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The WBA initiates the move to a single welterweight champion with Ugas-Stanionis and James-Butaev

The World Boxing Association (WBA) issued a resolution ordering a “Box-Off” in the welterweight division, to have a single champion. Yordenis Ugas will defend his title against Eimantas Stanionis and Jamal James will do the same against Radzhab Butaev in the first stage.

The WBA’s title reduction plan has been a priority for the organization and it has been trying to move forward in many ways. This “Box-Off” will settle the 147-pound situation with great bouts between the top-ranked fighters and the winners of both fights will face each other before March to determine the sole WBA welterweight champion.

Continue reading “WBA orders welterweight box-off”

Undefeated 122-pound world champions are set for a unification clash as WBC champion Brandon “Heartbreaker” Figueroa and WBO champion Stephen “Cool Boy Steph” Fulton Jr. will battle in the Showtime main event Saturday, November 27 in the Park Theater at Park MGM in Las Vegas.

Figueroa and Fulton were originally scheduled to face each other this Saturday before the fight was pushed back due to a positive COVID-19 test for Figueroa. Continue reading “New date for Figueroa-Fulton”

When Mikey Garcia returns to action on October 16 against Sandor Martin at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, California, the undercard will feature not one, but two light flyweight world title bouts.

WBO 108lb king Elwin Soto (19-1 13 KOs) puts his crown on the line against Jonathan Gonzalez (22-3-1 13 KOs) and WBA 108lb ruler Esteban Bermudez (14-3-2 10 KOs) defends his strap against Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (13-0 9 KOs).

Tickets go on sale tomorrow (September 17). DAZN will televise worldwide.

Mikey-Martin, Whyte-Wallin, Parker-Chisora on tap

DAZN and Matchroom have announced three premium fights nights to add to an ever-increasing fall fight schedule, live and worldwide on DAZN:

October 16: Former four-weight world ruler Mikey Garcia (40-1, 30 KOs) returns to action against European super lightweight champion Sandor Martin (38-2, 13 KOs) at Chukchansi Park in Fresno, CA.

October 30: WBC interim heavyweight world champion Dillian Whyte (28-2, 19 KOs) faces  Otto Wallin (21-1-0-1, 14 KOs) at the O2 in London.

December 18: Heavyweights Joseph Parker (29-2, 21 KOs) and Derek Chisora (32-11, 23 KOs) rematch at the AO Arena in Manchester.

Full card details will be released soon.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum believes WBA #6, WBO #7 super middleweight Edgar Berlanga (17-0, 16 KOs) could be the one to eventually derail WBC, WBA, WBO super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs), but not yet. “I don’t think anybody beats Canelo,” Arum told SkySports. “He’s just that good. Maybe in two years or a year and a half, Berlanga [could].”

Arum said Berlanga will next appear on the October 9 Fury-Wilder undercard, then on December 11 in New York City, and finally invade Puerto Rico early next year. “He is a New Yorker of Puerto Rican origin,” said Arum. “He will fight in Puerto Rico where he is enormously popular.”

Since no agreements were reached between the parties during the 30-day free negotiation period, the WBA has scheduled two purse bids for Monday, September 27. WBA Championships Committee Chairman Carlos Chavez will be directing the auctions, which will be carried out over the Zoom platform.

For the mandatory bout between the WBA flyweight champion Artem Dalakian and official challenger Luis Concepción, the minimum bid will be USD $80,000.00 with a split of 55% for Dalakian and 45% for Concepción.

For the mandatory bout between the WBA super featherweight champion Roger Gutierrez and official challenger Chris Colbert, the minimum bid will be USD $120,000 with a split of 55% for Gutierrez and 45% for Colbert.

Concepción and Gutierrez became mandatory challengers when their interim titles became vacant due to the WBA world title reduction plan.

Super welterweight Jesus Correa (14-0, 14 KOs) scored a sixth round TKO over Jesus Acosta (15-4-1, 10 KOs) to claim the WBA Fedecaribe belt on Wednesday night in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Correa knocked his opponent down in the first round with a right to the head and from then on showed his dominance at all times. In the sixth round, Correa increased his punch volume and sent Acosta to the canvas again. Correa then pounced on top of Acosta and his ruthless barrage forced the Acosta corner to throw in the towel.

