By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Premier Boxing Champions has confirmed that undisputed 154-lb world champion Jermell Charlo suffered a broken left hand in training and his much-anticipated, high-stakes defense against WBO #1 contender Tim Tszyu, which was scheduled for January 28, has been postponed.

Charlo broke his left hand in two places – between the pinkie and ring finger and at the base of the thumb – after landing a punch in sparring at his gym in Houston on Tuesday. After visiting two doctors and a hand specialist in Houston, his hand has been placed in a cast. It will remain in a cast for two months and after it is removed, he will begin rehabilitation before resuming his training.

“I was sparring, and I threw this nice punch and as soon as it landed, I knew something was wrong. I felt my hand throbbing right away,” said Charlo. “I had two X-rays and an MRI to see what was wrong. It showed it was broken in two places. I hate this feeling. My hand will be in a cast for two months. I’m as disappointed as the fans, maybe more, because this was my first chance to defend the undisputed title. Continue reading “Charlo injured, Tszyu fight postponed”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already left boxing off the program for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and is now threatening to remove the sweet science from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

IOC Statement: “The recent IBA Congress has shown once more that IBA has no real interest in the sport of boxing and the boxers, but is only interested in its own power. The decisions and discussions to keep boxers away from the Olympic qualifiers and the Olympic Games cannot be understood differently. It has also become clear again, that IBA wants to distract from its own grave governance issues by pointing to the past, which has been addressed by the IOC already in 2019. There is no will to understand the real issues, the contrary: the extension of the sponsorship contract with Gazprom as the sole main sponsor of IBA reinforces the concerns, which the IOC has expressed since 2019 over and over again. This announcement confirms that IBA will continue to depend on a company which is largely controlled by the Russian government. The concerns also include the recent handling of the CAS decision which did not lead a new Presidential election, but only a vote not to hold an election. The IOC will have to take all this into consideration when it takes further decisions, which may – after these latest developments – have to include the cancellation of boxing for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”

IBA Response: “It is not with joy or pleasure that we write to you today as many of our member nations head into their holiday season. However, it is imperative that we address the latest attack on IBA’s athletes and IBA by the IOC for the new leadership’s continued commitment to becoming a sound and independent organisation, purged of prior governance issues and ultimately a financially independent sustainable organisation. Continue reading “IOC threatens to remove boxing in 2024 Olympics”

Shishkin, Astrolabio also win eliminators

In a WBA lightweight eliminator between unbeaten fighters, WBA #10 Frank “The Ghost” Martin (17-0, 12 KOs) scored a lopsided twelve round unanimous decision over WBA #2 Michel “La Zarza Ali” Rivera (24-1, 14 KOs) on Saturday night at The Chelsea inside The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. Martin was faster, sharper and connected at a higher rate. Rivera didn’t seem to know how to fight against a southpaw as he continually circled into Martin’s power. Martin dropped Rivera in round seven and totally dominated after that. Scores were 117-110, 118-109, 120-107.

Martin outlanded Rivera 174 to 67 and connected on 31% of his shots, compared to 15% for Rivera.

In an IBF super middleweight eliminator, unbeaten IBF #9 Vladimir Shishkin (14-0, 8 KOs) scored a workmanlike twelve round unanimous decision over former IBF champion and currently IBF #7 rated José Uzcátegui (32-5, 27 KOs). Shishkin simply outworked Uzcátegui to claim a 115-113, 117-111, 117-111 victory.

In an IBF bantamweight eliminator, Guillermo Rigondeaux-conqueror and IBF #6 Vincent Astrolabio (18-3, 13 KOs) scored a sixth round knockout against IBF #3 Nikolai Potapov (23-3-1, 11 KOs). Astrolabio dropped Potapov in round one. Potapov took a knee in round five for another knockdown. In round six, Astrolabio floored Potapov for the count. Time was 1:26. Continue reading “Martin schools Rivera in WBA eliminator”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

“Monster” Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs), 117.75, unified all the four belts of the bantamweight category when he patiently kept stalking the WBO titlist Paul Butler (34-3, 15 KOs), 118, and finally sank him with a flurry of punches at 1:09 of the eleventh round in a scheduled twelve in Tokyo, Japan. Some 15,000 sellout spectators were in attendance at Ariake Arena, newly constructed for the 2021 Olympic Games. Naoya, usually an early finisher, didn’t try to bring home the bacon early but steadily weakened the cautious counterpart from UK with his constant pressure on him. Inoue this time demonstrated his skills in jabbing with precision, averting a few but occasional punches from Butler and giving him a lesson of punching upstairs and downstairs. Having both hands down like Roy Jones Jr. to urge Butler to punch out of his peek-a-boo shell in round six, Inoue attempted to have the negative champ more aggressive, but in vain. Butler didn’t become more positive in trading punches with Inoue throughout the contest.

