Fightnews.com

Former two-time heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua is a -450 favorite against former UFC champ Francis Ngannou +320 for their clash on Friday night from the Kingdom Arena in Riydah, Saudi Arabia.

In other action, WBO interim heavyweight champion Zhilei Zhang is a -250 favorite against former WBO champ Joseph Parker (+200), unbeaten heavyweight Justis Huni is -450 against Kevin Lerena +320, and oddsmakers have WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas as a slight +150 underdog against unbeaten challenger Nick Ball (-175).

Super welterweight “King” Callum Walsh (9-0, 7 KOs) hosted a large gathering of media on Saturday afternoon at the world-famous Wild Card Boxing Gym in Hollywood, California, ahead of his return to New York City’s Theater at Madison Square Garden against Dauren Yeleussinov, (11-3-1, 10 KOs) for a St. Patrick’s Day Weekend event on Friday, March 15, 2024, broadcast globally on UFC Fightpass.

Joining Walsh at Wild Card Boxing Gym in Hollywood, CA were his Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach and promoter Tom Loeffler, President of 360 Promotions. Following his workout, the 23-year-old Walsh stated, “I’m ready to put on a show for the fans on St Paddy’s weekend. I’ve put in a lot of work with Freddie and the team and I’m ready to shine at Madison Square Garden.”

World-ranked undefeated jr. flyweight contender Jairo “El Leñador” Noriega of Villareal, Spain arrived with his team today in Managua, Nicaragua for his upcoming elimination bout this Friday at the Pharaohs Casino. Noriega (13-0, 3 KOs), ranked #5 WBC #11 WBO and #7 WBA, faces Azael “Candelilla” Villar (20-2-4-15 KOs) of Panamá City, Panamá, ranked #8 WBC, #7 WBO and #8 WBA in a bout scheduled for 12 rounds. The show will be televised live starting at 9 PM EST on ESPN+ and ESPN Knockout. The delegation was greeted by Managua Vice Mayor and top boxing journalist Enrique Armas and All Star Boxing VP Felix Zabala III.

Vladyslav Sirenko 254 vs. Deon Hale (Will Weigh in tomorrow)
Erick Arellano 215.2 vs. Raphael Carolina 224.8
Ermes Orta 140.2 vs. Cody Jenkins 142
Khalil Smoot 237.6 vs. Francois Russell 247.8
Rydell Mayes Jr. 252.8 vs. Ritchie Cherry 237.2

Venue: Troubadour Nashville
Promoter: Jimmy Adams Promotions
TV: Fite TV (Marc Abrams and Albert Haynesworth on the call)
1st Bell 7PM CT (8 PM ET)

Heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Francis Ngannou made their Grand Arrivals in Riydah, Saudi Arabia, today in advance of Friday’s clash at the Kingdom Arena shown live on DAZN PPV.

Two-time world title challenger Roamer Alexis Angulo (28-3, 23 KOs) secured the WBA NABA gold light heavyweight title wth a one sided unanimous decision against Oscar Rojas (29-18-3, 17 KOs) last Friday at the Ronald Reagan Equestrian Center in Miami, Florida. Scores were 100-90, 100-90, and 99-91. Angulo, 39, under the guidance of trainer Pedro Diaz at Mundo Boxing, was returning to the ring after a hiatus of nearly two years following his defeat to Edgar Berlanga in 2022.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by The Won Promotions

Korean boxing is steadily recovering with regular promotions. The Won Promotions of Korea, in association with Ohashi Promotions of Japan, presented five Korea vs. Japan competitions plus a well-known Korean movie star Ji-Han Do’s professional debut before a packed house crowd on Friday at Fashion Center Event Hall in Seoul, Korea.

Hideyuki Ohashi, currently handling Naoya “The Monster” Inoue as the promoter/manager, used to be WBC/WBA 105-pound champion. Before moving down to the minimum category, Ohashi had a couple of unsuccessful shots at the WBC light fly belt against “Korean Hawk” Jung-Koo Chang twice—both via TKO route—in 1986 (in Japan) and 1988 (in Korea). Their fierce rivalry now becomes a closest friendship, and they shook hands tightly in the ring before the crowd. Continue reading “Korea-Japan tourney #6 held in Seoul”

By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside

In a clash for the WBA featherweight title, WBA #2 Raymond “Savage” Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) scored a dramatic twelfth round stoppage against #1 rated Otabek Kholmatov (12-1, 11 KOs) to claim the vacant belt on Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. Tough back and forth action between excellent unbeaten fighters. Rounds were close. Ford rocked Kholmatov with seconds left in the fight and referee Charlie Fitch waved it off with seven seconds remaining. Entering the final round, Ford was down 106-103 on two cards and ahead 105-104 on the third card. Great fight!

