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Super middleweight rivals David “The Mexican Monster” Benavídez and Caleb Plant stated their intention to settle their rivalry emphatically during Thursday’s final press conference before they meet for Benavidez’s WBC interim title headlining action live on SHOWTIME PPV this Saturday from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

David Benavidez: “I’m gonna break Caleb’s jaw on Saturday night, by the sixth round…I’ve hurt everyone I’ve gotten in the ring with, and I can’t say the same for him. I guarantee I’m gonna hurt him…I really don’t like that guy at all…This is definitely the grudge match that everybody wants to see.

Caleb Plant: “The fans are going to see me get my hand raised. That’s what I’m guaranteeing…I feel I’m the better boxer, I have the better IQ and I have more experience. I have the better pedigree and it’s gonna show on Saturday night. I’m one of the best in the world at what I do. We’ve yet to see if he can perform at this level, but we’re gonna find out on Saturday.”

WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie (18-0, 14 KOs) came face to face with David Light (20-0, 12 KOs) in Manchester today at the pre-fight press conference ahead of this Saturday’s world title clash at the AO Arena Manchester, which will air live on Sky Sports in the UK and ProBox TV in the USA..

Lawrence Okolie: When I see him I know what he really is. I’m prepared for what he may bring and will do what I need to do. I am going to be matching him and overmatching him for pressure and power from round one. Saturday’s going to come. One of us is going to win and the other one’s going to become irrelevant. So I’m looking forward to it.”

David Light: “I’m not here on somebody’s else’s terms… I’ve earned the shot. I’m coming to win. I know he’s a proud man and he’s going to defend with everything he’s got. I could have taken this fight a few years ago, for the money, but I am not here for the money – I’m here for the title.”

Ivan Zucco 167.3 vs. Germaine Brown 168
(WBC International super middleweight title)

Francesco Russo 153.7 vs. Christian Mazzon 154
Maxim Prodan 150.1 vs. Mirko Marchetti 149.5
Giovanni Sarchioto 162.8 vs. Houcine Moulahi 163.1

Promoter: OPI Since 82
Date and venue: March 24, Allianz Cloud, Milan
Tv: ESPN+ (3 pm ET), DAZN (Italy only)

Christian Mbilli 167 vs. Carlos Gongora 167.2
Simon Kean 248.8 vs. Eric Molina 253
Steve Claggett 141.2 vs. Rafael Guzman Lugo 141.8
Luis Santana 136.6 vs. Francisco Martinez 141.8
Leila Beaudoin 129.6 vs. Laura Mondragon 136.6
Wilkens Mathieu 164.2 vs. Jose Saldana 163.8
Jhon Orobio 129.2 vs. Alejandro De La Rosa 127.8
Vanessa Lepage Joanisse 184.8 vs. Princess Hairston 189.2

Date/Venue: March 23, Cabaret du Casino de Montreal
Promoter: Eye of the Tiger
TV: ESPN+

Professional boxing makes its long-awaited return to the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington on Friday April 7 when Toro Promotions Incorporated in association with Whitfield Haydon brings a seven bout card to the state of the art EQC Event Center at 8PM. At stake in the main event will be a matchup for the WBA Fedebol featherweight title when Mexico’s upset specialist Angel Antonio “Cachorro” Contreras (15-5-2, 7 KO) takes on Colombian Brandon Valdes (14-3, 7KO) in what figures to be a rough ten round affair. Continue reading “Boxing Returns to Emerald Queen April 7”

Undefeated former two-time WBC super middleweight champion David “The Mexican Monster” Benavídez and former IBF super middleweight champion Caleb Plant officially kicked off fight week events Wednesday with open media workouts before they meet in the Showtime PPV main event this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.:

David Benavidez: “I have tremendous power. Everybody I hit gets hurt. I end up breaking them down little by little. This is the most focused I’ve ever been for a fight. I know Caleb Plant is going to be a hard fighter moving around a lot. But whatever he brings to the table, I’m going to be ready for it. I’m looking for that knockout and I’m going to get it.”

Caleb Plant: “I’ve been here before. I’ve been in big fights before. I know what this is all about and I know what it takes. Me and my team are fully prepared to get my hand raised on Saturday night.”

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

Looks like WBO interim 154-pound champion Tim Tszyu should get his unified world championship opportunity against undisputed super welterweight champion Jermell Charlo in July or August.

