After his thrilling draw with James DeGale this past Saturday night, Badou Jack has vacated his WBC Super Middleweight title as he will move up to Light Heavyweight, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“The WBC has received official notification from WBC super middleweight champion Badou Jack, who has decided to move up in weight and compete in the light heavyweight division,” the WBC said in a statement. “Consequently, the super middleweight championship of the world has been declared vacant. The WBC is extremely proud of Badou Jack, who is our Ambassador of Good Will and Peace. He has been a role model outside the ring with his exemplary behavior and his beautiful family, his wife Jasmine, and his baby daughter, Malaniyah.

“The WBC wishes Badou Jack continuous success and the best of luck in his boxing career, hoping that one day he will compete for the light heavyweight championship of the world.”

“We looking forward to a Badou Jack and an Adonis Stevenson fightin’,” Mayweather said at the news conference after the fight with DeGale. “We gonna make that fight happen. We’re not worried about that because at Mayweather Promotions we can make anything happen.”

“I never want to be remembered as a cherry-picker,” Jack said. “Give me the best guys. If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose. I want to be tested. I want the challenges. I want the big-money fights. I don’t care who’s in front of me. Anyone. … Yeah, I’m ready to fight [Stevenson].”

Mairis Briedis and Marco Huck will meet for the vacant WBC interim Cruiserweight title on April 1st in Dortmund, Germany, According to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Mairis Briedis is still undefeated and has the reputation of being a very unpleasant opponent with a very hard punch,” Huck said. “I prefer opponents of this caliber, for the bigger the challenge, the better I perform. I will be preparing myself very intensely and conscientiously, because if I do my homework well, a fight is usually decided in my favor before it gets even started.”

“I am incredibly happy about the upcoming fight against Marco Huck,” Briedis said. “He is a true cruiserweight legend and already has shown a lot of incredible fights. Well, in the next fight however we will fight for the WBC (interim) title, which means for both of us all or nothing. I will regard the fight as a one-time chance so I can show my full potential. I know that Marco will also give his best. Therefore the better man may win.

BROOKLYN (January 18, 2017) – Undefeated welterweight world champions Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman hosted a press conference in Brooklyn Wednesday to discuss their primetime showdown that headlines SHOWTIME CHAMPION CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING on CBS, presented by Premier Boxing Champions, Saturday, March 4 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The broadcast, which will air live from 9–11 p.m. ET/6–8 p.m. PT, is just the second primetime boxing presentation on the CBS Television Network in nearly 40 years.

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by DiBella Entertainment, are priced at $750, $500, $400, $300, $150, $100, and $50 and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.ticketmaster.com, www.barclayscenter.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Tickets are also available at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center. Group discounts are available by calling 844-BKLYN-GP.

Thurman and Garcia were joined by their trainers at the press conference Wednesday afternoon at Barclays Center. Here is what the participants had to say:

KEITH THURMAN

“It’s a pleasure to be here again. This is where it’s at. I get the most love out here, since the first time I ever fought here. The fans in New York make me feel like I’ve made it.

“This fight March 4 has two undefeated champions. Two of the best welterweights going toe-to-toe. Someone’s ‘0’ has to go.

“I’m blessed to get this fight because I’ve been asking for it. I’m looking forward to it. We’re working hard down in Florida. You don’t want to miss this fight.

“This fight is going to have action. There’s too much on the line. I remember Danny from the amateurs. I applaud him for everything he’s done in this career. He signed the wrong contract though, because Keith Thurman’s got this. Danny Garcia, you’re getting knocked out.

“At the end of the day it’s your actions that speak louder than words. We will make our statement on March 4. You will know after that night, who the champion truly is.

“Angel will talk to try to get people off of their game. Danny is an elite fighter, and he can talk for himself. These father trainers seem to like the limelight as much as the fighter, if not more. At the end of the day, I’m only fighting Danny Garcia.

“Danny Garcia has some power. He has enough, even compared to me. But if you look at a lot of his fights, he knocked guys down. But they got back up. There is a difference between knockdown and knockout power.

“He’s dangerous but we believe I’m more dangerous. He hasn’t fought a true welterweight with punching power. I believe I’ll be the last man standing on March 4.

“We’ll see what kind of camp he has. If he works hard, then he’ll be geared up for a tough fight. A fighter’s performance is based off of training camp, not any past fights.

“He’s a champion and I’m a champion. You will see the results on March 4. I’m eager to unify these titles and this should be an exciting fight.”

DANNY GARCIA

“You know I’m already in shape. I’ve been active and in the gym getting ready. I feel great. Come March 4, I’m going to be the unified champion again.

“This is nothing new to me. I’ve been the underdog in a unification fight. At the end of the day, Angel and I, we’re going to come out with a great game plan and get the victory. I will have my hand raised at the end of the night.

“I just had to tell Keith to be careful what he wished for. He wanted this fight, but now that he’s got it, you have to deal with me.

“I’m going to take this one round at a time to get the victory. If the knockout comes, it comes. I’m not going out of my element. I’m going to do what I do best.

“We’re definitely going to work the body. But we’ll work the head too, wherever we can hit him. We’re just working smart and hard in camp. Nothing is changing from past camps. We’re going to put in work.

“I’m excited to fight on CBS. The fans deserve fights to be on free television so that everyone can watch it. I’m excited to unify titles in another division.

“At the end of the day he’s a world champion and you have to respect that. He’s nothing I haven’t seen before. I’ve been fighting people like him since I was a little kid in Philadelphia. I’ve been boxing my whole life for this moment. I just have to go in there and make sure I’m ready mentally and physically.

“I just have to have tunnel vision on fight night. I’m going to show composure during every round and keep the momentum going my way. If it switches a little bit, then I’ll make adjustments and adapt like a true champion. I’ll be prepared like I always am.

“I feel very comfortable at Barclays Center. It’s like another day in the gym with me in here. It’s a fantastic atmosphere. This is the best place in the world to fight and I’m happy to be back.

“I hope everyone comes out to Barclays Center on fight night. I know there are a lot of Puerto Ricans in New York and I hope they’re here to support. Barclays Center is my home away from home.

“I just want to make sure I’m mentally and physically ready. If I’m ready, nobody can stop me. We’re going to do what we always do. Put the hard work in, talk a little trash and back it up.”

DAN BIRMINGHAM, Thurman’s Trainer

“Were here. We’re going to be ready. We’re focused on Danny Garcia. Keith Thurman will be the victor that night and stake his claim as the best in the division.

“Danny Garcia is a very good fighter. He’s like a mirror image of Keith Thurman. He boxes well, punches well and has good defense. But he’s facing a kind of fighter that he’s never faced before. Keith Thurman is the most talented welterweight in the world.

“Keith will bring the strength. He’s not a built-up welterweight. He comes down to make welterweight from about 170 pounds so we expect size to be an advantage.”

ANGEL GARCIA, Garcia’s Father & Trainer

“Danny was the first man to headline here. Danny holds the attendance record at this venue. We knew Brooklyn was where we wanted to have this fight.

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out where this fight should be. I love this venue and it’s been great to Danny every time he fights here.

“March 4 you will see the champion of the world, Danny Garcia, become a unified champion. Danny is a great fighter and he won’t be beat.

“We’re not the underdog here. Danny is the undefeated champion of the world. Thurman is in for a long night. Believe me.

“Thurman is a good fighter and he’s been around for a long time like Danny. I respect him, but they made him a champion. Danny became a champion, and there is a difference. Danny is a true champion. March 4 he will still be undefeated. Thurman won’t have an answer for Danny.”

LOU DIBELLA, President of DiBella Entertainment

“On the heels of what was a tremendous fight card this Saturday night in this great arena, it’s great to be able to say that it doesn’t get any better than this fight.

“Thurman vs. Garcia is the best against the best, which is really what we have to do to elevate our sport to the sport of kings like it once was. We have two kings sitting at this table

“It’s a privilege to promote another great PBC card and at Barclays Center in my hometown. Say what you will about what is the cathedral of boxing in the U.S., but I’ll take this building over just about any venue in the world. They have a great commitment to the sport.

“In an era where some people think that PPV is a good thing, it’s incredibly important that a fight of this magnitude is on broadcast television. These two champions have the opportunity to do their thing in front of a huge audience. It’s great for boxing.

“We’re very proud that 80 percent of the seats in the building are available for between $150 and $49. We want this to be accessible to all boxing fans. That’s a tribute to everyone involved in this event and to serve all these great fans.”

BRETT YORMARK, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment

“Brooklyn Boxing is defined by 50-50 fights, dramatic moments and a regular schedule of big-time boxing events. Last Saturday night was a great start to our 2017 lineup. Every fan left wanting more, and they will get more, on March 4.

