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In his first bout in nearly three years, WBA cruiserweight champion Arsen Goulamirian (27-0, 18 KOs) powered his way to a twelve round unanimous decision over mandatory challenger Aleksei Egorov (11-1, 7 KOs) on Saturday night at La Paletre in Le Cannet, France. Egorov kept Goulamirian off balance early on by putting a consistent jab in his face. Midway in the bout, Goulamirian began landing his power shots, noticeably moving Egorov. By round eight, Goulamirian was punishing Egorov, although Egorov kept his hands moving. Lots of clinches down the stretch. Scores were 116-112, 116-112, 117-111.

WBO #1 light heavyweight Anthony Yarde (23-2, 22 KOs) knocked out Stefani Koykov (14-2, 12 KOs) in the third round on Saturday night at Telford International Centre in Telford, England. Yarde stalked Koykov the entire fight and finally dropped him for the count in round three. Time was 2:31. Yarde is now in line for a shot at unified champion Artur Beterbiev in January.

In the main event, Liam Davies (13-0, 5 KOs) outpointed Ionut Baluta (15-4, 3 KOs) over twelve rounds for the vacant European super bantamweight title. Scores were 116-112, 118-110, 117-111.

Unbeaten EBU super middleweight champion Kevin Lele Sadjo (19-0, 17 KOs) retained his belt with a seventh round TKO over Emre Cukur (19-2-1, 3 KOs) in the Goulamirian-Egorov co-feature on Saturday night at La Paletre in Le Cannet, France. Sadjo battered Cukur for six rounds, then dropped him in round seven and got the referee’s stoppage with his follow-up barrage.

In a clash for the vacant European super welterweight title, Milan Prat (18-0, 15 KOs) scored a second round KO against Stephen Danyo (20-6-3, 7 KOs)). A left hook finished Danyo.

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The World Boxing Organization recently upgraded the design of the world champion and regional champion title belts, the first major upgrade to the organization’s hardware since its founding in 1988.

The final design blends the WBO traditional colors of burgundy, blue, and gold with a reimagined badge and new motifs. The new belts were unveiled to great acclaim during the WBO Annual Convention, held last month in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

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By Ron Jackson

Junior lightweight Lunga Sitemela (15-1, 9 KOs) won on a fourth-round knockout against the #1 challenger Khanyile Bulana (12-2, 8 KOs) to retain his South African title at the Vibrant Sports Centre in Cape Town on Friday night.

Sitemela was making the first defense of his title that he won on 26 May this year when he stopped Sibusiso Zingange (17-5-2) in the tenth round. Continue reading “Sitemela retains SA title on 4th round knockout”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten Japanese lightweight champ Shu Utsuki (12-0, 10 KOs), 134.5, impressively kept his national belt as he displayed his devastating power in decking highly regarded Jirolian Riku (14-4, 13 KOs), 134.75, at 2:48 of the third session in a scheduled ten-round main event on Thursday in Tokyo, Japan.  Jirolian having lately scored bad knockout wins, it was regarded as a very competitive encounter, but it was Utsuki that showed his superior skills and power punching in decking the challenger three times en route to a fine TKO victory.  His right crosses often caught the bewildered rival and badly hurt him with more powerful and effective shots to the belly and the face.  Utsuki, whose amateur mark was 81-27, is worth watching with his hard-punching ability. Continue reading “Utsuki finishes Jirolian, keeps Japanese 135lb belt”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Japanese southpaw hard-puncher Yudai Shigeoka (6-0, 4 KOs), 105, proved too powerful and pugnacious in flattening JBC#2 Tatsuro Nakashima (11-4-1, 7 KOs), 104.75, with a vicious right hook to the button at 1:20 of the third session, winning the vacant Japanese 105-pound belt.  Well-known for his durability in his previous defeat on points by Yudai’s brother WBC#1 Ginjiro, Nakashima suffered an early knockdown in the first and was completely stretched flat on the deck.  People sometimes make a mistake by regarding them as twin brothers, but 5’3” Yudai is 25, two years his senior to 5’0” Ginjiro.  They are aiming to be tiny Klitschko brothers holding world belts simultaneously. Continue reading “Shigeoka finishes Nakashima, wins Japanese 105lb belt”

