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The WBC has unveiled the stunning new Puebla belt, designed by Angélica Moreno in the Talavera de la Reyna workshop. It will be presented to the winner of the historic Undisputed vs Undisputed match featuring Saúl “Canelo” Alvarez and Jermell Charlo, taking place this Saturday.

Fast tracking super welterweight ‘King’ Callum Walsh will make his New York debut in The Theater at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, November 9, broadcast globally on UFC Fightpass. The 22-year-old Walsh, (8-0, 7 KOs), will make the second defense of his WBC US Silver title against Ismael Villarreal (13-1, 9 KOs).

SATURDAY
Undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez against undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo finally arrives this week on an $84.99 PPV from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Canelo is a 4:1 favorite. Good undercard too.

DAZN has IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia putting his world title on the line against Jordan Thompson from the OVO Arena in London. Opetaia is a 5:1 favorite.

Fite+ has a female lightweight clash between Caroline Dubois against Magali Rodriguez from York Hall in London.

There also an attractive heavyweight clash Murat Gassiev and Otto Wallin from the Regnum Carya Resort in Antalya, Turkey. This will likely pop up on a stream somewhere, but nothing announced yet. Gassiev is a 3:1 favorite.

Matchroom Boxing has announced agreement to bring a series of major boxing events to Japan. The deal will see Matchroom stage three major world-class events per year in Japan – all live worldwide to DAZN subscribers (excluding Asia) – over the next three years.

“The future of boxing in Japan is incredibly bright,” said Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith. “We are delighted to seal this historic partnership with Rakuten Ticket, Inc and NSN. Japan is an important, strategic market for us to operate in and by bringing our world-class boxing events to this great country, we will not only showcase some of the finest fighters on the planet, but we will help establish some of the country’s leading domestic talents who will undoubtedly prosper on the world’s stage in years to come.”

UK-based Matchroom is easily the world’s most global boxing promoter, regularly staging shows in the U.K, U.S., Mexico, Europe, and the Middle East.

In front of a full house at the Thunder Studios in Long Beach California, Marvnation Promotions presented a seven bout fight card on Saturday Night. The original main event, featuring the pro debut of Marco Antonio Barrera Jr., was scratched the day before, so the card was reshuffled with two co-featured bouts.

Middleweight Andrew Buchanan moved his record to 3-0, 1 KO, by out-slugging Mexico’s Fredy Vargas Galarza (2-1, 1 KO) in a six round fight. Scores were 59-55 (twice) and 60-54 all for Buchanan.

In the co-featured fight, Yadira Bustillos (8-1, 0 KOs) out-slicked and out-boxed a very game and tough Katherine Lindenmuth (5-2, 2 KOs) in a fast-paced eight round female minimumweight bout. Continue reading “Results from Long Beach, California”

Featherweight prospect Laureano Sciuto (13-1, 8 KOs) of Argentina avoided the upset of Yohan Segura (12-2, 9 KOs) of Colombia by winning by majority decisión on Saturday night at the Club Social y Deportivo El Porvenir in Quilmes, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Segura came out strong the first half of the fight banging at the body of Sciouto while landing several eye catching headshots. Segura slowed down the second half of the fight where Sciuto countered and piled up some points. The judges in the end had it 97-93, 96-94 for Sciuto and 95-95 even. The event was promoted by Marcos Maidana (Chino Promotions).

Report/Photos Scott Foster at ringside

Unbeaten WBO #4, IBF #7 super lightweight Richardson Hitchins (17-0, 7 KOs) outboxed WBC #6, WBO #11 Jose “Chon” Zepeda (37-4, 28 KOs) over twelve one-sided rounds on Saturday night at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida. 25-year-old Richardson Hitchins was taking a large step in class with Zepada, the victor of a brutal candidate for fight of the year in 2020. Hitchins outclassed Zepada from the onset with a technical, albeit defensive style, and each successive round was a carbon copy of the last. Scores were 119-109 and 120-108 2x.

Unbeaten super welterweight Conor “The Destroyer” Benn (22-0, 14 KOs), returning to the ring for the first time in 17 months, went ten rounds with Rodolfo “Sinaloita” Orozco (32-4-3, 24 KOs). Orozco stole some of the middle rounds before Benn finished in style, hurting Orozco badly in the ninth and again in the tenth. Scores read 96-94 and 99-91 2x, all for Benn.

