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WBA super bantamweight world champion Daniel Roman will defend his belt against unbeaten Moises “Chucky” Flores Saturday, June 16 live on Showtime from Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions. The telecast will also see former world champion Javier Fortuna clashing with Adrian Granados in a 10-round 140-pound special attraction.

Undefeated welterweight champion Errol “The Truth” Spence, Jr. will defend his IBF world title in a Dallas-area homecoming at the Dallas Cowboys facility against unbeaten mandatory challenger Carlos Ocampo in the main event. It will be the first boxing event inside Ford Center and Spence’s first hometown fight as world champion. Continue reading “Roman-Flores added to Spence-Ocampo telecast”

By Robert Hughes

Unbeaten super lightweights Terry Flanagan (33-0, 13 KOs) and Maurice Hooker (23-0-3, 16 KOs) will fight for the vacant World Boxing Organization championship on Saturday at Manchester Arena in a highly-anticipated bout on the card that features Tyson Fury’s return to the ring against Sefer Seferi. Flanagan vs. Hooker could be one of the best nights of boxing in 2018 with 17 events scheduled around the world.

Names like Mares, Santa Cruz, Charlo, Crawford, Horn and Trout are battling on the same date – by Sunday morning fans might remember Flanagan vs Hooker as the best fight.

Hooker and Flanagan are fighting for one of the super-lightweight belts Terence Crawford mic-dropped on his way to bigger things. Flanagan is on a similar path, leaving behind his lightweight title in a long-anticipated move up to 140 pounds. Continue reading “Hooker-Flanagan looking to steal big boxing weekend”

On Friday, July 6, Heavyweight Factory Boxing promoter Kris Lawrence will present a ten-bout card at the Hard Rock Event Center at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Fla. The night’s main event will feature a 10-round crosstown rivalry showdown between undefeated Miami-based welterweights Harold “King” Calderon (16-0, 10 KOs) and John David “Pretty Boy” Martinez (10-0, 8 KOs). The pair have decided Miami isn’t big enough for two undefeated 147-lb. fighters and one of them will lose their “0” that night. Continue reading “Unbeaten welterweights collide July 6”

Further to yesterday’s announcements over social media, an injury has unfortunately again forced Billy Joe Saunders to withdraw from his WBO middleweight world title defense against Martin Murray scheduled for June 23 at The O2 in London.

Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren stated, “I’ve seen rumors that Billy isn’t injured, but he is a fighting man and there’s no way he would pull out unless he had to. It’s a shame after the devastating performance against (David) Lemieux last Christmas as this was a chance for Billy to keep momentum as we continue to chase big fights for him.”

Saunders, who claims to have suffered a hamstring injury during a recent training session, is bitterly disappointed that he will not be fit to box on the rescheduled June 23rd date and is deeply apologetic to Murray and his fans. Continue reading “Warren insists Saunders is injured”

ESPN is working on an August fight between former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker and ex-title challenger Bryant Jennings, to take place in Atlantic City.
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Speaking of Atlantic City, there were back to back cards there over the weekend. On Friday, unbeaten welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis (20-0, 18 KOs) blew out former contender “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis (26-11-2, 13 KOs) in two rounds. On Saturday, featherweight Toka Kahn Clary (25-1, 17 KOs) won a ten round unanimous decision over Emmanuel Dominguez (22-7-2, 14 KOs).
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Meanwhile, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, 44-year-old heavyweight Bobby Gunn (21-7-1, 18 KOs), coming off a 2017 loss to Roy Jones Jr., needed just 41 seconds to finish Irineu Beato Costa Junior (19-7, 17 KOs) in a bare-knuckle contest. The PPV event was billed as the first legal, regulated, and sanctioned bare-knuckle event in the United States since 1889.
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If WBA/WBC/IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin fights WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders next (probably in the UK), it could temporarily solve his Derevyanchenko problem. The IBF has ordered GGG to face little known mandatory challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko next, but sanctioning bodies often allow unification fights to take priority.
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Remember, Saturday’s Terence Crawford vs. Jeff Horn fight is on ESPN+ not ESPN. Obviously, nobody’s excited about shelling out for another pay service, but $4.99 a month could be worth it.

By Ron Jackson

Patrick Mukala from the Democratic Republic of the Congo but now based in South Africa retained the WBA Pan African super-middleweight title for the second time with a fourth round knockout win over Ibrahim Tamba from Tanzania at the Royal Swazi Spa Convention Centre in Mbabane over the past weekend. Mukula (76.10kg) was in outstanding form as he came out at the bell to score with a series of combinations against Tamba (74.50kg). However, the gutsy Tamba,27, fought back in rounds two and three before the slick Mukula sent him down for the full count in the fourth round.

The talented Mukula, 24, whose only loss came against the rugged and more experienced South African Ryno Liebenberg takes his record to 10-1, 9 KOs, and Tamba’s record drops to 22-10-1, 15 KOs. Continue reading “Mukala retains WBA Pan African title”

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn has moved his training from the Top Rank Gym to the Las Vegas gym run by Kevin Barry, the Olympic silver medalist who took Kiwi Joseph Parker to the world heavyweight title. Barry says Horn needs to turn Saturday’s defense of his WBO welterweight title against Terence Crawford into “an absolute brawl.”

“Crawford has seen a lot of styles and is a very pretty boxer so Jeff has to be as unorthodox and rough as possible,” Barry said to Grantlee Kieza. “He has to bring the beast out, he has to bring the dog out he has to bring the mongrel out. Jeff has to make this a brawl. Continue reading “Horn moves to Kevin Barry’s Gym”

Martin Murray states that WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders has pulled out of a title defense against him because he’s too big of a risk with a mega fight against Gennady Golovkin or Canelo Alvarez looming.

Via social media, Martin stated, “We know that he’s just trying to make a big money fight with Golovkin or Canelo and I’m too risky to fight. He just doesn’t want to fight me. But there’s nothing I can do. It’s the second time I’ve taken myself away from my family and got my body in this condition ready to fight and it’s got to the last minute and it’s cancelled. I’m obviously gutted but there’s nothing I can do.”

WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders has pulled out of his scheduled June 23 bout against Martin Murray, citing an alleged hamstring injury. The move fuels speculation that Saunders is instead planning a big money fight against either WBC/WBA/IBF champion Gennady Golovkin or Canelo Alvarez in September. This is the second time a Saunders-Murray bout has fallen through. Murray called the move “another bullsh*t story.”

By Ron Jackson

South African cruiserweight contender Kevin Lerena using his educated right jab boxed his way to a comfortable 12 rounds unanimous points decision over German-based Ukrainian Roman Golovashchenko at the Sarhadci Olympic Center in Baku, Azerbaijan on Saturday night.

The 30-year-old Golovaschenko (86.60kg) 19-2, 17 KOs, was a big disappointment as he showed very little of his vaunted power (81% knockout ratio) as he barrelled forward holding his gloves high up on his face. The scores were 116-111 and 115-112 twice, all in favor of Lerena. Lerena (90kg) possible won more rounds than reflected on the two 115-112 cards. Continue reading “Lerena outboxes Golovashchenko for comfortable win”

By David Robinett at ringside

Nevada-based World Fighting Championships (WFC) returned to the Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa in Rancho Mirage, California, on Saturday night to present WFC 88, featuring both professional and amateur boxing. WFC’s semi-regular events in Rancho Mirage have offered a showcase for many of the young fighters in the area and Saturday night was no different, with several Southern California fighters earning victories in the early stages of their careers, in most cases.

However the WFC 88 main event provided a notable exception to the evening’s youth movement, as 32-year old Luis Cervantes stretched his winning streak to three after returning last September following a three-year layoff. Cervantes (10-11-3, 2 KOs) earned a convincing unanimous decision victory in a rematch against Mario Aguirre (2-13, 2 KOs) in a four-round super lightweight bout. All three judges scored the bout 40-35. Continue reading “Cervantes beats Aquirre”