Fightnews.com

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker has revealed his battle plan against IBF/WBA heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua on March 31 in Cardiff, Wales. “He’s dominated fighters that stand in front of him, that don’t move – all they do is protect themselves and I think a lot of fighters already go into the ring scared because of the power he possesses,” Parker told Radio Live. “I want to fight a fight that’s going to be a fast-paced fight…movement, speed and just different angles – I think that’s how we’re going to attack Joshua.” Continue reading “Parker: I Will Be Faster Than Joshua”

By Robert Coster

Two boxers from Cuba facing off against two fighters from Nicaragua, this is the choice menu offered in Panama City on March 10th. Unbeaten Cuban jr lightweight Pablo Vicente (9-0, 7 KOs) and Yamil Acevedo (13-1-1, 7 KOs) of Nicaragua will battle for the vacant WBC Fecarbox title. Acevedo’s lone loss is by DQ.

The accompanying bout has Cuba’s Daniel Matellon (5-0-2) defending his WBA Fedelatin light-flyweight title against Nicaragua’s Camilo Acevedo (11-2-1, 5 KOs). Both boxers from Nicaragua are managed by former world champion Rosendo Alvarez.

Curiously enough, Matellon is managed by fellow Cuban boxer Vicente and both will be fighting on the same night!

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

WBA #6, IBF #10 Super-flyweight Andrew Moloney (15-0, 10 KOs) will clash with IBF #5,WBC #11 Rene Dacquil (20-6-1, 6 KOs) with OPBF and WBA Oceana titles up for grabs at the StKilda Town Hall, Melbourne, Victoria on Saturday. Also in action will be WBA #9, WBO #5, IBF #12 bantamweight Jason Moloney (15-0, 12 KOs) who will defend the Commonwealth crown against Immanuel Naidjala (23-4-1, 13 KOs). Continue reading “World-rated Maloneys in action Saturday”

JoJo Diaz 126 vs. Victor Terrazas 125.8
(NABF & NABO featherweight titles)

Vergil Ortiz 139.8 vs. Jesus Alvarez 145.2
Chimpa Gonzalez 134.8 vs. Rey Perez 134.2
Genaro Gamez 139.8 vs. Miguel Mendoza 137
Hector Tanajara 129.8 vs. Eduardo Rivera 130
Manny Robles 125.8 vs. Martin Cardona 126

Venue: Fantasy Springs Resort, Indio, California
Promoter: Golden Boy
TV: ESPN2

Filipino fan favorite and WBO #5 featherweight contender Genesis “Kashimi” Servania has agreed to a multi-year promotional agreement with Top Rank, Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum announced today. Servania (30-1, 13 KOs) opened the collective eyes of the boxing world in his American debut last September in Tucson, Arizona, when he challenged WBO featherweight champion, Oscar Valdez. In one of the best fights of 2017, Servania knocked down Valdez in the fourth round but ultimately lost a unanimous decision.

In his last ring outing, on December 17 in Kanazawa, Japan, Servania knocked out Kittiwat Sirichotchayakun in the first round with a left hook to the body. Continue reading “Top Rank inks WBO #5 Genesis Servania”

WBA Light Heavyweight World Champion Dmitry Bivol (12-0, 10 KOs) met with news media at the Legendz Gym, owned and run by Roger Ruiz yesterday to discuss his upcoming mandatory title defense against #1 ranked challenger Sullivan Barrera (21-1-0, 14 KOs).

On his debut at Madison Square Garden: “Of course I’m glad I will be fighting in America and Madison Square Garden is a famous place. I’m glad; it’s great. I’m more excited (than nervous), I think. Every fight, I feel excited.” Continue reading “Bivol: I want to fight with the best guys”

Little known Dutchman Nieky Holzken plans to gatecrash the World Boxing Super Series and secure his spot in the final when he faces the tournament’s number two seed Callum Smith on Saturday at the Arena Nürnberger Versicherung in Nuremberg, Germany. The undefeated super middleweight and former world kickboxing champion joins the quest for the Ali Trophy at the semi-final stage following the withdrawal of veteran German fighter Juergen Braehmer through illness.