Female super featherweight Karla Ramos (7-9, 2 KO) won the WBA Fedelatin title by defeating world champion Liliana Palmera (29-14-3, 16 KOs) by ten round unanimous decision. Scores were 99-91, 100-91, 98-92.

The World Boxing Association (WBA) informed all promoters today that all matters related to the North America Boxing Association (NABA) will be managed by Gary Shaw starting next month. Former NABA chair George Martinez resigned his position last October and was recently appointed as the new IBF Rankings Committee Chairman.

North America is a very active and important area for the WBA throughout history, for that reason the WBA is working to re-establish relations and make effective communication channels available to promoters through the WBA’s chief of staff Gary Shaw. The WBA informed promoters, boxers and managers in North America that the upcoming rankings, championships, and everything related to the regional body will be uploaded and published on the WBA website on October 1.

Serhi Bohachuk 158.2 vs. Raphael Igbokwe 156.8
Ali Akhmedov 170 vs. David Zegarra 173.4
Rafawel Simonyan 195.6 vs. Adrian Taylor 197.6
Adrian Corona 131.4 vs. Daniel Robles 130.6
Elvina White 134.8 vs. Chelsey Anderson 134.8

Venue: Quiet Cannon Event Center, Montebello, California
Promoter: RJJ Boxing
TV: UFC Fightpass

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman has confirmed the acceptance of request made by middleweight Jaime Munguia (37-0, 30 KOs) to proceed with his contracted fight in October against Gabe Rosado (26-13-1, 15 KOs) and then proceed with the final WBC elimination bout versus Sergiy Derevyanchenko (13-3, 10 KOs).

Super lightweight Omar “El Relámpago” Juárez (11-1, 5 KOs) will return to action against Mexico’s Jairo Lopez in FS1 PBC Fight Night action and on FOX Deportes this Sunday from Mechanics Bank Arena in Bakersfield, California.

The FS1 telecast on Sunday is headlined by undefeated super featherweight prospect Maliek Montgomery facing Aleem Jumakhonov in a 10-round bout.

Here is what Juarez had to say about training camp, bouncing back from his first pro loss and more. Continue reading “Omar Juarez returns Sunday”

By Hesiquio Balderas

Fightnews.com® had the chance to talk to renowned boxing manager and two-time BWAA manager of the year Frank Espinoza. He is expecting an all-out war when his fighter Joet Gonzalez challenges for the world featherweight title against WBO champion Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete.

“I’m not taking anything away from Navarrete,” said Espinoza. “He’s a good champion, he has an awkward style and that makes him dangerous. He can punch but so does Joet, who is a well-rounded fighter. He wants to make a statement in this fight and does not take Navarrete lightly. Continue reading “Espinoza: Navarrete-Joet a classic fight”

The WBC unveiled the “Teotihuacano Belt” at the weekly “Coffee Tuesday.” The belt will be awarded to the winner of the fight between the WBC/WBA/WBO super middleweight champion Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez and IBF champ Caleb Plant, who clash on November 6, in Las Vegas.

This is the latest in a series of special and unique belts WBC has had designed to reward. laud and applaud the fights that stand out in the history of boxing, particularly the great boxers who battle on the two most important dates for Mexican boxing, May 5 (Battle of Puebla) and September 15 (Independence Day).

In the latest edition of the classic Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry, undefeated junior welterweight Danielito “El Zorro” Zorrilla, (16-0, 12 KOs) scored a second round KO over former world title challenger Pablo Cesar Cano (33-8-1, 23 KOs) in the TrillerVerz II main event on Tuesday night in the Hard Rock LIVE at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. A left hook to body hurt Cano. A few seconds later, Cano took a knee. He tried to get up but couldn’t. Time was :35. Zorrilla won the NABO title.