“For what did you come to Japan? Not to win over me and win the belts?” said Naoya, after his victory, on his interim impression of Butler’s strategy during the bout. Frustrated by Paul’s extremely defensive strategy, he was bewildered but decided to patiently take the initiative and open the way to finally demolish him in the end. Naoya kept jabbing to penetrate Paul’s tight guard, which had him nose-bleeding and had the face reddened. To the eyes of the huge crowd Butler looked more intimidated than cautious by Inoue’s superior power. Continue reading “Inoue-Butler Full Report & GIANT Photo Gallery”

Moments before WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford’s spectacular knockout against David Avanesyan, the fight was briefly stopped while officials examined damage to both of Crawford’s Everlast gloves. The bout was allowed to continue without a glove change and the kill shot connected shortly after. Everlast has blamed the incident on “a batch of defective leather,” and absolved Team Crawford of any foul play or tampering.

Everlast Statement: We take safety and performance seriously. As the leader in professional boxing equipment, it is ever more important that we ensure the necessary steps are in place to review our product development process and the integrity of our gloves. This process includes close scrutiny of all materials used and construction methods employed in the production of our professional competition gloves. Our top priority is to ensure that every fighter who uses our products has a safe and secure experience.

During the development cycle of the custom fight gloves used in Crawford vs. Avanesyan a batch of defective leather was used in production resulting in a malfunction during the competition. In such cases, Everlast follows proper protocol by providing backup competition pairs to be replaced pending a decision by the sanctioning body overseeing the fight. A stoppage was called to review the equipment malfunction and the commission deemed the equipment was still suitable for competition. No foul play was at hand, nor was there any tampering of the product on behalf of Terence Crawford and his camp. Continue reading “Everlast comments on Crawford’s gloves”

By Joe Koizumi

“Monster” Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KOs), 117.75, unified the four belts of the world bantamweight championship, as he patiently kept stalking and whipping WBO ruler Paul Butler (34-3, 15 KOs), 118, and finally dropped him with a flurry of punches to score a fine stoppage at 1:09 of the eleventh round on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.

(More to come)

By Boxing Bob Newman

The WBA announced that they just received a letter from the PBC stating that WBA featherweight super champion Leo Santa Cruz is vacating his title effective immediately. Santa Cruz will be pursuing opportunities at super featherweight. This leaves Leigh Wood as the sole WBA champion, further advancing the association’s goals to reduce all 17 weight classes to a single WBA champ.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Naoki Fukuda

“Monster” Naoya Inoue, three-belt bantam champion, said at the press conference on Saturday, “I have no plan to finish it quickly.” The comment of his counterpart Paul Butler, WBO titleholder, that Naoya has some flaws on defense greatly hurt him, and Inoue replied, “If I concentrate on defense, I can avert all punches from my opponent. I have more confidence in defense than offense, which I’d like to demonstrate.”

Does it mean that Naoya is willing to be a Willie Pep rather than a Mike Tyson? Defense master than Destroyer? Inoue may try to win a point without throwing punches like Pep, right? Butler, a thinking boxer, listened to Inoue’s comment and seemingly tried to analyze what Naoya said before him. What unification bout shall we expect? Chess game or onslaught? Continue reading “Inoue: No game plan to finish quickly”

Report/Photos by Boxing Bob Newman

Former middleweight champion of the world, Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez made easy work of the awkward journeyman Noah Kidd in the final fight of a marathon 14-bout WBA KO Drugs Night of Champions boxing card on Sunday evening in conjunction with the WBA Centennial Convention at the Caribe Royale Hotel in Orlando, Florida. After a rough and tumble first round, Martinez toyed with Kidd, hanging his arms by his sides as he often did in his prime, waiting for the perfect shot. Finally, a right to the pit of the stomach sagged Kidd to the canvas, gasping for breath and taking the full ten count. Time was 2:35 of round two. Martinez, currently rated #4 by the WBA, goes to 56-3-2, 31 KOs. Kidd dips under .500 at 6-7-2, 5 KOs.

