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By Boxing Bob Newman

Undefeated Swedish cruiserweight Robin Safar talks about fighting in front of a world wide audience on May 18th in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on the Tyson Fury – Oleksandr Usyk card against none other than former unified Light Heavy king… Sergey Kovalev.

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By Joe Koizumi

Unbeaten southpaw prospect WBA#14 Yuga Ozaki (6-0-1, 5 KOs), 107.75, looked so impressive as he lopsidedly battered Thailand’s Kittidech Hirunsuk (12-7, 7 KOs), 107.5, from all angles and finally halted him with the referee’s intervention at 2:51 of the seventh round in a scheduled ten on Sunday in Osaka, Japan. Yuga scored his first defense of his WBC youth belt. The vastly talented speedster Ozaki previously made a quick demolition of WBA rated light fly Sitthisak Simsri (then 17-1, 17 KOs) in round two to enter the WBA world ratings last September. Ozaki, formerly an amateur star at 21, may zoom up as his career progresses since he is highly gifted with excellent reflexes and hand speed. Continue reading “Ozaki halts Kittidech, keeps WBC Youth 108lb belt”

By Ron Jackson

One of South Africa’s top welterweight champions Joseph Tsakani ‘Smokin Joe” Makaringe passed away in on Thursday at the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg. He was 49 years old. Continue reading “Former South Africa welter champion dies”

WBO/WBC/IBF unified champion Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) and WBA ruler Dmitry Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) met face-to-face at today’s kickoff presser in London ahead of their undisputed light heavyweight showdown on Saturday, June 1 at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This battle of 175-pound titans will stream live and exclusively on ESPN+ in the U.S. as a special one-fight broadcast. The “5 vs. 5” undercard will likely be PPV.

Artur Beterbiev: I just see another belt. I’m collecting belts, and I need one more. I don’t know why {it’s taken so long to make this fight}. He knows better. Ask him. We’ll see {if this is the biggest challenge}. I’m not thinking about it. I’m preparing for it. I will prepare and try to be at 100 percent.”

Dmitry Bivol: “When I signed a contract to be a pro boxer, I had a goal to become undisputed. Everything that I have gone through has been for that. I did it to achieve my goal. Even the fight against Canelo. It was my ticket for big fights. And now I’m happy that I will have this fight on June 1 for all the belts…I believe I can be undisputed.”

The undercard for the June 1 Beterbiev-Bivol clash in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was announced at a press conference in London on Monday. The fights will feature five matches between boxers promoted by Matchroom (M) and boxers promoted by Queensberry (Q).

Deontay Wilder (M) vs. Zhilei Zhang (Q) – heavyweight
Filip Hrgovic (M) vs. Daniel Dubois (Q) – heavyweight
Craig Richards (M) vs. Willy Hutchinson (Q) – light heavyweight
Ammo Williams (M) vs. Hamzah Sheeraz (Q) – middleweight
Ray Ford (M) vs. Nick Ball (Q) – featherweight

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Beterbiev and Bivol didn’t have much to say, but looked dead serious in their faceoff.

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman unveiled the special WBC belt that will be presented to the May 18 winner of the undisputed heavyweight title showdown between Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk.

The main event for the May 10 Seneca Fight Night (SFN) was announced Monday morning as undefeated New York native Arnold “AG” Gonzalez (14-0, 6 KOs) of New York City will meet Esneiker “La Maravilla” Correa (15-4-1, 13 KOs) of Los Teques, Venezuela for the vacant WBA FEDECENTRO welterweight title. The ten-rounder will be held at Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino Events Center and televised live on ESPN Knockout.

In the co-main event, the Queen of Niagara Falls, Mikiah Kreps (7-0, 3 KOs), faces interstate rival Melissa Odessa Parker (6-2, 2 KOs) of Brooklyn in an eight round showdown.

