Fightnews.com

A lot of big names in action this weekend with very clear betting favorites. Leo Santa Cruz is a 5:1 pick in what is considered the closest matchup.

Terence Crawford -850 vs. Jeff Horn +525
Leo Santa Cruz -500 vs. Abner Mares +350
Jermell Charlo -950 vs. Austin Trout +575
Terry Flanagan -900 vs. Maurice Hooker +550

Tyson Fury and Diego de la Hoya are 100:1 favorites in their bouts.

Tyson Fury -10000 vs. Sefer Seferi +1600
Diego de la Hoya -10000 vs. Jose Salgado +1600

Do you see any upsets brewing?

By Bill Green

In a few days Terence Crawford will challenge Jeff Horn for the WBO welterweight title at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and streamed Live by ESPN+. The stage is set, the hype is growing, but several questions for both fighters need to answered inside that ring on fight night. For the champion, its an all to redundant one, did he beat a slipping past his prime champion in Manny Pacquiao, or is he simply vastly underrated?

For Crawford, he too is growing tiresome of the same repetitive questions, how will he handle a new division? Can he handle a full fledged welterweight power? Crawford himself, has chosen to ignore the majority of the critics and simply put quality work the only way he knows how…in the gym.

Horn and his team all week long have been on the defense and voiced their displeasure regarding how they have felt slighted on this promotion. In other words, they have a major chip on their shoulder and are definitely highly motivated to prove the critics wrong.

Fresh off 8-10 rounds of sparring last week, Fightnews.com® was able to sit down with the formerly undisputed 140lb champ and several key members of his team. Continue reading “Crawford: This fight is nothing about size but everything about skill”

Denis Shafikov 131.4 vs. Hector Ambriz Suarez 131.4
Brian Ceballo 146.2 vs. Adan Ahumada 146.6
Serhii Bohachuk 153.4 vs. Cesar Berumen 152.4
Louisa Hawton 105.4 vs. Elvia Trevino 103.8
Mario Ramos 127.2 vs. Guadalupe Arroyo 128.8
Jonathan Esquivel 159.8 vs. Sergio L. Gonzales 159.4
Luis Rosales 122 vs. Roberto Pucheta 121.8
Elvina Hadzic White 140.6 vs. Annette Pabello 136.2

Venue: The Avalon, Hollywood, California
Promoter: 360 Promotions
TV: www.360Promotions.us

Former WBA super welterweight world champion Austin Trout (31-4, 17 KOs) last held a world title in 2012. He has lost four consecutive world title fights. He’ll be about a 10:1 underdog when he steps into to ring to fight current WBC super welterweight world champion Jermell Charlo this Saturday live on SHOWTIME from STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. But, the 32-year-old Trout warns that he’s ready to pick up where he left off six years ago.

“I truly believe I’m the best,” says Trout, “and in order to prove that you’ve got to fight those that claim to be the best… no matter what Jermell Charlo brings, I’m ready for it. Continue reading “Austin Trout: This is my time”

By Morrison Brandon at ringside
Photos by Scott Foster

Square Ring Promotions, in conjunction with promoter Dean Toole, hosted “Island Fights 48” at the Civic Center in the historic downtown district of Pensacola, FL this past Saturday. The card featured four-action packed displays of the Sweet Science with 3 of the 4 bouts not going the distance. In the main event, hometown favorite Devin Cushing (8-0, 5 KOs) out of the gym of Roy Jones Jr., faced late substitute Dylan Blakesley, who was making his pro debut. Continue reading “Late Results from Pensacola”

Decorated amateur and undefeated Detroit super flyweight Ja’Rico “The Great Lakes King” O’Quinn talks about his preparations in Detroit for his upcoming fight June 22nd at the Detroit Masonic Temple

Former world champion and ESPN boxing analyst Tim Bradley discusses Saturday’s ESPN+ clash between Terence Crawford and Jeff Horn.

“I see the fight starting off kind of rough, honestly. I think Horn, being a bigger guy, likes to move in quick, likes to get inside early, likes to work the pace and dictate the pace. I think he’s going to try to close the gap on Terence really early and show him that, hey, this is a different weight class, this isn’t 140 pounds now, this is a different weight class and different type of weight. I think he’s going to try to push Terence back. Honestly, I think he is.

“I think Terence is going to struggle in the beginning only until he finds his rhythm. Once Terence finds his rhythm, meaning Horn’s rhythm, then I think things will open up and Terence can control the distance from the outside and time Horn as he comes in.

“At the end of the match, I think it’s going to be Terence Crawford with his hands raised. Continue reading “Bradley: Crawford too much for Horn”

WBA #2, WBO #3, IBF #11, WBC #11 ranked Jason Moloney (current WBA Oceania and Commonwealth Bantamweight Champion) has signed a multi-year managerial deal with Dragon Fire Boxing. “Dragon Fire Boxing has guided my career to absolute perfection. Before I turned professional I was always warned that it was extremely important to make sure that I had the right people looking after me and honestly, I couldn’t be happier. Continue reading “Jason Moloney inks managerial deal”

By Boxing Bob Newman

During last week’s IBF convention in St. Vincent, Italy, Rejoy Group’s Andrew Lu took time out to talk with Fightnews.com®. Lu spoke about his path through the landscape of pro of boxing in the world’s most populous country and Rejoy’s plans to develop champions while working with IBF China and its parent’ company, the International Boxing Federation.

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

Hall of Famer Jeff Fenech has warned WBO welterweight Jeff Horn he could be a victim of boxing politics on Saturday when he clashes with WBO mandatory contender Terrence Crawford at the MGM Casino in Las Vegas. Fenech, who was denied a fourth world championship in a controversial Vegas decision against Azumah Nelson in 1991, said he hoped the judges remembered that there was just a blue corner and a red corner rather than an American against an Australian.

“Jeff Horn can win the fight – one billion percent – so long as he gets a fair shake,” Fenech told Grantlee Kieza. “I would hate to see another situation like Fenech-Nelson in Vegas. That was heartbreaking.”

The referee for the fight will be Robert Byrd from Las Vegas. The Nevada State Athletic Commission has assigned one Australian judge, Adam Height, to score the fight alongside Nevada’s Burt Clements and Italy’s Guido Cavalleri.

Showtime Sports has secured the U.S. rights to stream the long-awaited return of former heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury, who will face Sefer Seferi in a 10-round heavyweight bout Saturday, June 9 from Manchester Arena. SHOWTIME BOXING INTERNATIONAL® will stream live exclusively to U.S. audiences on the SHOWTIME Boxing Facebook page and SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT.

In the opening bout, local hero Terry Flanagan (33-0, 13 KO’s) will look to become a two-division world champion when he clashes with unbeaten American Maurice Hooker (23-0-3, 16 KO’s) for the vacant WBO Junior Welterweight crown. This will be the fourth live streaming boxing event this year on SHOWTIME Sports social media platforms. Continue reading “Showtime picks up Fury comeback fight”

By TMZSports.com

WBA lightweight champ Vasyl Lomachenko tells TMZ Sports … he’s 100% down to fight Gervonta Davis in December when he recovers from shoulder surgery — but ONLY if Davis comes up to his weight class. The Ukrainian superstar was out shopping in Beverly Hills — just one month after winning the WBA belt from Jorge Linares … and told us he’s already thinking about his next fight!

Lomachenko says he knows he’ll probably fight Mikey Garcia down the line … but Davis is a realistic opponent for December. Davis is the IBF and WBA super featherweight champ … but Lomachenko says he won’t go down to Gervonta’s class to fight him there — Tank needs to come up to 135.

Could be a huge fight … so, stay tuned on that one.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Unbeaten Japanese middleweight champ Kazuto Takesako, 160.75, struggled to extend his unblemished mark to 9-0, 9 KOs as he was befuddled with the durability and determination of unknown Thai opponent Chaiwat Mueanphong (4-2, 2 KOs), 160.5, but dropped him three times and finally halted him at 2:44 of the seventh round in a scheduled ten on Saturday in Tokyo, Japan.

Takesako had produced a great sensation by dethroning Hikaru Nishida with a 92-second demolition in the opening session this March. It might be understandable that he could find none to challenge him in quest of the national 160-pound throne since all were scared of the newly-crowned hard-punching champ. Continue reading “Unbeaten Takesako extends mark to 9-0, 9 KOs”