By Boxing Bob Newman

For former two-time world champion Soo-Hwan Hong, traveling the world looking for foes was, and still is, no big deal. He looked forward to it back in the 1970s and still looks forward to it today. The only difference between then and now- back then he was looking to swap leather with his fellow pugilists. Today, he’s more interested in swapping memories of days of yore.

The former WBA Bantam and Super Bantamweight, Korea’s first two-weight boxing champion, hit the road this past holiday season, to greet old foes in Mexico and Panama as well as meet up with one of his legendary contemporaries from back in the day. Continue reading “Soo-Hwan Hong Still A Road Warrior”

By Hesiquio Balderas

Fightnews.com® was able to talk to Irish fighter Spike O’Sullivan today during the media workout. Spike is fighting former WBO 154 world champion Jaime Munguía this Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. “I am here for the big test against Munguía who is a good fighter, a great champion but I have the experience to fight at this level and I’m expecting a war against Jaime,” said O’Sullivan.

“Mexicans and Irish, we are known for having big cojones. Conor McGregor is right when he says that Mexicans and Irish are the same in terms of fighting spirit. I really appreciate the Mexican boxing style and I grew up watching Morales (who now trains Munguia) Barrera, Marquez, etc. Continue reading “Spike O’Sullivan: Irish & Mexicans have big cojones”

After having no fights in 2019, former IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook (38-2, 26 KOs) will be aiming to shake off the ring rust and fire his name back into the mix for a world title shot in 2020 when he meets Mark DeLuca (24-1, 13 KOs)  on February 8 at the FlyDSA Arena in Sheffield, England, live on Sky Sports in the UK and DAZN in the US.

“I feel great, I feel good. We’re four weeks out, I’m on weight, my training is going great. I’m ready to fight, I’d be ready to fight next week,” said Brook, 33, during a workout at the 12×3 Gym in London. “It feels good to be preparing for a fight again. I’m fighting back in Sheffield, we know what we get from the fans – amazing support. It’s always an amazing atmosphere in the arena. Continue reading “Kell Brook: I want whoever holds a belt”

By John DiSanto – PhillyBoxingHistory.com

North Philly’s Jesse Hart, 26-2, 21 KOs, takes the next step in his quest for a world championship Saturday night when he faces Joe Smith Jr. of Long Island, NY, 24-3, 20 KOs, at Atlantic City’s Mark G. Etess Arena in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. The five-bout card is promoted by Top Rank and will be televised live on ESPN (and ESPN+).

Hart’s quest for a belt began at the super middleweight limit, where he campaigned for seven years. However, after two title bout decision losses to WBO champ Gilberto Ramirez, and despite never having the slightest issue making 168 pounds, the charismatic contender decided that the best path for him was to pursue his dream one weight class up, at light heavyweight. Continue reading “Hart seeking revenge against Smith”

Showtime: Oddsmakers aren’t giving Ivana Habazin much of a chance against two-division champion Claressa Shields. Claressa is a whopping 80:1 favorite to win the vacant WBC and WBO 154lb titles on Friday night at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.

Also on that card, undefeated welterweight Jaron Ennis is a 70:1 favorite against Bakhtiyar Eyubov and WBA female super middleweight champion Alicia Napoleon Espinosa is 6:1 over IBF ruler Elin Cederroos in a unification clash .

DAZN: Former jr middleweight champion Jaime Munguia is a 17:1 favorite against Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan on Saturday night at The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

ESPN: The tightest odds are in the light heavyweight title eliminator on Saturday night from Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City where Jesse “Hollywood” Hart is a 4½:1 pick over Joe Smith Jr.

By Ron Jackson

After an outstanding 2019 there are some interesting matchups for Moruti Mthalane against top IBF contender Giemel Magrano from the Philippines or even unification fights against WBA champion Artem Dalakian (Azerbaijan) and WBO champion Kosei Tanaka (Japan).

IBO cruiserweight champion Kevin Lerena who is scheduled to make the sixth defense of his belt against Firat Arslan at Goepppingen, Germany, must be the favorite to win this one and possibly go on to challenge for a WBC title.

Thabiso Mchunu who has just come off an outstanding win over Denis Lebedev could also be in line to challenge for the WBC cruiserweight belt. Continue reading “South African Boxing into 2020”

Former WBO jr middleweight champion Jaime Munguia (34-0, 27 KOs) hosted a media workout today at Boxers and Brawlers Boxing Club ahead of his 12-round middleweight fight against Gary “Spike” O’Sullivan (30-3, 21 KOs). The battle will take place Saturday, Jan. 11 at The Alamodome in San Antonio, TX and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN.

On his move to middleweight:

“The move to middleweight has its benefits because I don’t have to lose as much weight. I feel good at this weight. I feel stronger. The plan is to one day fight for a world title in this division. But right now we are concentrated on the fight we have in front of us.” Continue reading “Munguia: I feel good at this weight”

Undisputed middleweight world champion Claressa Shields and former welterweight champion Ivana Habazin met face-to-face Tuesday at the final press conference three days before their long-awaited showdown for the vacant WBC and WBO 154-pound world titles on Showtime Friday from Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J. This was their first meeting since their scheduled fight last October was postponed after Habazin’s trainer James Ali Bashir was sucker-punched and badly injured at the weigh-in. Shields’ brother is facing charges for that attack.

Claressa Shields: “Once the fight is over, she’s going to be a blast from the past. They won’t be talking about the incident in Flint. They may remember it, but her? They won’t even remember her name after I beat her down on Friday.”

Ivana Habazin: She can say whatever she wants, but you know what, talk is cheap, and on Friday night she ain’t going to do anything, because I’m going to knock her out.

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By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker could get the opportunity to challenge for the WBO title against mandatory contender Oleksandr Usyk now with WBA, IBF, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua obligated to defend the championship against the IBF mandatory challenger Kubrat Pulev. Parker’s promoter David Higgins told Sky Sports.”There’s talk that Joshua might have to vacate one of the sanctioning bodies. If he vacates the WBO, then suddenly you’ve got Usyk mandatory and I think the next available ranked boxer is Joseph Parker.

“You could end up with a situation where you have Usyk fight Parker for the vacant title, which funnily enough is how Joseph became world champion. He fought [Andy] Ruiz for the vacant title. History repeats. Usyk is a very tough fight. He’s a southpaw, he would dissect Anthony Joshua.”

Faith-based broadcaster Impact Network is planning to get into the boxing business. They’ve already signed former WBA super welterweight champion Austin Trout (31-5-1, 17 KOs) and heavyweight Alonzo “Big Zo” Butler (31-3-2, 24 KOs) and plan to air their first card, headlined by Trout against Rosbel Montoya (17-9-1, 13 KOs) on February 1 from Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino in Ruidoso, New Mexico.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Two-time Golden Gloves champion Ebanie “Blonde Bomber” Bridges (3-0, 2 KOs), who is based in Australia, talks to Fightnews.com® to say she has signed a five-year deal with David McWater and Brian Cohen and will make her American debut against Crystal Hoy on February 8 at the Civic Centre in Hammond, Indiana on the undercard of an IBF female light welterweight title bout featuring Mary McGee vs. Deanha Hobbs.

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The 10th annual SJC Boxing Gym Open House and FBHOF Class of 2020 will be announced this Saturday, January 11 at 3:00 pm from the SJC Boxing Gym in Fort Myers, Florida. They expect a big turnout of new and previous inductees to be there to meet the public, sign autographs and take pictures with everyone. The Open House will be from noon to 5 pm. Refreshments are free.

Induction weekend is June 19, 20 and 21 at the Westshore in Tampa. Details are on their website: www.floridaboxinghalloffame.com

Unbeaten lightweight Michel Rivera (17-0, 11 KOs) will take on Fidel Maldonado Jr. (27-4-1, 20 KOs) in a 10-round lightweight duel as part of FS1 show featuring WBA #1 and WBC #3 welterweight contender Yordenis Ugas (24-4, 11 KOs) against Mike Dallas Jr. (23-3-2, 11 KOs) on February 1 (Super Bowl Eve) from Beau Rivage Resort Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The action will also include unbeaten prospect Omar Juarez (6-0, 4 KO) in a super lightweight showdown against Angel Hernandez (10-1, 10 KOs), plus super welterweight Raymond Guajardo (5-0, 4 KOs) in a six-round affair against Clay Collard (5-2-3, 1 KO). Continue reading “Ugas-Dallas undercard announced”

Former three-division world champion Jorge “El Nino de Oro” Linares (46-5, 28 KOs) returns in a 12-round lightweight encounter against Carlos “The Solution” Morales (19-4-4, 8 KOs) in the co-main event of Garcia vs. Fonseca. The event will take place Friday, February 14 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN.

