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Middleweight rivals Chris Eubank Jr and Liam Smith got into a heated war of words at Thursday’s official pre-fight press conference ahead of their main event showdown on this Saturday’s BOXXER event, which airs live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and DAZN in the US. Eubank and Smith have previously expressed their genuine dislike for each other and their tensions came to the surface today as the two traded verbal barbs before facing off for a staredown photo.

Liam Smith: “It’s just the win that matters regardless. I’d love to make a statement and stop him, but a win at any means necessary is the aim. Nobody believes him [about coming in at 50%], maybe a couple of his phone carriers and ball carriers. He doesn’t believe that himself. His coaches, Roy and Ronnie, both have told you different, so we’ll see Saturday what shape he’s in.”

Chris Eubank Jr: “I’ve always wanted to win this fight by knockout. The fact that Liam is being a child up here it gives me a bit of extra incentive to embarrass him. I’m cutting weight right now, so I’m at a good solid 44-45 per cent right now, but I’ll be a strong 50 per cent on the night and that will be more than enough to take the man [out]”

Sean Hemphill 166 vs. David Stevens 165.7
Atif Oberlton 174.2 vs. Artem Brusov 173.7
Julian Gonzalez 129.9 vs. Rosalindo Morales 129.5

Venue: Wind Creek Casino in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Promoter: King’s Promotions
TV: Showtime

Weights for Prelims to be streamed on King’s Boxing Facebook and Flo-Combat:

Jonathan Rodriguez 118.5 vs. Ira Terry 117.5
James Bernadin 136 vs. Clay Burns 133
Thanjhae Teasley 145.3 vs. Joe Sambrano 147,4
Francis Oran 213 vs. Marlon Haywood 247.3
Moses Johnson 255.3 vs. Terrell Jamal Woods 239

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Ring legend Manny Pacquiao has reportedly accepted the challenge to face Australian veteran and former middleweight champion Anthony ‘The Man’ Mundine in an exhibition bout to be hosted at the Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby in June. According to The National, they are expected to sign a contract for the fight next month in Brisbane.

Hot prospects José ‘Tito’ Sánchez and Leonardo ‘Leo’ Sánchez, trained by Joel Díaz, are ready to make their big debut under Miguel Cotto Promotions and H2 Entertainment on Saturday, January 28 at Los Andes Mall in Panama City, in a co-promotion with promoter Diego Victoria and his series ‘Guantes de Acero’.

Super featherweight ‘Tito’ Sánchez (9-0, 5 KOs) will enter the ring against Jorge Sánchez (16-9, 9 KOs) in an 8-round bout in the super featherweight division. Leonardo ‘Leo’ Sánchez (2-0, 1KO) will enter the ring in his third fight against Gilberto Ramos who is making his pro debut in a 4-round fight at 132 pounds.

“We are very excited to see the Sánchez brothers in the ring on January 28 in Panama, we know the quality they have and we expect a lot from them,” said promoter and vice president Héctor Soto.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Two-time Olympian Justann Crawford from Australia talks to Fightnews.com® about boxing at 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta Olympics and his bouts with Chris Byrd, Sven Ottke, Ramon Garbey and Alexander Lebziak in compiling a 126 fight, 98 win, 48 KO record

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Unbeaten light heavyweight Edgar Berlanga (20-0, 16 KOs) is now a free agent. He and Top Rank have mutually decided to terminate their promotional deal. Berlanga opened his career with 16 straight first round knockouts, but has now gone the distance on four straight occasions. He recently served a six month suspension for biting his most recent opponent.

Former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker plans to throw his weight around against Jack Massey as he looks to get himself back into title contention in Manchester on Saturday night. “I’m going to smash him,” Parker said of his looming bout with Massey, an elite cruiserweight who will be stepping up to heavyweight for the first time.

“He’s got big balls I’ll give him that,” said Parker. “But there are divisions in boxing for a reason. I’m going to be the bigger man. I’m going to fight like the bigger man, back him up and push him back. I’m going to make him think about if he really wants to be in the heavyweight division.”

