Fightnews.com

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

I was 16 years old, studying in high school at Winchendon School, near Boston, USA, when one day a package arrived in the mail; it was a walkman, the most modern of all gadgets back then, and it came with a card that said “Honda.”

That was my first encounter with the man who is now like my second father, Akihiko Honda, the greatest promoter in the history of all of Asia, and one of the most important in the entire history of boxing, at the level of Don King and Bob Arum. A quiet, respectful and even shy honorable man who is always behind the scenes, regardless of what event it is, a small show at Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall or his induction into the International Boxing Hall of fame, it is never about him but about the attention and glory to others, has no ego whatsoever and still does not use a smart phone, rather a flipflop one.

No one has ever spoken negatively about him; He is respected and beloved by everyone in this complex industry, where blows and metaphorical brickbats are often inflicted outside of the ring for reasons of business and interests. Continue reading “Mr. Honda and Teiken Promotions”

Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) is reportedly close to finalizing a deal to face unbeaten WBA #1, IBF #4, WBO #4, WBC #9 contender Edgar Berlanga (22-0, 17 KOs) next. According to ESPN, the fight is being planned for September 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The WBC has ordered an immediate rematch between WBC super featherweight champion Robson Conceição and former champion O’Shaquie Foster. Foster lost a controversial split decision against Conceição on July 6 in Newark, New Jersey. “The WBC Board of Governors has ruled to order a direct rematch between WBC super featherweight champion Robson Concenciao and former champion O’Shaquie Foster,” announced WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman.

His Excellency Turki Alalshikh, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Entertainment Authority in Saudi Arabia, today announced an official partnership between Riyadh Season and major US-based promoters Top Rank and Golden Boy.

Riyadh Season will sponsor 12 Top Rank events selected by the promoter during the remainder of this year and 2025. Golden Boy has a similar deal beginning with the August 10 WBC interim super welterweight title clash between Serhii Bohachuk and Vergil Ortiz Jr.

Over the past 12 months, Riyadh Season has established itself as a key player in boxing, having hosted a string of world-class and innovative cards, including the first undisputed heavyweight title fight of the 21st century between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury. It is now looking to expand its reach into the U.S. market on August 3 when Terence Crawford and Israil Madrimov go head-to-head for the WBA and WBO interim super welterweight titles at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

By Boxing Bob Newman

It is with great sadness that Fightnews.com® reports on the untimely passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval at 63.

Sandoval, of Pomona California, was a standout amateur star and landed a spot on the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team, which unfortunately, boycotted the Moscow games under the direction of then President Jimmy Carter, protesting the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

Sandoval streaked through the professional ranks, climbing to the #2 spot in the WBA rankings. He won the WBA bantamweight title in stunning fashion with a 15th round TKO over long time champion Jeff Chandler in April 7, 1984. Chandler suffered a detached retina and never fought again. Continue reading “Richie Sandoval Passes”

Cruiserweight Jake Paul (10-1, 7 KOs) stopped bareknuckle/MMA fighter Michael Perry (0-2, 0 KOs) on Saturday night at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Paul dropped Perry with a clubbing shot in round one. Paul floored Perry again in round two. The end came in round six when Paul put Perry down a third time. Perry was tough, but had no boxing technique making things easy for Paul. Next up for Jake is a date against Mike Tyson in November.

In a cruiserweight fight, former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (54-6-1, 34 KOs) had to work hard to defeat Uriah Hall (1-1, 0 KOs). Chavez won by scores of 59-55, 59-55, 58-56. Chavez, 38, called out Jake Paul after the fight.

WBA, IBF, WBO unified female featherweight champion Amanda Serrano (47-2-1, 31 KOs) annihilated Stevie Morgan (14-2, 13 KOs) in two rounds. Returning to the ten round, two-minute format, Serrano punished Morgan from the opening bell and got a referee’s stoppage in round two.

In a pair of showdowns between unbeaten lightweights, Lucas “Prince” Bahdi (17-0, 15 KOs) scored a spectacular come-from-behind sixth round knockout over highly regarded Ashton “H20” Sylve (11-1, 9 KOs), and Corey Marksman (10-0-1, 7 KOs) took an eight round majority decision over Tony Aguilar (12-1-1, 4 KOs) in a rematch by scores of 76-76, 77-75, 78-74.

Former 2-time world title challenger Francisco Fonseca (34-4-2, 28 KOs) of Nicaragua scored the biggest win of his career upsetting former world champion Jezreel Corrales (26-7-4, 10 KOs) of Panama. The event took place Saturday night at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Ayma, in San Juan de Tibas, Costa Rica. There were a lot of clinches early on in the fight but things ended abruptly in round 4. A very short hook by Fonseca connected to Corrales chin who dropped to the canvas. The referee ruled Corrales unfit to continue and waived the bout off at 2:51 of round 4. ESPN Knockout televised the event.

Unheralded middleweight Brad Pauls (19-1-1, 1 KO) upset previously unbeaten WBA #5, WBO #5 Nathan Heaney (18-1-1, 6 KOs) in a UK showdown on Saturday night at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England. Heaney appeared appeared to be in control through 3 but was dropped in round 4 by Pauls. Heaney beat the count and made it through the round. Pauls came on strong in rounds 5 and 6 with heavy shots to the body that seemed to slow Heaney down. Heaney took control in round 7 but Pauls came on strong at the end of the round landed heavy blows to Heaney´s head. Pauls seemed to be physically imposing his will on Heaney in round 8 where Heaney seemed forced to clinch multiple times to stop the Pauls onslaught of punches. Round 9 was a good comeback round for Heaney has he controlled the action for most of round boxing from a distance and landing. The pace slowed in round 10 with both fighters having their moments. Huge round 11 for Pauls who had Heaney badly hurt and staggering prior to bell sounded. Pauls listened to his corner and jumped on Heaney pressed the action. A series of heavy punches landed by Pauls saw Heaney crumble to the canvas. Heaney got up on unsteady legs at about the count of 10 but the referee waved the fight off. Official time 54 seconds. Pauls wins the British and WBA Continental middleweight titles. Continue reading “Pauls shocks Heaney in rematch thriller”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten Japanese southpaw Junto Nakatani (28-0, 21 KOs), 117.5, kept his WBC bantamweight belt in his first defense when he quickly scored a one-punch knockout of WBC#1 Vincent Astrolabio (19-5, 14 KOs), 117.5, at 2:37 of the opening session of a scheduled twelve on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Nakatani truly stunned the sold-out 8,000 spectators at Ryogoku Sumo Arena when he finished the highly touted challenger with a single shot to the midsection. Vincent fell in agony to be unable to beat the count. The 157-second demolition had the crowd on its feet and raised his stock without doubt. The elongated southpaw Junto, 26, said, “I’m willing to fight another bantam champion in a unification bout.” All the 118-pound world champs are his Japanese compatriots.

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By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten Japanese prodigy Tenshin Nasukawa (4-0, 2 KOs), 120, looked very impressive as he overwhelmed WBA#4 bantam Jonathan Rodriguez (17-3-1, 7 KOs), 117.25, decked him with vicious southpaw combinations and scored a fine TKO at 1:49 of the third round in a scheduled ten on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Rodriguez was an upset conqueror of ex-champ Khalid Yafai in the first round last November. Tenshin demonstrated his improved sharpness when he almost floored Rodriguez with well-timed smashing lefts and rights in the closing seconds of the second session. The third witnessed Nasukawa, 25, whose kick-boxing mark was 42-0, swam over the fading foe with vicious lefts that finally dropped him to the deck. The referee Someya called a halt as he saw the loser unfit to go on. Tenshin is worth watching. Photos

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Hard-punching Californian Anthony Olascuaga (7-1, 5 KOs), 111.5, impressively acquired the vacant WBO flyweight belt as he exploded a vicious left uppercut to Japanese southpaw Riku Kano (17-4-1, 9 KOs), 117.5, and finished him for the count at 2:50 of the third round in a scheduled twelve on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Olascuaga, from the outset, took the advantage and scored with effective long left hooks to the onrushing Japanese. Kano came forward with southpaw combinations in round three, but Olascuaga retaliated with a lethal shot to drop him so badly that he couldn’t beat the count of referee Jose Rivera of Puerto Rico.

Promoter: Teiken Promotions.

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Former WBA strawweight world champion Carlos Canizales (27-2-1, 19 KOs) of Venezuela defeated Ivan Garcia Balderas of Mexico (12-3-1, 4 KOs) by majority decision on Friday night at the El Poliedro in Caracas, Venezuela. The fight had many ebbs and flows of exciting exchanges. During the 9th round it was announced that Canizales was slightly ahead on the scorecards after 8 rounds. Both fighters seemed to immediately picked up the fast pace even more following this announcemnt. Canizales also was cut above his right eye after a ruled accidental clash of heads in the 9th round. Garcia closed very strong in round 12 and seemed to have Canizales in trouble. Canizales won the vacant WBC Silver light flyweight title. The oficial judges scorecards were 116-112 twice and 114-114.

