Josh Warrington and undefeated Dane Dennis Ceylan came face-to-face for the first time at a press conference in Leeds today ahead of their mandated Final Eliminator for the IBF Featherweight World title at the First Direct Arena on Saturday 21st October, live on BT Sport and BoxNation.

Huddersfield’s British Super-Lightweight Champion Tyrone Nurse and undefeated Chorley star Jack Catterall were also in attendance ahead of their highly-anticipated showdown, as well as Manchester Super-Featherweight talents Zelfa Barrett and Chris Conwell ahead of their Vacant English title battle.

Below are are selection of quotes from the press conference:

JOSH WARRINGTON:

“It is good to be back! I’m hungry for this. It is going to be another cracking show on October 21. There is some real talent fighting on the undercard including all of the lads sat up here with me.

“It is exciting. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes in trying to make big fights happen. I’m knocking on the door for a World title. After I win on October 21st I can’t be denied a shot at the IBF title. Dennis is holding the keys, I’m taking those keys off him and going through the gate and then the World title is on.

“Dennis is a very good fighter, he is unbeaten and a former Olympian. He beat Ryan Walsh and had a good four rounds with Isaac Lowe but I don’t think he’s been in with the calibre that I have been in with. I don’t think he’s travelled that well. There’s nowhere like Leeds in the World, it is a bear pit.

“A lot of stuff has been made over the last 12 to 18 months of me avoiding Selby or not wanting the Selby fight. There’s no other way of beating around the bush, It’s a load of rubbish.

“I have wanted that fight since day one. I’m coming for you Lee, you are going to be in a position where you can’t avoid me and that’s that. Believe what you want to believe, you will see when I pick that World title up over my head.

DENNIS CEYLAN:

“Josh has got my respect. I take my hat off to him. He has fought a lot of good fighters and beaten them all. I’m looking forward to fighting him in his backyard here in Leeds.

“I will not beat him,” said Ceylan, amid confused looks from those in attendance. “He is too good. Look at my arms, how skinny they are, how should I beat him? He’s a great fighter.”

TYRONE NURSE:

“I was sh*te in my last two fights. I won’t make any excuses. I’m excited for this fight, Jack is excited for this fight and the fans are excited for this fight. Jack is more or less mandatory for the WBO World title. There’s a lot of motivation in this fight. I can take his position in the rankings if I beat him in October.”

JACK CATTERALL:

“I’ve watched the last couple of Tyrone’s fights and he hasn’t been impressive but I’ve watched him over the years and I know he will be training hard and preparing well for this fight. More than anything, I believe in my ability and on October 21st I’m coming to take that title. We’ve had plenty notice for the fight and we’ve been preparing hard.

“I’m coming to knock him out, I’d be a fool not to. I think more so for the fans, everyone wants to see the knockout. If I can’t knock him out I’ll beat him over the 12 rounds.”

ZELFA BARRETT:

“Chris is going to bring his A game but I believe in what I am going to do. I’ve had a lot of learning fights, they’ve been against very tough and durable opponents. After I beat Chris I will be ready for anyone and everything.

“I respect every fighter massively. I’d never underestimate anyone, I’m a smart man. Chris has a lot of heart and he trains hard. We are both from Manchester and we can both fight, there is a lot of pride on the line. I’m training like this is a World Title fight.”

CHRIS CONWELL:

“I’d like to thank Frank Warren for putting me on this massive bill in Leeds. I’m excited about it. I’ve known Zelfa a long time, we’re actually good mates really! I respect Zelfa and his team. Come fight night it is down to business. We both want that English title and the best man will win. I’ll be ready on October 21st.”

FRANK WARREN:

“Dennis is a fine fighter, he’s a former European Champion. We managed to get the IBF to agree to this final eliminator. Josh has got to get through Dennis, it is a tough fight but Josh is determined. He needs to get to the next level. If Josh comes through this fight Lee Selby will have nowhere to go.

“We are behind Josh as we said from day one, we are behind boxing in Leeds and we are here to deliver what the fans want. We have given Josh the opportunity, it is now down to him to get in the ring and make it happen.

“Tyrone Nurse is a great professional and very solid. Chris Aston has done a fantastic job with him over the years. He is a difficult fighter to beat. Jack Catterall is the young kid on the block, he is at the stage of his career where he needs these type of fights. I have high hopes for him. For me, we are going to see what he has got on October 21st. This is the fight where we see if Jack is the real deal or not.”

Also featuring on an action-packed bill is undefeated Liverpool Super-Welterweight talent J.J Metcalf (16-0, 8 KOs), who takes on Leeds native Damon Jones (15-1, 3 KOs) in an official eliminator for the British title currently held by Warren stablemate Liam Williams; former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist and GB squad standout Sam Maxwell (Super-Lightweight); Bradford Welterweight Darren Tetley; Doncaster Featherweight Reece Mould; Leeds Flyweight Jack Bateson and the professional debut of Leeds fighter Jack Daniels.

Further exciting fights will be announced in due course.

Tickets for Warrington v Ceylan priced at £30 (Upper Tier), £40 (Lower Tier), £60 (Floor), £100 (Floor), £120 (Floor) and £200 (VIP/Hospitality) are available from:

Tom Farrell has warned Ohara Davies that he’ll take him to dark places when they clash at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on Saturday September 30, live on Sky Sports.

Farrell defends his WBA International Super-Lightweight title against Davies, who takes on another stiff challenge straight after tasting defeat for the first time in the paid ranks when he was stopped in the seventh round of their clash in Scotland.

Controversial Hackney man Davies is never short of a word for his opponent or their fans, having clashed with Glasgow fans ahead of his fight with Taylor and before that when he met Farrell’s fellow Liverpudlian Derry Mathews in March.

Unbeaten Farrell is in fine form heading into the bout, shaking off any ring-rust with a six-round win in July to move to 13-0, and the 27 year old is relishing his chance to inflict back-to-back defeats on the Londoner – and silence ‘Two Tanks’ into the bargain.

“There’s no bones about it, he did quit,” said Farrell. “It’s not in my DNA to quit; Scousers fight until the end. I’m not going to read into the Taylor fight though, if anything he’s going to use that as fuel to the fire and make up for that defeat, and it’s my job to make sure he doesn’t.

“He’s a bit of a puncher and he’s got an awkward style, but he makes a lot of mistakes and I believe I can capitalise on them, I’ve shown that when it gets into the tough championship rounds I can dig in and battle, so I can handle anything he brings.

“When you first get into boxing, you want to be in big fights. It’s a high profile fight and everyone is talking about it, and I am ready for him. I’ve not taken this fight because he’s just lost, I’ve always thought that I have the beating of Ohara.

“I think he’s trying to be something he’s not and I don’t think he’s going to have the same approach to this fight as he’s seen that it gets people annoyed. The amount of people that have told me that they want to see me beat him is incredible, but I want people to know me for my boxing skills and not for having a mouth.”

Farrell’s clash with Davies is part of a huge night of action in Merseyside as bitter rivals Paul Butler and Stuart Hall meet in an eliminator for the WBA World Bantamweight title.

Liverpool’s Rocky Fielding defend his British Super-Middleweight title for the first time against Scotsman David Brophy, who puts up the Commonwealth strap he won in fine fashion in Australia in March.

Birkenhead’s Sean ‘Masher’ Dodd defends his Commonwealth and WBC International Lightweight titles against former Team GB captain and Liverpudlian Tom Stalker.

Two more Team GB Olympians Anthony Fowler and Natasha Jonas fight on home turf for the first time in their second fights in the paid ranks, and there’s also action for Craig Glover.

Tickets are on general sale at www.echoarena.com and on 0844 8000 400 – with priced £40, £60 and £100.

VIP tickets priced at £200 are exclusively available at www.matchroomboxing.com

Face value tickets for September 30 are also be available from http://www.stubhub.co.uk/matchroom-boxing-tickets/ . StubHub is the official ticket partner and marketplace of Matchroom Boxing and Anthony Joshua.

LONDON (4 September) – Boxing’s most anticipated fight in a decade when middleweight superstars Canelo Alvarez and Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin collide later this month will be shown exclusively live in the UK and Ireland on BoxNation Box Office from just £16.95.

BoxNation’s current paying subscribers, and any new customers that wish to subscribe instead of buying it via BOX OFFICE, will get the fight as part of their monthly subscription.

Canelo and Golovkin are guaranteeing a real fight between two genuine pound-for-pound boxing stars.

The most anticipated boxing match in years pits together the world’s two best middleweights, with the Kazakh hitman putting his WBC, WBA, IBF and IBO world titles all on the line at the sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday September 16th.

So enticing is the matchup that the fight is drawing comparisons with middleweight classics of the past, with many experts predicting a historic event that will stand the test of time.

Canelo has steamrolled past boxing’s best names on his way to becoming a two-weight world champion, including the likes of Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Amir Khan and most recently Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

In Golovkin, however, he faces an undefeated opponent who has built a formidable reputation, knocking out 33 of his 37 opponents while dominating the 160-pound middleweight division.

Fireworks are guaranteed when these two step into the ring, with neither willing to take a back step when the punches begin to fly.

The only way to buy Canelo v Golovkin on Sky is via the Sky remote control and will be available to purchase from Saturday 9th September.

Virgin Media customers can order the event too via their remote control from Monday 11th September.

If you are not a Sky or Virgin Media customer you can buy this fight as part of a monthly subscription to the channel through boxnation.com.

Simply choose your platform: Sky, TalkTalk, Freeview, Online or App and follow the instructions online. There is no minimum term so you can cancel anytime.

Frank Warren, BoxNation Chairman, said: “This is without doubt THE boxing event of 2017, and among the very best fights to be made in the last decade. Canelo v Golovkin was the fight that boxing fans have long called for, The Best v The Best, and on Saturday 16th September BoxNation Box Office will be bringing the UK and Irish fans the not-to-be-missed event exclusively live for just £16.95. We are delighted to offer this historic battle at a very reasonable and competitive price. In addition to this, BoxNation’s loyal paying subscribers will be able to enjoy the toe-to-toe encounter as part of their monthly subscription. This is a fight that will undoubtedly go down alongside the legendary middleweight fights of the past. Marvin Hagler, ‘Sugar’ Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran and Tommy Hearns all made their mark on the sport. Next week will be the chance for Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin to stake their claim to join such revered company. This is going to be something very special.”

For more information and details on the Canelo v Golovkin superfight on Saturday 16th September please visit boxnation.com.

– ENDS –
About BoxNation

Canelo v Golovkin on 16th September will be shown exclusively live on BoxNation Box Office (Sky Ch.490) in the UK and Ireland.

To order BoxNation Box Office for Canelo v Golovkin, press the Box Office Button on your Sky remote control, and select Sports/Events.

Canelo v Golovkin will also be available to all BoxNation active monthly subscribers on all platforms, including Sky, as part of your normal BoxNation subscription.

BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated boxing channel. From £12* per month with no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.

Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Mayweather vs Maidana, Saunders vs Eubank Jr and Khan vs Canelo.

The channel is available on Sky (Ch.437), Freeview (Ch.255), Virgin (Ch.546), TalkTalk (Ch.415), online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (ios, Android, Amazon, Apple TV). BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 490), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.

Available on selected internet-connected Freeview products only, subject to coverage. Visit freeview.co.uk/availability.

BoxNation is also available to commercial premises (inc. pubs, clubs and casino’s) in the UK and Ireland, for more information on a commercial subscription please call 0844 842 7700.

For more information visit www.boxnation.com
*Plus £8 registration fee for Sky TV customers

ORANGE, Calif. (Sept. 3, 2017) – In the biggest fight of his career, Danny Roman (23-2-1, 9 KOs) delivered a masterful performance by knocking out WBA champion Shun Kubo (12-1, 9 KOs) in the ninth round to become the newest world champion at 122-pounds.

Roman traveled to Kubo’s home country of Japan to battle the newly minted Kubo. Roman, who lives and trains in Los Angeles, made good on his prefight promise to win by knockout.

“I said before the fight that I didn’t intend for this to go to the judges,” Roman said. “The plan was to knock him out and take the WBA title in dominating fashion.”

Roman, indeed, dominated the fight from start to finish. He won every round on every scorecard with the exception of the first round on one score sheet. He battered Kubo on multiple occasions, dropping him in the seventh and eighth rounds before finishing him off in the ninth.

“Words can’t describe what I’m feeling right now,” Roman said after the fight. “It’s a dream come true.”

“We’re incredibly proud of Danny Roman,” said Ken Thompson, president of Thompson Boxing Promotions. “In our eyes, Danny is the ultimate champion. He never backs down from a challenge and tonight he showed that he belongs among the best in the 122-pound division.”

“We never had any doubt that Danny would win the WBA title,” said Alex Camponovo, matchmaker and general manager at Thompson Boxing Promotions. “He looked unbelievable against Kubo. We believe his best years are still ahead of him. That’s a scary thought for the rest of the champions in this division.”

The 12-round WBA championship fight took place at the Shimazu Arena in Kyoto, Japan. Roman is trained and managed by Eddie Gonzalez and exclusively promoted by Thompson Boxing Promotions.

For more information, please visit ThompsonBoxing.com.

For regular updates on our fighters, events, and promotions, please check our Facebook Page, watch our YouTube channel on Thompson Boxing TV, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @ThompsonBoxing.

LOS ANGELES, CA (September 2, 2017) WBC Super Flyweight World Champion SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI, (42-4-1, 38 KO’s), of Si Sa Ket, Thailand and former WBC Super Flyweight Champion ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ, (46-1-0, 38 KO’s), both weighed in within the required WBC 7-day weight limit ahead of their highly anticipated rematch set for Saturday, September 9 from the legendary StubHub Center in Carson, California and televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark beginning at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.

From his training camp in Thailand, Rungvisai weighed in at 119lbs. while Gonzalez tipped the scales in Japan at 119.8lbs. Both fighters were required to weigh-in at 121lbs. or under per the World Boxing Council.

Opening the telecast, former WBC Super Flyweight World Champion CARLOS “PRINCIPE” CUADRAS, (36-1-1, 27 KO’s)) of Mexico City will battle fellow rival countrymen and former flyweight world champion JUAN FRANCISCO “EL GALLO” ESTRADA, (35-2-0, 25 KO’s) of Sonora, Mexico in a 12-round WBC Super Flyweight Title Eliminator.

Both warriors were also within the WBC 7-day weight limit from their respective training camps in Mexico with Cuadras tipping the scales at 119.9lbs. and Estrada at 121lbs.

Co-featured on the outstanding “SUPERFLY” card is the United States debut of NAOYA “THE MONSTER” INOUE, (13-0-0, 11 KO’s) of Yokohama, Japan defending his WBO Super Flyweight Title against top contender ANTONIO “CARITA” NIEVES, (17-1-2, 9 KO’s) of Cleveland, Ohio.

Remaining tickets for “SUPERFLY” are now on sale priced at $250 and $150, both of which have very limited availability, in addition to $100 and $60. The $30 price range is sold out. All ticket prices are plus applicable taxes, fees and services charges. Tickets can be purchased at AXS.com, by phone at 888-9-AXS-TIX (888-929-7849), and at StubHub Center Box Office (Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. PT to 6 p.m. PT). VIP Suites are available by calling 877-604-8777. For more information on group discounts or VIP packages, call 877-234-8425. Doors will open on the night of the event at 3:30 p.m. PT with the first bell at 4:00 p.m. PT.

The StubHub Center is located at 18400 Avalon Blvd., Carson CA, 90746 on the campus of California State University – Dominguez Hills. For directions and further information please visit their website at www.StubHubCenter.com

SOCIAL MEDIA:
Hashtag: #SuperFly

TWITTER:
@ChocolatitoBox
@CuadrasOficial
@GalloEstradaOficial
@BrianViloria
@TomLoeffler1
@HBO
@HBOBoxing
@StubHubCenter

ORANGE, Calif. (Sept. 2, 2017) – World title challenger Danny Roman (22-2-1, 8 KOs) and WBA champion Shun Kubo (12-0, 9 KOs) each weighed in at 121.4 lbs. at Saturday’s weigh in from Kyoto, Japan.

Kubo defends his 122-lb. title for the first time, and Roman finds himself in the first world championship fight of his career this Sunday, Sept. 3, from the Shimazu Arena in Kyoto.

The 12-round WBA world championship fight is promoted by Shinsei Boxing Gym, in association with Thompson Boxing Promotions.

For more information, please visit ThompsonBoxing.com.

For regular updates on our fighters, events, and promotions, please check our Facebook Page, watch our YouTube channel on Thompson Boxing TV, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @ThompsonBoxing.

02 September 2017 – Shanghai, China: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), sent shockwaves throughout the crowd at the 15,000-seater Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China with an exciting evening of world-class martial arts action. ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: SHANGHAI showcased a series of compelling bouts, punctuated by a thrilling headliner that left fans on the edge of their seats. In the main event, Ben “Funky” Askren of the United States retained the ONE Welterweight World Championship, defeating Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam of Sweden.

Visit the official ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: SHANGHAI photo gallery by clicking: http://bit.ly/onephotos

In the main event of ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: SHANGHAI, reigning ONE Welterweight World Champion and one of the best martial artists in the world pound-for-pound, Ben “Funky” Askren of the United States easily took care of Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam of Sweden, taking his younger foe down to the mat at will with his world-class wrestling and finishing him with a volley of punches. On the mat, the former US Olympian effortlessly secured a mount position and relentlessly pounded on the Swedish striker to compel veteran referee Yuji Shimada to halt the action in the second round.

Ben Askren, ONE Welterweight World Champion, stated: “I really had a wonderful time in Shanghai. Thanks for having me. It’s an honor to be here. To everyone who is watching from all around the world, thank you guys so much, it means the world to me.”

Askren added: “I am ready for anyone in the world who wants to step up to the plate and challenge me for my title.”

In the co-main event of the evening, Chinese flyweight prospect Ma Hao Bin returned to the ONE Championship cage against compatriot Hexigetu, and his performance certainly did not disappoint. Known by the moniker “The Southern Eagle,” Ma once again proved his mettle on the ground with another technical grappling showcase, converting several takedown attempts, ultimately winning by guillotine choke with ten seconds remaining in the second round.

Singaporean prospect Amir Khan continued his winning roll inside the ONE Championship cage by stopping Jaroslav Jartim of Czech Republic. Khan wasted no time in bringing the action to the mat with a successful takedown. Once on the ground, Khan rained down heavy blows to punish Jartim. Although Jartim found a way to return to his feet, Khan easily secured the finish in the stand-up trade with a left high kick and strong right cross. Jartim succumbed shortly after as the referee deemed him unable to continue. The technical knockout conquest earned Khan his fifth straight victory.

In one of the most exciting matchups of the evening, Xu Chun Yan of China and Eh Ya Nut of Cambodia put on a spectacular showcase of aggression to the roar of a packed crowd as the two competitors engaged in a skirmish in the opening moments of the strawweight contest. Although she is known for her boxing background, Xu flaunted her solid ground game to pacify her Cambodian opponent’s firepower in the stand-up trade, wearing down Eh Ya Nut and steering her to a decisive victory by way of unanimous decision.

Japanese veteran Tetsuya Yamada claimed his first win under the ONE Championship umbrella, submitting China-based American Kyle Rozewski. The finish came swiftly when Yamada effortlessly took Rozewski down to the canvas and fastened a rear-naked choke to earn the victory in the first round.

Sagetdao Petpayathai of Thailand was successful in his second outing as a ONE Championship athlete, defeating Mahmoud Mohamed of Egypt. The Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai legend lit up Mohamed with his powerful striking, tagging the Egyptian with lightning quick elbows and thudding punch combinations. Petpayathai opened up his hands and drove Mohamed to the mat where he unleashed the bout-ending sequence to clinch the victory by technical knockout in the first round.

“Supermom” Miao Jie of China made a triumphant promotional debut in ONE Championship by submitting Mona Samir of Egypt. Miao got the job done by forcing Samir to tap with an armbar submission in just 49 seconds of the very first round.

In a battle of Chinese lightweight standouts, Zhang Ze Hao came out on top of Li Cheng Chao. Having a solid game plan to topple Li, Zhang delivered a sensational performance, forcing his opponent to succumb to strikes in the third round.

Xie Chao of China and Marc Marcellinus of Malaysia kicked off ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: SHANGHAI in exciting fashion. Both men wasted no time in going to battle at the center of the cage. With the two stalwarts spent after just a few minutes of action, it was Xie who came away with the win via submission in the first round.

Official results for ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: SHANGHAI
ONE Welterweight World Championship bout: Ben Askren defeats Zebaztian Kadestam by TKO (Strikes) at 4:09 minutes of round 2
Flyweight bout: Ma Hao Bin defeats Hexigetu by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 4:50 minutes of round 2
Lightweight bout: Amir Khan defeats Jaroslav Jartim by TKO (Strikes) at 3:46 minutes of round 1
Strawweight bout: Xu Chun Yan defeats Eh Ya Nut by Unanimous Decision (UD) after 3 rounds
Featherweight bout: Tetsuya Yamada defeats Kyle Rozewski by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 1:55 minutes of round 1
Featherweight bout: Sagetdao Petpayathai defeats Mahmoud Mohamed by TKO (Strikes) at 1:41 minutes of round 1
Strawweight bout: Miao Jie defeats Mona Samir by Submission (Armbar) at 0:49 minutes of round 1
Lightweight bout: Zhang Ze Hao defeats Li Cheng Chao by TKO (Strikes) at 2:53 minutes of round 3
Featherweight bout: Xie Chao defeats Marc Marcellinus by Submission (Kimura) at 1:28 minutes of round 1

In case you missed the action log on to www.onefc.com/livestream for the full replay of the fights at only US $9.99.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.

About ONE Championship™
ONE Championship is the largest sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, ONE Championship is the home of martial arts. The world’s most exciting martial arts organization hosts the largest sports entertainment events across Asia, featuring some of the world’s best martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. In addition to its digital platforms, ONE Championship broadcasts to over 1 billion potential viewers across 128+ countries around the world with some of the largest global broadcasters, including FOX Sports, Setanta, MNC, Astro, Thairath TV, ABS-CBN, TV5, MYTV, HTV, OSN and more.

LOS ANGELES (Sept. 1, 2017) Featherweight prospect Manny “Chato” Robles III (14-0, 6 KOs) retained his undefeated status with a seventh-round knockout victory against Tijuana, Mexico’s Jose Estrella (18-13-1, 12 KOs) in the main event of the latest edition of
LA FIGHT CLUB at the Belasco Theater in downtown Los Angeles and televised live nationally on Estrella TV’s Boxeo Estelar. Robles, of Los Angeles, California, dropped Estrella two times before the fight was stopped at 1:39 of the seventh round.

“This was the first time as the main-event, but that didn’t faze me at all because I knew I was in my own backyard with my family watching and supporting me,” said Manny Robles, III. “In the earlier rounds, he was pretty resilient and I really wanted to finish him early, but by the middle of the fight I started fighting smarter, and worked the body.”

VIP fighters for tonight’s event included Joseph “JoJo” Diaz, Jr., Raul Curiel, Ryan “Kingry” Garcia, David Mijares, Niko “Baby Face” Valdes, Edgar “Kid Neza” Valerio, and WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Jessie Magdaleno.

Cesar Diaz stopped Antonio Rodriguez in round five of their scheduled six-round bantamweight bout.

Diaz dominated the bout and dropped and stopped Rodriguez with an uppercut in round five, and the bout was stopped at 1:12.

Diaz, 117.4 lbs of Palmdale, CA is 6-0 with five knockouts. Rodriguez, 118 lbs of Durango, MEX is 11-19-1.

“I feel like I’m laying down my foundation to a long career with this win,” said Cesar Diaz. “His reach was giving me a little bit of trouble, but I was able to close the distance effectively and work from the inside. We still have a lot to work on, but I’m super content with my team and this knockout victory.”

Everton Lopes remained perfect by stopping Daniel Bastien in round two of a scheduled four round super lightweight bout.

Lopes dropped Bastien once, and the fight was stopped at 1:56 of round two after Bastien suffered a barrage of hard punches, which was highlighted by body punches.

Lopes, 135.2 lbs of Salvador Bahia, BRA is now 5-0 with two knockouts. Bastien, 135.6 lbs of Nuevo Leon, MX is now 4-7.

“This is my first fight in two years since my surgery, and man does it feel good to be back!,” said Everton Lopes. “It’s been a tough time, but I’m glad to be back and get this knockout for my team and for my son who means the world to me. I’m ready for what is to come.”

Javier Martinez stopped Jose A. Martinez in round three of a scheduled six-round featherweight bout.

Javier dropped Jose with a body shot and the fight was stopped at 2:03

Javier Martinez, 125.6 lbs of Dallas, TX is now 3-0 with three knockouts. Jose A. Martinez. 125.8 lbs of Durango, MEX is now 10-11.

“I went in there really excited, and wanting to knock him out,” said Javier Martinez. “After the third round, I was able to relax, and listen to my coach. Doing that, I was able to get the knockout. I’m glad I made the move from Texas to train with my team here in California. I’ve noticed the difference in my style and have improved so much. I’m just ready to put in work!”

https://www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing/videos/10155094488600756/

FRED STERNBURG: On behalf of GGG Promotions and Golden Boy, HBO Pay-Per-View, and all our great sponsors, we are less than three weeks away from the fight we’ve been waiting years for. It’s finally here, and, boy, everyone can’t wait, the main event. It’s going to be the World Middleweight Championship.

Defending champ Gennady “GGG” Golovkin is on the phone with us today. He’ll be answering questions about training camp and his expectations going into September 16 for the big pay-per-view. That will be at T-Mobile Arena. We also have his Hall of Fame trainer Abel Sanchez and his promoter Tom Loeffler on the phone to answer questions.

Without any delay, it’s my pleasure to introduce to you Tom Loeffler, who will introduce both Abel and Gennady. Tom?

TOM LOEFFLER: Thank you, Fred. We couldn’t be more excited about this fight coming up September 16. As Fred mentioned, it’s really the fight not only for the middleweight supremacy, but boxing supremacy. The winner of this fight, these two champions, world class fighters, the best middleweights in the world, I think the winner is really going to be considered the best fighter in the sport of boxing.

We had a tremendous kickoff media day on Monday at L.A. Live, where we had over 3,000 fans there, tons of media. The interest for this fight now is really reaching a fevered pitch. We’d like to thank HBO, who had a tremendous debut of 24/7 last Saturday after the Cotto fight. The Under the Lights show will be premiering this Saturday, and then the second episode, which everyone’s eagerly awaiting, will be after — September 9, when Chocolatito takes on Rungvisai in their rematch on the Super Fly show. So September 9 will be the second episode of 24/7.

It’s been a tremendous training camp. I know Abel is really pleased at how everything is going. I’ll just put on Abel to say a few words, and we can get straight into the questions for GGG, for Abel, or myself.

ABEL SANCHEZ: Thank you very much, Tom. Thank you very much to all the media that’s tuned in.

We’re having a great training camp as always. We’ve been at camp since July the 1st. Probably by fight time we’ll have two months and a couple weeks. We’re looking forward to a good fight, to a difficult fight, obviously, but that’s the way all these fights at this level should be. Thank you very much for tuning in. We’ll wait for some questions.

FRED STERNBURG: Gennady, before we open it up for questions, any comments? How’s camp going, and how do you feel with this fight finally coming up? We’re only 2 weeks away, 2 1/2 weeks.

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Yeah, I feel great. Good morning, everybody. I’m very excited for this fight. I have, you’re right, like a couple weeks, like two weeks. My weight is good. I feel good. Everything is good. I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m ready.

Q. As the trainer for Gennady, I’d like to hear your perspective on just basically how Gennady has been as far as like his excitement level. Because I know how much he’s wanted this fight, and I think you’ve wanted this fight for a quite a while. Is there like an additional spring in his step as he gets ready for the fight that he’s really wanted compared to some of the other ones that were maybe not as anticipated as this? And could you describe what you see in him.

ABEL SANCHEZ: Absolutely, there’s been a sparkle in his eye. It’s not so much because of this fight. It could have been any big name fight that was out there. It just so happens that this is the one that was made, that was able to be made.

He’s just been a little frustrated the last couple years that he hasn’t had that marquee name to step up and want to fight him. The names go on. But happy that it is finally here. It’s 2 1/2 weeks away. Couldn’t be more excited, myself or him. I have to say he has a sparkle in his eye. He’s a little bit different than he has been, and that’s exciting for me because I know we’re going to get a great fight.

Q. When this fight is over and if Gennady is victorious, what do you think that will mean for the way he’s remembered in boxing? Because a lot of people see he has this great record, great knockout streak, but it lacks for star power in terms of the names on the record.

ABEL SANCHEZ: I think that Canelo fighting Mayweather a couple years ago, whenever that was, I think stamps him as a bona fide elite fighter, let me just say. If Golovkin — or when Golovkin does to him on the 16th what I think he’s going to do to him, it will stamp Golovkin as a superstar because I think he’s going to dominate him and do what Floyd couldn’t do.

The 16th is a pivotal period, a pivotal day in Gennady’s career, and I think how people are going to remember it, but we still have the 16th to go. Hopefully after the fight, I’m telling you the same things.

Q. Can you describe to me what you think a victory would mean for your legacy in boxing. Because you’ve got a lot of wins, a lot of knockouts. As I said, you have that great knockout streak, but for a variety of reasons, you have yet to get the opportunity to face one of the true superstars in boxing until this point. So what would that mean for the way you’re remembered?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Right now maybe I’m not (indiscernible). Seriously, right now, I want to start and I want to win this fight because maybe for me this win will be like a history fight, like Leonard vs. Hagler. Like middleweight division, I believe the boxing division will come back. And Canelo, he’s a very special guy.

Right now for us it’s huge. Especially for me, it’s huge.

Q. Can you just describe — as I asked Abel about you’ve had — you’ve prepared yourself and always been in great shape for your fights, but sometimes they were fights that everybody sort of expected you to win very easily. I think this fight is a fight that there’s a division, that people think you’re going to win and some people think that Canelo Alvarez is going to win. So just give me your perspective on finally being in a fight that there’s some doubt in, that people think, hey, maybe the other guy might win, and how excited you are for that kind of competition.

TOM LOEFFLER: Dan, I can jump in on that. This is definitely the closest odds of any fight that Gennady’s been involved in, and I think that’s what makes this so intriguing is that 50 percent of the people think that Canelo is going to win and 50 percent think that Gennady’s going to win. That’s where, I think, the outcome is definitely in doubt, and it makes that much bigger of an event. Gennady can add to that, if he wants.

Q. Tom, do you have an opinion for what it would mean for people as they look back — his career is not over, obviously — but his legacy? Everyone needs that one big, big victory to kind of stamp themselves as a true great.

TOM LOEFFLER: Well, 100 percent. As Gennady said, it’s a legacy fight for him. He’s had so many knockouts in his career. He holds the highest knockout percentage in the middleweight division. If there’s any criticism that people have of Gennady, it’s the level of competition, but they have to look at the opponents, not at Gennady. We’ve had a terrible time getting people in the ring with him. And that’s why we had respect for all the people that had gotten in the ring with him previously.

This is clearly — you know, Canelo is a proven pay-per-view star. The event is sold out in Vegas. Gennady brings his fan base. This just brings — you know, the sum of both fighters is much bigger than themselves individually, both from an international level and just a competition level. And I think a win September 16 definitely puts that stamp on Gennady’s career.

Look, if he beats Daniel Jacobs in March and beats Canelo Alvarez in September, I don’t know too many fighters that have a better year than that.

Q. Hi, Gennady. I just saw you on 24/7, in the first episode of that. I know you talked there about the first part of your career that you spent over in Europe and kind of being frustrated that your career wasn’t going the way you wanted, that you weren’t getting the fights that you wanted. When you came over to the United States and you kind of got like a second go at it, so to speak, how confident were you that it was going to lead to something like this?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Right now is a very important time for me. I feel right now very comfortable. My family, everybody support me.

TOM LOEFFLER: This is the fight that we’ve been working for. Every fight in Gennady’s career, really since he made his HBO debut September 12 — this is almost five years to the day — and every fight since then, this is really the fight that we’ve been working for. It would have been great if he’d had this type of fight earlier in his career, but as I mentioned, the other named opponents, or the champions even, weren’t willing to get in the ring with him.

Now that Canelo has agreed, this is really — all the knockouts, all the training, all the hard work, all the sacrifice that Gennady’s made has been built toward this exact fight in his career.

Q. Tom, one question for you. When Gennady comes to you, obviously, he’s not a 22-year-old, 23-year-old boxer. You’re dealing with kind of a limited amount of time. What was kind of in your blueprint, I guess, to get him to this point? Obviously, I know you’ve taken him back East to maybe try to expand his foothold out there. What was kind of the plan to get him to this point?

TOM LOEFFLER: The blueprint was, when we met with HBO, we said Gennady will fight anyone. They had a list of 20 fighters, 20 names of different fighters, anywhere from 154 to 168, and Abel and Gennady didn’t turn down any one of those. That was just — that blew HBO away. They’ve never been used to someone willing to fight everyone. They realized, if there wasn’t a fight that was able to be made, it wasn’t on the GGG side. I was very transparent with all the negotiations, everyone that we reached out to.

The first step was Madison Square Garden took a very strong interest in GGG, and he had two fights at the Theater. He sold out those fights. And then we moved to the big room in Madison Square Garden. So that was really the plan is to build him in New York City at Madison Square Garden, then when he came over here to the StubHub Center in L.A., he broke the attendance record. So that was the blueprint, not to build him in small casinos that were obscure that really didn’t bring the type of media attention because I knew with someone of Gennady’s talent and his pedigree and just his willingness to fight, that we needed to build him in the biggest markets.

A lot of people are surprised, after he’s fought in seven countries and 22 different cities, that this will be the first time he’s fighting in Las Vegas, but this is really that type of an event, that type of crown jewel event to make his debut in Las Vegas, and we see the fan reaction. All the fans coming in internationally to come see him fight, both supporting him and supporting Canelo.

We followed the blueprint. And actually, I had all these plans outside the ring and Abel had his plans, as far as the training, but if Gennady didn’t perform inside the ring, the best laid plans wouldn’t have happened. So Gennady had to perform in the ring. He always was an exciting fight. That led to his performances in the ring, and all the hard work outside the ring led to building this fight right now.

Q. I wanted to get Gennady’s reaction to Conor McGregor’s comments that he wasn’t very impressed with either Canelo or GGG. He called them a bit boring and flat-footed. So I wanted to get Gennady’s reaction to that.

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: McGregor, he’s not a boxer. So his reaction is not surprising.

Q. Abel, do you have any reaction to that?

ABEL SANCHEZ: I think you have to consider the source. You’re talking about a guy who never fought an amateur fight, never been in the ring with an elite fighter, commenting on something he knows nothing about.

Q. Tom, I wanted to ask you, with that other fight over, do you think it actually is bringing more attention to this fight because this is what everybody is saying is the, quote, unquote, real fight?

TOM LOEFFLER: I think so, George. Look, that was — that had a tremendous amount of attention to the fight. Just to be clear, I think from the GGG side and the team, we were certainly not negative about Conor McGregor. I think just the fact of what he’s accomplished in the UFC, he’s clearly the most marketable fighter they’ve had, and he’s shown a lot of tremendous heart in the fights that he’s had. It’s just that Gennady is a purist, and he didn’t look at that as a true boxing match. It would be the same thing as if Floyd went into the octagon, I’d be willing to bet that Conor lasted a lot longer in the boxing ring than Floyd would have in the octagon.

So we don’t want to be negative on either Conor or on the event, but I think it definitely brought a lot of mainstream attention to that event. And then we’re just working on capitalizing on that momentum, and the boxing fans realize this is the true fight, the true boxing match with the two best fighters in the middleweight division. I think that’s what the real boxing fans are looking forward to.

Q. And what does it say that your event is sold out and theirs was, I think, 14,000 and change? Do you think that was all pricing, or is there some other message in there?

TOM LOEFFLER: I think it was pricing. Clearly, there was a huge demand for tickets for their event. I don’t know. I wasn’t involved in that event. I don’t know the internal workings on it, but from the outside, I heard the tickets were extremely highly priced. I think maybe some of the UFC fans that were used to much lower prices for some of their biggest events weren’t willing to pay those higher prices. That’s the only thing I can attribute it to.

It wasn’t for lack of attention because they certainly got — you saw the Irish fans in Las Vegas and everything like that. It probably would have just been a component of overpricing the tickets as opposed to the people that were willing to afford to pay those prices.

Q. And is this the kind of matchup that can make, well, both of these fighters pay-per-view stars in the realm of getting 800,000 to a million buys consistently?

TOM LOEFFLER: I think so. I really think building on the numbers that Canelo did, Canelo did 1 million buys against Chavez, and you see the fan base that Gennady brings, I think they complement each other perfectly. Canelo has his fans, his diehard fans that are going to buy his pay-per-view fights, buy the tickets. And when you add the component this is the first time that Gennady has fought someone that actually has a more established name, especially on the pay-per-view side, than he has.

Before, it seemed like he was always carrying the promotions when we couldn’t get one of the bigger names or one of — you know, some of the biggest champions in the ring with him. And now this fight with Canelo, now we’ll see how much bigger of an event this will be where Gennady brings his fan base. He sold out, I think, the last seven arenas that he’s fought at, and that’s from New York to London to L.A. You know, every time he fought, he had a sellout, sold out arena.

Then you bring in Canelo, who had over 50,000 people at Cowboy Stadium against Liam Smith, you bring these two marketing sources, the point is not only are these the two best boxers in the division, but two of the most marketable fighters in the sport of boxing. I think that’s what really makes this a unique event. You don’t have that type of matchup very often in the sport.

Q. This question is for Gennady. If successful, this will be his 19th middleweight title defense. The record is held by Bernard Hopkins with 20. Obviously, that’s within range. People thought that may last for a very long time. Bernard Hopkins is an executive with Golden Boy, which has Canelo. How much would setting that record mean to Gennady, to you, Gennady? And also, the second part of that question is have you ever like imagined how you would fare prime on prime against some of the great middleweights in history? Specifically, Hopkins, but also guys like Carlos Monzon and Marvin Hagler.

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Right off the top, the interest for me is it’s a huge fight. The story — in the middleweight division, it’s a long story. I don’t know, I remember a lot of great champions, like Carlos Monzon, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Bernard Hopkins. Right now I think new stories, new times for us. So many stories are huge in the middleweight division. To be a champion is huge.

Q. Abel, could I ask you the same question. Gennady has approached some historical milestones. Where do you think he would rate on the all time list of great middleweight champions?

ABEL SANCHEZ: I don’t think he’s ever really contemplated how he would feel if he broke Bernard’s record. He respects Bernard a heck of a lot. Obviously, we’ve been in the business for a long time, you and I, and we know that all these records were meant to be broken. It just seemed like Bernard’s was unreachable.

Gennady, on the pace that he’s going, could end up with five, six more wins in the middleweight division. So it would be historical. As far as how he would fare, it’s a different era. I think that Carlos Monzon was a great fighter, so was Joey Robinson, so was all those guys in their era. I think that everybody has an era. I don’t know how he would have fared against those guys.

I would have liked to have seen him fight Bernard in his prime because I think Bernard — or even Roy Jones in his prime because those guys were, as I remember I saw myself, those were great fighters. Hopefully, this era will be Golovkin’s era as Roy and Bernard had theirs.

Q. One more question, and this is for Gennady or whoever wants to jump in on it. We just had a situation where, for the first time since Bernard Hopkins and Jermain Taylor were the only two people since the late 1980s to hold all four of the titles, including the WBO. Terence Crawford just accomplished that. After this, would going after that one missing title that Gennady — now held by Billy Joe Saunders — would that be a priority? How important is having all the titles to him?

TOM LOEFFLER: Bernard, maybe I can jump in on my side. Ever since Gennady won the WBA middleweight championship and he was the undefeated WBA middleweight champion, Olympic silver medalist, he’s wanted to fight the best in the division. That’s the only way that he could prove that he was the best not only in the middleweight division but one of the best in the sport of boxing.

It was just so hard at the time when Felix Sturm was considered one of the top middleweights in the world and he was a mandatory for two years. Sturm did everything he could to avoid that fight. Then when Sergio Martinez was considered the best middleweight, and Gennady would have loved a matchup between — to unify his WBA title with Sergio’s WBC title. Unfortunately, Sergio chose to fight Cotto at the time, which then Cotto lost to Canelo.

It’s been very difficult getting other champions to agree. We have respect for David Lemieux. As soon as he won the IBF title, he agreed to fight GGG. But I think the other champions saw that and saw the eight-round domination of one of the biggest punchers in the middleweight division, another champion, it makes it hard to make those fights.

Terence Crawford, you’ve got to give him a lot of credit. He unified the title, but I think fighting a guy that had two titles and was willing to fight him for a reasonable amount of money, I mean, when we talk to Saunders, you’re talking about telephone numbers he wants just to get in the ring with him.

If you’re confident — you know, Gennady — there was an old story where his managers were negotiating with Eddie Hearn to come to England. All they wanted was some tickets and a logo on the mat. When you’re a confident champion, you don’t ask for those astronomical numbers if you really think you can win the fight. If you think you’re going to lose the fight or you think you’re getting knocked out, that’s when people start pricing themselves out, and that’s what made it so, so difficult to unify the division.

That’s why I think this fight with Canelo — look, if Gennady looks good against Canelo and performs the way we all believe he’ll perform, then it opens up a lot of doors. Then he’s in a whole different financial realm in terms of the moneys that we’re able to offer people. But if you can’t get the other champions to fight, you can’t unify the titles, and that’s the situation that we’ve been faced with the last six years.

Q. Well, the thing you said about HBO, that you agreed to all 20 names, a lot of those guys have ducked Gennady. I presume that a victory in this fight, not just because of the money, but all roads would have to go through him. I mean, maybe the people that ducked him before would have no choice but to — you know, if they wanted to do anything, but to go to him, right?

TOM LOEFFLER: No, that’s true. And like I said, I think, if he’s victorious September 16, he’ll be — look, Canelo is still considered the Ring Magazine and lineal middleweight champion. So there’s still some people out there who think Canelo should be rated above GGG. I think after this fight there will be no question. The winner of this fight will absolutely be — if Canelo wins, he’ll be considered the best middleweight. If Gennady wins, he’ll be considered the best middleweight and, again, one of the best in the entire sport.

If GGG is successful, then I think it will open up a lot of doors, and I think people, they’ll really have no excuse at that point to — not to fight him. I think that’s where Gennady’s career is going to be defined is, not the first part of his career, I think with the Jacobs fight and the Canelo fight and then what happens afterwards, I think that’s how his career is going to be defined as a middleweight champion.

Q. Hi, gentlemen. Thanks for taking the time. Gennady, I’m writing about your coach right now, and I want to know, when the bell rings and the fight starts, what words of Abel’s do you have in your mind? Or what advice from him is there?

TOM LOEFFLER: What does he usually say to you before a round begins, Gennady?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: You’re right. Patience. It’s patience.

Q. Patience?

TOM LOEFFLER: Abel, is that basically the gist?

ABEL SANCHEZ: Usually, yes, that and I may say whatever it is we discussed right prior in the dressing room about what we wanted to do. But most of it is patience because, actually, the first fight that I ever worked with him was a fight in Panama where he got a little wild on me — he knocked the guy out in the first round, but he got a little wilder than what I wanted him to do. When he got back in the corner, that was my chastising him. That was my scolding him for that.

So every time we’re in the beginning of a fight, I always say patience, just be patient. That’s why you see him go out and analyzing the first round. He really doesn’t that much, just analyzing until he gets his distance and gets the idea of what the other guy is going to do. And that comes because he’s patient and just looking for his opportunities.

Q. That’s great. And, Gennady, I’m wondering what’s different about Abel than other trainers you had in Kazakhstan? You know, when you think of what Abel taught you the most, something that he did.

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: You know, different times, different guys in everything. My personal style is very different, like more mature, different age, weather, food. You know, it’s different — publicity.

TOM LOEFFLER: Gennady’s really — just to jump in there, Gennady’s had the best of both worlds, where the Kazakh amateur program is one of the best programs in the world, where he had that real solid foundation. I think that’s where he had that discipline and the sacrifice he goes through. I think that came from the Kazakh amateur program. He had a lot of punching power, and he had a lot of knockouts in the amateurs.

Then when he got to Abel’s gym and Abel’s philosophy and training, really training in the Mexican style, Abel was able to add a more professional style to Gennady, where he’s one of the best at cutting off the ring and putting constant pressure on his opponents, and that’s where either they’re knocked out by one shot or they’re just worn down, as we’ve seen in some of the fights. They just can’t take the constant pressure.

I think what Abel was able to build on to an already established fighter in the amateurs and the pros, I think it’s just taken Gennady’s career to a completely different level.

Q. Abel, how long did it take for you to transfer him into a Mexican style fighter, and what did that take?

ABEL SANCHEZ: I think it’s an ongoing process, but I think, going on what Tom said too, I don’t think there’s enough — sometimes there’s not enough credit given to what they bring us. Yeah, we’re lucky that we’re in the position to be able to develop them after, but if we don’t get that good foundation — and the Kazakh system is known in the last 15 years for creating great amateur fighters. But if they give us that foundation, it’s a lot easier for us to continue to develop the more TV friendly kind of style.

