Fightnews.com

Power punching WBA #15 super middleweight Luis Rodriguez (8-0, 8 KOs) is rapidly making a name for himself. He has racked up eight wins, all by knockout, since turning professional less than a year ago. He last fought this past March at the annual WBA KO for drugs event which was held at the famed Roberto Duran Arena in Panama City, Panama. It was his first ten round bout where he impressively stopped Colombian Emilio Julio Julio, a veteran of nearly 50 professional fights in round 4. Rodriguez is promoted by Henry Rivalta and managed by well-renowned boxing advisor Tony Gonalez. Both see a very bright future for Rodriguez.

“Luis Rodriguez has all the tools to break open the 168lb division. He’s 6’2, fast, slick, and has great power in both hands. He is already ranked 15 in the world by the WBA. He will make a ton of noise very shortly,” said Rivalta. Continue reading “Unbeaten Luis Rodriguez on the rise”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

2016 Rio De Janiro Olympian Jason Whatley (9-0,8 KOs) returns to action on Wednesday in a nationally televised main event against Fiji’s Savanca Naliva (14-3-1, 10 KOs) at the Fortitude Music Hall, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland. The bout will be a ten rounder with the IBF Pan Pacific cruiserweight title up for grabs. Televised on Foxtel cable television network and Kayo Sports.

Boxers Brendon Denes and Ivana Habazin, Habazin’s manager Charles Muniz, and promoter Edward Mendy have filed a lawsuit in United States District Court against Boxrec and the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC), among others. The 102-page complaint charges that Boxrec, recognized as boxing’s official record keeper by the ABC, is suppressing the results of certain professional bouts in their database, thus damaging the boxers who rely on their professional records to maximize fight bookings and earnings. You can read the full lawsuit below.

Not only is WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas facing undefeated WBC and IBF champion Errol Spence Jr. in his hometown, Ugas is being tasked with beating Spence on “Errol Spence Jr. Day.” Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson announced the proclamation on Monday during a ceremony at trainer Derrick James’ World Class Boxing Gym.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I’d get my own day from the great city of Dallas and to have everyone come out to support me,” said Spence. “On April 16, I’m going to put on a great show. This day truly means a lot to me. I can do many great things, but only a few people are chosen to have their own day in their city. It’s amazing and I really appreciate that.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Former IBF 140-pound champion Lovemore Ndou graduated with a Master of Politics and Policy degree at the Deakin University in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Ndou captured the IBF title in 2007 and became a lawyer in 2010. He has a successful legal practice (Lovemore Lawyers) in Rockdale, Sydney.

By Damon Gonzalez/LatinBox Sports

Jolene Mizzone, among the most experienced and well-respected matchmakers in professional boxing for a quarter of a century, announced the launch of Fighters First Management, offering a fresh approach to athlete representation for today’s generation of talent. Mizzone, who will lead Fighters First as President of Boxing Operations, honed her skills as Vice President/Matchmaker for Main Events, building great fighters and working with multiple world champions, including Arturo Gatti, Zab Judah, Sergey Kovalev, and Tomaz Adamek.

Mizzone is the first mainstream matchmaker and promoter to shift her career in boxing into athlete management. Known for her direct, ‘the truth hurts’ style, Mizzone has always been protective of athletic talent and will continue to fight for them using her unique combination of experience and insights.

“I want to educate fighters as much as possible on the business aspects of boxing,” said Mizzone. “I plan to work hand in hand with our fighters and their teams. As their manager, I’m also an educator. I can give them the tools they need to make smarter long-term decisions about their careers so they can flourish and live well after giving their all to the sport we love.” Continue reading “Mizzone to head boxing management company”

By Ron Jackson

Lwandile Ngxeke (aka Landi) from Sada, Eastern Cape won the vacant South African junior bantamweight title when he stopped Athenlosi Dumezweni in the tenth round at the Sun City Superbowl on Saturday night.

Going into the fight, the odds were stacked against the #3 rated Ngexeke (8-1, 3 KOs) who was up against the more experienced southpaw Dumezweni (13-4, 9 KOs) who had fought at a much higher level than Ngexeke, having won the South African, WBC silver and WBO Africa titles. Continue reading “Lwandile Ngxeke wins SA junior bantam title”

Showtime has released Episode 2 of its award-winning All Access series chronicling the buildup to Saturday’s Spence-Ugas three-belt world title unification.

_

By Jeff Zimmerman

WBC female flyweight champ Marlen Esparza talks about her big win as she becomes the unified champ by capturing the WBA belt from Japan’s Naoka Fujioka and earned the inaugural Ring Magazine belt as well.

_

Another terrific weekend of boxing action coming up including the welterweight unification between WBC/IBF champion Errol Spence and WBA champion Yordenis Ugas.

FRIDAY

ESPN+ has an MTK Fight Night telecast from York Hall in London featuring a British and Commonwealth lightweight title fight between Gavin Gwynne and Luke Willis.

