Fightnews.com

A selection of quotes from today’s Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tony Bellew press conference at the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotel in Manchester. Usyk (15-0, 11 KOs) defends his WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO belts against former champ Bellew (32-2-1, 20 KOs) at Manchester Arena on November 10, live on Sky Sports Box Office in the UK and DAZN in the US.

Oleksandr Usyk

“I’m sure it won’t be an easy fight for me and I’m really glad to come back to England, the country which gave me a chance to get some trophies already, that mean a lot in my life. I’m not thinking about Tony Bellew at this moment, I’m just concentrating on my training camp and thinking about how I will overcome all of the challenges ahead of me before the fight. I’m not a monster, I’m a white rabbit. I picked Tony Bellew because he is the man that takes the biggest challenges. He is not the usual type of fighter that will come, see how hard it is and quit. He will come to fight until the end. These are the kind of fights that the World wants to see.”

Tony Bellew

“Everyone asks why. I was on my honeymoon and for one reason or another, I was stood there watching Oleksandr beat-up Murat Gassiev on a mobile phone. The fight stops, and then he makes the ultimate sin and he says my name, and it didn’t take long. As soon as he said my name I knew. When I was watching the phone, I knew. Continue reading “Usyk, Bellew Kickoff Press Conference”

Undefeated East Hartford junior welterweight prospect “Action” Anthony Laureano (pictured to right, photo courtesy of Star Boxing) has been selected as the Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame (CBHOF) 2018 Professional Boxer of the Year. Other award winners include Nephateria Miller, Amateur Boxer of the Year; Pete Hary, Jr., Professional Official of the Year; Jason Concepcion, Amateur Official of the Year; and Roland Roy, Contribution to Boxing.

The 2018 CBHOF award winners, as well as its six-member Class of 2018, will be honored October 13 at the 14th annual CBHOF Gala Induction Dinner, in the Uncas Ballroom at Mohegan Sun.

The new CBHOF inductees are boxers Cocoa Kid and Angel Vazquez, judge Don Trella, and trainers John Harris, Bill Gore and Brian Clark. Continue reading “CBHOF 2018 award winners announced”

President and CEO of All Star Boxing Felix “Tuto” Zabala has announced the signing of super featherweight prospect Salvador “Bufon” Briseno to a multi-year exclusive agreement. Briseno (14-3, 8 KOs) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico is a former World Boxing Council (WBC) Fecombox Champion, having defended the title twice, before traveling overseas to Ekaterinburg, Russia to try capturing a second title (WBO Youth) and dropping a tough unanimous decision to unbeaten #9 ranked Russian contender Mikhail Alexeev. Briseno, who is only 22 years old, sees his defeat in Russia as a small setback that helped him gain experience. Sticking true to his word, Briseño wasted no time stepping back in the ring just three months later and knocked out then unbeaten Victor Gonzalez in 5 rounds. Continue reading “Briseno Inks Agreement with All Star Boxing”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Sumio Yamada

Unbeaten enfant terrible Kosei Tanaka (12-0, 7 KOs) 112, impressively seized his third WBO belt in his twelfth bout as he, still 23, positively put on an aggressive performance from the outset, whipped defending champ Sho Kimura (17-2-2, 10 KOs), 111.75, and pounded out a majority but well-received decision (116-112, 115-113, 114-114) over twelve hard-fought rounds on Monday in Nagoya, Japan.

(More to come)

Photos

Tickets for November 10’s historic cruiserweight world title showdown between Oleksandr Usyk and Tony Bellew at Manchester Arena go on general sale today. Tickets are priced £40, £60, £80, £100, £150, £200, £300, £500 and £800. Four-belt champion Usyk defends his WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO belts against Bellew in Britain’s first ever undisputed title fight. The pair will face the media at a press conference in Manchester today.

By Gary “Digital” Williams at ringside

Bowie, MD super lightweight Greg “Sharpshooter” Outlaw won a six-round unanimous decision over Rashad Bogar of Newark, NJ in front of his home crowd during the main event of the Shabazz Brothers/Real Deal Boxing Promotions card at the A.C. Jordan Arena at Bowie State University on Saturday. A crowd of approximately 2,000 was in attendance.

Outlaw overcame an injured left hand to outduel Bogar in the contest. Despite his injury, the 2016 Bowie State University graduate was able to show enough aggression to win the bout by scores of 58-56, 60-54 and 59-55. Outlaw, a Real Deal Promotions signee, remains undefeated at 6-0, two KO’s while Bogar falls to 4-9-1, two KO’s. Continue reading “Outlaw Wins Unanimous Decision in Bowie, MD”

By Gabriel F. Cordero

In a rematch, Yesenia “Niña” Gómez (14-5-3, 6 KOs) won by majority decision to dethrone WBC light flyweight female world champion Esmeralda “Joya” Moreno (35-11-2, 11 KOs) on Saturday night at the Oasis Arena in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Scores were 95-95, 96-94 and 97-93 for Gomez who became the first female boxer in Quintana Roo to become a world champion, joining male world champions Rodolfo “Rudy” López and Miguel “Alacrán” Berchelt. Gomez and Moreno had met last May in that same venue with a very controversial result after the match was declared a draw.

Also, two-time world title challenger Diego Magdaleno (31-2, 13KOs) overcame a third round knockdown to defeat Jesús Cuadro (16-4, 12 KOs) ten round unanimous decision in the lightweight division. Scores were 95-94, 96-94 and 98-91. Continue reading “Gomez beats Moreno for WBC female 108lb belt”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Sumio Yamada

The weigh-in ceremony of the WBO flyweight title bout between defending champion Sho Kimura (17-1, 10 KOs) and mandatory challenger Kosei Tanaka (11-0, 7 KOs) unusually took place at the television studio of CBC TV to be telecast live on Sunday in Nagoya, Japan.

The results were as follows:
Kimura 111.75 (a quarter pound lighter than the limit)
Tanaka 112 (at the limit)

It will be telecast live locally in Nagoya area in Japan to be shown through streaming live from 4 pm on Monday (Japanese time) outside of Japan with the following URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZeyMP-JANo

You may watch it free and enjoy the competitive flyweight fight. Continue reading “Weights for Kimura-Tanaka WBO 112lb title bout”

“I got my knockout streak back,” said WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua after dispatching Alexander Povetkin in seven rounds on Saturday night. “I found my right hand which had gone missing for a while. It’s lining up for April 13. April 13 is what I’m really interested in…my #1 would be Wilder. That’s it. Let me not talk about #2 or #3. Wilder, that’s it.”

Photos: Bryan Quiles

With an aggressive body attack, super featherweight Jayson “La Maravilla” Velez (27-5-1, 19 KOs) annihilated Orlando “El Fenomeno” Cruz (25-7-2, 13 KOs) in two rounds on Saturday night at the Coliseo Rafael G. Amalbert in Juncos, Puerto Rico. Velez put Cruz on the deck twice in round two, finishing him with a liver shot. With the win, Velez claimed the NABA title.

“I’m grateful to Orlandito (Cruz) to get in the ring and accept this challenge because it shows that he’s more of a man than many out there,” Velez said. Continue reading “Velez KOs Cruz in all-PR showdown”

Photos: Zanfer

In an exciting and close fight, WBO female flyweight champion Arely “Ametralladora” Muciño (27-3-2, 10 KOs) retained her title against challenger Mary “La Polvorita” Salinas on Saturday night at the Arena Jose Sulaiman in Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico.

Scores were 97-93, 98-92 for Muciño, and 96-94 in favor of Salinas. Continue reading “Arely Muciño retains WBO title”