To answer your question, Fred, it’s an ongoing thing, but I think when you first — after the first four or five fights, he started to understand what his role was inside the ring, to be able to give Tom and Herman Brothers the ability to be able to market him, we have to do that inside the ring, and they do it outside. If we don’t give them something to market, then it’s impossible for them to do their job.

Q. Abel, is it hard to teach a fighter patience who has that killer instinct?

ABEL SANCHEZ: It’s hard to teach a fighter patience that wants to just fight — a natural fighter that just wants to fight. But being prepared and having those times in the gym where you know going into a fight that you’re in the best shape you could ever be mentally and physically, it’s a lot easier because you’re not in a hurry to do anything. You know, that opportunity will present itself, and you’re ready.

Also, I go back to the Kazakh system. With 350 amateur fights, there’s nothing he hasn’t seen. There’s no style he hasn’t seen. There’s no size he hasn’t seen. There’s no shape. So it’s easier to be patient when there’s nothing that can surprise you.

Q. Tom, can you comment on the importance of Abel and his training and legacy to the brand of GGG from a business perspective.

TOM LOEFFLER: I think what Abel brings to the table, Abel has had many world champions in the past. It’s just now with the success of GGG where he’s getting the recognition and the accolades of trainer of the year. I think the last two years he’s received that award.

But Abel’s training system — Abel just brings that calmness in the corner, but the value he adds to Gennady’s career is the fact that he’s instilled in Gennady, you need to put on a show for the fans. You need to put on an entertaining fight so the fans that buy the tickets, the fans that tune in to HBO or buy the pay-per-view, they feel like they’ve gotten their money’s worth. Gennady isn’t one of those fighters who dances around the ring for 12 rounds and wants to collect a paycheck. He wants to bring the entertainment.

The fans that come to the arena or tune in on TV to his fights, they know there’s going to be an exciting fight. He’s never been in a dull fight. Regardless of which style he’s fought, Gennady Golovkin has never been in a dull fight. That’s the box office draw that Abel has created out of Gennady.

Obviously, Abel having his Mexican heritage and being able to teach Gennady some Spanish words and things like that, that just brings a whole different level to Gennady’s career. But I think it’s just the fact that he’s created such an entertaining style and entertaining fighter, and that’s allowed us, on the marketing and promotional side, to highlight what Gennady’s accomplished in the ring.

Q. This question is just for GGG. Champ, I have a question for you. You’ve become very popular when you fought in Southern California. I’m wondering, though, how’s it going to be now, knowing that you are not going to be the most popular fighter entering the ring? Is this going to have an effect on you at all, or is this something you’ve prepared for?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Yeah, probably in Las Vegas. In L.A., they’re for me. In New York, they’re for me. I don’t know if in Dallas, Texas, or in Vegas, they’re probably for Canelo.

TOM LOEFFLER: I think it’s not so much the more popular fighter going in the ring. I think it’s the more popular fighter going out of the ring. If Gennady gets the victory September 16, I think he’ll become the most popular fighter in the sport. If you can beat a proven champion like Canelo, such a marketing draw, that just takes Gennady’s career to a different level.

I think what he was saying before is he’s fought in New York, I think six times now. So in New York he would be more popular than Canelo. In Las Vegas, since Canelo has fought there many times, Canelo is probably more popular in Las Vegas. So it just depends.

You know, in the UK, if you take GGG to the UK, the boxing fans love him over there, and he’s more popular in the UK, for example. So it just depends on the market. But that’s what brings this international flavor to this event.

ABEL SANCHEZ: I was going to add a little bit to that. Being a Latin, being a Mexican, I think that we just enjoy a good fight, and the base, the Latin base, or the Mexican base that Canelo has and that Golovkin have, as long as they put up the kind of fight that we expect as Mexicans or Latins, I think we’re going to be happy with whomever wins, and we’re going to support both.

Q. Good morning. GGG sounds like he’s on a spaceship out near Jupiter, but we’ll take a shot at it, and maybe Abel can help out with the question because it relates to him as well. Gennady looked fantastic at the event in Los Angeles, but as we all know, 35 isn’t 30, it’s not 25. Can the fighter and the trainer talk about how his body is different at 35, how it feels different in training, and how the training is different from how it was five, six, seven years ago.

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Thank you very much for your compliment. I feel great at this age. Seriously, I don’t know, just my training every day, I’m just the same. Just my sparring is the same, like my speed, my power, I don’t lose. I feel like ten years ago. Like right now, you’re right, I’m 35, but I feel like 25. Maybe inside, maybe right now I’m younger than Canelo. I feel like 25.

Q. Abel, you want to comment on his sparring and how you see him in the gym now.

ABEL SANCHEZ: Yeah, obviously as a coach, you take into consideration the years, the age, but he’s doing the same things now, harder now because he’s at a different level than he was four, five years ago. He’s still working as hard as he was before and not slacking off, not — I’m not having to make any concessions for being 35 years old. We’re doing the same things we did in the past.

But about five or six fights ago, seven fights ago maybe, I cut down the rounds of sparring, but that’s really the only thing that I’ve done different. But then I didn’t do it because of age. I did it because he just comes to camp in such a state that I don’t have to abuse him in camp. I can leave a lot in him by working him less because he’s in shape when he comes to camp. We’re not losing 25 pounds. So it’s easier for me as a coach to get out of him what he needs and get him ready to peak right before fight time.

Q. Second question for both. Something that Abel touched on earlier in the conversation. Subsequent to this, upwards of five or six more, are you comfortable with the thought of fighting for another couple, three years, maybe longer? You want to be fighting like Mayweather at the age of 40? What are your thoughts on that?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Yeah, probably. Maybe like 40, five years more. This is boxing. Every day is difficult and dangerous. Right now I feel great. Everything’s good. My family and my team support me. I feel very comfortable. So probably, yeah, five years more.

ABEL SANCHEZ: I think, if we get, if we’re able to secure the kind of fights that motivate him mentally — physically they’re always in shape. Obviously, all great fighters like that are always in shape, but the mental part of it is so important because you have to be motivated for a fight. If Tom and the Herman Brothers and the powers that be can get him the kind of fights that motivate him and want him to come back in the gym and work as hard as he does for all fights, then, yes, I can see him fighting that long. I think, if there’s an if, that’s a big if.

Q. No concerns about the possible long-term effects about boxing and getting punched in the head?

ABEL SANCHEZ: No, remember, he’s probably been a pro less than Canelo’s been a pro, and his fights are a heck of a lot shorter than Canelo’s fights. Canelo is the one that has the wear and tear on him, not Golovkin. Canelo has got 49 fights. And Golovkin has 36, 37, whatever he has, and his fights have been shorter, and he turned pro in 2006. I believe Canelo’s been a pro a little bit longer than he has.

No, we don’t have the long periods of training camps like we used to for the other fighters. That helps. And his fights being shorter helps. If he’s motivated to fight on, to fight for the next three or four years, then he should. If he doesn’t have it in him, then he shouldn’t.

I think, if we do good on the 16th, I think the public will ask for him to fight on, and as long as he keeps fighting the way that I know he can, the public will keep asking for that. Hopefully, Tom can put those together.

FRED STERNBURG: Before we wrap up, just a reminder that HBO sports will be airing the special Under the Lights: Canelo-Golovkin Saturday evening at 10:00 p.m. East Coast and West Coast on HBO, and episode 2 of 24/7: Canelo-Golovkin will premiere the following week on HBO immediately following Tom’s terrific card with all the super flyweights at StubHub Center. Tom, any last comments before we head to trainer and fighter?

TOM LOEFFLER: I’ll tell you, we can’t be more excited about this fight. It’s really the crescendo of we’ve had a banner year for boxing in 2017, even with the Mayweather-McGregor fight. It’s just the spotlight that’s been shown on the sport of boxing has never been brighter, or not for a long time, than we’ve seen this year. This really seems to be the main event of the year.

So we’re excited about this fight. Fred, as you mentioned, the Super Fly show September 9th. Don’t miss that. That will be on HBO with the second airing of 24/7.

This is really — this is the fight that everyone on the GGG side has been working hard for. We give Canelo a lot of credit. We give the Golden Boy side a lot of credit for being extremely cooperative with the co-promotion, the MGM properties up in Las Vegas, and just looking forward to Gennady’s premiere not only in Las Vegas but at the T-Mobile Arena, one of the most premier arenas around the world.

Naturally, we can’t leave out HBO. It’s just been a tremendous partner for Gennady’s career, and very thankful for their support.

FRED STERNBURG: Abel, any last words? You still feel like you’re 25, like Gennady does?

ABEL SANCHEZ: Not after hits the mitts with me, not after he pounds on my shoulders. No, I feel that we’re training very hard to be well prepared to give the fans, not to disappoint the fans and to give the fans the kind of fight that they expect from us. I know Canelo is training just as hard. So hopefully, that night will be a magic night for boxing and for all of us.

FRED STERNBURG: Thanks, Abel. Gennady, we’ll let you have the final word. Any last words to the media?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Yes, of course. Thank you very much, everybody. I respect boxing. If you respect boxing like me, watch my fight on HBO. Welcome to my fight.

FRED STERNBURG: Thank you, everyone, for joining us. Thank you, Gennady, Abel. Thank you, Tom.

And just a reminder, live on pay-per-view at a special time, 8:00 p.m. East Coast, 5:00 West Coast on Saturday, September 16, live on HBO Pay-Per-View. We look forward to seeing everybody out there fight week. Thank you again for joining us today.

# # #

Canelo vs. Golovkin is a 12-round fight for the middleweight championship of the world presented by Golden Boy Promotions and GGG Promotions and sponsored by Tecate “BORN BOLD”; Hennessy, Never Stop, Never Settle; O’Reilly Auto Parts. Better Parts, Better Prices…everyday!; Fred Loya Insurance; Interjet; Thor: Ragnarok; Fathom Events; Tsesnabank; and Capital Holdings. Diaz, Jr. vs. Lara is 12-round WBC Featherweight Title Eliminator bout presented by Golden Boy Promotions. Caballero vs. De La Hoya is a 10-round fight for the NABF Super Bantamweight Championship presented by Golden Boy Promotions. Martin vs. Rojo is a 10-round lightweight bout for the WBC Continental Americas and vacant WBA Intercontinental Championships presented by Golden Boy Promotions and GGG Promotions in association with Cancun Boxing. The event will take place Saturday, Sept. 16 at T-Mobile Arena and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at a special time of 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

HBO Sports will air the special “Under The Lights: Canelo/Golovkin” Saturday, Sept. 2 at 10:00 p.m. (E/PT) on HBO. It’s the final time the two will see each other until fight week unfolds in Las Vegas.

Episode #2 of 24/7 Canelo/Golovkin premieres Saturday, Sept. 9 on HBO immediately following the live Boxing After Dark triple header from the StubHub Center at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.

Tickets for the closed circuit telecast of Canelo vs. Golovkin at Bellagio Resort & Casino, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, The Mirage Hotel & Casino, Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, New York-New York Hotel & Casino, Luxor Hotel and Casino and Circus Circus Las Vegas are priced at $75, not including applicable fees. All seats are general admission and are currently on sale. Tickets may be purchased at any MGM Resorts International Box Office, by phone with a major credit card at 1-800-745-3000 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.

Photos and videos are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link http://bit.ly/CaneloGolovkin into a browser. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for photos and videos used.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.hbo.com/boxing; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @Canelo, @gggboxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @hboboxing and @TomLoeffler1; become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.facebook.com/gggboxing, and www.facebook.com/HBOBoxing; follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing, @Canelo, @gggboxing, @HBOboxing and @OscarDeLaHoya; and follow the conversation using #CaneloGGG.

1 September 2017 – Shanghai, China: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), recently held the ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: SHANGHAI Official Face-Off, featuring main event combatants ONE Welterweight World Champion Ben Askren of the United States and challenger Zebaztian Kadestam of Sweden. The two martial artists squared off in front of media at the Char Bar at the Hotel Indigo Shanghai on The Bund, Thursday, 31 August in Shanghai, China.

Photos of the ONE CHAMPIONSHIP: SHANGHAI OFFICIAL FACE-OFF can be found here: http://bit.ly/oneshanghaifaceoff

Ben Askren, ONE Welterweight World Champion, stated: “In this sport, it’s you against the other guy. You make or break your own destiny. I want to be in control of the outcome at all times. Being a champion goes far beyond just wearing that gold belt around my waist. It is also about how you carry yourself as champion, and how you inspire others with the way you train and compete. Kadestam is a tough guy, he showed that in his last bout. But it doesn’t matter what his strengths and weaknesses are. At the end of the day, he can’t stop my wrestling. He’s going to be on his back, and I’m going to be pounding away until the referee stops the contest.”

Zebaztian Kadestam, ONE world title challenger, stated: “I always enjoy a good battle between two martial artists testing themselves. Ben Askren is one of the best martial artists in the world, and this is the reason I chose to come to ONE Championship, for an opportunity to test myself against the absolute best. Martial arts is my life and I believe I am going to be a martial artist until the day I die. Nothing is going to take me away from this. I am coming into the cage with everything I have. You can expect the best version of Zebaztian Kadestam when I step onto that battlefield.”

A former NCAA Division I All-American, Ben “Funky” Askren of the United States is a collegiate wrestling legend and a US Olympian who represented the nation at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. He is universally recognized as one of the finest martial artists in the world today. Askren joined ONE Championship in 2014, winning the ONE Welterweight World Championship in just his second bout. Askren has since successfully defended the title twice, including his most recent victory, a first-round submission of young Malaysian star Agilan Thani in May. Sporting an unblemished 16-0 professional record, Askren seeks to continue his reign as champion, this time against Zebaztian Kadestam.

Zebaztian “The Bandit” Kadestam of Sweden holds an outstanding professional record of 9-3, and is a tremendous competitor with a wide array of striking and grappling techniques. Seven of his nine career victories have come by way of knockout. Kadestam made a successful ONE Championship debut last May when he defeated Luis Santos, upsetting the top welterweight contender via a come-from-behind third-round knockout. Kadestam’s resounding victory quickly earned him a title opportunity, as he is now booked to face the toughest opponent of his career in Ben Askren.

For more updates on ONE Championship, please visit www.onefc.com, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @ONEChampionship, and like us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ONEChampionship.

About ONE Championship™
ONE Championship is the largest sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, ONE Championship is the home of martial arts. The world’s most exciting martial arts organization hosts the largest sports entertainment events across Asia, featuring some of the world’s best martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. In addition to its digital platforms, ONE Championship broadcasts to over 1 billion potential viewers across 128+ countries around the world with some of the largest global broadcasters, including FOX Sports, Setanta, MNC, Astro, Thairath TV, ABS-CBN, TV5, MYTV, HTV, OSN and more.

The IBF has ordered a bout between Sergey Lipinets and Akihiro Kondo to fight for the vacant 140 pound title that was recently vacated by Terence Crawford, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

According to the sanctioning body, both boxers have indicated in writing that they are willing to participate in the bout, and it ordered negotiations to begin immediately.

The sides have until Sept. 30 to make a deal, otherwise the IBF will order a purse bid to determine who gains promotional control of the fight.

How frustrating was it to have to wait for this fight with Canelo?

“We have been talking about this fight for years. The last two years, I lose interest, because after every fight, Golden Boy said, ‘No. OK, maybe next fight.’ I remember the situation after the Amir Khan fight, when I go into the ring. Oscar De La Hoya said, ‘This is a good day for us and I will call GGG’s manager tomorrow.’ I think it was hard on the fans too.

“The fans are hungry for this fight. After the Julio Cesar Chavez fight, I believed it is possible for us, and in June I see Canelo’s face, and it is more serious. He is ready. This was not like Canelo not being ready. It was Golden Boy not being ready.”

Abel Sanchez Blog – Part 1

How frustrating was it to wait for this fight with Canelo to happen? Is Gennady saving his anger for fight night? What do you expect Gennady to accomplish on Sept. 16?

“I’ve never seen Gennady frustrated except when Sturm refused to fight him and the WBA kept giving him opportunities to avoid his mandatory obligation. I could also see him getting frustrated last year when three of the top middleweights (Canelo, Saunders, Eubank) wouldn’t fight him and then Brook stepped up to the plate to save the day last September in London.”

**********************

HBO Sports will air the special “Under The Lights: Canelo/Golovkin” Saturday, Sept. 2 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT) on HBO. It’s the final time the two will see each other until fight week unfolds in Las Vegas.

Episode #2 of 24/7 Canelo/Golovkin premieres Saturday, Sept. 9 on HBO Immediately following the live Boxing After Dark triple header from the StubHub Center at 10:15 p.m. ET/PT.

Canelo vs. Golovkin takes place Saturday, September 16 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at a special time of 8:00 p.m. ET/ 5:00 p.m. PT.

**********************

24/7 #CaneloGGG – Episode 1 (Click to watch Full Episode)
Link: https://youtu.be/QrdGoqt_Wv4
Embed:

Take an in-depth look at Canelo Alvarez
and Gennady ”GGG” Golovkin leading up to
their fight for middleweight supremacy (Click to watch)
Link: https://youtu.be/uflG5Xxz9U8
Embed:
(You may post video to your digital & social platforms)

Watch Gennady Golovkin’s Greatest Hits (Click to Watch)
Link: https://youtu.be/HbF3Ct0aQ4U
Embed:

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, The Maryland State Athletic Commission has upheld it’s ruling of an Andre Dirrell win over Jose Uzcategui in their controversial fight that resulted in a win for Dirrell via disqualification on May 20th.

“The Maryland State Athletic Commission conducted a hearing regarding a protest of the referee’s decision made in the May 20, 2017 world title match between boxers Andre Dirrell and Jose Uzcategui. After hearing expert testimony, the commission upheld the call of referee Bill Clancy,” commission spokeswoman Theresa M. Blaner said in a statement given to ESPN. “The commission’s written determination will be issued within the next month.”

Uzcategui, adviser Sean Gibbons, their attorney Daniel James and Hall of Fame referee Steve Smoger, serving as their expert witness, attended the hearing and were very disappointed in the outcome. Gibbons said they watched a replay with the commission, along with Clancy and Dirrell’s attorney, before the commission made its ruling to uphold Clancy’s call.

“Our position is that Mr. Clancy lost control of the situation,” Gibbons told ESPN. “He overrode the doctor to make the decision. He’s the sole arbiter, but one of the things Mr. Clancy did was when Mr. Dirrell was down on his knees he told him to get up. He said, ‘Are you OK?’ And Dirrell nodded yes. Then he went to the corner and screamed, ‘Get me a doctor’ while people outside the ring, including Mr. Dirrell’s brother, told him to fall over. One of our contentions was that as the doctor was entering the ring, Mr. Clancy said to him, ‘Tell me if Dirrell can continue.’ And 10 seconds into the doctor looking at Mr. Dirrell, Clancy yelled, ‘I’m disqualifying [Uzcategui]!’

“Throughout the whole testimony, Bill Clancy was very combative as he was in the ring that night to Uzcategui and it felt like he was under attack. We feel he misrepresented the facts.”

“Mr. Clancy was adamant that since Mr. Uzcategui had accidentally hit Dirrell after the bell after the second round that it was intentional at the end of the eighth round, and because he had already warned him, that’s why he disqualified him,” Gibbons said. “They didn’t buy that it was in the heat of battle. It was a three-punch combination as the bell was ringing and there was no way he can pull up at that point. But at no point was Uzcategui doing anything intentional, but Clancy kept going on that it was intentional.”

“The IBF has also determined that it was inappropriate for the referee to advise Dirrell of the decision of the bout prior to the official decision being announced. Based on the above … the IBF has ruled that the referee’s conduct was inappropriate and will grant an immediate rematch.”

“We came to the state of Maryland on May 20 to challenge for [an interim] world title, and Uzcategui got assaulted that night, and we came back for this hearing and we were assaulted again — by the commission, by Clancy, by the attorney general’s office and Dirrell’s attorney,” Gibbons said, noting that in around 300 amateur bouts and 28 pro fights Uzcategui had never had a point deducted for a foul. “They were all going after us for an unintentional foul. It felt like they showed up to go to war instead of having a nice civil hearing to show that Uzcategui never tried to do anything intentional.”

ORANGE, Calif. (Sept. 1, 2017) – World title challenger Danny Roman (22-2-1, 8 KOs) and WBA champion Shun Kubo (12-0, 9 KOs) addressed the Japanese media for the final time on Friday.

Kubo defends his 122-lb. title for the first time, and Roman finds himself in the first world championship fight of his career this Sunday, Sept. 3, from the Shimazu Arena in Kyoto.

The 12-round WBA world championship fight is promoted by Shinsei Boxing Gym, in association with Thompson Boxing Promotions.

Roman was measured and reserved in his responses during the question and answer portion of Friday’s fight week press conference.

“This is my first world title fight,” Roman said. “We are really excited for it. I hope the Japanese fans like my style. I’m going to be ready for whatever Kubo brings. I’ve been preparing for this moment since I began boxing. I’m ready to be at this level.”

The Los Angeles native is in the middle of the strongest stretch of his professional career. Roman is riding a 14-fight winning streak and is the former NABA champion. He’s been dismantling opponents on the scorecards, winning virtually every round on every scorecard during his lengthy hot streak.

In Kubo, he’ll go up against one of the rangiest opponents to date.

“He boxes well. His skill set is very obvious,” Roman said. “He uses his distance and reach to his advantage. I expect a tough fight.”

“Danny is in excellent shape both mentally and physically,” said Ken Thompson, president of Thompson Boxing. “This is the perfect time for him to be in this position. He’s a tireless worker, a true professional. I know he’ll be coming back to the United States as a world champion.”

“Danny is ready for a tremendous fight,” said Alex Camponovo, matchmaker and general manager for Thompson Boxing. “He’s earned the right to be on this stage and we’re confident that he’s going to win the world title on Sunday. We’re extremely thankful to the WBA and Mr. Kubo and his team for making this fight happen.”

For more information, please visit ThompsonBoxing.com.

For regular updates on our fighters, events, and promotions, please check our Facebook Page, watch our YouTube channel on Thompson Boxing TV, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter @ThompsonBoxing.

Louisville, KY (September 1, 2017) The Real Deal Boxing, the promotional entity of Evander Holyfield’s Real Deal Sports and Entertainment, will return to the legendary boxing city of Louisville, Kentucky on Thursday, September 28 with an outstanding card of world class fights at the Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport Hotel, it was announced today.

“We said we were committed to building boxing back in Louisville and I hope this shows the fans that we are true to our word,” said co-owner and Hall-of-Famer Evander Holyfield. “There is a lot of undiscovered talent in the city and we will continue to honor the legacy of the great Muhammad Ali by bringing our events to his hometown. I encourage everyone to take part by buying a ticket or purchasing our live-stream on our website.”