“We’re talking about world class championship boxing at its best. March 4 will be that, and more. This is the best welterweight fight of the year, with two spectacular undefeated fighters.

“We are honored to host the welterweight world title unification showdown between Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia. We expect to host the biggest fight night crowd ever at Barclays Center.

“Thousands of tickets have been sold for this fight and we are gaining incredible momentum. I’m looking forward to a great night on March 4. Buy your tickets now. This is going to be one of those moments at Barclays Center that you need to circle on your calendar.”

STEPHEN ESPINOZA, Executive VP & General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports

“This is truly an event that doesn’t need to be sold. I am here to share that this fight will be the second installment of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING on CBS. The obvious question is why? It’s because this fight merits it. As we saw on Saturday, when the best fight the best, the results are often spectacular.

“It’s not a surprise that we get impressive results when elite fighters take on other elite fighters. Special things happen. New fans are created and rivalries are born.

“Danny Garcia and Keith Thurman are the two best welterweight in the world. End of story. They will fight on March 4, it will be a huge audience here at Barclays and on CBS and it will be a special night.”

For more information visit www.SHO.com/Sports follow on Twitter @SHOSports, @KeithFThurmanJr, @DannySwift, @LouDiBella, @BarclaysCenter and @Swanson_Comm or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SHOSports, www.Facebook.com/DiBellaEntertainment, www.Facebook.com/barclayscenter. PBC is sponsored by Corona, La Cerveza Mas Fina. *Prices not including applicable fees.

ATLANTIC CITY (Jan.18, 2017) — Undefeated super bantamweight Malik Jackson has been added to the non-televised undercard this Friday night, Jan. 20 at Ballys Atlantic City Hotel & Casino against Christian Foster in a bout scheduled for 4-rounds that will precede a tremendous tripleheader that will be televised live on ShoBox: The New Generation card on SHOWTIME®.

In the 12-round main event, undefeated WBA No. 3-ranked super bantamweight Adam Lopez (16-0-1, 8 KOs) will face the WBA’s No. 4-ranked Danny Roman (20-2-1, 7 KOs) in a title elimination bout.

In the co-feature, undefeated super middleweight Ronald Ellis (13-0-1, 1 NC, 10 KOs) will face off with Christopher Brooker (11-2, 5 KOs) in an eight-round 168-pound matchup of ShoBox veterans.

In another eight-round featured bout, former national amateur champion Kenneth Sims Jr. (10-0, 3 KOs) and Emmanuel Robles (15-1-1, 5 KOs) will clash in a matchup of promising, super lightweights making their ShoBox debuts.

Jackson of Washington, D.C turned professional on September 30th with a 1st rouns stoppage over Javonta Cherry in Washington, D.C.

Jackson, 22 years old, started boxing at age 9 and had a long amateur career that spanned 120 fights.

He describes his style as a boxer-puncher.

“My training went well for this fight. I was added to the card at the last minute, but I was already in shape,” said Jackson.

In Foster, he is facing a bit of an unknown quantity, but has been stopped inside of two-rounds in both of his fights.

“I don’t know much about Foster, but with all my amateur experience, I can adapt. I have fought internationally , so I have seen all kinds of styles.”

With this fight being on the undercard of a nationally televised event, Jackson is ready to show the fans in attendance that he is a fighter to be reckoned with.

“With an opportunity like this, I am ready to steal the show. I know it is only a 4-round bout, but I will impress.”

Jackson has been even more motivated as fellow beltway boxer Gervonta Davis captured the IBF Junior Lightweight on Saturday night. Jackson has shared the ring with Davis and he feels that he can reach the heights of boxing as well.

“I fought and fought with Gervonta. By seeing him win a title, it shows it can be done, and I am motivated to follow suit. But that will start on Friday as I will have an impressive outing.”

In non-televised action: Stephon Young (15-0-3, 6 KO’s) of St. Louis, Missouri tangos with Olimjon Nazarov (14-3, 8 KO’s) of Tashkent, Uzbekistan in a super bantamweight bout. NOTE: Young was originally slated to open the ShoBox telecast in a matchup with Elton Dharry, who was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury. Highlights of Young vs. Nazaroz will now air in the ShoBox telecast.

Leroy Davila (4-0, 2 KO’s) of New Brunswick, New Jersey will take on fellow undefeated Anthony Taylor (4-0, 1 KO) of Warren, Ohio in a six-round bantamweight bout.

Keenan Smith, of Philadelphia, 9-0 with 3 knockouts, and will take on Marquis Hawthorne (4-5, 1 KO) of Waco, Texas in a welterweight bout scheduled for six-rounds.

Also seeing action in a 6-round bout is local favorite Anthony “Juice” Young (14-2, 6 KO’s) of Atlantic City who will take on James Robinson (4-5-4, 1 KO) of Brooklyn, N.Y., in a welterweight scrap.

Former amateur standout, Darmani Rock (6-0, 4 KO’s) of Philadelphia will battle Solomon Maye (3-7-2, 3 KO’s) of New Haven, Connecticut in a six-round heavyweight bout.

The non-televised undercard will streamed live on GFL.TV

Tickets for the show, which is promoted by GH3 Promotions, Kings Promotions in association with Thompson Boxing (the main event) and Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel and Casino, are $125, $100 $75 & $50 and can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com or calling 1-800-745-3000

Barry Tompkins will call the ShoBox action from ringside with Steve Farhood and former world champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The executive producer is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.

# # #

About ShoBox: The New GenerationSince its inception in July 2001, the critically acclaimed SHOWTIME boxing series, ShoBox: The New Generation has featured young talent matched tough. The ShoBox philosophy is to televise exciting, crowd-pleasing and competitive matches while providing a proving ground for willing prospects determined to fight for a world title. Some of the growing list of the 67 fighters who have appeared on ShoBox and advanced to garner world titles includes: Andre Ward, Deontay Wilder, Erislandy Lara, Shawn Porter, Gary Russell Jr., Lamont Peterson, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Omar Figueroa, Nonito Donaire, Devon Alexander, Carl Froch, Robert Guerrero, Timothy Bradley, Jessie Vargas, Juan Manuel Lopez, Chad Dawson, Paulie Malignaggi, Ricky Hatton, Kelly Pavlik, Paul Williams and more.

BROOKLYN (January 18, 2017) – The highly anticipated unification showdown between unbeaten welterweight world champions Keith “One Time” Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) and Danny “Swift” Garcia (33-0, 19 KOs) will headline SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING on CBS, presented by Premier Boxing Champions, Saturday, March 4 from Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The broadcast, which will air live from 9–11 p.m. ET/6–8 p.m. PT, is just the second primetime boxing presentation on the CBS Television Network in nearly 40 years. The first, headlined by a thrilling fight between Thurman and Shawn Porter, was a 2016 Fight of the Year candidate and one of the most watched boxing events of the year. The March 4 broadcast, presented by Premier Boxing Champions, is produced by SHOWTIME Sports® for CBS Television, both divisions of the CBS Corporation.

“Barclays Center and Brooklyn are my home away from home,” said Garcia. “I’ve headlined the most shows at Barclays Center and my fans from Philly and my fans from New York can be there. It’s going to be another Danny Garcia show. I don’t care if people think I’m an underdog. To me, Keith Thurman is nothing but a name. Come March 4, I am going to show the world once again that I am a true champion.”

“I’m looking forward to returning to Barclays Center and headlining a national broadcast on CBS – both the arena and the network were good homes for me in 2016,” said Thurman. “I am the champ, and I always will be. Danny Garcia is a fighter who I have asked for and who I have respect for. But he’s going to learn, just as my past opponents have, that my power and speed will rise above any swiftness he has. I am the true welterweight champion. I will unify the titles and show him what ‘One Time’ feels like. I look forward to this fight and the fans should too; be there on March 4.”

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by DiBella Entertainment, are priced at $750, $500, $400, $300, $150, $100, and $50* and are on sale now. Tickets can be purchased online by visiting www.ticketmaster.com, www.barclayscenter.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000. Tickets are also available at the American Express Box Office at Barclays Center. Group discounts are available by calling 844-BKLYN-GP.

“On the heels of an amazing fight card last weekend, Barclays Center will again host a Premier Boxing Champions mega-fight featuring the best facing the best, on March 4, when undefeated welterweight champions Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia collide in a unification showdown,” said Lou DiBella, President of DiBella Entertainment. “I’m thrilled that this sensational fight will be broadcast by SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING on CBS and that 80 percent of the tickets in the arena are priced between $150 and $49.”

