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Two-time world title challenger Jesse Hart (27-3, 21 KOs) will be back in action on Saturday, December 11th at Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena when he takes on David Murray (10-2-1, 6 KOs) in the eight round super middleweight main event. The card is promoted by RDR Promotions.

The undercard features middleweight Shynguskhan Tazibay (9-0, 2 KOs) and lightweight Isaiah Johnson (3-0, 3 KOs) against opponents to be named. Continue reading “Jesse Hart returns Dec 11”

WBA #2 ranked heavyweight Michael ‘The Bounty’ Hunter II, (20-1-1, 14 KOs) will look to once again defeat Jerry ‘Slugger’ Forrest, (26-4-1, 20 KOs) this Thursday in the ten-round main event at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The pair originally squared off back in 2014 where Hunter won an eight round unanimous decision.

Forrest remembers their first fight very well and has been looking forward to this rematch. He feels that although Hunter has improved since their first bout, so has he, and he is still getting better. Revenge factor aside, Hunter is also world ranked WBA #2, WBC #7, and WBO #6, so an upset victory by Forrest could lead to a return opportunity on the Triller platform. Continue reading “Forrest out for revenge against Hunter”

By Jeff Zimmerman
Translation: Jahir Martinez

Fightnews.com® caught up with Mexican ring legend Erik “El Terrible” Morales at the Sweat Boxing Gym in Irving, TX. Erik was in town to promote his upcoming exhibition against fellow Mexican champ Orlando Salido on Dec. 17 at the Mesquite Rodeo in Mesquite, TX. Morales discussed his fight with 2x champ Paulie Ayala from around the corner in Fort Worth, his rivalry with Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera, and his thoughts on Canelo or Chavez as the greatest Mexican fighter of all time.

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By Jeff Zimmerman
Translation: Constantino Donaire

Fightnews.com® caught up with former world champ Orlando Salido, who was at Sweat Boxing Gym in Irving, TX, to promote his upcoming exhibition with fellow Mexican legend Erik “El Terrible” Morales on Dec. 17 at the Mesquite Rodeo in Mesquite, TX. Salido talked about his tough fights with the likes of Francisco Vargas, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Juan Manuel Lopez and Mikey Garcia and what it took to hand Loma his first loss. Salido also weighed in on whether Chavez or now Canelo is the greatest Mexican fighter of all time in this exclusive interview.

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By Jeff Zimmerman

Fightnews.com® caught up with former amateur star and US Olympic Trials winner, light flyweight Kentavias “Taae Money” Slay, who was on hand at the media event highlighted by the announced exhibition of former Mexican legend Erik “El Terrible” Morales vs former champ Orlando Salido on Dec 17 at the Mesquite Rodeo in Mesquite, TX. Slay will be showcased on the card in his 2nd pro fight. Slay discusses what it is like training with WBC lightweight champ Devin Haney who faces JoJo Diaz this weekend, training under former world champ Wayne “Pocket Rocket” McCullough and his affinity for the late Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker because of his defense and much more in this exclusive interview.

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WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney (26-0 15 KOs) puts his title on the line for the fourth time against interim champion Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz, Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night, live worldwide on DAZN.

“JoJo is a good fighter,” said Haney. “He’s going to come to fight, we know that. He’s going to bring his best, I’m bringing mine. So, the best man will win – and that will be me. You can talk about size and heart, but I just feel that I am a better fighter than him and skills pay the bills…everybody says ‘I’m gonna bang Devin out.’ I’ve been seeing that my whole life. Did I get this far by letting people rough me up or bang me out? Come on. I can do everything, so you can do whatever you want, it’s not going to work. I don’t know how you beat me. I can’t tell you.”

Devin Haney and Joseph Diaz Jr. faced-off today in front of the landmark Las Vegas sign located at the southern end of “The Strip” to kick off fight week for Saturday’s WBC lightweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Former four-division world champion Erik “Terrible” Morales and Orlando “Siri” Salido will face off on December 17 at the Rodeo Arena in Mesquite, Texas, in a charity exhibition match. Part of the proceeds will be used to support amateur boxing and to continue carrying out boxing week, which aims to support women against domestic violence and children against bullying.

