Fightnews.com

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Former world champion Stephen Fulton (22-1, 8 KO’s) of Philadelphia edged out Carlos Castro (30-3, 14 KO’s) of Phoenix by split decision as they went the distance in a ten round featherweight bout. Starting at fast pace in the opening round, Fulton and Castro stuck the jab and countered. Fulton began to beat Castro to the punch in the third as the fast pace continued. Castro used the jab to neutralize Fulton’s hand speed and counters in the fourth but the former champion was still boxing effectively. A straight right by Castro in the fifth dropped Fulton. Castro cut off the ring and attempted to attack, but Fulton survived.

Fulton appeared to have regained his composure in the sixth as he boxed and kept his distance from a more confident Castro. Working off the jab in the seventh, Castro was consistent sticking it as Fulton stood busy in the pocket. Excahnging to begin the eighth, Castro caught Fulton on the inside with another right hand as Fulton was rocked and held on. Shortly after the referee warned Fulton for holding. Late in the fight in the ninth, Castro stayed busy continuing to work the jab with Fulton staying close in the pocket landing the flashy shots. The tenth and final round, Castro and Futlon stood busy on the inside with Fulton connecting with a huge left hook. Castro kept pressing behind the jab and finished strong.

After completing ten rounds, the judges scored the bout 95-94 Castro, 96-93 Fulton, and 95-94 for Fulton. Continue reading “Early Results from Las Vegas”

By Brad Snyder-The Undercard
Photos by Bob Ryder

Friday night in Detroit, Michigan, Carlos Llinas brought the city another explosive showcase of professional boxing at Motor City Casino Sound Board with Night of Knockouts XXXI. Llinas stated about the card, “I am very happy with the way this show turned out. This show made Michigan History by having the first female referee to officiate a womens boxing match. The Tini vs Begley fight had an international flavor to it, as Begley was brought over from Ireland to face Tini. So, just happy for the fans and support as always.” Continue reading “Night of Knockouts XXXI Results”

Unbeaten WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson is out of action after undergoing hand surgery. As a result, Stevenson’s scheduled October 12 defense against former champion Joe Cordina is off. That bout was to take place October 12 as the co-feature for the Beterbiev-Bivol clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Stevenson said on social media “…unfortunately my hand gave out on me, but [in] 2025 let’s bounce back and take over boxing.”

In an IBF middleweight eliminator, unbeaten IBF #8 Etinosa “El Chapo” Oliha (21-0, 9 KOs) stopped IBF #10 Alexander Pavlov (21-4, 15 KOs) in the third round on Saturday night at the AGON Sportpark in Berlin, Germany. Oliha dropped Pavlov in round three and during his violent follow-up barrage Pavlov suffered a shoulder injury prompting a stoppage.

Sad to report the passing of longtime boxing promoter Fred Berns at the age of 84 in Indianapolis, Indiana. Berns promoted hundreds of events in the Midwest over a span of more than four decades. Stars he promoted on his shows include Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. He was inducted into the Indiana Boxing Hall of Fame in the inaugural 2018 class.

Unbeaten 6’6 cruiserweight David “The Nice Guy” Nyika (10-0, 9 KOs) scored an impressive third round KO against rugged veteran Tommy Karpency (31-9-1, 19 KOs) on Saturday night at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. Nyika dropped Karpency twice in round three to end it. Time was 1:13. Nyika ia rated #14 by the IBF.

By Damon Gonzalez / LatinBox Communications

In Friday night’s main event in a sold out crowd at the Hilton Downtown Tampa in Tampa, Florida presented by Alessi Promotions, unbeaten heavyweight Drake Banks (6-0, 5 KOs) from Homosassa, Florida. was overpowering as he broke down a very tough Alexis Soriano Taveras (3-2-1, 1 KO) from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. ending his night at the 1:34 mark of round three by TKO victory. Continue reading “Heavyweight Banks remains unbeaten”

WBC #2 super featherweight Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez (36-2, 32 KOs) scored a six round unanimous technical decision over Thomas “Gunna Man” Mattice (22-4-1 17 KOs) on Thursday night at the Arena Sonora in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The bout was stopped after six rounds due to a cut (caused by a headbutt) suffered by Hernandez. Judges scored it 59-55, 58-55, 58-56. Mattice, who was getting stronger as the bout progressed, wasn’t happy about the stoppage.

Canelo Alvarez 166.75 vs. Edgar Berlanga 167.5
(WBC/WBA/WBO super middleweight titles)

Erislandy Lara 156.75 vs. Danny Garcia 156.25
(WBA middleweight title)

Caleb Plant 167.25 vs. Trevor McCumby 167.25
(WBA interim super middleweight title)

Rolly Romero 140.75 vs. Manuel Jaimes 139.75
Stephen Fulton 126 vs. Carlos Castro 125.6
Roiman Villa 146.2 vs. Ricardo Salas 146
Geo López 130 vs. Ricky Medina, Jr 130
Yoenli Feliciano 158.4 vs. José Sánchez Charles 164.4
Lawrence King 178 vs. Vaughn Williams 176.2
Bek Nurmaganbet 170.8 vs. Joshua Conley 173.2

Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Promoter: TGB Promotions
TV: PPV ($89.99), Prime Video

Etinosa Oliha 159.6 vs. Alexander Pavlov 158.1
(IBF middleweight eliminator)

Bujar Tahiri 159.4 vs. Nicolas David Veron 159.6
Hamsat Shadalov 129.7 vs. Sergio Javier Escobar 129.4
Granit Shala 277.8 vs. Emilio Ezequiel Zarate 254.9
Paul Wall 153.2 vs. Fabio Cascone 152.6
Alexander Müller vom Berge 246.3 vs. Srdan Govedarica 271.2
Dariusz Lasotta 200.0 vs. Artsiom Charniakevich 199.6

Venue: AGON Sportpark, Berlin, Germany
Promoter: AGON
TV: DAZN

By Brad Snyder at ringside
Photos: Bob Ryder

Unbeaten USBA junior middleweight Ardreal “Bossman” Holmes Jr. (16-0, 6 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over Hugo Noriega (10-3, 5 KOs) on Thursday night at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan. Holmes outboxed Noriega and won by scores of 96-94, 97-93, 97-93.

Unbeaten super welterweight prospect Joseph “Sug” Hicks (11-0, 7 KOs) outpointed Ronnie Austion (10-2, 7 KOs) in an eight-rounder. Scores were 79-73, 78-74, 80-72. Continue reading “Holmes, Hicks remain unbeaten”

Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez 129 vs. Thomas Mattice 129
(WBA Continental Americas super featherweight title)

Sergio Mendoza 110.4 vs. Angel Ramos 110.4
Julio Porras 167.8 vs. Isaac Torres 167.2
Leonardo Rubalcava 138 vs. Jesus Castorena 140.3

Venue: Arena Sonora, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN

Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions presents another Hollywood Fight Nights event on Friday, October 26 at the Commerce Casino Events Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live globally on UFC Fightpass.

The show is headlined by World Ranked (#13 IBF, #15 WBC) and undefeated Omar Trinidad, (16-0-1, 12 KOs), of Boyle Heights, CA making the second defense of his WBC Continental Americas Featherweight Title against IBF #4 world ranked Hector ‘La Maquinita’ Sosa, (17-2, 9 KOs), of Buenos Aires, Argentina over ten scheduled rounds. Trinidad vs. Sosa is presented in association with Sampson Boxing.

Fighters competing on Saturday’s Canelo-Berlanga undercard went face-to-face at the final press conference on Thursday before their clashes this Saturday on the big $89.99 PPV event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

WBA middleweight world champion Erislandy “The American Dream” Lara defends against two-division world champion Danny “Swift” García.

Erislandy Lara: “Danny is a great fighter and a champion at lower weight classes, but middleweight is a different beast. We’re gonna have to see if he can adapt to this different weight…I don’t know whether he can stand the power of my punches. We’ll find out Saturday. I’m just focused on being ready mentally and physically to do anything it takes to win.”

Danny Garcia: “I feel like I’m already a Hall of Famer, but I think winning this belt is the icing on the cake. Winning in three divisions is about legacy, not many fighters do that. I’m chasing greatness…people have tried to tell me I was too small my whole career. I was naturally a big guy who squeezed down in weight. To me, I’m a natural middleweight.”

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Former world champion Caleb Plant meets undefeated contender Trevor McCumby for the WBA interim super middleweight title,

Caleb Plant: “Trevor himself knows that I’m not a bum, and that’s why he wants to fight me. He wants to be on the big stage, and that means facing a real fighter. Right now, he’s looking at a real fighter. He’s fought only bums, but he’s not fighting a bum now…we’ll see what he brings on Saturday.”

Trevor McCumby: “The back and forth we’ve had adds a little bit of motivation. Caleb is emotional and lets people get into his head too easily…on Saturday, you will see what I can do in the ring. There’s no animosity from me, but I’m coming for his heart.”

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Former 140-pound world champion Rolando “Rolly” Romero and Manuel Jaimes square off in the pay-per-view opener.

Rolly Romero: “I’m definitely coming for the knockout. I’m not overlooking him at all, I’m just ready.”

Manuel Jaimes: “Rolly has lost before and he will lose again.”

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Also facing off at the press conference were former unified super bantamweight world champion Stephen Fulton Jr. and all-action contender Carlos Castro, who top a three-fight lineup on Prime Video leading up to the pay-per-view.

Stephen Fulton Jr: “I’m definitely coming for the knockout on Saturday…I’m here to make a statement for myself and get back. This is my get back. Whoever’s got a belt at 126, I’m ready.”

Carlos Castro: “This is something that I’ve been waiting for. I’ve taken two defeats, but these are the fights I want. I’m not gonna shy away from anybody, because I’m in this sport to prove myself.”

The live-streaming action will be available via free access to all fans, regardless of Prime membership or purchase of the PPV card it leads into.

Mexican superstar Canelo Álvarez and WBA #1 mandatory contender Edgar Berlanga went face-to-face Wednesday at the final press conference before their WBC, WBA, WBO super middleweight PPV clash this Saturday from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Canelo Alvarez: “It’s easy to say you’ll knock me out, but it’s much more difficult to do it. Saturday night is gonna be very difficult for him, for sure. I’ve prepared for the knockout. I love the feeling of a knockout and I’m gonna do my best to get it done…I just want to show everyone that I’m still the best. I still love this sport. When I stop loving it, you’ll know. I love my routine and I love going to the gym every day.”

Edgar Berlanga: “I’m a knockout artist. Every fighter wants the knockout. We know that he’s a legend and we can’t just go swing for the fences. We have to do it the right way. Sixth-round knockout, that’s what we’re going for. But we’re ready for all 12 rounds if we have to.”

Super Welterweight Vladimir “24K” Hernandez (16-6, 7 KOs) hammered out a ten round unanimous decision over Raul “El Doma” Garcia (13-2-1, 11 KOs) on Wednesday night at the ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida. Scores were 94-93, 95-92, 96-91. Garcia dropped Hernandez in round three, but Hernandez later floored Garcia twice.

Hernandez-Garcia was moved to the main event after a scheduled super middleweight clash between Lester Martinez and Joeshon “Showtime” James was scrapped due to an illness suffered by Martinez.

Weights by Brad Snyder

Ardreal Holmes 153.4 vs. Hugo Noriega 153.2
Joseph Hicks 155.8 vs. Ronnie Austion 155.8
Leon Lawson III 156 vs. Luis Alberto Veron 154.6
Da’Velle Smith 164.8 vs. Esau Herrera de la Cruz 165.8
Jaquan McElroy 159 vs. Lamar Bolden 159.2
Deandre Savage 289 vs. Keshawn Jackson 249.8
Darrion Lawson 204.2 vs. Isaiah Cobbs TBA
Christopher Thompson 164.6 vs. Eric Hadley 165.4

Venue: Dort Federal Event Center, Flint, Michigan
Promoter: Salita Promotions
TV: DAZN

Junior lightweight contender Andres “Savage” Cortes suffered a training injury and was forced to withdraw from his ESPN-televised co-feature against fellow unbeaten Charly Suarez underneath the Jaime Munguia-Erik Bazinyan main event on Friday, Sept. 20, at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.

The new co-feature will be the eight-round heavyweight showdown between Olympic silver medal standout Richard Torrez Jr. (10-0, 10 KOs) and Philadelphia-born veteran Joey Dawejko (28-11-4, 16 KOs).

In the eight-round televised opener, undefeated junior welterweight Emiliano Fernando Vargas (11-0, 9 KOs) steps up in class against upset-minded Irishman Larry Fryers (13-6-1, 5 KOs).

Suarez (17-0, 9 KOs), a world-rated contender from San Isidro, Philippines, will now fight Jorge Castaneda (17-3, 13 KOs) in a 10-rounder for the vacant WBO Intercontinental junior lightweight belt on the ESPN+streamed undercard.

Riyadh Season and Golden Boy Promotions announced today an inaugural show that is part of their overall partnership. The event, “Latino Night,” will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on November 16 with the main event co-promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and BOXXER.

The lineup includes…

WBA/WBO cruiserweight unification
Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs)
vs. Chris Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs)

WBO super lightweight eliminator
Jose Ramirez (29-1, 18 KOs)
vs. Arnold Barboza Jr. (30-0, 11 KOs)

Lightweight ten-rounder
#1 rated William “El Camarón” Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs)
vs. Tevin “2X” Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs)

WBO minimumweight championship
Oscar “El Pupilo” Collazo (10-0, 7 KOs)
vs. Edwin “Canito” Hernandez (13-2-1, 4 KOs)

WBA super lightweight eliminator
Oscar “La Migraña” Duarte (27-2-1, 22 KOs)
WBA #1 Kenneth “Bossman” Sims Jr. (21-2-1, 8 KOs)

* * *

Turki Alalshikh: “We are looking forward to staging our first event as part of our partnership with Golden Boy Promotions with Latino Night. This card features some of the best Latino fighters around and continues our drive to deliver top-tier boxing events by giving fans throughout the world the fights they want to see.”

Alalshikh also confirmed that Latino Night will be broadcast for free globally. Further details of where you can watch this card will follow.

By Damon Gonzalez / LatinBox Communications

Super Middleweight Lester Martinez (18-0, 15 KOs) from Guatemala City, Guatemala will collide against Joeshon “Showtime” James (9-0-2, 5 KOs) from Sacramento, CA. in a ten round main event live at ProBox TV Events Center, Plant City, Florida on Wednesday, September 11, 2024.

Lester Martinez 167 vs. Joeshon James 167.6
Vladimir Hernandez 153.6 vs. Raul Garcia 154
Jaycob Gomez 134 vs. Jerry Perez 135
Yoel Angeloni 149.8 vs. Juan Carlos Compos Medina 153
Yojanler Martinez 160.4 vs. Franyerson Puerta 160.8

Venue: Whitesands Event Center, Plant City, Florida
Promoter: ProBox
TV: ProBoxTV

By Miguel Maravilla

Mexican superstar, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KO’s) is back in the ring this Saturday night as he takes on undefeated Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KO’s) of Brooklyn. Canelo will defend his titles against Berlanga at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas live on Pay Per View.

“I am ready for this fight. I’m hoping this fight turns out to be a good solid performance and get the victory come September 14,” Canelo told Fightnews.com®.

Coming off a unanimous decision, Canelo handed former middleweight world champion and fellow Mexican Jaime Munguia his first defeat. Scoring a knockdown in the fight, Alvarez was efficient in boxing his way to the decision win. Canelo returns to the same ring he defeated Munguia as he now takes on Berlanga. Continue reading “Canelo: It’s an interesting fight”

After a slow weekend, boxing is back with two consecutive weeks of PPV action.

It all starts Saturday (Sept 14) with the $89.99 Canelo-Berlanga PPV this Saturday in Las Vegas. Canelo is an 18:1 favorite to retain his WBC/WBA/WBO belts. Other bout feature middleweight champ Erislandy Lara against Danny “Swift” García, Caleb Plant against undefeated Trevor McCumby, and Rolando “Rolly” Romero against Manuel Jaimes.

The following Saturday (Sept 21) is a $19.99 PPV headlined by Daniel Dubois defending his IBF heavyweight title against former champ Anthony Joshua in London. Joshua is a 5:1 favorite to dethrone Dubois. Other bouts include Anthony Cacace versus Josh Warrington for the IBF super featherweight title and Joshua Buatsi versus Willy Hutchinson for the WBO interim light heavyweight title.

Featherweight Oscar ‘Cachorro’ Murguia (12-1, 4 KOs) scored an upset split decisión over countryman Adrian Montoya (15-2, 13 KOs) in the 10 round main event Friday night in Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico. Murguia seemed to control the action for the better part of the bout landing the more precise punches. Montoya had his moments in spurts as the aggressor landing some flush punches. Murguia took them well and stayed in the pocket landing many eye catching counter punches. In the end the judges had it officially 97-94, 97-96, and 96-94. It was not specified which scores were for which fighter. An emotional Murgia fell to the canvas in tears of joy after he was announced the winner.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten Japanese southpaw puncher Mikito Nakano (11-0, 10 KOs; amateur mark 68-9, 48 KOs), 126, impressively acquired the vacant OPBF featherweight belt when he connected with vicious body bombardments to finish Filipino Brix Piala (9-2, 3 KOs), 125, for the count at 0:34 into the fourth round in a scheduled twelve on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

Nakano, from the start, aggressively attacked the cautious Filipino southpaw and quickly decked him with a left uppercut to the belly just before the gong to end the third session. Swarming over the still damaged opponent in the next round, Nakano landed wicked shots exclusively to the midsection to have him down in agony for the fatal ten. Teiken gym now dominates both Asian regional feather champs in WBO AP’s Kenji Fujita (7-0, 3 KOs; amateur 153-21) and OPBF’s Nakano. Both are worth watching.

Photos