Fightnews.com

Lawrence Okolie 199 vs. Chris Billam-Smith 199
(WBO cruiserweight title)

Sam Eggington 153 vs. Joe Pigford 153
Kariss Artingstall 125 vs. Jade Taylor 128
Lee Cutler 153 vs. Stanley Stannard 153
Michael McKinson 148 vs. Lebin Morales 146
Isaac Chamberlain 199 vs. Daniel Bocianksi 196
Mace Ruegg 136 vs. Dean Dodge 136
Lewis Edmonson 181 vs. Petar Nosic 181
Tommy Welch 222 vs. Amine Boucetta 224
Alireza Ghadiri 127 vs. Jonatas Rodrigo Gomes de Oliveira 130

Venue: Vitality Stadium, Bournemouth, England
Promoter: BOXXER
TV: FITE+ (US), SkySports (UK)

Mauricio Lara lost the WBA featherweight belt after failing to make weight on Friday. However, he will still step into the ring to face Leigh Wood this Saturday but only Wood will have the option to win the crown.

Lara weighed in at 129.8 pounds on the scale, considerably above the 126-pound featherweight limit. Wood scaled in at 125.9 pounds.

In the lead up to his NABO welterweight title defense, Alexis “Lex” Rocha (22-1, 14 KOs) and his opponent Anthony “Juice” Young (24-2, 8 KOs) hosted a press conference at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino ahead of their scheduled 12-round fight on DAZN this Saturday.

Alexis Rocha: “I am not much of a trash talker either. My respects to him. Whatever his thoughts are, that’s good for him. I am confident in my ability. I am confident in myself. You’ll find out about who I am on Saturday night. I hope he brings this same kind of energy into the ring on Saturday.”

Anthony Young: “I looked at the odds again, and they’re kind of disrespectful – they got me 8-1 underdog. The last time they did that, we shocked the world. I plan to do that again. I didn’t come here to lose; I am not with the script. They built him up good: 22 wins, a couple of tough fights, one step-up fight didn’t go too well. I am going to win on Saturday.”

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WBO minimumweight champion Melvin “Gringo” Jerusalem (20-2, 12 KOs) defends against Oscar “El Pupilo” Collazo (6-0, 4 KOs) in the co-feature.

Melvin Jerusalem: “I am very grateful for this opportunity. I want to thank Golden Boy Promotions for this fight. I am excited to see my opponent today. We will see you all on Saturday night.”

Oscar Collazo: Thank you for this opportunity to make history, history for Puerto Rico, the opportunity to become one of the fastest to become a world champion. We’re feeling very good about this. I earned this, and you’re going to see it this Saturday.”

The WBC has confirmed that welterweight champions Errol Spence Jr.(28-0, 22 KOs) and Terence Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) have reached an agreement to fight July 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The bout came together because both Spence and Crawford were determined to fight so their teams reached an agreement. The winner of this “best of the best” bout will become the undisputed welterweight champion and be de facto the #1 fighter in the division.

K2 Promotions won today’s purse bid to promote the WBA mandatory defense of unified WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk against WBA regular champion Daniel Dubois. Usyk’s promoter K2 bid $8,057,000, far outpacing Dubois’ promoter Queensberry who bid $5,620,050. The target date is August 12 in Wroclaw, Poland. The fight will consolidate the WBA’s heavyweight title as per the WBA’s title reduction plan.

Former teammates turned world title rivals Lawrence Okolie and Chris Billam-Smith faced off in Bournemouth today ahead of this Saturday’s WBO cruiserweight championship showdown at the Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England. The fight can be seen on FITE+ in the US and SkySports in the UK.

Lawrence Okolie: “I’m coming to make an extremely big statement. I’m my own man on my own journey and there’s stuff that I want and need and I’m ready to fight for it. I’ve shown time and time again I’m ready to take the risk and do what needs to be done. I can say I’m in amazing shape and I’m coming to do a job. The way Chris fights, he’s always all action. He comes to throw a lot of punches, put a lot of pressure on where he’s the home fighter, he’s going to have 15,000 people screaming for him, hoping that he can dethrone me. So I’m going to have to be devastating and he’s going to make it very easy for me.”