The promoter, Boxing Showcase, will present this exhibition bout as the framework for the second semi-final of the national tournament The Big Belt Championship. Tickets start at $30 and are already on sale.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Two-time world cruiserweight challenger Mark Flanagan (25-8, 18 KOs) will be in action over ten rounds against unbeaten Floyd Mason (10-0, 7 KOs) at the Eatons Hotel, Eatons Hill, Queensland on Saturday with the Australian cruiserweight title up for grabs. Flanagan is coming off a bout in June when he captured the vacant national cruiserweight crown with a fifth round stoppage over Benjamin Kelleher. Mason is coming off a four round stoppage of Joseph Liga in July. Promoter Angelo DiCarlo.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

In a nationally televised promotion, IBF #3 cruiserweight Jai Opetaia (20-0, 16 KOs), who will challenge IBF cruiserweight champion Mairis Breidis for the IBF crown in March 2022, will clash with Daniel Russell (7-2-2, 4 KOs)  on Saturday at the Fortitude Valley Music Hall, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia on Foxtel television network and Kayo Sports.

In other action, IBF #15 middleweight Issac Hardman (11-0, 9 KOs) will be in action against Adam Stowe (6-2-2, 4 KOs) over ten rounds for the IBF Australasian and Australian title.

Also, former WBA heavyweight champion Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne (29-3, 25 KOs) returns to the ring after losing by knockout to rugby league football star Paul Gallen in April. Big Daddy will collide with Faiga Opelu (14-2-1, 10 KOs) over ten rounds with the WBA Oceana title up for grabs.

Matchmaker Stuart Duncan, promoter Dean Lonergan.

Less than three months after dominating the previously undefeated Gabriel Flores Jr., featherweight Luis Alberto “El Venado” Lopez (23-2, 11 KOs) hopes to earn a world title shot. Lopez will face undefeated British contender Isaac “The Westgate Warrior” Lowe (21-0-3, 6 KOs) in a 12-round IBF title eliminator this Friday at York Hall in London.

Lopez-Lowe and supporting bouts will stream live and exclusively in the United States on ESPN+.

In other streaming action from London, former WBC flyweight world champion Charlie Edwards (16-1, 6 KOs) will make his second bantamweight appearance in an eight-rounder against Jacob Barreto (13-3, 5 KOs).

Former world champion and current light heavyweight contender Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (42-0, 28 KOs) and Yunieski “The Monster” Gonzalez (21-3, 17 KOs) hosted a media call today to promote their WBA light heavyweight title eliminator that will take place on December 18 at San Antonio’s AT&T Center and will be streamed live exclusively on DAZN worldwide.

Gilberto Ramirez: “I feel stronger at 175, and it feels like my natural weight. You have seen me in three fights already and see how I have performed…Gonzalez was a plan for us after Bivol did not want to sign the fight contract. He is scared to fight me that he went to Russia to fight. Yunieski stepped up to take the fight; I have to respect him for that.”

Yunieski Gonzalez: “First they have to go through me before they can get to Bivol. People are talking about it, making an assumption about the direction of the fight, and I leave it and don’t say anything. And people forget that this is also an opportunity for me, this is my opportunity to also be in line for Bivol.”

Unbeaten WBA #2 super welterweight Israil Madrimov (7-0, 5 KOs) can take a step closer to achieving his world title dream when he faces #1 rated Michel Soro (35-2-1, 24 KOs) in a WBA final eliminator on Friday December 17 at the Renaissance Hall in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Soro is also the reigning WBA Gold world super welterweight champion.

In the co-feature, undefeated super lightweight Shakhram Giyasov (11-0, 9 KOs) returns to action against Cristian Rafael Coria (29-8-2, 13 KOs).

The fights will be shown live worldwide on DAZN.

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

It was during the 2020 Virtual Convention when the World Boxing Council decreed 2021 as “The Year of Boxing,” as we found ourselves in the middle of a claustrophobic lockdown due to the pandemic.

So, a plan was created and established to celebrate life through our sport, to commemorate the great anniversaries that would occur in 2021, and it was determined to work hard to make boxing resurface globally.