Sunny Edwards and Adrian Curiel will clash in a 12-round flyweight battle as the chief support bout for the world title clash between Juan Francisco “Gallo” Estrada and Jesse “BAM” Rodriguez at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona on June 29, live worldwide on DAZN.

Both men will be looking to bounce back to winning ways and get back to world champion status, and for Edwards (20-1 4 KOs), it’s an immediate return to the state where he met headline star Rodriguez in a 112lb unification clash in December. Curiel (24-5-1 5 KOs) moves up in weight after two dramatic 108lb world title clashes with Sivenathi Nontshinga.

Sunny Edwards: “Me vs Curiel is a hell of a fight. He is a former World Champion, like myself, and we’re both fighting to get back into world title contention…I’m looking forward to being back.”

Adrian Curiel: “When you lose, you learn, and I will prove it against Edwards on June 29…if they want to make it 112lbs we will take it even though this is not my weight, all because I am thirsty for revenge. Viva Mexico!!”

By Gabriel F. Cordero

Sad to report the passing of Scottish boxer Willie Limond at the age of 45. Limond succumbed in a Glasgow hospital several days after suffering an apparent seizure in his car. He was scheduled to fight at Emirates Arena on May 3.

Limond had a record of 42-5 with 13 KOs, winning European, Commonwealth and British championships and facing names like Erik Morales, Amir Khan, Anthony Crolla, and Ricky Burns.

By Ron Jackson

In a brilliant exhibition of boxing South Africa’s Ricardo Malajika (13-2, 9 KOs) completely outboxed and outthought Marcel Braithwaite (16-4-1, 1 KO) from England to retain the IBO junior bantamweight title for the first time, at Emperors Palace near Kemp Park on Saturday night.

The scores handed in by the judges, Jeun –Robert Laine, Allan Matakane and Roger Barnor were all 120-108 in favour of the champion. Continue reading “Malajika retains IBO title on a complete shutout”

Unbeaten WBO #4, WBC #5 heavyweight Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) scored an easy ten round unanimous decision over former cruiserweight champion-turned-heavyweight Ryad Merhy (32-3, 26 KOs) on Saturday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. Pretty much one-way traffic for Anderson as Merhy rarely engaged. Scores were 100-90, 100-90, 99-91. No memorable moments. Spectators booed most the way.

In a crossroads battle between 2016 Olympians, Efe “The Silent Roller” Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs) won a ten round split decision over Guido “The Gladiator” Vianello (12-2-1, 10 KOs). Vianello rocked Ajagba in round two, in fact, Efe walked back to the wrong corner. But Ajagba took over after Vianello slowed down in the middle rounds. Vianello closed strong, but it was too little too late. Scores were 96-94 Vianello, 96-94, 96-94 Ajagba.

2016 Olympic gold medalist and three-time world title challenger Robson Conceição (18-2-1, 9 KOs) scored a seventh round KO over Jose Guardado (15-2-1, 5 KOs) in a junior lightweight bout. Conceição dropped Guardado twice with bodyshots in the seventh. Time was 2:27.

Another impressive performance for unbeaten blue chip lightweight Abdullah Mason (13-0, 11 KOs), who got a fourth round referee’s stoppage against Ronal Ron (14-6, 11 KOs). Mason dropped Ron in rounds one and three, then finished him with a barrage of punches in the fourth. Time was 1:02.

Junior lightweight Alejandro “Pork Chop” Guerrero (13-4, 10 KOs) upset previously unbeaten Jalen Walker (12-1-1, 10 KOs) with a barrage of punches in round seven. Walker was also down earlier in the fight. Walker’s corner threw in the towel at 1:35.

In his pro debut, Team USA heavyweight Ali Feliz dropped and stopped Anthony Woodson III (1-2, 1 KO) in round two. Time 1:16.

