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Middleweight Liam “Beefy” Smith (33-3-1, 20 KOs) faces Chris Eubank Jr (32-3, 23 KOss) in a high stakes rematch on June 17 at AO Arena in Manchester, England. Smith upset the favored Eubank by brutal fourth round stoppage back in January.

Liam Smith: [On Eubank’s claims that he wanted the January fight to continue] “Any other fighter gets stopped after that first knockdown. It all happened to him on one night, everything he thought couldn’t happen to him, everything Chris prides himself on not happening, happened to him on one night – and I did it to him.

“I knew I was a better fighter than Chris. Now I know I can hurt him and hurt him quite handily at 160lbs. Now I’m massively confident. To save face he had to take this rematch if he wants to go any further in his career. He’s got a lot of demons to overcome.”

Chris Eubank Jr: [On the January stoppage] “The thing I regret is not being given the chance to get through it. I wanted to continue. I wanted to see if I could overcome that adversity and I feel like I was robbed of that challenge. This is what we sign up for. We signed up to get hurt. We sign up for the possibility of receiving punishment. If a beating was what I was going to take if the fight had been left to go longer, then great, that’s what I deserve. I would have accepted that. I would have enjoyed that. In my opinion, he didn’t stop me, the referee stopped me. In a sense we both got robbed there. I’m a grizzled veteran in the sport, I know how much I can take, I know when I can’t go on. I was buzzed but I knew what was going on.”

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Undisputed female world super middleweight champion Franchón “FCD” Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KOs) puts all her gold on the line against Savannah “The Silent Assassin” Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs) in the co-headline bout.

Franchón Crews-Dezurn: “She gave a valiant fight in October [against Shields] but it might not be the same, it’s going to be a little worse this time. We’re here right now and I’m telling you June 17 is going to be fun for me. There are some things in boxing you can’t teach.”

Savannah Marshall: “There’s no weight cutting, no being drained for fights so I think this weight will suit me a lot better. I believe I’m at world level and if I can’t mix it with the likes of Franchon what good am I in boxing? Our styles have changed to suit the pros. I’m no mug, I’m not overlooking her. It’s going to be a hard night’s work. She’s a tough, rugged, very experienced fighter but I believe I beat her.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Former undisputed 135-pound world champion George Kambosos (20-2, 10 KOs) will clash with Englishman Maxi Hughes (26-5-2, 5 KOs) for the IBO lightweight crown on July 29 in Las Vegas.

“I will stop him,” Kambosos told News Corp. “I’m not just going to beat him, I will knock him out or seriously put a beating on this guy. He is a crafty veteran, so I won’t take him lightly. It’s a huge opportunity for him, too, so I know how he will look at it, but I’m considering victory and nothing else. I’m not even worried about another loss. I am levels above Maxi Hughes. There is nothing he can do that I didn’t see against Devin Haney, let alone the 22 fights I’ve had in my career. I will win the fight and Ferocious will be back!”

Ring officials are set for the undisputed super middleweight championship on May 6 in Guadalajara between Canelo Álvarez and John Ryder. The four major boxing sanctioning bodies will equally oversee the bout.

The referee will be Mike Griffin (WBC). The judges will be Joe Pasquale (IBF), Jeremy Hayes (WBA), and Gerardo Martínez (WBO).

The supervisors will be the presidents of the bodies:
WBC – Mauricio Sulaiman
WBO – Francisco Valcárcel
IBF – Daryl Peoples
WBA – Gilberto Mendoza

Super welterweight ‘King’ Callum Walsh, (6-0, 5 KOs) faces former contender Carson Jones (43-15-3, 31 KOs) in a ten-rounder on the next edition of the ‘Hollywood Fight Nights’ series, set for Friday, June 9 at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, CA and broadcast globally on UFC Fightpass.

Callum Walsh: “Boston was a tremendous experience but now it’s time to prepare for another great performance in my second home, Los Angeles, California. I know how tough of a fighter Carson Jones is and Freddie and I have already started our preparations at Wild Card.”

Carson Jones: “I feel really good about this fight and I’m definitely coming for the upset. I believe my experience will be the deciding factor. I need to make it a rough and tough dog fight and then I’ll be too much for him. Fans can absolutely expect to see an exciting fight on June 9.”

In an interesting development, one of Ryan “Kingry” Garcia’s sparring partners, two-time Olympian Erdenebat Tsendbaatar (5-0, 3 KOs), has revealed that he injured Garcia with a bodyshot during Kingry’s training camp for the Gervonta Davis fight.

In a video message, Tsendbaatar told Garcia, “Hey King Ryan, in sparring I injured you with a body shot. Now you lost to Tank. I am sorry. Are you okay?”

