Fightnews.com

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Former WBC flyweight challenger Hussein “Hussy” Hussein has been hospitalized after being diagnosed with Covid-19 in Sydney. Hussy’s brother Nedal told Fightnews.com® that his brother had suffered pneumonia and his lungs had collapsed but his condition had now stabilized and had not worsened. Continue reading “Hussy Hussein hospitalized with COVID-19”

The Professional Fighters League (PFL) announced that two-time Olympic gold medalist and three-division boxing world champion Claressa Shields will compete in her second MMA fight on Wednesday, October 27 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Shields will be facing Abigail Montes (2-0).

The GWOAT is coming off a come-from-behind TKO victory in her MMA debut in June. She should be able to outmuscle the 21-year-old Montes, who will be stepping up from the 135lb division. ESPN will televise.

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

We started last week with an event that went viral worldwide concerning the brawl that broke out during the press conference to promote the fight between WBC, WBO, and WBA champion Saúl Canelo Álvarez vs. IBF champion Caleb Plant.

It isn`t necessary to describe what happened, because surely whoever is reading this column saw it on social networks or on television.

It’s amazing how we just don’t learn in boxing. What happened could have had major consequences and repercussions. One of the most important fights in recent years was put at risk, in which all four super middleweight belts will be contested.

It is like leaving two children alone in a room full of candies. It is logical to assume and to know what will subsequently happen. You cannot leave two fighters face-to-face for so long, especially when they have expressed such a genuine rivalry. Continue reading “Boxing’s top division re-adjusts”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Former world WBC super middleweight and WBO middleweight champion Nigel “ Dark Destroyer” Benn (42-5-1,35KO’s) spoke to Peter Maniatis about living in Australia and fights with world title bouts with Doug DeWitt, Iran Barkley, Gerald McClellan, and Chris Eubank also the progress of his son Conor Benn(19-0, 12 KOs), Canelo Alvarez, and promoter Eddie Hearn. Continue reading “Interview: Nigel Benn”

It’s official. Golden Boy has confirmed that middleweight Jaime Munguia (37-0, 30 KOs) will put his undefeated record and WBO Intercontinental title on the line against “King” Gabriel Rosado (26-13-1, 15 KOs) on November 13. The bout will be a twelve-rounder at a venue to be named and be streamed by DAZN.

Rosado just took down one of Golden Boy’s best prospects, Bektemir “Bully” Melikuziev, in June and he’s arguably the best opponent Munguia has faced to date. This should be a good fight. Continue reading “Munguia-Rosado set for Nov 13”

WBA #7 Anatoli Muratov (24-2-1, 17 KOs) replaces Sven Elbir as the opponent for Chris Eubank Jr (30-2, 22 KOs) on October 2 at The SSE Arena in London after Elbir tested positive for Covid-19. The German-based Kazahk was on standby preparing for his own bout on October 9 when he got the call to step in. Sky Sports will televise.

Chris Eubank Jr: “The opponent has changed but my objective remains the same. October 2 is my night and nothing is going to stand in my way!”

Anatoli Muratov: “Anytime, anyplace, I am ready to fight anyone. I’m looking forward to an exciting fight and a great night of boxing in London. I’m coming to win and I will give it my all.”

This past Saturday, undefeated super featherweight prospect, Richard Medina (11-0, 6 KOs), passed one of the toughest tests of his career by defeating veteran Rafael Reyes (19-13, 15 KOs), in the main event of an online PPV that took place from The Event Center in Floresville, Texas. Medina, who is promoted by TMB Promotions and managed by Prince Ranch Boxing, won by way of a unanimous decision with the scores being 78-73, 77-74, and 80-70.

By TMZ.com

Ryan Garcia is back from his hiatus with a plan … telling TMZ Sports he now wants to KO JoJo Diaz Jr. next — and then set up a mega-fight with Gervonta Davis.

The 23-year-old undefeated boxing phenom broke it all down for us at the Canelo Alvarez vs. Caleb Plant pre-fight event in L.A. this week … saying he’s in a way better place after taking some time away from the ring to focus on his mental health. Continue reading “Kingry: First KO JoJo Diaz, then take on Tank”

It’s official. The PPV clash between undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) and mandatory challenger George Kambosos Jr (19-0, 10 KOs) has been pushed back another 12 days to October 16 and the event will move across town from the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan to the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

It also looks the Lopez-Kambosos undercard is now set. In the co-feature, super lightweights Petros Ananyan (15-2-2, 7 KOs) and Daniel Gonzalez (20-2-1, 7 KOs) will meet in a ten rounder. Continue reading “Lopez-Kambosos: New date + undercard update”

This Friday, October 1, DAZN has an interesting card promoted by Opi Since 82 and Matchroom at the Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. In the main event, unbeaten super middleweight Daniele Scardina (19-0, 15 KOs) will face Jurgen Doberstein (26-4-1, 7 KOs) in a ten-rounder for the vacant WBO Intercontinental title. Scardina is world-rated in the top 15 by the WBA, IBF and WBO.

