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Floyd Mayweather Quick Quotes: “I think we gave the fans what they wanted to see. I owed them for the Pacquiao fight. I had to come straight ahead and give the fans a show. That’s what ​I​ gave them​.​

“He’s a lot better than I thought he’d be. He’s a tough competitor, but ​I​ was the better man tonight. Our game plan was to take our time, go to him, let him shoot his shots early and then take him out down the stretch. We know in MMA he fights for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, he started to slow down. I guaranteed to everybody that this wouldn’t go the distance. Continue reading “Mayweather: Tonight was my last fight”

Conor McGregor Quick Quotes: “I thought I took the early rounds pretty handily. He had to change his style, and he adjusted. He’s composed. He’s not that fast, he’s not that powerful, but boy is he composed. He was patient with his shots. He’s had a great career. What can I say? I had a bit of fun and hopefully entertained the fans.” Continue reading “McGregor: I thought it was a bit of an early stoppage”

By David Robinett at ringside
Photos: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

It may not have been a matchup of two pound-for-pound boxers, but Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor put on an entertaining show, which is never a given in the squared circle, and always appreciated when it happens. Mayweather eventually forced a stoppage, pounding an exhausted McGregor into the ropes before referee Robert Byrd stepped in to protect McGregor from further punishment at 1:05 of round ten in a scheduled twelve-round super welterweight contest.

But before then, McGregor won some rounds (even if Mayweather might have let him), Mayweather had stretches where he treated McGregor like a bobblehead, and amazingly, the whole exercise might have actually been worth the $100 for the fans that paid to watch on television. Continue reading “Mayweather dominates and stops McGregor in ten”

By David Robinett at ringside
Photos: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

In boxing, as in many other sports, there’s often a fine line between icon and punchline. Gervonta Davis (19-0, 18 KOs), who at 22 was boxing’s youngest champion before being stripped of his IBF junior lightweight title this week for coming in two pounds over the 130 lb. limit, defeated his opponent, Francisco Fonseca (19-1-1, 13 KOs), but did so in a performance so flat and disappointing, the comparisons to Adrien Broner are almost impossible to avoid. Continue reading “Davis stops Fonseca, IBF 130lb title remains vacant”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada

While most of the world’s attention was focused on the Mayweather-McGregor spectacle in Las Vegas, The action was in Southern California as Puerto Rico’s only four-division world champion Miguel Cotto (41-5, 33 KOs) returned to the ring Saturday night at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California against Japan’s Yoshihiro “El Maestrito” Kamegai (27-4-2, 24 KOs).

It was an action packed fight from start to finish with Cotto adding another world title to his legacy in taking a hard fought decision over the Japanese warrior Kamegai who kept bringing throughout the night. Continue reading “Cotto beats Kamegai, wins WBO 154lb title”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada

In the co feature bout at StubHub Center in Carson, California, WBC super bantamweight champion Rey Vargas (30-0, 22 KOs ) of Mexico City scored a twelve round unanimous decision over Ronny Rios (28-2, 13 KOs). Vargas was defending his WBC title he won over Gavin McDonnell going into hostile territory for the second fight in a row as the local favorite Rios of nearby Santa Ana, California was looking to become Santa Ana’s first ever world champion.

Rios off to a fast start shot right hands to the body as Vargas jabbed following up with looping rights. In round two Vargas connected with a left hook to the body as Vargas returned landing a solid right hand. Trading away in the third Rios backed Vargas up as he went to the body crunching him in the closing seconds. Keeping his distance in round four Vargas shot the jab and fired combinations. Continue reading “Vargas retains WBC super bantamweight title”

By David Robinett at ringside
Photos: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

In a surprisingly one-sided fight, former super middleweight titlist Badou Jack (21-1-3, 13 KOs) moved up in weight and stopped light heavyweight titlist Nathan Cleverly (30-4, 16 KOs) at 2:47 of round five to take Cleverly’s WBA light heavyweight belt.

After a strong first round by Cleverly, he really never found another gear as Jack peppered him with punches to the head and body round after round with Cleverly mostly just covering up on the ropes. Continue reading “Jack dominates and dethrones WBA champ Cleverly”

By Jason Marchetti at ringside
Photos: Emily Harney

In the main event at Foxwoods Casino, Jimmy Williams (14-0-1, 6 KO’s) knocked out Issouf Kinda (18-5, 7 KO’s) in a controversial ending at welterweight.