Denzel Whitley 146.6 vs. Kris Jacobs 146.8
Steve Sumpter 170.8 vs. Edet “Papito” Mkpanam 169.6
Carlos Castillo 153.8 vs. Tyrone Luckey 149
Ian “Dinamite” Garcia 141 vs. Ronny Arana 145.2
Isiah Cruz 133 vs. Pablo Batres 133
Carlos Gonzalez 133.8 vs. Mathew McGee 134

Venue: Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts
Promoter: Granite Chin Promotions
TV: bxngtv.com

Undefeated super welterweight “The Jackpot” Tyrone “Pretty Boy” James (13-0, 10 KOs) scored a second round stoppage over Omar “The Grinch” Siala (39-21-3, 23 KOs) on Thursday night at Mulcahy’s in Wantagh, Long Island, New York. James dropped Siala in round two, then finished him with his follow-up barrage. Time was 1:19.

Undefeated super lightweight Ryan “The Silent Assassin” O’Rourke (9-0, 2 KOs) dropped Andreas “Maestro” Maier (8-7, 6 KOs) three times en route to a first round stoppage at 2:53.

Undefeated super welterweight Zay “No Choice” Flaherty (5-0, 3 KOs) blew away Keenan Raymond (1-5-1) in the first round.  Raymond down three times to get a referee’s stoppage at the 2:43 mark.

Cruiserweight Afunwa King (6-1, 3 KOs) scored a first round TKO over Emmanuel Etienne (2-1, 1 KO). Time was 2:51.

Super featherweight Iman Lee scored three knockdowns on his way to a first round TKO over Dom Breen. Time was 2:47.

And it’s not Ryan “Kingry” Garcia…not yet, at least.

Undefeated WBA “regular” lightweight champion Gervonta “Tank” Davis (27-0, 25 KOs) returns to his native DMV area to face undefeated WBA super featherweight champion and upset artist Héctor Luis García (16-0, 10 KOs) on Saturday, January 7 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., headlining a Showtime PPV event. Pre-sale tickets will be available Tuesday through Ticketmaster with the code: BOXING

Garcia is coming off consecutive upset wins over Chris Colbert in February and Roger Gutierrez in August. Against Davis, he will be a decided underdog again.

Jaime Munguia 159.8 vs. Gonzalo Gaston Coria 159.4
Argi Cortez 114.6 vs. Erik López 114.5
Diego Torres 138.9 vs. Hector Morales 138.9
Benito Sanchez 130 vs. Jose Garcia 122.8
Rafael Espinoza 128.3 vs. Orlando García 131.2

Venue: Arena Astros, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico
Promoter: Zanfer, Golden Boy
TV: DAZN

Heavyweight Hasim Rahman Jr. (12-1, 6 KOs) was outweighed by late sub Greg Hardy (1-0, 1 KO) by a whopping 94 pounds at Friday’s weigh-in. Rahman Jr., son of the former WBC heavyweight champ Hasim “The Rock” Rahman, weighed in at 226. Hardy, former UFC fighter and NFL Pro Bowl defensive end scaled in at 320. Rahman Jr. was originally slated to face Vitor Belfort, who was forced to pull out with COVID earlier this week and Hardy stepped in on short notice. The bout will be an official fight scheduled for four rounds.

Venue: Moody Center in Austin, Texas
Promoter: Misfits Boxing
TV: DAZN

ESPN has announced that Jose Pedraza is out due to a non-COVID illness and Mikey Garcia-conqueror Sandor Martin (40-2, 13 KOs) will replace him against former undisputed lightweight champion Teofimo Lopez (17-1, 13 KOs). The bout will take place on December 10 in the main arena of Madison Square Garden in New York City. ESPN will televise.