UFC Fightpass has a Broadway Boxing card from the Garden Theater in Detroit featuring unbeaten heavyweight knockout artist Mike Balogun against Serio Marin.

SATURDAY

DAZN delivers a card topped by unbeaten welterweight Conor “The Destroyer” Benn against Chris “The Heat” Van Heerden from the AO Arena in Manchester, England.

Showtime will air two pretty good undercard fights leading into the Spence-Ugas PPV at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The Showtime “Special Edition” is headlined by WBA regular welterweight champion Radzhab Butaev against top contender Eimantas Stanionis, with unbeaten super lightweight Brandun Lee against Zachary Ochoa in the opener.

The $74.99 PPV telecast features the welterweight title unification between Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. and Yordenis Ugas, plus lightweight contender Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz against former world champion Yuriorkis Gamboa, unbeaten lightweight Jose Valenzuela against former world champion Francisco “El Bandido” Vargas, and unbeaten welterweight Cody Crowley against Josesito Lopez.

By Jeff Zimmerman

Trainer Bones Adams talks about Shane Mosley Jr.’s big win against Gabriel Rosado Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

_

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Hall of Fame broadcaster Colonel Bob Sheridan who called some of the biggest fights including the Rumble in the Jungle – Muhammad Ali vs. George Foreman in Zaire in 1974, spoke to Fightnews.com® about returning to broadcasting. He recently worked with Paul Malignaggi calling the fights in Mexico.

On calling the fights in Mexico…

I am back in action and did a fight in Jalisco, Mexico recently working with Paul Malignaggi and we had a lot of fun where we got the highest ratings ever for the company I worked for. I am very excited about that and they have hired us back. Paulie was great. I have worked with him before. He was sensational. Paulie was so good I let him do the blow-by-blow. I didn’t want to be cutting in on him he was so good. We work great together. I love all the networks there. They have been so kind to me. Continue reading “Interview: Colonel Bob Sheridan”

By Jeff Zimmerman

Trainer Joe Goossen talks about his new pupil, “KingRy” Ryan Garcia, on his performance against Emmanuel Tagoe.

_

By Jeff Zimmerman

Shane Mosley Jr. talks about his one-sided victory against Gabriel Rosado at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

_

By Jeff Zimmerman

Xander Zayas interview at the Garcia-Tagoe fight in San Antonio, Texas. Zayas was in the corner for Tagoe as they are both managed by Peter Kahn.

–

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Gennadiy Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs), 160, Kazakhstan, unified the WBA and IBF middleweight belts as he withstood a grueling battle with Japanese warrior Ryota Murata (16-3, 13 KOs), 160, and finally decked him with his tremendous attacks to halt him at 2:11 of the ninth round on Saturday in Saitama, Japan. Murata, WBA titlist, displayed his admirable courage in continually stalking GGG, who, however, caught up with him and scored a very significant victory.

Golovkin (amateur mark 345-5) won the silver medal in Athens Olympic Games in 2004, while Murata (118-19) acquired the gold one in London Games in 2012. It was in 2006 that GGG turned professional, while Ryota sensationally made a pro debut in 2013. Despite their only four-year difference of age, Golovkin, 40, was more experienced with 43 pro outings, while Murata, 36, fought just 18 bouts—even considering his two-year hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading “Golovkin halts Murata, unifies WBA/IBF 160lb belts”

By Jeff Zimmerman

Ryan Garcia talks about his performance after his unanimous decision vs Emmanuel Tagoe at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

_

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten Japanese southpaw Junto Nakatani (23-0, 18 KOs), 111.75, impressively kept his WBO flyweight belt as he pummeled compatriot WBO#2 Ryota Yamauchi (8-2, 7 KOs), 112, into submission at 2:20 of the eighth round on Saturday in Saitama, Japan. Nakatani, unusually tall as a flyweight standing 5’7”, fully utilized his advantageous height and reach, lopsidedly battered the shorter challenger at will and finally halted him with an unanswered combination midway in the fatal eighth. The 24-year-old Junto, making his second defense, showed his improvement in fighting in the close quarter, but may outgrow this 112-pound category soon because of his reported difficulty to make weight. Continue reading “Nakatani halts Yamauchi, keeps WBO 112lb belt”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

In a highly competitive confrontation, unbeaten WBO#5, WBC#15 Shuichiro Yoshino (15-0, 11 KOs), 134.5, successfully retained his OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific lightweight belts as he was awarded a unanimous technical decision (107-102 twice, 106-103) over former WBO 130-pound titlist Masayuki Ito (27-4-1, 15 KOs), 135, because of Ito’s bad cut caused by an accidental butt at 2:06 of the eleventh round on Saturday in Saitama, Japan. Continue reading “Yoshino beats Ito, keeps OPBF, WBO AP 135lb belts”

In a terrific clash for the WBC interim super welterweight title, undefeated 6’6 Sebastian “The Towering Inferno” Fundora (19-0-1, 13 KOs) scored an impressive ninth round TKO over Erickson “Hammer” Lubin (24-2, 17 KOs) on Saturday night in the Theater at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. As expected, it was a total slugfest. Fundora dropped Lubin in round two. Lubin dropped Fundora in round seven. The fight was stopped by Lubin’s corner after the ninth round due to the punishment Lubin was taking. Lubin was ahead on all three cards at the time of the stoppage.

