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IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto “El Venado” Lopez (28-2, 16 KOs) looks to kick off Mexican Independence Day weekend with an emphatic defense of his title against two-time world title challenger Joet Gonzalez (26-3, 15 KOs) on ESPN Friday, September 15 at American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Following a recent training session, this is what Lopez had to say:

“I’m always working on being a little smarter and on knowing how to do everything in the ring because sometimes we are going to need it. I am always working on improving all aspects.”

“I’m going for the knockout. It’s a personal challenge that I have. Joet Gonzalez has faced great fighters like Shakur Stevenson, Emanuel Navarrete and Isaac Dogboe, and he has never been knocked out. Knocking out a tough fighter like him is a huge goal for me.” Continue reading “Venado Lopez: I’m going for the knockout”

By Jeff Zimmerman

Fightnews.com® caught up with rising jr. middleweight sensation Jesus Ramos Jr as he prepares to face the battle tested Erickson Lubin as the co-main event on Canelo-Charlo on Sat, Sept 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ramos talked about facing Lubin, learning new training techniques from Team Crawford, the excitement of fighting on a Canelo card and much more in this exclusive interview.

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Matchroom has confirmed that heavyweight Joe Cusumano (22-4, 20 KOs) returned an adverse analytical finding as part of an anti-doping protocol mandated by the New York State Athletic Commission following his eighth round TKO win over Adam Kownacki on June 24.

In a statement, Matchroom said, “We understand a process is underway with the New York State Athletic Commission and Matchroom now defers to the applicable regulatory authorities on the next steps. Whilst we are disappointed by the news, this reaffirms Matchroom’s ultimate desire to regularly test active fighters and ensure we continue to promote a clean and fair sport for all athletes. Will we not be making any further comment.”

Unbeaten WBA #14 lightweight Chann Thonson (15-0, 12 KOs) scored a third round referee’s stoppage win over Nikolai Buzolin (9-6-1, 5 KOs) on Tuesday night at the Texas Troubadour in Nashville, Tennessee. In round three, Thonson battered Buzolin until Buzolin’s corner threw in the towel. Time was 1:35.

Unbeaten super welterweight (13-0, 10 KOs) won a six round unanimous decision over Eric Bossler (6-5, 5 KOs). Scores were 60-54, 59-55, 60-54.

By Jeff Zimmerman

Fightnews.com® caught up with rising, young star Freudis Rojas Jr. aka “Freddy” as he takes on the Freddie Roach trained Saul Bustos at Boeing Center at Tech Port on Fri, Sept 15 in San Antonio, TX. Rojas Jr. recapped the Spence-Crawford battle and discussed the confidence gained from sharing the ring with #1 pound-for-pound star Terence “Bud” Crawford and much more in this exclusive interview.

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After a 21-year Hiatus, a world title fight featuring a Nicaraguan finally returns to the land of volcanoes and lakes. WBO Jr Flyweight titlist Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (27-3-1, 14 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico is set to make his third defense against local ranked challenger WBO #10 Leyman “El Fenix” Benavides `(20-6-1, 3 KOs) on October 27 at the Alexis Arguello Sports Complex in Managua, Nicaragua. The bout will stream live on ESPN+ (USA including Puerto Rico) and air on ESPN Knockout in all of Latin America. Continue reading “Bomba Gonzalez returns Oct 27”

The ESPN network announced on their website that they will air the WBC lightweight title fight between Shakur Stevenson (20-0, 10 KOs) and Frank Martin (18-0, 12 KOs). Parties reached a deal to clash for the vacant WBC belt shortly before a scheduled WBC purse bid. Possible dates are November 16 in Las Vegas or December 9 in New York City.

No blockbuster boxing telecasts as is usually the norm for the Saturday leading into Mexican Independence Weekend next week, however all is not lost for fight fans. In fact, we have good ring action every night this week.