Statement: Today the decision was made that Dusty Hernandez-Harrison will not fight on tomorrow’s Beltway Battles: Round Three card. Over Dusty’s objections, this last-minute decision was made in his best interests by those around him, including medical staff, his family, his trainers and the promoters. His overall health and the need for more time to heal outweighed his desire to return at this time. We stand behind him 100% and expect him to resume his boxing career very soon. We have an outstanding fight card Saturday and know the entire boxing community is eager to get together and celebrate the life of Buddy Harrison. — Beltway Battles Promoters and Team Dusty

The Beltway Battles: Round Three event at the Entertainment & Sports Arena in Washington, DC, features nine bouts headlined by an eight round rematch between super lightweights Greg “Sharp Shooter” Outlaw, Jr. (10-1, 5 KOs) and Wilfrido Buelvas (22-15, 16 KOs). A PPV will be streamed live by BXNG TV.

Photos: Sumio Yamada

Arsen Goulamirian 198 vs. Aleksei Egorov 197.75
(WBA cruiserweight title)

Emre Cukur 163.25 vs. Kevin Lele Sadjo 163.5
(EBU super middleweight title)

Stephen Danyo 153.25K vs. Milan Prat 151.75
(EBU super welterweight title)

Venue: La Paletre in Le Cannet, France.
Promoter: Y12 Boxing
Stream: Canal+, PPV FightCounter.com ($9.99)

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Liam Davies 120.7 vs Ionut Baluta 121.4
(WBC Int’l/EBU super bantamweight titles)

Anthony Yarde 179.2 vs Stefani Koykov 176.6

Eithan James 140 vs Keanen Wainwright 134.9
Ezra Taylor TBA vs Mohamed Cherif Benchadi TBA
Willo Hayden 135.8 vs Marian Marius Istrate 133.7
Jamie Stewart 144.5 vs Owen Cooper 146.5
Brad Strand 125.1 vs Darwin Martinez 128
George Davey 152.6 vs Paul Cummings 153.9
McCauley Owen 133.3 vs Eduardo Valverde 134.2

Venue: Telford International Centre, Telford, England
Promoter: Queensberry Promotions
TV: ESPN+, BT Sport

Iwasa finishes Servania in overweight bout

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

This is a bizarre but true story.  On October 25, at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, former IBF 122-pound champ Ryosuke Iwasa was supposed to fight ex-world title challenger Genesis Servania, a durable Filipino who battled Oscar Valdez in a grueling fight in US in 2018, with the contract weight of 126-pound featherweight limit over ten rounds.  A fiasco happened about a week before their confrontation, as Servania complained of his incapability of making weight.  Iwasa, a southpaw veteran, was so much eager to fight before his more than 500 adherents despite Servania’s reported overweight because he lately kept fighting abroad and his last appearance here was four years ago when he forfeited his IBF junior feather belt to TJ Doheny in Tokyo.  Both parties then agreed on the raised weight of 59 kilogram (some 130 pounds), but Servania still claimed he would not be able to make it.  Just in order to make the fight realize, Iwasa agreed to amend the contract weight and then it was again raised to 62 kg (136.75 lbs). Continue reading “Bizarre Weigh-In Story”

By Ron Jackson

Former African Boxing Union, South African, IBF Intercontinental and IBO junior featherweight champion Ludumo Lamati from Mdantsane returned to action in style when he knocked out the rugged Filipino Mark Anthony Geraldo in the fourth round, in a featherweight contest scheduled for ten rounds on Thursday night at the Durban Casino in Durban.

There was very little in it through the first round with neither fighter landing any scoring punches. However, in round two Lamati (57.00kg) from Mdantsane who fights out of Johannesburg, picked up the pace to score with rights to the head of the southpaw Geraldo (58,80kg). In the third round the bigger Lamati, 30, continued to score with the cleaner punches.

It was a determined Lamati who came out fast at the bell in the fourth round to dominate before he landed a short right to the body that left the 31-year Geraldo clutching his side in pain where he was counted out by referee Sihle Zungu. Continue reading “Ludumo Lamati wins on a 4th round KO”

WBO #1 middleweight Jaime Munguia (40-0, 32 KOs) and Gonzalo “El Mago” Coria (21-5, 8 KOs) faced off at the final press conference for their ten-rounder on DAZN and TV Azteca this Saturday from Arena Astros in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Jaime Munguia: “I am very excited to be in Guadalajara! We are ready to bring a show to the fans here. In boxing, there are no simple opponents, and Coria is no exception. We hope that once we pass this hurdle, we are set for a big fight in 2023.”

Gonzalo Coria: “I am excited for the opportunity to showcase my talent against a great champion like Jaime. We have trained hard, and come Saturday the fans are in for a treat.”

Showtime has confirmed the news released by the fighters earlier today that Tank Davis vs. Ryan Garcia is set for a date to be announced in the first half of 2023. The venue and date are to be announced, but reportedly the date will be April 15 with a 136lb catch weight.

Stephen Espinoza, President, Showtime Sports: “Tank Davis vs. Ryan Garcia is one of the biggest and most exciting fights that can be made in boxing. We have two supremely talented boxers, both in their prime, who have amassed huge fanbases, meeting in a career defining fight. This is the epitome of a crossover boxing event. All credit to Tank and Ryan for staying the course and giving the fans the fight they want. Showtime has delivered the three biggest pay-per-view events in television history and we are thrilled to add this marquee event to our list of culture-moving matchups.”

Oscar De La Hoya: The fans have been crystal clear that the fight they want is Ryan versus Tank. Golden Boy Promotions and I are proud to be leading the drive to get this fight signed and are excited to get a deal finalized ASAP. It’s high time that those outside the ring stop getting in the way of those who want nothing more than to get into the ring and fight. Our motto has always been that the fans come first, and this is just another example of how we’re leading by example.

Undefeated WBA #9 welterweight Mekhrubon Sanginov (13-0-1, 10 KOs) nearly lost his life recently when he was stabbed in the chest in his hometown of Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Sanginov was protecting another man from an intoxicated bully who was picking on an innocent bystander. In the midst of protecting the man, the assailant brandished a large knife and stabbed him multiple times, nearly puncturing his heart. Sanginov is lucky to be alive.

“The attack happened very fast, but I knew what was right and I needed to protect an innocent person from this crazy man,” said Sanginov. “When I saw the bully picking on this helpless man, it made me sick. I can’t stand bullies, and this guy I was protecting desperately needed my help. People might think I am crazy, but I’m fine with what happened. This bully was drunk and was going to do some serious damage to this guy. I almost died, but it was for a good cause.” Continue reading “Sanginov back in gym after knife attack”

Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) has announced the signing of former WBA super welterweight world champion Austin ‘No Doubt’ Trout’ to a multi-fight promotional contract. Fighting out of Las Cruces, New Mexico, Trout has compiled a professional boxing record of 35-5-1 with 18 knockouts. The 37-year-old southpaw is best known for his victory over Puerto Rican Legend Miguel Cotto in 2012 at Madison Square Garden.

Stated David Feldman, President of BKFC, “Austin is one of the most talented and toughest fighters in boxing. I’ve watched countless fights of his and he truly displays the warrior spirit needed for success in BKFC. We’re thrilled to start working with him and will announce his first bare-knuckle fight shortly.”

Louie Lopez 146.9 vs Adrian Gutierrez 146.4
Manuel Flores 120.7 vs. Armando Torres 119.5
Nelson Oliva 161 vs. Mike Plazola 159.3
Ioannis Manouilidis 134.8 vs. Erick Garcia Benitez 134.3
Juan Sanchez 146.1 vs. Miguel Angel Barajas 145.8

Venue: Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA
Promoter: Thompson Boxing
TV: YouTube, Facebook

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO #1 Tim Tszyu (21-0, 15 KOs) is looking to secure former opponent Terrell Gausha as a sparring partner to help him prepare for WBC, WBA, WBO, IBF 154 pound champion Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) on January 28 in Las Vegas. Tszyu told the Herald newspaper, “If I get Terrell for sparring, that would be incredible. He’s got great defense, great experience, great timing. He’s aware of all the punches and has great skill. I think Brian Castano used him for his Charlo fight, so that would be perfect. Continue reading “Tszyu wanta Gausha as sparring partner”

Anderson Prestot 159 vs. Matteo Signani 158.9
(European middleweight title)

Venue: Seven Sporting Club, Savignano sul Rubicone, Italy
Promoter: OPI Since 82
TV: Live Rai Due 11:10 pm Italian time