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WBO bantamweight champion Paul Butler goes in search of boxing immortality on December 13 when he faces Naoya Inoue for the undisputed world bantamweight title at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Inoue holds the IBF, WBA and WBC belts and wants to clean up the division before moving up in weight – but Butler warns not to count him out just yet.

“I’ve been boxing for over 20 years and all the successes and setbacks have led me here, to the biggest fight of my career, with the biggest prize in the sport on offer,” said Butler. “I am under no illusions as to the size of the task that faces me, but I have been going to bed dreaming of becoming the undisputed bantamweight champion of the world.

“Inoue is a phenomenal fighter but not one person should be underestimating me, my skills, or my resolve. I am going to Japan to write my name into the history of our sport.”

Undisputed lightweight world champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) and George Kambosos Jr. (20-1, 10 KOs) faced off yesterday, but at today’s open workout, they were kept separate. Haney-Kambosos 2 will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Devin Haney: “He’s making up every excuse in the book. He said he wasn’t going to, but now they’re saying I was holding, it was this, it was that. Whatever you want to say, he can keep saying it. The talk doesn’t matter. I’m going to go in there and do what I’m going to do regardless. No matter what referee is in there, no matter where the fight is at, it doesn’t matter.”

George Kambosos Jr: “When I went back to that dressing room {after the first fight}, my mindset changed right away. I’m a challenger again. I wasn’t upset. I’m in a familiar place, and this is where I’ve been most of my career. Doubt me? No problem. I love when they doubt me. I love when they think I have no chance. That’s OK. We’ll prove them wrong once again.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Unbeaten super lightweights Liam Paro and Brock Jarvis faced off at the final press conference ahead of this Saturday Nights action from the South Bank Piazza in Brisbane, Australia. The event marks the debut of Matchroom Boxing in Australia. Shown exclusively live on DAZN around the world.

Deontay Wilder: “You can always expect nothing but the best from me. And I don’t get paid for overtime. I’ve been known for the knockouts and I’m going to end my career continuing to get those knockouts…I’m in the game to fight the best. That’s not going to stop. I want the champions and the top contenders. I want all challengers. You name them, I want them.”

Robert Helenius: “I can’t give away too much, but we’ve seen what people do to disrupt Wilder. We have a plan and now we need to execute…he is powerful yes, but I don’t believe that I’m without power. The hardest punchers I’ve faced are Lamon Brewster and Samuel Peter, and I expect Wilder to be similar. The difference with Wilder is that he’s much faster.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Former IBF and IBO 130-pound champion Gairy St Clair, 47, was sentenced to three months imprisonment by magistrate Paul Lyon in Sutherland Local Court on Tuesday. St Clair pleaded guilty to three charges of not wearing a face mask and assault. He was represented by lawyer Lovemore Ndou, who is also a former world champion boxer and actually outpointed St Clair over twelve rounds in a 2012 world title bout.

“This is a clear case of injustice. Gairy wasn’t sentenced on the facts. He was sentenced for being a boxer,” Ndou said. Ndou lodged an appeal and St Clair was released on bail. Interestingly, Ndou outpointed Gairy St Clair over twelve rounds in Sydney in a 2012 world title bout.

St Clair currently owns and runs a Gairy St Clair Gym in Gymea, a suburb in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Heather Hardy 132.8 vs. Calista Silgado 130.8
Nadim Salloum 167.8 vs. Ahuad Jorge Leandro Capozucco 166.6
Andy Dominguez Velasquez 110 vs. Ricardo Caraballo 109.2
Ivan Golub 150.6 vs. Wesley Tucker 152
Petros Ananyan 142 vs. Paulo Cesar Galdino 140

Venue: Sony Hall, NYC
Promoter: Boxinginsider
TV: Bxngtv.com ($19.99 PPV)

By Miguel Maravilla

Super welterweights Jose “Chon” Zepeda and former world champion Regis “Rougarou” Prograis met Wednesday afternoon at the Conga Room at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles to officially announce their WBC super lightweight championship fight on November 26 at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, live on Pay Per View. Zepeda and Prograis displayed the upmost respect for each other. Prograis called out promoter MarvNation for flying him in coach instead of first class.

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Famed boxing referee and judge Armando Garcia, who has worked world championship bouts all over the world, has updated his Professional Boxing Referee Manual. Here is the link to the latest update.

“It is 100% free,” said Garcia. “I am not looking for any benefit. I’m hoping it can be made available to the boxing world for greater discussion and understanding.”

“I’m not Ivan Baranchyk. When I drop people, I will finish them off!”

A recharged Regis “Rougarou” Prograis insists he will not repeat the big mistake he made the last time he was world champion – taking it for granted. The vacant WBC world super lightweight belt is up for grabs when Prograis collides with Jose Zepeda in a mouth-watering fight on November 26 in Carson, California.

Prograis won the WBA strap in 2019 after stopping Kiryl Relikh and admits his ascent to the top of the division was “easy” and the significance was lost on him. The 33-year-old’s defeat to Josh Taylor in their huge unification bout later that year, and his long wait to regain another shot, has made him change his ways.

“I feel like I’m totally different now because when I was the world champion – I’m going to be honest with you – I didn’t cherish it,” Prograis told Probellum.com. “It was easy to me. I’m not even gonna lie, it was easy to me. At the time I was preparing to fight for the belt I went to L.A. and for my first two weeks there we had parties at the house and all kinds of stuff, and this is me fighting for my world championship! Continue reading “Prograis: Zepeda has never seen nothing like me”

After some recent disappointing last-minute cancellations, we finally have a MASSIVE fight weekend to look forward to.

THURSDAY
Bxng.tv has a $19.99 PPV headlined by former female champion Heather “The Heat” Hardy (22-2, 4 KOs) against Calista Silgado (20-15, 15 KOs) in a six-rounder from Sony Hall, in the heart of Times Square, mid-town Manhattan. Also IBF #7 welterweight Ivan “The Volk” Golub (20-1, 15 KOs) defends his USBA belt against Wesley Tucker (15-3, 9 KOs). Calling the fights from ringside will be former NYSAC Commissioner Randy Gordon and former heavyweight contender “Gentleman” Gerry Cooney.

FRIDAY
All Star Boxing has a card featuring WBA #8 flyweight Anthony “Princesa” Olascuaga (4-0, 2 KOs) defending his WBA Fedelatin title in a ten-rounder against Marco “Lobito” Sustaita (13-4-1, 11 KOs) at Seneca Resort & Casino in Niagara Falls, New York. Unfortunately there’s no U.S. carrier, but ESPN Knockout will televise throughout all of Latin America.

SATURDAY
DAZN kick things off EARLY with a card that starts at 4AM ET/1AM PT from the South Bank Piazza in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The main event is a very attractive showdown between WBO #2 super lightweight Liam Paro (22-0, 13 KOs) and IBF #11 lightweight Brock Jarvis (20-0, 18 KOs) for the WBO Global 140lb title.

ESPN+ presents the women’s super fight between Claressa Shields (12-0, 2 KOs) and Savannah Marshall 12-0, 10 KOs) for the undisputed WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO middleweight belts at the O2 Arena in London. Also on that card is the women’s super featherweight unification between IBF/WBO champ Mikaela Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs) and WBC ruler Alycia Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs). The stream starts at 2:30PM ET, 11:30AM PT.

FS2 has undercard action leading into the Wilder-Helenius PPV starting at 7PM ET/4 PM PT. Seeing action are super welterweight Vito Mielnicki Jr. (12-1, 8 KOs) and lightweight Michel “La Zarza Ali” Rivera (23-0, 14 KOs) in separate bouts, plus undefeated heavyweight Gurgen Hovhannisyan (3-0, 3 KOs) in an eight-round showdown against Michael Coffie (13-2, 10 KOs).

The $74.99 pay-per-view topped by the WBC heavyweight title eliminator between former WBC heavyweight champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs) and Robert “The Nordic Nightmare” Helenius (30-3, 19 KOs) from Barclays Center in Brooklyn will start at 9PM ET/6PM PT. In the co-feature, former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (21-1, 12 KOs) faces two-time WBC super middleweight champion Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell (34-2, 25 KOs) in a 12-round WBC super middleweight title eliminator. The other two bouts are undefeated heavyweight Frank Sanchez (20-0, 13 KOs) against Carlos Negron (25-3, 20 KOs) in a 10-rounder, and bantamweight contenders Gary Antonio Russell (19-0, 12 KOs) against former IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez (20-2, 13 KOs) in a twelve-round rematch.

ESPN kicks in at 10:30PM ET, 7:30PM PT with the rematch between undisputed lightweight world champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) and former champ “Ferocious” George Kambosos, Jr. (20-1, 10 KOs) from Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Australia. In the co-feature, two-time world title challenger Jason “Mayhem” Moloney (23-2, 18 KOs) takes on Nawaphon Kaikanha (51-1-1, 46 KOs) in a twelve-round WBC bantamweight final eliminator. Also, former WBA super flyweight champion Andrew Moloney (24-2, 16 KOs) fights tricky former world title challenger Norbelto Jimenez (31-9-6, 16 KOs) in a ten-rounder.

Want more? Both the Brisbane and ESPN shows will stream hours and hours of undercard bouts. “Before the Bell” on DAZN starts streaming at 2:15AM ET/11:15PM PT while undercard bouts on ESPN+ begin streaming at 6PM ET/3PM PT.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Naoki Fukuda

Why does a title unification bout exist? Simply because there are plural (more than one) champions. Japan’s welterweight champ, WBO#12 Keita Obara (26-4-1, 23 KOs), 147, proved too strong by dispatching interim titlist Takeru Obata (12-6-1, 5 KOs), 146.5, with a single right and thus unified the national belts on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.

The 5’11” hard-puncher Obara, in 2016, had an ambitious shot at the IBF 140-pound belt in Moscow only to be quickly iced by Edward Troyanovsky, but still kept fighting in national or WBO AP title goes. Keita, an upright stylist, acquired the Japanese welter belt by dethroning Yuki Nagano in 2020, but he suffered an injury before his rematch with Nagano, who eventually faced southpaw puncher Takeru Obata for the interim national belt with the latter victorious via fifth-round stoppage this June.

To make a long story short, the full champ beat the interim champ. Continue reading “Obara halts Obata, unifies Japanese 147lb belts”

Former WBC interim bantamweight title challenger Tasana Salapat (68-1, 50 KOs) scored an eight round unanimous decision over Cris Alfante (18-11-1, 10 KOs) to claim the vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council bantamweight title on Wednesday at Rangsit International Stadium in Rangsit, Thailand. Scores were 77-74, 77-74, 78-73.

Salapat ran his record to 48-0 before suffering his only loss to Takuma Inoue in 2018. He has now won 20 straight since then against mostly dubious competition, which explains the lack of a world rating despite his lofty won/loss ledger.

By Mauricio Sulaiman – Son of Jose Sulaiman
President of the WBC

I have researched in several places for the definition of “sport”, and in all those sources I found words and concepts such as: “physical activity, rules and regulations; game or competition, training, entertainment, hobby or amusement and health”.

Sports have existed since the beginning of humanity, and new modalities are constantly being created or invented, some of them unimaginable and even some filed with ingenuity.

We have all practiced some type of sports, whether for physical activity and health, or for recreation and entertainment, and also some practice it professionally.

We also follow sports with pleasure and passion, and most likely, everyone who reads this column is passionately fond of one or more of them: Football, soccer, baseball, basketball, volleyball, boxing, wrestling, fishing, hunting, chess, gymnastics, etc.

The original Olympic Games were born in Greece, as a way to find the best, and likewise, the modern ones are, without a doubt, one of the most important sporting events in the world. Winning a medal means achieving glory and, in many cases, it forever changes the future of the athlete, its family and even of a country. Continue reading “Doping in Sports”

You can see three prelim bouts leading into Saturday’s Wilder-Helenius pay-per-view from Barclays Center in Brooklyn on FS2.

Rising super welterweight Vito Mielnicki Jr. (12-1, 8 KOs) will face Limberth Ponce (19-5, 11 KOs) in an 8/10-round showdown that headlines the telecast. Other fights feature unbeaten lightweight contender Michel Rivera (23-0, 14 KOs) against Jerry Pérez (14-1, 11 KOs) in an eight-rounder, and undefeated heavyweight Gurgen Hovhannisyan (3-0, 3 KOs) in an eight-rounder against Michael Coffie (13-2, 10 KOs), who hopes to climb back to contention after back-to-back defeats to Jonny Rice in July 2021 and January of this year.

Fresh off the biggest win of his young career, super featherweight prospect George “El Yuyu” Acosta (13-1, 1 KOs) will face Jose Angulo (14-3, 7 KOs) in an eight-round bout will serve as the main event on October 21 at the Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, California. In the co-main event, bantamweight Manuel “El Meny” Flores (13-0, 11 KOs) faces an opponent that will be determined later. You can catch the action on Thompson Boxing’s social media channels.

Former heavyweight world champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder previewed his long-awaited return to the ring on “The Pivot Podcast” and promised fan-friendly action in his PPV showdown against Robert Helenius this Saturday, October 15 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“I give it all 110% percent,” said Wilder. “I tell people that I only have three years left that I want to dedicate to this business. I want to get back to the big fights and to giving the fans what they want to see, and that’s me risking my life for others’ entertainment…I’m doing it for the people this time. It’s not about just my family anymore, it’s about everyone who I’ve motivated, inspired and encouraged all over the world.

Interestingly, Wilder revealed that his original game plan in boxing was to become a journeyman boxer to make extra money. Continue reading “Wilder: I only have three years left”

Former WBA heavyweight champion Mahmoud Charr is still campaigning hard to land a fight with WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Fury says his December 3 opponent will be announced next week. Derek Chisora is reportedly the frontrunner.

Still no new opponent announced for two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez after Jessie Magdaleno pulled out of their October 29 clash with a training injury. The bout was slated to be the Loma-Ortiz co-feature.

The WBA continues to move forward toward its goal of having a single world champion per category and has so far managed to clear 10 of the 17 divisions via different decisions by the Championships Committee. Of the seven divisions remaining, three are already on track to have a single champion in the short term.

By Jeff Zimmerman

Fightnews.com® caught up with the amazing Heather “The Heat” Hardy who at 40 takes on the experienced Calista Silgado this Thursday night at Sony Hall in Times Square, New York City, to see how much she has left in the take with the hopes of another shot at the title.

She shared the high she had when she beat Shelly Vincent for the world title in 2018 and then what she remembers from sharing the ring with Amanda Serrano in her next fight where she lost the belt. She dove into the impact of Jake Paul on women’s boxing with Serrano and her personal mission to see women paid equally to their male counterparts. Hardy also shared her thoughts on the mega event this weekend headlined by Claressa Shields vs. Savannah Marshall and Mikaela Mayer vs. Alycia Baumgardner and so much more in this exclusive interview.

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WBC #1 ranked Jose ‘Chon’ Zepeda (35-2, 27 KOs) and #2 ranked former World Champion Regis ‘Rougarou’ Prograis (27-1, 23 KOs) will battle for the vacant WBC super lightweight world title on November 26 at ‘The War Grounds’, a.k.a. Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, CA and broadcast live on pay-per-view, it was announced today. Tickets will go on-sale this Friday.

Jose Zepeda: “I’m really excited about this fight finally happening. This is not like other fights. This is the top two in the 140lb. division, fights like this you don’t see in boxing anymore. This is a real fight and the best part is that the fans are aware of this.”

Regis Prograis: “I’ve been waiting for this fight for three years. I was a champion three years ago, and I stayed at 140 so that I can fulfill my goal and be a two-time champion at 140. I’ve been waiting long for this opportunity, and I believe November 26 is when I will unleash my three years of frustration. I could have gone to 147 and got more money, but I always wanted to be a two-time champion. I changed some things around, I got a nutritionist for my last fight. I am very grateful for this opportunity to come again, and I will not let it slip.”

Former WBA super flyweight champion Andrew Moloney (24-2, 16 KOs) will collide with former world title challenger Norbelto Jimenez (31-9-6, 16 KOs) over ten rounds with the vacant WBO International title up for grabs on Sunday (Saturday in the US) at the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia televised on ESPN.

“I’m excited to be back and to be back at home is always special,” said Moloney. “I won my first world title in Melbourne, so it will always be a special place in my heart. Thank you once again to Top Rank and my manager Tony Tolj who’s never failed to have mine and my brother’s back for our entire career. Continue reading “Former champ Andrew Moloney returns”

By Ron Jackson

The superbly conditioned Thato “Captain Charisma” Bonokoane from South Africa won the World Boxing Federation junior featherweight belt on a majority 12 round points decision over Diego Alberto Ruiz of Argentina on Sunday afternoon at the Feather Market Hall in Gqeberha. The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114. Continue reading “Thato Bonokoane wins WBF belt”

By Jeff Zimmerman
Photos: Porfirio Barron Jr. / One Vision Photography

In the main event at Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas, super featherweight Juan Antonio Lopez (17-11-1, 7 KOs) out of Fort Worth battled Henry Arredondo (8-1-1, 4 KOs) from San Antonio to a draw over six rounds at the Night to Fight benefiting the Ring of Hope and the inaugural event for the Texas Boxing Hall of Fame.

Lopez, a southpaw and a longtime local crowd favorite, showed his ring generalship in the early rounds to stay away from the aggressive Arrendondo and picked his spots landing his straight left hand. Over the next few rounds, the fight moved in the pocket and Arredondo found success landing his power shots. Lopez traded blows inside, but Arrendondo’s threw more punches that seemed to have more pop on them. Neither fighter was hurt. Although Arrendondo won five of six rounds on one scorecard, the other two judges saw it three to three as the scores read 57-57 twice and 59-55 for a majority draw. Continue reading “Lopez, Arredondo battle to a draw”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Former undisputed world lightweight champion George “Ferocious” Kambosos (20-1, 10 KOs) is confident he will defeat WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF 135-pound champion Devin Haney (28-0, 15 KOs) in their rematch on Sunday (Saturday in the US) at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia televised on ESPN.

“I know I’m the underdog. I am back to familiar territory again,” Kambosos told the Daily Telegraph. “A lot of people have written me off, but I have shaken the world before and I can shake it again. I have copped it from some unqualified idiots, but I haven’t lost my self-belief. Continue reading “Kambosos: I can shake the world again”

By Miguel Maravilla

WBC interim super welterweight champion Sebastian Fundora (20-0-1, 13 KOs) of Indio, California spoke about his win over Carlos Ocampo (34-2, 22 KOs). It was a hard-fought twelve rounds as Fundora won a unanimous decision Saturday night at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Here is what “The Towering Inferno” said at the post-fight press conference.

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By Miguel Maravilla

Middleweight Carlos Adames (22-1, 17 KOs) talked about his win over Juan Macias Montiel (23-6-2, 23 KOs) in the co-feature bout. It was a devastating stoppage as Adames was landing the heavier punches, staggering and finishing off Montiel in the third round. Here is what he said about his highlight reel stoppage.

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