What an extraordinary year we are living through! There have been great contests, dramatic fights, spectacular knockouts, and wonderful celebrations of historical events that we remember with great pride as well as fondness. Continue reading “What a year for boxing it has been!”

The WBO World Championship Committee has ordered negotiations to commence for a clash between WBO middleweight champion Demetrius “BooBoo” Andrade (31-0, 19 KOs) and Zhanibek “Qazak Style” Alimkhanuly (11-0, 7 KOs). The parties are granted 20-days to negotiate and reach an agreement or purse bid proceedings will be called. The minimum acceptable bid is $200,000. Any of the parties involved may request a purse bid procedure at any time during the negotiation process.

Triller announced today that WBA #2 ranked heavyweight Michael ‘The Bounty’ Hunter II, (20-1-1, 14 KOs) has been added to Thursday’s ‘Night of Heavyweights’ stream against heavy-handed southpaw Jerry ‘Slugger’ Forrest, (26-4-1, 20 KOs). Hunter-Forrest is the new ten-round main event at the TrillerVerz IV professional boxing card at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The ten-rounder replaces Andrey Fedesov vs. Junior Wright after Fedesov suffered a training injury.

Also featured on ‘Night of Heavyweights’ are not one, but TWO ten round clashes between undefeated heavyweights. Trey Lippe-Morrison, (18-0, 17 KOs) collides with Mike Balogun, (17-0, 13 KOs) and Cassius ‘C.O.G.’Chaney, (21-0, 14 KOs) takes on ‘Gentleman’ George Arias, (16-0, 7 KOs). Continue reading “Hunter-Forrest added to Night of Heavyweights”

Two huge fight cards this weekend, happily not going head-to-head like last Saturday night.

Saturday night in Las Vegas on DAZN, we have WBC lightweight champion Devin “The Dream” Haney (26-0, 15 KOs) taking on WBC interim titleholder JoJo Diaz (32-1-1, 15 KOs). The fighters have been going at it on social media, so this is shaping up to be a good one.

Sunday night in Los Angeles on Showtime PPV, Gervonta “Tank” Davis (26-0, 25 KOs) defends against Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (22-1-1, 15 KOs).

Haney is a 6:1 favorite, and Davis is a whopping 14:1 favorite, however, both Diaz and Cruz are considered live ‘dogs so these should be good fights. Undisputed lightweight champion George Kambosos is expected to be on hand at both fights. Continue reading “Fight Week”

The WBC has been working with the WBO, IBF and WBA to try to address important topics together, especially the mandatory rules for champions who hold two or more championship belts. That is an ongoing process between the four organizations. The goals are to begin 2023 with a single procedure to establish mandatory bouts, and to design an elimination system to manage together the organizations’ mandatories in cases of champions of more than one organization.

The WBC Board of Governors approved addressing the mandatory rules within the WBC to protect the integrity of boxing, and to provide the best fights to the fans and the industry informed promoters, managers, and broadcasters that they have initiated a process to establish the mandatory fights for unified and undisputed champions. Continue reading “WBC Mandatory Fights Update”

By Joe Koizumi

Japanese 130-pounder Kenichi Ogawa’s IBF coronation warmed all the hearts of our aficionados. Ogawa (26-1-1-1NC, 18 KOs), 33, had a rollercoasting career and displayed a four-year perseverance caused by his unfortunate forfeiture of the once-acquired but later stripped IBF belt. It was in December 2017 that the hard-punching Japanese, formerly a nippon-kempo (a sort of karate) specialist at Meiji university, temporarily won the vacant IBF junior light belt by edging Tevin Farmer by a hairline split decision (116-112, 115-113, 112-116) in Las Vegas. Ogawa, however, tested positive for Androstanedior, and Teiken Promotions strongly and persistently denied his intake of any forbidden drug by submitting a lot of proofs, but in vain. The Nevada State Athletic Commission, four months later–in April 2018, reversed it into a no contest, and the IBF eventually denied Ogawa’s belt and declared it vacant again. Pitifully, Kenichi was fined twenty percent of his purse, and was suspended for six month by the NSAC. The Japan Boxing Commission (JBC) followed the verdict and also suspended him for a year from his Farmer bout. Continue reading “Ogawa’s coronation warms Japan’s heart”

The long-awaited showdown between British welterweight standouts Amir Khan and Kell Brook was formally announced at a press conference in London today. The fight will take place Saturday, February 19 at the AO Arena Manchester and will air live and exclusively in the UK on Sky Sports Box Office. Khan and Brook came face-to-face today when they squared off following the packed-out press conference.