Chris Billam-Smith: “Any fight against Lawrence is dangerous because he can punch and he’s got long levers so you have to take educated risks and you’ve got to really work hard to get the shots off you need to do. That’s what we’ve been doing the whole time. I don’t expect him to stand there and trade with me. He knows he can’t do that. I imagine he’s going to be trying to keep it long and move his feet. The hard thing with Lawrence is getting in position. So we know what we’ve got to do.”

Four-time world champion in four weight divisions Adrien “The Problem” Broner (34-4-1, 24 KOs) returns to the ring against William “Hutch” Hutchinson (20-2-4, 9 KOs) in a ten-round welterweight bout in the main event on June 9 at Casino Miami. The event, promoted by Hall of Fame Promoter Don “Only in America” King, will be available live on pay per view, for $24.99. The live stream will be available on Fite.tv, DonKing.com and itube247.com.

“This is a great card from top to bottom, headlined by “The Problem” fighter Adrien Broner,” said King. “I am the promoter of the people, for the people and we are giving the people what they want, and that is great fights.”

In the co-featured bout, NABA light heavyweight beltholder Ahmed “The American Pharaoh” Elbiali (22-1, 18 KOs) faces Rodolfo “Cobrita” Gomez (14-6-3, 10 KOs).

Also, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-division world champion Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux (21-3, 14 KOs) will fight in a ten-round bantamweight bout against Julian Evaristo Aristule (35-17-1, 18 KOs). Continue reading “Broner-Hutchinson undercard announced”

Undisputed two-division female world champion Claressa Shields (13-0, 2 KOs) will now face WBC, WBO, IBF #1 ranked middleweight contender Maricela “La Diva” Cornejo (16-5, 6 KOs) in the main event on June 3 from Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and streamed live on DAZN in the U.S. and Canada. Hanna Gabriels was originally slated to rematch Shields, however after Gabriel tested positive for a banned substance on a May 2 VADA test done as part of the WBC Clean Boxer Program, promoter Salita Promotions made the change.

Claressa Shields: “I told my team to get me the best. Cornejo is a tall, tough Mexican full of pride who’s in great shape and wants to beat me. She’s ranked number one. That’s exactly what I want for my Detroit homecoming and for my fans around the world. I’m looking forward to a great performance on June 3.”

Maricela Cornejo: “When Shields faced a Mexican in the cage, she lost. Now she will lose to a Mexican in the boxing ring. I just finished an amazing fight camp and am in the best, strongest physical and mental shape of my life. My team in Vegas has sharpened me like a knife for this moment. On June 3, I will become undisputed champion!”

IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto Lopez and challenger Michael Conlan faced off at the final press conference before their clash on Saturday night at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The bout can be seen on ESPN+ in the U.S. and BT Sport in the UK.

Luis Alberto Lopez: “I have already beaten up all the prospects and fighters Top Rank have given to me so, on this Saturday night, I want to prove to everyone that I am a true champion and, after beating Michael Conlan, I will go for the next world champs. I am used to this type of environment, I am used to traveling and this is my third time here in the UK. Everybody wants to see me lose but, don’t forget, I am the world champion. Every time they tell me that I am going to lose, that I am going to be knocked out, but when I jump into the ring there are two of us and I am used to it. I am going to be taking the victory.”