Parker had the chance to eyeball local hero Massey at an open workout at Manchester’s Trafford Centre Shopping Complex on Wednesday. Continue reading “Parker: I’m going to smash Massey”

By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán & WBC President

Once again, the famous phrase comes to my mind: who forgives… loses.

Never rest on laurels! What happened in NFL football this past weekend, and in various games this season, has been extraordinary.

The Los Angeles Chargers largely dominated the Jacksonville Jaguars 27-0, who turned the game around and won 31-30.

The Buffalo Bills crushed the Miami Dolphins, 17-0, in the first half, only to suddenly see the game tied at 17! And so more cases that occurred such as the spectacular return of the Minnesota Vikings, by winning the game that they were losing 33-0, against the Indianapolis Colts.

This has happened in all sports. How to keep athletes motivated when they are clearly dominating the opponent? How to continue doing what has led them to dominate and win?

This same thing has happened in boxing. Mike Tyson came out so powerful against Evander Holyfield in their first fight; he was a 25-1 favorite, and in the first round, he rocked and hurt him, however, he didn’t follow through and ended up getting knocked out in the 10th round. Continue reading “In sports “who forgives loses””

Undefeated two-division world champion Rey Vargas and top contender O’Shaquie Foster previewed their battle for the vacant WBC super featherweight title during a virtual press conference on Wednesday before they meet on Saturday, February 11 live on Showtime from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Rey Vargas: “My power is definitely going to translate to 130 pounds. I have everything to gain and nothing to lose. The work that I’ve put into my power during training will definitely work in my favor…I have a hunch that Foster is going to come forward and be aggressive. If he fights me tactically, then I’ll be ready for that too.”

O’Shaquie Foster: “I’ve had to take a lot of ‘0’s’ lately and Vargas is going to be another one on the list…I don’t know why he thinks I’m going to come out aggressively at him. I come out with different styles every time I fight. If he tries to box me or walk me down, good luck. He needs to worry about what he’s going to do.”

Hall of Fame promoter Don King has finalized the lineup for his big PPV boxing event at Casino Miami Jai-Alai on Saturday, headlined by WBA #12 heavyweight Jonathan Guidry (18-1-2, 10 KOs) against former WBC champion Bermane Stiverne (25-5-1, 21 KOs). The bout will be a ten-rounder for Guidry’s WBA NABA gold title.

In the co-feature, NABA welterweight belholder Tre’Sean Wiggins (14-5-3, 8 KOs) will defend against Nigel Fennel (13-1, 8 KOs). In another featured clash, WBA Continental Americas middleweight titleholder Ian Green (16-2, 11 KOs) will defend against undefeated Alexander Castro (11-0, 9 KOs). Both bouts are ten-rounders.

Other Bouts:
Raynel Mederos (7-0, 2 KOs) vs. Nelson Morales (3-1, 0 KOs)
6 rounds, super lightweight

Kenmon Evans (9-0-1, 3 KOs) vs. Cleotis Pendarvis (21-13-2, 9 KOs)
6 rounds, light heavyweight

Continue reading “Don King finalizes undercard”

WBA #12 heavyweight Jonathan “The King” Guidry (18-1-2, 10 KOs) is a -460 favorite against former WBC champion Bermane “B.Ware” Stiverne (25-5-1, 21 KOs) in their PPV clash on Saturday night from Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida.

In Manchester England, middleweight Chris Eubank Jr (32-2-0, 23 KOs) is a -270 favorite over former world champion Liam Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs) on DAZN Saturday. On the same card, unbeaten IBF #2, WBC #5, WBO #11 cruiserweight Richard Riakporhe (15-0, 11 KOs) is anywhere from 8:1 to 30:1 against former WBO champion Krzysztof Głowacki (32-3, 20 KOs), and former WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (30-3, 21 KOs) is a 12:1 favorite against Jack “One Smack” Massey (20-1, 11 KOs).

Super lightweight Cesar Francis is eyeing a shot at the big time, as he continues his rise on ProBox TV this January 25 against Jesus Saracho. Francis stated, “Honestly I’m going to absolutely demolish Saracho. I’m not coming to play games, I’ve shown that if you’re not on my level you get taken out.