In the first of four after-TV bouts, Nicaragua’s Melvin Lopez and Philippines’ Jolberto Alvarez contested the WBA Continental Bantamweight title. It was a give and take affair with little to choose between the two when a sharp right hook dropped Alvarez on his back in the fourth. As slowly as Alvarez got up, he stormed back in the same round as if nothing had happened! Alvarez appeared to gradually take control over the middle rounds, doing just a bit more with better effect. Both men battled on even terms for the remaining three rounds, equally spent from their collective effort. The judges saw it split…95-94 Lopez, 95-94 Alvarez, 97-92 Lopez. Lopez, currently ranked in the top 5 by the WBA, WBO, and IBF, is now 29-1, 19 KOs, while Alvarez slips to 20-4-2, 7 KOs.

Northern Ireland’s Connor Coyle took on Bosnia & Herzegovina’s Sladan Janjanin for the vacant NABA middleweight title. Janjanin seemed intent on frustrating Coyle rather than making any genuine attempt at winning this fight. He moved around, clowned, mugged, waved Coyle in, juked and jived. For his part, Coyle remained focused, peppering his foe with shots to the head and body as opportunities arose to do so. Finally, in the seventh, Janjanin appeared to voluntarily take a knee while on the receiving end of a Colye barrage. He survived the round, but upon assessment by his corner, it was they who surrendered their fighter between rounds. Coyle, rated WBA #10, moves to 18-0, 8 KOs while Janjanin slides to 34-14, 24 KOs. Continue reading “Martinez, Melo, Coyle win in Orlando”

Ring legend Manny Pacquiao returned in a six round boxing exhibition against YouTube martial artist DK Yoo on Saturday night at the Korea International Exhibition Center in Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang, South Korea. Pacman dropped the much larger Yoo at the end of round four, then dropped him again in round six. Yoo was given about 30 seconds to recover and survived to the final bell. Pacman, who turns 44 next week, was announced as winner by unanimous decision.

Former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KOs) scored a ten round split decision over Sandor Martin (40-3, 13 KOs) in a super lightweight battle on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Martin’s nose bled profusely after apparently being broken in a first round head clash. Martin scored a flash knockdown with a short right hook in round two, but the bout never really heated up. Lopez stalked while Martin boxed and moved. In the end, judges had it 95-94 Martin, 97-92, 96-93 Lopez.

“It’s so hard to fight somebody like this when they’re running the whole time,” said Lopez afterward. “Every time this guy committed, I countered and got him every time. He just ran the whole time. It’s OK, though. We got a lot to work on. But first off, I want to thank God for this. No matter what it was. I apologize to everybody tonight. This is not how we perform. But, listen, our dancer partner was running the whole time. Continue reading “Teofimo wins split decision over Martin”

WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) successfully defended his title with a sixth round knockout against WBO #6 ranked David Avanesyan (29-4-1, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Crawford broke down Avanesyan, then laid him out with a crushing right hook. Time was 2:14.

“My coach told me to keep picking my punches, and keep being smart with my punch placement,” Crawford said. “I broke him down and took him out with a punch I’ve been working on extensively in the gym. Once he landed on the canvas, I knew all my hard work and preparation paid off.”

Mandatory challenger Luis Alberto “El Venado” Lopez (27-2, 15 KOs) dethroned IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington (31-2-1, 8 KOs) by twelve round majority decision on Saturday night at the First Direct Arena in Leeds, England. Lopez suffered a cut over his left eye from a head clash in round two, but he gave hometown favorite Warrington all he could handle. Warrington rallied late but it was too little too late. Scores were 114-114, 115-113, 115-113.

Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs) won his legendary trilogy against Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (51-4, 41 KOs), taking a twelve round majority decision in a clash for the WBC super flyweight title on Saturday night at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Estrada effectively used his mobility and repeatedly connected with combinations early on. The tide started to change midway as Chocolatito picked up the pace. Estrada won the last round to clinch it. Scores were 114-114, 116-112, 115-113.

WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar “El Rey” Martinez (18-2, 14 KOs) retained his title with a twelve round majority decision over 2016 Olympian Samuel Carmona (8-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday night at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona. Carmona got off to a good start but then hurt his right hand and spent much of the second half of the fight on his bicycle. Martinez stalked but wasn’t particularly effective either. In the end, scores were 114-114, 117-111, 116-112.

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) made it 3-0 against Derek Chisora (33-13, 23 KOs), winning by tenth round TKO on Saturday night before 60,000 shivering boxing fans at the outdoor Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Fury began punishing Chisora in round two and battered him some more in round three. Fury then eased up, content to outbox Chisora the rest of the way. Chisora was running on fumes by round eight as he continued to eat shots. Referee Victor Loughlin finally waved it off in round ten. Time was 2:51.

WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk took in the action from ringside, seated next to top contender Joe Joyce. After the fight, the pair came up to the ring ropes. After Fury verbally abused Usyk, he told Joyce he’d fight him if the Usyk fight can’t be made. He also teased a fourth fight against Deontay Wilder.

Fury added that he has injuries to his right hand and right elbow that may require surgery.

WBA regular heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois (19-1, 18 KOs) came back from the dead to stop Kevin Lerena (28-2, 14 KOs) in round three on Saturday night in the Fury-Chisora co-feature at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

Lerena surprisingly dropped 16:1 Dubois three times in round one and Dubois was saved by the bell! Then Lerena inexplicably took his foot off the gas pedal in round two, letting Dubois clear his head. Dubois took full advantage of that courtesy and turned the tables in round three. He dropped Lerena and then savagely smashed him into the ropes at the bell. The ropes held up Lerena and a count started, but referee Howard Foster waved it off.

The bell actually rang nine seconds early in round one helping Dubois. Conversely, Lerena was on his feet after the bell rang in round three, but wasn’t given the minute between rounds to recover.

In a clash between unbeaten world-rated cruiserweights, WBO #6 David “Great White” Light (20-0, 12 KOs) survived a tenth round knockdown to claim a ten round split decision over WBO #7 Brandon “Bulletproof” Glanton (17-1, 14 KOs) on Friday night at the White Sands Events Center in Plant City, Florida. The first nine rounds were close and could have been fought in a phone booth. In round ten, Glanton dropped Light and battered him for the rest of the fight. In the end, however, judges saw it 95-94 for Glanton, and 95-94, 97-92 for Light. Light claimed the WBO International title. Continue reading “Light dropped late, but edges Glanton”

Fightnews.com® caught up with pound-for-pound king Terence “Bud” Crawford as he prepares for his upcoming fight against world title contender David Avanesyan on Sat, Dec.10 back in his hometown of Omaha, NE and shown live on BLK Prime. Crawford shared his thoughts on his upcoming fight, Regis Prograis check bouncing and MMA legend Cris Cyborg as the co-main. He talked about his relationship with Shakur Stevenson and Keyshawn Davis as well as addressed the recent IG rant from Jermell Charlo and much more in this exclusive interview.

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The Top Rank on ESPN 2023 slate kicks off with a heavyweight doubleheader on January 14 at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. The 10-round main event is a battle of big-punching Olympians as WBC bridgerweight champion Oscar “Kaboom” Rivas (28-1, 19 KOs) faces Efe “The Silent Roller” Ajagba (16-1, 13 KOs) in a non-title bout.

“I’m proud of my WBC Bridgerweight title and will be defending it soon, but this opportunity Top Rank gave us at heavyweight was too good to pass up,” said Rivas. “I also have a lot of respect for Ajagba, and while I agree with him that it will be spectacular for the fans, my skills and my experience will be the difference.”

