Fightnews.com

By Boxing Bob Newman

The WBC received a petition directly from Canelo Alvarez’ trainer Eddy Reynoso, for Canelo to challenge WBC CRUISERWEIGHT champion Ilunga Makabu! The WBC Board unanimously approved the petition. Canelo will be challenging for a world title in his fifth weight class!

By Boxing Bob Newman

Ring legend Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. talks to Fightnews.com® about Canelo and boxing’s pound-for-pound title.

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By Jeff Zimmerman

Super bantamweight contender Ra’eese Aleem (18-0, 12 KOs) fights veteran Eduardo Baez (20-1-2, 7 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 27 in Las Vegas as part of a Showtime / PBC tripleheader headlined by the unification title bout between Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton. Aleem discusses his rough upbringing in Michigan before moving to Las Vegas with 3K in his pocket and what it was like in camp with the legendary “Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire and much more in this Fightnews.com® exclusive. Aleem hopes a big win against Baez leads him to the winner of Figueroa-Fulton.

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The New York State Boxing Hall of Fame (NYSBHOF) has announced its 29-member Class of 2121. The 10th NYSBHOF induction dinner, sponsored by Ring 8, will be Sunday afternoon May 1 at Russo’s On The Bay in Howard Beach, New York.

Living boxers heading into the NYSBHOF include WBO heavyweight champion Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs (60-6-1, 53 KOs), WBO heavyweight champion Michael Bentt (11-2, 6 KOs), 3-time world light middleweight titlist Verno Phillips (42-11-1, 2 KOs), WBC light heavyweight champion Donny “Golden Boy” Lalonde (42-11-1, 21 KOs), WBC light heavyweight champion Johnny “The Heat” Verderosa (41-5-1, 33 KOs), 2-time World title challenger and No. 1 ranked welterweight contender Larry “No Fear” Barnes (44-3-1, 17 KOs), and welterweight Johnny Turner (42-6-2, 32 KOs). Continue reading “Briggs heads NYSBHOF 2021 inductees”

If you’re not an ESPN+ subscriber yet, be sure to sign up. It’s the only U.S. platform offering the Crawford-Porter PPV. The PPV price is $69.99, ten bucks cheaper than the recent Fury-Wilder and Canelo-Plant PPVs.

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Sampson Lewkowicz of Sampson Boxing has announced the signing of lightweight prospect Shinard Bunch to a long-term co-promotional contract. A former amateur standout, the 22-year-old Bunch is (17-1-1, 15 KOs). He is trained by Chino Rivas, managed by Hall of Famer J. Russell Peltz, and co-promoted by Lewkowicz and Nedal Abuhamoud of Nedal Promotions. Lewkowicz, who says he has a potential fight date in January for Bunch’s first under his co-promotional banner.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

A world title opportunity for WBO #1 light middleweight Tim Tszyu (19-0, 15 KOs) could happen more sooner than later as long as Tszyu doesn’t stumble against WBO #7 Takeshi Inoue (17-1-1, 10 KOs) Wednesday night on PPV at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, NSW, Australia.

“It’s a very real chance that our next outing will be against Brian Castano for that world title,” Tszyu’s manager Glen Jennings told Wide World of Sports. “It’s just a matter of timing to see whether or not the mandate gets enforced and we will roll on with that.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Tim Tszyu 153.2 (69.52kg) vs. Takeshi Inoue 153.6 (69.68kg)
(WBO global and Asia Pacific super welterweight titles)

Tim Tszyu [on how he feels after making weight] “It’s alright, at least I made it and I’m coming for his head now. You’ve got to enjoy yourself. It’s all part of fight week. This is fun. I hope he’s had a great holiday here. The holiday ends tomorrow. Let him do what he wants. One thing I know is that I’m coming for his head and his body. It only ends one way. I’m coming for him.”

Takeshi Inoue: “From about two days before I was cutting just water weight and I was able to get down no problem. Now I’ll just be recovering; getting all my energy back in, eating some good food, relaxing. I feel confident I can make this a really good fight. I believe I’ll win by KO.”

Venue: Venue Qudos Bank Arena Sydney, NSW, Australia
Promoter: George and Matt Rose/No Limit Promotions
TV: Foxtel Main Event Pay-Per-View

Former WBA interim light heavyweight champion Robin Krasniqi says he hasn’t heard a peep out of the German Boxing Commission (BDB) since protesting his split decision loss to Dominic Bösel six weeks ago. The team of the Kosovo-born Krasniqi team questions why the international panel of judges were changed by the BDB to an all-German team (including the BDB President’s daughter) that they allege are close to German-born Bösel and promoter SES Boxing. They also point out when German Rico Mueller lost to Poland’s Rafal Jackiewicz last year, the BDB quickly acted on Team Mueller’s protest and reversed the decision in days.