“Thurman and Garcia have headlined our two most attended fight nights at Barclays Center,” said Brett Yormark, CEO of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment. “March 4 will further cement Barclays Center as the home to the best championship matchups and the premier boxing venue in the country.”

“Our goal is to deliver the biggest, most meaningful matchups to the broadest audience, and an event of this magnitude belongs on CBS,” said Stephen Espinoza, Executive Vice President and General Manager, SHOWTIME Sports. “This is truly prizefighting at its finest – two undefeated champions in the prime of their careers fighting to unify boxing’s glamour division. When the two best fighters square off we often get spectacular results, as we saw this past weekend on SHOWTIME. The bar has been set high in 2017, and we have every reason to believe Keith and Danny will put on another tremendous show at Barclays Center on March 4.”

After establishing himself as the top fighter at 140-pounds, Garcia moved up to 147-pounds and defeated former champion Paulie Malignaggi before he earned a vacant world title in January 2016 when he bested another former champion in Robert Guerrero. The Philadelphia-native comes off of a victory in his hometown and will return to headline at Barclays Center for the sixth time. Garcia has compiled one of the best resumes currently in boxing with victories over the likes of Amir Khan, Lucas Matthysse, Lamont Peterson, Zab Judah, Mauricio Herrera and Erik Morales.

The hard-hitting Florida-native Thurman comes off of a successful world title defense in a “Fight of the Year” candidate with former champion Shawn Porter that rocked Barclays Center and was the first primetime boxing event on CBS in nearly 40 years. Prior to that, he dominated former champions Robert Guerrero and Luis Collazo on his way to two victories in 2015. The 28-year-old won his belt by knocking out Diego Chaves in 2013 and scored consecutive knockouts over Jesus Soto Karass and Julio Diaz in his first and second title defenses.

For more information visit www.SHO.com/Sports follow on Twitter @SHOSports, @KeithFThurmanJr, @Danny Swift, @LouDiBella, @BarclaysCenter and @Swanson_Comm or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SHOSports, www.Facebook.com/DiBellaEntertainment, www.Facebook.com/barclayscenter. PBC is sponsored by Corona, La Cerveza Mas Fina. *Prices not including applicable fees.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (Jan. 18th, 2017) — Some fighters get unnerved when they find out their opponent is injured within two weeks of fight night. Not Keith Bell.

“I was relieved,” Bell said. “I went from fighting a stud to a bum.”

Originally scheduled to face Juliano Coutinho on the televised main card of “CES MMA 41” next Friday at Twin River Casino, the Newport News, Va., native will now fight Massachusetts vet Tyler King in hopes of squashing a beef that began four months ago on — where else? — social media with a heated keyboard exchange between the two heavyweights.

The King-Bell bout is one of seven on the AXS TV portion of “CES MMA 41.” Showtime is 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 27th, 2017 with the main card scheduled for 9.

Tickets for “CES MMA 41” are priced at $40.00, $55.00, $100.00 and $125.00 (VIP) and can be purchased online at www.cesboxing.com, www.twinriver.com, www.ticketmaster.com or www.cagetix.com/ces by phone at 401-724-2253/2254 or at the Twin River Casino Players Club. All fights and fighters are subject to change.

The war of words between King and Bell (6-8, 4 KOs) began innocently enough on a congratulatory Instagram post by CES MMA in honor of heavyweight Pat Walsh, who had just scored a big win at “CES MMA 38.” Bell inquired about fighting Walsh on the next card, but King intervened, claiming he’d take down Walsh and several other noteworthy heavyweights before adding Bell “isn’t invited” because “I don’t beat up fighters with under .500 records,” a knock on Bell’s 6-8 mark.

The grenade launched by King set off a day’s worth of digs from both sides, but next Friday’s fight truly didn’t materialize until Coutinho was forced to withdraw from the card due to injury. When presented with the opportunity to settle the argument in the cage instead of online, both sides happily obliged.

“I don’t even care about the opponent, but he opened his mouth, so he can get hurt,” said King, who has won three in a row and last fought at Bellator 163 in November in a rematch against regional rival Josh Diekmann.

“I wanted to get another fight in. CES was in a rough spot with [Coutinho] falling out and they’ve been good to me, so I figured I’d return the favor. I don’t stop training. I’m constantly just working on everything to get better. I went from a relaxed state of mind to, ‘OK, we’re going to war in 18 days. Let’s do it.'”

Aside from their mutual disdain for one another, the only thing Bell and King have in common is they both fought Providence heavyweight Greg Rebello, who is also featured on the “CES MMA 41” main card. Nine months before he fought Rebello himself, Bell made the trip up north to help Rebello prepare for his fight against King in June of 2015.

“They told me to just put pressure on Greg and not really do anything else or have any skill,” Bell quipped. “That’s what I did to prepare Rebello for Tyler.”

Rebello won the fight by third-round knockout and also stopped Bell in the opening round of their scheduled three-round bout last March. Since then, King has won his last three by submission, including the win over Diekmann — his second win over the Connecticut native — a victory against Eric Bedard in the rubber match of their epic trilogy and a win over Lorenzo Hood, whom Bell called “the biggest bust in MMA history.”

“For him to say I fight bums, on January 27th, he’s going to be woken up and not understand why he lost to a ‘bum,'” Bell said. “I never talk like this, but he just brings it out of me. That’s not going to change how the fight will go. His talking does nothing. At the end of the day, they will lock the cage door behind both of us. After all of that talking, then what?

“I’ve always been respectful. I’ve never been ‘that guy.’ I just don’t think Tyler has any respect or he’s just that punch-drunk and doesn’t know any better, but he will know in [nine] days.”

“I don’t take easy fights,” King countered. “If anything, this is a gift for CES. ‘You want me to put this bum out of his misery? Sure, I’ll do you a favor.’

“I do all my due diligence. I watch my film,” King continued. “I saw the fight between him and Greg. He is not tough. He tapped to strikes. If you tap to strike, you are a bitch. There’s no two ways about it. He can crack, I’ll give him that, but he has nothing else. I have so many more tools in my toolbox. If he messes up once, he’s in for a rude awakening.”

King presents a much different challenge for Bell than Coutinho, whom Bell says is an all-around better fighter than King because of his expertise in the ground game. Next Friday’s fight will be Bell’s third with CES MMA. Each of his last 10 fights, win or lose, have ended in the first round.

“I’m at the point in my career where I’m only going to fight the toughest guys around,” Bell said. “CES has given me a lot of opportunities where they normally wouldn’t have to. I’m not a ticket-seller. I’m not from there. The only thing I offer them is they know I come to fight and they know I’ll fight my ass off. It would mean a lot to me to win one for those guys for giving me the opportunities they’ve given me.”

Bell has spent more time in recent months improving his cardio and his boxing. King remains unimpressed. The North Attleboro native and former NFL offensive lineman is in the midst of his longest win streak since 2013 and is confident he’ll make it four in a row next Friday despite stepping to the plate on just two week’s notice.

“In my last three fights, I’ve showed off some dynamic skills,” King said. “It shows that any holes in my game have been filled in adequately. We just keep adding new wrinkles, new cracks, new holds, new submissions. With that being said, we’re going to put on a display.

“I like to fight guys in the cage for money. This is my passion. I was up at 6 a.m. [yesterday] teaching Jiu-Jitsu, then strength and conditioning. Then I did some film work, took a nap, took on some more clients, taught some more classes. You know where I am right now? I’m driving down 93 South going to Connors MMA to do some sparring, then some more strength and conditioning, then I’m going home to sleep my life away and then tomorrow morning I’ll do it over again. You know why? Because I’m ready for this.”

The main event of “CES MMA 41” features reigning CES MMA Featherweight World Champion Matt Bessette (20-7, 5 KOs) of Stafford, Conn., defending his title against Missouri native Kevin Croom in a five-round. Rebello (20-7, 12 KOs) returns to face Minnesota’s Danyelle Williams (8-4-1, 5 KOs) in a three-round bout. Also in the heavyweight division, Walsh (8-2, 3 KOs), a Stoughton, Mass., native, battles New Hampshire’s Kevin Haley (6-3, 2 KOs) in an intriguing regional showdown.

The main card also features a flyweight bout between undefeated New Britain, Conn., vet Carlos Candelario (4-0, 1 KO) and fellow unbeaten Miguel Restrepo (4-0, 2 KOs) of Queens, N.Y., plus a bantamweight battle between Kody Nordby (7-4) of Woonsocket, R.I., and Illinois vet David Garcia (4-1, 2 KOs).

Nordby looks to continue his climb back to the top of the division following his loss to Andre Soukhamthath against the dangerous Garcia, who recently handed Rico DiSciullo his first career loss in September via submission at “CES MMA 38.” Candelario makes his fourth appearance with CES MMA and first since “CES MMA 36” in June when submitted Roosevelt Archie via guillotine in the opening round of a scheduled three-round bout.