Junior welterweight prospect Nahir “Woo” Albright (14-1, 7 KOs) scored a six round destruction of Michael “The West Texas Warrior” Dutchover (15-2, 10 KOs). Albright dropped Dutchover with a right hand late in round one. He put Dutchover down again with a barrage of punches in round two. A third knockdown with a right lead at the end of round three. No knockdown in round four, but Dutchover suffered a bad cut over his left eye. Dutchover was down again in round six and barely survived the round. The bout was stopped by the ring doctor after the round.

Unbeaten junior welterweight Miguel “Explosivo” Madueno (25-0, 23 KOs) scored an entertaining ten round TKO over game Sonny Fredrickson (21-4, 14 KOs). Über aggressive Madueno rained non-stop power shots four the first four rounds. A point was deducted from Madueno for holding Fredrickson’s head down and hitting. Fredrickson staged a brief rally, but Madueno was stronger down the stretch and got a referee’s stoppage in round ten. Time was 2:04.

Cruiserweight Yunieski “The Monster” Gonzalez (21-3, 17 KOs) scored a second round KO over Tommy “Kryptonite” Karpency (30-8-1, 19 KOS). A vicious liver shot put Karpency down for the count. Time was 2:03.

In a four-round light heavyweight bout, Bryce Henry (5-0, 4 KOs) scored a fourth round KO over Juan De Angel (22-14-1, 20 KOs).

Triller Fight Club has officially announced that ‘The Takeover’ Teofimo Lopez (16-0, 12 KOs) will defend his undisputed lightweight world titles (WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF) against mandatory challenger ‘Ferocious’ George Kambosos Jr., (19-0, 10 KOs) on Monday, October 4 in the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden and live on Pay-Per-View (8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT) with a freeview starting at 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT.

Presented in association with DiBella Entertainment, advance tickets priced at $306, $206, $106, $81 and $56, will go on-sale tomorrow. The event will be broadcast live on a $49.99 pay-per-view.

Headlining the undercard, Daniel ‘El Gallo’ Gonzalez (20-2-1, 7 KOs) clashes with Petros Ananyan (15-2-2, 7 KOs), in a scheduled 10-round junior welterweight bout. Continue reading “Lopez-Kambosos Ticket Alert”

Two-division kingpin Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete (34-1, 29 KOs) will defend his WBO featherweight world title against mandatory challenger Joet Gonzalez (24-1, 14 KOs) on Friday, October 15 at Pechanga Arena San Diego.

In the 10-round co-feature, welterweight Giovani Santillan (27-0, 15 KOs makes his first hometown appearance in more than seven years against Angel “Relampago” Ruiz (17-1, 12 KOs). Continue reading “Navarrete-Gonzalez clash Oct 15”

Mexican superstar and unified WBA/WBC/WBO Super Middleweight World Champion Canelo Álvarez and undefeated IBF Super Middleweight World Champion Caleb “Sweethands” Plant will battle to crown an undisputed 168-pound world champion on Saturday, November 6 live on pay-per-view from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Tickets for the live event go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday, September 15 at 10 a.m. PT, and can be purchased at AXS.com. The event is promoted by Canelo Promotions and TGB Promotions and sponsored by Hennessy, “Never Stop. Never Settle,” and Value. Presale is today so if you have a code you can get better seats.

WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) will defend his title against mandatory challenger Shawn Porter (31-3-1, 17 KOs) in a PPV showdown on November 20 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Top Rank and PBC reached a deal shortly before a scheduled WBO purse bid.

Sampson Lewkowicz of Sampson Boxing has sign WBC #10 super featherweight Pablo “The Cuban Menace” Vicente (17-1, 15 KOs) to an exclusive promotional contract. The 28-year-old former Cuban National Team member make his Sampson Boxing debut on October 29 at the Centro de Convenciones Vasco Nunez de Balboa in Panama City in a 10-round showdown against Argentina’s Javier Herrera (17-4-1, 8 KOs) for the WBC Continental Americas Super Featherweight Championship.

“The Cuban Menace will be a world champion,” said Lewkowicz. “He is a very strong fighter with excellent power in his combinations and the skill level you would expect from an elite fighter.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Looks like WBO #1 light-middleweight Tim Tszyu (19-0, 15 KOs) might not be going straight to a showdown with WBO world champion Brian Castaño. According to Ben Damon of Fox Sports, Tszyu is interested in a contest against WBA #6 Terrell Gausha (22-2-1, 11 KOs) in Australia.

“A really tough fight for Tszyu,” said Damon, “but (Gausha) is someone he appears to be interested in fighting. There’s been bit of talk that maybe he could find his way over to Australia, as well.”

Besides Gausha, Tszyu also has his eye on WBC #4 Sebastian Fundora and WBC #2 Sergio Garcia.

By Jeff Zimmerman

Fightnews.com® caught up with 9x USA National Champion and Olympic Trials light flyweight winner Kentavias “Taae” Slay as he prepares for his pro debut this Saturday, Sept. 18 in Cancun, MX. Taae grew up outside of Dallas in Mesquite, TX, and now trains under the watchful eye of former world champion Wayne McCullough in Las Vegas. Taae shares how he got into boxing as well as training with rising star Vergil Ortiz Jr and that he likes watching legends like Pernell Whitaker and James Toney for their defensive mastery. Taae also talks about his work with lightweight champion Devin Haney and much more in this exclusive interview.

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On October 22 for the first time in history, the WBC bridgerweight title (under 224 pounds) will be on the line. WBC #1 Oscar “Kaboom” Rivas (27-1, 19 KOs) will face #3 rated Bryant Jennings (24-4, 14 KOs) for the green and gold belt of the new division at the renovated Olympia Theater in Montréal, Quebec, Canada.

This will be the second clash between Jennings and Rivas, who fought an extremely contested affair in January 2019 in Verona, New York. Rivas won by TKO12.

Rivas-Jennings marks the return of American television to Canada for the first time since December 2018, as ESPN+ retained the broadcast rights to the fight in the USA. The card will also be broadcast live in nearly 50 countries. Continue reading “The Bridgerweight Era Has Arrived”

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

The World Boxing Council invariably supports any situation that is beneficial to boxers; including new promotional companies, broadcast platforms, extraordinary tournaments, sponsoring companies, etc.

Part of our work as a regulatory body for this sport is also to promote and offer our platform to support such initiatives.

The WBC worked hard to achieve the very successful Super 6 tournament in the super middleweight division by Showtime, so did with the World Boxing Super Series. It also works along with Fundación Telmex Telcel to carry out the highly successful Ring Telmex program, which has generated 19 champions, or the SuperFly tournament which is still generating interesting matches involving those fighters.

We are currently experiencing a boxing trend with a wide variety of elements. Influencer and Youtubers events, participation of athletes from other sports inside the ring, mixed martial arts fighters trying boxing, and retired boxers returning to the ring. Continue reading “Boxing Legends Must Not Be Compromised”

By Bradley Snyder

Promoter Carlos Lllinas and Motor City Casino and Hotel Soundboard brought a sellout crowd of hungry boxing fans last Friday to witness Night of Knockouts XVIII, their first show since the pandemic.

The main event had cruiserweight Taylor Duerr (11-0-2, 7 KOs) in total control over six Rounds against Jose Obando (20-31-2, 15 KOs). Obando, the type of opponent known for his durability, took a beating in the ring and on the scorecards. Taylor easily won the fight by UD (60-54, 60-54, 60-54). Continue reading “Late Results from Detroit”

Welterweight Greg Outlaw (9-1, 4 KOs) stopped Edgar Torres (8-2-1, 4 KOs) in round two of their scheduled six-rounder on Friday night in the main event of a seven-bout card in front of a near-capacity crowd at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. In round two, Outlaw landed a booming uppercut that sent Torres on his back. Torres was able to get to his feet, only to eat a huge barrage of punches, for which was punctuated by another uppercut, and the bout was stopped at 1:47.

Bantamweight Christian Carto (18-1, 14 KOs) returned after a 31-month layoff and took out Yeison Vargas (17-8, 12 KOs) in the opening round. Carto looked quick under new trainer Bozy Ennis, and dropped Vargas with a hard combination. He ended things with a terrific left hook to the body that sent Vargas down for the 10-count at 2:53 of round one. Continue reading “Late Results from Philadelphia”