In a relatively even fight through 4 rounds, Kinda and Williams traded shots as both fighters had their moments at a distance. However as the fight got closer in the ring, referee Steve Smoger appeared to attempt to break the action as both boxers kept fighting. Kinda and Williams continued to punch, and Williams’ final blow also hit Smoger. Kinda dropped to the floor and Smoger immediately began the count. Kinda’s corner threw the stool in the ring as Smoger counted Kinda out and mayhem broke loose inside and outside the ring. Continue reading “Williams KOs Kinda in wild scene”

By David Robinett at ringside

In a tepid affair that likely drove away some of the UFC fans in attendance who might have converted to boxing after watching Dulorme vs. Ugas, cruiserweights Andrew Tabiti (16-0, 13 KOs) and Steve Cunningham (29-9-1, 13 KOs) sparred, mugged, and held over ten rounds for the USBA/NABF cruiserweight belt. Tabiti emerged victorious because someone had to win, with the judges awarding him the decision by scores of 97-93, 97-93, 100-90. Although he was a solid fighter in his prime, at 41 years old and lots of sea miles, its probably time to decommission the U.S.S. Cunningham while Tabiti should just go back to the gym and work on his craft before fighting again on such a high profile card.

Welterweights Thomas Dulorme (24-3, 16 KOs) and Yordenis Ugas (20-3, 9 KOs) put on the fight of the night thus far, trading knockdowns and big punches over ten entertaining rounds, with Ugas earning a controversial unanimous decision after referee Vic Drakulich penalized Dulorme in the final round for the second time in the fight for low blows, which got Ugas over the hump by scores of 94-91, 93-92, 93-92. Continue reading “Mayweather-McGregor Undercard Results”

Boxing Night Olavinlinna was held on 26th August at the medieval Olavinlinna castle in Savonlinna, Finland. The event featured fights from WBC super featherweight world champion Eva Wahlström, welterweight contender Jussi Koivula and hard-hitting light heavyweight prospect Niklas Räsänen, among others.

Eva Wahlström’s (21–0–1) and Irma Balijagic Adler’s (16–9) fight was an eight-rounder without Wahlström’s WBC belt on the line. It was Wahlström’s chance to show how she can handle a taller and bigger opponent, and the skillful Finn did a convincing job. Continue reading “Results from Finland”

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

Glendora, California’s Joet Gonzalez (18-0, 9 KOs) scored a fifth round stoppage over Deivis Bassa (19-3, 11 KOs) of Montreal, Canada in a scheduled ten round super featherweight bout. A right hand by Gonzalez sent Bassa to the canvas as he continued. Gonzalez continued his attack as referee Jack Reiss stepped in to stop the fight at 2:57 of the fifth.

Super bantamweight prospect Emilio Sanchez (15-0, 10 KOs) of Pacoima, California stopped Danny Flores (11-8-1, 5 KOs) of Durango, Mexico in five rounds of a scheduled eight rounder. Sanchez landed a solid right hand in the opening round as he backed Flores. Attacking the body in round two Sanchez worked Flores inside as he kept pressing. In round three Sanchez continued to land big punches as he boxed Flores. The fourth round saw Flores land some big punches as he exchanged with the fast handed Sanchez. However in round five an accumulation of punches by Sanchez forced the referee to stop the fight 33 seconds of the fifth. Continue reading “Cotto-Kamegai Undercard Results”

By David Robinett

ESPN and Top Rank teamed up Saturday morning at the Wynn Las Vegas, on the heels of this evening’s Mayweather/McGregor event, to present a roundtable featuring various ESPN and Top Rank personnel, including Top Rank CEO Bob Arum and President Todd duBoef. The purpose of the gathering was to formally announce what was described as a “mega, comprehensive, multi-year agreement” with Top Rank for a series of fights to be presented on multiple platforms through the ESPN family of networks and other outlets. The highlight of the announcement was the emphasis on “vertical content,” described by the participants as content not just limited to live boxing on television, but re-airs, archival footage, and direct-to-consumer content through streaming services such as BAMTech.

Bob Arum explained the importance of the partnership with ESPN. “It means a lot, it really starts before I came into boxing when I was growing up and when boxing was a major, major sport in the country, where every newspaper had a boxing writer,” explained Arum. “It was a sport that was constantly before the public. And then [Muhammad] Ali helped keep the sport relevant. But as the years went on, for whatever reason, boxing became somewhat of a niche sport. Now with our partnership with ESPN, we have the opportunity to again make boxing a major sport.” Continue reading “ESPN and Top Rank announce new series”

Story and Photos by Bob Ryder

Promoters Kenny D. Moore and Tuong Vi Tran (Second 2 None Promotions) returned to DeCarlo’s Convention Center in the Detroit suburb of Warren with a solid card of pro boxing Friday night. Matchmakers for the night were Moore and Carlos Llinas. Plagued by fallouts and poor attendance in their initial outing this past April, the promoters attracted a near capacity crowd this time as they presented eight bouts headlined by Detroit’s Domonique Dolton. Dolton, making his second hometown appearance after taking some time off after his only professional loss, was impressive in walking through and knocking out Nicaragua’s Sergio Gomez.

Earlier this month Dolton did not impress in winning a decision on the Shields-Adler undercard as he struggled to land anything effective. This night he was much sharper, dominating the first round and scoring a knockdown over Gomez. The second round started off the same with Dolton scoring a knockdown early. Gomez arose but after feeling the pressure backed into his own corner where he took a knee to be counted out by referee Ansel Stewart at 1:10 of the round. Super welter Dolton is now (19-1-1, 10 KOs) while Gomez dips to (20-23, 16 KOs). Dolton was happy to be fighting at home again, “I’m going back to my roots, I started as an amateur at Kronk and I want to continue to fight here in the future. This was only my second fight with trainer Johnathon Banks and things are coming together. I just needed to work off the rust and stay active.” Continue reading “Dolton notches KO win in Detroit”

Unbeaten heavyweight champion LaRon Mitchell (16-0, 14 KOs) successfully defended his NABF “junior” title with a third round KO over against Michael Bissett (14-10, 8 KOs) on Friday night at Omega Products International in Corona, California. The San Francisco-based Mitchell, 242, had Bissett, 209, on the canvas three times in round three and finished him with another knockdown in round four. Time was 1:15.

NABF featherweight “junior” beltholder Erick Ituarte (18-1-1, 2 KOs) edged previously unbeaten Alberto Torres (10-1-2, 4 KOs) by split decision in the co-feature.

Report, Photos by Joe Koizumi

In a country of samurai (ancient brave warrior), Kumamoto, Japan, there will be the WBO 105-pound title bout tomorrow (Sunday). We today saw the weigh-in ceremony at the arena, Shiroyama Sky Dome, where defending champ Tatsuya Fukuhara (19-4-6, 7 KOs) scaled in at 104.75, while mandatory challenger Ryuya Yamanaka (14-2, 4 KOs) at the 105-pound class limit.

The WBO officials are as follows: referee Eddie Claudio (US); judges Carlos Ortiz Jr. (US; no relation to former great world titleholder), Surat Soikrachang (Thailand), Salven Lagumbay (Philippines); supervisor Leon Panoncillo (US). Continue reading “Fukuhara, Yamanaka Make Weight”

“I’m ready to fight the winner of Golovkin vs. Canelo for the title,” said middleweight Sergiy Derevyanchenko (11-0, 9 KOs) after his KO12 win over Tureano Johnson (20-2, 14 KOs) in their IBF world title eliminator. “I think that Golovkin will win and I look forward to fighting him next.”

As for his impressive win over Johnson, Derevyanchenko stated, “I’m very happy with my performance. I did exactly what we worked on in training and broke him down to get the knockout. He was very tough and took a lot of punches. Maybe the fight could have been stopped earlier but I was always ready to go the distance.”

By David Finger

Tatsuya Fukuhara 104.75 vs. Ryuya Yamanaka 105
(WBO Mini-Flyweight championship)

Naoya Haruguchi 107.5 vs. Shota Asami 108
Yuki Hirashima 121.75 vs. Wolf Nakano 121.5
Tomoya Ikeda 134 vs. Palanpetch Sithparsak 134.25
Takuya Ikawa 124.75 vs. Tetsuro Matsunami 126.5
Yoshiki Uehara 111.5 vs. Sora Takeda 111

Venue: Shiroyama Sky Dome, Ashikitamachi, Japan
Promoter: Honda Fitness Promotions
WBO Supervisor: Leon Panoncillo

Photos: Gary Crow/Premier Boxing Champions

In an important IBF middleweight eliminator, unbeaten Sergiy Derevyanchenko (11-0, 9 KOs) scored a hard fought twelfth round TKO over Tureano Johnson (20-2, 14 KOs) on Friday night at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma. In a tough, gritty fight, Derevyanchenko broke down Johnson and dropped him in round twelve to end it. Next up? The Golovkin-Canelo winner.