Charlo gave an update on his hand injury to Brian Custer on The Last Stand Podcast. “The hand is going. I’m just doing everything I can with rehab,” Charlo said. “I have not punched yet. When you break two bones in one hand, it takes a lot. The hand is real delicate, but these are my moneymakers. It’s gonna be stronger than what it was before. Continue reading “Jermell Charlo injury update”

Lightweight Mohamed “El Bufalo Negro” Soumaoro (13-1, 6 KOs) pummeled previously undefeated Angel “El Chocolatito” Vazquez (12-1, 6 KOs) for eight brutal and one-sided rounds on Wednesday night at the ProBox Events Center in Plant City, Florida. After prolonged punishment, Vazquez’ corner finally stopped the fight. Time was 2:50.

In a clash of unbeaten welterweights, Axl Melendez (6-0, 4 KOs) took a six round majority decision over Demontaze Duncan (8-1, 8 KOs). Scores were 57-57, 58-56, 58-56.

Unbeaten jr welterweight Omar Rosario (10-0, 3 KOs) scored a first round KO against Zach Hill (3-4, 2 KOs). A body shot put Hill down for the count. Time was 2:32.

By Ray Wheatley – World of Boxing

World championship referee Bill Clancy talks to Fightnews.com® about working as the third man in the ring for 41 years. Continue reading “Interview: Referee Bill Clancy”

IBF featherweight champion Luis Alberto “El Venado” Lopez may have to start calling himself “The Road Warrior.” Lopez will make the first defense of his world title against Michael “Mick” Conlan on Saturday, May 27, at The SSE Arena in Conlan’s hometown of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Lopez captured the title last December, venturing to Josh Warrington’s home base of Leeds, England, to grind out a majority decision.

Lopez-Conlan and undercard bouts will be broadcast live and exclusively on BT Sport in the UK and Ireland. Fans in the United States can watch the action on ESPN+.

By Ron Jackson

Over the years there have been numerous books written on the history of the world heavyweight boxing championship and now Koos van Zyl from Namibia has added to the illustrious history of the top division in boxing, with his book Boxing: Heavy Weight World Champions Through the Ages.

This must be the first boxing book written by a Namibian and deals with the various champions from 1885 when John L. Sullivan claimed the heavyweight championship of the world on 29 August when he won on a disqualification against Dominick McCaffrey, up until the present champions Tyson Fury who holds the WBC version of the title and Oleksandr Usyk the holder of the WBA, WBO and IBF belts. Continue reading “Another book on the world heavyweight championship”

Once-beaten super lightweight Mohamed “El Bufalo Negro” Soumaoro (12-1, 5 KOs) will battle undefeated Angel “El Chocolatito” Vazquez (12-0, 6 KOs) in a ten round bout in the main event of ProBox TV’s March 22 boxing show at the ProBox Events Center in Plant City, Florida. The live stream will begin at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT.

Mohamed Soumaoro 139.8 vs. Angel Vazquez 139.8
Demontaze Duncan 148 vs. Axl Melendez 148.4
Omar Rosario 141.8 vs. Zach Hill 140

Undefeated light heavyweight contender Joshua Buatsi (16-0, 13 KOs) recently signed an exclusive multi-fight, multi-year agreement with BOXXER and Sky Sports. Buatsi will next fight on May 6 at the Resorts World Arena in Birmingham, England.

GH3 Promotions has announced the signing of undefeated super middleweight Junior “The Young God” Younan (17-0-1, 11 KOs) to a co-promotional deal with Amaury Piedra. Younan’s father/trainer is Sherif Younan.

Jeter Promotions has announced the signing of undefeated junior welterweight Ahmad Muhammad Jones to a promotional contract. Jones, 23 years-old of Baltimore, Maryland is 4-0 with two knockouts. Jones is trained by Marvin McDowell.

Global streaming service and television network ProBox TV has been on fire lately. Last weekend they streamed the entertaining scrap between Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller and Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne. This week they have picked up worldwide television rights for the WBO cruiserweight world title clash between Lawrence Okolie (18-0, 14 KOs) and David Light (20-0, 12 KOs) on Saturday. ALL ProBox TV subscribers in the USA, Canada, DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland), NORDICS (Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark), France, Holland, Turkey, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Thailand, Philippines and South Korea can all watch the event as part of their monthly or yearly subscription.

ESPN has announced that the highly anticipated May 7 clash between Naoya Inoue and Stephen Fulton for the unified WBC/WBO super bantamweight title has been postponed after Inoue suffered an undisclosed injury in training. ESPN, which planned to stream the bout on ESPN+ in the early morning hours, said the bout will be rescheduled for later this summer.

Two international fight cards will stream live and exclusively in the U.S. on ESPN+ this week. The action starts Thursday, as super middleweight knockout artist Christian Mbilli takes on two-time Ecuadorian Olympian Carlos Gongora in a 10-round main event from the Montreal Casino in Montreal, Canada.

The ESPN+ action continues Friday from the Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy, as undefeated 168-pound contender Ivan Zucco faces off against London’s Germaine Brown in a 10-round bout. Continue reading “ESPN+ to air Mbilli-Gongora, Zucco-Brown cards”

WBA president Gilberto Jesus Mendoza, announced that representatives of WBA/IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk and WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury will have until April 1 to agree on a heavyweight unification bout. If Usyk-Fury doesn’t take place, the WBA will call on Usyk to negotiate with WBA regular champion Daniel Dubois.

2020 Olympic bronze medalist Frazer Clarke (5-0, 4 KOs) will face former WBA world interim heavyweight title challenger Bogdan Dinu (20-4-0, 16 KOs) this Saturday at Manchester’s AO Arena. The news comes after Clarke’s initial opponent Rydell Booker was forced to withdraw through illness following an undisclosed medical incident.

6’9, 270lb heavyweight southpaw Antonio “El Gigante” Mireles (6-0, 6 KOs) will return in a six-round clash against Patrick Mailata (6-1, 3 KOs) on Saturday at Save Mart Center in Fresno, California. Mireles-Mailata will open the televised tripleheader headlined by the junior welterweight showdown between Jose Ramirez and Richard “RC” Commey and the minimumweight title unification bout between WBA champion Seniesa Estrada and WBC queen Tina Rupprecht.

This Saturday night, Kristian Prenga (12-1, 12 KOs) will take part in the main event when he takes on Sam Crossed (11-3-1, 7 KOs) for NABA heavyweight title plus the NBA Continental belt at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.

RDR Promotions returns to the Clarion Hotel in Essington, PA on April 14th as heavyweights Junior Wright (19-4-1, 16 KOs) and Brian Howard (15-5, 12 KOs) will slug it out in the six-round main event.

A pair of undefeated rising contenders will look to cement their status in their divisions with statement victories in action that will be live streamed on the Showtime PPV countdown show this Saturday leading into the David Benavidez vs. Caleb Plant event taking place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Unbeaten super bantamweight Kevin Gonzalez (25-0-1, 13 KOs) will battle Jose Sanmartin (34-6-1, 21 KOs) in a 10-round duel topping the show, while super lightweight Orestes Velazquez (6-0, 6 KOs) takes on Marcelino Lopez (37-2-1, 22 KOs) in a 10-rounder. The live streaming will begin at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on the Showtime Sports YouTube channel and Showtime Boxing Facebook page.

By Mauricio Sulaimán
WBC President – Son of José Sulaimán

I begin this column by asking for your prayers for the health of my dear uncle Antonio Esper, who is in a delicate health situation. He was my father’s soul brother since childhood in Ciudad Valles, and he married his sister, my aunt Nelly. He was his constant and devoted travel companion in the beginnings of Don José in the WBC.

Our sport is one of the most popular in the world and has been for over 100 years. In its modern form, it began in England. People would gather to watch two individuals fight and would gamble on such fights; there were no rules, it was a brutal, savage and cruel spectacle, even inhuman.

Believe it or not, in this 2023, there are splinter groups that are presenting something similar to what boxing was in the late 1800s with bare-knuckle fights, slap competitions and others, regressing to brutality and gore that only unscrupulous, bloodthirsty people like to watch.

Well, going back to boxing, it eventually became a sport of nobility and thus gained the attention of royals who somehow started the process of establishing rules, the first known as the Marquess of Queensberry. Continue reading “Boxing in Stadiums”

All Star Boxing, Inc has announced the launch of its 2023 season with a clash between world ranked contenders. WBO #13 Gerardo “Cascabel” Zapata (14-1 5 KO’s) of Nicaragua against local fan favorite WBA #12 WBO #15 Carlos “Arañita” Ortega (15-6-3 6 KO’s) of La Chorrera, Panama. The 10-round main event from Coliseo de Combates Pandeportes will air live on ESPN+ (USA/Canada) & ESPN Knockout (Latam)