“I’m happy to be back on ProBox TV, I’ve trained hard for this fight, I want to make a statement and that’s it. I want big fights in 2023, and I have to absolutely wipe out people like Saracho if I want to get to them. Continue reading “Francis targets Barboza-Pedraza winner”

Due to circumstances out of the control of BLK Prime, Ivan Redkach (23-6-1, 18 KOs), who was intended to fight Adrien Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight main event on February 25, will now be replaced with “Hammerin” Hank Lundy (31-12-1, 14 KOs). Broner vs. Lundy, taking place at the Gateway Center in Atlanta, Georgia, will broadcast worldwide on BLK Prime PPV for $39.99. More details, including ticket sales and undercard bouts, will be announced at a later date.

“I’m glad they found a worthy replacement in Hank Lundy,” said Broner, from his training camp in South Florida. “Unfortunately, Redkach had to pull out, but I’m ready for whoever they put in front of me. This is the AB show and I’m on a mission to bust up everyone in my way. Hank Lundy is in trouble. I’m going to put a beating on him.”

Lundy stated, “Broner has established himself as one of the best fighters in the world, but he hasn’t been active, so I’m going to take full advantage of his inactivity. Everyone knows that I will fight anyone and the big names run from me. So I’m telling everyone right now, I’m going to beat the shit out of this can man.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

The Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation has put its full support behind the proposed exhibition bout between boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and former world champion Anthony Mundine, tentatively scheduled for June.

Executive Director of the PNGSF Al Veratau told the National newspaper, “The Papua New Guinea Sports Foundation is partnering with the Oceana Fight Promotions to make sure we deliver the Manny Pacquiao-Anthony Mundine exhibition bout in Port Moresby. We’ve asked the Government to invoke the National Events Council to assist because it is a huge event in the 2023 sports calendar.”

Australian advisor Peter Maniatis added, “This will be the biggest global sporting event in the history of Papua New Guinea. Well done to the PNG Government and Maryanne Millie Oceania Fight Promotions.”

World-ranked super welterweight contender Serhii ‘El Flaco’ Bohachuk, (21-1, 21 KOs) opened his training to the Southern California media this past Saturday at the Wild Card Boxing Gym in anticipation of his ten-round WBC Continental Americas title defense against Nathaniel Gallimore, (22-6-1, 17 KOs) on January 27 at the Quiet Cannon located in the Montebello Country Club. The fight will stream globally on UFC Fightpass.

WBO #1 light heavyweight Anthony Yarde discovered in just his second amateur fight that playing for points and attempting to impress the judges is not for him. Yarde, of course, is set for a second tilt at world title glory when he takes on the unbeaten unified champion Artur Beterbiev at the OVO Arena, Wembley on January 28, live on ESPN+ (USA) and BT Sport (UK), having overcome professional setbacks against Sergey Kovalev and Lyndon Arthur.

The self-styled ‘Beast from the East’ of the capital famously enjoyed limited amateur experience of just 12 fights before blasting onto the pro scene back in 2015. It meant he was not molded into a textbook light heavyweight or took onboard too many amateur traits that required drilling out of him. Continue reading “Yarde not interested in point scoring”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Hall of Fame broadcaster Colonel Bob Sheridan talks to Fightnews.com® about the famous Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman “Rumble in the Jungle.”

Promoter of Rumble in the Jungle

“I wasn’t advised by Don King to work the Rumble in the Jungle. He wasn’t the promoter. Video Techniques, who did the Frankie Otero vs. Ken Buchanan fight in Miami, were the promoters. They were going to bring in some big name announcer from New York to do the fight because it was only going to England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

“Chris Dundee, the promoter who I did the weekly shows for here, said ‘We got a young kid here who can call boxing better than anybody.’ So they said they like my work. A guy by the name of Barry Bernstein and Hank Schwartz, they were the guys who were involved in rear screen projection in the early days, they were engineers. So they hired me and I did all their fights after that including “The Rumble in the Jungle.” Continue reading “The Colonel remembers The Rumble in the Jungle”

For the second week in a row, we have heavyweights seeing action on both Saturday cards.

FRIDAY
The three undefeated matchups include fighters with a combined record of 61-0-1 and 43 knockouts headline the first SHOBOX: The New Generation card of 2023.

In the main event, Sean Hemphill (14-0, 8 KOs) is set to face David Stevens (11-0, 8 KOs) in an eight round super middleweight clash. In the co-main event, Atif Oberlton (7-0, 6 KOs) takes on Artem Brusov (12-0, 11 KOs) in an eight round light heavyweight matchup. The telecast opener pits Julian Gonzalez (8-0-1, 8 KOs) and Rosalindo Morales (9-0, 2 KOs) in an eight round super featherweight bout.

SATURDAY
DAZN will present an all-British dust up between Chris Eubank Jr (32-2, 23 KOs) and former world champion Liam Smith (32-3-1, 19 KOs) from AO Arena in Manchester, England. Good undercard too. Unbeaten IBF #2, WBC #5, WBO #11 cruiserweight Richard Riakporhe (15-0, 11 KOs) faces former WBO champion Krzysztof Głowacki (32-3, 20 KOs), plus former WBO world heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (30-3, 21 KOs) meets Jack “One Smack” Massey (20-1, 11 KOs).

Hall of Fame promoter Don King kicks off 2023 with a $19.99 pay-per-view showdown between WBA #12 heavyweight Jonathan “The King” Guidry (18-1-2, 10 KOs) and former WBC champion Bermane “B.Ware” Stiverne (25-5-1, 21 KOs) from Casino Miami Jai Alai in Miami, Florida.

Lightweight Tyler “Short Fuse” Tomlin (14-1, 9 KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over Gustavo David Vittori (27-12-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday night at The Bruce Convention Center in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. Scorecards read 80-72 across the board.

“This is the start we were looking for, a good win over a tough opponent to start my year off right,” said Tomlin after the fight. “I was gunning for the knockout, but this guy was tough, and he wasn’t going away. I hit him with some good shots, but credit to him, he took them and made it to the final bell.”

Tomlin is now looking to fight three to four more times, if possible, this year. His goal is to build his record up to 20-wins by the end of 2023.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

In a stunning upset, unheralded hard-puncher Jin Sasaki (14-1-1, 13 KOs), 147, impressively dethroned WBO Asia Pacific welterweight champ WBC#14, WBA#13, WBO#11 Ryota Toyoshima (16-3-1, 10 KOs), 146.5, with an unexpected first-round stoppage at 1:56 in a scheduled twelve on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Despite his tremendous power punching WBO AP#9 Sasaki, 21, was an underdog due to his sole defeat and eleventh-round shellacking by Andy Hiraoka with the WBO AP 140lb belt on the line in 2021, when Jin failed to make the super light limit by four pounds to be suspended afterward. A young tiger Jin exploded his powerful left hooks to the temple of the champ that had him rubbery legged prior to his lethal shot that decked Toyoshima, 27, on the back. The champ managed to raise himself, but couldn’t keep his equilibrium to be saved by the referee Biney Martin. Continue reading “Sasaki upsets Toyoshima, wins WBO AP 147lb belt”

By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

Nigerian heavyweight Efe “Silent Roller” Ajagba won a ten round unanimous decision over St. Louis’ Stephan “Big Shot” Shaw to close out the show on Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. Ajagba was looking to make it two in a row after his lone setback to Frank Sanchez in October 2021, while Shaw was looking to remain undefeated.

Things opened up cautiously, each man looking to establish their jab in round one. Ajagba move forward in round two, again behind his jab, while Shaw opted to use good lateral movement, countering on occasion and initiating the action only when Ajagba stopped his forward momentum. At the end of the fourth, the first sign of crowd dissatisfaction showed as boos cascaded the ring due to the tactical, if not scintillating action. With two heavyweights known for their knockout power, this was a very carefully fought match, with neither man wanting to risk getting caught in a wild exchange.

Yet, after each round, Shaw would pump his right fist in the air as he walked to his corner, if not to convince the judges that he won that round, then to convince himself. Despite the fact that the action had been an instant replay of itself round after round, the crowd rained down another avalanche of boos midway through the ninth. Late in the tenth round, the cacophony boos repeated itself which seemed to Ajagba to unleash a Gatling gun of jabs that snapped Shaw’s head back violently. While each man appeared to employ very different game plans it appeared Ajagba’s was the more successful. In the end, the judges agreed as all three scored it 96-94 in favor of Ajagba, now 17-1, 13 KOs. Shaw loses his first at 18-1, 13 KOs. Continue reading “Ajagba tops Shaw in snoozer”

By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

In the opening bout of the ESPN telecast on Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, undefeated Italian Olympian Guido Vianello was defeated by former sparring partner Jonnie Rice via seventh round TKO in a scheduled 10 round heavyweight bout. Vianello worked behind his long, pawing jab while Rice tried to counter but didn’t match Guido’s work rate. In the fifth round, the crowd grew very vocal with their discontent at the lack of meaningful action. Suddenly, a long left jab by Rice in the sixth snapped Vianello’s head back. Then a Rice right hand opened a nasty cut on Vianello’s left eyebrow. The corner was not able to successfully stem the flow of blood, prompting referee Benjy Esteves to call in the ringside doctor early in the seventh.

After a brief inspection, the doctor recommended the fight be stopped. Initially, Esteves told all the judges to score the round, thinking that the cut was caused by a clash of heads. After a review of the video replay, the decision was reversed and it was deemed that the cut was caused by that telling punch in the sixth. Winner by technical knockout – Jonnie Rice, now 16-6-1, 11 KOs. Vianello drops his first at 10-1-1, 9 KOs. Incidentally, Vianello was ahead by scores of 59-55 twice and 58-56. Continue reading “Rice stops Vianello on a cut”

By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

In a highly skilled and very tactical fight, Junior Lightweights Abraham “Super” Nova and Adam “Blu Nose” Lopez lived up to the predictions that they might deliver the fight of the night. After three tactical rounds, things heated up in the fourth with a nice toe to toe exchange late in the round. In the fifth, a beautiful right-left-right combination deposited Lopez hard on his back. As Nova tried to cut off the ring and follow up on his advantage, he could be heard saying, “It’s my birthday…I got to get this win,” to a retreating Lopez. (It is in fact Nova’s 29th birthday). Nova was credited with another knockdown in the sixth, as Lopez tried to hold on after being raked along the ropes and stumbled to the canvas when he couldn’t keep his grip on a backpedaling Nova. Lopez managed to gather himself in the seventh and actually appeared to take the eighth, snapping Nova’s head with some beautiful combinations at the end of the round.

Nova was able to hop on his bicycle in the ninth and hold off a charging Lopez with his jab. The tenth and final round was something out of the movies. Both men teed off on each other seemingly non-Stop for easily two out of the three minutes that the round lasted. It was amazing that nobody went down, but Nova capped the round and the fight off by staggering Lopez with the final blows of the fight. Even though 2023 is only 14 days old, it will take some doing to pass this is the round of the year! The final scores were 97-91 and 98-90 twice, all for Nova who comes back with a hard fought win after his loss to Robeisy Ramirez last year, raising his record to 22-1 15 KOs. The hard luck Lopez falls to 16-4, KOs. Continue reading “Early Results from Verona, NY”

British YouTuber KSI knocked out Brazilian YouTuber FaZe Temperrr in the first round of their $39.99 pay-per-view boxing match on DAZN Saturday night in front of a sold out crowd of 12,000+ at the Wembley Arena in London, England. A KSI left hand laid out FaZe, who tried to get up, then collapsed back to the canvas. After the fight, KSI called out Jake Paul.

In a WBC/WBA female light flyweight world title unification, WBA champion Jessica Nery Plata (29-2, 3 KOs) hammered out a close, but unanimous decision to take the WBC belt from previously unbeaten Kim Clavel (16-1, 3 KOs) on Friday night at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada. After ten spirited rounds, Plata was declared a 97-93, 97-93, 96-94 winner.

Unbeaten super lightweight Mazlum Akdeniz (18-0, 8 KOs) successfully defended his WBC Continental Americas belt with a ten round unanimous decision against Cristian Bielma (19-5-2, 7 KOs) in a 10-rounder. Akdeniz dropped Bielma in rounds three, five, and seven en route to a 100-87 3x verdict. Continue reading “Plata beats Clavel in WBA/WBC unification clash”