In an upset, middleweight Hugo Centeno Jr. (26-1, 14 KOs) scored a sudden third round KO over previously unbeaten Immanuel Aleem (17-1-1, 10 KOs). A left hook laid out Aleem for the count at :27. Ievgen Kytrov-conqueror Aleem was recently stripped of the WBC silver belt.

Unbeaten lightweight Austin “The Dream” Dulay (11-0, 8 KOs) scored a third round TKO over Carlos Padilla (16-6-1, 10 KOs). Dulay dropped Padilla in round three and Padilla was pulled out by his corner after the round.

Report/Photos: David Finger

For Japanese boxing fans, the biggest event of the week will not be taking place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Instead, Japanese fight fans will be looking south as WBO mini-flyweight champion Tatsuya Fukuhara (19-4-6, 7 KOs) defends his world title against the #1 ranked contender: countryman Ryuya Yamanaka (14-2, 4 KOs) of Kobe.

Although neither fighter has the flashiest record, this fight has already excited boxing fans as it looks to be the perfect clash of styles with the Gatti-esque Fukuhara looking to pin down the fleet footed boxer in Yamanaka. Continue reading “Fukuhara-Yamanaka final press conference”

ESPN’s telecast of the “unification” battle between undefeated world champions Terence Crawford and Julius Indongo was the second most-watched fight on cable in 2017 reaching a total live audience of 1.3 million viewers across ESPN and ESPN Deportes. The fight averaged 1.2 million viewers on ESPN (behind ESPN’s Pacquiao/Horn main event which delivered 3.7 million viewers).

*** Gervonta Davis 132 vs. Francisco Fonseca 130
(IBF jr lightweight title)
After about an hour delay, Davis has been stripped. Fonseca can claim the vacant belt if he defeats Davis.

Nathan Cleverly 174.3 vs. Badou Jack 174.5
(WBA light heavyweight title)

Andrew Tabiti 197.5 vs. Steve Cunningham 198

Yordenis Ugas 148 vs. Thomas Dulorme 147
Juan Heraldez 142 vs. Jose Miguel Borrego 143
Kevin Newman 162 vs. Antonio Hernandez 163
Savannah Marshall 164.5 vs. Sydney LeBlanc 165

Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Promoter: Mayweather Promotions
TV: PPV, Fox

Floyd Mayweather 149.5 vs. Conor McGregor 153

Venue: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas
Promoter: Mayweather Promotions
TV: PPV

The Immanuwel Aleem vs Hugo Centeno, Jr. fight tonight is NOT sanctioned for the WBC Silver middleweight title. After numerous attempts to contact the Aleem camp and Aleem’s inactivity since winning the title in a tremendous fight against Ievgen Kytrov on January 14, 2017, his title was vacated and contested two weeks ago on August 12 between Roberto Garcia and Omar Chavez. Garcia won a unanimous decision and is now the WBC Silver middleweight champion. Any advertisement of the Aleem-Centeno, Jr. fight as being for the WBC Silver middleweight title is false and without WBC sanction for the Silver title.

Miguel Cotto 153.6 vs. Yoshihiro Kamegai 153.8
(WBO jr middleweight title)

Rey Vargas 121.6 vs. Ronny Rios 122
(WBC super bantamweight title)

Venue: Stubhub Center, Carson, California
Promoter: Golden Boy
TV: HBO

Photos courtesy HBO

Here are the official results from the weigh-in of the Olavinlinna Boxing Night event. The night will feature bouts from WBC super featherweight world champion Eva Wahlström, light heavyweight prospect Niklas Räsänen, EBU-EU contender Jussi Koivula and others.

Niklas Räsänen 174,8 vs. Patrick Mendy 175,9
Eva Wahlström 133,8 vs. Irma Balijagic Adler 131,2
Jussi Koivula 149,7 vs. Pal Olah 148,6
Oskari Metz 146,2 vs. Temur Abuladze 145,5
Sami Enbom 181,2 vs. Stanislav Escher 177,7
Tuomo Eronen 129,2 vs. Giorgi Abuladze 124,8
Jose Antonio Sanchez Romero 122,6 vs. Tornike Tortladze 125,2
Antti Hietala 151,9 vs. Robizoni Omsarahsvili 153,2

Venue: Olavinlinna Castle, Savonlinna
Live stream: Viaplay
Promoter: Dominus Boxing Group