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The WBA Championships Committee has called for the featherweight title fight between Leigh Wood and Michael Conlan to go to purse bid next Monday, November 1st. The bidding had been previously scheduled for October 11, but both teams requested an extension and even with that deadline the parties could not agree on the fight.

The minimum bid will be US $120,000, and the disbursement will be 55% for the champion Wood and 45% for the challenger Conlan. Continue reading “WBA calls Wood-Conlan purse bid”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Sad to report the passing of IBF Board Member Roberto Rea. He had suffered a severe cardiac arrest a few weeks ago and had difficulties after. Roberto was an IBF member for many years and was elected to the board in 2014. His commitment and contributions to the IBF were great. Roberto was also a very well-known figure in Italian boxing for many decades.

Sad to report that former Queensland referee and judge Wally Lewis has passed away at the age of 85 years in Brisbane. A larger-than-life character and a natural entertainer, Wally performed stand-up comedy back in England, where he was born and raised. He managed to always find a way to make people laugh, whether it was a one-liner, or an elaborate impression. In 2018, Wally retired after a 28-year career in boxing

ESPN+ will air a card on Friday from London’s York Hall. The event is headlined by a WBO global super featherweight title fight between unbeaten WBO #2 Archie Sharp (20-0, 9 KOs) and Alexis Boureima Kabore (28-4, 7 KOs).

The co-feature is Tursynbay Kulakhmet (4-0, 3 KOs) defending his WBC International super welterweight title against Juan Carlos Abreu (23-6-1, 21 KOs).

Streaming action begins at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT in the USA.

By Héctor Villarreal

Sampson Boxing returns to Hotel El Panama on Friday night to present his second show of the Boxeo Caliente series, which includes an 8-round superfly clash between Mexican Hytan Ramos (10-4-2, 2 Kos) and local prospect Ronal Batista (12-2, 8 KOs).

Unbeaten two-time world champion David “El Bandera Roja” Benavídez and his older brother, longtime contender José Benavídez, previewed their respective showdowns on November 13 live on Showtime from Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

David will battle former champion José Uzcátegui in a WBC super middleweight title eliminator bout that headlines the event, while José faces Francisco Emanuel Torres in the 10-round co-main event.

This is the first time the Benavídez brothers will be entering the ring in their hometown of Phoenix since 2015. Continue reading “Benavidez Camp Notes”

By Przemek Garczarczyk

“How you can be shocked when I told you what I’m gonna do to you? I’m the most simple fighter in the whole world: I just knock people out and there’s really nothing you can do” – “Savage” Babic talks about Saturday’s fight with on DAZN vs. Eric Molina, has no love lost to Filip Hrgovic, and how he really loves to KO people.

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Tickets for the unification clash between undisputed WBA, IBF, WBO, WBC (franchise) lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez and IBF mandatory challenger George Kambosos are on sale now as the bitter foes clash at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 27, live worldwide on DAZN. Tickets are on sale now from $35.

The undercard will be released this week.

In order to attend the event, all spectators age 12 and older must provide proof of COVID19 vaccination and an appropriate ID matching the name on the vaccination documentation. Continue reading “Ticket Alert Lopez-Kambosos”

Fights to look out for on Saturday…

DAZN: Cruiserweight Alen “The Savage” Babic (8-0, 8 KOs) will battle former world title challenger Eric “Drummer Boy” Molina (28-7, 20 KOs) in a scheduled eight-rounder at the O2 Arena in London. The is the card that was to have featured Dillian Whyte vs. Otto Wallin before Whyte pulled out with an injury.

ESPN: Junior welterweight Jose “Chon” Zepeda (34-2, 26 KOs), winner of the 2020 Fight of the Year against Ivan Baranchyk, will face Josue “The Prodigy” Vargas (19-1, 9 KOs) in a ten-rounder at MSG’s Hulu Theater. The is the card that was to have featured the first title defense of WBO light heavyweight champion Joe Smith Jr. before Smith got COVID.

Showtime: WBA welterweight champion Jamal “Shango” James (27-1, 12 KOs) will defend his title against unbeaten contender Radzhab Butaev (13-0, 10 KOs), however, the best welterweight on the card could be in the co-feature where unbeaten Jaron “Boots” Ennis (27-0, 25 KOs) takes on Thomas Dulorme (25-5-1, 16 KOs) in a ten-rounder. The event takes place at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

 

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

IBF #3 cruiserweight Jai Opetaia (20-0, 16 KOs) will collide with former WBA light heavyweight challenger Trent Broadhurst (22-4, 14 KOs) on December 4 in a tune-up fight before he challenges Mairis Breidis for the IBF cruiserweight championship early in 2022.