Michael Conlan: “I’m just excited, really excited about Saturday night. I thank Luis for coming to Belfast, I appreciate it, but on Saturday night I will be champion. I have experienced a lot of atmospheres throughout my career now, very mad, crazy atmospheres and Saturday night will be no different. I know how to handle it now. He plans to end it quickly, but I know he has changed trainers a few times during this training camp and there are probably things going on with him. I don’t think he truly believes that, he is saying it for the cameras and that is ok, no problem. I respect him as a fighter, I respect his opinion, but on Saturday night I will be champion. I am expecting the best Luis Alberto, he is going to bring everything and try and come in and knock me out. I am prepared for everything he is going to do, I have ticked every box I need to tick and I am very confident going into this fight. It is a pleasure to have this in Belfast, but I know it doesn’t mean too much because Luis travels well. I believe on Saturday night it will be ‘and the new.’”

Unified WBC/WBO/IBF light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) will defend his belts against WBC #1 contender Callum “Mundo” Smith (29-1, 21 KOs) on Saturday, August 19 at Videotron Centre in Québec City, Canada. The bout will air live on ESPN in the US and on Sky Sports in the UK and Ireland.

Artur Beterbiev: “Québec is my second home, so I’m very happy to finally defend my titles on home turf. When you are world champion, everyone wants the opportunity to take your belt, and that’s especially true in my case, with three titles at stake. I’ve already started my training camp, and I’ll be ready to not only defend my belts, but to also put on an impressive show August 19.”

Callum Smith: “I’m excited to finally get my opportunity to become a two-weight world champion. I’m no stranger to fighting on away soil, having boxed in Saudi Arabia twice, across America, and now heading to Canada on August 19. There was no hesitation from me going to Canada to fight Artur Beterbiev, and I will be returning to Liverpool as a world champion once more.”

The full card for the Beterbiev-Smith event, which will also feature undefeated super middleweight Christian Mbilli (24-0, 20 KOs) and heavyweight puncher Simon Kean (23-1, 22 KOs), will be announced shortly.

Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) today announced that lightweight Adam Kipenga (11-3-1, 7 KOs) will now take on unbeaten Ashton “H2O” Sylve (8-0, 8 KOs) in Most Valuable Prospects’ headlining bout for its inaugural event this Friday night on DAZN from Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida. Kipenga will replace Angel Rebollar who was forced to pull out due to an eye injury.

Mauricio Lara and Leigh Wood faced off at the final press conference ahead of their WBA featherweight world title rematch on Saturday night in Manchester, England.

Middleweight Liam Smith has further postponed his rematch with bitter rival Chris Eubank Jr in order to recover from a minor but nagging injury which has dogged his training camp. After their fight in January, the rematch was originally slated for June 17, then postponed to July 1. A new date for the rescheduled Smith-Eubank II bout will be announced shortly.

The July 1 BOXXER card at the AO Arena in Manchester, England, will now be headlined by Savannah Marshall (12-1, 10 KOs) moving up to challenge undisputed women’s super middleweight champion Franchon Crews-Dezurn (8-1, 2 KOs). Every fan in the arena in July 1 will receive a free food and beverage voucher – plus priority access and discount for rescheduled Smith vs Eubank II event.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury was at ringside to see former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker score a knockout in the opening round against Faiga Opelu at the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne on Wednesday.

“I think it was a great performance,” said Fury to the SMH newspaper. “It just shows how hard Joseph is working in the gym. I’ve always been saying this, there are a lot of levels in boxing, he’s a world heavyweight champion former, and he’s going to get back up there again in my opinion….I’d like to see him fight a rematch with Andy Ruiz or Joe Joyce. Maybe Dillian Whyte or AJ.” Fury has ruled out ever fighting Parker himself due to their friendship.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

As expected, former WBO heavyweight champion Joseph Parker (32-3, 22 KOs) obliterated Faiga “Django” Opelu (15-4-2, 11 KOs) on Wednesday night at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. With WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury looking on, Parker quickly dropped Opelu and got a referee’s stoppage at 1:29 on round one.

Unbeaten super welterweight Nikita Tszyu (6-0, 5 KOs), son of Hall of Famer Kostya Tszyu and younger brother of current WBO interim super welterweight champion Tim Tszyu, stopped Ben Bommber (5-1, 4 KOs) in the first round. Time was 2:09.

