Fightnews.com

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

If successful, “Monster” Naoya Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs), Japan, will completely unify four belts in just two fights after moving up to the 122-pound category—within a year. WBC, WBO super bantam champion Inoue will collide with WBA, IBF counterpart Marlon Tapales (37-3, 19 KOs) in Tokyo on December 26. It was announced on Wednesday by Hideyuki Ohashi of Ohashi Promotions, who emphasized the new chapter of the Monster legend. It will take place at the Ariake Arena (constructed for the previous Olympic Games here) the capacity of which is 15,000.

Naoya took four years, seven months to complete bantamweight unification of the four belts since he at first dethroned Jamie McDonnel via first round demolition in May 2018 until he collected the fourth belt from Paul Butler in December of the previous year. But Inoue, 30, quickly seized the two titles from WBC, WBO ruler Stephen Fulton in his first engagement this July after he outgrew the 118-pound category. In only five months the Monster may acquire the other two belts from the hard-punching Filipino southpaw Tapales, a year his senior at 31, if successful.

Inoue said at the press conference, “Fulton was a very skillful boxer, while Tapales is a crafty southpaw with good defensive ability based on his flexible body movement. He also can counterpunch with excellent timing. He seems very hungry for fame and fortune.” Sean Gibbons, the representative of MP Promotions on behalf of Tapales, said, “We know Inoue is an explosive puncher with full of confidence. Tapales, however, wishes to become the first Filipino boxer to unify four belts. Marlon is training in the US, but will come home in the Philippines this November to make himself fit and finally prepared.”

Again if successful, Inoue will follow the footsteps of Terrence Crawford who impressively accomplished his complete unification of the four major belts in a couple of weight divisions (super-light and welter categories). Asked how long he will stay in the 122-pound class, Naoya replied, “I may move up to the featherweight division in 2025. If possible, I’d like to fight three times next year—probably against Luis Nery, John Riel Casimero and Murodjon Akhmadaliev.”

Tapales is unbeaten here in Japan, having beaten Shohei Omori twice, won a technical decision over Hayato Kimura, but lost to Ryosuke Iwasa via eleventh round TKO with the vacant IBF interim belt at stake in New York in 2019. When in the teens, Marlon came to Japan to serve as a sparring partner for Kazuto Ioka, the current WBA 115-pound titleholder.

Boxing has passed the age of radio, television, cable TV and pay-per-view to have the industry bigger and bigger as time goes by. Now it is the age of internet, in another word, streaming. You can enjoy watching boxing bouts with your hand phone or PC from all over the world, which realistically produces gigantic money. Naoya Inoue, now a world famous phenomenon thanks to streaming or YouTube, is truly a special product of the internet age.

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The show most go on…Bomba Gonzalez is forced to withdraw for Friday’s WBO title defense due to illness which has forced the champ to sit on the sidelines for the second time out. Replacing the main event is the co-feature which has been upgraded to the WBO interim jr flyweight title between #4 ranked contender Rene “El Chulo” Santiago (11-3, 8 KOs) against the undefeated #15 Kevin Vivas (7-0, 2 KOs) at the famed Alexis Arguello Arena in Managua, Nicaragua over 12 rounds. ESPN+ will televise in the U.S.

ESPN has announced a December 9 telecast headlined by WBO featherweight champion Robeisy Ramirez (13-1, 8 KOs) against Rafael Espinoza (21-0, 18 KOs) taking place in Pembroke Pines, Florida. In the co-feature, 2020 Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis (10-0, 6 KOs) meets former world champion Jose “Sniper” Pedraza (29-5-1, 14 KOs) in a ten round lightweight affair. Unbeaten junior middleweight Xander Zayas (17-0, 11 KOs) will also see action.

Jordan Panthen 159.9 vs Cameron Krael 156
Jesse Gonzalez 152.4 vs Josias Gonzalez 150.8
Lisa Mauldin 125.8 vs Angel Blackwell 123.6
Troy Guerrero 153.8 vs Mauricio Magdaleno 155.8
Sonny Robledo 139.4 vs Jose Angulo 140
Jesikah Guerra 157.6 vs Brianna Jiminez 157.4
Nick Olson 171 vs Caleb Tenpas 169.2

Venue: The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California
Promoter: Englebrecht Promotions & Events
TV: Live PPV on Fite.tv
Thursday, October 26th, 7pm PST

Former super lightweight contender Ryan “Blue Chip” Martin (25-2, 15 KOs) is set to make his return to the boxing ring after a year-long layoff. He will face off against Philippine slugger Rogelio “Hercules” Jun Doliguez (25-5-2, 19 KOs) in an 8-round super lightweight bout scheduled for Saturday. The fight will take place at the Lum Color Center in Ontario, California, under the promotional banner of Elite Boxing USA titled “Evolution XII.” Continue reading “Ryan “Blue Chip” Martin returns”

WBC/WBO world champion Naoya “Monster” Inoue and WBA/IBF king Marlon Tapales will collide in an undisputed junior featherweight showdown on Tuesday, December 26 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. Inoue, already a four-division world champion, seeks to become the second fighter to earn four-belt undisputed status in a second division.

Inoue-Tapales and undercard bouts will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ in a special early-morning presentation.

“The sensational Naoya Inoue astounds with every performance. We are witnessing an all-time great fighter in the prime of his career,” said Top Rank chairman Bob Arum. “He has a very difficult task at hand on December 26 against a tough, powerful Filipino champion in Marlon Tapales, but I am confident ‘The Monster’ will pass this test with flying colors.” Continue reading “Inoue-Taples set for Dec 26 in Tokyo”

Unbeaten super lightweight prospect Dion “Prime Time” Jones (6-0, 6 KOs) stopped Local Jader Esquivia (3-19-2, 1 KO) in round 1. The bout will took place at the Coliseo Cubierto de Pescaito in Santa Marta, Colombia. Jones followed the instructions of his trainer Jeff Mayweather and immediately established his jab within the early seconds of the fight while switching from conventional to the southpaw stance periodically. Esquivia was game and responded by pressing Jones but not landing anything significant as Jones footwork and handspeed kept him off balance. During the midway point of round one Jones opened up a rapid combination on Esquivia off the ropes. Esquivia attempting to fire back appeard to hurt his hand firing at Jones’ midsection. He dropped to the canvas immediately following the punch motioning to his right hand in obvious pain. Esquivia was unable to continue and the referee waved the bout off. The fight was just getting warmed up but had a nice pace going. Unfortunate set of circumstances as Esquivia pushed an unbeaten prospect near the six round distance in his previous bout. Jones for his part was extremely sharp and more than ready for his first scheduled six round bout.

A big international fight week kicks off this Friday from Nicaragua as the country will host a world title fight after a 21 year drought. WBO jr flyweight titlist Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (27-3-1 14 KO’s) makes his third defense against local ranked challenger #14 Gerardo “Cascabel” Zapata (14-1-1 5 KO’s) from beautiful Alexis Arguello Arena in Managua. Continue reading “Bomba-Zapata undercard set”

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury spoke about Saturday’s scheduled ten-rounder with MMA star Francis Ngannou in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

“I can stand and trade with anybody. I stood and traded with Wilder. I traded with Wladimir {Klitschko}, and I’ll stand and trade with this little bitch.”

“I might give him a slick, master boxing performance, not let the ugly man touch me once. That would be unbelievable, wouldn’t it? I might start dancing, tripling the jab like Apollo Creed, move around, just stick and move.”

“When {Ngannou} feels this right hand, he won’t be winning very much.” Continue reading “Tyson Fury unloads on Ngannou”

By Mauricio Sulaimán
President of the WBC – Son of José Sulaimán

Boxing is going through a complicated period of adjustments as a new era is beginning, eliciting a transformation.

The announcement by the Showtime network to end its boxing programming, after 37 years of being one of the world leaders has come as a considerable surprise to the world, creating uncertainty and concern for many members of the industry of our great sport.

Boxing is the oldest sport of humanity, and its modern version began more than 300 years ago in England. People gathered on vacant lots to watch and bet on bare-knuckle fights between two sturdy individuals, basically devoid of rules. Eventually it became regulated, took shape, formulated, and by the beginning of the 20th century, it was a highly popular sport throughout the world. Continue reading “An era in boxing ends, a new one begins”

WBO cruiserweight champion Chris ‘The Gentleman’ Billam-Smith (18-1, 12 KOs) makes the first defense of his world title on December 10 against Mateusz Masternak (47-5, 31 KOs), currently ranked #5 by the WBO and #9 by the WBC. The bout will take place at the Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, England, and airs live Peacock in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK.

BOXXER founder and CEO Ben Shalom said, “Chris Billam-Smith wanted his first defense of the WBO world cruiserweight championship to be a big crowd-pleaser of a fight in his home town. Mateusz Masternak ticks all the boxes; he’s ranked number five in the world, he’s got a ton of experience and he rarely takes a backwards step. He’s a very dangerous opponent and Billam-Smith is taking a serious risk here.”

Former three-division world champion Jorge “Golden Boy” Linares, 38, announced his retirement from boxing, after his unanimous decision loss against Jack Catterall, in Liverpool, England. Linares (47-9, 29 KOs) logged his fourth consecutive loss and sixth in his last 10 fights.

During his 21 years in professional boxing, he won the World Boxing Council featherweight championship, the WBA super featherweight championship, and the WBC lightweight championship.

Jorge Linares: “This was my last fight, I told my team, I told my wife, my family, that if I lost this fight, I would retire. So I lost and I’m leaving boxing. That’s why I’m very happy as I have accomplished so much. I told my team that it was a beautiful fight. Finishing today by decision was a victory for me.”

The Only in America 92 Celebration just got bigger as promoter Don King has put together five title fights for the Saturday, Nov. 4 extravaganza at the Casino Miami Jai Alai.

King is going to celebrate his recent 92nd birthday with five championship fights.

The Nov. 4th card will have three co-feature title fights headlined by the 12-round battle for the WBC cruiserweight vacant title as the number one ranked fighter, Mikaelian (26-2, 11 KOs) of Miami, FL via Armenia taking on the number two ranked fighter and former champion Makabu (29-3, 25 KOs) from Johannesburg, South Africa via the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Makabu, who lost his title to Badou Jack as he was stopped in the 12th round, is hoping to regain his belt after Badou Jack relinquished the title. Continue reading “King announces additional fights for Nov 4”

Unbeaten super lightweight prospect Dion “PrimeTime” Jones (5-0, 5 KOs), 2nd from right, weighed in ahead of his first scheduled six round profesional bout. His opponent will be the more experienced 23-bout local veteran Jader Esquivia (3-18-2, 1 KO). Jones weighed in at 139 and Esquiivia 137.5. World class trainer Jeff Mayweather, far right, will be in charge of the corner of Jones. The bout will take place at the Coliseo Cubierto de Pescaito in Santa Marta, Colombia.

Lots of action on both Friday and Saturday this week.

FRIDAY
ESPN+ presents WBO junior flyweight champion Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (27-3-1, 14 KOs) against #14 Gerardo “Cascabel” Zapata (14-1-1, 5 KOs) from the Polideportivo Alexis Arguello in Managua, Nicaragua.

DAZN counters with undisputed female featherweight champion Amanda Serrano (45-2-1, 30 KOs) defending her WBA/IBF/WBO titles only against Danila Ramos (12-2, 1 KO) at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, in a bout contested over twelve, three-minute rounds. The WBC did not sanction the bout.

SATURDAY
WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) fights in a ten round non-title boxing match against MMA star Francis Ngannou in a $79.99 PPV from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This is an all-heavyweight card that will also feature Fabio Wardley (16-0, 15 KOs) against David Adeleye (12-0, 11 KOs), Joseph Parker (32-3, 22 KOs) against Simon Kean (23-1, 22 KOs), and Arslanbek Makhmudov (17-0, 16 KOs) against Junior Wright (20-4-1, 17 KOs).

DAZN has WBC super featherweight champion O’Shaquie Foster (20-2, 11 KOs) defending against KO artist Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez (34-1, 31 KOs) from the Poliforum Benito Juarez in Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

By Brad Snyder-The Undercard
Photos by Bob Ryder

One of the most consistent and successful boxing series continued Saturday night with promoter Carlos Llinas and Sound Board in Motor City Casino in Detroit. Both the main and co-main events provided action for the capacity crowd. Cruiserweight Joe Jones (14-9, 10 KOs) shocked the venue with an upset of local favorite, Vernon Webber (9-1, 6 KOs). After a very close 1st and uneventful 2nd round, the 3rd gave the fans much needed action. Jones began to pick up the pace and landed a hard left-right before the bell that carried over into the 4th. In the 4th Round, a powerful right, then left were enough to send Webber to the canvas. Webber was able to get up with pure heart to finish the round. Then in the last two rounds, Webber began to fight, putting together his best two rounds in the 5th and 6th. When the scorecards came in, the judges had it (58-55, 58-54, 59-54) all in favor of Jones by UD. Joe Jones had fought a lot of undefeated fighters on his way to Saturday night’s fight. He was rewarded for his hard work with this win. Webber will take a step back, but will be just fine. Webber’s chin, heart, and great management team will rebuild for another run in the coming year. Continue reading “Night of Knockouts XXVIII”

Undefeated junior lightweights Jabril Noble and Rashan Adams lived up to the billing as Noble eked out a razor-thin split decision in front of a capacity crowd at Harrahs Philadelphia in Chester, PA

The fight was hotly contested from the outset with Adams working the jab early. Noble got into the fight by landing some solid flurries in the second and third rounds. Adams fought back in round four as he was able to work on the inside. The fifth round proved pivotal as Noble was able to score a knockdown with a hard combination. Adams was hurt but was able to get out of the round as the knockdown came in the final seconds of the round. With the fight on the line, the two fighters battled it out to the final bell which had the crowd on their feet.

Noble, 131.4 lbs. of Philadelphia won by scores of 58-55 and 57-56 while Adams took a card 57-56. Noble is now 5-0. Adams, 130.1 lbs. of Philadelphia is 5-1. Continue reading “Noble Outlasts Adams in Philly”

By Miguel Maravilla

San Diego’s Giovanni Santillan (33-0, 17 KOs) spoke about his thrilling win at the post-fight press conference. Santillan scored a sixth round stoppage over Alexis Rocha (24-2, 15 KOs) of Santa Ana Saturday night at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Here is what he had to say.

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By Miguel Maravilla at ringside

In a huge upset, undefeated Giovani “Gallo de Oro” Santillan (32-0, 17 KOs) knocked out WBO #1 welterweight Alexis “Lex” Rocha (23-2, 15 KOs) in round six on Saturday night at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. Santillan put a beat down on Rocha. Rocha’s nose was pouring blood early. Santillan dropped Rocha twice in round five and finished him with another knockdown in round six.

Going straight at it and fighting on the inside, Rocha and Santillan went right at it a phonebooth fight. Santillan staggered Rocha to begin the second round. Pressing to begin the third, Santillan pumped the jab as Rocha’s nose appeared to be busted gushing blood, but that did not stop the Santa Ana fighter’s momentum. The fourth round began with Santillan landing a chopping left, the San Diego fighter continued and connected with a sharp combination as Rocha appeared very sluggish and on the receiving end of Santillan’s offensive.

Santillan dropped Rocha to begin the fifth. The bloodied Rocha got up and continued showing grit. Rocha was droped again was saved by the bell. Santillan finished off Rocha in the sixth, knocking him down for a third time as referee Ray Corona waved it off at 1:13.

In the co-feature bout, Los Angeles’s John “Scrappy” Ramirez (13-0, 9 KOs) scored a fourth-round knockout over Ronal Batista (15-4, 9 KOs) of Panama in a WBA super flyweight title eliminator. It was a slow start for Ramirez as he took his time stalking and measured Batista early in the fight. Things began to sizzle as Ramirez connected and cornered Batista in the third landing with hooks and chopping rights flush on the chin to finish the round. A crunching left hook to the body by Scrappy dropped Batista in the fourth, then Ramirez finished him off with a vicious right knocking down Batista for a second time as referee Jack Reiss stopped the fight at 2:33.

Gabriela Fundora (12-0, 5 KOs) of Coachella, California won the IBF flyweight champion by knocking out Arely “Ametralladora” Muciño (32-4-2, 11 KOs) of Monterrey, Mexico in the fifth. Mucino attacked Fundora at the opening bell, taking swings at the much taller opponent as Fundora adjusted to strike with a solid straight, later to close the round Fundora staggered Mucino to the corner as she was saved by the bell from the attack. Continuing where they left off, Mucino charged as Fundora countered and connected with straight shots. Mucino was dropped to begin the fifth and continued to fight, referee Jack Reiss gave Mucino a standing eight count but she couldn’t continue and Reiss stopped the fight at 1:18 of the fifth. Continue reading “Upset: Santillan knocks out #1 Rocha in six”

Cruiserweight Isaac Chamberlain (16-2, 8 KOs) became the new British and Commonwealth champion, winning a dominant unanimous decision victory (119-111, 118-111, 118-111) against previously undefeated beltholder in Mikael Lawal (17-1, 11 KOs) on Saturday night at London’s historic York Hall.

Chamberlain said to Sky Sports after the fight: “I didn’t have the best amateur career, I had nine fights, they chucked me in the deep end and I kept going. When I was younger I had low self-esteem, but I said I believe in the ability I have. Even though I had niggles coming to this fight, I said ‘it’s now or never’. All the fights that are there now – let’s make them happen.”

Other Results:
Sam Gilley W12 Louis Greene (super welterweight)
Joe Laws W8 Michael Hennessy Jr (super welterweight)
Karriss Artingstall TKO2 Vanessa Bradford (female featherweight)

Super lightweight contender Jack Catterall (28-1, 13 KOs) scored a twelve round unanimous decision against 38-year-old former multi-weight world champion Jorge Linares (47-9, 29 KOs) on Saturday night at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. Linares pressed the action, but had problems getting past Catterall’s jab. Catterall drove Linares into the ropes with a big shot at the end of round five, but he never really went for an early finish and was content to win a cat and mouse game. Scores were 117-111, 116-112, 116-112. Fourth straight loss for Linares.

In what was billed as his final fight, ageless former world champion Firat Arslan (55-9-3, 40 KOs) knocked out Edin “Iron Puki” Puhalo (23-2, 22 KOs) in round six to claim the WBA gold cruiserweight title on Saturday night at the EWS Arena in Goeppingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The aggressive 53-year-old Arslan, rated #4 in the world by the WBA, mostly got the better of the exchanges with Puhalo, 35, who is rated WBA #5. Arslan dropped Puhalo with a left hand late in round two, then floored Puhalo three times in round six with lefts to the ear that really rattled Puhalo. Time was 1:29.