“He’s been out of the ring for 12 months and Briedis has had his warm-up and defended his world title,” Opetaia’s manager Michael Francis, told AAP. “Jai doesn’t want to go in rusty. He needs to blow off the cobwebs and get out there and fight. Continue reading “IBF #3 Opetaia returns Dec 4”

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields returns on Wednesday on the PBL event at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, live on ESPN 2, ESPN+ and the ESPN app. Shields will face Abigail Montes in an MMA match.

Here are quotes from today’s press conference…

Claressa Shields: In my last fight, she had a background in kickboxing and she also had amateur background in boxing and I thought we were very evenly matched. This fight, I am not taking her lightly. Continue reading “Shields returns to MMA Wednesday”

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

Last Friday, the inaugural WBC Bridger World Championship took place in Montreal, Canada, a division recently created by our World Boxing Council, within the range of 200 to 224 pounds.

It was a memorable battle between Óscar Rivas, from Colombia, and Canadian Ryan Rozicki, with Oscar emerging victorious. Continue reading “The Bridgerweight division is here to stay”

All Star Boxing, Inc President Felix “Tutico” Zabala has announced its Boxeo Telemundo Fall Series Finale main event is a classic rivalry between Mexico & Puerto Rico. Mexicali’s own Victor Betancourt Jr (27-3, 14 KOs) is set to face Miguel Angel “El Gallo” Marrero (9-1-1) of Manati, in a 10 round clash for the vacant WBA Fedecentro lightweight title. The fight will take place live with audience from the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, FL. Tickets remain available by visiting Ohpark.com or at the box office. Continue reading “Betancourt-Marrero clash Friday on Telemundo”

WBC #8 light heavyweight Meng Fanlong (16-0, 10 KOs) returns to the ring Friday in Kissimmee, Florida As his first fight under Garry Jonas’ Probox Promotions, Meng will face Panama’s Israel Duffus (20-6, 17 KOs).

Meng, of Chifeng, China, earned a title shot as the mandatory contender against IBF and WBC champion, Artur Beterbiev, for March of 2020. However, the COVID-19 pandemic KO’d that bout along with all of boxing. Continue reading “Meng Fanlong returns Friday”

Legacy Sports Management is back with its flagship event Legacy Fight Night from the Classic Remise in Dusseldorf, Germany on November 13th. Former world title challenger WBA #12 cruiserweight Mike Perez (25-3-1, 16 KOs) tops the bill against Argentine Jose Gregorio Ulrich (17-4, 6 KOs) in a ten round contest.

Perez made his long-awaited comeback back in August on the first installment of the Legacy Fight Night Series in Dubai with a demolition job over Tony Salam, winning via a fourth round stoppage claiming the WBA Inter-Continental cruiserweight title. Ulrich’s last fight was against Mateusz Masternak in Poland just under one year ago losing by a 7th round stoppage. Continue reading “Mike Perez headlines in Dusseldorf Nov 13”

On November 5 at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, Italy, European Union featherweight champion Mauro Forte (16-0-1 with 6 KOs) will put his belt on the line against Francesco Grandelli (15-1-1 with 3 KOs) over the 12 round distance on the DAZN-streamed Signani-Diaz card promoted by Opi Since 82-Matchroom Italy. Continue reading “Forte to defend against Grandelli on DAZN”

Thirty Dollars and a Cut Eye, the new book from Hall of Fame promoter J Russell Peltz, is an important book containing 57 chapters, 424 pages covering his 50 years in boxing.

What Peltz accomplished seems almost impossible today. He became a successful boxing promoter at the age of 22. You would think a kid that young would get eaten alive in the cutthroat world of professional boxing – especially on the mean streets of Philadelphia.

But Peltz is just as tough as the fighters he promoted. He’s been threatened, sued, punched, robbed at gunpoint, even had his office firebombed. Continue reading “Review: Thirty Dollars and a Cut Eye”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO #1 light-middleweight Tim Tszyu (19-0, 15 KOs) will clash with WBOv#7 Takeshi Inoue (17-1-1, 10 KOs) on November 17 in Sydney. In August, Tszyu was made the mandatory challenger to the WBO light-middleweight champion Brian Castano, and he is looking forward to a world title opportunity in 2022.

“That’s the thing. [Castano’s] on mandatory now so he’s got no choice but to fight me,” Tszyu told the West Australian. “Yeah, once I start smacking him in the face he’s going to regret his words, I guess.” Continue reading “Tszyu: Castano has got to fight me”

Junior lightweight Jordan White (12-1, 10 KOs) stopped Joe Perez (15-6-2, 10 KOs) in round six headlining an eight-bout card in front of almost 3,000 enthusiastic fans at Live Casino Hotel Maryland in Hanover, Maryland.