Ben Horn (5-6, 0 KOs), brother of former WBO welterweight champion Jeff Horn, upset previously unbeaten Joel Taylor (9-1, 4 KOs) by six round unanimous decision. Taylor down in round one. Scores were 57-56, 57-56, 58-55.

Cruiserweight David Nyika (6-0, 5 KOs), a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, got a referee’s stoppage against Louis Marsters (3-5, 2 KOs) in round four. Nyika previously stopped Marsters in two rounds.

Hall of Fame boxing analyst and trainer Teddy Atlas has again called for the establishment of a federal boxing commission and posted an online petition in its support. Atlas also announced that his team will be presenting the petition and sharing their concerns with several elected officials to advance this issue before Congress.

“Recent nationally televised professional boxing events have shown a spotlight on unacceptable performances inside and around the ring by officials appointed to maintain the integrity and consumer confidence of the sport,” said Atlas. “While I recognize the human element is naturally fallible, I cannot, and I think many who love the sport of boxing agree, that this should be acceptable. The fighters who sacrifice so much in their training and risk their well-being inside the ring, deserve accountability and consequences for the actions, or inaction, by those responsible for the health and safety of the fighters. Officiating in boxing — from the commission to the referees, judges, inspectors, et al. — need to recognize this and step up. It’s time for the entire process to be overhauled and elevated to the same standard of major league sports.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury could be in action in Australia this summer against unbeaten WBO #11, IBF #11 contender Dempsey McKean (22-0, 14 KOs) according to Australian promoter Angelo DiCarlo.

“Chats began some time ago for Demsey to fight Tyson Fury in Australia and I think Demsey is the best option for the Gypsy King,” Di Carlo told News Corp. “We’re certainly keen to do the fight. We’ve had a good association with Matchroom (McKean’s promoter) and we have great respect for Eddie Hearn, but I’ll have more talks with Fury’s camp and see where that takes us.

“If Tyson Fury wants to fight in Australia, the logical option is to fight an Aussie fighter and talking to Fury’s people, they don’t want to fight a small heavyweight. Demsey and Justis [Huni] are Australia’s best heavyweights, but Demsey is 6’6 and being a southpaw, he would present a real test for Tyson. We’ve been given a possible date to fight Fury in August, so hopefully we can make it happen.”

We’ve been down this road before, but the latest buzz is WBO welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford and WBC/WBA/IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. will collide for the undisputed world welterweight title on July 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. There will also reportedly be a rematch clause that can be triggered by either fighter. Spence was penciled in to face Keith Thurman at junior middleweight, but that bout would be scuttled if Crawford-Spence is actually happening. Stay tuned.

Full slate of boxing action this Saturday. Here are the current odds:

Hometown hero Michael Conlan is a slight -128 favorite to dethrone current IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto Lopez on ESPN+ from the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

WBA featherweight champion Mauricio Lara is a 3:1 favorite to repeat his win over former champ Leigh Wood on DAZN from the AO Arena in Manchester, England.

WBO cruiserweight champion Laurence Okolie is better than a 3:1 pick over #1 rated Chris Billam-Smith on FITE+ from Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England.

WBO #1 welterweight Alexis Rocha is a wide 14:1 pick against WBO #10 rated Anthony Young on DAZN from Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. Also on that card, WBO minimumweight champion Melvin Jerusalem is better than a 2:1 favorite against WBO #1 Oscar Collazo.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing
Photos: Werner Kalin

Joseph Parker 239.9 vs. Faiga “Django” Opelu 214.8
Nikita Tszyu 153 vs. Benjamin Bommber 155
Cameron Mooney 215.2 vs. Tom Bellchambers 267.2
Joel Taylor 149.7 vs. Ben Horn 150.4
David Nyika 199 vs. Louis Marsters 199.3
Campbell Somerville 153 vs. Isaias Sette 152.4
Jayde Mitchell 175.3 vs. Max Reeves 172.4
Luke Gersbeck 151.7 vs. Jack Moore 151.2

Venue: Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Promoter: No Limit
TV: PPV

More Photos

By Mauricio Sulaimán
Son of José Sulaimán – WBC President

This past weekend, the boxing world enjoyed two fights of the highest level of importance, quality and emotion.

