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WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood and challenger Michael Conlan faced off at the final press conference ahead of Saturday’s world title action at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, shown live worldwide on DAZN, (excluding New Zealand and Australia).

Leigh Wood: “There’s no excuses after the fight – the best man will win…This is fairy-tale sh*t, honestly, of all the arenas for Carl [Froch] I was at in the seats screaming, I’m now headlining in the same arena. This isn’t the peak or where I stop, I’m going to go further than this. The city ground fight that you’ve tangled in front of me for so long, you [Eddie Hearn] said after this fight it’s happening, so I’ll hold you to that but eyes on Saturday night first. I’m coming to get the job done and look good doing it.”

Michael Conlan: “I know what kind of performance is coming on Saturday night, this is the most relaxed and calm I’ve ever been in a fight week. I don’t feel any pressure, I’m here in the opponent’s back garden and I’ve got to rip the belt off him. Everyone’s here to see him, I’ve got fans coming in the thousands already so it’s nothing new…I’m just here to do a job, I hope Leigh has had a fantastic training camp, I hope he’s the best Leigh Wood there’s ever been because I believe I will be. It’ll make it all the sweeter when I beat him.”

By Héctor Villarreal

Women and men will fight separately on the two boxing cards confirmed by Laguna Premium Boxing Promotions and The World Boxing Association for the upcoming weekend, in the return to Panama of the WBA KO to Drugs International Festival.

WBA light flyweight world champion, Argentine Yesica Boop (37-2, 17 KOs) and her title challenger Mexican Jessica Nery Plata (27-2, 3 KOs) faced off at the final press conference held on Wednesday afternoon at Majestic Casino, where they will star the all-female event on Friday night.

The main card scheduled for Saturday night at the Arena Roberto Duran is headed by former bantamweight super champion, Panamanian Anselmo “Chemito” Moreno (40-6-1, 13 KOs) facing Mexican Gustavo Piña (10-3-2, 5 KOs), as well as undefeated Mexican lightweight Miguel Madueño (27-0, 25 KOs), the opponent for the other local former super world champion Jezreel “Invisible” Corrales (25-4, 10 KOs).

Saturday, March 19 promises to be a night full of action as Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev (8-1, 6 KOs) of Indio, CA returns to the ring for the first time in 2022, to face seasoned veteran David “La Pantera” Zegarra (34-7, 21 KOs) of Lima, Peru. The fighters are set to face off in a 10-round light heavyweight fight as part of the DAZN broadcast. Then, opening up the DAZN broadcast, undefeated fighter Evan Sanchez (9-0, 6 KOs) from Parlier, CA will participate in a 6-round welterweight fight against Alejandro Munera (6-6-4, 5 KOs) from Medellin, Colombia.

The event is headlined by #1 WBO ranked and undefeated heavy-hander, Vergil Ortiz Jr. (18-0, 18 KOs), of Grand Prairie, Texas taking on #3 WBO ranked, undefeated welterweight Michael “The Problem” McKinson (21-0, 2 KOs) of Portsmouth, Great Britain in a 12-round fight for the WBO International Welterweight Title . The co-main event of the night will pit Orange County’s Alexis “Lex” Rocha (18-1, 12 KOs) of Santa Ana, CA against Philadelphia’s Blair “The Flair” Cobbs (15-0-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight fight. The event will take place at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center in Downtown Los Angeles, streaming live, worldwide on DAZN. Continue reading “Melikuziev returns on Ortiz-McKinson undercard”

Some updates to this weekend’s boxing action…

FRIDAY

ShoBox returns with a tripleheader topped by undefeated super welterweight Ardreal Holmes (11-0, 5 KOs) against Vernon Brown (13-1-1, 9 KOs) live on SHOWTIME from Deadwood Mountain Grand Hotel in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Fightzone.uk has a free worldwide stream from the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen, Scotland, headlined by unbeaten welterweight Dean Sutherland (12-0, 4 KOs) against the dreaded TBA.

FloSports has a $29.99 PPV at Wind Creek Bethlehem in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Super middleweights Ryan Adams (8-4-1, 6 KOs) and Khainell Wheeler (6-1, 5 KOs) clash in the eight-round headliner. Some undercard action will air on Facebook’s FightNight Live page.

SATURDAY

WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood (25-2, 15 KOs) makes his first world title defense against 2-time Olympian Michael Conlan (16-0, 8 KOs) at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, streamed live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia as usual). Former IBF lightweight champion Miguel Vazquez (44-10, 17 KOs) is in the co-feature against unbeaten Gary Cully (13-0, 7 KOs).

FITE.tv has a free stream from the Conrad Dubai topped by super welterweight Fatih Keles (14-1-1, 8 KOs) against former WBA interim titleholder Diego “La Joya” Chaves (28-8-1, 23 KOs).

FITE.tv also has a PPV stream featuring a lightweight clash between two-time WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison (27-3-2, 15 KOs) against Razak Nettey (22-5, 16 KOs) at the Rivals Gym, Wishaw, England. The 44-year-old Harrison is returning to the ring for the first time since 2013. This event is available through their new $4.99/mo FITE+ plan.

Undefeated super featherweight Christian Tapia (13-0, 12 KOs) takes on Luis Lebron (18-2-1, 11 KOs) in a 10-rounder from the Live! Event Center at Live! Casino & Hotel in Philadelphia. The show will be streamed on a $19.99 Facebook PPV on the Hard Hitting Promotions page.

SUNDAY

Fightzone.uk has a free worldwide live stream featuring welterweight Samuel Vargas (31-7-2, 14 KOs) taking on Przemyslaw Runowski (19-2, 5 KOs) from the Rebel Entertainment Complex in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Newly crowned WBC diamond super flyweight champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (51-3, 41 KOs) had one request Saturday night after his unanimous decision win against Julio Cesar “Rey” Martinez, (18-2, 14 KOs). Gonzalez wanted to honor his trainer Marcos Caballero with a WBC champion trainer’s belt before he goes back to his native Nicaragua. WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman moved fast on this request and brought the belt himself to Los Angeles so Gonzalez’ wish could be fulfilled. Continue reading “Chocolatito trainer gets WBC trainer’s belt”

Former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko says Russian world champion Dmitry Bivol should “absolutely not” be allowed to defend his WBA light heavyweight title against Canelo Alvarez on May 7 in Las Vegas. “It’s nothing against the personalities or athletes, it’s about the politics of Russia,” Klitschko told BBC 5 Live Radio. “Every Russian representative in this case needs to be sanctioned, because this way we show to Russia that the world is against his senseless war, and there is no good in this war.”

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WBC champion Oscar Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs) will meet WBO king Shakur Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) in a title unification showdown between undefeated fighters on April 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Promoted by Top Rank, tickets starting at $79 go on sale Thursday, March 10 at 10 a.m. PT and can be purchased by visiting AXS.com.

The two went face to face Wednesday morning and exchanged not-so-pleasant pleasantries. “This is a fight between two fighters in their physical primes, the best fighting the best,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “Oscar and Shakur deserve the biggest stage, and it doesn’t get much bigger than ESPN and the MGM Grand Garden Arena. On April 30, a superstar will be born.”

Stevenson is currently as much as a 5:1 favorite. Valdez enters as the betting underdog for only the second time in his career. The first time, he knocked out Miguel Berchelt in devastating fashion.

Conor ‘The Destroyer’ Benn (20-0, 13 KOs) will defend his WBA Continental welterweight title against Chris Van Heerden (28-2-1, 12 KOs) at the AO Arena in Manchester on Saturday April 16, live worldwide on DAZN (excluding New Zealand and Australia as usual).

The undercard sees European cruiserweight champion Chris Billam-Smith (14-1, 10 KOs) rematch Tommy McCarthy (18-3, 9 KOs) following their battle at the Matchroom HQ last summer. Also, super featherweight contender Zelfa Barrett (27-1, 16 KOs) challenges European champion Faroukh Kourbanov (19-3, 3 KOs), cruiserweight talent Jordan Thompson (12-0, 10 KOs) faces TBA, lightweight Campbell Hatton (6-0, 2 KOs) quickly returns to action after fighting last month, and super middleweight “Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver” Jack Cullen (20-3-1, 9 KOs) faces TBA.

The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee ordered the mandatory bout between super lightweight champion Josh Taylor and top challenger Alberto Puello. In a communication sent to both parties, the WBA notified them they will have a 30-day period to negotiate, starting on March 8.

Taylor won his championship on October 26, 2019 and his mandatory defense was already due a year ago. WBA rules state that the champion cannot defend against an opponent other than the mandatory challenger within 60 days after the expiration of his mandatory defense period, so for that reason, the showdown between Taylor and Puello has been ordered. If no agreement is reached or if either party is unwilling to negotiate, the WBA Championships Committee may call for a purse bid for the fight.

Featherweight title contender, Joet Gonzalez (25-2, 15 KOs) spoke about his recent TKO win over Filipino Jeo Santisima over the weekend on ESPN. The fight was all action until it was stopped in Gonzalez’s favor in the ninth round with his opponent absorbing too much punishment. “It was a hell of a fight. He was really tough and we had some back and forth going in the beginning but I persisted and eventually I got the stoppage.” Continue reading “Joet Gonzalez back on track”

Salita Promotions will return to the Lincoln Ballroom of the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center in Dearborn, MI, on April 2 for another Detroit Brawl event. The main event will feature the return Detroit lightweight contender Erick De Leon (19-0-1, 11 KOs) after nearly three years’ absence from the sport due to injuries to face hard-nosed Mexico City veteran Juan Jose “Piquet” Martinez (28-11, 20 KOs).

In the main supporting bouts will be undefeated former amateur star Timur Kerefov (12-0, 6 KOs) against Cleotis “Mookie” Pendarvis (21-9-2, 9 KOs) and WBC #9, IBF #15, WBO #14 light heavyweight Ali Izmailov (7-0, 5 KOs) against TBA.

Tickets for “Detroit Brawl” start at $40.

Top super welterweight contender and rising star Tim Tszyu (20-0, 15 KOs)  will make his long-awaited U.S. debut when he takes on U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) in a 12-round showdown that headlines action live on Showtime Saturday, March 26 from The Armory in Minneapolis. The telecast will also feature rising undefeated lightweight contender Michel Rivera (22-0, 14 KOs) dueling fellow unbeaten Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno (14-0-2, 12 KOs) in the 10-round co-main event, plus hard-hitting super lightweight contender Elvis Rodríguez (12-1-1, 11 KOs) faces Juan José Velasco (23-2, 14 KOs) in the 10-round telecast opener.

Tim Tszyu: “I’m very excited to be fighting in the U.S., especially on Showtime, where my dad was featured for most of his career. I’m proud and excited to continue on the Tszyu name with Showtime. Once I take care of Gausha, I will be coming for the title.”

Terrell Gausha: “I’ve been ready for this fight for a long time. I came into this game to be a world champion and fight the best. I expect Tim to come in great shape and I’ll also come in my best shape to put on a great fight for the fans. My coaches are getting me prepared perfectly for the kind of fight I need to put on so that I can leave the ring victorious.”

 

Following a stacked event in front of a sold-out crowd in February, ProBox Promotions looks to continue its momentum as Mohamed “The Problem” Mimoune (22-4, 3 KOs) battles super lightweight Cesar “Rainman” Francis (9-0, 6 KOs) in a ten-round headline attraction on Friday, March 25 at the ProBox Events Center in Plant City, Florida.

Mimoune is a crafty southpaw who fights under the Roy Jones Jr. Promotions banner. His last time out, in February 2020, Mimoune fought for the WBC International super lightweight crown, one of various regional titles the Frenchman fought for since starting his pro career in 2010. Continue reading “Mimoune-Francis clash on March 25”

Four-time, 2-division World champion Brian “Hawaiian Punch” Viloria is enjoying the next chapter of his life, following his Hall of Fame-caliber boxing career, as a trainer based at Brickhouse Boxing Club in North Hollywood, California.

Shortly after his last fight, back in 2018, Viloria decided to start working as a trainer at Wild Card West (now Churchill Gym in Santa Monica, CA), where he started developing his trainer skills working in the same gym at Freddie Roach, Roberto Garcia, and Joe Goossen. Continue reading “Viloria enjoying next chapter of life as trainer”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Once-beaten prospects in their previous bouts celebrated their manager/promoter ex-world champ Hideyuki Ohashi’s fifty-seventh birthday with first-round demolitions on Tuesday in Tokyo, Japan. Having forfeited his OPBF bantam belt to Keita Kurihara via spectacular stoppage last October, lefty hard-puncher Kazuki Nakajima (11-1-1, 9 KOs), 123, moved up to the 122-pound category and displayed a one-punch knockout over Shohei Kawashima (18-7-2, 4 KOs), 123.5, at just 3:00 of the first round in a scheduled eight. His stablemate Taku Kuwahara (9-1, 5 KOs), 112, also came back well from his previous failure to win the national flyweight belt from world-rated Yuri Akui on a tenth and final-round stoppage last July, and halted Takashi Hisano (6-6-1, 3 KOs), 112, at just 0:32 into the opening session in a semi-final eight.

The spectators at the Korakuen Hall were stunned to watch Ryuya Tsugawa (9-1, 5 KOs), 122, from Osaka, wrest the Japanese youth 122-pound belt by stopping Haruki Ishikawa (9-4, 7 KOs), 121.75, at 2:44 of the seventh session in a scheduled eight. Tsugawa, quite unheralded, looked so vastly talented with his speed and skills that he lopsidedly battered the hard-hitting defending champ into the referee’s intervention due to Ishikawa’s cornerman’s tossing in the towel. One of the witnesses, “Monster” Naoya Inoue, so impressed by Tsugawa’s brilliant performance, asked his manager Ohashi to employ the youngster as his sparring partner in the nearest future.

Continue reading “Nakajima, Kuwahara victorious, celebrate Ohashi’s birthday”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

It’s still up in the air who undisputed IBF, WBA, WBO, and WBC franchise lightweight champion George Kambosos will defend his championship belts against. But he says both former world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko or WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney are still in the running.

“I think Lomachenko has started to creep close to the finish line and that excites me big time because Lomachenko is a hell of a fighter, a guy who’s won two Olympic gold medals, multiple world titles,” Kambosos told the ABC. “But Devin Haney excites me a lot, too, because he does have that small, other little piece that he loves [the WBC belt]. He never really earned it in the ring but he does love his piece and I’d love to splatter his face across the ring and take that off him as well. Continue reading “Kambosos says he only wants Loma or Haney”

With the Tank-Rolly PPV, there are now four major pay-per-view shows scheduled in a seven week span:

April 16: Errol Spence vs. Yordenis Ugas
(WBC, WBA, IBF welterweight titles)

April 23: Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte
(WBC heavyweight title)

May 7: Canelo Alvarez vs. Dmitry Bivol
(WBA light heavyweight title)

May 28: Gervonta Davis vs. Rolly Romero
(WBA lightweight title)

In addition, there will be plenty of smaller shows presented on niche PPV providers.

Start saving now.

By Jeff Zimmerman

Fightnews.com® caught up with the living legend Bernard “B-Hop” Hopkins, who will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this June as part of the 2020 class, as he shared his experiences during his five years in the Pennsylvania state penitentiary where he found boxing again after introduced to the sweet science as a young child by his uncles who boxed. Hopkins also talked about the future stardom of Vergil Ortiz Jr. and the potential greatness of Ryan “Kingry” Garcia, both with upcoming fights in March and April respectively. He also praised Seniesa “Superbad” Estrada and calls her a firecracker and provides words of wisdom for champ Joshua Franco and much more in this exclusive interview.

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WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (26-0, 24 KOs) will reportedly fight Rolly Romero (14-0, 12 KOs) on PPV on May 28. The fight was ordered by the WBA. Davis and Romero were originally slated to fight last December, but Romero pulled out due to a sexual assault allegation from which he was later vindicated.

Probellum has signed reigning female light heavyweight and heavyweight world champion Hanna Gabriels (21-2-1, 12 KOs), super welterweight Charles Conwell (16-0, 12 KOs), and super featherweight Alex Dilmaghani (19-2-1, 8 K0s). Gabriels and Conwell are co-promotional pacts with DiBella Entertainment.

The March 19 fight between Hafthor Bjornsson and Eddie Hall at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium is being billed as the heaviest boxing match in history. Both are previous winners of the “World’s Strongest Man” competition and weigh well over 300 pounds.

After the controversial Taylor-Catterall verdict, promoter Frank Warren has confirmed to IFL that there will be no British judges for the Tyson Fury vs. Dillian Whyte fight in London on April 23.

Unbeaten Olympian Michael Conlan (16-0, 8 KOs) is a -160 favorite to dethrone WBA featherweight champion Leigh Wood (25-2, 15 KOs) in Saturday’s world title showdown at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, live worldwide on DAZN. But local hero Wood isn’t fazed at being the underdog in his hometown.

“I’ve earned everything off my own back the hard way,” said Wood. “In my opinion, I don’t think Mick’s ever been in a 50/50 fight, this is new for him, but I’ve come through those challenges. I’ve been in the bookies not favorite and come out the other side from a pressure point of view…I’ve been there before, in fights in my career, in my life. I’ve not had a promoter, anyone steering me in the right direction, I’ve not had my dad taking me to the gym from a young age. I walked in the gym on own at 10, 11 years old and it takes a lot to do that, to get to this point on my own. I’ve got here on my own with pure determination and grit, resilience and refusal to give up and that’s what it’s going to take to come through this fight and that’s what I do.”

Sad to report that former Indonesian super lightweight champion Hero Tito passed away from injuries suffered in a seventh-round knockout loss to James Mokoginta on February 27 in Jakarta, Indonesia. He was just 35. Tito never regained consciousness and passed away on March 3. He was just 35. He hailed from Heru Purwanto in Malang, Indonesia, and compiled a career record of 29-17-2 with 11 KOs. Tito fought all over Asia and competed for numerous regional titles. R.I.P.

Unbeaten lightweight contender Miguel “El Explosivo” Madueño (27-0, 25 KOs) will face former world champion Jezzrel Corrales (25-4, 10 KOs) in a WBA lightweight title eliminator. The 12-round bout will take place at the Roberto Duran Arena in Panama City, Panama on Saturday’s “KO to Drugs” event hosted by the WBA. A win would put the 23-year-old Madueño in line to be a mandatory challenger for the WBA lightweight world champion, which is currently held by George Kambosos Jr. (20-0, 10 KOs).

Rising prospect Anthony “Princesa” Olascuaga of Los Angeles, California is set to make his return to the ring this Saturday, March 12 in Panama City, Panama. Olascuaga faces former WBC world title challenger Gilberto “Cacique” Pedroza (19-8-2) of La Palma, Panama in a bout scheduled for 8 rounds with the vacant WBA Fedelatin flyweight title at stake. Continue reading “Olascuaga on WBA KO to Drugs card”

Canadian super welterweight Mikaël Zewski (35-2, 23 KOs) will now fight former world title challenger Carlos “Chema” Ocampo (32-1, 20 KOs) on March 25 at the Vidéotron Coliseum in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. Ocampo steps in for Serhii “El Flaco” Bohachuk, who has returned to Ukraine in defense against the Russian invasion.

In the 10-round co-featured event, undefeated super lightweight Arthur Biyarslanov (9-0, 7 KOs) takes on Roberto Verdugo (10-3-1, 4 KOs). Continue reading “New opponent for Zewski”

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

While Being outside of Mexico on a family trip, I received the information about what happened in the stadium during a soccer match between Querétaro and Atlas, a horrifying riot as the local fans of Queretaro broke the gates and attacked the visiting fans of Atlas; the game had to be stopped by the referee and players fled to the dressing rooms while fans entered the field trying to escape from the attack only to find themselves in a battlefield. I refuse to watch the videos circulating on social networks and WhatsApp chats. When one watches these violent events, sensitivity is lost and, in this way, we stop being shocked and things are taken as normal.

It is a sad day for Mexico, for soccer, for sports, and for our society. God grant solace to all the families who are suffering at this time and help us to learn from this event. I hope that all those who participated in the senseless violence, pay the consequences and that this tragedy moves all of us in sports to work on implementing preventive measures and protocols. Continue reading “Many things must change in the sports world”