By Boxing Bob Newman

In keeping with their tradition of always expanding boundaries, breaking down barriers and leading the way, the WBC pulled out all the stops in making the inauguration of their 59th annual world convention one of the most unique ever.

Bypassing the conventional trend of holding opening ceremonies in a grand ballroom at the host hotel, this year, the first live convention in 2 years due to the COVID pandemic, the WBC held their opening ceremonies at the incredibly expansive Arroyo restaurant about a 20-minute drive from the Intercontinental Presidente hotel.

To call the Arroyo simply a restaurant would be an understatement. This establishment was more of a multi-purpose complex. With a massive two-tiered banquet hall, the actual opening ceremonies were held in the attached bull ring! What could be more fitting than an arena where the most Mexican form of battle is held – a bullfighting ring? Continue reading “59th WBC Convention officially opens”

This week’s Crawford-Porter pay-per-view will be something different. Instead of buying through the regular PPV channels of cable, dish, apps, etc., fight fans can only purchase Crawford-Porter if they’re ESPN+ subscribers.

Promoter Bob Arum explains.

“ESPN+ has a platform now that has 19 million subscribers,” said Arum. “And when ESPN+ has the exclusive pay-per-view rights and they can publicize it and constantly email their subscribers, they’re doing huge numbers.

“How do I know that? Because while they haven’t had any exclusives yet in boxing, they have had UFC exclusively for a couple of years now at least. And the UFC numbers on pay-per-view are huge because of ESPN+ which has it exclusively. Continue reading “Crawford-Porter: For ESPN+ subscribers only”

Unbeaten WBA lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz previewed their showdown for Davis’ world title during a virtual press conference Monday. They square off on Sunday, December 5 live on PPV from Staples Center in Los Angeles.

“December 5 is going to be a fireworks show. This is going to be one of the best fights of the year,”
– Tank Davis

“I’m ready to shock the world and become the next star in the pantheon of Mexican boxing champions,”
– Isaac Cruz

More quotes

Welterweight Thomas Dulorme (25-6-1, 16 KOs), has officially submitted a letter to the Nevada State Athletic Commission, disputing the result of his bout against Jaron Ennis (28-0, 26 KOs), in which he claims he was hit with an illegal rabbit punch to the back of the head. The fight took place at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, October 30, 2021.

Dulorme is asking the Nevada State Athletic Commission to overturn the knockout loss to a no decision due to the referee Mike Ortiz’ outcome-determinative error.

“I feel I wasn’t given the allocated time to recover by the referee, after getting hit from what was clearly an illegal rabbit punch to the back on my head, forcing me to fight at a disadvantage,” said Dulorme. “Jaron Ennis is a great fighter and I’m not taking anything away from his talent, I’m just disputing that I should have been given the allotted time to regain my composure. I’m hoping that Nevada State Athletic Commission will honor my appeal based on their rules.”

15:1 underdog Jason Quigley believes he’ll have the crowd on his side as he expects his Irish fans to roar him to victory when he challenges Demetrius Andrade for the WBO middleweight title at the SNHU Arena in Manchester, New Hampshire on Friday live worldwide on DAZN.

Quigley (19-1 14 KOs) is the second Irishman to try to take the crown from Andrade (30-0 18 KOs) after Luke Keeler was stopped in the ninth round of his attempt in Miami in January 2020, and now the 30 year old tries to work out the Rhode Island puzzle that no pro has been able to solve so far against the two weight champion. Continue reading “Quigley: I can win this fight”

By David Finger

About the same time a walk-on freshman from Plainville, Kansas became the most unlikely hero in college football, a similar underdog story was playing out at the Corral Arena in Hobbs, New Mexico.

27-year old Herman Rendon of Midland, Texas, came back to Hobbs for the second time in his career to score a stunning upset over undefeated fighter.  This time it was the talented local prospect Yhorhighness Rezzaq of Hobbs.  Rezzaq, a talented boxer-puncher, was propelled into the main even when the original headliner Mario Gonzalez was forced to step aside due to an injury.  It should have been a coming out party for the talented Hobbs, native.  But for the second time in as many fights, Rendon came to Hobbs and upended the apple cart. Continue reading “Rendon, Perez win in Hobbs, NM”

Sad to report Jeff Wald, executive producer of the popular boxing reality television series The Contender, passed away last Friday in Los Angeles. He was 77. Wald’s death was first reported by Variety. In addition to The Contender, Wald was the manager of celebrities like Sylvester Stallone and many others. He also worked with George Foreman and Mike Tyson. The Contender ran for five seasons between 2005 and 2018 on four different networks.