On one hand, Katie Taylor, Olympic champion and undisputed lightweight champion, fought for the first time at home, in front her people in Dublin, Ireland, against undisputed super lightweight world champion Chantelle Cameron of England. Two undefeated, undisputed champions and holders of the four belts of both divisions.

On the other hand, at the MGM in Las Vegas, the undisputed lightweight champion, Devin Haney, from the United States, fought against the two-time Olympic champion and former world champion in three divisions, Ukrainian Vasyl Lomachenko.

Both fights were in front of completely packed arenas, and they resulted in very close fights, Razor-thin decisions, but with the best possible quality, both technically and emotionally, as well as dramatic. It was up to the judges to determine the winner, and as often happens in our beloved sport, whenever there is a close fight, the decision was controversial and opinions were divided among fans and the world’s media, especially in the Haney vs. Lomachenko.

Boxing is bound to be controversial and come under fire from the press and fans whenever there is a big fight, and it turns out to be close. Continue reading “The complex world of boxing scoring”

WBC super lightweight champion Regis Prograis (28-1 24 KOs) will now defend his world title against Danielito Zorrilla (17-1 13 KOs) on Saturday June 17 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana, live worldwide on DAZN. Zorrilla steps in for injured Liam Paro.

Regis Prograis: “I’m glad that Zorrilla has taken the fight. Nothing changes for me; I am still working hard to go out there and prove that I am the best fighter in the world at 140lbs.”

Unbeaten bantamweight Manuel “Gucci Manny” Flores (15-0, 11 KOs) will headline his first-ever Golden Boy Fight Night card on Thursday, June 8 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. He will face Walter Santibanes (11-2, 2 KOs) in a ten-rounder that can be seen worldwide on DAZN.

In the co-main event, female boxing veteran and former two-division world champion Jelena Mrdjenovich (41-12-4, 19 KOs) will return against Calista “Cali” Silgado (21-16-4, 16 KOs) in a ten round featherweight fight.

By Joe Koizumi

Formerly all-WBO three-division champ Kosei Tanaka (19-1, 11 KOs), 116, scored a fine stoppage of WBC#13 Colombian Pablo Carrillo (28-9-2, 17 KOs), 115.75, at 2:43 of the tenth and final round on Sunday in Nagoya, Japan. Having been halted by compatriot Kazuto Ioka in the eighth with his WBO 115-pound belt at stake in 2020, Tanaka, a Sugar Ray Leonard stylist, registered four victories over as many world contenders to his credit. Tanaka took the initiative, maintained the pressure and finally battered the fading Colombian down the stretch with the referee’s well-timed intervention. Currently ranked #3 by both the WBO and the IBF, Tanaka may have an opportunity of a mandatory shot at the newly crowned WBO ruler Junto Nakatani who seized the vacant WBO 115-pound belt in Las Vegas—almost at the same time because of the time difference. Problem is the taller Nakatani is a very puzzling southpaw that can punch with either hand.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has arrived in Australia and will be in attendance on Wednesday night at the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne to support close friend and former world champion Joseph Parker (31-3, 21 KOs), who will clash with Faiga “Django” Opelu (15-3-2, 11 KOs) in a ten-rounder for the Commonwealth heavyweight title.

Fury also revealed that he’s considering fighting in Australia himself.

“Over the next few days we’re going to be traveling around to a few different states and looking at some potential venues for my next fight,” Fury told NCA NewsWire. “Australians are always crazy boxing fans, so it would be great to get the Gypsy King Down Under. We’ll find out more over the coming weeks…I’m trying to fight in the UK. I’m trying to fight here. I want to be a heavyweight champion that fights on different continents, not just at home or in America.”