Fightnews.com

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

Julio César Chávez was born in a train wagon in Ciudad Obregon, Sonora into a humble and large family that eventually settled in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

He was a great athlete in his childhood, a good ballplayer, also a soccer player, and he even excelled at volleyball. His brothers boxed, and he used to go to see them at the gym, having no interest in this sport, until one day a bully picked a fight with him, and Julio kicked his ass.

“El Zurdo” López took him on as his first trainer, and Ramón Félix as his manager, welcoming him to the gym, and then developing one of the most formidable careers in boxing history. Continue reading “Julio Cesar Chavez – 60th Birthday”

Heavyweight Robert Helenius, mentioned as a possible opponent for the return of former champion Deontay Wilder, is demanding a shot at the winner of the rematch between Oleksandr Usyk and Anthony Joshua. “I am rightfully the WBA mandatory, so of course I am interested in the Usyk vs Joshua winner. I definitely should be next,” Helenius told Sky Sports. “Every elimination bout after mine is bullshit. At this point, if we are not designated the mandatory after Usyk’s next fight, we will only have one option. My lawyers are very confident that the WBA have bungled this whole thing, so I am confident in my position.”

Helenius, who won a WBA eliminator against Adam Kownacki, then beat Kownacki again in a rematch, is currently rated WBA #2 behind Michael Hunter. WBA regular heavyweight champion Daniel Dubois is also a possible Helenius opponent if Dubois doesn’t directly face the Usyk-Joshua winner as part of the WBA’s title reduction plan.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

IBF #9, WBO #14 122-pounder Sam Goodman (11-0, 6 KOs) returns to action on Wednesday against former world title challenger Juan Miguel Elorde (29-2, 15 KOs) over ten rounds at the Hordern Pavilion, Sydney, NSW with the IBF Intercontinental and WBO Oriental titles up for grabs.

In other action hot 154-pound prospect Nikita Tszyu (2-0, 2 KOs) will clash with Ben Horn (4-4, 0 KOs) over six rounds. Nikita is the son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu and brother of WBO #1 Tim Tszyu. Ben Horn is the brother of former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn

Televised on Foxtel Main Event and Kayo Sports.

Unbeaten super lightweight Gary Antuanne Russell held a media workout in his hometown of Capitol Heights, Maryland, on Monday, as he prepares to take on former two-division world champion Rances Barthelemy on Showtime July 30 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The telecast is headlined by two-division champion Danny “Swift” Garcia making his 154-pound debut against exciting contender Jose Benavidez Jr.

Gary Antuanne Russell: “We train for perfection every day. We know that execution is what wins fights. If our opponent can’t make the necessary adjustments to keep us off them, then that’s on them. This sport is a battle of wits. My will versus your will and my intelligence versus yours…if we come out unscathed from July 30, we’ll start working on the next opponent and get another fighter with great credentials in there. We’ll be looking at fighting for the titles. Our goal was to clean out the division. That’s the first goal, then we’ll start moving up to other weight classes eventually.” Continue reading “Russell aiming to clean out the division”

Unbeaten super middleweight Diego Pacheco (15-0, 12 KOs), who has extended his promotional deal with Eddie Hearn and Matchroom, will fight for his first pro title when he meets Enrique Collazo (16-2-1, 11 KOs) for the WBC USNBC silver title on the undercard of the trilogy clash between Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez and Gennadiy ‘GGG’ Golovkin at T-Mobile Arena on September 17 in Las Vegas. The fight can be seen on DAZN PPV Pay-Per-View in the U.S. and Canada as well as around the world on regular DAZN (excluding Mexico, Latin America, and Kazakhstan)​.

Pacheco-Collazo is the latest bout to be added to the bill, with WBC super flyweight champion Jesse Rodriguez defending his world title against Israel Gonzalez as the co-main event and Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams taking on Kieron Conway for the vacant WBA International middleweight title.

Unbeaten super welterweight ‘King’ Callum Walsh (3-0, 3 KOs) has a new opponent for his next test as Benjamin Whittaker (15-8, 3 KO), of San Antonio, TX steps in for Cleotis Pendarvis in the six-round main event on Thursday, August 4 at The Quiet Cannon in Montebello, California. Walsh, who has all his fights by first round KO, will be headlining his third straight 360 Promotions card at the venue. Benjamin enters with four straight losses.

