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Former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin faced off today at the final press conference ahead of Saturday’s action at The O2 in London, shown live worldwide on DAZN.

Anthony Joshua: “The goal is not to make it back to the corner, the goal is to take him out…the more he talks, the bigger grave he digs for himself but it is what it is. I could say a lot of things about him but I respect my opponent. It is not for me to talk, it is for you to do all the talking and for me to do my job on Saturday. That is really honestly what I am focused on from round one to round 12. I am prepared for a 12-rounder but I do believe in my ability, my counter-punching and all that type of stuff to definitely put a dent in Jermaine. But I am not here to talk, I am here to do what I have to do because I really want to win.”

Jermaine Franklin: “We had more time to prepare for this fight so I’m more ready and I’m more in shape. I’m just ready to let the fireworks go…I’m going to get the win by any means possible. But if I can put him on his ass then that’s what I’m going to try to do. Anything is possible. I come from a place with not a lot of possibilities, and I made it this far so anything is possible. My passion for the sport, my team and my family; that’s all the motivation I need. I believe my hands get raised at the end of the fight.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO #1 Jason Moloney (25-2, 19 KOs) will challenge WBO #2 Vincent Astrolabio (18-3, 13 KOs) for the vacant WBO bantamweight championship on May 13 at a venue not yet confirmed. The clash will be televised on ESPN. Former world title challenger Moloney is coming off a twelve round decision win over Nanaphon Kaikanha in October 2022. Astrolabia is coming off a six round knockout over Nikolai Potapov in December 2022.

Former WBA 115-pound champion Andrew Moloney (25-2, 16 KOs) will challenge Junto Nakatani (24-0, 18 KOs) for the vacant WBO super flyweight championship on May 20 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The bout will take place on the Haney-Lomachenko undercard. Moloney coming off a ten round decision over Norbelto Jimenez in October 2022. Nakatani is coming off a ten round decision victory over Francisco Rodriguez Jr in November 2022.

IBF #15 cruiserweight Floyd Masson (12-0, 7 KOs) will challenge IBF #9 Fabio “Stone Crusher” Turchi (21-2, 15 KOs) for the vacant IBO cruiserweight title on Saturday at the Eaton Hills Hotel in Eaton Hills, Queensland, televised nationally on Foxtel cable television network. Australian southpaw Masson is coming off an eight round decision over Vikas Singh, while Italian southpaw Turchi scored a one round stoppage of Stefan Milhailov in his most recent ring outing. Promoter Angelo DiCarlo.

In preparation for his upcoming fight on April 29 in Arlington, Texas, Vergil Ortiz, Jr. has had to pull out of his main event versus Eimantas Stanionis for the WBA regular welterweight world championship due to a flare-up of rhabdomyolysis. Ortiz was originally diagnosed with the condition in March 2022. He is expected to make a full recovery and return to the ring later this year.

“Vergil works tirelessly to prepare for his fights and this is of course a huge disappointment for Golden Boy, him and his family,” said Chairman and CEO Oscar De La Hoya. “Despite this setback, I truly believe Vergil remains focused and will accomplish his goal of becoming a world champion this year and going on to become the top welterweight in the division.”

More information on the April 29 event will be announced shortly.

By Joe Koizumi

Ohashi Promotions has announced the new date of “Monster” Naoya Inoue’s once-postponed crack at the WBC. WBO 122-pound belts against Stephen Fulton to be July 25, Tuesday, at Ariake Arena, Tokyo.

Promoter Hideyuki Ohashi, ex-WBC, WBA 105-pound champ, as well as Naoya expressed their appreciation of his counterpart Fulton party’s acceptance. Inoue said, “I’d like to so completely recover from a hand injury that I will show my best performance.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Award-winning author and boxing writer Grantlee Kieza talks to Fightnews.com® about books he authored and working as a cornerman with Hall of Famer Johnny Lewis for three-time world champion Jeff Fenech, two-time WBC light heavyweight champion Jeff Harding, world heavyweight contender Joe Bugner and also IBF 140 pound champion Lovemore Ndou against Canelo Alvarez in Mexico. Continue reading “Interview Grantlee Kieza”

A scheduled purse bid for the fight between WBA minimumweight super champion Thammanoon Niyomtrong and WBA minimum weight regular champion Erick Rosa was canceled after both teams told the WBA Championships Committee that they reached an agreement. The camps were granted a deadline of Monday, April 3, to send the signed contracts containing details of the date and venue of the 105-pound fight. In the event that either party refuses to comply with the contract to which both teams committed, he will lose his recognition as WBA champion.