Reigning IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto “El Venado” Lopez (30-2, 17 KOs) successfully defended his world title against mandatory challenger Reiya Abe (25-4-1, 10 KOs) via eighth round TKO. Abe struggled with a closing right eye as Lopez took him apart. The bout was finally waved off by referee Marc Nelson. Time was :39.

More Results and Photos

YouTuber-turned-cruiserweight boxer Jake “The Problem Child” Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) outclassed and destroyed the more experienced Ryan Bourland (17-3, 6 KOs) in the first round on Saturday night at the Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was target practice for Paul, who battered Bourland to the canvas just as the bout was waved off. Time was 2:37. This is Paul’s second straight first round KO against a pro boxer. After the fight Paul declared himself the face of boxing and called out Canelo Alvarez.

WBO light flyweight champion Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (28-3-1, 14 KOs) retained his title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Rene Santiago (12-4, 9 KOs) Close, tactical fight that never really heated up. In the end, judges had it 116-112, 115-113, 117-111 for Bomba.

Former world title challenger Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz (28-4, 18 KOs) scored a second round knockout over Headley Scott (18-2, 12 KOs) in a super featherweight clash. Coming off a 22-month layoff, Diaz dropped Scott twice with left hooks in round two to end it. Time was 1:48.

52-year-old female welterweight Chevelle Hallback (34-9-2, 13 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over Yamila Reynoso (13-16-3, 8 KOs) on Saturday night at the Downtown Hilton in Tampa, Florida. Close fight with Hallback claiming the NBA world title by scores of 97-93, 98-92, 96-94.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten IBF#15 junior flyweight prospect Kyosuke Takami (6-0, 5 KOs), 107.75, battered veteran ex-champ Kenichi Horikawa (41-20-1, 14 KOs), 107.75, from the outset and finally decked him with furious combinations to score a fine TKO victory at 2:50 of the sixth round in a scheduled ten on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan. The 43-year-old Horikawa’s swan song was shattered by Takami, 21, who displayed his faster hands and crisp punches to a full extent.

Fast-rising southpaw Subaru Murata (6-0, 6 KOs), 122, proved too aggressive for previously unbeaten Filipino Alex Santisima Jr. (8-1, 2 KOs), 121.5, finishing him with a vicious body shot at 1:45 of the seventh round in a scheduled eight. Subaru made a professional debut in US in 2021 and all victories via knockout route.

Former Japanese feather champ Hinata Maruta (14-2-1, 10 KOs), 134.5, pounded out a unanimous decision (identically 79-73) over IBF Pan Pacific lightweight champ Phumiritdet Chonlathondamrongkun (15-2, 13 KOs), 136.5, from Thailand, over eight.

Continue reading “IBF#15 Takami halts Horikawa”

By Boxing Bob Newman

The Ali family legacy will continue to grow at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino tonight as the grandson of The Greatest- Nico Ali Walsh will look to bounce back from his first pro defeat on the undercard of Top Rank’s twin featherweight title bill tonight on ESPN+.

Muhammad Ali’s daughter Laila made her pro debut- the first of three epic fights, at Turning Stone on October 8, 1999, in front of a packed house, her famous dad in attendance. It was a huge buildup for a short night: a 31 second blowout of April Fowler which started off an unforseen run that led to world titles and a spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame, just down the New York State Thruway in Canastota, New York.

Continue reading “Turning Stone to Host Fourth Ali Family Fight”

Chevelle Hallback 142.6 vs Yamila Reynoso 144.2 lbs.
(NBA female welterweight title)

Rashield Williams 146.2 vs. Andres Viera 147
(NBA welterweight title)

Mike Misa 175.2 vs. Anthony Blake Lacaze 173.4
Drake Banks 255 vs. Darryl Clark 257.2
Chris Rodriguez 159 vs. Julian Velerio 157.8
Ty McLeod 194.6 vs. Dustin Long 199.4
Steven Ray, Jr. 129.6 vs. Joseph Walker
Alex Rios Vargas 139.8 vs. Marcello Williams 137
Tyeshawan Wilson vs. 153.2 vs. Orlenis Licea 153.8
Felix Santana 135.6 vs. Carlos Aguilera Martinez 134.8
Jerome Deberry 145.8 vs. Ivan Reyes 144.2

Venue: Downtown Hilton in Tampa, Florida.
Promoter: Alessi Promotions

Amanda “Real Deal” Serrano 125.6 vs. Nina “The Brave” Meinke 125.2
(WBA/IBF/WBO female featherweight titles)

Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez 108 vs. Rene Santiago 107
(WBO light flyweight title)

Jake “The Problem Child” Paul 199.8 vs. Ryan Bourland 197.4
Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz 129.6 vs. Headley Scott 130

Venue: Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Promoter: MVP Promotions
TV: DAZN

By Jeff Zimmerman

Fightnews.com® caught up with Terry Lane, son of the late, great legendary referee Mills Lane and manager to WBO Interim heavyweight champ Zhilei Zhang from China. Lane is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as Zhang prepares to face former WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker on Friday, March 8 and live on DAZN. Lane shared stories about his dad as the ref in the infamous “Fan Man” fight at Hoylfield-Bowe II and the Holyfield-Tyson II “Ear Bite” fight. He talked about how he and his brother Tommy got involved with Zhang and their hopes for a showdown with one of the marquee names in the heavyweight division such as Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder and much more in this exclusive interview.

In a WBA super welterweight eliminator, WBA #11, WBC #15 Abass Baraou (15-1, 9 KOs) hammered out a twelve round majority decision over WBA #15 Sam “The Savage” Eggington (34-9, 20 KOs) on Friday night at the Telford International Centre in Telford, England. Hard fought affair with Baraou pulling away in the later rounds. Scores were 114-114, 117-111, 117-112. Baraou also claimed the vacant European title.

In a clash between unbeaten super middleweights, Andrei Dascalu (10-0, 3 KOs) demolished Joe Jackson-Brown (7-1, 4 KOs) in the first round. Dascalu dropped Jackson-Brown twice to end it after just 85 seconds.

Heavyweight prospect Matty Harris (6-1, 4 KOs) rebounded from a shock loss in his last fight to defeat Amine Boucetta (8-11, 0 KOs) over four rounds. Scored 40-36. Harris is trained by Peter Fury.

Unbeaten lightweight Sultan Zaurbek (17-0, 12 KOs) beat up Victor Julio (17-11, 9 KOs) for eight rounds to win 80-71. Julio was deducted a point for complaining in round seven.

Otabek Kholmatov 125.8 vs. Raymond Ford 125.9
(WBA featherweight title)

Venado Lopez 125.3 vs. Reiya Abe 125.8
(IBF featherweight title)

Brian Norman Jr 148.4 vs. Janelson Bocachica 146.6
Bryce Mills 138.7 vs. Gerffred Ngayot 138.7
Troy Isley 159.3 vs. Marcos Hernandez 160.6
Rohan Polanco 143.2 vs. Tarik Zaina 142.4
Floyd Diaz 118 vs. Edwin Rodriguez 117.8
Nico Ali Walsh 156.9 vs. Charles Stanford 155.1
Brandon Moore 242 vs. Helaman Olguin 281.7

Venue: Turning Stone Resort, Verona, New York
Promoter: Top Rank
TV: ESPN+

Unbeaten heavyweight Brayan Santander moved to 11-0 with 7 KOs after an eight round unanimous decision over fan favorite Edison “Pantera” Miranda (36-12, 31 KOs), the former middleweight contender. The bout took place on Thursday at the Club La Pradera in Carmen de Apicala, Colombia. Santander won by scores of 80-72, 80-72, 79-73 over the 43-year-old Miranda, who last fought in 2021.

For heavyweight Granit Shala (15-0, 5 KOs), the search for an opponent for the European heavyweight championship will start all over again. After Daniel Dubois, Joe Joyce has also withdrawn on the last day before the fight would have gone to purse bid. The Euro title has been vacant since the beginning of the year after Agit Kabayel vacated it. The EBU will now appoint the next challenger for Shala.

“It’s really annoying that this fight doesn’t happen either. I would also have loved to bring him to Germany and have him as the second main fight on April 6th in Falkensee before Jack [Culcay’s] world championship fight,” says promoter Ingo Volckmann. “We are currently exploring the possibilities with our matchmaker Hagen Döring and are also talking to Granit’s team.”

By Joe Koizumi

Japanese southpaw Reiya Abe will make an ambitious crack at the IBF featherweight belt against Luis Alberto Lopez tomorrow (Saturday) in Venona, New York. Should he be successful, Abe will be the 100th world champion ever produced out of Japan since the very first Yoshio Shirai in 1952. Shirai wrested the world flyweight championship by dethroning Dado Marino by a fifteen-round unanimous decision at Korakuen Baseball Stadium in Tokyo, Japan—some seventy-two years ago. Good luck, Abe.

Stephanie Han 134.5 vs. Nikola Izova 136
Jorge Tovar 163 vs. Keithland King 160
Amy Salinas 113 vs. Alexis Mone 115
Bree Howling 117 vs. Noemi Bosques 118
Brittany Sims 119 vs. Beata Dudek 118
Victor Aranda 154.5vs. Tevin Watson 155
Alex McGee 124.5 vs. Jose Gabriel Colotla 126
Eljah Akana 213.5 vs. Calvin Barnett 253
Danielle Perkins 178 vs. Timin Nagy 180.5

Venue: El Paso County Coliseum
Promoter: King’s Promotions
Stream: BXNGTV.com (Marc Abrams on the call)
1st Bell: 9 PM ET / 7 PM MT

By Joe Koizumi

Twenty former world champions out of Japan participated in a charity event to ask for people’s donation to support the victims of the disastrous earthquake on the new year’s day on the world title tripleheader at Ryogoku Sumo Arena on February 24. The earthquake horribly occurred with more than two hundred pitifully passing away at the northern Noto peninsula, where destroyed houses and buildings are still under reconstruction. The world champions association, now presided by ex-WBC super light champion Tsuyoshi Hamada following WBC lightweight ruler Guts Ishimatsu, launched this campaign for boxing fans’ donations for the sake of the victims and evacuees in temporary housings in Ishikawa prefecture. The ex-champs had many doners take pictures with them on behalf of their donations in the arena prior to the tripleheader. Continue reading “Japan’s champions join earthquake charity donation”

WBA #1 Otabek Kholmatov (12-0, 11 KOs) and WBA #2 Raymond Ford (14-0-1, 7 KOs) collide for the vacant WBA featherweight world title this Saturday at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. In the co-feature, IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto “El Venado” Lopez (29-2, 16 KOs) defends his crown against Reiya Abe (25-3-1, 10 KOs). Both fights will stream on ESPN+.

At Thursday’s press conference, this is what the fighters had to say.

Otabek Kholmatov: “It has been my dream to fight for a world title. I’ve been training my whole life for this. I’m ready…I love to fight. That’s all I have done in my life. So, I’m going to bring the fight on Saturday.”

Raymond Ford: “This means the world to me. I’ve been fighting my whole life for this opportunity. It’s finally here, and I’m going to take full advantage of it…I’m willing to stay for one more fight at 126 if it’s to defend against a champion or a big money fight. If it makes sense, I’m definitely here for it. But it has to be right away. If not, I’m moving up to 130.”

Luis Alberto Lopez: “We know he’s a fighter who likes to move a lot. He likes to be on his toes and moving backward. But if he wants to be the new champion, he’s going to have to come here and fight. We will do everything possible to win early…the faster a unification fight happens, the better for me. It would be great for my career.”

Reiya Abe: “I think Lopez is a good champion. But this will be the day that I show that I’m the best at 126 pounds…the level of boxing in Japan has been improving, and I’m pleased to have been recognized there. The pressure has increased, but I consider it to be necessary to become stronger.”

Abass Baraou 153.5 vs. Sam Eggington 153.75
(EBU European super welterweight title)

Sultan Zuarbek 134.5 vs. Victor Julio 135.75
Matty Harris 269.5 vs. Amine. Boucetta 231.75
Andrei Dascalu 166.75 vs. Joe Jackson-Brown 170
Ryan Kelly 163.5 vs. Ioan Alexandru Lutic 163.25
Tom Welland 126 vs. Esteban Troestch 121.1
Nick Leahy 147.75 vs. Jake Osgood 145.75
Kaisee Benjamin 150.5 vs. Berman Sanchez 155.75
Gully Power 129 vs. Angelo Turco 134
Elliot Whale 149 vs. Fernando Mosquera TBA
Dan Toward 154.75 vs. Frank Madsen 154.6

Venue: Telford International Centre, Telford, England
Promoter: Wasserman Boxing
TV: DAZN, Channel 5 (UK)