In a unification battle for the WBA, WBC and WBO female welterweight titles, Sandy Ryan (6-1-1, 2 KOs) and Jessica McCaskill (12-3-1, 5 KOs) fought to a controversial ten round draw. The fight developed into a see-saw fight, with both fighters swapping the early rounds, but Ryan appeared to wrest control in the 5th, dominating the mid rounds behind her jab and good bodywork. McCaskill rallied in the ninth and tenth and may have secured her title belts during this final push, with the judges eventually declaring the bout a draw. Scores were 97-93 McCaskill, 96-94 for Ryan with the third judge providing the determinative score, 95-95. Continue reading “Hitchins dominates Zepeda”

By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

Damon Howard’s “4 Champs Promotions” put on a quick and entertaining 4 bout card at the Jean Shepherd Community Center in Hammond, Indiana on Saturday night.

Debuting super middle Alan Facio took on Robbie Thomas in the main event. After two throw downs, Facio legally put Thomas down for good with a non-stop barrage in the corner. The end was 1:42 of round one. Facio starts out at 1-0, 1 KO while Thomas goes to 0-7! Continue reading “Results from Hammond, IN”

WBO interim heavyweight champion Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang (26-1-1, 21 KOs) brutally knocked out “Juggernaut” Joe Joyce (15-2, 14 KOs) in round three on Saturday night at the OVA Arena in London. Zhang landed some hard shots in round two, then laid out Joyce with a flush right hand in round three. Joyce went down face first. Time was 3:07.

After the fight, Zhang asked the crowd, “Do you want to see me shut up Tyson Fury?”

Two-time light heavyweight world title challenger Anthony Yarde (24-3, 23 KOs) destroyed late sub Jorge Silva (22-9, 12 KOs) in round two. Heavy-handed Yarde pummeled Silva to the canvas and the bout was stopped.

Super middleweight Zach Parker (23-1, 17 KOs) was victorious when Khalid Graidia (10-13-4, 2 KOs) didn’t come out for round eight. Parker was rebounding from a loss to John Ryder 10 months ago.

Unbeaten super lightweight Pierce O’Leary (13-0, 7 KOs) hammered out a ten round unanimous decision over durable Kane Gardner (16-3, 7 KOs). Scores were 100-90, 99-92, 99-92.

Heavyweight Tom Schwarz (27-1, 19 KOs), whose only loss is to Tyson Fury, got all he could handle from rugged journeyman Kostiantyn Dovbyshchenko (10-13-1, 7 KOs) on Saturday night at the GETEC Arena in Magdeburg, Germany. Hometown hero Schwarz got away with a 97-93, 97-93, 97-94 decision. After the bout, Schwarz declared “I am back!”

Former WBA super middleweight champion Tyron Zeuge (27-1-1, 15 KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over Nasser Bukenya (6-4, 4 KOs). Bukenya down once. Scores were 79-72, 80-71, 80-71.

Unbeaten light heavyweight Ardian Krasniqi (6-0, 6 KOs) knocked out Deniz Altz (15-11, 4 KOs) with a body shot at 1:33 of the opening round. Krasniqi is the nephew of former heavyweight contender Luan Krasniqi.

* * *

The card was scheduled to stream on DAZN, but was apparently pulled at the last moment in a reaction to a now settled 2020 domestic violence case where Schwarz broke his girlfriend’s jaw.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Former two-division champion Hiroto Kyoguchi (18-1, 12 KOs), 112, scored a lethal left uppercut to the chin and finished Filipino GAB#2 flyweight Jerven Mama (13-4-1, 7 KOs), 113, for the count at 3:09 of the third session in a scheduled ten on Friday in Tokyo, Japan.

Having been beaten and dethroned by Kenshiro Teraji in a 108-pound unification bout last November, Hiroto appeared in a second comebacking bout and displayed a good form to impress the crowd. After mixing up toe-to-toe to win the first two sessions with ease, Kyoguchi swarmed over the Filipino Mama, overweight by a pound than the contract stipulation, and exploded a vicious uppercut that dropped Mama, who quickly stood up only to be counted out. Hiroto, 29, said, “I look forward to winning the third division belt.” Good luck. Continue reading “Former two-division champ Kyoguchi sinks Mama”

Keeps Japanese 115lb belt

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Do you remember ex-OPBF two-division champ Yuji Watanabe (25-5, 23 KOs), a very popular KO artist in 1990’s, who unfortunately failed to win world belts from Genaro Hernandez (TKO’d 6) and from Wilfredo Vazquez (KO’d 5) in 1992 and 1997 respectively.