Top Rank has finally officially announced the clash between undisputed lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (29-0, 15 KOs) and three-division former world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KOs) on Saturday, May 20, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Haney-Lomachenko will stream live on Top Rank on ESPN+ PPV. The PPV will be priced at $59.99 and additionally be available via cable and satellite pay-per-view providers.

Devin Haney: “Lomachenko is a good fighter and future Hall of Fame candidate. I take nothing away from him or what he has done in the sport of boxing. Although he didn’t give me a shot when I challenged him in 2019, I won’t be petty. This is the fight the fans really want, and I made it happen. I’ve gotten two times better since the Kambosos rematch, and believe it or not, the better my opponent is, the better I perform. I can’t wait for this fight. I know Lomachenko has an extremely high boxing IQ, and I will show the world on May 20 that I’m the best fighter on the planet. I’m ready to defend my undisputed title in devastating fashion.”

Vasiliy Lomachenko: “My goal is to become the undisputed lightweight champion, and Devin Haney is the man with the belts. I respect his boxing IQ and am excited for this challenge.”

Unbeaten Canadian heavyweight champion Alexis Barrière (9-0, 7 KOs) returns to the ring on April 20 at the Cabaret du Casino de Montreal. His opponent is 34-year-old Mike Marshall (6-4-1, 4 KOs), of Danbury, Connecticut, the reigning New England heavyweight champion. This will be Barrière’s  10th fight in his 25-month pro career.

A total of 6 fights will be presented. with unbeaten light heavyweight Terry Osias (11-0, 5 KOs) showcased in the co-feature vs. TBA. Also in action are female flyweight Alexas “Iron Lady” Kubicki (6-0, 0 KOs), and light heavyweight Yan Pellerin (13-2, 5 KOs), who once again trades his status as a promoter for that of a boxer.

This event is presented by Mise-O-Jeu in collaboration with Bell Media.

By Mauricio Sulaimán
WBC President – Son of José Sulaimán

What a great card enthralled and thrilled Las Vegas! It was an event that reminded me of the spectaculars of old times.

All the fights were intensely competitive. The main event was spectacular and dramatic. Dozens of champions and legends of the ring were present, the atmosphere was electrifying, and once again, our sport was at its peak, seeing how, after five years of perpetual rivalry, fueled by bile, a give-no-quarter battle was waged and it raged in the ring. After it had subsided, David Benavidez and Caleb Plant embraced, as they mutually recognized their virtues, admiration and respect had been earned and each sincerely wished the other success for in the future.

In today’s boxing, it is very common to see how the undercard fights are uneven, basically mismatches, and before those fights, you can basically have an idea of ​​who is going to win, so it’s just a matter of seeing how they do it. Continue reading “Big Card in Las Vegas”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Japanese national hero, 2012 Olympic gold medalist and former WBA middleweight champion Ryota Murata (16-3, 13 KOs), 37, made an official announcement to hang up gloves for good today (Tuesday) in Tokyo, Japan. Murata, whose amateur mark was so excellent as 119-19, 89 stoppages, acquired the gold medal in the Olympic Games in London in 2012 as the second Japanese boxer since bantamweight Takao Sakurai in Tokyo in 1964. Ryota brilliantly gained the world professional championship as well as the Olympic gold medal.

“This is a commencement named retirement for me. I have nothing left to prove in the boxing world. I wish to utilize and return my experience and knowledge to people that have supported me—in the future.” Continue reading “Ryota Murata officially retires for good”

Monster Inoue becomes a postage stamp

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Probably in consideration of the utmost good luck in the latest WBC (World Baseball Classic) tournaments where Team Japan scored a hairline 3-2 victory over the counterpart of US (with Cy Young winner Justin Verlander and Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw participating therein the result might have been different) our Japanese boxing fraternity suffered double ill luck. “Monster” Naoya Inoue, unfortunately, sustained such an injury that his ambitious title shot against the WBC, WBO 122-pound champ Stephen Fulton on May 7 was pitifully postponed until July (the new fight date to be announced by Ohashi Promotions soon). Also, the highly expected unification title bout between WBC, WBA 108-pound titleholder Kenshiro Teraji and WBO ruler Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez on April 8 was abruptly canceled because of the Puerto Rican having caught pneumonia (Teraji will defend his belts against an emergency replacement instead).

Good news, however, is that the memorial postage stamp set produced by the Japanese government became on sale from March 18 in commemoration of “Monster” Inoue having unified all the four bantamweight belts by dispatching Paul Butler last December. Continue reading “JAPAN UPDATE”

Fightnews.com® previously reported that the IBF had ordered a super flyweight eliminator between former world champions and management stablemates Felix Alvarado (38-3, 33 KOs) and Cristofer Rosales (35-6, 21 KOs). The bout is to determine the #1 mandatory challenger to current champion Fernando Martinez. M&R Boxing, who promotes Alvarado, won with a bid of $2,500. Matchroom, who promotes Rosales, did not bid.

Alvarado’s’ manager William Ramirez (WRAM Boxing) gave some insight on the purse bid. “This is a fight which when it was ordered I was excited for. However, we could never come to terms with the Rosales team and therefore it went to purse bid. As you know, I am always confident in my fighter. Unfortunately no one showed on Rosales’ part.”

WBC light flyweight champion Kenshiro “The Amazing Boy” Teraji was scheduled to face WBO champion Jonathan “Bomba” González at Ariake Arena in Koto-Ku, Japan on April 8. Unfortunately, González fell ill with pneumonia, so he will not be able to be 100% for this important fight and had to withdraw from the bout. Teraji’s team is now looking for a rival so that he can defend his WBC title on the already scheduled card.

Heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Jermaine Franklin face off for the first time this week at the launch party ahead of this weekend’s fight at the O2 Arena in London.

Jermaine Franklin has warned Anthony Joshua that he is in for a “rude awakening” when they clash in a scheduled 12-round Heavyweight contest at The O2 in London this Saturday April 1, shown live worldwide on DAZN.

Former two-time heavyweight champion Joshua makes his highly anticipated return to the ring on UK soil following his second loss to unified world champion Oleksandr Usyk in Saudi Arabia, but Franklin insists that he isn’t here just to make up the numbers.

Saginaw’s ‘989 Assassin’ pushed Dillian Whyte all the way in a close points loss at Wembley’s OVO Arena last November and is relishing his shot against AJ.

“For him, they say his career is on the line. For me, everything is on the line,” said Franklin. “That’s how I treat every fight. I’ve been boxing all my life and I’m not nervous for this. If you get nervous, you’re in the wrong sport. Continue reading “Franklin: I want to knock AJ’s a$$ out!”

Roy Englebrecht, CEO of Englebrecht Promotions & Events, has just added an interesting bout to his April 13th Fight Club OC show at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California. Cruiserweight Tervel Pulev (16-1, 13 KOs) will face Joel Shojgreen (14-4, 13 KOs) in a scheduled eight-rounder. Tervel is from Sofia, Bulgaria, and will be flying into Las Vegas on April 1st. He is the younger brother of world-ranked Kubrat Pulev, who will be in his corner for the bout. Brooklyn native Shojgreen is a Joe DeGuardia/Star Boxing fighter. The card can be seen on FITE.

Behind the scenes on an Anthony Joshua DAZN shoot in the build-up to Saturday’s fight against Jermaine Franklin at The O2 Arena in London. Now under the guidance of new head trainer Derrick James, AJ is a 12:1 favorite to get back on the winning track after consecutive losses to Oleksandr Usyk.