Eric Bentley, the Chief Operating Officer of Real Deal Sports & Entertainment, reiterated the company’s aspiration to bring boxing back to Kentucky. “We really wanted to build off the success of our first event in Louisville. It’s a great city with passionate fans and a rich history in the sport, a dedicated and competent commission under the leadership of Chad Miller, and a lot of undiscovered local talent like our future superstar Carlos Dixon that we’re excited to build. This card really exemplifies everything Evander stood for as a fighter, and what his company now represents: exciting, competitive bouts that place the boxers at the forefront. With established contenders and some of the sports best prospects, this card will be even better than the first one. Don’t miss this event and be sure to book your room at the Crowne Plaza in Louisville for this one!”

Advance tickets priced at $125, $75 and $40 will go on sale on Tuesday, September 5 through www.TheRealDealBoxing.com, VIP Ringside Tables and VIP Tickets are also available. The Crowne Plaza Louisville Airport Hotel is located at 830 Phillips Lane, Louisville, KY 40209. Doors will open on the night of the event at 6:00 p.m. with the first bell at 6:30 p.m.

Headlining the September 28th event, top featherweight contenders will battle over 10-rounds as Providence, Rhode Island’s TOKA KAHN “T-Nice” CLARY, (22-1-0, 15 KO’s) faces BRAULIO “El Chavo” RODRIGUEZ (19-2-0, 17 KO’s), of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic for the vacant WBC Continental Americas Featherweight Title.

The 25-year-old, all-action Clary returns to Louisville following his dominant and decisive victory over Angel Luna at The Real Deal Boxing’s debut event on June 24 at Freedom Hall.

Fighting for the first time in the United States, the 29-year-old Rodriguez will be looking to bounce back into the win column following a very hard-fought majority decision loss to Alberto Mercado in Caguas, Puerto Rico.

Featured in the 10-round co-main event, DUKE “The Baby Faced Terminator” MICAH, (20-0, 18 KO’s), of the boxing rich region of Accra, Ghana, will make his highly-anticipated United States debut defending his WBC International Bantamweight Title against MARIO “EL Triturador” DIAZ, (16-1-0, 6 KO’s) of Aguascalientes, Mexico.

The 25-year-old Micah, world ranked #13 by the World Boxing Council, has fought three times in the United Kingdom and is coming off the finest win of his five-year professional career.

On March 11, 2017, Micah was victorious against tough Mexican veteran Jonathan Aguilar earning the WBC International Bantamweight Title in Accra, Ghana.

Fighting for the first time in the United States, the 22-year-old Diaz is on a remarkable fourteen bout winning streak.

In a fantastic six round clash of top super featherweight prospects, Washington D.C.’s JOSHUA DAVIS, (11-1-0, 5 KO’s), will battle RAY “Lightning Jr.” LAMPKIN, (10-0-0, 4 KO’s) of Portland, Oregon.

Cruiserweight prospects will also see action as Real Deal’s newly-signed prospect JOSHUA TEMPLE, (4-0-0, 4 KO’s), of St. Louis, Missouri, faces Worcester, Massachusetts’ BRYAN DANIELS, (5-0-0, 3 KO’s).

The card will also feature two of the company’s highly-regarded prospects: Louisville’s own CARLOS DIXON (1-0-0, 1 KO) and Detroit’s JANELSON BOCACHICA (7-0-0, 4 KO’s), plus much more!

Further information on this outstanding evening of world class professional boxing will be announced shortly.

Real Deal Sports & Entertainment is proud to partner with Medical Arts Radiology (www.medicalartsradiology.com) and Venum (www.venum.com).

TORONTO – Fight Network, the world’s premier 24/7 multi-platform channel dedicated to complete coverage of combat sports, presents three star-studded live mixed martial arts events this weekend, highlighted by the live main card for UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: Volkov vs. Struve on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 3:00 p.m. ET. The live action kicks off tonight, Sept. 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET with LFA 21: Noblitt vs. Branjao followed by a live broadcast of ONE Championship: Shanghai, featuring the return of undefeated phenom Ben Askren, on Saturday, Sept. 1 at 7:00 a.m. ET.

The stacked main card for UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: Volkov vs. Struve emanates from Rotterdam, Netherlands on Saturday, Sept. 2 at 3:00 p.m. ET, headlined by an explosive heavyweight clash between No. 7-ranked Russian Alexander Volkov (28-6) and No. 8-ranked Dutchman Stefan Struve (28-8). Rounding out the four-bout telecast is a welterweight matchup pitting Afghanistan’s Siyar Bahadurzada (22-6-1) against unbeaten Australian Rob Wilkinson (11-0), a women’s bantamweight showdown between Brazil’s Talita de Oliveira (4-1) and American Marion Reneau (7-3-1) and a welterweight bout featuring England’s Leon Edwards (13-3) against rugged American scrapper Bryan Barberena (13-4). Leading into the main card telecast, Fight Network will present an encore of UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: Struve vs. Miocic from September 2012, which kicks off at 12:00 p.m. ET. The UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: Volkov vs. Struve main card will re-air on Saturday night in primetime at 9:00 p.m. ET.

Saturday’s live action gets an early start at 7:00 a.m. ET with ONE Championship: Shanghai from China, headlined by a showdown for the ONE welterweight championship, as undefeated American wrestler Ben Askren (16-0) defends his crown against Swedish challenger Zebaztian Kadestam (9-3). In other featured bouts, Mongolia’s Narantungalag Jadambaa (12-5) collides with Japan’s Tetsuya Yamada (21-5-2) in a featherweight bout and Singapore’s Amir Khan (7-2) meets the Czech Republic’s Jaroslav Jartim (8-6-1) in a lightweight tilt.

But first, Legacy Fighting Alliance invades Branson, Missouri tonight, Sept. 1 at 9:00 p.m. ET, for LFA 21: Noblitt vs. Branjao. In the main event, a pair of undefeated prospects will face off as American Kyle Noblitt (8-0) battles Brazilian Antonio Paulo Branjao (4-0). In other action, Grady Hurley (14-1) takes on Kevin Holland (9-3) in a middleweight matchup, TJ Brown (9-4) faces Trey Ogden (8-1) in a lightweight bout, Katy Collins (7-2) and Shannon Sinn (3-5) square off in the women’s flyweight division, Jeremiah Cullum (5-1) looks to hand Charles Johnson (4-0) his first professional setback in a flyweight tilt, Oscar Valdez (7-4) meets Yazan Hajeh (5-0) at 145 pounds, plus Dakota Bush (3-0) risks his perfect record against fellow lightweight Jose Martinez (7-2).

Fight Network’s live telecasts of UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: Volkov vs. Struve and ONE Championship: Shanghai are available exclusively in Canada, while LFA 21: Noblitt vs. Branjao will be live broadcast in Canada and over 30 countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

For a full listing of Fight Network’s broadcast schedule, please visit www.fightnetwork.com, follow us on Twitter @fightnet, become a fan on Facebook and visit us on Instagram @fightnet.

NEW YORK (Sept. 1, 2017) – Before fight fans turned their attention to the desert with knockout PPV numbers last Saturday, the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE Facebook series landed a massive haymaker of its own. Linacre Media and CES Boxing partnered on a pre Mayweather-McGregor card that ran from 6-9:30 p.m. ET live from Foxwoods in Connecticut, with the tech-forward, fan-friendly Facebook broadcast platform drawing an audience of 201,935 fight fans, and counting.

“Fight fans were primed and ready for Saturday night’s mega-event from Las Vegas, and we were pleased to be able to entertain so many with great fights from Foxwoods for the hours leading up to Showtime PPV,” said Mark Fratto, Principal and Director of Business Development, Linacre Media. “Of course we had some fans thinking they’d get to see Mayweather-McGregor, but we were quick to point them in the proper direction for that content. The hundreds of thousands that stayed on our platform saw some great action, including a wild ending in the CES main event. As a matter of fact, we saw 50,000 more fight fans log-in on Sunday to review the closing moments, and as always with our interactive Facebook shows, offer their own opinions and interpretations. We’re pleased to be able to announce that seven or more shows are being added to the calendar from September through November, including one leading into GGG – Canelo.”

Over the first four months of programming, the numbers on the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series have showed promise and potential for the new platform with an average of more than 85,000 fight fans tuning in per event. The August “Super Saturday” from Foxwoods (202,000), the July Roy Jones Jr. “Desert Showdown” from Phoenix (63,000), the May “Slugfest at the Sun” from Mohegan Sun (46,000) and the June “Rosemont Rumble” from Chicago (32,000) saw a total of more than 8,000 total hours of Facebook video consumed by 342,000-plus users across all devices.

In addition to the raw viewership numbers, the fully-interactive, fan-friendly productions have seen more than 33,000 collective live post engagements, including more than 3,000 “likes” or “loves,” more than 10,000 comments and 3,000-plus shares.

FIGHTNIGHT LIVE broadcasts are viewed by 76 percent men, 24 percent women. The top demographic is comprised of males aged 25-34, which encompasses approximately 30 percent of the audience, on average.

The Aug. 26 Foxwoods “Super Saturday” show stands out individually with 201,935 views across 3,336 live hours of content, with 8,224 viewer interactions including 1,133 “likes” or “loves,” 1,570 comments and 1,392 shares.

“For more than 25 years, CES has delivered boxing excitement to fans all over the world. The tradition continued Saturday night at Foxwoods when we teamed with FIGHTNIGHT LIVE by using cutting edge technology allowing fight fans to view the fights live on Facebook. This historic, record-setting event was the result of a great production team and action-packed, competitive fights,” said CES President Jimmy Burchfield, Sr.

Facebook FIGHTNIGHT LIVE has been delivered to fans absolutely free since its May 2017 launch courtesy of corporate partners like Barbour One 9, Talent Management and Entertainment Production (www.barbourone9.com) and Northeastern Fine Jewelry (www.nefj.com).

Created and produced by Linacre Media out of New York City, the FIGHTNIGHT LIVE series features professional announcers, multiple camera angles, graphics, replays and behind-the-scenes access and interviews. The streamed shows are available globally wherever Facebook is available. The initiative not only enables fans from around the world to tune in, but also gives up-and-coming fighters a global platform to showcase their abilities, gives promoters an accessible “broadcast” solution and gives sponsors the ability to reach a mass audience via branded content.

More FIGHTNIGHT LIVE dates will be officially announced in the coming weeks.

FIGHTNIGHT LIVE is available online at: https://www.facebook.com/FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE/

Follow all the action via social media at FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Facebook, @FaceFIGHTNIGHTLIVE on Instagram and @FIGHTNIGHTLIVE_ on Twitter, or by using the hashtag #FIGHTNIGHTLIVE. For the latest Linacre Media events and broadcast schedule, follow @LinacreMedia across all social platforms or use the tags #LinacreMediaEvents or #LinacreMediaOnTV.

Super-Middleweight Umar Sadiq recently joined Frank Warren’s growing stable and is confident his career switch will pay dividends.

In June, the Ilford man turned pro and is set to make his debut on the Billy Joe Saunders v Willie Monroe Jr undercard at the Copper Box Arena on September 16th.

“Up until a few months ago I had a job as an accountant. I left that to focus fully on boxing,” Sadiq told Below the Belt TV. “That’s because I’m so serious about what I’m doing. There are so many things that I can draw on to back up my belief in being the best in the world.

“You can’t deny your destiny really, because here I am – I’m boxing again. I’ve gone out and tried different things and I know that this is what I want, so I mean business!”