Fresh off his comeback win at “CES MMA 40” in November, East Providence, R.I., bantamweight Dinis Paiva (8-6, 5 KOs) faces Findlay, Ohio, vet Jordan Espinosa (8-4, 1 KO). Paiva ended a 13-month layoff in his last bout with a first-round knockout win over Zane Behrend and returns to the network television stage for the first time since his loss to Nordby in October of 2015.

Espinosa last appeared with CES MMA in 2014, but has since won five of his last six, including a victory over Rafael de Freitas at Legacy Fighting Championships 36.

The six-fight preliminary card includes a female flyweight bout between Bourne, Mass., native Sarah Click (1-1) and newcomer Maria Rivera of Framingham, Mass., plus a bantamweight bout between unbeaten Kris Moutinho (2-0) of Milford, Mass., and Fredericktown, Ohio, native Jason Rine (0-1). Fellow Ohio native Raymond Yanez (4-8, 1 KO) of Columbus battles Milford’s Richie Santiago (2-0) and lightweight Connor Barry (2-0) of Stoughton faces New Jersey’s Travis Foster (0-2).

In the flyweight division, David Baxter (3-1, 1 KO) of Bellingham, Mass., battles Pawtucket, R.I., vet Dan Cormier (4-6, 1 KO) and Quincy, Mass., light heavyweight Mike Rodriguez returns in a separate three-round bout.

Visit www.cesmma.com, www.twitter.com/cesmma or www.facebook.com/cesmma for more information, or follow CES MMA on Instagram at @CESMMA.

NEW YORK (January 18, 2017) — Ireland’s Olympic hero MICHAEL “MICK” CONLAN will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by making his professional debut headlining a special card at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Conlan’s pro debut, which will be as a junior featherweight, in a six-round bout against Tim Ibarra (4-4, 1 KOs), of Denver, is set for Friday, March 17 at the “O’Mecca of Boxing.” And to put an exclamation point on the occasion, fellow countryman and UFC superstar and lightweight champion Conor McGregor has accepted Conlan’s invitation to walk him into the ring! Conlan and McGregor — talk about the ol’ One-Toora-Loora in combat sports.

Conlan joins an elite group of Olympic medalists, including George Foreman, Evander Holyfield and Jermaine Taylor, to make his professional debut on boxing’s most hallowed ground.

Promoted by Top Rank®, in association with Madison Square Garden, tickets to Conlan’s pro debut will go on sale Today! Wednesday, January 18 at 11:00 a.m. ET. Priced at $200, $150, $100, $75 and $50, tickets can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008), and online at www.ticketmaster.com and www.thegarden.com.

“I’m honoured and privileged to make my professional boxing debut in the Mecca of Boxing that is Madison Square Garden, fighting in the world’s most famous arena in my professional debut on St. Patrick’s Day. It is something I never dreamed would be possible,” saidl Conlan. “But thanks to my team and Top Rank, it’s happening. I’m truly grateful for the opportunity and I hope to make St Paddy’s Day Weekend at The Garden an annual event! I have the hopes of a nation behind me and I can’t wait to go out and put on a performance for Ireland on St Patrick’s Day!”

“I am looking forward to working with Michael. I believe the kid has a very bright future in boxing,” said trainer Manny Robles. “Now that he will no longer be fighting for trophies, but instead for world titles he will be faced with greater responsibilities. He and I both are ready to take on this new challenge. It is an opportunity I feel humbled by.. I am very excited for Michael making his debut at The Garden, and I hope others are as well. He is an incredible fighter who will put on an incredible fight. And as his coach I am ready to play my role in making sure he does not disappoint his fans, but instead proves to them that he is ready to take on the world.”

“When we agreed to the deal for Mick to sign with Top Rank, and Carl Moretti told me they had put a hold on The Garden for St. Patrick’s Day, I found it hard to hold back my excitement,” said Matthew Macklin, Conlan’s manager. “It will be five years to the day that I fought Sergio Martinez there for the Middleweight Championship and I can tell Mick first hand that it will be an atmosphere like nothing he has ever experienced before! And knowing the potential that Mick has, his exceptional ability and charismatic personality, I feel that starting his career off at Madison Square Garden, the Mecca of Boxing on St. Patrick’s Day, is the fairytale beginning to what I believe is going to be one helluva journey!”

“Top Rank is very bullish on Mick’s long-term success as a global boxing star. His embedded fan base in New York makes it a natural for his professional debut to be as a headliner on boxing’s biggest stage — Madison Square Garden — on one of New York’s biggest holidays — St. Patrick’s Day,” said Todd duBoef, president of Top Rank.

“Some terrific boxers have fought at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick’s Day – Willie Pep, Beau Jack, John Duddy, Andy Lee, Sergio Martinez and Matthew Macklin,” said Joel Fisher, executive vice president, MSG Marquee Events. “We look to continue that tradition on March 17th with Belfast’s Michael Conlan, who will be making his professional debut in fitting fashion at ‘The Mecca of Boxing.’”

Conlan, 25, from Belfast, Northern Ireland, produced one of the most memorable moments during last summer’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. A loss in the bantamweight quarterfinals to Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin was arguably the most controversial of the boxing tournament. In fact Conlan hurt Nikitin so badly that the Russian forfeited his semifinal fight because he wasn’t able to recuperate from the injuries he suffered from the pasting he received from Conlan. After the decision was announced, Conlan saluted the judges with both middle fingers followed by a series of post-fight interviews ripping the decision and accusing the International Boxing Association (AIBA), which oversees amateur boxing, of corruption. AIBA sent the judges who worked that fight home in the wake of the immediate public outrage. Conlan further added to his legend by sending a Tweet to Russian president Vladimir Putin, “How much did they charge you bro???” A former amateur standout who was a 2012 Olympic Bronze medalist and 2015 World Amateur Champion — a first for a male Irish fighter — Conlan is training in Los Angeles with Manny Robles.

For fight updates go to www.toprank.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/trboxing, or facebook.com/trboxeo,and on Twitter at twitter.com/trboxing, or twitter.com/trboxeo, Use the Hashtag #MickConlan to join the conversation on Twitter.

LONDON (18 January 2017) Legendary Irish boxer Peter McDonagh has blasted fellow countryman and MMA superstar Conor McGregor and told him he should fight him first before he even talks about fighting Floyd Mayweather.

Galway born McDonagh, a three-weight Irish champion and the reigning Irish Welterweight Champion, doesn’t believe that McGregor is even the best fighter in Ireland and has thrown down a challenge to UFC great ‘The Notorious’ to prove he has the right to face boxing’s former pound-for-pound king.

McDonagh, known as the ‘Connemara Kid’, has been fighting pro for nearly 17 years in a roller-coaster career with a near 50-50 record in 56 fights, but a current unbeaten run of eight wins has got boxing fans’ and media to sit up and take notice.

He’s changed his nickname to the ‘Cinderella Man’ to reflect the change in his career from outsider to contender as he targets a dream world title shot and with a new found unshakable self-belief and support from the MGM in Marbella, McDonagh’s ready to prove that McGregor’s boasts are just hot air.

McDonagh said, “I started reading about McGregor wanting to fight Mayweather and I thought to myself ‘Hang on a minute, this guy hasn’t even boxed professionally or proved himself in a pro boxing ring and he wants to fight the best pound-for-pound fighter of this generation. Yet he hasn’t even proved himself to be the best fighter in Ireland.’ So I’m coming out publicly to say fight me first and see how you do and if you beat me then start shouting your mouth off for Mayweather,”

“McGregor’s famous for saying ‘Who the F*** is that guy’ , but he will know very well who I am and what I’m all about as he came to National Stadium in Dublin to support his friend Dean Byrne when I fought him for the Irish Welterweight title in November 2015. I beat Byrne who he was cheering for loudly at ringside and after seeing me win a hard and brutal fight I could see the look on McGregor’s face that he would not want to face me in a boxing ring,”

“I respect what he’s done in the UFC and he’s a superstar in the MMA world, but I personally believe that he has no place in a boxing ring and if he comes up against even a half decent boxer he’d get beat easily. He’s making these silly statements that he’d beat Mayweather, but he would get absolutely destroyed. What I’m saying is before you go straight into a boxing ring and fight Mayweather, prove yourself against a boxer like me and if you beat me, but bearing in mind I’ve never been on my backside in my career, then you know you’ve got half a chance in there,”

“I’m the Irish Champion and McGregor’s a massive name back home so Iets do the fight at Croke Park in front of 82,000 fans and give the public what they want to see. If he says he’s the people’s champion then go out and prove it and give the fans’ what they want to see, two Irishman fighting each other on the biggest stage. If he’s proud of his heritage and what he represents then he’ll be a man and take up the challenge, if he doesn’t then it shows he doesn’t care about the Irish fans’ and its all about the money.”

McDonagh next fights in on promoter Mick Hennessy’s EuroFighter show on Saturday 11th February at the Westcroft Leisure Centre, Carshalton, headlined by the European Lightweight Championship between Lenny Daws and Anthony Yigit.

An action-packed card also features Clapham light-heavyweight Kirk Garvey, Morden super-lightweight Craig Whyatt, unbeaten Wraysbury super-welterweight prospect Tony Bange and undefeated super-bantamweight talent Thomas Kindon.

Tickets, priced at £40 and £100 can be purchased through Ticketmaster online at: http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/event/35005172B612815C or by phone on 0844 844 0444

Doors will open at 5.30pm, first fight is at 6pm. The last entry time for the public is 8pm.

Members of the public who have purchased tickets that have the original event date of Saturday 17th December printed on them are advised that they will REMAIN VALID for the new date and can be handed in for entry to the venue on the day.

MEDIA ACCREDITAITON
If you wish to apply for media accreditation for Anthony Yigit v Lenny Daws please CLICK HERE. The deadline for applications to be submitted is Thursday 15th December.

FOLLOW US ON ON TWITTER @HENNESSYSPORTS

FOR ALL THE LATEST NEWS VISIT WWW.HENNESSYSPORTS.COM

NEW YORK, NY – January 18, 2017 – Alliance MMA, Inc.
(“Alliance MMA” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: AMMA), a mixed martial arts (MMA) organization that promotes live professional MMA events in numerous major markets across the country, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the assets of the premier MMA promotion in Florida, Fight Time Promotions. The organization, which was founded by Karla Guadamuz-Davis and her husband, the late Olympic Gold Medalist Howard Davis Jr., will be the eighth regional MMA promotion operating under the Company’s umbrella.

“We at Alliance MMA are passionate about continuing our expansion across the country, and this latest acquisition is a meaningful step towards our stated objective of creating a strong presence in every major media market in the country,” said Robert Haydak, President of Alliance MMA. “Miami is a key target market for Alliance MMA, and Fight Time Promotions has a long, successful track record of integrity, consistency, and uniqueness. Karla produces more MMA events than any other promoter in Florida, and currently has 80 fighters under contract. She has successfully led the organization in developing athletes whose bouts are showcased in her world-class events.”

Since 2010, Fight Time Promotions has produced 34 events in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, many of which have been featured on the CBS Sports Network, Comcast Sports Net, and HBO Plus. Co-Founder Howard Davis Jr. was the 1976 boxing Olympic lightweight gold medalist, the first fighter to win the New York Golden Gloves 4-times in a row, and was awarded the Val Barker Trophy for being the most outstanding boxer of the 1976 Olympics, beating out teammates Sugar Ray Leonard and Michael Spinks.

“We consistently provide our fans with action-packed, professional fights,” said Karla Guadamuz-Davis. “Howard was a pioneer in training MMA fighters when the sport first became popular in the United States, and I have worked diligently to keep his legacy alive. His love of the sport was passed on to me and our daughter, so I couldn’t be more excited about joining the Alliance MMA team which I fully expect will allow Fight Time Promotions to expand our presence and reach new levels of success as a business.”

With this latest acquisition Alliance MMA now expects to produce over 64 events on an annualized basis, operating 8 regional MMA promotions across the country: New Jersey-based Cage Fury Fighting Championship (CFFC), Washington-based Combat Games MMA (COGA), Illinois-based Hoosier Fight Club (HFC), Tennessee-based V3 Fights, Maryland-based Shogun Fights, Ohio-based Iron Tiger Fight Series (IT Fight Series), Florida-based Fight Time Promotions, as well as a San Diego-based promotion under the guidance of MMA luminary Eric Del Fierro who expects to debut the Company’s inaugural event in March.

About Alliance MMA, Inc.

Alliance MMA, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMMA) is a mixed martial arts promotion company offering premier promotional opportunities for aspiring mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters to showcase their talent and advance to the sport’s highest level of professional competition. Alliance MMA’s mission is to identify and develop the next generation of fighters and champions to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and other leading MMA promotions.

With some of the world’s leading MMA promotions under the Alliance MMA umbrella, the organization aims eventually to host in excess of 125 events per year, showcasing more than 1,000 fighters. Alliance MMA is also dedicated to generating live original sports media content, attracting an international fan base, and securing major brand sponsorship revenue for live MMA events, digital media and Alliance MMA fighters.

MMA is the world’s fastest growing sport with worldwide fans of approximately 300 million according to sports marketing research firm Repucom. MMA is a full contact sport that allows a wide range of fighting techniques, including striking and grappling from various martial arts and disciplines including Boxing, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Karate and Muay Thai. Professional MMA fights are legal and regulated by state athletic commissions in all 50 states.

Alliance MMA, Inc. was incorporated in 2015 for the purpose of acquiring businesses that engage in the promotion of mixed martial arts (MMA) events. In 2016, the company completed an initial public offering which culminated in a listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Alliance MMA is the only mixed martial arts promotion company that is publicly traded.

For more information visit, www.alliancemma.com

Manchester Cruiserweight starlet Jordan Thompson has signed a long-term promotional deal with Hall of Fame promoter Frank Warren. ‘Troublesome’ is planning an attack on the domestic Cruiserweight division and is confident he will be at the top of the pile by the end of the year.

The 23-year-old banger turned pro at the back end of 2015 and made an explosive start to life in the paid ranks, knocking out his first three opponents inside the opening round. He then outpointed tough journeyman Remigijus Ziausys, who Dillian Whyte and Dereck Chisora both failed to stop, before scoring a second round stoppage win in his last fight.

“Teaming up with Frank is massive and I’m going to repay the faith he’s shown in me,” said Thompson. “I’ve got a huge opportunity to increase my profile with the extra exposure BT Sport and BoxNation will give me. I’m planning on making a bang when I get my chance!

“The domestic Cruiserweight division is wide open and I’m really excited about putting myself right in the mix. Down South you have Isaac Chamberlain who recently beat Wadi Camacho for the Southern Arena title and up North closer to me you have Sam Hyde. I believe I beat them both already but I’m still learning and I need to listen to the advice of those around me.

“I just want to get in that ring against some good opposition, entertain the fans and put on a show because that’s what it’s all about. I think there’s a big space for me in the Cruiserweight division, I’m charismatic and bring something different to the rest of the prospects. I can see myself achieving a lot in this division and very quickly.”

Thompson, whose parents were both karate World Champions, is trained by Haroon Headley at the Heavy Hitters Gym in Manchester alongside Frank Warren stablemate and WBO Inter-Continental Super-Lightweight Champion Jack Catterall.

“I’ve always had a great relationship with Haroon so it made sense to go with him. We go way back to before I even started boxing and it’s good to have him in my corner. I put my trust and faith in him and I know that we’re going to achieve big things together.

“Haroon took me down to Lee Beard’s gym when I started out in boxing and gave me the opportunity to be where I am now. I have a lot of respect for him and he has a lot of respect for me and that’s why we get on so well together.”

“Boxing is Manchester is on the up again with WBO Lightweight Champion Terry Flanagan leading the way and our Jack making a name for himself as one of the best Super-Lightweights in the country. We just need someone flying the flag in the Cruiserweight division and that’s going to be me.”

Promoter Warren said: “Jordan is an exciting addition to our growing team of young talent and I’m looking forward to guiding him to the top of the domestic Cruiserweight division and beyond. He certainly possesses knockout power and has an entertaining style that fans will love.”

You can follow Jordan Thompson on Twitter: @J_Troublesome93 and Instagram: team_troublesome_

On Friday, January 20, at the Grand Casino’s Events & Convention Center in Hinckley, Minnesota, WBA #3-, IBF #13- and WBO #5-rated middleweight contender Rob “Bravo” Brant will put his lofty rankings and his WBA-NABA Middleweight Championship on the line against Mount Clemens, Michigan’s Alexis “Hurricane” Hloros (18-5-2, 12 KOs) in a 10-round slugfest.

A native of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Brant (21-0, 14 KOs) will return to his home state to headline “Grand Friday Night Fights” a nine-bout professional boxing event, presented by Greg Cohen Promotions in association with David Schuster’s winner take all productions.

Tickets for “Grand Friday Night Fights” are priced at $800 Table, $100 Ringside, $50 Reserved and $35 General Admission and are available at grandcasinomn.com, Ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster outlets. The entire event will also be streamed live on FloBoxing.tv (7:30 p.m. CST).

“It has been five months since I’ve been in the ring, but haven’t taken much time off,” said Brant. “I have focused on nothing but preparing for the top level of the middleweight division. Though my original opponent fell through last minute, I am well-prepared for whoever is across from the ring from me. I treat everyone across from me like a world champion and I am prepared to showcase the best version of myself.”

“He’s going to have get past me if he wants to fight the best in the division,” said Holoros. “How he does against me will give a good indication of who he is. If he beats me he’s got something. I know he’s undefeated and coming to fight and so am I. I’ve been fighting a lot of years. I’m ready and I’ll put on a performance the fans that night will remember.”

Other Greg Cohen Promotions prospects in action will be all-action super welterweight Skender Halili from Fort Worth, Texas, via Klina, Kosovo; and ultra-talented welterweight prospect Malik “Iceman” Hawkins (10-0, 7 KOs) from Baltimore, Maryland.

Never in a bad fight, the the 26-year-old power-punching Halili will take on Wichita, Kansas, veteran Romon Barber (7-12, 6 KOs) in a six-round battle.

21-year-old Hawkins, a highly decorated amateur boxer and now undefeated professional, will face an opponent yet to be announced in a six-rounder.

“Rob Brant is on the verge of a very big opportunity and I commend him for wanting to stay sharp and not rest on his laurels,” said Greg Cohen. “The Grand Casino has been a terrific site to work with throughout my company’s history and I’m very happy to be returning once again. Our fighters Skender Halili and Malik Hawkins are in good match-ups on the undercard and we’ve got FloBoxing.tv streaming the event online. It’s a great even I’m proud to have the Greg Cohen Promotions name on.”

On fight night, the action starts at 7 p.m. The Grand Casino Hinckley is located at 777 Lady Luck Drive in Hinckley, MN.

How to Watch FloBoxing Fight Series: Brant vs. Hloros
On TV: Now Available on Roku & Apple TV 4
STREAMING: Available only on FloBoxing. Sign up today for $20 monthly or $150 yearly. Yearly FloPRO access gets you premium content and events from ALL FloSports sites, including FloCombat, FloWrestling, and FloGrappling. The commentary team for Jan. 20 will feature Mike Letourneau, national boxing writer Steve Kim and former heavyweight champion of the world Hassim “The Rock” Rahman. The eight-bout card will begin streaming on FloBoxing.tv at 7:30 p.m. CST. SIGN UP HERE
About Greg Cohen Promotions
One of boxing’s premier promotional outfits, Greg Cohen Promotions (GCP) is a well-respected name for staging world-class professional boxing events and promoting elite professional fighters throughout the world.

Founder and CEO Greg Cohen has been involved with professional boxing in various capacities since the late 1980s, honing his craft and establishing himself as a shrewd international boxing businessman.

Distinguished by his ability to spot and develop raw talent, Cohen first made promotional headlines for his expert guidance of, among many others, former WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout, who Cohen helped guide from unknown New Mexico prospect to elite pay-per-view level superstar.

In addition to Trout, Greg Cohen Promotions has worked with established names such as former unified and two-time heavyweight champion Hasim “The Rock” Rahman and all-time-great multiple-weight class world champion James “Lights Out” Toney.

Cohen currently promotes Undefeated WBO NABO Heavyweight Champion and top 10 world-rated contender Jarrell Miller, Undefeated WBA NABA Middleweight Champion and top 5 world-rated contender Robert Brant, WBO NABO Lightweight Champion and top 5 world-rated contender Mason Menard, former WBA Interim World Lightweight Champion and top 10 world-rated contender Ismael Barroso, top 10 world-rated contender Rico Mueller, undefeated WBA International Bantamweight Champion and world-rated contender Mzuvukile Magwaca, WBO Oriental Super Welterweight Champion and world-rated contender Dennis Hogan, IBO World Featherweight Champion Lusanda Komanisi, former WBO Super Lightweight World Champion Kendall Holt, as well as current top 10 world-rated contenders cruiserweight Olanrewaju Durodola, Filipino Jr. Lightweight star Harmonito Dela Torre, Filipino Super Lightweight Czar Amonsot, and top 15 world-rated contenders featherweight world title challenger Eric Hunter and Guyanese bantamweight Elton Dharry.

Greg Cohen Promotions has hosted world-class boxing events in the finest venues throughout the United States and the world and has also proudly provided talent and/or content for several television networks including CBS Sports Network, HBO, Showtime, ESPN, NBC Sports Network, CBS Sports Network, MSG and FOX Sports Net.

For more information, visit gcpboxing.com. Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GCPBoxing. Twitter: @GCPBoxing.

Lawrence Okolie has signed a promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing.

The 24 year old’s decision to turn over is the latest step in a remarkable rise, having been inspired by Anthony Joshua’s London 2012 Olympic gold medal win while he was working in McDonalds.

Okolie began boxing in 2010 just to lose weight but following Joshua’s golden moment in east London, Okolie doubled his efforts and after landing back to back University titles in 2014 and 2015 he earned a spot in the British Lionhearts World Series of Boxing team before taking gold in the AIBA European Qualifier in Turkey to make it to the 2016 games in Rio.

Okolie is the first of the 2016 Team GB squad to turn professional, and the Hackney talent has set ambitious targets for life in the paid ranks.

“I want to be the best Cruiserweight that Britain has seen,” said Okolie. “David Haye has done great things, so has Johnny Nelson and many others, but I want to cement my legacy, have my name go down in history and maybe follow Haye by winning the Heavyweight crown too.

“I want to get some excitement going in the division, not just from the fans but also have other Cruiserweights training hard and wanting to fight me, because I want to be in great and exciting fights. I want to have six to eight fights in 2017 and I’ll be looking to get six to eight knockouts – I mean business.

“Even though I’ve only had 26 fights, people are going to say that I should be able to beat everyone because I’ve been to the Olympics. There’s pressure there but it’ll bring the best out of me. Even if people expect me to win, because then I will want to win in style and make a statement.

“I went into the gym the day after Anthony won gold and I went into McDonalds and told them that I wanted to concentrate on boxing so I cut my hours and eventually stopped working there.

“I’ve got natural attributes to box. I was never good at other sports, but boxing happens to be one that I’ve done well in. It’s been down to hard work, application and dedication. I think with most things, if you put time and effort in, you will get better. If you have two fighters that are on a similar level, nine times out of ten the winner will be the one that puts in more time to win, and I’m going to bring that to the pro games.

“I have a lot of self-belief but there’s always that shadow of doubt there that ‘can you do this?’ The answer is always yes but the question is there. Getting thrown in at the deep end is something that works for me as if I know that I am going to win I can go through the motions, but if the pressure is on, there’s a big crowd, it’s a must-win, that’s when I produce my best.

“Outside the ring I want to be a role model in Hackney and show people there that if you work hard and believe in yourself you can achieve a lot.”

Promoter Eddie Hearn is excited to welcome Okolie to his stable of champions, and says that the first step on his path to the top will be announced next week.

“I am delighted to welcome Lawrence to the team,” said Hearn. “Lawrence is the first Team GB Olympian to turn over and I think he has a huge future in the Cruiserweight and Heavyweight divisions.

“Lawrence has all the attributes to become a star inside and outside the ring, and we will announce his debut fight next week. These early stages are where fighters build their foundations and profile to ensure they achieve their dreams and become super stars in the sport – Lawrence has the perfect platform to do that. He will box eight times in his first year on the biggest shows all over the country. It’s official – Okolie’s out the cage!”

LAS VEGAS (January 17, 2017) – Undefeated featherweight world champion Carl Frampton hosted media at his training camp in Las Vegas Tuesday ahead of his highly anticipated rematch with former three-division world champion Leo Santa Cruz on Saturday, January 28 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena and live on SHOWTIME.

Televised coverage begins at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT with undefeated lightweight world champion Dejan Zlaticanin battling former two-division world champion Mikey Garcia.

Frampton was joined by undefeated prospect Josh Taylor; who’s 10-round super
lightweight contest is set to be featured as part of bonus coverage on SHOWTIME
EXTREME at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

Here is what the participants had to say Tuesday from Porter Hy-Performance Center in Las Vegas:

CARL FRAMPTON

“This camp has been even better than the last one. I had a few problems with my hand during the last training camp but this camp has been brilliant. I’ve been able to put a lot of effort into every session.

“I’m hungry to prove that this wasn’t a fluke. I see some people talking on the internet that I got lucky last time or that Leo would have won with his father in camp the whole time. But I believe there is a lot more to come for me. I’ve been performing better this camp than ever before. I think I win this fight more convincingly.

“I think Leo is a confidence fighter. I think his pride has made him go straight back to the deep end again. He’s always been bigger than his opponents. At both bantamweight and super bantamweight he was bigger. Even though Leo is taller than me, I’m the bigger man. On fight night I’ll be heavier and stronger than him. He’s been able to bully opponents and wear them out, but he can’t do that to me. I think he’s making a big mistake jumping right back in.

“I got drawn in to Leo’s type of fight last time, which made it very exciting. Because of our styles, it’s always going to be a good fight. If it’s two wins to nil for me, I’d rather move on and fight someone like Lee Selby. I just want to be involved in big fights.

“Obviously, being from where I’m from, fighting in New York was a major appeal, and a lot of guys on the East Coast are attracted to an Irish fighter they haven’t seen before. So I got a lot of new support from the East Coast. We brought a lot of people across with us, as well. But now, to be fighting, topping the bill at the MGM in the fight capital of the world, it’s something I never really thought about when I was a kid or when I turned professional. I never really believed I could get to this. But it’s here, and I’m hoping that it can continue for a long time.

“We’re staying at Robert Guerrero’s training camp house, which is a big thing for me in itself. We drove past the MGM Grand and saw my face on the side. That was pretty surreal in itself. I just can’t wait to soak it up.

“This was a big fight enough in New York, now I think it’s going to be like New York on steroids. I can’t wait to soak up the atmosphere on fight week, can’t wait for all of my fans to get here, I think it’s going to be a real carnival atmosphere and people are going to enjoy it.”

“Fighting Leo Santa Cruz in the United States, a 3-weight world champion who a lot of people thought was going to beat me and beat me comfortably, that was a big deal. That was the real turning point of my career. And I think there’s more to come. I’m 30 in February, but I don’t feel any signs of slowing up.

“I genuinely feel like I’m getting better and I think Leo’s going to be in for a tough night here. If I can do what I’ve been doing here in the gym, perform like I’ve been performing in sparring, I’m hurting sparring partners, knocking sparring partners out. I feel like I’m developing, developing into a proper featherweight and I feel like he’s going to be in for a tough night.

“We’ve got a chef in the house that we’re staying at, cooking and preparing our food. We’re training at Shawn Porter’s gym here. It’s a great facility and they’re looking after us, Shawn and (Kenny) Porter. It’s nothing really to deal with apart from the time difference. I reckon it takes a day for every hour of time difference.”

JOSH TAYLOR

“This is the first time I’ve been in Las Vegas and I’m definitely a little star struck by the strip and the big buildings. I’m really have a great time though and it’s a good experience.

“This is a great setup we have here at the gym and I’m getting a lot of good work here. I’ve been sparring with former world champion Shawn Porter and Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas. I couldn’t ask for better work.

“I feel very confident. I’m getting great preparation. It’s not every day you get to spar with guys like this, especially with only seven fights under my belt. I’m feeling really good.”

SHANE MCGUIGAN, Frampton and Taylor’s Trainer

“Training camp has been going really great. Santa Cruz feels like he didn’t have his best performance last time but I don’t think Carl was at his best either. I think we’ll see the same victory this time.

“Carl’s confidence is through the roof. He never lacks in that department. He always rises to the occasion. He performs his best when he’s out there in front of a huge crowd. Leo Santa Cruz is going to bring out the best of Carl Frampton.

“Fighting in Las Vegas is amazing. This is what Carl has been dreaming about since he was a kid. I’ve been dreaming about it too. My father was an amazing fighter but this is a new era of massive crowds coming across the globe. It all starts on January 28 and it’s going to be a great time.”

BARRY MCGUIGAN, Frampton’s Manager, Former World Champion and Hall of Famer

“It was definitely Carl’s toughest fight but I think Carl is still getting better. I think Carl will win even more convincingly this time, but it’s going to be a great fight every time they meet because of the clash of styles.

“Carl has knocked out at least two of his sparring partners in preparation for this. He’s looking very strong and he’s working very hard.

“Santa Cruz is talking about using his range, but I think that’s all smokescreens. Once that bell rings he’s going to come straight at Carl and we’ll be in for another great fight.

“We had the option to squeeze in a mandatory defense before the end of last year. But we thought it was best to rest and get this big fight in by the end of January.”

ABOUT FRAMPTON vs. SANTA CRUZ 2
Carl Frampton vs. Leo Santa Cruz 2 is a world championship rematch of the 2016 Fight of the Year candidate featherweight showdown. The 12-round bout headlines SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING action on Saturday, January 28 from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In the co-main event, lightweight world champion Dejan Zlaticanin will meet former two-division champion Mikey Garcia in the opening bout on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT.

Featherweight world champion Lee Selby will fight for the second time in the United States when he battles former world champion Jonathan Victor Barros in action on SHOWTIME EXTREME beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT

Tickets for the live event, which is promoted by Ringstar Sports in association with Cyclone Promotions and TGB Promotions, are priced at $504, $404, $304, $204, $104 and $54, and are on sale. Tickets are available at www.AXS.com.

For more information visit www.SHO.com/Sports, www.premierboxingchampions.com and www.mgmgrand.com, follow on Twitter @ShowtimeBoxing, @SHOSports, @PremierBoxing @LeoSantaCruz2, @RealCFrampton, @MikeyGarcia, @DinamitDejan1 and @Swanson_Comm or become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/SHOSports and www.Facebook.com/PremierBoxingChampions.PBC is sponsored by Corona, La Cerveza Mas Fina.

ATLANTIC CITY (Jan.17, 2017) — This Friday night, WBA No. 3- ranked super bantamweight Adam Lopez (16-0-1, 8 KO’s) takes on No. 4-ranked Danny Roman (21-2-1, 7 KO’s) in the main event of a ShoBox: The New Generation card at Ballys Atlantic City Hotel and Casino.

The fight, which is a WBA Title Elimination bout, will headline a tripleheader Live on SHOWTIME® beginning at 10 PM ET/PT.

Lopez of San Antonio, Texas has a record of 16-0-1 with 8 knockouts, and he will be making his fifth appearance on ShoBox.

“My training camp went great. I feel strong, and I have prepared for whatever Roman brings,” said Lopez.

He has scouted Roman very thoroughly; Lopez knows that he could be in store for a tough evening.

“In some fights he looks really good, and in some fights he looks good, but not as dominant as he does in others,” Lopez said. “Take his fight against Erick Ruiz. He looked really good in that fight, but in his last fight he fought Marlon Olea, who was undefeated but not as skilled, and I thought he should have taken him out. All in all he is a good fighter, and I am expecting a tough fight.”

With a win, Lopez will become the mandatory challenger for WBA Super Bantamweight champion Nehomar Cermeno, and he realizes that he has chance to be mentioned with the elite of the 122-pound division.

“This would be a life changing win,” Lopez said. “It would be privilege and a blessing to fight for the great title. I feel that because I have been on this stage now for the fifth time, it could be a little bit of an advantage. He has fought on some swing bouts before, but I know what to expect in the days leading up to Friday night. With that being said, ShoBox is a great platform for young prospects like me and can turn us into contenders. It has also raised my stature in terms of gaining more fans. A lot of people have seen me on SHOWTIME and it has got my name out there. This is a high stakes fight. I am putting all cards in and I am taking this as there is no tomorrow. I am going to put on a great show and I think, I will come out with the victory.”

Tickets for the show, which is promoted by GH3 Promotions, Kings Promotions in association with Thompson Boxing (the main event) and Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel and Casino, are $125, $100 $75 & $50 and can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com or calling 1-800-745-3000

In the televised co-feature, Ronald Ellis (12-0-1, 10 KO’s) of Lynn, Mass., takes on Christopher Brooker (11-2, 5 KO’a) of Philadelphia in a super middleweight bout scheduled for 8-rounds.

In a super lightweight bout scheduled for 8-rounds, Kenneth Sims, Jr. (10-0, 3 KO’s) battles Emmanuel Robles (15-1-1, 5 KO’s) of San Diego, Calif.

In non-televised action: Stephon Young (15-0-3, 6 KO’s) of St. Louis, Missouri tangos with Olimjon Nazarov (14-3, 8 KO’s) of Tashkent, Uzbekistan in a super bantamweight bout. NOTE: Young was originally slated to open the ShoBox telecast in a matchup with Elton Dharry, who was forced to withdraw with a shoulder injury. Highlights of Young vs. Nazarov will now air in the ShoBox telecast.

In 6-round bouts:

Leroy Davila (4-0, 2 KO’s) of New Brunswick, N.J., battles Anthony Taylor (4-0, 1 KO) of Warren, Ohio in a battle of undefeated bantamweights.

