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Undefeated WBC super middleweight world champion David Benavidez promised to send top-rated contender Ronald Gavril into retirement in their anticipated rematch of a thrilling 2017 split-decision. Gavril, who floored Benavidez in the final minute of their Fight of the Year nominee, promised a different outcome in Saturday’s rematch on SHOWTIME from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

David Benavidez: “I’m going to put Gavril into retirement after this fight. I’m going to knock him out. This is going to be the fight of the night so you guys don’t want to miss it. He’s not going to want to box again after I get done with him. He dropped me but I wasn’t hurt at any point of that fight. I got back up and smiled. I did not feel his power at all.”

Ronald Gavril: “I think Benavidez talks to much. He said before the first fight that he was coming to stop me in four rounds or five rounds. He cannot stop me. And now, he said the same thing before this fight. He can’t do that. Why do you think he got a new fitness coach?”

Two-division world champion Danny Garcia and former world champion Brandon Rios faced off Thursday at the final press conference for their WBC Welterweight World Title Eliminator this Saturday live on SHOWTIME from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Garcia, who returns for his first bout since a unification showdown with Keith Thurman, promised to put on a show, while a confident Rios assured he was 100 percent prepared for what he deemed a “make or break” fight.

Danny Garcia: “It’s the Danny Garcia show so I’m going to go in there and do what I want to do. I’m going to dictate the pace. If we want to bang, we can bang. If we want to box, we can box. I’ve faced fighters that came straight at me before. I’ve faced fighters that moved. I’m prepared for whatever.”

Brandon Rios: “I’m ready 100 percent. I’m ready to give the fans an exciting show and that’s what I’ve prepared for. That’s my style. I always come forward and I come to fight. We ain’t dancing, we’re going to be fighting.”

The current rapid growing popularity of women’s boxing continues its hot trend. Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions has signed the talented and charismatic former world champion Louisa “Lulu” Hawton(7-0, 3 KOs) of Australia. Her first fight under the promotional banner will be on the undercard of “Superfly II” February 24th at the Forum in Southern California.

She will take on former world title challenger Anahi Torres of Mexico for the WBC International light flyweight title. This is a very important fight for Hawton because if victorious it’s being rumored she could fight for the WBC minimumweight world title fight on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs Gennady “GGG” Golovkin II. Continue reading “360 Promotions inks first female fighter”

By Marco Bratusch

The vacant European bantamweight title saw its related purse bid today at EBU offices, with two offers received for staging the contest. France’s Europrom won the bid offering 26,001 Euros against 16,200 Euros put in the envelope by Chris Sanigar Promotions, from the United Kingdom. Consequentially, this rematch bout between co-challengers Omar Lamiri (18-2, 8 KOs) and former IBF world title champion Lee Haskins (35-4,14 KOs), who faced one another in February 2015 with the Brit emerging as the winner, will be taking place in France in a date yet to be announced. Continue reading “European Update”

Erick Ituarte 125.9 vs. Jose Ramirez 128.9
Ruben Villa 128 vs. Juan Sandoval 129.1
Isaac Zarate 122 vs. Christian Ayala 122
Saul Sanchez 118.8 vs. Pedro Melo 118.6
Mario Hernandez 117.9 vs. Jorge Careaga 116.3
Ruben Torres 132 vs. Anthony de Jesus Ruiz 131.3
Zhora Hamazaryan 134.1 vs. Sergio Ramirez 136

Venue: The Doubletree Hotel in Ontario, CA
Promoter: Thompson Boxing
Stream: Facebook

Raymundo Beltran 134.5 vs. Paulus Moses 134
(WBO lightweight title)

Egidijus Kavaliauskas 146.5 vs. David Avanesyan 147
Shakur Stevenson 125.5 vs. Juan Tapia 124.5
Robson Conceicao 132.5 vs. Ignacio Holguin 132.8
Bryant Jennings 231.5 vs. Akhror Muralimov 259
Sagadat Rakhmankulov 148 vs. Noel Esqueda 148
Ricardo Lucio Galvan 128.5 vs. Kenneth Guzman 126.5
Alexander Besputin 147 vs. Wesley Tucker 149.5