In the 10-round co-feature, 2016 Italian Olympian Guido “The Gladiator” Vianello (10-0-1, 9 KOs) takes a seismic step up in class against fellow unbeaten Stephan “Big Shot” Shaw (18-0, 13 KOs). Continue reading “Rivas-Ajagba in non-title tilt on Jan 14”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

In a clash for the vacant WBC super lightweight title, Regis “Rougarou” Prograis (28-1, 24 KOs) scored an explosive eleventh round KO over Jose “Chon” Zepeda (35-3, 27 KOs) on Saturday night at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Progress took over in round two and finally blasted Zepeda to the canvas in round eleven to end it. Judges had Prograis ahead 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93 entering the eleventh. Continue reading “Prograis KOs Zepeda, wins WBC 140lb title”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

2021 super heavyweight gold medalist and IBF #1 rated Bakhodir ‘The Big Uzbek’ Jalolov (12-0, 12 KO’s) of Uzbekistan continued to build his record in scoring a fourth round stoppage over Curtis Harper (14-9, 9 KO’s) Saturday night on the Zepeda-Prograis undercard at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Jalolov started slow and pumped the jab as he kept Harper at bay in the opening round. The jab continued to land for Jalolov. Things got rough as Harper was hitting on the break and attempted to hit Jalolov behind the head but referee Thomas Taylor stopped and issued a warning to Harper. In the third round, Jalolov let loose as he unloaded the left and a huge straight left in the closing seconds that sent Harper to the canvas but he managed to finish the round. The straight left continued to find its mark for Jalolov as he tagged Harper early on in the fourth. Jalolov then dropped Harper with a series of punches. He was able to get to his feet, but referee Thomas Taylor waved off the contest. Continue reading “IBF #1 Jalolov remains unbeaten”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Undefeated IBF #4, WBC #5, WBO #8, WBA #12 super welterweight Charles ‘Bad News’ Conwell (18-0, 13 KO’s) of Cleveland won a ten round majority decision over the Dominican Republic’s Juan Carlos Abreu (25-7-1, KOs) in a WBC title eliminator Saturday night on the Zepeda-Prograis undercard at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Judges scored the fight 98-92, 96-94, and 95-95.

Conwell suffered a nasty gash on his left eye that bled profusely. Continue reading “Conwell wins majority nod over Abreu”

Heavyweight Jermaine Franklin (21-1, 14 KOs) went into the lion’s den and almost defeated former world title challenger Dillian Whyte (29-3, 19 KOs), losing by twelve round majority decision on Saturday night at Wembley Arena in London. Neither fighter was really ever in control. Scores were 115-115, 116-112, 116-112 for the local fighter.

After the bout, Whyte stated that he could have been a bit more active and thrown more big shots, but coming off a loss and with a new coach in Buddy McGirt, he said he was just listening to his coach. Franklin stated that he felt he was robbed in the fight.

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Unbeaten heavyweight Fabio Wardley (15-0, 14 KOs) scored a third round TKO over Nathan Gorman (19-2, 13 KOs) in a bout for the vacant British title. Wardley dropped Gorman twice in round two, but Gorman survived the round. Wardley dropped Gorman again in round three and Gorman’s corner threw in the towel moments later. Time was 2:33.

2020 Olympic silver medalist Pat McCormack (3-0, 2 KOs) shut out Christian Nicolas Andino (16-6-2, 2 KOs) over six rounds in a welterweight bout. Score was 60-54. Continue reading “Whyte edges Franklin with majority decision”

In a clash for the WBO interim super middleweight title, John Ryder (32-5, 18 KOs) was victorious when previously unbeaten Zach Parker (22-1, 16 KOs) couldn’t continue after four rounds citing an injured right hand on Saturday night at the 02 Arena in London. Sudden end to a close fight to that point. Ryder is now in line for a shot at undisputed 168lb champion Canelo Alvarez.

John Ryder: “Zach started well, got behind the job well and was peppering me a bit there. I felt like the tide might be starting to turn and I was getting more on top, but these things happen in boxing. It is a bad injury for him and it feels like half a robbery victory for me.”

Zach Parker: “I was warming into the fight and it was becoming a good fight. When the injury happened at the start of that last round I kept having to move because every time I jabbed him it was hurting and clicking.”

WBC #12 middleweight Hamzah Sheeraz (17-0, 13 KOs) won by second round TKO over River Wilson-Bent (13-2-1, 6 KOs) in a bout for the WBC silver title. Sheeraz simply overpowered Wilson-Bent from the get-go and blasted Wilson-Bent to the canvas to end it at 2:55 of round two. Continue reading “Ryder wins WBO interim super middle title”