Having landed this dream opportunity, Holzken insists he is ready to take it “with both hands” to earn his place in the final opposite the WBA super middleweight champion ‘Saint’ George Groves. While he accepts his opponent the WBC Diamond Champion might not know much about him now, Holzken says Smith “will know much more about me after I hit him for the first time on Saturday.” Continue reading “Nieky Holzken: I’m here to take over”

On Friday at Palazzo dello Sport in Rome (Italy), Emiliano Marsili will fight Victor Betancourt for the WBC Peace lightweight championship.

Former undisputed world super welterweight and middleweight champion Nino Benvenuti (from 1965 to 1970 he won and defended simultaneously the WBC and WBA belts, in that era there were only two organizations sanctioning world title fights) was at the press conference held last Wednesday in Rome and has something to say about the fight. Continue reading “Nino Benvenuti: Marsili can beat Betancourt”

Three-division world champion Mikey Garcia and IBF Junior Welterweight World Champion Sergey Lipinets participated in an open media workout in Los Angeles Tuesday as they prepare for their world title showdown Saturday, March 10 live on SHOWTIME from Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas.

Mikey Garcia: “The number one thing I see in Sergey is his size. He’s the bigger man so I’ll have to be prepared for the weight. Because he’s a young new champion, he’s really got nothing to lose. He’s coming with everything he has.”

Sergey Lipinets: “Mikey is a great fighter. He has a lot of skills, especially defensively. I’m going to be ready for him. It’s going to be blood, sweat and tears…we’re both going to be there in front of each other and we won’t be kissing and hugging.” Continue reading “Garcia, Lipinets poised for March 10 clash”

By Gabriel F. Cordero

On Tuesday in Mexico City, WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman recognized WBC super middleweight world champion David “Bandera Roja” Benavidez at the weekly press meeting. Also on hand was Benavidez’ father Jose and his promoter Sampson Lewkowicz.

Benavidez successfully defended his title on Saturday in Las Vegas with a dominating unanimous decision win over Ronald Gavril.

The Boxeo TELEMUNDO series opens 2018 with another chapter of the famed Puerto Rico vs. Mexico boxing rivalry. Former amateur standout and current WBO #15 world ranked Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez (19-2-1, 12KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico will make his Telemundo main event debut this Friday. His opponent will be former world title challenger and Telemundo favorite Ricardo “Meserito” Rodriguez (16-5, 5 KOs) of Mexico.

This will be the 11th appearance for Rodriguez in a main event on the network. The 10 round bout will take place at the Osceola Heritage Park Events Center in Kissimmee, Florida with the WBO regional flyweight title at stake. Promoter of the event is Tuto Zabala Jr. of All Star Boxing, Inc. Continue reading ““Bomba” debuts on Telemundo Friday”

Former WBO middleweight champion Andy Lee has retired at the age of 33. Lee ends with a record of 35-3-1, 24 KOs. His biggest win was a TKO over Matt Korobov for the WBO title in 2014, which he relinquished to current champ Billy Joe Saunders. He was trained for most his career by legendary trainer Emanuel Steward.

Matchroom Boxing USA held a press conference today in New York City to formally announce the April 28 HBO World Championship Boxing doubleheader at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. Headlining the event, former middleweight world champion Daniel Jacobs (33-2-0, 29 KOs) returns against Maciej Sulecki (26-0-0, 10 KOs).

Daniel Jacobs: “HBO believes in me and I am going to make sure I do my part. Maciel Sulecki is a tough competitor. Luis Arias was all talk, he didn’t give the fans what they were expecting. I believe Sulecki will bring a fight. He’s skillful and with his determination that makes him dangerous.”

Maciej Sulecki: “I need to win this fight and I know I will win this fight. Everyone will know my name after this. Luis Arias was a clown who only talked, he was scared of Danny – I’m not. I’m a Polish warrior and you will see that in a really big war.” Continue reading “Jacobs-Sulecki/Miller-Duhaupas kickoff presser”

By Marco Bratusch

Some significant changes happened over the last two days in the super middleweight division concerning the European title. Former champion Hadillah Mohoumadi chose to vacate his belt despite a lucrative offer made by official challenger Stas Kashtanov’s promoter of 50,000 Euros to stage their bout in Russia. The 37-year-old Mohoumadi opted to fight against MK Events’ stablemate fighter Nadjib Mohammadi instead, for a WBA regional belt, on March 30 in Levallois-Perret, France. As a result, Kashtanov (36-2, 21 KOs) will be facing German-naturalized boxer Robin Krasniqi (47-5, 17 KOs) for the vacant belt, who accepted to be named co-challenger this morning. The purse bid is set for March 5, if the involved parties do not come to terms earlier. This will be a close technical bout between two skilled, orthodox boxers who like to use their reach inside the ring. Continue reading “European Updates”