“I think this was probably my best performance ever,” said Fundora. “It was a back-and-forth fight. He really brought his hammer but I decided to bring my drill. The uppercut was landing like no other. The uppercut is my lucky punch. I’m here in Vegas, so I feel a little lucky, and that’s my lucky punch. It lands most of the time with everybody. Southpaw. Right hand. It doesn’t matter. Once I find that, I feel like the job’s done.”

* * *

Former WBC super welterweight world champion Tony “Superbad” Harrison (29-3-1, 21 KOs) outboxed Sergio Garcia (33-2, 14 KOs) over ten rounds in a WBC eliminator. Scores were 98-92, 100-90, 100-90 as Harrison took a unanimous decision.

Unbeaten super welterweight Kevin Salgado (14-0-1, 9 KOs) and Bryant “Goodfella” Perrella (17-3-2, 14 KOs) battled to a workmanlike ten round draw. Scores were 97-93 Perrellaa, 96-94 Salgado, 95-95.

Cruiserweight Simone “Tyson” Federici (19-2-1, 8 KOs) scored a sloppy ten round unanimous decision over Lyubomyr “Demolition Man” Pinchuk (14-3-1, 8 KOs) on Saturday night at Rivers Casino Event Center in Schenectady, New York. Scores were 97-93, 97-93, 99-91. Federici retained his WBC Continental Americas title and took Pinchuk’s WBA NABA Gold title.

By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

Rising lightweight superstar Ryan “KingRy” Garcia (22-0, 18 KOs) out of Victorville, CA, made his long awaited ring return on Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, and took a unanimous decision against the crafty Emmanuel “Gameboy” Tagoe (32-2, 15 KOs) out of Ghana over twelve rounds to win going away 119-108 twice and 118-109.

Garcia dropped Tagoe in round two after a double right hand, although Tagoe complained to referee Jon Schorle that he was pushed. Garcia followed Tagoe around the ring as Tagoe held often whenever they got close. Through the first six rounds, Garcia stalked Tagoe and at times unloaded a series of combos to the smaller Tagoe who did his best to duck and move away. Garcia had success to the body against the unorthodox Tagoe, who showed he was game against the social media star. Continue reading “Kingry defeats Tagoe by decision”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

WBO/IBF lightweight champion Mikaela Mayer (17-0, 5 KO’s) successfully defended her WBO and IBF junior lightweight titles with a unanimous decision win over Jennifer Han (18-5-1, 1 KO) of El Paso, Texas, Saturday night at the Hangar in Costa Mesa, California. A fast start from the opening bell as Mayer and Han let their hands go staying active. Mayer was cut on the left eye from a punch. Han boxed well in the second round as Mayer attacked behind the jab. In round three, Han boxed as she stuck and moved Mayer attacked but was caught with a short right hand. Han’s nose was busted in the fourth round by a left hook from Mayer as blood gushed out of Han’s nose to finish the fourth. Continue reading “Mayer, Santillan, Venado, Moloneys victorious”

By Joe Koizumi

Gennadiy Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs), 160, unified the WBA and IBF middleweight belts as he withstood a grueling battle with Japanese warrior Ryota Murata (16-3, 13 KOs), 160, and finally decked him with his tremendous attacks to halt him at 2:11 of the ninth round on Saturday in Saitama, Japan. Murata, WBA titlist, displayed his admirable courage in continually stalking GGG, who, however, caught up with him and secured a very significant victory.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

**More to come**

By Joe Koizumi

Unbeaten Japanese southpaw Junto Nakatani (23-0, 18 KOs), 111.75, impressively kept his WBO flyweight belt as he pummeled compatriot WBO#2 Ryota Yamauchi (8-2, 7 KOs), 112, into submission at 2:20 of the eighth round on Saturday in Saitama, Japan. Nakatani, unusually tall as a flyweight standing 5’7”, fully utilized his advantageous height and reach, lopsidedly battered the shorter challenger at will and finally halted him with an unanswered combination midway in the fatal eighth. The 24-year-old Junto, making his second defense, showed his improvement in fighting in the close quarter, but may outgrow the 112-pound category soon because of his reported difficulty to make weight. The ref was Katsuhiko Nakamura who made a well-timed stoppage to save the swollen-eyed loser from further punishment.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.