Venue: Grand Sierra Resort and Casino in Reno, Nevada
Promoter: Top Rank
TV: ESPN

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Laila Ali will become the first child of a Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame inductee to be enshrined when she is inducted into the NVBHOF on Saturday, Aug. 18 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Ali, the daughter of legendary former heavyweight champion & Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame 2015 Inductee, Muhammad Ali, headlines an elite 14-member class. “I am so excited about our latest class, because not only do we get to honor some of the greatest boxers ever, but also because of the historic connection between Muhammad Ali and his daughter, Laila,” said Michelle Corrales-Lewis, the CEO of the Nevada Boxing Hall of Fame. “Just like her father, who was known as ‘The Greatest,’ Laila was believed by many to be the best female boxer during her career.

Of the 14-member class, nine are being elected as boxers and five as non-boxing participants. The living inductees are Laila Ali, Chris Byrd, Todd duBoef, Kevin Kelley, Don Minor, Shane Mosley, Sen. Harry Reid, Jerry Roth and Earnie Shavers.

Alexis Arguello, Henry Armstrong, Jack “Doc” Kearns, Bill Miller and Aaron Pryor will be inducted posthumously.

By Ricardo Ibarra

Not too long ago the Coeur d’Alene Casino’s ‘House of Fury’ in Worley, Idaho was one of the more prominent venues for the sport of boxing in the Pacific Northwest. Over the past six-plus years, however, the once busy fight locale has been dormant, not holding an event there since October of 2011. That lengthy stretch of inactivity will come to an end on Thursday, March 1st, as the Coeur d’Alene opens its doors to the sport once again with a six-bout show that many hope will be the start of regular events at the site.

Headlining the card will be current WBC Unites States (USNBC) cruiserweight champion Patrick Ferguson (10-0-1, 10 KOs), of nearby Spokane, Washington, making his first defense of the title against Topeka, Kansas’ Mario Munoz (12-4-1, 4 KOs). Continue reading “Ferguson-Munoz headline in Idaho March 1”

On Saturday, March 17, the “Argentinean Lomachenko,” two-time Olympian Alberto “Impacto” Melian, will challenge for his first professional title in only his second professional fight. Fighting in his hometown of Villa Dolores, Cordoba, Argentina, Melian (1-0, 1 KO) will take on Argentine Super Bantamweight Champion Javier Aristule (32-8, 16 KOs) over 10 rounds. Continue reading “‘Argentinean Lomachenko’ headlines March 17”

Story by John DiSanto – PhillyBoxingHistory.com

The Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame, established in 1958, released the names of their latest group of honorees. Eleven former boxers and five non-boxers comprise the 2018 class. The sixteen new members will be officially welcomed to the PA Hall at the 60th annual induction ceremony and banquet, to be held on May 20, 2018 in Philadelphia.

Leading the Class of 2018 are the fighting Fletcher Brothers – Frank Fletcher and Anthony Fletcher – two ring stars of the 1980s. Frank “The Animal” Fletcher was a wildly popular brawler who won the USBA and ESPN championships, thrived on Saturday afternoon national television, and came one fight from challenging Marvelous Marvin Hagler for the world middleweight crown. Continue reading “Fletcher Brothers lead 60th PABHOF class”

Undefeated 140-pound contender Regis “Rougarou” Prograis remains focused on the prize despite the recent change in opponent for his March 9 showdown for the Interim WBC Super Lightweight World Championship. Prograis will now face former unified world champion Julius Indongo in the 12-round main event of a Showtime Boxing: Special Edition live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET/PT from Deadwood Mountain Grand in Deadwood, South Dakota.

The southpaw Indongo replaced Viktor Postol, who was forced to withdraw from the bout on Monday with a hand injury. Continue reading “Prograis undaunted by opponent change”

This past Tuesday night, junior welterweight Mykal Fox took an eight-round unanimous decision over tough Ricardo Garcia in the main event of an eight-bout card at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center. Fox of Forestville, Maryland remained undefeated by using his long reach, as he used his jab and nice left hands. Garcia landed haymaker shots from time to time, but over the second half of the fight, Fox made the proper adjustments and timed Garcia lunging in. The damage inflicted by Fox was evident as Garcia’s left eye began to swell midway through the fight. In round seven, with his eye nearly shut, Garcia ate a right hook that put him on the canvas.