Earlier this week it was announced that the biggest super fight in the modern Swedish history of boxing will take place on April 21st in Sundsvall – domestic heavyweight rivals Adrian Granat (15-1, 14 KOs) vs. Otto Wallin (19-0, 13 KOs) in the clash for the vacant EU-title. Today, Granat announced that his new head trainer is Johnathon Banks, the former trainer of Wladimir Klitschko. Continue reading “Klitschko trainer Banks to train Granat”

Unbeaten super middleweights Callum Smith (23-0, 17 KOs) and late sub Nieky Holzken (13-0, 10 KOs) faced off for the first time at a media workout before their World Boxing Super Series semi-final on Saturday at the Arena Nürnberger Versicherung in Nuremburg, Germany.

Nieky Holzken: “I am stepping up to meet one of the big guys in the super middleweight division. But the fans can expect the unexpected on Saturday. I am here to beat Callum Smith.”

Callum Smith: “Holzken looks like a good fighter. It really doesn’t matter who I am facing on Saturday. I wasn’t happy about my performance against Erik Skoglund in the quarter-final, but this time I will make a statement. Not only to the boxing fans, but also to George Groves. I want to put on a good show on Saturday,” said Smith.

Former NABA, WBC Latin Champion and WBO #15 contender Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez of Caguas, Puerto Rico arrived today in Miami, Florida where he will be a special guest of the popular show Titulares y Mas on Telemundo tonight with host Karim Mendiburu at 11:35 PM to talk about his upcoming fight this Friday, February 23 at the Osceola Heritage Park Events Center in Kissimmee, FL.

“I feel great, we had the best camp ever, I want to dedicate this fight to all of Puerto Rico because the last 6 months have been very challenging to the island. This is my time. Te amo, Puerto Rico” said Gonzalez. Continue reading “Jonathan “Bomba” Gonzalez Arrives”

While everyone knows WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (31-2-1, 27 KOs), the opponent he is facing on HBO at Madison Square Garden Theater March 3 is more of a mystery to most U.S. fight fans. Igor Mikhalkin (21-1, 9 KOs) has never fought in America or been in a major TV fight. So who is he?

Like Kovalev, Mikhalkin hails from Russia. In fact, Kovalev and Mikhalkin were teammates in their amateur days two decades ago. While Kovalev has been fighting mostly in the U.S., Mikhalkin (who is rated #5 by the WBO) pursued his career in Europe. “The way my career and Sergey’s career were moving, it was inevitable we would have to fight each other. It’s destiny we would see each other in a boxing ring,” he stated. Continue reading “Mikhalkin aiming to derail Krusher Express”

Unbeaten heavyweight contender Luis “The Real King Kong” Ortiz had some comments as he nears his first world title opportunity against WBC heavyweight world champion Deontay “The Bronze Bomber” Wilder on March 3 live on SHOWTIME from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

On Deontay Wilder: “He’s talking too much. He’s going to have to back that up in the ring. He says he’s going to kill ‘King Kong.’ He’s going to knock me out. I want to watch him try. I’m not like those other guys he fought. I’m a real fighter. Tough and with a lot of experience. I’ve been fighting since I was 10 years old. He doesn’t intimidate me. His trash talk makes me laugh. It’s just a lot of noise. I’m hungry. I’m doing this for my family. He better take me seriously because he’s going to find himself on the canvas before he knows it. I’m going to show the world who ‘King Kong’ is.” Continue reading “Luis Ortiz: I’ve had it with this guy”

By Joe Koizumi

Unbeaten WBC bantamweight champ Luis Nery (25-0, 19 KOs), a Mexican southpaw, arrived on Tuesday in Japan to participate in a rematch with former titlist Shinsuke Yamanaka at the Ryogoku Sumo Arena, Tokyo, on March 1. Nery, 25, said, “Yamanaka is a tough opposition with good experience and hard-punching. He deserves a rematch to win back the WBC belt.” Asked about his previous positive doping test result, Nery replied, “That’s due to Mexican contaminated meat. No problem. This time I kept eating American organic meat, and that wouldn’t happen again.” Nery dethroned previously unbeaten Yamanaka on a fourth round stoppage last August here in Tokyo. In a confrontation of southpaws who will be the winner this time?

By Joe Koizumi
Photos by Naoki Fukuda

For ex-WBC bantamweight champion Shinsuke Yamanaka (27-1-2, 19 KOs) it is a grudge fight with his conqueror Luis Nery (25-0, 19 KOs), Mexico, here in Tokyo on March 1. The 35-year-old Japanese southpaw showed his public workout at Teiken Gym, where he looked so sharp and highly motivated to regain his belt. He engaged in sparring sessions with a Filipino partner and looked well-conditioned for his revancha (rematch) with the Mexican southpaw. Yamanaka said, “I’ve prepared well and wish to regain my belt from Nery.” Time will tell.

Continue reading “Yamanaka looks motivated in public workout”

By Robert Coster

Returning to ring action on March 17th is former WBA Interim light heavyweight Champion Felix Varela (15-2, 13 KOs) who will be crossing gloves with Colombian KO artist Beibis Berrocal (17-4, 16 KOs) for the vacant WBA Fedelatin title in front of his hometown Dominican fans in Santo Domingo.

Promoter Belgica Pena says that the fight promises to be a real shootout.

“Both boxers have very high KO ratio. I’ll be very surprised if the fight goes the limit. We know that Berrocal is a straight-ahead puncher who takes no prisoners.” Continue reading “Valera back to ring action March 17”

It’s official. Undefeated Dutch super middleweight Nieky Holzken (13-0, 10 KOs) replaces Juergen Braehmer as Callum Smith’s Ali Trophy opponent after the German veteran was forced to withdraw from Saturday’s semi-final showdown in Nuremberg. Braehmer has been suffering from the flu and yesterday revealed he would be unable to compete against Smith at the Arena Nürnberger Versicherung. Holzken was already on standby as a reserve, will now have the opportunity to earn a place opposite WBA & IBO World Champion George Groves in the final.

The 34-year-old Holzken is primarily known as a kickboxer, but in recent years he has split his time between boxing and kickboxing. The biggest name on his boxing resume is Viktor Polyakov (13-3-1, 6 KOs), a 2004 Olympian. That fight was two weeks ago. The big-punching Smith, rated WBC #1 and WBO #2 in the world, will be a huge step up in class.

“It is unfortunate for Braehmer particularly after such as strong showing in his quarter-final fight with Rob Brant,” said promoter Kalle Sauerland. “Fortunately, we are prepared for such eventualities and the tournament will move forward with our reserve fighter Nieky Holzken facing Callum Smith in our fourth semi-final.” Continue reading “Smith gets new WBSS foe: Nieky Holzken”

Update: “I have been battling a feverish infection since Sunday,” said the 39-year-old Braehmer in a statement. “Unfortunately, a fight in this state is out of the question. It is not possible for me to go into the ring like this and I would like to apologize to my fans. I was well prepared and looking forward to fighting Callum.”

By Ebby Thust/boxen1.com

Two-time world champion Jürgen Brähmer has pulled out of Saturday’s World Boxing Super Series semi-final against Callum Smith in Nuremberg, Germany. Brähmer has been in bed for days with a severe cold. Since last weekend doctors have tried everything, including infusions, but now there’s no chance Brähmer will get into the ring against Smith on Saturday.

The fight can’t be postponed due to the tight schedule and WBSS rules, thus Brähmer is eliminated from the race for the Muhammad Ali Trophy. Continue reading “Jürgen Brähmer pulls out of WBSS”

The WBA super-middleweight champion was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary hospital moments after his unanimous points win over Chris Eubank Jr. The 29-year-old was practically fighting with just one arm for the last couple of minutes of the Ali Trophy semi-final at the Manchester Arena.

After attempting to throw a left jab, it became clear that his shoulder had popped out of place.

“The left shoulder just popped out in the 12th round,” said Groves. “The medical advice was to go straight to the A&E and have a look. They gave me a few X-rays and put it back in. I will get a few more scans and see a specialist and I we will look to see what the recovery time is. I have no pain now, I’m sure that is a good sign.” Continue reading “Groves injury update: I’m a fast healer”