Garcia responded. “Actually sad that I had a mole in my camp. Like WTF. That’s crazy but that’s good it’s brought to light now.”

Tsendbaatar, however, denied that he’s the mole and said he never informed the Tank camp of Ryan’s injury.

“Who is Mole? What are you talking about? I am not mole. I don’t even speak English,” stated Tsendbaatar. “I don’t even like Tank. I will fight him and KO him in the future.

“During our sparring, I tried to help you and sparred Tank-style boxing. I was cheering for you to win against Tank. You are great boxer, but next time try to learn from sparring and hopefully you will not get hit by the same punch during the fight. Good luck to you and God bless!!”

On social media, Garcia stated, “People taking it the wrong way. I’m not saying that’s why I took the loss, I’m saying that it’s crazy that part of my team switched sides and crossed me. I would never make that an excuse, for sure. He beat me and that’s that.”

Two-time Mongolian Olympian Tsendbaatar “Chinggis Khaan” Erdenebat (5-0, 3 KOs), the fighter who says he injured Ryan Garcia with a body shot in training camp, will compete in an eight-round super featherweight bout against Edy Valencia Mercado (20-9-6, 7 KOs) on Thursday night at New York City’s Sony Hall. DAZN will televise.

“I’m definitely the face of boxing. Abso-fu*king-lutely!” proclaimed Tank Davis after his seventh round KO over Ryan Garcia on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

“I didn’t think that body shot would end it, but I saw his facial expression and that’s what made me take it to him,” added Davis. “It was a good shot, for sure. I thought he was going to get up but I like to play mind games, so when he was looking at me, I was looking at him trying to tell him, ‘get up!’ And he just shook his head, no.”

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Garcia stated, “He just caught me with a good shot. I don’t want to make any excuses in here. He caught me with a good shot and I just couldn’t recover and that’s it. He caught me with a good body shot, snuck under me and caught me good. I couldn’t breathe. I was going to get back up, but I just couldn’t get up.”

By Miguel Maravilla

WBA “regular” lightweight champion Gervonta Davis talks about his knockout win over Ryan Garcia on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

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By Miguel Maravilla

Following his defeat Ryan “Kingry” Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) of Victorville, California, spoke about his first career defeat at the hands of Baltimore’s Gervonta “Tank” Davis (28-0, 26 KOs). Garcia suffered a seventh round knockout loss Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. At the postfight press conference, he stated his intentions to move up to 140 and return soon.

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By Miguel Maravilla

Interesting scoring in round two. Tank Davis scored a knockdown, but not one of the three judges scored it 10-8. Judge Dave Moretti had 10-10, while judges Steve Weisfeld and Tim Cheatham had 10-9 for Tank. At the time of the KO, Davis was ahead 58-56, 59-56, 59.55.

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Undefeated WBA “regular” lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) scored a seventh round KO against “Kingry” Ryan Garcia (23-1, 19 KOs) in a non-title grudge match fought at a 136lb catch weight on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. After a slow first round, Garcia opened up in round two until Davis dropped him with a counter left. Tactical fight after that until Davis landed a short body shot in round seven. Garcia took a knee and was counted out. Time was 1:44. Continue reading “Tank KOs Kingry with body shot in round seven”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

WBA “regular” super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr. (9-0, 8 KOs), of Minnesota by way of Cuba, destroyed 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Yamaguchi Falcao (24-2-1, 10 KOs), of Brazil, in the first round in the Tank-Kingry co-feature on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Morrell Jr. rocked Falcao early in the opening round. Falcao turned his back staggered and received a standing eight count. After the count, a crushing Morrell right hand brutally laid out Falcao face first to end it. Time was 2:22. Falcao, who was down for several minutes, took the fight on ten days notice.

“David Benavidez is next,” said Morrell afterward. “Where is he? I want to fight Benavidez. He’s next, 100%. I don’t want any other guys at 168-pounds. Just Benavidez. I respect Benavidez and his team, but inside the ring, I don’t respect anything.”

Former world champion Joe Cordina (16-0, 9 KOs) regained the IBF super featherweight title he was stripped of with a twelve round split decision over reigning beltholder Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (17-1-1, 14 KOs) on Saturday night at the Cardiff International Arena in Cardiff, Wales. Cordina dropped Rakhimov in round two. Rakhimov’s best moment was when he rocked Cordina in round five. In round six, a cut over Rakhimov’s left eye became progressively worse and Cordina took advantage with repeated punishing right hands. Rakhimov sucked it up and battled hard until the final bell. Scores were 116-111 Rakhimov, 115-112, 114-113 Cordina.

In a clash for the vacant WBC bridgerweight title, undefeated hometown hero Łukasz Rozański (15-0, 14 KOs) scored a first round TKO against previously unbeaten Alen “The Savage” Babic (11-1, 10 KOs) on Saturday night at the G2A Arena in Rzeszów, Poland. Rozański took the fight right at Babic. He knocked down Babic and then got a referee’s stoppage with his follow-up barrage. Time was 2:10. Babic, a slight favorite going in, complained about the stoppage. There was a 50 minute delay before the fight due to the gloves being misplaced.

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

It was sweet revenge in the rematch as super middleweight Bektemir Melikuziev (12-1, 9 KOs) from Uzbekistan avenged his only defeat against Gabriel Rosado (26-17-1, 15 KOs). Bek the “Bully” came out cautious not bullying his way in the opening round as Rosado worked with the jab sizing up Melikuziev. It was cat and mouse in the second, as Bek stalked and Rosado kept his distance boxing patiently. Drawing boos from the crowd in the third, fans began to show their impatience as Rosado and Melikuziev boxed cautiously. Bek began to let loose in the fourth as he backed Rosado and stalked most of the round. In the fifth, Bek connected with some hard shots as he backed up Rosado.

Past the halfway point in the sixth, Melikuziev kept pressing as Rosado appeared to be on the defensive in keeping his distance backing up. Melikuuziev was the aggressor late in the fight in the seventh as he began to live up the bully moniker backing Rosado and connecting big punches. Bek kept backing Rosado in the eighth and continuing to land the bigger punches. It was all Bek in the ninth as he kept pressing and backing Rosado, the veteran showed some elusiveness dodging a few of Melikuziev’s wild shots. Being the aggressor and busier fighter, Melikuziev finished strong as Rosado held on and showed his veteran grit in going the distance ten rounds.

After completing ten rounds, all three judges scored the bout 99-91.

Opening the Davis-Garcia pay per view, 19-year-old middleweight Elijah Garcia (15-0, 12 KO’s) of Phoenix won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Mexico City’s tough Kevin Salgado (15-1-1, 10 KO’s). It was a slow and patient opening round for Garcia as he lurked behind the jab and later connected Salgado with a straight left. Things picked up in the second as Garcia and Salgado mixed it up. Salgado was not holding back as he stood in the pocket with Garcia in round three. Swingy wildly and missing in the fourth, Salgado kept pressing but Garcia stood poised and mixed it up. Coming up on the halfway point in the fifth round, referee Robert Hoyle warned Salgado to pick up the punches for a low blows a pair of times. Continue reading “Tank-Kingry undercard”

WBA #2, WBC #7, IBF #12 heavyweight Martin Bakole (19-1, 14 KOs) stopped previously unbeaten Igor “Hulk” Shevadzutskiy (10-1, 8 KOs) in round three in the Babic-Rozanski co-feature on Saturday night at the G2A Arena in Rzeszów, Poland. Bakole dropped Shevadzutskiy with an uppercut/left hook in round two and then battered him for the rest of the round. The referee waved it off in round three. Shevadzutskiy protested to no avail. Time was :45.

Cruiserweight Michal Cieslak (24-2, 18 KOs) scored a fourth round KO over Dylan Bregeon (12-3-1, 3 KOs) to claim the European tile. Bregeon down twice.

Heavyweight Jeamie TKV (5-0, 3 KOs) dismissed Michał Boloz (5-5-2, 5 KOs) with a body shot in round two.

Light heavyweight Steed Woodall (18-1-1, 11 KOs) edged Boris Crighton (10-3, 7 KOs) over eight round 77-75 3x.

Super featherweight prospect George “El Yuyu” Acosta (15-1, 2 KOs) outpointed Cesar Villarraga (10-7-1, 5 KOs) over eight rounds in the main event on Friday night at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California. Scores were 80-72, 80-72, 78-74.

In the co-feature, super featherweight Rigoberto Hermosillo (12-4-1, 9 KOs) topped Ezequiel Caro (9-5, 4 KOs) over eight rounds by scores of 78-73, 78-73, 79-72.

Gervonta Davis 135.1 vs. Ryan Garcia 135.5
(136lb catch weight, non-title)
Note: Both fighters exchanged quick shoves during the face-off before being separated.

David Morrell 167.8 vs. Yamaguchi Falcao 166.4
(WBA “regular” super middleweight title)

Gabriel Rosado 167.3 vs. Bektemir Melikuziev 167.3
Elijah Garcia 159.2 vs. Kevin Salgado 159.3

Fiodor Czerkaszyn 159.1 vs. Elias Espadas 158.9
Vito Mielnicki Jr 153.1 vs. Jose Sanchez Charles 154.3

Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Promoter: TGB Promotions
TV: Showtime PPV

By David Finger

It’s a common occurrence whenever old-time boxing fans get together: reminiscing about the little-known undercard fighter who they saw on some club show who would go on to become a world champion. Here in New Mexico old-time boxing fans in Albuquerque will mention the time a 19-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. came to Tingley Auditorium to take on a little-known journeyman in his second professional fight in 1996. And maybe, just maybe, old time boxing fans in Hobbs will share a similar story in the next twenty-five years as one of the Southwest’s most talented prospects stops off in Lea County this Saturday at Club La Sierra.

Undefeated lightweight Abel Navarrete Jr. (8-0, 6 KOs) of Amarillo, Texas headlines a card promoted by Isidro Castillo and School of Hard Knocks Boxing in a six-round bout against Aaron Martinez (5-1, 3 KOs) of Santa Fe. Continue reading “A Navarrete headlines in Hobbs, NM”

Alen Babic 210.75 vs. Lukasz Rozanski 222.25
(WBC bridgerweight title)

Martin Bakole 280.6 vs. Ihor Shevadzutskiy 276.9
Mical Cieslak 198.9 vs. Dylan Bregeon 198.6
Jeamie TKV 259.5 vs. Michal Boloz 223.1
Boris Crighton 170.4 vs. Steed Woodall 172.8

Venue: G2A Arena, Rzeszow, Poland
Promoter: KnockOut Promotions
TV: Sky Sports (UK)

Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov 129.7 vs. Joe Cordina 129.1
(IBF super featherweight title)

Sandy Ryan 146.6 vs. Marie Pier Houle 145.9
Gavin Gwynne 134.2 vs. Craig Woodruff 133.15
Zelfa Barrett 129.1 vs. Jason Sanchez 128.10
Jordan Thompson 199 vs. Luke Watkins 198
Skye Nicolson 127.15 vs. Linda Laura Lecca 125.3
Brandon Scott 129 vs. Reynaldo Cajina 133.11
Nathan Howells 132 vs. Jahfieus Faure 130
Sammy Lee 193 vs. Juris Zundovskis 179.5
Miles Gordan-Darby 240.2 vs. Phil Williams 262

Venue: Cardiff International Arena, Cardiff, Wales
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN

Unified WBA/IBF world super bantamweight champion Marlon Tapales and WBO minimumweight champion Melvin Jerusalem met with Philippine President Ferdinand “BongBong” Marcos Jr. in a courtesy call yesterday at the Malacañang Palace.

The two boxers were joined by JC Manangquil of Sanman Boxing, Sean Gibbons of MP Promotions and Nobuyuki Matsuura of Zip. It has been a long time wish for Tapales to meet the president in person and he got his wish. Jerusalem also dreamed of meeting the president whom he greatly supported in the last elections. They were also joined by trainers Michael Domingo and Ernel Fontanilla.

“This is all like a dream to me. Winning two belts. Receiving a hero’s welcome. And finally meeting the President. I cannot wait to meet my family and homefolks as I go home to my town. Then I want to go back to training,”Tapales stated.

“Mystic” Zach Hirsch recently interviewed unbeaten Boxing Hall of Famer and legendary former five-division world champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather (50-0).

His thoughts on influencer fights.

People all over the world want to be entertained, why not? You got people from all walks of life getting involved whether it’s MMA, boxers, or YouTubers. I’m all for it.

On what motivates him to keep training after all he has accomplished in boxing.

My philosophy is never stop gettin’ it. If you can recall, everybody in the boxing world was saying Floyd was tarnishing his legacy. Everybody knows what I always said: currency over legacy. But now everybody is getting involved in exhibitions. At first it was tarnishing my legacy and hurting boxing and now everybody is doing it. When you’re the first you always take a lashing. It is what it is. Continue reading “Interview Floyd Mayweather”

Undisputed lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) talked about his May 20 PPV clash against former three-division champion Vasiliy “Loma” Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

“I know he’s training for a dirty fight,” stated Haney at Thursday’s media workout in Las Vegas. “He wants to get in and get as dirty as possible in the clinch. That’s what I’ve heard that he’s training for. We’re just preparing for whatever he brings to the table. We know the type of fight that he wants.

“I’m happy that finally I get my shot at him. The tables have turned. It feels good that the tables have turned. Now I’m the guy giving him the shot. I’m happy that I get to prove myself.”

Undefeated archrivals Gervonta “Tank” Davis and “Kingry” Ryan Garcia went face-to-face for the first time during fight week at Thursday’s final press conference before they meet this Saturday in a SHOWTIME PPV production from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Gervonta Davis: “I touch that jaw and I’m telling you, you’re going to sleep. I’ll probably break your jaw.”

Ryan Garcia: “Everything is coming to a halt for you on Saturday night. You’re gonna learn the hard way.”

Continue reading “Tank-Kingry Final Press Conference”