TUESDAY
Fite TV + various cable and satellite carriers
Chann Thonson (14-0, 11 KOs) vs. Nikolai Buzolin (9-5-1, 5 KOs)
Super lightweights from the Texas Troubadour, Nashville, TN

WEDNESDAY
ProBox TV
Radivoje Kalajdzic (27-2, 19 KOs) vs. Mickey Ellison (14-4, 5 KOs)
Light heavyweights from Whitesands Events Center, Plant City, FL

THURSDAY
DAZN
Raul Curiel (12-0, 10 KOs) vs. Courtney Pennington (17-6-3, 7 KOs)
Welterweights from Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, CA

FRIDAY
ESPN+
Christian Mbilli (24-0, 20 KOs) vs. Demond Nicholson (26-5-1, 22 KOs)
Super middleweight from the Casino Lac-Leamy, Gatineau, QC, Canada

SATURDAY
DAZN
Bader Samreen (8-0, 7 KOs) vs. Jose Paez Gonzales (16-2-2, 12 KOs)
Lightweights from Mubadala Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

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

It is time to put it in black and white and clarify something that for many years has been a matter of confusion, misinterpretation and mishandling of information, which has prompted so many to be commenting on all kinds of baseless things, creating ridiculous discussions, hurting our sport of boxing.

I am talking about the famous UFC. It is increasingly common to see that the UFC is compared with boxing. But as we say in Mexico: You cannot compare apples with pears.

First of all, I want to clarify that the UFC deserves full credit for the incredible growth it has achieved since its inception 30 years ago. They have managed to become a multi-million-dollar business.

Let’s explore the differences:

Boxing is a universal sport, the oldest of all. It has an amateur modality, being an Olympic sport in the original Games in Greece, and in the modern ones since 1904. A sport that is regulated by boxing commissions in each city, state and country, and the business side of the sport is handled solely by the promoters. Continue reading “Boxing and the UFC”

Chann Thonson 134.4 vs. Nikolai Buzolin 135
(WBA Continental Americas Lightweight Title)

Justin Biggs 154.4 vs. Eric Bossler 155
Erick Arellano 225.4 vs. Francois Russlell 250.6
Jaquan Carty 158.6 vs. Orlenis Licea 157.4
Kevin Torian 200 vs. Raquan Ashby 191.2
Ermes Orta 139.6 vs. Raymond Chacon 142.6

Venue: Troubadour Nashville
Promoter: Jimmy Adams Promotions
1st Bell: 8 PM ET (7 PM CT)

TV: Dish Network–Channel 218
Comcast/Xfinity –Channel 1495
Fios–Channel 662
Frontier–Channel 162
ATT U-Verse–Channel 459/1459
Spectrum–Channel 189
GCI–Channel 142
Cincinnati Bell–636
Buckeye Cable–Channels 161/572
Direct TV–Channel 242

Stream: FITE.TV and Countrybox247.com

Marc Abrams and Albert Haynesworth on the call

Boxing trainer Brian “BoMac” McIntyre was arrested at Manchester Airport when attempting to leave England after working the Chris Eubank Jr corner vs. Liam Smith on Saturday. TSA’s allegedly found a loaded gun in BoMac’s luggage. He has been charged with possession of a firearm and possession of ammunition for a firearm without a certificate. As of now, BoMac will likely be held in custody at least until an October 9 hearing. It’s illegal in the UK for any member of the public to carry a gun and penalties are severe.

BoMac is primarily known as the head trainer for undisputed welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford.

Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez have been talking about a potential future showdown.

“I always said, I respect Terence Crawford,” Alvarez told TMZ. “He’s a very talented fighter but he just won one big fight. If you see his record, he just beat one good fighter in Errol Spence. Other than that, I don’t think he’s beaten other great fighters like Spence.”

Crawford responded on Twitter, “Here we go with the I haven’t fought nobody but Spence talk. Lol y’all so delusional it’s crazy.”

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First Canelo has to get past Jermell Charlo on September 30. “Jermell Charlo is a great fighter, he’s a talented fighter and he’s undisputed in his weight class,” Alvarez said. “It’s going to be a good fight so I’m happy to be in this kind of fight, in the big fights.”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Former IBF 130-pound champ Kenichi Ogawa (28-2-1-1NC, 19 KOs), 129.75, proved too powerful and aggressive for OPBF#15 ranked Filipino Marvin Esquierdo (17-3-1-1NC, 11 KOs), 129.5, winning a nearly shutout decision (99-91 twice, 98-92) over ten Tom-and-Jerry rounds on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Ogawa acquired the vacant IBF belt by outhustling Azinga Fuzile at Madison Square Garden in 2011, but lost it to Joe Cordina with a single right shot in Cardiff, Wales in June of the previous year. In his second comebacking bout, Ogawa, a sturdy and muscular puncher, kept stalking the elusive dodger, whose object was just to survive rather than to be victorious. Kenichi sometimes almost caught the negative Filipino but he displayed tricky defensive skills to avert Ogawa’s lethal shots until the end. Continue reading “Ex-IBF 130lb champ Ogawa defeats Esquierdo”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Japanese welterweight champ Shoki Sakai (28-17-3, 15 KOs), 146.75, retained his national belt as he kept stalking less aggressive footworker WBO#15 Hiroya Nojima (11-2-1, 5 KOs), 145.5, all the way and won a nearly lopsided decision (all 98-92) over ten monotonous rounds on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. Sakai, who had stayed long under Nacho Beristain in Mexico, returned to his native place three years ago and then acquired the national title this April to his credit. In his initial defense Sakai patiently kept chasing the footworker and dominated almost all rounds with ease. Continue reading “Sakai beats Nojima, keeps Japanese 147lb belt”

By Ron Jackson

South Africa’s Ricardo Malajika won the vacant IBO junior bantamweight title with a brilliant exhibition of boxing, when he outthought and out boxed Kevin Luis Munoz from Argentina over 12 rounds at the Emperors Palace near Kempton Park on Saturday night.

Judge Tony Nyangiwe scored it 117-111 and judges Phumeza Zinakile and John Shipanuka had it 118-110 and 120-108. Continue reading “Ricardo Malajika wins vacant IBO title”

The stock of middleweight Chris Eubank Jr went way up after his dominating win over former conqueror Liam Smith on Saturday night in Manchester England.

“Listen, I wanna fight GGG,” proclaimed Eubank afterward. “I don’t know where he is right now but wherever you are Gennady, you’ve been holding on to them belts for too long. I want to take one. So let’s get in on if we can. 100%.”

As for the fight, Eubank said, “Liam is a warrior. I respect him, his team, his family and his brothers. They always come out and put it all on the line. He fought until the last second, so big up to Liam and his team…I’m not going to lie, what happened tonight was supposed to happen in January. Like I said, it wasn’t my night. I trained hard for that fight, I trained hard for this fight. The focus is always there. I dedicate my life to this sport. Now we’re onto bigger and better fights. There’s some big names out there.”

Liam Smith stated, “I was flat. I think the weight killed me. I was flat and Chris was sharp. Chris was the better man tonight.”

Middleweight Chris Eubank Jr (33-3, 24 KOs) avenged his loss to former WBO jr middleweight champion and current WBO #2 middleweight Liam “Beefy” Smith (33-4-1, 20 KOs) with a one-sided tenth round TKO on Saturday night at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. Now trained by Brian “Bomac” Mcintyre, the quicker Eubank was busier and used John Ruiz-style clutch and grab tactics to thwart Smith’s offense early on. Eubank dropped Smith in round four with an uppercut and totally took over after that. Smith survived a furious barrage in round five. Eubank continued to dominate while Smith desperately looked to land a big shot. The later rounds were pretty much one-way traffic. Eubank dropped Smith again in round ten and the bout was waved off by the referee after Eubank’s follow-up barrage. Time was 1:45.

Unbeaten and highly touted WBA #11 super lightweight Adam Azim (9-0, 6 KOs) won a workmanlike ten round unanimous decision over Aram Fanyan (22-2, 4 KOs). Competitive fight. Scores were 98-92, 100-90, 99-91.

Olympic super heavyweight bronze medalist Frazer Clarke (8-0, 6 KOs) scored a sixth round TKO over David Allen (25-6-2, 18 KOs). Clarke was deducted two points in round six for repeated low blows. After the round, the bout was stopped due to a perforated ear drum suffered by Allen.

In an upset, “Little Lever’s Meat Cleaver” Jack Cullen (22-4-1, 10 KOs) knocked out and dethroned British and Commonwealth super middleweight champion and IBF #13, WBO #14-rated Mark Heffron (29-3-1, 23 KOs) in round three. Cullen dropped Heffron with a clean left hook. Heffron got up quickly, but then sank back to the canvas. Time was 2:43.

Unbeaten welterweight Florian “The Albanian King” Marku (13-0-1, 8 KOs) needed just 54 seconds to demolish Dylan Moran (18-2, 8 KOs) in the first round. Marku bumrushed Moran and got a referee’s stoppage after a barrage of punches.

Former unified women’s super featherweight champion Mikaela Mayer (19-1, 5 KOs), now fighting at super lightweight, outpointed former Euro champ Silvia Bortot (11-3, 3 KOs) over ten rounds. Scored 100-90 for Mayer.

Olympic gold medalist Lauren Price (5-0, 1 KO) won by sixth round technical decision over Lolita Muzeya (18-2, 10 KOs) in a female welterweight bout.

Hometown favorite and multi-time world title challenger Miguel “Mickey” Roman (66-14, 49 KOs) of Cuidad Juarez, Mexican took on Carlos Daniel Cordoba (16-11, 4 KOs) of Argentina late Friday night in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico for the WBC international 130 pound title. The bout had it all from rough housing, fouls, knockdowns, live fight trash talking. Cordoba seemed to get into Roman’s head early but Roman settled down to drop Cordoba multiples times. Each fighter was deducted points for low blows. In the end it was Roman with the lopsided win. The official scores of 99-87, and 98-88 twice in favor to Roman.

In a clash between Scottish fan favorites, 40-year-old former three division world champion Ricky Burns (45-8-1, 17 KOs) battered game 44-year-old Willie Limond (42-6, 13 KOs) for eight rounds in a welterweight bout on Friday night at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow, Scotland. Limond remained on his stool after round eight.

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Light heavyweight Lyndon “King” Arthur (23-1, 16 KOs) scored a spectacular tenth round KO over Braian Suarez (18-2, 17 KOs) on Friday night in a clash for the IBO title at the University of Bolton Stadium in Bolton, England. Suarez, who missed weight, dropped Arthur in round four, and basically outmuscled and outworked him until Arthur connected with a left hook to the body in round ten that sent Suarez to the canvas for the count. Time was 2:55.

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In a women’s bantamweight unification, WBO champ Dina Thorslund (20-0, 8 KOs) took a ten round unanimous decision over WBC bantamweight champ Yuliahn Luna Avila (25-4-1, 4 KOs) on Friday night at the Graakjaer Arena in Holstebro, Denmark. Scores were 99-91, 98-92, 97-93.

The venue is set and the undercard is shaping up for the October 14 middleweight unification clash between WBO champion Janibek “Qazaq Style” Alimkhanuly (14-0, 9 KOs) and IBF champion Vincenzo Gualtieri (21-0-1, 7 KOs). The bout will take place at the brand-new, state-of-the-art Fort Bend Epicenter in Rosenberg, Texas, which opened its doors last week.

In the 10-round lightweight co-feature, U.S. Olympic silver medalist Keyshawn Davis (9-0, 6 KOs) goes against Nahir Albright (16-2, 7 KOs).

Other bouts:

• U.S. Olympic Silver medalist Richard Torrez Jr. (6-0, 6 KOs) will make his third appearance of 2023 in a six-round heavyweight battle against Don Haynesworth (17-8-1, 15 KOs)
• Junior welterweight Giovanni Marquez (6-0, 4 KOs), son of former world champion Raul Marquez, will put his unbeaten record on the line against TBA in a scheduled six-rounder
• U.S. Olympic silver medalist Duke Ragan (8-0, 1 KO) will make his 2023 debut in an eight-round featherweight fight against Jose Perez (11-1-2, 5 KOs)
• 2016 Italian Olympian Guido Vianello (10-1-1, 9 KOs) will take on Florida veteran Curtis Harper (14-9, 9 KOs) in an eight-round heavyweight tilt,
• Kelvin Davis (9-0, 6 KOs), the eldest of the fighting Davis Brothers from Norfolk, will see action in an eight-round junior welterweight clash.
• Unbeaten lightweight prospect Alan “Kid Kansas” Garcia (9-0, 8 KOs) will face an opponent to be named in a six-rounder.

In a fight that could shake up the division, WBO #1 welterweight Alexis “Lex” Rocha (23-1, 15 KOs) will take on undefeated WBO #4 Giovani “Gallo de Oro” Santillan (31-0, 16 KOs) on October 21 in an NABO title defense scheduled for 12-rounds. The fight will take place at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, and be broadcast live worldwide on DAZN.

Alexis Rocha: “I will be at my best, and my best is at a different level. I know Giovani asked for this fight, but like my coach always says, be careful what you wish for.”

Giovani Santillan: “Defeating Rocha puts me in the world title mix and in position for even bigger fights…I wanted this fight, so as soon as Top Rank and my management told me this fight was happening, I was thrilled. This is my time, and I am going to take full advantage of this opportunity.”

On October 28 at The Paramount in Huntington, New York, super welterweight Wendy “Haitian Fire” Toussaint (14-2,  6 KOs) returns in an eight-rounder against Jermone Jones (7-1, 6 KOs) at Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing “Rockin’ Fights” 45. Toussaint-Jones will be chief support to Toussaint’s sparring partner and stablemate Alex “El Toro” Vargas (13-0, 5 KOs) who steps up in a ten round super lightweight main event against Matt “Sweet Child” Conway (23-3, 9 KOs).

Liam Smith 160 vs. Chris Eubank Jr 159.3
Adam Azim 139 vs. Aram Fanyan 139
Frazer Clarke 270 vs. David Allen 257
Mark Heffron 167 vs. Jack Cullen 167
Mikaela Mayer 141.3 vs. Silvia Bortot 139
Florian Marku 146.3 vs. Dylan Moran 145
Lauren Price 146.3 vs. Lolita Muzeya 147.3
Frankie Stringer 135.3 vs. Engel Gomez 134

Venue: AO Arena, Manchester, England
Promoter: BOXXER
TV: ESPN+ (USA), Sky Sports Box Office PPV (UK)

By Gabriel F. Cordero

It has been learned that former world champion Errol Spence Jr. has activated his rematch clause to fight undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford. There is nothing finalized on dates, venue or even the weight division for Crawford-Spence 2, but the fight is expected before the end of the year or early 2024. Crawford had expressed interest in a possible bout against the Canelo-Charlo winner, but now it looks like he and Spence will be running it back.

Jimmy Adams Promotions has announced a distribution deal that will see the popular CountryBox series televised all over the United States on major Cable television and Satellite providers. The deal will begin with Tuesday night’s (September 5th) six bout card from the Troubadour in Nashville, Tennessee.

The card will go into 100 million homes on the following channels on each Cable/Satellite Provider:
Dish Network–Channel 218
Comcast/Xfinity –Channel 1495
Fios–Channel 662
Frontier–Channel 162
ATT U-Verse–Channel 459/1459
Spectrum–Channel 189
GCI–Channel 142
Cincinnati Bell–636
Buckeye Cable–Channels 161/572
Direct TV–Channel 242

Plus on the web on Fite.tv. Continue reading “CountryBox lands TV deal”