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Shadow Entertainment (Jenny Do) presented another edition of the LEAD event series this past Saturday night. The show took place at the Saigon Sports Club, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The main event saw local unbeaten super middleweight Dinh Hoang Truong (4-0, 3 KOs) defeat Dae Huyun Baek (4-2, 3 KOs) of South Korea by way of unanimous decision. Both Hoang and Baek showed confidence in their fighting techniques and tactics. The two boxers exchanged lightning speed attacks with powerful hooks throughout the bout. Hoang began to have the edge over his opponent in the seventh round as he dished out accurate punches. The Vietnamese boxer won the overall battle and successfully defended his WBA Asia belt. Continue reading “Truong decisions Baek in Vietnam”

By Jeff Zimmerman

Fightnews.com® caught up with 2x world champ and Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson as he prepares to face Shuichiro Yoshino on April 8 back home in Newark, NJ at the Providence Center and live on ESPN. Stevenson talked about his upcoming fight, how he would fight the “Mexican Monster” David Benavidez who faced Caleb Plant Saturday night (pre-fight interview), Tank-KingRy prediction, his appreciation for Bud Crawford and so much more in this exclusive interview.

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By Miguel Maravilla

David “El Bandera Roja’’Benavídez (27-0, 23 KOs) of Phoenix held court following his win over former world champion Caleb Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) of Nashville Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

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Also speaking with the press were Saturday night victors Jesus Ramos and Chris Colbert. Continue reading “David Benavidez Post Fight Presser”

“I just want to tell everyone that I have a lot of respect for Canelo Alvarez but he has to give me that shot now,” said undefeated two-time super middleweight world champion David “The Mexican Monster” Benavidez after retaining his WBC interim strap with a bruising unanimous decision victory over former world champion Caleb Plant on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

“That’s what everyone wants to see. Now the fans are calling for this fight, the legends are calling for this fight, so let’s make it happen!”

There were a lot of bitter feelings from both sides entering Saturday’s fight.

“I know there was a lot said between us but in the end we settled this like men,” said Benavidez. “I’m happy we gave the fans the best rivalry of the year or the last five years. I’m just very happy. Continue reading “Benavidez: Canelo has to give me that shot now”

Photos: Sumio Yamada

Check out this GIANT Ramirez-Commey photo gallery for some incredible shots. Also includes the official scorecard.

Photos

After winning Saturday’s WBC super lightweight eliminator against Richard Commey, former champion Jose Ramirez targeted current WBC ruler Regis Prograis. A bout between Ramirez and Prograis was previously rejected by Team Ramirez due to the 65/35 purse split the WBC designated in Prograis’ favor.

“I want any world champion,” stated Ramirez. “If Regis Prograis is serious about fighting, we can sit down and negotiate. Let’s sit down and make the fight.”

As for the fight with Commey, Ramirez commented, “It’s always hard after a layoff, but mentally I had to go back to being my old self and start strong. There came a point in my career where I got too comfortable. I started with that rhythm and being active with my punches throughout the round. And I went back to my old self. Continue reading “Ramirez targets Prograis – if he’s serious”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Undefeated former two-time WBC super middleweight champion David “The Mexican Monster” Benavídez and former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant settled their long-simmering feud on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Close fight for the first half of the bout. But Benavídez (27-0, 23 KOs) then took over after Plant (22-2, 13 KOs) slowed down and starting dealing out the punishment en route to a twelve round unanimous decision by scores of 115-113, 116-112, 117-111. Continue reading “Benavidez defeats Plant”

Three-time world title challenger and WBC #7 rated super lightweight Jose “Chon” Zepeda (36-3, 27 KOs) won an easy ten round unanimous decision over survival-minded Neeraj ”Gangster” Goyat (17-4-2, 7 KOs) on Saturday night at the Domo Alcalde in Guadalajara, Mexico. Zepeda pressed the action but Goyat wasn’t interested in engaging or winning. Scores were 100-90 3x.

Former world title challenger and WBC #10 super welterweight Carlos “Chema” Ocampo (35-2, 23 KOs) battered Mauricio Gutierrez (7-2, 5 KOs) for four rounds and Gutierrez didn’t come out for round five.