“You’ve never acknowledged me. I’ve heard you saying ‘Who is Kell Brook?’ I know you know who I am. I can’t want to spark you. I am going to retire you.”
-Kell Brook

“I am coming levels down. The people want to see this fight, the people want to see me punch him in the face. It’s time to put him in his place and hopefully move on to bigger and better things.”
-Amir Khan

More quotes…

The rematch of the unofficial 2021 New England Fight of the Year will headline the December 18th “New England Future VIII” event, presented by Rivera Promotions Entertainment (RPE) at Webster Town Hall in Webster, Massachusetts. Super lightweights Wilfredo “El Sucaro” Pagan (6-1-1, 3 KOs) and Carlos Marrero, III (2-6-2), fought to an entertaining six-round split draw this past August 14th in Worcester (MA). This is Webster’s first professional boxing event in 27 years. Continue reading “Pagan-Marrero rematch set”

Bitter rivals Amir Khan and Kell Brook will finally enter the ring on February 19 to square off in one of the most highly-anticipated encounters in British boxing history. BOXXER and Sky Sports will formally announce the fight at a press conference in London this afternoon, with the news set to delight boxing fans who have clamored to see the two antagonists do battle for nearly a decade. The long-awaited encounter will take place at the AO Arena in Manchester.

“Khan and Brook are icons of the sport in Britain and this will be an iconic encounter. Their rivalry has simmered for years, they are still by far the best welterweights in the country and the eyes of the world will be on them when they square off in February to finally settle the question about which of them is the better man,” said Ben Shalom, BOXXER’s founder and CEO. Continue reading “Khan-Brook finally clash on Feb 19”

By Boxing Bob Newman

At the recent WBC convention in Mexico City, it was announced the undisputed super middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez would move up two weight divisions to challenge WBC Cruiserweight champion Ilunga Makabu in a history-making fight. This prompted another move- to allow for an interim WBC super middleweight title fight between WBC mandatory challenger and former two-time WBC champion, David Benavidez and likely, the #2 ranked David Lemieux. Although Lemieux was not named specifically by the WBC board of directors, it seemed logical due to his #2 ranking.

Sources close to this situation say that Sampson Lewkowicz, promoter of Benavidez and Camille Estephan, promoter of Lemieux, have reached a stalemate at this point in their negotiations, to make the match. Continue reading “Benavidez, Lemieux, Jermall Charlo in mix for WBC interim super middle title”

40-year-old journeyman Mike Guy (13-7-1, 6 KOs) ended a two-year drought Saturday night and surprisingly won the vacant WBC USNBC super middleweight title at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, with a ninth-round knockout win over Kendrick Ball Jr. (17-2-2, 11 KOs), headlining an eight-fight card promoted by CES Boxing.

The 5’8 Guy entered as the underdog against the 6’2 Ball, but once the bell rang Ball was no match for Guy’s aggressive, come-forward approach; Guy had little trouble working his way to the inside and eluding Ball’s jab, dropping Ball with a hard, overhand right in the opening round. Guy continued the onslaught in rounds three and four, though Ball did a better job defensively by not absorbing as much damage. Continue reading “Mike Guy wins USNBC super middle title”

WBO/WBC super bantamweight world champion Stephen Fulton Jr. and former champ Brandon Figueroa discussed their all-action unification clash in Las Vegas.

“It was the robbery of the year,” said Figueroa. “The fans who watched this live know who won. I always come to fight and I did that all night…I hurt him like five or six times. I put the pressure on for the whole 12 rounds, landed the cleaner shots and hurt him. I thought I only lost four rounds at the most.”

“It was an amazing experience,” said Fulton. “The judges made their decision and we can run it back. I was catching him in between every shot he was throwing. He was making it sloppy and rough. I was landing a lot of clean shots. He was throwing wild shots that the fans were enjoying, but he was hitting my arms a lot.”