In a homecoming, former IBF super middleweight world champion Jose Uzcategui (33-5, 28 KOs) kayoed countryman Fernando Brito (12-4, 12 KOs) in round 1. Uzcategui wasted no time in dropping Brito with a right hook about halfway through round 1. Uzcategui then put Brito down for good with a left hook to the body. The official end of the bout was 2:58 seconds of round 1. Uzcategui is a native of Venezuela but has resided in Tijuana, Mexico for several years

Former Heavyweight Olympian Wilmer Vazquez (13-3-1, 4 KOs) of Venezuela won a 10 round split decisión over previously unbeaten Ubaldo llago Resendiz (12-1, 11 KOs) of Mexico. The official scores were 98-92 and 97-93 for Vazquez and 99-91 for Resendiz. The ESPN Knockout broadcast team were very vocal that they felt Resendez clearly won the fight mentioning it mutliple times during the broadcast following the bout.

Honored guest at ringside and acknowledged in the ring were Erik Morales, Marcos Maidana, and Roberto Duran.

Former #1-rated welterweight Alexis “Lex” Rocha (25-2, 16 KOs) scored a hard fought ten round unanimous decision over previously undefeated WBO #11 rated Santiago “Somer” Dominguez (27-1, 20 KOs) on Friday night at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. After ten rounds, scores were 98-92, 99-91, 99-91.

Overweight Rodriguez cancels Tanaka’s WBO 115lb title defense

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

The weigh-in ceremony was held at Tokyo Dome Hotel, and everything was alright except that of the WBO 115-pound title bout of defending champion Kosei Tanaka (115 at the limit) and challenger Jonathan Rodriguez of Mexico who was terribly overweight by 2.9 kilogram (some 6.4 pounds) at 55 kg (121.25 lbs). Rodriguez couldn’t reduce his weight even an ounce. Tanaka himself was once willing to fight even if his opponent was overweight, but it was duly cancelled since Rodriguez was much heavier than the bantam limit and close to the super bantam limit.

The other weigh-in results were as follows:

WBC bantamweight title bout (main event)
Junto Nakatani 117.5
Vincent Astrolabio 117.5

WBO flyweight title bout for the vacant championship
Riku Kano 112
Anthony Olascuaga 111.5

Tenshin Nasukawa 120
Jonathan Rodriguez 119.25

Promoter: Teiken Promotions

Photos

Heavyweight Junlong Zhang (19-1, 18 KOs) will make his return to the ring July 27th vs TBA. This will be his first fight since suffering his lone professional defeat in October 22 where he suffered an injury in the third round of the bout. Zhang will also make his promotional debut as he co-promotes the event with Promoter Dan Otter (Three Lions Promotions). The pair spoke with Fightnews.com® about the upcoming event and future plans together. Continue reading “Q&A Junlong Zhang”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

WBA#11 Riku Masuda (5-1, 5 KOs), 117.75, scored a one-punch knockout over defending champ Fumiya Fuse (14-4, 3 KOs), 118, at 2:21 of the fourth round to wrest his Japanese bantamweight belt on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan. In a rematch of southpaws, Masuda repeated his triumph over Fuse following his victory by a seventh round kayo in May of the previous year. Masuda failed to win the national belt from Seiya Tsutsumi on points last August, and his conqueror renounced his title to pursue a world title shot. It was Fuse that acquired the vacant belt by stopping Taichi Sugimoto this April. The newly crowned Masuda, whose amateur mark was 52-14, 22 stoppages, is a hard-punching lefty prospect under Teiken Promotions. Continue reading “WBA#11 Masuda dethrones Japanese 118lb champ Fuse”

Alexis Rocha 146.4 vs. Santiago Dominguez 146.8
(NABO welterweight title)

Gregory Morales 127 vs. Jayvon Garnett 126
Grant Flores 151.4 vs. Juan Meza 151
Jorge Chavez 125.8 vs. Riku Kitani 125.2
Bryan Lua 133 vs. Diuhl Olguin 130
Fabian Guzman 158 vs. Corey Cook 159
Juan Estrada Jr. 134 vs. Dyllon Cervantes 133.8

Venue: Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, Indio, Calif
Promoter: Golden Boy
TV: DAZN

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

The press conference of the forthcoming quadruple event took place at Tokyo Dome Hotel today (Thursday) in Tokyo, Japan. The comments of all the contestants were as follows:

WBC bantamweight title bout

Champion Junto Nakatani: I’m in good shape, and wish to show my best performance.

WBC#1 Vincent Astrolabio: I’ve done 180 sparring sessions. I’m ready. I’ve come here in Japan to win the belt.

WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman was in attendance.

WBO flyweight title bout

Champion Kosei Tanaka: I’ve been training to improve combination punching. I am eager to fight for unification in the near future.

Challenger Jonathan Rodriguez Valles: I’m very well prepared. Tanaka is a strong champion having conquered four division belts, but I’ll maintain the pressure from the start to be victorious.

WBA flyweight title bout for the vacant championship

Riku Kano: I have strengthened my stamina to cope with his hard-punching. I know he is young and ambitious.

Anthony Olascuaga: For me this is the third fight straight here in Japan. I’ve done good training here. I know Kano is hungry for the belt. But me too. Continue reading “Press conference of quadruple event in Japan”

Kris Lawrence (Heavyweight Factory Promotions) presents pro boxing August 23rd at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Hollywood, Florida. Featured will be unbeaten former amateur stand-out and WBA #10 / WBC #15 world ranked middleweight Yoenli Hernandez (4-0, 4 KOs) of Cuba. Hernandez who is rapidly moving up the world rankings will take on TBA in a scheduled 10 round bout. This will be just his 5th professional bout but he had approximately 300 amateur fights and won gold twice at the World Games. Continue reading “Boxing back at the Hard Rock Aug 23”

It was announced today that former world champion Tim Tszyu will return in an IBF world title eliminator on September 22 at a location to be named in Australia. Possible opponents include Erickson Lubin. Tszyu will train for the fight in Las Vegas.

By Miguel Maravilla

Former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz Jr. (35-2, 22 KOs) held a media workout Wednesday afternoon at the Churchill Boxing Club in Santa Monica in anticipation for his upcoming fight with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller (26-1-1, 22 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York. Ruiz goes up against Miller Saturday August 3, at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on live on DAZN PPV and ESPN+ PPV.

Ruiz returns to the ring for the first time in nearly two years as he last fought in September of 2022, defeating former world champion Luis “King Kong” Ortiz, dropping Ortiz numerous times in route to the unanimous decision win. Continue reading “Interview: Andy Ruiz Jr.”

Former WBC welterweight champion “Vicious” Victor Ortiz faces #5-ranked Rodrigo Damián Coria in the co-feature of the August 24 rematch between Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. and John Gotti III at the CDMX Arena in Mexico City. The 37-year-old Ortiz (33-7-3, 25 KOs) returns after a 26-month layoff. He was stopped by Mayweather in 2011. Coria, a former WBO Latin Champion who has never been knocked out, has a record of 13-5, 2 KOs.

After their first matchup ended in a draw, WBA #5, WBO #5 British middleweight champion Nathan Heaney (18-0-1, 6 KOs) and Brad Pauls (18-1-1, 10 KOs) will meet again this Saturday, July 20, in the 12-round main event from Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England. Heaney and Pauls fought to a draw four months ago at the same venue in a highly pitched battle and look to break the deadlock.

Promoted by Queensberry Promotions, Heaney-Pauls II and additional undercard action will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+. Continue reading “ESPN+ picks up Heaney-Pauls rematch”

Will stay at 122lbs for two more years

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Undisputed world super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue will defend his belts against former IBF ruler TJ Doheny in Tokyo on September 3. It was announced on Tuesday by Ohashi Promotions, which will stage a deluxe show at Ariake Arena. “Monster” Naoya said, “I will stay at this 122-pound division for two more years. Without being physically mature and developed, I won’t move up to the feather category.”

Doheny, an Irishman now residing in Australia, sent his message to this press conference, saying, “I’m unbeaten four times in Japan. I won’t run away from Moinster but come to fight him toe-to-toe.”

Continue reading ““Monster” Inoue to collide with TJ Doheny”

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

What happened this Saturday in Pennsylvania, United States, shook the entire world in many ways. Donald Trump, former US President and current Presidential candidate, suffered an assassination attempt during a campaign event which he miraculously survived.

An attack of this ghastly nature is of great concern; This has not happened in our neighboring country since 1981, when the then President Ronald Reagan, was shot and seriously wounded. It is unthinkable that even in 2024 this could happen. It is deeply worrying to see how the society we live in is fractured, how social networks are sewing seeds of discord. The violent world in which we live in seems to have no limits. Continue reading “Donald Trump and Boxing”