“I’m more than ready to start the year off strong against Carlos Morales,” said Linares. “2019 was a difficult year, but I’ve been through ups and downs in my career before, and I’ve always come back. On February 14, I’m going to show why I became a four-time world champion by scoring a dominant win. After that, I hope to fight for a world title very soon.”

WBC featherweight world champion Gary Russell Jr. (30-1, 18 KOs) will defend his 126-pound crown against unbeaten mandatory challenger and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Tugstsogt “King Tug” Nyambayar (11-0, 9 KOs) February 8 on SHOWTIME from PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“I’m forced to defend my title against another mandatory challenger and I’m going to show on February 8 why none of the other champions want to face me,” said Russell. “I’m the longest current reigning WBC champion but no one has stepped up to the challenge I present. I’m going to take care of business against a strong opponent and display all my skills like I always do.”

The telecast will also see former world champions Guillermo Rigondeaux (19-1, 13 KOs) and Liborio Solís (30-5-1, 14 KOs) battle in their rescheduled vacant WBA bantamweight world title fight in the co-main event, plus a WBA super featherweight title eliminator between Jaime Arboleda (15-1, 13 KOs) and Jayson Veléz (29-5-1, 21 KOs) in a 12-round bout.

WBC, IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. has responded to the call out by WBO champion Terence Crawford earlier today.

Spence tweeted, “Fight not going get made on here … it sound good, [but the] only time I hear yo shit is social media…don’t act like a boss now, like he don’t handle yo shit. We told yo handler Bob what it take to make it happen … I don’t choke off smoke dude.”

* Punctuation added for clarity.

By Przemek Garczarczyk

Don King Productions is taking measures to halt the scheduled bout for the WBC cruiserweight title bout between Ilunga “Junior” Makabu and Michal Cieslak on January 25 in The Democratic Republic of The Congo.

According to a “cease and desist” letter sent from DKP attorney Cornelius “Carl” Lewis to the WBC, DKP is Makabu’s exclusive promoter for any and all of Makabu’s professional boxing matches throughout the world and no one, other than DKP, is authorized to engage Makabu’s services. In addition to canceling the bout, DKP demands that the WBC make the cancellation public on their website and notify the organizers of the event that the WBC is not sanctioning the bout and that the bout is to be immediately canceled.

“Please be assured that we take this matter very seriously and intend to protect DKP’s rights,” the letter warns.

Former super bantamweight world champion Jesse Magdaleno (27-1, 18 KO’s). is ready to take on 2020 and beyond. We caught up with the 28-year-old and asked him about his future plans.

What are you hoping for in 2020?

I’m looking for another world title shot. I think I deserve it. 2019 was a good year for me but 2020 will be a great one. I’m looking to become a two-time world champion in 2020. Continue reading “Jesse Magdaleno looking for legendary status”

Televised boxing returns this week in a big way with Showtime, DAZN and ESPN ringing in 2020 in style.

Kicking off the action on Showtime Friday is undisputed female middleweight champion Claressa Shields dropping down to 154 lbs. to meet Ivana Habazin for the vacant WBC and WBO titles, undefeated welterweight contender Jaron Ennis facing Bakhtiyar Eyubov and WBA female super middleweight champion Alicia Napoleon Espinosa meeting IBF ruler Elin Cederroos in a unification clash at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, N.J.

DAZN leads off the year on Saturday with former jr middleweight champion Jaime Munguia moving up to middleweight against Gary O’Sullivan and Franchon Crews-Dezurn defend her WBC and WBO female super middleweight world titles against Alejandra Jimenez in the co-main from The Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

ESPN counters with light heavyweight Jesse “Hollywood” Hart against Joe Smith Jr. in a world title eliminator from Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena in Atlantic City. No women’s fights scheduled on the card.

WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford is calling out WBC, IBF champion Errol Spence Jr. in no uncertain terms.

Via Twitter, Crawford posted, “Keep defending him because I’m tell all y’all now and I mean what I say when that day come when I knock him all I want all y’all to keep that same energy because he gone cry in the car he wasn’t built for this shit I got over here. Just watch me show the world. And stop using the f–king promoters, managers and advisors for that weak ass excuse y’all doing. They work for us. Y’all dumb mf. If you really want a fight you tell them ‘I don’t give two f–ks, that’s who I want to fight.’ Let yo nuts drop. You say you yo own boss @ErrolSpenceJr.”

* Punctuation added for clarity.

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

IBF #7, WBO #9 light middleweight Tim Tszyu (15-0, 11 KOs) has a world title bout on his radar and is confident he will become a world champion like his famous Hall of Fame father Kostya Tszyu.

“In 2020, I want a world title,” Tszyu told the Herald newspaper. “I want a world title, international-ranked opponents. I want to get to that #1 stage. I’ve got a great promoter, we’ve got fight dates. It’s about climbing the mountain. The world champion is who I want!

“We’ve got the right people behind me, I’m confident in my ability and I know where I have to go. I would love to bring a mega-fight, a world title fight, to Australia.”

By Ricardo Ibarra

Kicking off their 2020 season, Brian Halquist Productions will return to the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington for the 125th installment of the ‘Battle at the Boat’ series on Friday, January 17th. A staple of the Pacific Northwest boxing scene, the series has long served as a proving ground for young fighters in the region looking to climb the ranks, and this first card of the new year has lined up a number of young hopefuls looking to showcase their skills.

Topping the card will be surging local welterweight Andre Keys (12-1, 5 KOs) taking a big step up in competition against experienced fifteen-year veteran Dannie Williams (23-3, 18 KOs) in a scheduled ten round bout.  Continue reading “Keys-Williams headline Battle at the Boat 125”

A boxing card took place Saturday night at the Radisson Victoria Plaza in Montevideo, Uruguay.

In the ten round main event, local middleweight favorite Amilcar Vidal (11-0, 10 KOs) of Uruguay remained unbeaten by stopping previously undefeated Leopoldo Reyna (9-1, 4 KOs) of Mexico. Vidal had Reyna in trouble in the first 30 seconds where Reyna was wobbled by a left hook and the referee issued a standing 8 count. Then at the 2:00 mark, Reyna again staggered where the referee issued another standing 8 count. Moments later Vidal battered Reyna a bit more against the ropes where the referee rightfully waved the fight off.

In the 12 round co-feature, super lightweight Juan Jose Velasco (21-2, 13 KOs) stopped countryman Leonardo Fabio Amitrano (16-5, 12 KOs) by KO in round five. A left hook landed by Velasco in a heated exchange dropped Amitrano, who did not beat the count. Velasco won the South American title.

By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

Bradley Farmer’s Bull Battles Boxing and Family Ties Promotions put on a 5-bout card in the Cincinnati suburb of Harrison, Ohio on Friday night at The Blue Note Events Center. “Freshman Contenders” was headlined by Cincinnati’s undefeated welterweight Quashawn Toler and entered the record books as the first fight card of 2020 anywhere in the world.

Welterweights Quashawn Toler (Cincinnati) and “Cassius” Clay Collard (Las Vegas, by way of Cache City, Utah) saved the night in terms of drama, action, excitement and quality boxing.

Toler was the draw on this night, entering the ring with a gaudy 9-0, 7 KOs record, to Collard’s more pedestrian 4-2-3, 1 KO mark. But records can be deceiving, as the saying goes. Continue reading “First Boxing Results of 2020”

WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez (15-1, 12 KOs) will make the first defense of his world title against Jay Harris (17-0, 9 KOs) in the co-feature of the February 29 Mikey Garcia vs. Jessie Vargas card at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, live on DAZN in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK. Martinez is returning to the ring just two months after winning the vacant belt in December.

“I’m so happy to be back fighting so soon, especially on such a huge show in Frisco,” said Martinez. “It was a special moment become world champion but now I must continue to work hard and defend my title with honor for my people of Mexico.”