As an amateur, Sadiq boxed for England and Nigeria and only just missed out on representing the African nation at the Rio Olympics last summer.

He also graduated in Accountancy at London Metropolitan University, but decided to give up a highly-paid job in the city to follow his boxing dream, and he believes he can win major titles.

“When I’m in an accountant office, I’m working and I know what my limits are,” explained Sadiq. “I can see what my manager’s earning, I can see what the director’s earning. What the director’s earning is not enough for the lifestyle that I visualise for myself.

“When I’m in an office I’m working…when I’m in a boxing ring it’s not work. I enjoy this, I live for this! I get so much of a buzz being around boxing events and the promotion. It’s not work, it’s a lifestyle. Essentially I’ve just taken an early retirement [laughs].”

Billy Joe Saunders makes the second defence of his WBO Middleweight World Title against American Willie Monroe Jr in the evening’s main event; Ilford Light-Heavy powerhouse Anthony Yarde fights for the Vacant WBO Inter-Continental Title; teenage Heavyweight sensation Daniel Dubois takes on AJ Carter for the Vacant Southern Area strap in only his fifth contest; knockout artist Joe Pigford fights for the Vacant WBO European Super-Welterweight title.

Some of the very best up-and-coming prospects in the country including Welling Super-Featherweight Archie Sharp; Ilford Super-Bantamweight Lucien Reid; Fulham Super-Middleweight Zak Chelli, New Malden Super-Middleweight Lerrone Richards and Erith Flyweight Jake Pettit feature. Ilford Welterweight Hamza Sheeraz and Tamworth Light-Heavyweight Ryan Hatton their highly-anticipated pro debuts.

Tickets for Saunders vs. Monroe Jr priced at £40, £50, £70, £100, £150, £200 and £250 (VIP/Hospitality) are available from:

www.eventim.co.uk

www.seetickets.com

www.ticketmaster.co.uk

LOS ANGELES (Sept. 1, 2017) – On Friday, Sept. 15, one day before the highly anticipated battle for middleweight supremacy between Canelo Alvarez and Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, WBA Interim Featherweight Champion Claudio Marrero (22-1, 16 KOs) will make the first defense of his title against Jesus Rojas (25-1-2, 18 KOs) in the 12-round main event of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at the MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom in Las Vegas. The ESPN3 livestream of the undercard bouts begins at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, followed by the main event at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT on ESPN Deportes and streaming live on ESPN3 and on ESPN2 at 1:15 a.m. ET/10:15 p.m. PT.

Marrero, of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, captured the Interim WBA Featherweight Title with a devastating first-round knockout of Carlos Zambrano in April 2017. Though suffering his only defeat against Jesus Cuellar in 2013, Marrero has scored six victories since then, five of them by knockout.

Rojas will return after an impressive eighth-round technical knockout victory against the previously undefeated Abraham “Chamaco” Lopez. The native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, has taken on the likes of former world champion Jorge “El Travieso” Arce and Jorge “El Pilón” Lara of Mexico (who will take on Joseph “JoJo” Diaz in the co-main event of Canelo-Golovkin). Rojas will look to take yet another step towards the top of the 126-pound division with a victory over Marrero.

In the co-main event, Boston’s Rashidi “Speedy” Ellis (18-0, 12 KOs) will make the second defense of his IBF North American title against Juan Carlos “Merengue” Abreu (19-3-1, 18 KOs). Ellis earned his crown with an impressive first-round knockout victory over Eddie “E-Boy” Gomez in December 2016. In his first defense, Ellis fought in a toe-to-toe battle against John Karl Sosa en route to a majority decision victory in April 2017. Ellis faces a tough challenge in Abreu, a veteran of the Dominican Republic with tough fights against Pablo Cesar “El Demoledor” Cano and Humberto “La Zorrita” Soto on his resume.

Ryan “Kingry” Garcia (10-0, 9 KOs) will open up the ESPN Deportes transmission in an eight-round fight for the Junior NABF Super Featherweight title against Miguel Carrizoza (10-2, 2 KOs) of Nogales, Mexico. Garcia, a young prospect of Victorville, Calif., is coming off a spectacular first-round knockout of Mario Antonio Macia and will look to earn his seventh knockout victory in a row on Sept. 15.

Horacio “Violento” Garcia (32-3-1, 22 KOs) of Guadalajara, Mexico will take on fellow
countryman Diuhl Olguin (11-7-2, 9 KOs) in an eight-round super bantamweight rematch. In their first encounter, Garcia lost via an upset unanimous decision in July of this year. In the night’s swing bout, Alexis “Laberinto” Salazar (11-3, 3 KOs) of Tlaquepagque, Mexico will take on Evan Torres (6-4, 5 KOs) of El Paso, Texas in a scheduled six-round middleweight fight. The bout will be a rematch of their May 2017 fight, which Salazar won via close split decision.

Opponents for former IBF champion Jose “El Tecuala” Argumendo (20-3-1, 11 KOs), who will participate in an eight-round minimumweight bout, and Philadelphia’s Damon “No Smilin'” Allen, Jr. (12-0-1, 5 KOs), who will return in an eight-round lightweight fight, will be announced shortly.

Marrero vs. Rojas is a 10-round featherweight fight presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with TGB Promotions. The event is sponsored by Tecate, BORN BOLD; Hennessy, Never Stop, Never Settle; and Interjet. The event will beheld at the MGM Grand Marquee Ballroom in Las Vegas on Friday, Sept. 15. Doors open at 3:00 p.m. PT, and the first fight begins at 3:30 p.m. PT. The ESPN3 livestream of the undercard bouts begins at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m., followed by the main event at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. on ESPN Deportes and streaming live on ESPN3 and on ESPN2 at 1:15 a.m. ET / 10:15 p.m. PT.

Tickets priced at $10, $25, $50 and $75 for Marrero vs. Rojas will go on sale Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 10:00 a.m. PST. *Receive VIP seating to the Canelo vs. Golovkin Weigh-in with the purchase of a $75, $50 or $25 ticket, subject to availability. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call the TicketMaster Contact Center at (800) 745-3000 or MGM Resorts Contact Center at (866) 740-7711. Tickets will also be available for purchase online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.mgmgrand.com and various MGM Resorts Box Offices. All ticket prices do not include service fees or applicable service charges.

Videos and images are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link http://bit.ly/9-15MarreroRojas. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @ESPN and @ESPNBoxeo; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.facebook.com/espn.fnf, and www.facebook.com/ESPNBoxeo; and follow on Instag

Brooklyn, N.Y. (Aug. 31, 2017) – Uprising Promotions middleweight Kemahl “Hitman” Russell (11-1, 9 KOs) will be making his New York debut next Saturday, Sept. 9, facing Ian Green (12-1, 9 KOs) of New Jersey at Resorts World Casino in Queens. In the bout, Russell will be battling Green for the vacant Junior NABF middleweight championship belt.

“First and foremost, we want to thank Evander Holyfield, Eric Bentley and Real Deal Boxing for this opportunity,” said Ronson Frank, President of Uprising Promotions. “Obviously, it has been really tough getting on shows right now in New York due to limited availability. We are excited about this fight, and we feel that it is very winnable for us. Russell has been working hard, and he is coming off an impressive first round knockout last month. His confidence is sky high, and training camp has been going really well. Come September 9, we are looking to take it to Ian Green and come out of there with a win.”

Russell is coming off a devastating first-round knockout of Nigel Edwards in Jamaica just a little over a month ago, and he has remained in camp since that bout to prepare for Green. The win for Russell was a strong statement after the lone loss of his career in March to unbeaten Sergiy Derevyanchenko, who is now the number one contender for the IBF Middleweight Championship.

Russell started his professional career with 10 consecutive victories, eight of those coming by way of knockout. The Kingston native won the Jamaican edition of the Contender Boxing Series in 2015, stopping Richard Holmes in the fourth round of those finals. He earned his way into the Contender Finale with stoppage wins over Kevin Placide and Kevin Hylton before a unanimous decision victory over Devon Moncrieffe in the semifinals.

Green enters this bout following a majority decision over Andy Mejias in March. His lone professional defeat came in 2016 to New York middleweight Devaun Lee, who fights Giovanni Lorenzo on this same card next weekend in Queens.

For more information on Uprising Promotions and to keep up with all of our latest news, keep it locked to UprisingPromotions.com and make sure to follow us on social media: @UprisingNYC

New York (August 31, 2017) -Undefeated welterweight prospect, Boubacar Sylla has moved his training camp to the famed Headbangers Boxing Club in our Nation’s capital of Washington, D.C.

The 23 year-old Sylla, who is managed by Split-T Management, and has established himself as a prospect to watch as he has raced out to a record of 7-0 with six knockouts.

Sylla of Cincinnati, Ohio has been working under the watchful eye of world class championship trainer Barry Hunter, and Sylla has been taking his game to the next the level.

With so many world class professionals that train in the same atmosphere, Sylla is expected to see major progress in his development.

“He is a good kid. I think his foundation is pretty solid, and if led the right way he is going to be very good.” said Hunter.

“His height and size will pose a problem for many fighters.”

“I got the chance to spar with Lamont and Anthony Peterson, I feel like this is putting me on a new level. This is some serious stuff up here. There’s no room for shortcuts. Fighters get exposed real quick in this gym,” said Sylla

This is a place I always wanted to train at and I’m grateful to my managers and the coaching staff for making this possible.

I’ve known Coach Barry since I was young teenager so he welcomed the opportunity to spend some time with Boubacar. His program is one of the best in the country and I’m pleased he’s opened his doors for us,” said Tim VanNewhouse of Split-T Management

Willie Monroe Jr’s camp recently posted a controversial photo showing the Middleweight contender standing over a reported Light-Heavyweight, who he’d knocked out during sparring.

New Yorker Monroe takes on undefeated WBO Middleweight World Champion Billy Joe Saunders at London’s Copper Box Arena on September 16, live on BT Sport and BoxNation.

‘El Mongoose’ also recently hosted a Facebook live Q&A session on his upcoming fight. When asked about whether Saunders trash talk had affected him the American was up front, “It’s definitely put some fire up under me. I think that’s a big mistake on his behalf. Last thing you want to do is make a nice guy mad.

“He’s going to get his ass beat and it’s going to be brutal, but it’s still going to be done with precision and intellect and patience.”

The former World Title challenger was also adamant that the WBO kingpin hadn’t faced an opponent like him before, “He’s never fought nobody like me. We can go down the list of everybody he’s fought.

“I’m glad I’m the underdog too, I’m about to come up. I’m getting fired up now talking about it!”.

Elsewhere on an action-packed card Ilford Light-Heavy powerhouse Anthony Yardefights for the Vacant WBO Inter-Continental Title; teenage Heavyweight sensation Daniel Dubois takes on AJ Carter for the Vacant Southern Area strap in only his fifth contest; knockout artist Joe Pigford fights for the Vacant WBO European Super-Welterweight title.

Some of the very best up-and-coming prospects in the country including Welling Super-Featherweight Archie Sharp; Ilford Super-Bantamweight Lucien Reid; Fulham Super-Middleweight Zak Chelli, New Malden Super-Middleweight Lerrone Richards and Erith Flyweight Jake Pettit feature. Ilford Welterweight Hamza Sheeraz; Tamworth Light-Heavyweight Ryan Hatton and Ilford Super-Middleweight Umar Sadiq all make their highly-anticipated pro debuts.

Tickets for Saunders vs. Monroe Jr priced at £40, £50, £70, £100, £150, £200 and £250 (VIP/Hospitality) are available from: