Fightnews.com

Former world champion Angel ‘Tito’ Acosta (22-3-1, 21 KOs) will face Janel Rivera (18-8-3, 11 KOs) in a 10-round super flyweight fight on May 12 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. Also on the card, Victor Morales (15-0-1, 8 KOs) will fight Alberto Torres (11-4-3, 4 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight co-main event. Rudy Garcia (12-0-1, 2 KOs) will take on Diukl Olguin (15-22-5, 10 KOs)  in an 8-round super bantamweight fight. Other prospects on the card include Yahu Blackwell (3-1, 2 KOs) in a scheduled 8-round heavyweight fight, and Eric Tudor (2-0, 2 KOs) will participate in a 6-round super welterweight fight.

Super lightweight Ernesto “Tito” Mercado (5-0, 5 KOs) remained undefeated scoring his fourth consecutive first round knockout, this time against veteran Daniel Evangelista Jr. (20-14-2, 16 KOs). The six-round bout, promoted by Englebrecht Promotions & Events on the popular Fight Club OC series, took place at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, CA. Mercado came out guns blazing as soon as the bell rang and send Evangelista to the canvas in the opening minute of round one, then followed up with two more knockdowns before the referee stopped the bout at the 1:37 mark. Continue reading “Mercado demolishes Evangelista”

Conor Benn 146.5 vs. Chris van Heerden 145.8
Chris Billam-Smith 199.5 vs. Tommy McCarthy 199.5
Alycia Baumgardner 129.4 vs. Soledad Matthysse 133.6
Jack Cullen 171.7 vs. Vladimir Belujsky 172.7
Campbell Hatton ?? vs. Ezequiel Gregores ??
Cyrus Pattinson 148.8 vs. Alexey Tukhtarov 152.1
Jordan Thompson 197 vs. Mariano Angel Gudino 199.9
Thomas Whittaker Hart 175.3 vs. Ben Ridings 174.1
Luke Evans 140.7 vs. Miguel Cesario Antin 141.3
James Metcalf 163.2 vs. Evgenii Vazem 159.2

Venue: AO Arena, Manchester, England
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN

Albert Bell 133 vs. Martin Diaz 130
Adrian Wilson 162 vs. Vitalii Gubkin 160

Venue: Seagate Centre
Promoter: Pulse Boxing (Vick Green)

Doors: 7 PM
First Fight: 7:30 PM
Tickets available at the door

Mike Balogun 233 vs. Sergio Ramirez Marin 212
Ja’Rico O’Quinn 116.25 vs. Jobert Alvarez 120
Michael Pirotton-Bamogo 230 vs. Jonathan Gruber 227
Joshafat Ortiz 130.5 vs. Derrick Murray 131
Sean Brewer 127 vs. Dominique Williams 131.25

Venue: Garden Theater, Detroit, MI
Promoter: DeBella Entertainment
TV: UFC Fightpass

Ruben Villa 126.4 vs Horacio Garcia 126.7
Richard Brewart Jr. 161.8 vs Antonio Duarte 161.3
Pedro Valencia 137.8 vs Edgar Palacios 136.6
Esteban Munoz 145 vs Kenny Williams 148.1
Nelson Oliva 157 vs. Manuel Martinez 158
Alejandro Barajas 117.4 vs. Ulises Rosales 117.8

Venue: Doubletree Hotel Ontario, CA
Promoter: Thompson Boxing

Unified WBC and IBF champion Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. and WBA champion Yordenis Ugás faced off at a final press conference on Thursday, two days before they meet in a welterweight title unification clash live on Showtime PPV at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

A confident Spence declared AT&T Stadium “my house” come Saturday and even predicted that if the fight is waged in close quarters, it likely won’t go the distance. Meanwhile, Ugás said he will lean on the resolve that has allowed him to overcome all manner of adversity in his life to power past Spence in the ring.

Errol Spence Jr: “If we get in the clinch and start fighting, I don’t think it’s going 12 rounds.”

Yordenis Ugas: “Spence promises a knockout. I promise a win.”

More quotes…

Welterweights Conor Benn and Chris van Heerden faced off at the final press conference ahead of Saturday’s action at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, shown live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia).

Conor Benn: “I knocked out Algieri out like no one else has. I’m going to knock Van Heerden out like no one else has…it’s not emotion, I just fight with passion. I work extremely hard and it ain’t just me working hard. It’s six years of sacrifice to let a moment like this slip between my fingers.”

Chris van Heerden: “I do believe I am a better boxer than Conor, all around better boxer. He’s an angry, aggressive fighter. He’s a fighter. I’m a boxer. And I do believe that I have the skill to show that I am a better boxer than Conor.”

Hall of Fame promoter Mogens Palle, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) in 2008, is battling cancer and has announced his final boxing event as a promoter on April 21 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Sarah Mahfoud vs. Nina Meinke for the IBF featherweight title and Enock Poulsen vs. Franck Petitjean for the official European Championship will be some of the fights to highlight the final fight card produced by the legendary promoter and matchmaker. Continue reading “Mogens Palle announces final card”

Gavin Gwynne 134.5 vs. Luke Willis 134.8
(British & Commonwealth lightweight titles)

Sam Gilley 153.8 vs. Drew Brown 154
Pierce O’Leary 141.9 vs. Nathan Augustine 138.7
Nina Hughes 122.4 vs. Bec Connolly 121.9
Elliot Whale 153.3 vs. Fernando Valencia 156.6
Sultan Zaurbek 131.9 vs. Nicolas Nahuel Botelli 130.8
Carl Fail 156.7 vs. Victor Garcia 156.7
Jimmy Croxson vs. Fonz Alexander ??
Paul Ryan 157.2 vs. Gabor Gorbics 159.3

Venue: York Hall in London
Promoter: MTK Global
TV: ESPN+ will no longer be carrying MTK Global telecasts because of Top Rank’s decision to disassociate themselves from MTK Global due to sanctions made by the US government against Daniel Kinahan, one of MTK Global’s founders, who they say is no longer involved with the company. The fights can still be seen on IFL TV.

MTK Global will comply fully with the sanctions made by the US government against Daniel Kinahan. MTK parted ways with Mr Kinahan in February 2017. He has had no interest in the business since then, and will have no future involvement with us. MTK operates ethically, transparently and lawfully. We will cooperate fully with all authorities and assist with any ongoing investigations.

“MTK Global will take every measure to ensure the company, and those who deal with it are fully compliant with the US sanctions announced this week and take this matter extremely seriously,” stated Bob Yalen, CEO of MTK Global.

Cain Sandoval 136 vs Edgar Garcia Bram 139
Ernesto Mercado 140 vs Daniel Evangelista Jr 139.2
Danny Silva 145.2 vs Geoffrey Mellor 145.4
Sonny Robledo 143.2 vs Michael Meyers 143.1
Steve Mora 134.8 vs Johnny Robles 136.4
Jesus Gonzalez 154.9 vs Hugo Sanchez 156

Venue: The Hangar in Costa Mesa, CA
Promoter: Englebrecht Promotions & Events
TV: FITE

Errol “The Truth” Spence Jr. said he was focused on scoring a knockout against Yordenis Ugas during a public media workout on Wednesday as Spence-Ugas fight week events officially kicked off for their unification showdown this Saturday on Showtime PPV from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Errol Spence Jr: It’s eat or get ate. That’s all it is on Saturday night. Eat or get ate. Of course, I’m going to win. But I’m going for the knockout. There’s nothing to elaborate on when I said I’m going for the knockout. It’s what I said. So if I get it, I get it. If I don’t, I don’t. I know one hundred percent I’m getting the victory, but I definitely want to knock him out.

Yordenis Ugas: Spence can say whatever he wants. I’ll fight the way I always do, exchanging blows and coming forward.  I’m a competitor, I’m a warrior and I came to fight 12 rounds strong. That’s the most important thing of all. That alone should make Spence uneasy. I know I’m the underdog. I came here to win. I will fight whenever, wherever, in anybody’s backyard.

Professional boxing returns for the second time this year to South Florida’s iconic Hialeah Park Casino on May 7. The card will be highlighted by two title fights, one featuring the undefeated WBA #15 heavyweight Lenier “El Justiciero” Peró (6-0, 3 KOs) against Hector Perez (7-4, 3 KOs) for the NABO title and the other pitting cruiserweight Anthony “White Chocolate” Martinez (12-1, 11 KOs) against #15 IBF contender David Light (17-0, 11 KOs) of New Zealand for the WBO International cruiserweight title. Continue reading “Boxing returns to Hialeah Park on May 7”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Commonwealth Games 2018 Gold medalist and 2016 Rio Olympian Jason Whateley (10-0, 9 KOs) scored a sensational second round knockout over Fiji’s Savanca Naliva (14-4-1, 10 KOs) to capture the vacant IBF Pan Pacific cruiserweight title on Wednesday at the Fortitude Music Hall, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland. The 6’5” Whateley connected with a right uppercut that dropped Naliva in round two and the referee crowned the Australian at :32.

In other action, unbeaten Venezuelan Ender Luces (17-0, 14 KOs) won a split decision over Australian super featherweight champion Dana Coolwell (7-2, 5 KOs) in a ten round action-packed bout with the visitor capturing the IBF youth world championship via split decision. Scores Paul Williams 97-93, Steve Marshall 96-94 and Phil Austin 93-97.

Matchmaker Stuart Duncan, promoter Dean Lonergan, IBF Supervisor Adam Height.

Triller Fight Club has announced a July 16 pay-per-view event headlining former unified heavyweight champion Andy “The Destroyer” Ruiz Jr., (34-2, 22 KOs) and unbeaten Tyrone Spong, (14-0, 13 KOs). The event will take place at the historic Plaza de Toros in Mexico City.

The 32-year-old Ruiz is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Chris Arreola on May 1, 2021, in Carson, CA.

Spong, 36, is a former world champion kickboxer who has been pursuing boxing since 2015. Eleven of his thirteen knockouts have come within the first two rounds.

Additional fights for event will be announced shortly.

Official Statement: Probellum takes the sanctions made by the US Treasury extremely seriously and the business and its employees will be fully compliant with them. We have retained counsel in the US to ensure that we fully comply with all rules, regulations and requirements related to this matter, including not working with any individual or company that has been placed under US sanctions.

This includes Daniel Kinahan and we can confirm that we will not have any business relationship or communication with him whatsoever.

Bob Arum’s comments implying that Top Rank has ceased a business relationship with Probellum are baseless. Top Rank is a competitor and since Probellum’s inception, Top Rank has never worked directly with us. Any suggestions that Daniel Kinahan is a shareholder or owner of Probellum are false and defamatory.

WBC/IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr is a -550 favorite to rip the WBA welterweight belt from the waist of WBA ruler Yordenis Ugas (+400) on Saturday night in Dallas.

Also in the most evenly matched fight on the card is WBA regular welterweight champion Radzhab Butaev faces mandatory challenger Eimantas Stanionis in a virtual pick’em fight. The winner will be in line to fight the Spence-Ugas winner although a clash for undisputed status against WBO champ Terence Crawford may come first.

In other action, lightweight contender Isaac Cruz is a 14:1 favorite over former champion Yuriorkis Gamboa, lightweight contender Jose Valenzuela is a 9:1 favorite over Francisco “Bandido” Vargas, welterweight Cody Crowley is a 4:1 favorite over “The Riverside Rocky” Josesito Lopez, and Brandun Lee is a whopping 25:1 pick against Zachary Ochoa.

Butaev-Stanionis and Lee-Ochoa will air on Showtime. The rest of the bouts will be featured on a $74.99 pay-per-view telecast.

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

We are living through a golden age of boxing, which will be remembered in 20 years.

Just like now, we don’t forget Mike Tyson, Julio César Chávez, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Durán and many more legendary boxers, as they gave us unforgettable moments with exciting matches.

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin returned with an impressive victory against a fierce Ryota Murata, who came out to give everything, and had the Kazakh in some trouble during the first five rounds. And he is shaping up for his third fight against today’s top boxer Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, who will first have to fight a tough test on May 7th.

The women once again excelled, raising our sport with tremendous battles. The WBC flyweight champion, Marlen Esparza, won against another fierce fighter, Japanese Naoka Fujioka. A war in which the judges did not do justice, by scoring 100-90, without giving the Asian Sensation a single round. Continue reading “A Weekend to Remember”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Former Japanese feather champ Ryo Sagawa (12-2, 7 KOs), 126, scored an important victory when he exploded a vicious right hand to the face of ex-WBA 122-pound ruler Shun Kubo (15-3, 10 KOs), 125.75, and sink him for the count at 1:03 of the third round in a scheduled eight on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan.

They had a complex chain in the background. Kubo captured the WBA super bantam belt from Venezuelan Nehomar Cermeno via TKO route in April 2017, but forfeited his throne to Daniel Roman on a ninth-round stoppage five months later. Roman retained his belt in Japan, unanimously beating Ryo Matsumoto on points in 2018. The world-rated Ryo, in his comeback go, suffered an upset TKO defeat at the hand of unheralded novice Ryo Sagawa in September 2018. The fast-rising Sagawa later won the national feather belt, but recently lost it to another prospect Hinata Maruta by a seventh-round TKO in February of the previous year. Continue reading “Sagawa finishes ex-WBA champ Kubo”

Top Rank has cut ties with MTK Global and Probellum over their alleged association with Daniel Kinahan, whom the U.S. government says heads an transnational crime syndicate. MTK Global is associated with many prominent boxers including WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury. Probellum, headed by Richard Schaefer, promotes Nonito Donaire and Regis Prograis, among others. ESPN+ is scheduled to air an MTK Fight Night event on Friday. As of now, it’s still on the schedule.

The ESPN+ Pay-Per-View price for the April 23 pay-per-view event headlined by the all-English heavyweight battle between WBC heavyweight champion Tyson “The Gypsy King” Fury and WBC interim titleholder Dillian “The Body Snatcher” Whyte will be $69.99. Calling the action will be Joe Tessitore (play-by-play), Timothy Bradley (analyst), and Andre Ward (analyst). The desk team will feature analysis from Mark Kriegel and Bernardo Osuna.

The fight will take place in front of a record 94,000 fans, the largest Wembley Stadium has ever hosted and the most fans to witness a boxing event in person since 1993. The Whyte showdown marks Fury’s first bout in London since February 2015.

By Ogi Georgiev

3-time light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, who returns against Tervel Pulev on May 14 Los Angeles, gives his version of the events around his fight with Canelo Alvarez.

“The fight against Canelo, I wasn’t like myself,” said Kovalev. “I was empty of energy because all of 2018 for me was a very intensive year.

“I got the title back from Eleider Alvarez in February 2018, and then the WBO ordered a mandatory defense against Anthony Yarde. This fight was scheduled on June 27 in Russia. I arrived in Russia one month before the fight and then the fight was rescheduled for August 24. This was like a really big kick. I was surprised because I had just three Kilos left [to lose], like around seven pounds, so the fight was rescheduled for August. Continue reading “Kovalev talks about Canelo fight”

James “Savage” Hagler (2-1, 1 KO), the grandson of the late Hall of Famer Marvelous Marvin Hagler, will fight on the May 7th Vertex boxing card at Moseley’s on the Charles in Dedham, Massachusetts. Hagler, who fought all of his previous fights in the state of Georgia, will be in a four round super middleweight bout against an opponent to be determined.

“We’re looking forward to having James fighting less than 20 miles from where his grandfather Marvin Hagler fought out of in Brockton,” promoter Dave Clark said.

The card is headlined by undefeated welterweight prospect James “The Slim Reaper” Perella (10-0, 7 KOs) matched against Edgar “The Tiger” Torres (8-3-1, 4 KOs) in an eight-rounder.

Welterweights Conor ‘The Destroyer’ Benn (20-0, 13 KOs) and Chris van Heerden (28-2-1, 12 KOs) have been exchanging barbs in the lead up to Saturday’s clash for the WBA Continental title at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia as usual).

Chris van Heerden: “I’m a much better boxer than Conor Benn. In my opinion Conor is an emotional, angry fighter. He relies on his power. He cannot box with me. He’s not a boxer. He’s a power puncher and I don’t rate him as a boxer. That’s why I’m saying he’s a very emotional, angry type of fighter in my opinion.”

Connor Benn: “He said he doesn’t rate my boxing ability. If you don’t respect me then I’ll make you respect me. Chris van Heerden needs to be ready for a whole lot of firepower. He needs to be ready for someone who fights like he’s got everything to lose.”