In the co-feature, WBC #13 lightweight Francesco Patera (23-3, 8 KOs) will face 40-year-old veteran Devis Boschiero (48-6-2, 22 KOs) for the vacant WBO Intercontinental 135lb belt. Continue reading “World-rated Scardina and Petera return Friday”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Female super flyweight Adelaida Ruiz (9-0-1, 4 KO’s) of Los Angeles scored a ninth round knockout over Nancy Franco De Alba (19-14-2, 5 KO’s) in winning the vacant WBC Silver super flyweight title Saturday night at the Pico Rivera Sports Arena in Pico Rivera, California. Ruiz attacked De Alba as referee Raul Caiz Sr. stopped the fight at 1:20 of the ninth.

Super bantamweight Rudy Garcia of Los Angeles (12-0, 2 KO’s) won a six round unanimous decision over Ronaldo Solis (4-2-1). García attacked throughout the fight as he bloodied Solis. All three judges scored it 60-54. Continue reading “Results From Pico Rivera”

Former WBA, IBF, WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua sounded upbeat when he spoke to reporters after losing his work titles to Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday night in London.

“Well done to the winner. We’ll be back again. Get back into training. Great twelve rounds, great experience in the ring, and then we progress from this point on once again so we’ll be doing it all again soon.

“I couldn’t see in the ninth round. I couldn’t see anything really. But it was a good experience because in adversity you just gotta learn to control yourself. Stay on top of things. Continue reading “Joshua: We’ll be doing it all again soon”

Newly crowned WBA, IBF, WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk spoke to reporters after dethroning Anthony Joshua Saturday night in London.

[Does this win top all others in his career?]

No victory in the professionals can be above the Olympic gold.

[Was this his most difficult fight?]

At this point, it was the biggest fight of my career, but it wasn’t the hardest.

[What was?]

I can’t say. Most likely it’s ahead of us.

[Did he ever try to knock out Joshua?]

I tried a few times. I put my speed into it. I punched him a couple of times, but then I was losing my rhythm. My corner was saying ‘hey, you’re trying to knock him down. You have to do your work. You have to throw your jab because if you concentrate on knocking him out, you’re going to lose your rhythm.’ Continue reading “Usyk wants rematch in Ukraine”

Back-to-back pro boxing events concluded last night for Vertex Promotions as super lightweight Adrian “Tonka” Sosa remained undefeated, winning the “Fight Night on the Charles at Mosley’s III” main event, at Mosley’s On The Charles in Dedham, Massachusetts.

Sosa (12-0, 9 KOs), who hadn’t fought in 28 months, returned to the ring with a fury, albeit showing signs of rust. His hand were quick, as usual, and he was well poised as his veteran Mexican opponent, Danny “Venado” Flores (15-25-1, 8 KOs), continually but unsuccessfully tried to lure Sosa into traps. Sosa was the hunter, stalking a game Flores, who often stayed in the corners or on the ropes baiting Sosa to mix it up. Continue reading “Sosa pitches shutout in ring return”

Former undisputed cruiserweight king Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) seized the WBA, IBF, WBO heavyweight crowns of champion Anthony Joshua (24-2, 22 KOs) in a very impressive display of boxing and fighting over twelve see-saw rounds on Saturday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London.

The quicker Usyk stayed right in Joshua’s grill from the opening bell. He staggered the champ in round three. Joshua started to connect in round four. AJ rallied in rounds five and six. Usyk had a big round seven. Joshua took back the momentum in round eight. Round nine was close. Usyk was cut over the left eye in round ten and Joshua’s right eye was almost closed. Huge final round for Usyk. Scores were 117-112, 116-112, 115-113 all for Usyk.

There is a rematch clause, so Usyk-Joshua 2 is on the horizon if Joshua wants it.

46-year-old former two-division world champion Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez (53-3-2, 30 KOs) defeated former world title challenger Brian Rose (32-6-1, 8 KOs) by ten round unanimous decision in a middleweight bout on Saturday night in Madrid, Spain. Scores were 97-94, 96-94, 96-94. This was the third bout in the comeback of Martinez, who is currently the WBA #3 middleweight.

Earlier, EBU European flyweight champion Angel Moreno (21-4-3, 6 KOs) and Juan Hinostroza (10-9-2, 5 KOs) battled to a twelve round draw. Moreno retains his belt.

WBO cruiserweight world champion Lawrence Okolie (17-0, 14 KOs) won by impressive third round KO against previously unbeaten mandatory challenger Dilan Prasovic (15-1, 12 KOs) in the Joshua-Usyk co-feature on Saturday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. Okolie dropped Prasovic with a right hand in round two. A body shot in round three put Prasovic down for the count. Time was 1:57.

By Ron Jackson

Shervantaigh Koopman completely dominated from the opening bell against defending champion Simon Dladla to win the South African junior middleweight title on a seventh-round stoppage at Emperors Palace near Kempton Park on Saturday night. The time was 1 minute 42 seconds into the seventh round.