His cousin WBC#22 Suzumi Takayama (7-0, 6 KOs), 114.75, a southpaw hard-puncher like his uncle, impressively turned the tables and kept his Japanese super-fly belt by scoring a fine TKO victory over former WBO AP ruler and JBC#1 Tsubasa Murachi (10-2-1, 3 KOs), 114.75, at 2:44 of the eighth round in a scheduled ten on Friday in Tokyo, Japan. Continue reading “WBC#22 Takayama halts Murachi”

By Boxing Bob Newman

Jermaine Howlett 199.7 vs. Joseph Zuniga, Jr 182.9
Alan Facio 165.6 vs. Robbie Thomas 150.5
Henry Stewart 203.7 vs. Isaiah Cobbs 233.6
Omar Perez 146.1 vs. Donquay White 147.3
Adrien Bermudez 167.4 vs. Tyler Scott 168.4

Venue: Jean Shepherd Community Center
Promoter: Damon Howard (4 Champs Promotions)
Doors: 6 pm
First Bell: 7 pm

Unbeaten featherweight prospect Jose Angel Garcia Rodriguez (8-0-3, 7 KOs) signed a promotional contract with Ramon Arellano (Arellano Boxing Promotions). The signing was confirmed by the fighters’ manager/trainer Rafael Guzman of Mexico. The power-punching Rodriguez upset the local fighter Alan Solis Holguin then (16-1-1, 9 KOs) in his last fight this past May by way of 6th round TKO.

Guzman is the well known head trainer of the famed Mexico amateur boxing program el CODE since its beginning back in 1997. The future world champions who he trained as amateurs were Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez, Isaac “Vikingo” Terrazas, Miguel “Títere” Vázquez, and more.

Arellano for his part as a manager worked with the late heavyweight champion Greg Page, former world champion Joan Guzman, and several others. Continue reading “Rodriguez inks promotional pact”

The WBO Championship Committee has elevated WBO junior lightweight champion Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete to super champion status. The super champion designation grants Navarrete extra benefits, such as 1) Extension of time for mandatory title defense, 2) Eligibility to be considered for designation as mandatory challenger in higher or lower divisions, 3) More favorable splits in purse bids.

Former World Champion Joseph “JoJo” Diaz (33-4-1, 15 KOs) of South El Monte is scheduled to return in a 10-round fight against Richard “El Castigo” Medina (15-1, 8 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas. The lightweight match will be featured as the co-main event on the upcoming Rocha vs. Santillan card taking place at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, on Saturday, October 21. The fight night will be broadcast worldwide on DAZN. JoJo

Richardson Hitchins 139.8 vs. Jose Zepeda 140
Conor Benn 153.6 vs. Rodolfo Orozco 154.4
Austin Williams 160 vs. Steve Rolls 159.2
Sandy Ryan 146.4 vs. Jessica McCaskill 146.4
(WBA/WBC/WBO female welterweight title)

Orestes Velazquez 140 vs. Mohamed Soumaoro 139.8
Khalil Coe 179.6 vs. Kenmon Evans 179.8
Jeovanny Estela 153.6 vs. Luis Caraballo 153.4
Jasmine Artiga 116 vs. Josefina Vega 114

Venue: Caribe Royale, Orlando, Florida
Promoter: Matchroom
TV: DAZN

Solid lead-in stream announced today for the September 30 Canelo Álvarez vs. Jermell Charlo PPV event taking place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Heavyweight contender Frank “The Cuban Flash” Sanchez (22-0, 15 KOs) will take on Scott Alexander (17-5-2, 9 KOs) in a 10-round matchup. Former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk (19-1, 15 KOs) battle Brazil’s Isaac Rodrigues (28-4, 22 KOs) in an eight-round duel, while 2012 U.S. Olympian Terrell Gausha (23-3-1, 12 KOs) faces KeAndrae Leatherwood (23-8-1, 13 KOs) in an eight-round middleweight bout.

The fights will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT and be available on the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and the Showtime Boxing Facebook page.

Continue reading “Canelo-Charlo lead-in stream announced”

Both Zhilei Zhang and Joe Joyce weighed in heavier than they did for their first fight five months ago. Zhang added 9 pounds, while Joyce bulked up a whopping 25 pounds. Both were at career highs.

Zhilei Zhang 287 vs. Joe Joyce 281.2
(WBO interim heavyweight title)

Anthony Yarde 177.9 vs. Jorge Silva 178
Pierce O’Leary 139.3 vs. Kane Gardner 139.6
Zach Parker 170.9 vs. Khalid Graidia 168
Moses Itauma 237.9 vs. Amine Boucetta 296
Ezra Taylor 176 vs. Joel McIntrye 178.2
Royston Barney-Smith 131.6 vs. Engel Gomez 132
Aloys Youmbi 203.1 vs. Eric Nazarayan 203.7
Tommy Fletcher 199.2 vs. Alberto Tapia 197.5
Sean Noakes 151.7 vs. Lukasz Barabasz 154

Venue: OVO Arena, London, England
Promoter: Queensberry
TV: ESPN+ (US), TNT Sports (UK)

WBO flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (18-0, 11 KOs) and IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards (20-0, 4 KOs) came face-to-face for the first time at a launch press conference yesterday in Orlando ahead of their unification clash at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona on Saturday December 16, live worldwide on DAZN. Continue reading “BAM, Sunny Kick-off Press Conference”

Undefeated junior welterweight prospect Tito Mercado (12-0, 11 KOs) of Pomona, CA returns to battle on Saturday, November 11 against former world title challenger Jeremia Nakathila (23-3, 19 KOs) of Windhoek, Namibia in the ten-round main event at the Lumcolor – Phoenix Center in Ontario, CA. Nakathila’s biggest win was a sixth round KO against former world champion Miguel Berchelt a year-and-a-half ago. He has also fought Shakur Stevenson and Raymond Muratalla among others.

“These are the types of fights I want,” said the 21-year-old promotional free agent Mercado. “Nakathila has fought numerous world class fighters and is the perfect challenge for me.”

The fight will stream on the Fight City Promotions’ YouTube Channel.

Super welterweight contenders Richardson Hitchins and Jose Zepeda faced off at the final press conference for their clash taking place on Saturday at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.

Jose Zepeda: “In the fights I have seen of him, [Hitchins] is a talented fighter and a good prospect – but he hasn’t been at this level yet. That’s why in this fight we are going to see if he can work under pressure. There are levels. Trust me when I fought for a world title for the first time against [Jose Carlos] Ramirez, the first time I got hit to the body I knew that it was a different level. It’s different stuff. So, let’s see what it’s all about and see how he handles things on Saturday night.

Richardson Hitchins:  Jose Zepeda says that I have never fought at this level. But he is forgetting that I was a kid at 22 years old with only ten professional fights and beating guys like Argenis Mendez, a guy who had already won a world title, and for every fight after that, I told anybody and everybody who they put me in the ring with that isn’t on a world championship level that it is a step down. Continue reading “Hitchins-Zepeda Final Press Conference”

As expected, Showtime will air the WBO junior middleweight world title clash between unbeaten Tim Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs) and Brian Mendoza (22-1, 16 KOs) on October 14 (October 15 in Australia) at the Gold Coast Convention Centre, Broadbeach, Queensland, Australia.

Tszyu, the current WBO interim champion, will ascend to the full WBO championship throne when Jermell Charlo is stripped on September 30. Mendoza, the WBC interim beltholder, is coming off a huge KO win over Sebastian Fundora in April.

Heavyweights Zhilei Zhang and Joe Joyce faced off at the final press conference for their clash Saturday in London, seen on ESPN+ in the US and TNT Sports in the UK.

Zhilei Zhang: “Your team is going for a rematch, which is a big mistake and I’m going to end your career.”

Joe Joyce: “Well, let’s see it then. Let’s have it…I’m looking forward to getting a victory this time around.”

Super lightweight Batyrzhan Jukembayev (21-1, 16 KOs) recovered from a first round knockdown to defeat Hugo Alberto Roldan (22-2-1, 7 KOs) over ten rounds by scores of 95-94, 96-93, 97-92 on Wednesday night at the White Sands Event Center in Plant City, Florida.

In a clash of unbeaten light heavyweights, Kareem Hackett (12-0, 6 KOs) outscored Clay Waterman (11-1, 8 KOs) over ten rounds by scores of 100-90, 99-9, 100-90.

Super welterweight Ismael Villarreal (13-1, 8 KOs) stopped John David Martinez (19-3, 16 KOs) in round two of a scheduled eight-rounder.