In round one, White dropped Perez with a right behind the ear. In round three, White dropped Perez twice. In round five, White landed a hard jab that was followed by a blistering right that sent Perez to the canvas. In round six, Perez suffered a cut over his right eye. Although Perez started steadying himself, the fight was halted after the 6th round due to the cut.

Continue reading “White stops Perez in six”

“Oscar Valdez can’t keep ducking.”

“I smelled blood,” said newly-crowned WBO super featherweight champion Shakur Stevenson after dethroning reigning champ Jamel Herring. “I saw he was bleeding and was like, ‘OK, I have to attack the cut. I was trying to touch the cut to make the doctor try and stop it.”

Steven also made it very clear who he wants to fight next. “There’s only one fight left at the end of the day. It’s the biggest fight at the end of the day. Oscar {Valdez} can’t keep ducking. It’s time for him to fight. There’s nothing else to look forward to. The 130-pound division needs to unify. Let’s get it! Continue reading “Shakur Stevenson: I smelled blood.”

Former featherweight world champion Shakur Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs) dominated, stopped, and dethroned WBO junior lightweight world champion Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring (23-3, 11 KOs) on Saturday night before a crowd of 5,123 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Stevenson was too quick and too skilled for the 35-year-old champion, both on the outside and the inside. Herring was cut in round ten and referee Mark Nelson waved it off when Shakur started teeing off. Time was 1:30.

At the time of the stoppage, Stevenson was pitching a shutout on two of the three cards.

In the main event of Title Night 4: Fight 4 The Cure at the Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, unbeaten Miami welterweight Harold Calderon (25-0, 17 KOs) won via disqualification at 2:37 of round six. Calderon sent a frustrated Luis Eduardo Florez (25-22, 21 KOs) down twice in the fifth round. Florez in retaliation starting fouling which was not to be tolerated by referee Chris Young and stopped the fight due to disqualification.

In the co-main event, St. Petersbught, FL, native Clarence Booth (21-4, 13 KOs) battled Alejandro Munera (6-4-4, 5 KOs) in an eight-round action-packed lightweight attraction. Throughout all eight rounds, Booth and Munera exchanged vicious power punches, but Booth’s power proved to be greater in the eighth and final round when scoring a technical knockout at 2:37. Continue reading “Calderon remains unbeaten”

Unbeaten 19-year-old junior middleweight Xander Zayas (11-0, 8 KOs) battered Dan Karpency (9-4-1, 4 KOs) for four rounds on Saturday night in the Herring-Stevenson co-feature at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Karpency couldn’t continue after round four.

Middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (2-0, 2 KOs), grandson of ring legend Muhammad Ali, stopped 36-year-old James Westley II (1-1, 0 KOs) in round three. Walsh dropped Westley at the end of round two. Westley’s corner waved the towel after another knockdown in round three. Time was 2:30.

Unbeaten junior middleweight Evan “Yung Holy” Holyfield (8-0, 6 KOs), son of ring legend Evander Holyfield, laid out Charles Stanford (6-4, 3 KOs) with a left/right combination in round two. Time was :30.

Unbeaten U.S. Olympian Troy “The Transformer” Isley (3-0, 2 KOs) scored a first round KO over Nicholi Navarro (2-2, 2 KOs) in a middleweight bout. Time was 2:48. Continue reading “Zayas, Ali Walsh, Yung Holy victorious”

The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee gave a 15-day time limit from October 21 to the teams of Raeese Aleem and Azat Hovannisian to reach an agreement for their super bantamweight eliminator fight, which will decide the next mandatory challenger in the category.

The pioneer organization denied the request for a postponement of the negotiations until November 29 submitted by Aleem’s team on the grounds that there are no valid reasons to do so. Continue reading “WBA sets deadline for Aleem-Hovannisian”

In an upset, Thi Thu Nhi Nguyen (5-0, 1 KO) won a ten round unanimous decision to dethrone WBO female minimumweight champion Etsuko Tada (20-4-3, 7 KOs) on Saturday night at Wadong Gymnasium in Ansan, South Korea. Nguyen built up an early lead and the 40-year-old Tada couldn’t make up the ground. Scores were 96-94 across the board.

Capable third man Mark Nelson will be the referee tonight when WBO junior lightweight champion Jamel Herring defends his world title against Shakur Stevenson from Atlanta on ESPN. Judges are Glenn Feldman, Ed Kanner and Rocky Young.