Fightnews.com

Photos: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

Vasiliy Lomachenko and Jorge Linares took their talents to the streets of Manhattan on Wednesday, as they participated in an open workout on the corner of 33rd Street and 8th Avenue, just outside Madison Square Garden. Lomachenko, a two-weight world champion, is looking to conquer a third weight class when he challenges WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares on Saturday at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”

Jorge Linares: “I am hungry to win and to continue with my reign as world champion. This is a high-level fight and a very important one for my career because I am going to prove that Lomachenko is not an invincible fighter. We will see what he is really made of when he faces me this Saturday. I believe in myself and I know that I will come out with the victory. I am here to win. I did not come here to quit.”

Vasiliy Lomachenko: “I want to put my name in the history of boxing, and this is one of the steps I have to take, to fight in different weight classes, different titles. That’s what will put my name in the history of boxing. I don’t know what Linares will bring. After the fight, I can compare him with Rigondeaux. Continue reading “Lomachenko, Linares hit the streets of NYC”

WBO light heavyweight world champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (33-2-1, 28 KOs) will defend against Eleider “Storm” Alvarez (23-0, 11 KOs) on August 4 at the new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. HBO will televise. Kovalev-Alvarez is the first boxing event at the newly opened venue.

Alvarez had been the mandatory challenger for WBC champ and stablemate Adonis Stevenson and stepped aside several times. Groupe Yvon Michel eventually got Alvarez a fight for Kovalev’s title instead.

World Boxing Super Series Season 2 will feature competitions in three weight divisions. Bantamweight and two undisclosed divisions. Bantamweight world champions Ryan Burnett (WBA), Zolani Tete (WBO) and Emmanuel Rodriguez (IBF) are confirmed. One of the other divisions is expected to be junior welterweight.

After having his jaw wired shut for over six months following a loss to Sullivan Barrera, on June 30th Joe Smith Jr. (23-2 19 KOs) will make his return to the ring at the Mohegan Sun Arena. Embracing the moniker the “Common Man,” Local 66 Laborers Construction Union worker, Smith Jr., exploded onto the national boxing scene beginning in 2016. Backed by his union brothers, Smith Jr. would wield a sledgehammer by day and lace up his gloves to train by night. “I cannot wait to get back in the ring on June 30th,” stated Smith. “I have been looking forward to this day since I was told I needed surgery. I plan on showing why I am still one of the best in the light heavyweight division.”

European light heavyweight champion Dominic Bösel (27-1, 10 KOs) will defend against SES stablemate and mandatory challenger Enrico Kölling (25-2, 8 KOs) on June 9 at the Kohlrabizirkus in Leipzig, Germany.

Dominic Bösel: “I’m really looking forward to Leipzig and have only the best memories of my fights here. I won all my last fights here by KO…on the 9th of June, there will be a big surprise. In addition to the European Championship, this is a kind of elimination for a world title opportunity – the winner is right up there!”

Enrico Kölling: “First and foremost, I will not let the the judges decide my future on June 9th. Dominic should know that I’m determined to win and a premature victory is my firm goal. Dominic should already know which way the wind blows. I’ve always liked the European belt!”

Two-division world champion Vasyl Lomachenko (10-1, 8 KOs) is a heavy double-digit favorite to dethrone WBA lightweight world champion Jorge Linares (44-3, 27 KOs) on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Although moving from the 130lb to the 135lb division, Lomachenko is a whopping -2000 favorite at thegreek.com, while bovada.com has Loma pegged at -1400. The best odds on Linares are +1000, so we’re still a ways off from an arbitrage play.

By Bill Green

On the undercard of this weekend’s ESPN-televised mega Lightweight showdown between WBA champ Jorge Linares and Vasiliy “Hi-Tech Lomachenko, former Captain of the 2016 US Olympic boxing team and former US Marine who served two tours of duty in Iraq, Jamel “Semper Fi” Herring (16-2, 9 KOs), makes his Top Rank and B&B Boxing promotions debut.

Herring who signed with Top Rank back in January is now being trained by Brian McIntyre, the 2018 WBO trainer of the year. The 5’10 born and raised New Yorker will face Juan Pablo Sanchez (30-15, 14 KOs) of Huimanguillo, Mexico, in a scheduled 8/10 contest at a catchweight of 133lbs. Linares vs Lomachenko will be televised live on ESPN, beginning at 8:00 pm ET, while Herring vs Sanchez can be viewed live on the ESPN+ app beginning at approximately 4:30pm ET.

After, yet another killer workout, I was able to catch up with Herring as he prepares for this weekend’s battle with Sanchez. Continue reading “Jamel Herring: I plan on being relentless”

Former General Santos City native Nonito Donaire Sr. was tapped to lend his expertise and beef up Manny Pacquiao’s think-tank in preparation for the Filipino’s title bid against Lucas Matthysse on July 15 at the Axiata Arena in Malaysia. A week after opening training camp, Pacquiao added Donaire to help out in plotting tactical plans against Matthysse, the reigning WBA welterweight champion from Argentina.

“Donaire will serve as one of the assistant coaches,” said Pacquiao, who did two trial rounds with the mitts with the father of former world champion Nonito Donaire (Junior). It was Donaire Sr. who trained and honed his son, who later won multiple former world championships in three weight divisions.

“So far, so good. I am happy with my current team,” said Pacquiao, who took two days off on Saturday and Sunday to rest and relax, coming off a controversial loss last year in Australia against local brawler Jeff Horn. Continue reading “Donaire Sr joins Team Pacquiao coaching staff”

Unbeaten WBC super welterweight world champion Jermell Charlo and former world champion Austin Trout went face-to-face Tuesday as they met with media in Los Angeles to discuss their June 9 showdown on Showtime from Staples Center in Los Angeles. The card is headlined by a rematch between WBA featherweight world champions and Southern California rivals Leo Santa Cruz and Abner Mares.

Jermell Charlo: “Me and my brother talk the talk and we walk the walk. From this point on in our careers, we’re going full force and it’s going to be nothing but knockouts…I didn’t have to go through what Trout had to in his last big fight against Hurd. I’m the fresher younger fighter. I don’t take away anything from what he’s done in his career, but I have my own career and legacy and he’s standing in my way.”

Austin Trout: “On June 9 you can expect to see my hand raised. It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be a dog fight. It’s going to be a great fight and I’m going to come out on top. That belt is going to look on me.”

Promoter Richard Schaefer: “The only way to make a card like this bigger than it already was with Santa Cruz vs. Mares 2, was to add a world title fight like this with two incredibly talented fighters.”

Eddie Hearn and the Casino de Monte-Carlo have announced the third edition of Monte-Carlo Boxing Bonanza – a night of World Championship Boxing will take place at the prestigious Salle Médecin of the Casino de Monte-Carlo on November 24. Announcements on the line-up and the ticket details will be made in the summer.
———-
The acclaimed World Boxing Super Series will return for a Season 2. Details will be announced tomorrow.
———-
WBC lightweight champion Mikey Garcia reportedly may enter into a deal with UFC promoter Dana White, who is looking to stay involved with boxing after the Mayweather-McGregor cash bonanza last year.
———-
Vasyl Lomachenko and Jorge Linares will hold a media workout tomorrow starting at 1PM outside Madison Square Garden, corner of 33rd Street and 8th Avenue in New York City. They collide for Linares’ WBA lightweight title on Saturday night.

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

WBO#7/WBA#15 Kyotaro Fujimoto (19-1, 11 KOs), 227.75, successfully kept his OPBF and WBO Asia Pacific heavyweight belts when he utilized his speed on hand and foot, and halted Australian Aaron Russell (11-5, 4 KOs), 219.5, at 0:28 of the eighth round on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. The loser’s cornerman Chris McCullen wisely tossed in the towel to save Russell from further punishment, though the Aussie showed his heart prior to the stoppage.

Although the tallies were all 60-54 prior to the stoppage, it wasn’t so lopsided since Russell raised his guard high, protected himself well and occasionally fought back with jabs and left hooks to the champ’s face. Kyotaro, however, proved faster and more aggressive with combinations upstairs and downstairs, steadily piling up points. Continue reading “Fujimoto-Russell Full Report”

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

Prefight underdog, Japanese super-lightweight ruler Valentine Hosokawa (23-6-3, 10 KOs), 139.5, impressively kept his national belt as he came off the canvas, dropped back ex-Olympian Destino Japan (AKA Vladimir Baez; 24-4-2, 22 KOs), 139.5, in the same fourth, and finally sank the challenger badly with a vicious counter to score a come-from-behind TKO at 1:21 of the seventh round in a scheduled ten on Monday in Tokyo, Japan.

Making his first defense, Valentine, a son of a Nigerian father and a Japanese mother, displayed his improved left hand and often bounced off the face of the challenger, dominating the first two sessions. But Destino was in command in round three with his aggressiveness. The fourth was truly Round of the Month, where Destino decked the champ with a looping left hook, but Valentine floored him back with a solid left hook. The seventh witnessed Valentine, 37, explode a vicious right at the face of Destino, 34, who fell unable to raise himself up with the bad punishment.

Photos

Once-beaten super lightweight contender Eddie Ramirez (17-1, 11 KOs) will take on former world champion Argenis Mendez (24-5-1, 12 KOs) in a 10-round showdown that headlines on FS1 and FOX Deportes Saturday, May 26 from Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi

Televised coverage will also feature former title challenger Oscar Escandon (25-3, 17 KOs) meeting unbeaten 2012 Olympic silver medalist Tugstsogt Nyambayar (9-0, 8 KOs) in a 10-round featherweight bout.

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by TGB Promotions, start at $20 and are on sale now at the Beau Rivage Theatre box office, at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000.

By Mauricio Sulaiman
WBC President – Jose Sulaiman’s son

What a sensational week we had in boxing! From Thai hero Wangheng Menayothin’s ninth title defense reaching 50-0, to the U.K. with WBC Emeritus champion Tony Bellew demolishing David Haye, to the 5 de Mayo Extravaganza in which women’s boxing took a huge step forward with an instant classic, Braekhus vs. Reis, and GGG’s spectacular performance knocking out brave Vanes Martyrosian.

As I was flying over the Pacific on my way to Thailand, I could only think of my father and how much he loved the country, known as the Land of Smiles. WBC Vice President, General Kovid Bhakdibhumi, greeted me with his warm smile and took me to The Oriental Hotel to Room 1010, which was my father’s favorite in the whole world. I attended the Asian Boxing Council annual awards event and was extremely happy to be with some legendary champions, such as Pongsaklek Wongkongham, Chatchai Sasakul, and many other boxing greats. Current WBC super flyweight king Srisaket Rungvisai was awarded the Fighter of the Year trophy. Continue reading “The 12th Round: WBC Boxing at its best”