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Billy Joe Saunders says he has the boxing brain to dethrone pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez in their WBA/WBC/WBO super middleweight unification battle on Saturday night on DAZN.

“This fight is all about the brain,” said Saunders. “Not about power, muscle or skill, it’s the brain and the game plan, and being able to execute that game plan. I brush opinions off because I know what goes through my head and my mind, and what I have done in my career is through the will and want to win, and the day I lose that, I won’t put a pair of gloves on again. Continue reading “Saunders: This fight is all about the brain”

Boxeo Telemundo’s first installment of the spring series will air live with an audience this Friday, May 7th from the Osceola Heritage Park Events Center. The main event will have two up-and-coming prospects as George ” El Yuyu” Acosta (11-1, 1 KO) squares off with Puerto Rico’s Gadwin “El Abayarde” Rosa (11-1, 9 KOs). The bout is scheduled for 10 rounds with the WBA Fedecentro Jr. lightweight title on the line.

Acosta, who is promoted by Thompson Boxing knows that this is a major opportunity for him. Many viewers will be seeing him for the first time and he will look to win his first major professional title. He knows that he is going in as the visiting fighter but is confident he will leave the ring with respect off of his performance. Continue reading “Acosta debuts on Telemundo Friday”

Promoter Eddie Hearn confirmed that the fight between Canelo Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders will take place in a 22-foot ring. Hearn stated that Team Saunders originally agreed to a 20-foot ring, but then they reneged and demanded a 22-foot ring. He said he had to go back to Canelo, whom he said signed off immediately. Both John Ryder and Carlos Gongora are on standby just in case there are more hijinx from Saunders.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBO #1, IBF #3 light middleweight Tim Tszyu (18-0, 14 KOs) will clash with WBA #7 middleweight Michael Zerafa (28-4, 17 KOs) at the Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Newcastle, NSW, Australia on July 7 which will be televised on Foxtel Main Event Pay Per View.

“This is the final piece of the puzzle,” Tszyu told Ben Damon of Main Event. “And after everything he’s been saying and all the disrespect for all these months and years, this time it’s personal. I said I’d take (Dennis) Hogan’s soul. This is more than that. I want to do even more than that.”

Zerafa stated, “The talk stops. Everyone is expecting fireworks with me. He can call me whatever he wants. When I was fighting world class opponents, he was drinking warm milk before bed so it doesn’t matter to me.”

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and Billy Joe Saunders faced off for the first time ahead of Saturday’s bout at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

Two-division world champion and current WBC super bantamweight world champion Luis “Pantera” Nery will meet Brandon “Heartbreaker” Figueroa in a battle of unbeatens for supremacy at 122 pounds in a 12-round battle that headlines action live on Showtime May 15 from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Fighting out of Tijuana, Mexico, the undefeated champion has been training in his hometown just across the U.S.-Mexico border prior to relocating to Los Angeles this week. Now under the tutelage of his trainer Ismael Ramirez, Nery is aiming to beat Figueroa and set up a unification bout with WBO world champion Stephen Fulton, Jr. on September 11. Continue reading “Q&A: Luis Nery”

June 12: Stevenson vs. Nakathila | June 19: Inoue vs. Dasmarinas | June 26: Lomachenko vs. Nakatani

Top Rank returns for a quartet of fight nights at Las Vegas’ newest world-class casino resort, Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.  Fans will be permitted inside the venue for all four fight cards.

The debut event, May 22 features the previously announced undisputed junior welterweight world championship showdown between WBC/WBO champion Jose Ramirez and WBA/IBF champion Josh Taylor on ESPN. In the 10-round junior welterweight co-feature, two-time world title challenger Jose “Chon” Zepeda will now face Philadelphia veteran “Hammerin” Hank Lundy. Continue reading “Top Rank announces three MAJOR Vegas cards”

By Héctor Villarreal

Former WBA cruiserweight champion Guillermo “El Felino” Jones celebrated his 49th birthday at the Pedro Alcazar gym in his native Panama, where he has been preparing since two months ago when the authorities allowed the reopening of sports facilities.

“At age 49 I still feel strong and able to give a boxing lesson to any heavyweight in the world. I’m not tied anymore to Don King Productions since last year, so I’m open to hear any fight proposal,” said Jones, after a group of fighters and trainers congratulated him by singing Happy Birthday.

WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders says the dispute over the size of the ring has apparently been resolved. Saunders posted a video on social media saying “I’m pleased the issue is sorted because obviously as you can see, I’ve tagged Eddie Hearn and Canelo the last video, and the ring is not a problem so thumbs are up…Eddie get the ring in mate.”

He didn’t specify what the agreed size of the ring would be.

Canelo Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 KOs) had the media all to himself on Tuesday at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX, the stadium he’ll face Billy Joe Saunders (33-0, 14 KOs) for the WBC, WBA Super and WBO titles on Saturday night live worldwide on DAZN and distributed by TV Azteca in Mexico and Latin America. Saunders was a no-show in protest of the ring size.

“He thinks he’ll give me a boxing lesson?” said Alvarez. “We’ll see. I am not the same guy I was five or six years ago. I have experience, I am a more mature fighter. So he can say whatever he wants, on Saturday night, he is in a different level of fight. I hope that I don’t need the judges on the night. Continue reading “Canelo: I am just focused on winning”

Former WBO junior middleweight world champion Liam “Beefy” Smith is set to enter enemy territory. Smith, from Liverpool, England, will battle undefeated Russian contender Magomed Kurbanov for the vacant WBO International junior middleweight title Friday at KRK Uralets in Yekaterinburg, Russia.

Smith-Kurbanov will headline a scheduled five-fight card streaming live and exclusively on ESPN+ starting at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT.

By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of Jose Sulaiman / WBC President

Is it good to see celebrities inside the ring? Yes of course! But it is also important to take a number of steps to make it a safe plus resounding success.

Boxing is the oldest sport of mankind. It all began with battles for power and supremacy from the time of the caves, and thus evolved to find traces of this throughout the evolution of humanity. Andy Foster, the executive of the California Boxing Commission, recently confirmed to me that it is one of the few sports mentioned in the Bible, as per Saint Paul: Continue reading “Celebrities in Boxing”

Undefeated super bantamweight champions will meet for 122-pound supremacy when Luis Nery (31-0, 24 KOs) makes the first defense of his WBC world title against Brandon “Heartbreaker” Figueroa (21-0-1, 16 KOs) in the headline attraction of a three-fight card live on Showtime May 15 from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. The winner of this fight will be in line to face WBO 122-pound champion Stephen Fulton on September 11 in a unification showdown.

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at AXS.com. Dignity Health Sports Park will be open to fans in a limited capacity, with all guests remaining socially distanced and subject to local and state health guidelines throughout the event. Continue reading “Nery-Figueroa lands in LA”

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez tours AT&T Stadium and addresses the media prior to his WBC, WBA and WBO unification fight against Billy Joe Saunders on Saturday. Saunders was supposed to be there too, but he was a no-show. The Saunders camp is insisting on a huge 24-foot ring and has threatened to go home if they don’t get it. Canelo responded by calling them “pussies.” Stay tuned…

By Peter Leopeng

So everyone is wondering whatever happened to Moruti Mthalane to have lost his IBF flyweight belt to unheralded relative novice Sunny Edwards. I’ve read and listened to all sorts of explanations, but listen to me when I say “Baby Face,” as Mthalane is affectionately known, need not have surrendered his world in that fashion.

Strategy or game plan is everything in any sporting event, more so especially in boxing. The great Sugar Ray Leonard often said you never go into a fight if you do not have a plan B, and sometimes even plan C. Strategy is everything in this sport we call the sweet science. Continue reading “Where Moruti Mthalane went wrong”

WBA #2, IBF #3, WBC #5, WBO #7 light heavyweight Joshua Buatsi (13-0, 11 KOs) continues his push for a world title fight when he faces Daniel Blenda Dos Santos (15-0, 8 KOs) for the WBA International title at the AO, Arena Manchester on May 15, live on Sky Sports in the UK and on DAZN in the US.

Buatsi has teamed up with new trainer Virgil Hunter. “I’ve got an unbeaten opponent, that makes him ambitious,” said Buatsi. “Obviously it’s the first fight under Virgil, so it’s should be interesting. I’m looking forward to showing what I’ve been working on with Virgil. He’s going to want to hold onto his undefeated record, as I am. When that’s at stake you really dig deep. Continue reading “Buatsi opponent named”