Fox, 141.8 lbs of Forestville, Maryland took the decision by scores of 78-73 twice and 77-74 to further his perfect mark to 16-0. Garcia, 142.1 lbs of Dominican Republic dropped his 2nd straight fight, and is now 14-2. Continue reading “Fox tops Garcia, remains unbeaten”

For tonight’s Sold Out 50th Fight Club OC show anniversary here are the weights:

Jarrett Jeter 132 vs Roger Gutierrez 130.6
Filly Rubalcava 121 vs Ricky Cuellar 122
Osman Diaz 184.7 vs Santiago Diaz 186.6
DeVon Abraham 127 vs Lupe Arroyo 127.4
Kory Kelley 192 vs Saul Ul-Hasan 186.7
George Acosta 135 vs Teodoro Alonso 135

Venue: The Hangar at the OC Fair & Event Center, Costa Mesa, CA
Promoter: Roy Englebrecht Promotions
50 Standing Room Only Tickets On Sale by call 949-760-3131

Officials have been named for Saturday’s WBC super middleweight title rematch between champion David “Red Flag” Benavidez and Ronald Gavril at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. The referee will be Jay Nady. Judges are Adelaide Byrd, Dave Moretti and Glenn Trowbridge. WBC supervisor is Alberto Guerra. This is the exact same crew who worked Benavidez-Gavril I last year. The bout also marks Byrd’s first world title fight in Las Vegas since GGG-Canelo last September.

Zolani Tete will now make the second defense of his WBO bantamweight world championship against Omar Andres Narvaez on the April 21 Frampton v Donaire bill at Belfast’s SSE Arena. Tete (26-3, 21 KO’s) had been due to defend his title against Narvaez in London this month but was forced to postpone the bout after suffering a calf injury in training but will now return to the scene of his record-breaking knockout win over Siboniso Gonya.

The thunderous punching South African won a legion of new fans back in November when he stopped countryman Gonya in just eleven seconds, setting a new world record for the fastest ever knockout recorded in a world title fight. Continue reading “New date for Tete vs. Narvaez”

“He likes to bang…let’s do it,” says former two-division world champion Danny Garcia, who meets ex-champ Brandon Rios in a WBC welterweight world title eliminator this Saturday on SHOWTIME from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

“I feel like I’m the stronger man and there’s no need to back up if that’s what it takes to get the job done. Continue reading “Danny Garcia: I’m going to do everything”

By Ray Wheatley — World of Boxing

WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn will become boxing’s best pound-for-pound boxer after he defeats Terrence Crawford on April 14 in Las Vegas according to Glenn Rushton, who trains Horn. “Terence has an awkward style and is effective punching either right- or left-handed, but Jeff can do exactly that, as well,” Rushton told Grantlee Kieza of the Courier Mail.

“We’re ready for whatever Terence brings. He can fight orthodox, southpaw, ‘south-odox’ or ‘ortho-paw’ – we don’t mind because Jeff is ready to change direction at any time. He and I are very confident that despite the heavy odds in favor of Terence, Jeff will shock the world again and be recognized as the best boxer in the world pound for pound.”

Former world champion Brandon Rios may be a 20:1 underdog, but he says he’s going to defeat former champion Danny Garcia in their WBC welterweight world title eliminator this Saturday live on SHOWTIME from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. “I don’t care what the critics say,” says Rios, “because at the end of the day that’s what they are, just critics. It’s all good. I can tell you right now I’m in shape. I’m on weight already.

“Everyone knows the way I fight. Going all out is my style. I’ll walk through brick walls to get the victory. Everyone will see on Saturday night the new and improved Bam Bam. Continue reading “Rios: You’ll see a new, improved Bam Bam”

Undefeated WBC super middleweight world champion David Benavidez says he’s going to stop top-rated contender Ronald Gavril in Saturday’s rematch of their thrilling September 2017 bout in which Benavidez won the vacant title by split decision. The SHOWTIME-televised bout takes place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

“I don’t think Gavril can do any better than he did in the last fight,” stated Benavidez. “He’s a one trick pony and he doesn’t have many tricks left, he’s getting old. We’ve been working on a lot of different styles for this fight and I feel more than ready. I’m very motivated. I stayed very dedicated to this training camp. I’m ready to go in there and play no games. I’m going to do what I say and I’m going to knock Gavril out! Continue reading “David Benavidez: I’m going to knock Gavril out”

The heavyweight world title showdown between Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz will feature an undercard that includes top contenders, a former heavyweight champion, exciting prospects and more all entering the ring on Saturday, March 3 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.

Action inside the arena includes top middleweight contender Sergey Derevyanchenko facing Dashon Johnson in an eight-round fight, 2016 U.S. Olympian Gary Antuanne Russell in a six-round super lightweight showdown, a 10-round matchup between super welterweight prospects Patrick Day and Kyrone Davis, former IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin (25-1-1, 23 KOs) in an eight-round fight, and former world title challenger Willie Monroe Jr. (21-3, 6 KOs). Continue reading “Wilder-Ortiz undercard announced”

Congratulations to the World Boxing Council, which is celebrating 55 years of service since its foundation. The original WBC ceremony took place at Mexico City’s Prado Alffer Hotel on February 14, 1963. Mexican President Adolfo Lopez Mateos, who was also a great boxing fan, entrusted this meeting to Mexico City Boxing Commissioner Luis Spota. He along with Commissioner Ramon G. Velazquez and Secretary Rafael Barradas Osorio organized the event, gathering official representatives of eleven nations. The historic meeting was attended boxing greats such as publisher Nat Fleischer, promoters George Parnassus and Aileen Eaton, New York Commissioner Melvyn Krulewitch and other distinguished guests. At 13:00 pm, it was announced that the first World Boxing Council President was Luis Spota Saavedra. He was followed by Justiniano Montano, Ramon G. Velazquez, Jose Sulaiman Chagnon and current leader Mauricio Sulaiman Saldivar.

Showtime Sports released a video feature recapping the first fight between David Benavidez and Ronald Gavril ahead of their WBC super middleweight world championship rematch this Saturday, February 17 live on Showtime from Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Narrated by Showtime Championship Boxing host Brian Custer, the recap details Benavidez’s split decision victory over Gavril, which made him the youngest super middleweight champion ever. Their first meeting, which took place Sept. 8 on SHOWTIME in Las Vegas, was a nominee for 2017 “Fight of the Year.”

Photos: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

WBO #1 rated lightweight contender Ray Beltran (34-7-1, 21 KOs) and #2 rated Paulus Moses (39-3, 24 KOs) face off at the final press conference for their ESPN-televised WBO world title clash on Friday at the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, Nevada.

Also on hand were world rated welterweights Egidijus “The Mean Machine” Kavaliauskas (18-0, 15 Kos) and former WBA champion David “Ava” Avanesyan (23-2-1, 11 KOs), who meet in the co-feature, along with 2016 Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson (4-0, 2 KOs) and two-time world heavyweight title challenger Bryant Jennings (21-2, 12 KOs).

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Today, FOX Sports announced that former multiple-division world champion Robert Guerrero and longtime boxing trainer Virgil Hunter join the broadcast team as analysts for the Premier Boxing Champions: Ortiz vs. Alexander February 17 FOX telecast from the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas. Guerrero and Hunter team with blow-by-blow announcer Sean Grande calling the fights. Kate Abdo hosts the broadcast. On FOX Deportes, Ernesto Amador joins blow-by-blow announcer Jaime Motta to call the action in Spanish.

The main event features a 12-round matchup between former welterweight world champions “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (32-6-2, 25 KOs) and Devon Alexander “The Great” (27-4, 14 KOs). In the co-main event, unbeaten contender Caleb “Sweethands” Plant (16-0, 10 KOs) faces Rogelio “Porky” Medina (38-8, 32 KOs) in a 12-round 168-pound world title eliminator. In addition, 2016 U.S. Olympian Karlos Balderas (3-0, 3 KOs) takes on Jorge Rojas (4-2-1, 2 KOs) in a six-round matchup.