tokyo governor Ms. Koike strongly suggesting us to stay home with a greatly surging infection of 944 just in the capital today, the weigh-in ceremony of New Year’s Eve’s WBO junior bantamweight title bout between defending champ Kazuto Ioka, 31, and top contender Kosei Tanaka, 25, was held on Wednesday. Ioka (25-2, 14 KOs) and Tanaka (15-0, 9 KOs) both tipped the beam at the 115-pound class limit.

Ioka said, “I will show the difference of level and class between us. We don’t belong to the same league. I don’t care about him at all.”

Tanaka responded, “It’s time for a change of generation. I’m mentally and physically fit.” Continue reading “Ioka, Tanaka Make Weight”

Former world title challenger Justin “The Destroyer” Juuko has been arrested in his native Uganda and charged with “treachery.” According to Ugandan press, the 48-year-old Juuko is being accused of possessing illegal firearms and allegedly training and mobilizing youth groups to create unrest after an upcoming election.

Juuko last fought in 2013. He compiled a record of 45-12-1 with 30 KOs and fought the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Diego Corrales, Miguel Cotto, and Carlos “Famoso” Hernandez among others.

By Jeff Zimmerman

Franchón Crews-Dezurn (6-1, 2 KOs) strolled through the JW Marriott Hotel in September 2019 in Los Angeles dressed “to the nines” wearing a gold-colored outfit that resembled a boxing robe with matching gold pumps and dark shades and looked every bit a star in a city full of stars or people trying to become one. She was there with the rest of boxing elite and many Hollywood A-listers for the mega unification bout between Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter at Staples Center the following night, that Spence Jr. won in a hotly contested split decision.

Truth be told, Crews-Dezurn also known as “The Heavy Hitting Diva,” is no doubt a star in the making, but the rest of the universe hasn’t quite realized it yet. She is after all the WBC/WBO super middleweight champion and is making moves in and out of the ring to build her brand. Continue reading “Crews-Dezurn is a star in the making”

Haithem “The Flash” Laamouz (17-1, 7 KOs) of Malta scored an upset and the biggest win of his professional career this past December 4th. He defeated local favorite Mario Alfano (15-2-1, 4 KOs) of Italy by decision to win the vacant EBU European Union super featherweight title. The 12 round main event took place at the Palaboxe Aurelio Santoro, in Roma, Lazio, Italy. It was an overall exciting bout with a lot of good exchanges. Alfano attempted to come on strong down the stretch but the resilient Laamouz stood his ground in route to his hard-earned unanimous decision. The three official judges all saw it in his favor 116-112 twice and 115-113. Continue reading “The Flash aims to put Malta on the boxing map”

WBO super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka (25-2, 14 KOs) and unbeaten Kosei Tanaka (15-0, 9 KOs) collide Thursday in Tokyo for a New Year’s Eve superfight to end the year. Thus far, unfortunately, it looks like no U.S. outlets have picked up the broadcast rights. The fight will be carried by BoxNation and ESPN in Latin America. Four-division world champion Ioka at +145 is actually the underdog. Tanaka, a three-division champion going for his fourth, is -165.

By Hesiquio Balderas

Unbeaten welterweight Raul “Cougar” Curiel (8-0, 6 KOs) of Tampico, Mexico, is one of the prospects that the country has high hopes for. The 2016 Olympian will be in action on DAZN’s much anticipated January 2 world title tripleheader featuring Ryan “Kingry” Garcia against Luke Campbell.

Fightnews.com® had the chance to speak to Raul.

“I never stopped training, even when I was at home, we were still under the instruction of Freddie Roach, and since I stepped foot on American soil I joined the training camp to follow up on the program that my coach implemented and thus be ready for my ninth fight. The truth is that I carry my suitcase full of illusions and eager to succeed,” said Curiel. Continue reading “Curiel returns on Kingry-Campbell card”

The long past its due date grudge showdown between bitter rivals Amir Khan (34-5, 21 KOs) and Kell Brook (39-3, 27 KOs) may finally happen in 2021. “I think with Kell Brook, who has always been running his mouth, I think put him in his place now. I think it is about time now to put him in his place and shut him up for good,” Khan told the Khaleej Times.

“…the gloves are still on. I’m thinking of fighting probably next year. This year was a bit of a bad year for everybody. And boxing was off. They wanted to fight behind closed doors. I didn’t really feel like I could motivate myself, but hopefully, if it opens up next year, we can make something happen. I want to fight again around March or April and there are so many names out there, there are so many deals on the table, in the Middle East as well. So, let’s see how that plays out.”

WBC/IBF light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev has been forced to postpone his title defense against Adam Deines — scheduled for Jan. 30 at VTB Arena in Moscow, Russia — after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Beterbiev and Deines were originally scheduled to fight October 23, but Beterbiev suffered a rib injury in training. Information about the rescheduled Beterbiev-Deines showdown will be announced in due course.

Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs), the only current world champion with a 100 percent knockout rate, has not fought since his knockout victory over Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019 to unify world titles.