The tournament of knockouts was presented by Golden Gloves Promotions. Continue reading “Koopman wins SA jr middle title on stoppage”

Former WBA super middleweight champion Callum Smith (28-1, 20 KOs), now campaigning at light heavyweight, laid out Lenin Castillo (21-4-1, 16 KOs), with a massive right hand in round two on the Joshua-Usyk undercard on Saturday night at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. The punch seemed to short circuit Castillo, who shook uncontrollably after going down. He was taken out on a stretcher.

Lightweight Campbell Hatton (4-0, 0 KOs), son of Ricky Hatton, got a controversial six round gift decision against late sub Sonny Martinez (2-5, 0 KOs). British referee Marcus McDonnell somehow scored it 58-57 for Hatton. Continue reading “Joshua-Usyk Undercard Results”

By TMZ.com

Floyd Mayweather vs. Oscar De La Hoya 2?!

Maybe, just maybe.

A few days ago, Oscar told TMZ, “You know who I’m gonna call out for my next fight? Floyd Mayweather…I’ll offer Floyd Mayweather $100 million.”

Our Mayweather sources tell us the 50-0 fighter is aware De La Hoya called him out … and Floyd’s actually open to a fight with Oscar, IF he really has $100 million. But, we’re told, people in Floyd’s camp highly doubt he has the dough.

Bottom line, if the bag’s real, and it’s big enough, Floyd will listen.

All the world-ranked fighters were victorious in their bouts on Friday night’s Showtime telecast from a temporary outdoor ring located on Main Street in downtown Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

In the main event, WBA #9, WBO #13 bantamweight Saul “The Beast” Sanchez (17-1, 10 KOs) annihilated previously unbeaten Ja’Rico “The Great Lakes King” O’Quinn (14-1-1, 8 KOs) in the first round. Sanchez blasted O’Quinn to the canvas three times in just 1:58.

In a clash between undefeated fighters, WBA #11 rated super bantamweight Luis “The Twist” Nunez (12-0, 8 KOs) scored a one-sided ten round unanimous decision over Jayvon “Jigsaw” Garnett (10-1, 5 KOs) in a bout contested at featherweight. Scores were 100-90 3x.

Undefeated WBA #9 super featherweight Otar “The Pitbull” Eranosyan (10-0, 6 KOs) scored an entertaining eight round unanimous decision over game Alejandro “Porkchop” Guerrero (12-2, 9 KOs). Scores were 79-73, 78-74, 78-74. Eranosyan looks like the real deal.

Off TV Bouts:

Former world title challenger Hugo Centeno Jr. (28-3-1, 15 KOs) kept active with a two-round TKO of Kenneth Council (11-5-1, 8 KOs). Centeno had a look at Council for a round and then unloaded his world-class skills in round two. Council was down once and taking a two-fisted pounding before the action was stopped at 2:52 of the second. Continue reading “Sanchez, Nunez, Eranosyan victorious”

In a clash between regional New England rivals, former world title challenger Greg “The Villain” Vendetti (23-4-1, 12 KOs) won a ten round split decision over Jimmy “The Quiet Storm” Williams (18-6-2, 6 KOs) to claim the vacant WBC USNBC silver super welterweight title on Friday night at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut. Coming off a world title shot against Erislandy Lara 13 months ago, Vendetti pressed the action and brawled his way to a 97-93, 99-91 edge on two cards. The third card was 96-94 Williams.

Unbeaten middleweight Chordale Booker (17-0, 7 KOs), fighting for the first time in his home state, outpointed veteran Silveiro Ortiz (37-28, 18 KOs) over eight rounds. Slow start, but things started getting chippy after a few rounds. Scores were 80-70 3x. Ortiz was deducted two points. Continue reading “Vendetti edges Williams for USNBC belt”

With former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe removed from his fight with Lamar Odom for precautionary reasons, the former NBA star will now face Ojani Noa. Who? Noa’s claim to fame is he was once married to J Lo. Of course, Odom was once married to Khloe Kardashian, so there’s some sliver of a storyline here.

The October 2 PPV card takes place at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida. The co-feature clash between “Magic Man” Paulie Malignaggi and TikToker Corey B is still a go.

Adrian Sosa 139 vs. Danny Flores 137
James Perella 147 vs. Isias Martin Cardona Gonzales TBA
Eric Goff 146 vs. Luciano Santos TBA
Troy Anderson, Jr. 126 vs. Chakem Brooks 124
Marcus Davidson 142 vs. Austin Reed Ward 145
Thomas O’Toole 185 vs. Francisco Ariri Neto 196
Brandon Idrogo vs. Paulo Souza 151

Venue: Mosley’s On The Charles, Dedham, Massachusetts
Promoter: Vertex Promotions

Anthony Joshua 240 vs. Oleksandr Usyk 221.25
(WBA, WBO, IBF heavyweight titles)

Lawrence Okolie 199 vs. Dilan Prasovic 200
(WBO cruiserweight title)

Campbell Hatton 136.75 vs. Izan Dura 136
Callum Smith 175 vs. Lenin Castillo 175
Maxim Prodan 146.75 vs. Florian Marku 146.6
Chris Ousley 160 vs. Khasan Baysangurov 159.5

Venue: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN