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By Matt Thompson at ringside
Photos: Emily Harney

Hartford CT’s Charles Foster won the vacant North American Boxing Association’s Light Heavyweight title tonight with a unanimous decision over Baton Rogue’s Justin Thomas in 10 spirited rounds in the main event of Murphys Boxing’s championship boxing series at Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Uncasville CT.

Foster, weighing in at 174 looked sharp throughout, maintaining optimum punching range and landing both to the head and body of the aggressive Thomas. Dropping Thomas in the second with a nicely timed straight left, Foster maintained the lead utilizing excellent movement and connecting accurate combinations up and down to walk away with the victory and belt by scores of 100-89 across the board. Foster improves to 15-0, 8 KOs while Thomas drops to 19-4 5 KOs. Continue reading “Foster defeats Thomas”

Oscar Valdez expects a toe-to-toe battle when he squares off against veteran Scott Quigg, Saturday, March 10, at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Valdez fights are never short on drama, and the StubHub Center — nicknamed “The War Grounds” by Timothy Bradley — has been the site of numerous Fight of the Year-caliber contests.

Valdez (23-0, 19 KOs), from Nogales, Mexico, will be making the fourth defense of his World Boxing Organization (WBO) featherweight title against Quigg (34-1-2, 25 KOs), a former World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight champion from Bury, England. Continue reading “Valdez: This title stays with me in Mexico”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Naoki Fukuda

The medical examination of the contestants for the WBA super bantamweight championship was held on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. The results were as follows:

WBA 122-pound title bout
Daniel Roman/Ryo Matsumoto
Height: 165.7 cm/176 cm 5’5”/5’9”
Reach: 171.5 cm/174 cm 67.5”/68.5”
Neck: 37 cm/35.5 cm 14.5”/14”
Chest: 90 cm/85 cm 35.5”/33.5”

We will see the official weigh-in ceremony tomorrow (Tuesday).

Photos

By Joe Koizumi
Photos: Boxing Beat

The medical examination of the contestants for the WBC bantamweight championship and IBF junior feather belt in a world title twinbill took place on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. The results were as follows:

WBC 118-pound title bout
Luis Nery/Shinsuke Yamanaka
Height: 165 cm/170 cm 5’5”/5’7”
Reach: 169 cm/174 cm 66.5”/68.5”
Neck: 39.5 cm/37 cm 15.5”/14.5”
Chest: 91.5 cm/88 cm 36”/34.5”

IBF 122-pound title bout
Ryosuke Iwasa/Ernesto Saulong
Height: 171 cm/166 cm 5’7.5”/5’5.5”
Reach: 180 cm/172 cm 71”/67.5”
Neck: 37.5 cm/37 cm 14.75”/14.5”
Chest: 91.5 cm/89 cm 36”/35”

There will be the press conference tomorrow (Tuesday).

Jarico O’Quinn vs Nick Otieno.

Two-time light heavyweight world champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev talks about Saturday’s title defense against Igor Mikhalkin at MSG.

[On his opponent, Igor Mikhalkin] “He will bring everything to get the WBO title. But I’m not going to give it to him, believe me. My goal is to defend the title and provide that I’m the best in this division.” Continue reading “Q&A: Sergey Kovalev”

“Boxeo Telemundo Ford” 2018 spring season continues on Friday with an exciting bout between David “Severo” Carmona and Jesus “Azul” Iribe for the vacant World Boxing Council Latin Bantamweight Title. On March 9, Telemundo returns to Mexico City for another all-Mexican bout, featuring Gilberto “Yaqui” Parra, who is ranked among the top ten in the world in his weight class, and Saúl “Baby” Juárez for the World Boxing Council Latin Light Flyweight Title.

When unbeaten heavyweight Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz faces WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder on Saturday, he can become the first Latino or Hispanic heavyweight world champion born outside of the U.S. and just the second heavyweight of Latino or Hispanic descent to capture the heavyweight world title. The first was Massachusetts’ John Ruiz, whose parents were Puerto Rican and who defeated Evander Holyfield for the WBA heavyweight title in March 2001.

“This fight is not only important for my family, but for Cuban boxing history,” said Ortiz. “My only focus right now is on the strategy I will need to defeat Wilder, but I know this fight has a lot of significance. I’m going to make history for myself and my country when I knock out Wilder on March 3.” Continue reading “Ortiz looking to make history”

WBA super middleweight champion George Groves is seeking a one month delay for his scheduled June 2 showdown against Callum Smith in the World Boxing Super Series 168lb Final. Groves needs the extra time to recover from a dislocated shoulder suffered in his semi-final clash with Chris Eubank Jr. Today Groves announced via Twitter that he is undergoing surgery.

The Smith camp is onboard for a postponement, rather than facing a replacement finalist. The WBSS cruiserweight final is scheduled for May in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

When it comes to working in the gym, undefeated Russian heavyweight prospect Apti Davtaev (14-0-1, 13 KOs) and his US trainer, Kronk Gym’s Javan SugarHill Steward, have their own way of communicating.

“We play a form of charades a lot. I physically put him in position sometimes and show him the openings,” said Steward. “It’s a challenge for me, which makes me love it more, to teach him without talking.”

The pair are currently hard at work for the big Russian’s (from the Chechen Republic of Kurchaloi) ring return, scheduled for April. Continue reading “Steward and Davtaev: Training without talking”

WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder has made it clear that he wants the toughest challenges and that’s why he selected unbeaten challenger Luis Ortiz as his challenger on Saturday night in Brooklyn.

“I want people to get it in their mind that I could have ran from this fight,” stated Wilder. “I could have chosen any opponent that I wanted to fight on March 3, especially when all the other stuff went about. I could have easily gone somewhere else but no, I’m adamant about what I say, I’m confident about what I’m going to do and I’m ready to prove it to the world. So I got the perfect opponent, it’s the perfect time, it’s the perfect place. Continue reading “Wilder: Ortiz is dealing with a monster”

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

Hall of Fame trainer Johnny Lewis has advised WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn on how to fight hot favorite Terence Crawford on April 14 in Las Vegas. Lewis, 73, has spent more than 60 years in boxing and trained six world champs, including Jeff Fenech and Kostya Tszyu. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in New York last year.

“Jeff can’t sit back and look for opportunities because Crawford is a sharpshooter and he will pick him off,” Lewis told Grantlee Kieza. “I’m not going to say that Crawford is the best fighter in the world but he’s certainly one of them along with the Ukrainian kid (Vasyl Lomachenko). Continue reading “Lewis: Horn has chance to expose Crawford flaws”

Light heavyweight contender Sullivan Barrera (21-1, 14 KOs) discusses Saturday’s challenge against WBA world champion Dmitry Bivol (12-0, 10 KOs) at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. The bout will be the co-main event on the Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev vs. Igor Mikhalkin HBO World Championship Boxing telecast.

[On fighting in a title bout] “This would be a very important victory obviously because I want to look to the future after this. It would be a dream come true to win the title. And we would see what happens after that. There are a lot of big names out there.” Continue reading “Interview: Sullivan Barrera”

By Ron Jackson

Featherweight Rofhiwa Maemu from Soweto retained the WBA Pan African title for the second time when he stopped Haidari Mchanjo of Tanzania in the third round at the Royal Swazi Spa Convention Centre in Mbabane over the past weekend.

The South African was in control through rounds two and three before the referee stopped the fight at 2 minute 30 seconds into the third round. Continue reading “Maemu stops Mchanjo in three rounds”

By Robert Coster

Bantamweight Junior Almonte, considered one of the Dominican Republic’s top prospects, faced off against fellow countryman Rafael Rodriguez with two titles at stake, the WBC Fecarbox belt and the vacant Dominican title, on Saturday in the city of Santiago. Almonte (8-0, 6 KOs), nicknamed “Little Bomb” (“Bombita”) certainly pleased his fans with a sterling performance, using combination punching to the head and the body against Rodriguez (11-2, 9 KOs), battering him in lethal and systematic manner. Rodriguez fell to his knees and was counted out at 1:51 of the first round. Continue reading “Almonte KOs Rodriguez in first round”

By Brad Snyder-The Undercard
Photos: Bob Ryder

In the biggest test of his young career, Ja’Rico O’Quinn (8-0, 6 KO’s) shined with a complete performance over Nick Otieno Okudo (31-13, 13 KO’s) Friday night, in Warren, MI. O’Quinn, whose potential as a boxing star under Salita Promotions, needed a step up in competition.

Otieno came in as a tough competitor, with an impressive resume. He is a true boxer with the only downfall of being 44 years old. O’Quinn’s speed and elusiveness proved strong over the super bantamweight 6-Round contest. His corner, Chad Jaquillard, agreed post fight and added he was happy with Rico’s performance. Continue reading “O’Quinn scores dominant win over Otieno”

Callum Smith booked a place in the World Boxing Super Series Super Middleweight Final after a rather underwhelming points win over tough kickboxer Nieky Holzken (a late sub and 50:1 underdog) in Nuremberg, Germany. Smith will now take on George Groves on June 2 at The O2 Arena in London.

Callum Smith: “I’m looking forward to the final. Groves is the one everyone wants to beat. He’s the number one seed and it’s the fight I wanted.”

George Groves: “I’ve had two great wins, this is the fight people want to see. I need to get in the ring and win the trophy. It’s exciting to see your opponent fight live – I can’t wait to get back into the gym. It will be an explosive final. I don’t expect it to go the distance – I’m confident, of course.”

Nieky Holzken: “I thought it would be tougher, but he did a good job behind the jab. Congratulations to him, but I will be back!”

By Miguel Maravilla

Following the epic Super Fly 2 card at the Forum in Inglewood, California, 360 Promotions’ Tom Loeffler and Juan Francisco Estrada spoke to the media. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (44-3-1, 39 KOs) of Thailand won a majority decision over Mexico’s Estrada (36-3, 25 KOs) in what was a thrilling bout from the opening bell.

Juan Francisco Estrada: “I felt I won, I boxed and attacked the last 3 rounds. I don’t know what the judges saw…I want a rematch!” Continue reading “Estrada: I felt I won…I want a rematch”

By Przemek Garczarczyk

Promoter Tom Loeffler recaps Superfly 2.

By Rocky Morales at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada

Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (44-4-1, 39KO) retained his WBC Super Flyweight title with a hard fought battle in a scintillating majority decision victory over Juan Francisco Estrada (36-3, 25KO) on Saturday night at the Forum in Los Angeles.

Estrada got off to a good start in the early rounds but then Rungvisai’s simple but effective and powerful punches started to find a home in the middle rounds. Despite some heavy leather being traded and a few tangled feet resulting in downed fighters, there were no knockdowns in the fight.

Estrada was most effective when he had the opportunity to counter Rungvisai but, by the championship rounds, Rungvisai fought a very controlled fight and the opportunities for Estrada to counter dried up. In the twelfth and final round, Estrada threw everything he had at Rungvisai but it was in vain and, while enough to win the round, not quite enough to win the fight. By scores of 114-114, 117-111 and 115-113, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai retains his title by majority decision to the utter disappointment and disapproval of the large Mexican fan base in attendance.

Photos

By Rocky Morales at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada

IBF flyweight champion Donnie Nietes (41-1-4, 23KO) scored a spectacular knockout victory over the very tough two-time world champion, Juan Carlos Reveco (39-4, 19KO) on Saturday night at the Forum in Los Angeles. The two fighters were engaged in a tactical battle for the first few rounds that elicited disapproving boos from the crowd but action opened up in the sixth round with Nietes badly hurting Reveco with a devastating right hand counter at the end of the round.

Reveco wobbled back to his corner, possibly already concussed, was examined by the doctor between rounds and allowed to continue. Coming out for the seventh round, it was evident that Reveco’s legs were gone. Nietes came right after him and ended a flurry of punches with a perfectly landed uppercut that floored Reveco. Continue reading “Nietes KOs Reveco, retains IBF fly title”