“Fighting Benjamin Whitaker is an even bigger step up for Callum in only his fourth professional fight,” said promoter Tom Loeffler. “Callum understands he needs to fight tough competition headlining UFC Fightpass and Freddie Roach says he’s up for the challenge.”

Not a really busy week. The big TV fight this week is ESPN+ stream of the WBC featherweight eliminator between two-time world title challenger Joet Gonzalez (25-2, 15 KOs) and former junior featherweight world champion Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe (23-2, 15 KOs) from the Grand Casino Hinckley in Hinckley, Minnesota.

In a clash between longtime Thai boxing icons, WBA minimumweight champion Knockout CP Freshmart (23-0, 9 KOs) defends his title against former WBC champ Wanheng Meenayothin (55-2, 19 KOs) on Wednesday in Chonburi, Thailand. Wanheng ran his record to 54-0 before losing his WBC belt to Panya Pradabsri. Freshmart has been WBA champion since 2014. No English-language TV coverage, but there is usually a Thai-language stream of major fights from that country.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Sydney-based middleweight Alex Walters (15-1, 8 KOs) outscored Lachlan Higgins (7-5-2, 2 KOs) over ten rounds to capture the vacant Australian middleweight title at the Orion Function Centre, Campsie, NSW on Saturday. Judges scores: Justin Kennedy 99-92, George Plellis 96-94, Shane Stanford 98-92.

In other action, formerly world-rated super featherweight Bilel Dib (26-3, 13 KOs) stopped Satnam Singh (10-2, 4 KOs) when referee Kevin Hogan called the fight off in round seven of a scheduled ten round bout with the vacant IBF Australasian 130 pound title up for grabs.

Also, welterweight Yousef Dib (17-0, 8 KOs) stopped Ariel Blader (27-35-3, 11 KOs) in round three of a scheduled six round bout.

Unbeaten WBA #1 featherweight Thomas Patrick Ward (33-0-1, 5 KOs) has demanded that Leo Santa Cruz stop ‘holding up the division’ after taking out Ally Mwerangi (12-3, 8 KOs) in three rounds on Sunday at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, England.

“I’m #1 in the WBA, Leo Santa Cruz is the ‘super’ champion and Leigh Wood is the ‘regular’ champion. It’s Santa Cruz that is holding up the division,” Ward told Probellum.com. “He hasn’t fought for the title in two or three years. Either fight for the title or move on! Move on or do something because there are other fighters waiting for a chance. If Santa Cruz doesn’t fight Wood, then me and Leigh will probably fight. If they do fight, I will take the winner!”

By Héctor Villarreal

Undefeated light flyweight Daniel “El Verdugo” Matellon (13-0-2, 7 KOs), a Cuban based in Panama, easily stopped Mexican Ivan Garcia Carrillo (10-2-1, 6 KOs) at 1:02 in round 3 of the main event of the card presented by Sergio Gonzalez Master Promotions on Saturday night in Los Andes shopping mall in Panama City.

Matellon, who was the WBA interim champion of the division until the entity eliminated the title, knocked Garcia down in the first round and did it again definitively in the third, to claim the regional Fedecaribe belt which was on vacancy.

“El Verdugo” Matellon, currently ranked #1 by WBA, has beaten three Mexicans in a row on very important boxing shows. He won the interim championship by majority decision on February 7th, 2020, over Guadalajara´s Erick Omar Lopez, in a fight aired by ESPN, then defended it once, outpointing Nayarit´s Jose Argumedo on June 26th, 2021 in a DAZN show. His victory over Mexico City´s Garcia was televised by Combate Space.

By Miguel Maravilla

After announcing he will be campaigning in the 140lb division from now on, unbeaten boxing contender Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) talked about his desire to face Tank Davis in his next fight. He also stated that if he can’t get Tank, he wants Teofimo Lopez.

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“I felt way better at this weight,” said Ryan “KingRy” Garcia after his dominant KO win over Javier Fortuna in a bout contested at a 140lb weight limit. “I’m not going down to 135 for nothing. But I will fight Tank next if he wants it at 140. I’ll make sure to record all the negotiations so you can’t say I was ducking. I want that fight because it’s going to give me the respect I deserve. I’m never afraid. I have a spirit of competition in me and you’re going to see that come out when I fight Tank and whoop his ass.”