Other Results:
Julian Delgado W4 Juan Tamez (middleweight)
Ruben Villa IV W10 Cristian Cruz (featherweight)
John Rincon W6 Yainel Alvarez (welterweight)
Charly Suarez W8 Louie Coria (jr lightweight)

Super featherweight Zelfa Barrett (31-2, 17 KOs) stopped Jordan Gill (28-3-1, 9 KOs) in the tenth round on Saturday night at AO Arena in Manchester, England. Barrett broke open a close fight when he dropped Gill twice with body shots in round ten and eventually got a referee’s stoppage at 2:44. The bout was for the WBA International title.

In a clash for the vacant WBO female lightweight title, Rhiannon Dixon (10-0, 1 KO) outpointed Karen “Burbuja” Carabajal (22-2, 3 KOs) over ten rounds. Dixon dropped Carbajal in round three en route to a 98-91, 97-92, 96-93 win.

In an IBF/WBO female super bantamweight unification fight that figured to go the distance, Ellie Scotney (9-0, 0 KOs) outpointed Segolene Lefebvre (18-1, 1 KO) over ten rounds by scores of 99-91, 97-93, 96-94.

By Joe Koizumi

WBO#5 Thanongsak Simsri (33-1, 30 KOs), 107.25, surprisingly captured the OPBF light flyweight belt from Filipino defending champ WBC#12 Miel Fajardo (11-2-1, 10 KOs), 107, when he pounded out a unanimous decision (117-110, 116-111, 115-112) over twelve hard-fought rounds on Saturday in Osaka, Japan. Thanongsak, under the promotional contract of Japan’s Green Tsuda Promotions, was a prefight underdog since Fajardo was highly regarded with his OPBF vacant title acquisition on an eye-catching first round demolition of compatriot John Paul Gubinales last August. From the start Fajardo, 24, attempted to stalk the upright Thailander, 23, with roundhouse punches, but Thanongsak smartly kept his distance and cooly kept jabbing the onrushing champ all the way. Ater the eighth, the open scoring system indicated the challenger widely leading on points—80-72 twice, 78-74. The hard-punching Fajardo, however, desperately tried to turn the tables, decking the Thailander with a looping left hook in round ten. Having a narrow escape, Thanongsak kept on outboxing the champ and wrested the regional belt beyond expectations.

Promoter: Green Tsuda Promotions.
BoxRec: Thanongsak Simsri

By Joe Koizumi

Japanese version of Fundora, 5’11” super bantam Toshiki Shimomachi (18-1-3, 12 KOs), 121.75, impressively kept his national 122-pound belt when he dropped JBC#1 Tulio Dekanarudo (7-2-2, 4 KOs), 122, three times and scored a fine TKO victory at 1:07 of the fifth round in a scheduled ten on Saturday in Osaka, Japan. Making his second defense, the very tall southpaw champ utilized his advantageous height and reach, outpunching the muscular challenger with good jabs and swift footwork. The fifth witnessed WBC#14 Shimomachi, 27, explode a southpaw right uppercut and badly floor the onrushing rival to the deck. The champ quickly follow it up and scored two more knockdowns to have the ref declare a halt. His target may be the undisputed world champ Naoya Inoue, but he politely said, “I must improve much more to cope with the Monster.” He probably had better wait for Naoya to move up to the featherweight in the future.

Promoter: Green Tsuda Promotions.
BoxRec: Toshiki Shimomachi

In a clash of unbeaten heavyweights for the vacant European title, Oleksandr Zakhozhyi (19-0, 15 KOs) of Ukraine demolished German favorite Granit Shala (15-1, 5 KOs) in the second round on Saturday night at the AGON Sportpark in Berlin, Germany. Zakhozhyi dropped Shala in round two, then blasted him to the canvas again to end it. Time was 2:25.

Former WBC flyweight champion Charlie Edwards (19-1, 7 KOs) claimed the vacant WBC International silver bantamweight title with a one-sided ten round unanimous decision over Georges Ory (17-4-1, 2 KOs) on Friday night at the famed York Hall in London. Edwards stuck and moved all night against the ever-advancing Ory. Scores were 98-92 3x. Brother Sunny Edwards, the former IBF fly champion, was working in Charlie’s corner.