Top Rank and Teiken Promotions, two of the world’s foremost boxing promotion companies, today announced a partnership with Amazon Prime Video Japan to livestream multiple events in 2021 and 2022. The world-class fight action — under the Prime Video Presents Live Boxing umbrella exclusively in Japan — debuts December 29 with the middleweight unification fight between Japan’s WBA super champion Ryōta Murata and Kazakhstan’s IBF world champion Gennadiy “GGG” Golovkin. Murata vs. Golovkin will air live on DAZN in the U.S.  The deal is probably good news for U.S. -based boxing fans also, with potentially more early morning streams of big fights coming from Japan.

The big fights just keep on coming. This week we have the long-awaited clash between WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford and “Showtime” Shawn Porter at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas. Crawford is currently about a 7:1 favorite. PPV price is $69.99 and you have to subscribe to ESPN+ to get it.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO #7 light-middleweight Takeshi Inoue (17-1-1, 10 KOs) may be powerfully built, but WBO #1 light middleweight Tim Tszyu (19-0, 15 KOs) says he will be the stronger fighter on Wednesday when they will collide at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, NSW, Australia, televised on Foxtel Main Event pay-per-view.

“I couldn’t care less about my body,” Tszyu told the Sydney Morning Herald.” As long as I’m feeling fit and strong, that’s the main thing. It’s not a body-building contest – it’s a fight. I saw a few photos. I saw he was ripped. I’m quite happy for him that he’s got himself into real good shape and he’s confident. There’s no better feeling than facing a confident fighter and then take the soul out of them. Continue reading “Tszyu: I’m ten times stronger than Inoue”

Irish middleweight Jason Quigley arrives at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, for Friday’s fight title challenge against WBO world champion Demetrius Andrade on DAZN in Manchester, NH.

By Boxing Bob Newman

Attendees from around the globe descended on Mexico City today to attend the first live boxing convention in 2 years. The Intercontinental Presidente hotel in Mexico City’s trendy Polanco district is the host site for the WBC’s 59th annual convention.

In keeping with strict COVID protocols and safety precautions, the WBC implemented a screening process which included a rapid COVID test for all attendees before they could even register for the convention. Continue reading “WBC 59th Annual Convention Opening Cocktail mixer”

Jaime Munguia: “I didn’t think that Rosado would last that long in the ring. He was very resilient, but I think I showed in the ninth round and on that I was dominating the fight. I am happy we were able to take the victory today. Now, I want to go back to the gym, work on a few things and fight for a world title eliminator or a world championship at 160.”

Gabriel Rosado: “I think I did all I could to win, the scorecards are bullshit. I won the fight.”

Unbeaten WBC and WBO #1, WBA #4, IBF #9 middleweight Jaime Munguia (38-0, 30 KOs) won an exciting twelve round unanimous decision over WBA #4, WBC #9, WBO #11 rated super middleweight “King” Gabriel Rosado (26-13-1, 15 KOs) on Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Rosado landed a lot of clean shots, but Munguia’s power combination punching and non-stop work rate won him most the rounds. Scores were 118-110, 119-109, 117-111.

Unbeaten WBC #1 super middleweight David Benavidez (25-0, 22 KOs), considered the main threat to undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez, scored a seventh round TKO over game late sub Kyrone Davis (16-3-1, 6 KOs) on Saturday night at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. Two-time former WBC champion Benevidez stalked Davis the first three rounds. Davis then stood his ground in an exciting two-way round four. Davis continued to fight valiantly while taking a lot of punishment. The towel finally came in in round seven. Time was :48.

“Everybody wants to see me against Canelo, right? I don’t care what his assessment of my fight is but they keep putting these contenders in front of me. My last fight was a WBC title eliminator and that’s why I’m here holding my belts. They need to give me the opportunity. I’ll go through anybody. Whoever they want me to go through. If (Jermall) Charlo wants it, he can get it too. But he doesn’t want to get in the ring with me.” Continue reading “Benavidez stops Davis, Canelo next?”

IBF #13 welterweight Alexis “Lex” Rocha (18-1, 12 KOs) battered Jeovanis Barraza (22-2, 15 KOs) until the bout was halted by the referee in round nine. Time was :33. The bout was the co-feature of Munguia-Rosado on Saturday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Unbeaten middleweight D’Mitrius Ballard (21-0, 11 KOs) struggled with awkward journeyman Paul Valenzuela Jr (26-9, 17 KOs), but got the win by ten round unanimous decision. Scores were 98-92 3x.

Unbeaten WBA #11, WBO #12 lightweight William Zepeda (24-0, 22 KOs) punished John Moralde (24-5, 13 KOs) for four rounds and finally got a referee’s stoppage. Time was 1:59. Zepeda retained his WBA Continental America’s title.

In a women’s flyweight bout, Arely Mucino (30-3-2, 10 KOs) survived a ninth round knockdown to take an unpopular ten round split decision over Jacky Calvo (14-7-2, 1 KO). Scores were 96-93, 96-93 Mucino, 96-93 Calvo.