Regarding his performance against Fortuna Saturday night, Garcia stated, “I know that I performed well for myself. I was crisp, sharp and I stayed in my truth. I didn’t do anything crazy. I know how good of a fighter I am, I just had to put it all together, just like tonight. Fortuna hit hard, he has a hard fist. Like I said when I fight stronger opponents, I box better. Yes, I caught him with a body shot. He thought I was going for the head but I switched it on him. I felt he was going to throw the Luke Campbell shot [the shot that dropped Ryan against Campbell]. I feel like everyone is going to try to hit me with that shot. I hit hard so it doesn’t take much to hurt someone. Continue reading “KingRy: I will fight Tank next at 140”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Lightweight Ryan Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) of Victorville, California, disposed of former two-time world champion Javier “El Abejon” Fortuna (37-4-1, 26 KOs) of the Dominican Republic in six rounds Saturday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Garcia came out shooting the right hand and connecting with a thudding left hook, Fortuna walked through the punches and kept coming. In round two, Garcia pumped the jab and later connected with a flush right snapping Fortuna’s head. Still figuring out the style, Garcia kept working off the jab boxing as he pinned Fortuna up on the ropes momentarily in round three, shortly after Fortuna attempted to make it a rough fight swarming Garcia.

In the fourth round, Garcia connected with a short right hand and shortly after connected with a body shot sending Fortuna to the canvas. Fortuna got up, but Garcia had Fortuna on the run. A huge right hand in the fifth by Garcia dropped Fortuna for a second time. The former champion was up as Garcia stalked him to finish the round. However, a left hook by Garcia finally finished Fortuna as referee Jerry Cantu stopped the fight at 27 seconds of the sixth.

By Damon Gonzalez/LatinBox Sports

In the 10-round main event Saturday night at the Elevation Event Center in Chester, Pennsylvania, presented by Price Promotions, highly talented Dylan Price (15-0, 9 KOs) of Sicklerville NJ. became the NBA bantamweight world champion by scoring a ten round unanimous decision win over a very game Drew Correll (10-3, 8 KOs) of Danville, Virginia by way of Glassboro, New Jersey. Judges’ scorecards were 98-92, 99-91 2x in favor of Price. Continue reading “Price tops Correll in decision win”

By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

In the Garcia-Fortuna co-main event on Saturday night at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, welterweight Alexis Rocha from nearby Santa Ana pressured Luis Veron out of Buenos Aires, Argentina all night and won a one-sided unanimous decision with scores of 100-90 twice and 99-91. The southpaw Rocha attacked Veron from the opening bell as he touched Veron with his right jab and hard left to the body and head. In round 5, Rocha picked up the pace and battered Veron from post to post but could not finish off the savvy veteran. Rocha continued to push forward against Veron over the second half of the fight but could not land the significant shot to put away the Argentinian. And although Veron engaged more the final few rounds, he spent most of the night on his bicycle to avoid the power of Rocha. In the end, Rocha earned the easy decision and the NABO welterweight title in doing so.

By Miguel Maravilla and Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

Washington D.C. super featherweight Lamont Roach Jr. (23-1-1, 9 KOs) won a lackluster unanimous decision over Angel Rodriguez of Columbia (20-2, 10 KO’s) in a twelve round WBA 130lb eliminator on the Garcia-Fortuna undercard at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. Roach boxed aggressively early in the fight taking the fight to Rodriguez. Letting his hands go in the third, Rodriguez connected with a low blow as Roach took a knee in pain, Roach recovered and was up fighting. Roach staggered Rodriguez with a right hand in the fifth as he stalked the Colombian throughout the round. Momentum appeared to be going Roach’s way in the sixth as he backed Rodriguez and connected with combination late in the round. Boxing patiently in the seventh, Roach attacked smart backing and limiting Rodriguez. In the eighth, Rodriguez appeared to be fading as Roach kept coming staying on top of the limited Rodriguez.

In the ninth, Roach stayed on top of Rodriguez scoring points and painting up Rodriquez behind the jab staying busy. The whistles began to fill the arena with noise in the tenth as L.A fans began to boo, Roach’s dominance of Rodriguez. Roach boxed in the eleventh as he was obviously ahead on the cards outworking Rodriguez. Stalking in the twelfth and final round, Roach pressed behind the jab as Rodriguez held on in making it the distance. The judges scored the bout 117-111, 116-112, and 116-112.