“After more than 18 years we return to the bridge of the Americas, the always warm welcoming Panama City.” states Felix “Tuto” Zabala President of All Star Boxing, Inc. “On April 29th 2005 we hosted a historic world title bill featuring a thrilling 10th round stoppage of Robert “Arana” Vasquez over Beibis Mendoza for the vacant WBA Flyweight title.” Notes Zabala “It’s only right to celebrate the anniversary of the show with a high-stakes, Triple crown international card.” Continue reading “Zapata-Ortega to clash on ESPN+”

By Joe Koizumi
Photo by Naoki Fukuda

Despite a high expectation of a very competitive national title bout, it disappointingly became a too lopsided affair with Japanese bantam champ IBF#10 Seiya Tsutsumi (8-0-2, 7 KOs), 118, dropping JBC#1 Jin Minamide (7-3, 5 KOs), 117.75, three times and finally halted him at 1:41 of the seventh round on Monday in Tokyo, Japan. In an all-southpaw affair Seiya connected with a well-timed leading right to Jin, sending him to the deck in rounds one, two and five. The open scoring system indicated all 50-42 in favor of the aggressive champ after the fifth. The mandatory challenger Minamide, stiff like a steel, looked too nervous and vulnerable to the southpaw right hook and too often lost his balance, hitting the deck. The seventh witnessed Tsutsumi accelerate a two-fisted attack to have the ref promptly intervene to save the loser. Minamide, formerly Komazawa university amateur boxer, was just a shell of himself despite a high expectation. Continue reading “Tsutsumi halts Minamide, keeps Japanese 118lb belt”

Undefeated super welterweight Sebastián “The Towering Inferno” Fundora and rising contender Brian Mendoza previewed their battle for Fundora’s WBC interim super welterweight title during a virtual press conference on Monday before they meet on April 8 live on SHOWTIME from Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

Sebastian Fundora: “I feel like I’ve been proving myself over and over again. We’re waiting for our shot to fight for the title. They keep putting guys in front of me who they say will knock me out or expose me, but I keep proving them wrong….Mendoza is gonna find out that I’m the next world champion at super welterweight.”

Brian Mendoza: “When I said I was going to add a former unified champion to my resume (Jeison Rosario), people scoffed and laughed at me. I just thought, ‘Okay, keep laughing.’ You don’t have to believe me. I’m going to show you with my actions. That’s what I’m going to do in this fight. I’m gonna show that I’m one of the best in this division. That’s the goal. I’m going to pull off another big upset…Fundora is going to learn that I’m a lot more than just a power-puncher.

To expedite activity in the junior middleweight division, the WBO Championship Committee has ordered undisputed WBC/WBA/IBF/WBO champion Jermell Charlo to submit within five days a detailed medical update and/or status of his injury, recovery prognosis, and his orthopedic specialist’s opinion as to when will he be physically and medically cleared to compete and return to active competition.

With Charlo out of action, the committee sanctioned the recent Tszyu-Harrison bout for the interim title subject to the Committee reserving the right to order the winner to face Charlo within 180 days. The WBO wants to get the ball rolling on Charlo-Tszyu a.s.a.p.

The Southern District Court of Florida dismissed charges alleging that the World Boxing Association (WBA) was involved in a lawsuit filed by former world champion Manuel Charr against Don King Promotions. The court dismissed the accusations that Charr’s legal team had made against the organization, based, among other things, on the WBA’s internal rules and the failure to use its mechanisms to make a proper claim in case of having felt affected.

The Southern District Court’s lengthy document explained that the plaintiff could have followed the regular procedures of the WBA’s internal rules, but by not doing so, three charges Charr’s team had filed against the organization were dismissed.

A WBA statement said in part:

The WBA will continue to work with its legal team to always demonstrate the transparency and values of the organization. It will always have its internal rules and mechanisms at the disposal of boxers and anyone involved in the sport to solve problems and impart justice as a sanctioning body with more than 100 years of existence and an unblemished history.

The World Boxing Association (WBA) Championships Committee has notified current WBA super featherweight champion Hector Garcia that his mandatory opponent is Lamont Roach, currently ranked number one in the WBA rankings, on Monday, March 20. The deadline to make the fight is May 20, therefore both parties have 30 days to negotiate and send the contracts to the WBA Championships Committee. Should any of the parties express their unwillingness to negotiate, the Championships Committee will call for a purse bid with 75% for the champion and 25% for the mandatory challenger.