Jared Anderson 250.9 vs. Ryad Merhy 235.6
(WBO Int’l and WBC USA heavyweight titles)

Efe Ajagba 241.2 vs. Guido Vianello 244.5
(WBC Silver heavyweight title)

Robson Conceição 131.6 vs. Jose Guardado 131.5
Julian Delgado 159.3 vs. Juan Tamez 159
Ruben Villa 125.6 vs. Cristian Cruz 125.1
John Rincon 143 vs. Yainel Alvarez 143.5
Abdullah Mason 134.6 vs. Ronal Ron 134.7
Charly Suarez 131.8 vs. Louie Coria 131.7
Jalen Walker 131.2 vs. Alejandro Guerrero 131.8
Ali Feliz 219.1 vs. Anthony Woodson III 280.2

Venue: American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas
Promoter: Top Rank
TV: ESPN

Golden Boy has announced a ten round lightweight clash between Oscar “La Migraña” Duarte (26-2-1, 21 KOs) and U.S. Olympian and former world champion Joseph “JoJo” Diaz Jr. (33-5-1, 15 KOs). The bout will appear on the undercard of the April 27 DAZN twinbill featuring Jose Ramirez vs. Rances Barthelemy and Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Thomas Dulorme at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California.

Also on the DAZN broadcast, unified WBA, WBC, WBO female flyweight champion Marlen Esparza (14-1, 1 KO) will put her titles on the line yet again in a bad-blood rematch against the former WBC champ Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (14-1, 6 KOs) in a 10-rounder.

Opening the DAZN broadcast, NABF welterweight titleholder Raul “El Cugar” Curiel (14-0, 12 KOs) will defend against Jorge Marron Jr. (20-4-2, 7 KOs) in a 10-round affair.

Jordan Gill 129.5 vs. Zelfa Barrett 129.6

Ellie Scotney 121.8 vs. Segolene Lefebvre 119.3
(IBF/WBO female super bantamweight title)

Rhiannon Dixon 134.5 vs. Karen Carabajal 134.5
(WBO female lightweight title)

Venue: AO Arena, Manchester, England
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN

Unbeaten heavyweight Jared “The Real Big Baby” Anderson (16-0, 15 KOs) and Ryad Merhy (32-2, 26 KOs) faced off at the final press conference for their ESPN clash on Saturday at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Jared Anderson: “Expect the best version of me. Expect to see me shine. Expect to see me dominate and show why I belong here…the challenge {with smaller fighters} is that you have to sometimes deal with their speed, which we trained for. But I don’t really see to many challenges with this. I don’t really see too many challenges. I’m used to fighting all types of different people. I’m used to training with all types of people. So, if you don’t prepare properly, then you won’t perform properly. So, just know that we came prepared for sure.”

Ryad Merhy: “I’m not looking for anything. They’re looking for me. I’m a cruiserweight who has moved up to the heavyweight division because I was called out. They keep calling me, and now I’m here. Jared is a very talented fighter. He is a great prospect. But this Saturday I’m going to show that he still has a long way to go. I have gone 177 rounds as a pro, while Anderson has only gone 46. So, we’ll see if that plays a big difference on Saturday.”

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In the 10-round heavyweight co-feature, Nigerian puncher Efe Ajagba (19-1, 14 KOs) and Italian standout Guido “The Gladiator” Vianello (12-1-1, 10 KOs) will clash in a battle of 2016 Olympians.

Efe Ajagba: “I want to see what he brings to the table. We sparred. But that’s sparring. That’s different from an actual fight. He thinks that I’m going to fight like I how sparred. But it’s not going to be like that. This fight means a lot because it is a stepping stone.”

Guido Vianello: “We know each other. We are two aggressive fighters in the ring, I can’t wait to fight. I can’t wait to see what happens in there.”

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The eight-round televised opener features Brazilian three-time world title challenger Robson Conceição (17-2-1, 8 KOs) against Jose Guardado (15-1-1, 5 KOs).

Robson Conceição: “For sure it was a tough fight with Emanuel Navarrete. It was a war. And I learned a lot from it. I also prepared a lot for this fight. And I think I will get another title shot soon.”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

WBA bantamweight champ Takuma Inoue (19-1, 5 KOs), Monster Naoya’s brother, engaged in a public workout and looked sharp and speedy as usual today (Thursday) in Yokohama, Japan. Having greatly raised his stock by a spectacular ninth-round knockout of Jerwin Ancajas last February, Takuma will participate in the quadruple world title event at the Tokyo Dome featuring all the four contestants out of Ohashi gym and put his belt on the line against WBA#1 compatriot Sho Ishida (34-3, 17 KOs) on May 6. Takuma confidently said, “I’d like to demonstrate such a good performance as shown in my last Ancajas fight.”

Photos

Roman “Chocolatito” has announced live from a press conference in Managua, Nicaragua, that his much anticipated return to the ring will be on Friday, July 12 at the 15,000+ seat Alexis Arguello Arena. ESPN Knockout will televise. Roman will have the support of his fellow Nicaraguan people for the first time since his championship title run, claiming 5 world titles and dominating the “fly” divisions in the process, all while traveling on the road.

Gonzalez’ return to Nicaragua is the biggest boxing event since the legendary Alexis Arguello last fought on home soil in December 18th 1977.

Roman Gonzalez: “I am super happy and excited to be fighting in front of all my family, the Nicaraguan people. It will be a dream come true if I can crown myself a 6x champion in 5 different divisions here in Nicaragua. For me and my team the greatest all time will always be Alexis Arguello.” Continue reading ““Chocolatito” Gonzalez Returns July 12″

Sad to report the passing Gary Shaw, 79, who has been successful at many levels in the boxing business. As a boxing regulator, Shaw worked for 28 years with New Jersey Athletic Commission. He jumped across the aisle to then became Cheif Operating Officer for Main Events for 2.5 years, culiminating with the megafight between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson. He then started Gary Shaw Productions, where he had a long successful run, mainly working with Showtime. In August 2021, Shaw joined the WBA as Chief of Staff to WBA President Gilberto Jesus Mendoza. Shaw had struggled with health problems in his later years.

Super featherweights Jordan Gill and Zelfa Barrett faced off at the final press conference ahead of this Saturday’s showdown at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, live worldwide on DAZN.

Jordan Gill: “For sure it’s must-win. If either of us want to fight for a world title, we’ve got to win this fight. That’s why it’s so exciting because there’s a lot on the line. It’s a fight everyone has been looking forward to, two Brits that are above British and European level, it makes it exciting, there’s a lot on the line for us both.”

Zelfa Barrett: “Jordan is a good fighter and he’s got a good team around him, but I believe I’m better than him in every way, shape, and form. He said he’s going knock me out, crazy, but we’ll see…there’s only one winner, and that’s me…my left hook is crazy but we’re not relying on that. It’s hard work and dedication, but I’ve got the power to destroy him.”

Charlie Edwards 117.6 vs. Georges Ory 117.3
(WBC Silver International bantamweight title)

Tom Welland 126.4 vs. Marvin Solano 127
Christian Fetti 128 vs. Eliecer Quezada 132.2
Kingsley Egbunike 153.4 vs. Jordan Dujon 153.9
Harvey Dykes 255 vs. Milos Veletic 280.7
Elliot Whale 149.8 vs. Joseba Diaz 149.9
Jesse Brandon TBA vs. Jakub Laskowski TBA
Oliver Zaren 167.6 vs. John Harding Jnr 167.1
Robert Lloyd-Taylor Jr 142.5 vs. Denis Hnidek 141.4

Venue: York Hall, London
Promoter: Wasserman Boxing
TV: DAZN, Channel 5 (UK)