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In a WBA flyweight title eliminator, David Jimenez (12-0, 9 KOs) out of Cartago, Costa Rica stunned the local, crowd favorite Ricardo “El Nino” Sandoval (20-2, 15 KOs) from Rialto, CA with a come from behind majority decision 114-112 twice, 113-113. Through the first six rounds, Sandoval picked his spots and tried to neutralize the constant movement of Jimenez as neither fighter could gain control. But in the 7th round, the tide appeared to change as referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point on Jimenez for holding. This seemed to energize Sandoval, as he came out firing in the eighth, which started with a left hook to the body that clearly hurt the Costa Rican. Sandoval smelled blood and went on the attack and dropped bombs to the head and body on Jimenez, who showed his toughness and survived the round. Jimenez was no longer coming forward as Sandoval was now in complete control until the fateful eleventh round. After a missed right hand by Sandoval, Jimenez stepped back and landed a flush right on the jaw of Sandoval that sent him to the canvas. Jimenez was now looking to stop Sandoval who did his best to survive to the final bell. Jimenez pulled out the victory to the dismay of the pro-Sandoval crowd and remained undefeated, while Sandoval lost for only the second time as his 16-fight winning streak came to a halt in dramatic fashion.

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Unbeaten minimumweight Oscar Collazo (5-0, 3 KOs) of Puerto Rico won a unanimous decision over Victor Saludar (21-6, 11 KOs) in a WBA 105lb eliminator. Collazo worked his way to a hard-fought 118-110, 116-112, and 116-112 judges’verdict. Continue reading “Roach, Jiminez, Collazo win WBA eliminators”

Hamzah Sheeraz is the new WBC Silver middleweight champion following a fifth round stoppage victory of the rugged Francisco Torres. Mark Heffron scored a title treble by halting Lennox Clark, Dennis McCann won the WBC International Silver belt with an eighth round stoppage of James Beech Jr and Nick Ball retained his WBC Silver title with a defeat of Nathanael Kokololo at the Copper Box Arena. Details…

IBF #9 light heavyweight Michael Eifert (10-1, 4 KOs) and Adriano Sperandio (14-1, 2 KOs) fought ten close rounds with neither fighter really seizing the initiative. In the end, Eifert prevailed 96-95, 98-92, 96-95 to claim the vacant IBF Intercontinental strap on Saturday night at the Maritim Hotel in Magdeburg, Germany.

Light heavyweight Tom Dzemski (20-1, 11 KOs) beat up previously unbeaten Alexander Lorch (7-1, 4 KOs) for three one-sided rounds and Lorch didn’t come out for round four. Dzemski, son of former fringe contender Dirk Dzemski, claimed the German domestic 175lb title. Continue reading “IBF #9 Eifert edges Sperandio”

Dylan Price 118 vs. Drew Correll 118
(NBA bantamweight title)

Tariq Green 167.3 vs. Abimbola Osumdairo 171.4
Jamir Anderson 147.6 vs. Aaron Newmose 145.5
Jaliq Holden 129.4 vs. Tyrique Gerald 124.9
Jeremiah Kendrick 159.3 vs. Erron Peterson 162.1
Frankie Lynn 155.5 vs. Prince Francis 156.3

Venue: Elevations Event Center in Chester, PA
Promoter: Price Promotions
Stream: Flo Combat
1st Bell: 7 PM ET

Rising heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr. (2-0, 2 KOs) is wasting little time getting back in the ring after his quickie 58-second fight on Friday night. The recent U.S. Olympic silver medalist returns in a six-rounder against Marco Antonio Canedo (4-2, 2 KOs) on August 27, at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. Torrez-Canedo will open the ESPN tripleheader headlined by the junior welterweight main event between former world champions Jose “Sniper” Pedraza and Richard “RC” Commey.

In a clash between undefeated junior welterweight contenders, WBO #8, WBC #11 Arnold Barboza Jr. (27-0, 10 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over WBO #10 Danielito Zorrilla (16-1, 12 KOs) on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd of 2,836 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. Barboza outworked Zorilla in a tough, gritty fight and survived getting rocked in the final stanza to win 98-92, 97-93, 97-93.

