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Former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant held a media workout in Las Vegas Tuesday as he prepares to face 168-pound rival and two-time WBC super middleweight champion Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell in a WBC super middleweight title eliminator in the co-main event of the October 15 Wilder-Helenius pay-per-view from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Caleb Plant

“To me, Dirrell was the one who was tense at our press conference. He was getting frustrated and getting loud and couldn’t think of anything to say. What I took away is that I’m on his mind. I feel like I’m living rent-free in his head. He knows he has a top-quality opponent in front of him and someone he can’t mess with. I don’t know where his head’s at, but I know where mine is and I’m ready to rock. Continue reading “Caleb Plant Workout Quotes”

Unbeaten WBA #8 flyweight Anthony “Princesa” Olascuaga (4-0, 2 KOs) will make his ring return on October 14th in Niagara Falls, New York as he defends his WBA Fedelatin title in a 10 round clash against Southern California rival Marco “El Lobito” Sustaita (13-4-1, 11 KOs). The bout will be televised on ESPN Knockout all throughout Latin America. Continue reading “Olascuaga headlines Oct 14”

Former IBF light flyweight champion Felix Alvarado (38-2, 32 KOs) of Nicaragua vacated his world title earlier this year. His hope was to win his second world title in as many divisions. Alvarado will now get that opportunity as he will challenge unbeaten IBF flyweight world champion Sunny Edwards (18-0, 4 KOs) of the United Kingdom. The bout will take place in Sheffield, England, on November 11. Fightnews.com® spoke directly with Alvarado and his manager William Ramirez (Wram Boxing), who confirmed the fight.

How excited were you when received the news of this official fight date?

I was pleased that it came together quite quickly. I am very content and motivated for this fight. Continue reading “Alvarado ready for title clash with Edwards”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Former Australian amateur champion Nikita Tszyu (3-0, 2 KOs), the son of Australian boxing legend Kostya Tszyu and brother of WBO #1 154-pounder Tim Tszyu, has revealed a secret food that he expects will help his performance in the ring.

Tszyu says he will soon be eating bull testicles as part of his preparation for his bout against Darkon Dryden on October 8. Continue reading “Nikita Tszyu reveals secret diet”

Unbeaten lightweight prospect Floyd “Kid Austin” Schofield (11-0, 9 KOs) has inked a co-promotional deal with Golden Boy Promotions. Schofield will headline a Golden Boy Fight Night event on DAZN  October 20 from Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

Middleweight prospect Nico Ali Walsh (6-0, 5 KOs), the grandson of “The Greatest,” is set to make his New York City return. Ali Walsh will fight Billy Wagner (5-2, 1 KO) in his first scheduled six-rounder Saturday, October 29 at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Ali Walsh-Wagner joins the undercard of the lightweight main event between former pound-for-pound king Vasiliy Lomachenko and the unbeaten Jamaine “The Technician” Ortiz. In the featherweight co-feature, two-time Cuban Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez battles former world champion Jessie Magdaleno. The entire Lomachenko-Ortiz card will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+.

By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán & President of the WBC

After a week of the fight which concluded the sports rivalry between Canelo and GGG, and after analyzing the reactions of the fans and the media, I have tried to put my thoughts in order. I stepped outside the ring to see things from a different perspective and thus understand the many comments about this fight.

Boxing is unique in many ways. What is truth is that the criticism of the fan is the strictest and most severe of all sports. Almost all of us have played soccer, at least once at school, football, basketball, tennis, baseball, volleyball, and an infinity of others, but how many of us have boxed? You can’t play boxing, simple as that.

Anyone who has ever trained boxing, who has put on gloves on for three minutes, throwing blows at a punching bag, knows what a single round represents, and even so when you don’t have someone in front of you trying to rip your head off. Continue reading “Analyzing Canelo vs. GGG III”

By Miguel Maravilla

Former world champion and undefeated Mexican light heavyweight Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (44-0, 30 KOs) of Mazatlan, Mexico looks to become a two-division world champion as goes up against undefeated WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitrii Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) of Russia. Ramirez will get his shot at Bivol’s title on Saturday, November 5 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE live on DAZN.

“It’s an exciting fight for me and all of boxing. I am very grateful to be able to take this fight against Bivol, especially since I am very ready for this. The entire world will see Zurdo Ramirez and all the potential I have,” Zurdo Ramirez told Fightnews.com®. “This is an important opportunity fighting for a world title. I have been wanting this fight for the longest time and I’m very excited,” Ramirez added. Continue reading “Zurdo Ramirez: I’m Confident that I Will Win”

Unbeaten welterweight road warrior Panagiotis Tsochataridis (8-0-1, 5 KOs) of Greece returns to the ring this Saturday against veteran Milan Delic (13-34, 4 KOs). The bout is scheduled for eight rounds and will take place in Pozarevac, Serbia. Tsochataridis has shown his willingness to fight on the road, having fought all of his pofessional bouts as the visiting fighter. He first six bouts were fought in Mexico. This will be his first eight round bout.

45-year-old ring legend Floyd Mayweather will continue his exhibition tour on November 13 at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Floyd’s opponent will be YouTuber “Deji,” the younger brother of KSI, who has a record of 1-3 in “YouTube Beefs” including a stoppage loss against Jake Paul.

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has announced that he’s withdrawn the 60/40 offer he made to Anthony Joshua to fight on December 3.

Tyson Fury: “Well guys, it’s official. D-day has come and gone. It’s gone past 5PM Monday. No contract has been signed. It’s officially over for Joshua. He is now out in the cold with the wolfpack. Forget about it. Idiot, coward, shithouse, bodybuilder. Always knew it. Always knew he didn’t have the minerals to fight the Gypsy King. Regardless of what the f**k you say now, I don’t really care. Good luck with your career and your life. End of. Peace out.”

Rumor has it that Fury may now face former WBA heavyweight champion Mahmoud Charr.

World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee has ordered the mandatory bout between WBA/IBF middleweight super champion Gennady Golovkin and WBA regular champion Erislandy Lara as part of the world title reduction plan.

Golovkin and Lara will have a period of one month to reach an agreement for the fight, which will end on October 23. The winner of this fight will be the only WBA 160-pound champion.

The WBA granted special permission to GGG to move up a division and fight Saul Alvarez on September 17, with the condition that he would return to middleweight to face Lara and would not be granted another special permission. Continue reading “WBA orders Golovkin-Lara fight”

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has set a deadline of 5PM today for Anthony Joshua to sign a contract to fight him on December 3 with a 60/40 split.

“Today is D-Day people. F**king D-Day,” stated Fury on social media. “Are you going to sign the contract, you big pussy? Or are you not going to sign it? When Wilder sent me the contract for Wilder 1, I signed it within 24 hours because I wanted to smash his face in. You’ve had the contract for 10 days now, bitch, and still ain’t signed it. If it’s not done by 5PM today, GK (Gypsy King) is moving on!”

A streak of many weekends of major televised fights in the USA comes to a screaming halt this week. However, there is still plenty of boxing action to be seen on the web.

SATURDAY
TV Azteca in Mexico (which you can see with a VPN) presents a card from Tijuana’s Plaza Monumental (a.k.a. Bullring by the Sea) that includes popular two-time world champion Luis Nery (32-1, 24 KOs) against former world title challenger Jesus Ruiz Garcia (43-9-5, 31 KOs). The main event is the final fight of 42-year-old female ring legend Jackie Nava. The show is promoted by Zanfer Promotions.

FloCombat, a monthly subscription service ($29.99/mo or $150/year), will air an event from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena headlined by bantamweight Christian Carto (19-1, 13 KOs) against Hector Andres Sosa (14-1, 8 KOs). The eight-bout card is promoted by King’s Promotions.

BXNG TV has a $19.99 PPV telecast from the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, DC. The headliner was scheduled to feature the return of Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (34-0-1, 20 KOs), however Harrison’s father, Buddy Harrison, a beloved DC boxing trainer, was tragically shot and killed outside his home over the weekend. Anthony Peterson (39-1-1, 25 KOs) is also scheduled to appear on the card, which is promoted by Harrison’s promotional firm Beltway Battles.

Star Boxing returns to The Paramount in Huntington, NY, for “Rockin’ Fights” 43. The headliner is a cruiserweight clash between Lyubomyr “Demolition Man” Pinchuk(14-3, 8 KOs) and Joel “Shotgun” Shojgreen (13-3 12 KOs). Previous installments of the Rockin’ Fights series have turned up on Fite.tv’s Fite+ subscription service.

SUNDAY
A stream may turn up for a bout between unbeaten heavyweight Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (25-0-1, 21 KOs) and Ebenezer Tetteh (20-1, 17 KOs) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, of all places. If Miller is victorious, he could face resurgent Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne in November.

By Joe Koizumi

Unbeaten ex-university amateur prospect Goki Kobayashi (4-0, 3 KOs), 104.75, impressively knocked out WBO AP#14 Cris Ganoza (19-5, 9 KOs), a Filipino southpaw at 104.5, with vicious body shots to sink him in agony for the count at 2:41 of the second round in a scheduled eight on Sunday in Kobe, Japan. Goki’s hand speed stunned the higher ranked opponent and the crowd as well, battering him at will in the opening session. The second witnessed Kobayashi floor Ganoza with a left hook to the side belly twice and for the count. The promoter Masato Yamashita of Shinsei Promotions plans to have the prodigy with an amateur mark of forty bouts fight for the WBO Asia Pacific belt in the near future. Continue reading “Kobayashi finishes WBO AP#14 Ganoza”

By Ron Jackson

Jeff Magagane won the South African featherweight title on Sunday afternoon at the Portuguese Hall in Turfontein, Johannesburg, when he outpointed defending champion Asanda Gingqi over 12 rounds.

Ginqi was making his third defense of the title.

Magagane was in control from the opening bell as he dominated throughout with very little coming back from Ginqi who had no answer to the faster and more stylish challenger. Continue reading “Magagane wins SA featherweight title”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO #4 130-pounder Liam Wilson (11-1, 7 KOs) has targeted a shot at the vacant WBO super featherweight world title formerly held by Shakur Stevenson, who lost the belt on the scale last week and will now move out of the division.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Liam Wilson is going to be Australia’s next male world champion after Tim Tszyu,” Wilson’s promoter George Rose told Fox Sports. “Liam is the most dangerous fighter in Australian boxing and the world is about to learn it for themselves.” Continue reading “Promoter: Wilson beats Valdez and Sharp”

Melvin “Melo” Lopez (28-1, 19 KOs) of Nicaragua (now based in Miami) returned to action Saturday night stopping veteran Victor Ruiz (23-14, 16 KOs) of Mexico in round two of their scheduled eight round bout on Saturday night at the Manual Artime Community Center Theater, Miami, Florida. Lopez is closing fast on a world title opportunity and is currently ranked #4 by the WBA, #5 WBO, and #8 IBF.

Highly touted unbeaten super flyweight propsect Winston Guerrero (18-0, 11 KOs) of Nicaragua made his U.S. debut scoring an eight round unanimous decisión over veteran Sammy Gutierrez (16-38-6, 6 KOs). Continue reading ““Melo” Lopez scores KO in Miami”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Chiba upsets Kurihara, wins OPBF 118lb belt

Unheralded Kai Chiba (15-3, 9 KOs), 117.75, stunned the crowd as he surprisingly dethroned WBC#11, IBF#11, WBO#15 OPBF bantamweight titlist Keita Kurihara (16-7-1, 15 KOs), 118, by an unexpected stoppage at 0:50 of the twelfth and final round on Thursday (September 22) in Tokyo, Japan. The hard-punching champ made a good start, leading on points: all 39-37 after the fourth. As the underdog Chiba mixed it up from the fifth, he overcame a points deficit to have it back to all 76-76 after the eighth. Chiba impressively accelerated his attack to hurt the champ in the eleventh and finally caught up with him with a last surge to prompt the ref’s intervention in the final session.

Saka barely keeps Japanese 130lb belt in a seesaw game

Hard-punching Japanese champ Kosuke Saka (22-6, 19 KOs), 130, very barely kept his national 130-pound belt when he came off the canvas twice, dropped back Tsubasa Narai (8-2, 7 KOs), 129.5, twice and finally halted him at 0:55 of the sixth session in Osaka, Japan, on September 17. The ambitious challenger had the champ on the deck in the first and fourth, but Saka retaliated with a beautifully well-timed right to floor Nara in the fifth. The champ again decked the badly hurt challenger in round six, when the ref waived it off to save the loser. Narai deserves a rematch soon.

Continue reading “JAPAN UPDATE”

45-year-old ring legend Floyd “Money” Mayweather knocked out MMA fighter Mikuru Askakura in round two of an exhibition match headlining a Super RIZIN pay-per-view event on Sunday at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Floyd dropped Askakura with a right hand at the end of round two and Askakura couldn’t beat the count of referee Kenny Bayless.

Among the interested spectators was Manny Pacquiao, who stated he was on hand to support fellow Asian Askakura.

* * *

In an “open weight” boxing exhibition, veteran kickboxer Kouzi “Emperor” Tanaka stopped Floyd Mayweather’s bodyguard Jizzy Mack in round three. Tanaka, giving up 42 pounds, dropped Jizzy twice in round three to end it. After the bout, Tanaka called out Jizzy’s boss.

Unbeaten prospect Isaac Arias (11-0, 9 KOs) of Venezuela upset former world title challenger Dewayne Beamon (21-5-2, 15 KOs) of North Carolina by majority decisión to win the vacant WBC International silver super flyweight title. The event took place Saturday night at the Coliseo Elias Chegwin, in Barranquilla, Colombia.

It was an exciting fight with a lot of back-and-forth heavy exchanges. The second half of the fight saw both fighters having trouble with their footing due to a slippery canvas. Arias closed the fight strong to edge out the victory on the scorecards. The official judges’ scorecards were 96-94 twice for Arias and 95-95.

Unbeaten heavyweight “Juggernaut” Joe Joyce (15-0, 14 KOs) knocked out former world champion Joseph Parker (30-3, 21 KOs) in round eleven to claim the WBO interim heavyweight title on Saturday night at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. Joyce pumped the jab repeatedly and quickly caused damage to Parker’s face. Joyce continued to outwork Parker in the middle rounds. Parker landed his share of shots, but they seemingly had little effect on Joyce. Joyce finally closed the show by dropping Parker with a crushing left hook in round eleven and Parker failed to beat the count. Time was 1:03.

Lightweight Maxi Hughes (26-5-2, 5 KOs) hammered out a twelve round majority decision over former IBF featherweight champion Kid Galahad (28-3, 17 KOs) on Saturday night at the Nottingham Arena in Nottingham, England. Close fight with Hughes prevailing by scores of 114-114, 116-111, 114-113. Hughes retained his IBO title.

Former 130lb female champ Terri Harper (13-1-1, 6 KOs) moved up three weight divisions to dethrone WBA super welterweight champion Hannah Rankin (12-6, 3 KOs) via ten round unanimous decision. Scores were 98-92, 98-92, 97-93.

Heavyweight Solomon Dacres (5-0, 1 KO) outworked 305lb Ariel Esteban Bracamonte (11-10, 6 KOs) over ten rounds. Scores were 99-90 3x.

WBC/WBO female featherweight champion Amanda Serrano (43-2-1, 30 KOs) added the IBF title of previously unbeaten Sarah Mahfoud (11-1, 3 KOs) with a one-sided ten round unanimous decision on Saturday night in the Joyce-Parker co-feature at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. Serrano was simply better in every category of a forgettable bout. Scores were 99-92, 97-93, 97-93.

IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington (31-1-1, 8 KOs) will defend his title against Luis Alberto Lopez (26-2, 15 KOs) at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on December 10, live worldwide on DAZN.

Josh Warrington: “It’s going to be a hard fight, he comes forward, he’s wild and erratic, I’ve got history with Mexican fighters, but I’m hoping to put on a great performance in front of my home crowd…I’ve been saying it for so long about going over to the States and fighting in a unification fight. That’s the dream but due to delays with injuries to my jaw and hand I have to fight my mandatory now. I’m fully focused on doing a job, getting the show closed early and finishing 2022 with a bang.”

Luis Alberto Lopez: “I remember, not too long ago, when a Mexican fighter knocked Josh out in his country. On December 10, in his hometown, I am going to silence his fans. The IBF featherweight title will return to Mexico. I dedicate this fight to the Mexican people and everyone from my hometown of Mexicali. This one’s for you, and Josh, enjoy that belt while you still have it.” Continue reading “Warrington-Lopez set for Dec 10”