“I was a little rusty,” said Barboza afterward. “It’s been awhile. I’m not going to be inactive like that no more, man. I’m going to be fighting constantly. I was more off balance {in the 10th round}. I was right there. Once you saw me off balance, I was right back to my thing. Shout out to my conditioning. My conditioning was on point. My manager knows, if we can’t get a title shot, you know who it is. We want Teofimo. It’s either a title shot or him.” Continue reading “Barboza defeats Zorrilla, remains unbeaten”

Former WBA super welterweight champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (35-5-1, 18 KOs) outboxed Florin Cardos (21-4, 9 KOs) buttony came away with an eight round majority decision on Friday night at the Historische Stadthalle in Wuppertal, Germany. Currently rated IBF #5, Trout seemingly won comfortably. Scores 79-73 and 78-76 for Trout. The third card was 76-76.

“I don’t know what fight they were watching,” said Trout afterward. “I want to give thanks to God for bringing me here to be safe, giving me the win as I feel like I deserve even though it seemed like the devil had his hand on some of the judges but not all of them – it wasn’t enough.”

Ryan Garcia 140 vs. Javier Fortuna 139.8
Alexis Rocha 146.6 vs. Luis Veron 146
(NABO welterweight title)
Lamont Roach 129.8 vs. Angel Rodriguez 129.2
(WBA super featherweight eliminator)
Ricardo Sandoval 111.8 vs. David Jimenez 111.2
(WBA flyweight eliminator)
Oscar Collazo 105 vs. Victorio Saludar 104.2
(WBO minimumweight eliminator)
Diego De La Hoya 126 vs. Enrique Bernache 125.2
Miguel Gaona 138.6 vs. Abdiel Padilla 136

Venue: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles
Promoter: Golden Boy
TV: DAZN

Ageless former WBA cruiserweight champion First Arslan (52-9-3, 37 KOs) destroyed Juan Rodolfo Juarez (20-7, 14 KOs) in two rounds on Friday night at the Historische Stadthalle in Wuppertal, Germany. The 51-year-old Arslan, still rated #6 in the world by the WBA, pressed the action and dropped Juarez twice in round two, prompting Juarez’ corner to throw in the towel. Time was 2:30.

Female super featherweight Ramona Graeff (4-0, 0 KOs) defeated Alys Sanchez (17-8-1, 6 KOs) by unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBA gold title. Scores were 99-91 3x.

Super middleweight Timo Rost (13-1-3, 5 KOs) needed just 42 seconds to take out Mariusz Biskupski (23-50-2, 8 KOs) with a body shot.

Super middleweight Uwel Hernandez (14-1, 7 KOs) outpointed Kamer Maloku (16-3, 13 KOs) over ten rounds by scores of 98-92, 97-95, 97-95 to claim the WBA continental title.

Unbeaten lightweight Jaouad Belmehdi (16-0-3, 7 KOs) outpointed James Chereji (17-2, 7 KOs) over eight rounds. 78-73, 77-74, 78-75. Chereji down in round six.

Heavyweight Agron Smakici (19-1, 17 KOs) scored a first round KO over Fernando Almeida (9-6, 9 KOs). Smakici landed two hard jabs and Almeida went down grabbing his nose. Time was 2:44.

Michael Eifert 174.2 vs. Adriano Sperandio 174.6
(IBF intercontinental light heavyweight title)

Tom Dzemski 173.9 vs. Alexander Lorch 172.6
(German light heavyweight title)

Nina Meinke 125.7 vs. Eva Hubmayer 125.4
Nenad Stancic 136.7 vs. Brayan Marsina 133.4
Julian Vogel 145.7 vs. Richard Walter 147
Marlon Dzemski 145.5 vs. Karim Bericha ??
Robin Rehse 159.6 vs. Ganiyou Idriss ??
Hamsat Shadalov 133.6 vs. Edwin Tercero 131.2
Paul Wall 157 vs. Nikolas Dzurnak 154.1
Hugo Micaleff 142 vs. Mauro Loli 141.3
Lara Ochmann 125.7 vs. Marina Sakharov 126.8
Albon Pervizaj 238.1 vs. Alvaro Terrero 221.6

Venue: Maritim Hotel, Magdeburg, Germany
Promoter: SES Boxing
TV: MDR (Germany), ESPN+ (USA)