Keenan Smith (9-0, 3 KO’s) of Philadelphia fights Marquis Hawthorne (4-5, 1 KO) of Waco, Texas in a welterweight affair.

Local favorite, Anthony “Juice” Young (14-2, 6 KO’s) of Atlantic City will fight James Robinson (4-5-4, 1 KO) of York, Pa., in a welterweight bout.

Darmani Rock (6-0, 4 KO’s) of Philadelphia will box Solomon Maye (3-7-2, 3 KO’s) of New Haven, Conn., in a heavyweight fight.

Malik Jackson (1-0, 1 KO) of Washington, D.C. squares off with Christian Foster (0-2) of Alexandria, Virginia in a bantamweight bout.
# # #

About ShoBox: The New GenerationSince its inception in July 2001, the critically acclaimed SHOWTIME boxing series, ShoBox: The New Generation has featured young talent matched tough. The ShoBox philosophy is to televise exciting, crowd-pleasing and competitive matches while providing a proving ground for willing prospects determined to fight for a world title. Some of the growing list of the 67 fighters who have appeared on ShoBox and advanced to garner world titles includes: Andre Ward, Deontay Wilder, Erislandy Lara, Shawn Porter, Gary Russell Jr., Lamont Peterson, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Omar Figueroa, Nonito Donaire, Devon Alexander, Carl Froch, Robert Guerrero, Timothy Bradley, Jessie Vargas, Juan Manuel Lopez, Chad Dawson, Paulie Malignaggi, Ricky Hatton, Kelly Pavlik, Paul Williams and more.

NEW YORK CITY (January 17, 2017) Consensus #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World and World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Flyweight Champion ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ, (46-0-0, 38 KO’s), fighting out of Managua, Nicaragua, will defend his title against Mandatory Challenger SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI (41-4-1, (38 KO’s) of Si Sa Ket, Thailand, on Saturday, March 18, 2017, at “The Mecca of Boxing”, Madison Square Garden.

Chocolatito vs. Rungvisai will be the co-feature to the World Middleweight Championship between Unified Middleweight World Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (36-0-0, 33 KO’s) and WBA Middleweight World Champion and Mandatory Challenger DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s). The event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT

Presented by K2 Promotions in association with Teiken Promotions, tickets priced at $1000, $600, $400, $300, $200 and $100, are now on sale and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com

“I’m very excited to fight again at Madison Square Garden. Thanks to Mr. Honda and the Teiken family along with K2 Promotions and the HBO Pay-Per-View Team for this tremendous opportunity, “said Gonzalez.

“Rungvisai is a very tough fight for me, I know that he has fought many other great fighters including Carlos Cuadras, but with my training and the blessing of God I plan to come out victorious.”

Said Rungvisai, “I respect Roman Gonzalez. He is a legend. He has done great things for boxing, especially by showing the world how talented and exciting smaller weight fighters can be. I am happy for Nicaragua to have such a great hero. However, super flyweight is my weight. And the WBC Super Flyweight World title belt is my belt. I will do whatever it takes to win my belt back, and I am confident I can do it. I was able to hurt Carlos Cuadras in the way that Gonzalez could not. Cuadras did not hurt me when we fought but he hurt Gonzalez throughout their fight last year. I am confident I can beat Roman Gonzalez. And the fight will not go twelve rounds.”

“I have to thank WBC, HBO, and K2 Promotions for this great opportunity. It is my dream to fight at Madison Square Garden. I am thrilled to be the first Thai to fight there on HBO Pay-Per-View against the #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World. This is history. I will fight for Thailand and my family. I will fight to bring back the WBC Superflyweight belt to Thailand where it belongs. Some fans in America might not know me well, but I have knockout power and I will go there to win. I cannot be more excited to show you and the world who Srisaket Sor Rungvisai is. It will be a great fight on March 18th. ”

“We’re very excited to bring “Chocolatito” back to the ‘Mecca of Boxing’, Madison Square Garden and to have his fight co-featured on this HBO Pay-Per-View,” said Tom Loeffler, Managing Director of K2 Promotions. “Rungvisai is an excellent fighter and this will be a very tough challenge for Roman in the first defense of his WBC Super Flyweight World Title won in his epic battle with Carlos Cuadras on September 10th which was telecast on HBO from The Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles.”

“This will be the fifth time Roman and Gennady have fought on the same telecast, they are truly the best combination in boxing to provide fans the maximum value which is always our aim in these promotions for fans in attendance and watching on HBO Pay-Per-View.”

“We are thrilled to have the consensus #1 pound for pound fighter, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez, as the co-feature for this explosive event”, said Tony Walker, Vice President, HBO Sports. “Chocolatito will take on mandatory challenger Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in what we expect to be an all-action fight. Featuring two of the consensus top fighters in the world on the same card underscores the value of the March 18 HBO Pay-Per-View event.”

This past September 10, the 29-year-old Gonzalez faced the biggest challenge of his career, facing undefeated WBC Super Flyweight Champion Carlos Cuadras as he sought his fourth divisional world title. In a 2016 ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate in front of a very large and passionate crowd at the iconic venue, The Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles, Gonzalez won a 12-round unanimous decision.

The victory, dedicated to Gonzalez’s mentor, boxing legend Alexis Arguello, distinguished Gonzalez as the first fighter from Nicaragua to earn four divisional world titles and further validated his status as the sport’s Consensus #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter.

On October 17, 2015, Gonzalez made his debut at “The World’s Most Famous Arena” knocking out four-division world champion Brian Viloria in the ninth round in front of a sold-out Madison Square Garden and live on HBO Pay-Per-View. The victory took place on the undercard to the World Middleweight Championship between Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and David Lemieux.

The 30-year-old heavy-handed Rungvisai will be fighting for the first time in the United States against Gonzalez. A four-time world title challenger, Rungvisai challenged then WBC Super Flyweight Champion Carlos Cuadras on May 31, 2014.

In an action-packed battle featuring excellent two-way action, Rungvisai was the unfortunate victim of a shortened bout as Cuadras was deemed unable to continue after the eighth round following an accidental clash of heads between the two warriors. Going to the scorecards, Rungvisai came up just short with Cuadras retaining his title.

SOCIAL MEDIA — #GGGJACOBS, #CHOCOLATITORUNGVISAI

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
@GGGBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Daniel Jacobs
@DanielJacobsTKO – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Roman Gonzalez
@ChocolatitoBox

HBO
@HBO, @HBOBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Madison Square Garden
@TheGarden – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Tom Loeffler (K2 Promotions)
@TomLoeffler1 — Twitter

WBO Inter-Continental Featherweight Champion Marco McCullough has been added to Frank Warren’s February 18th Belfast Waterfront show. The former WBO European and Irish Champion will fight in a scheduled eight round contest against an opponent to be confirmed, live and exclusive on BoxNation.

McCullough ended 2016 in sensational style with a highly-entertaining stoppage victory over Luis Lugo for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Featherweight title on November 5th, dropping his opponent twice before Lugo’s corner withdrew their man, citing an arm injury in the fourth round.

“Winning the title in November was incredible,” said McCullough. “To end up main event for such a big show was amazing and I’m just glad I managed to put on a performance for my supporters. The victory has set me up for some huge fights in 2017 and that’s what I want and I know my team will deliver.”

Commonwealth Super-Flyweight Champion Jamie Conlan tops the bill; Triple Olympian Paddy Barnes fights as a professional for the second time; Dublin’s Declan Gearaghty clashes with Belfast’s James Tennyson for the Irish Super-Featherweight title; Light-Heavyweight amateur standout Steven Ward looks to go 3-0 and Philip Sutcliffe Jnr aims to kick-off the year in style, with more exciting additions to come.

Tickets priced £30, £40, £50, £60, £80, £100 & £150 VIP are available from waterfront.co.uk

BoxNation, the Channel of Champions, will televise this fight on Sky (SD Ch.437 and HD Ch.490), Freeview (Ch.255), Virgin (Ch.546), TalkTalk (Ch.415), online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (iOS, Android, Amazon).

Go to www.boxnation.com to see how you can watch this fight and more live

Chingford’s Boy Jones Jnr (11-0-1, 7 KO’s) will face Lowestoft’s Craig Poxton (11-4-0, 4 KO’s) in the first defence of his Southern Area Super-Featherweight title at Bethnal Green’s York Hall on Friday 24th February, live and exclusive on BoxNation.

Baby-faced Boy was just over three weeks shy of his 20th birthday when he beat the extremely tough Martin Hillman to win the Vacant title at the Brentwood Centre back in November. The freakishly tall Super-Feather has been diligently learning his trade since entering the pro game without an amateur pedigree and is determined to keep hold of his belt.

“We worked so hard to get that title and we’re going to work twice as hard to keep it,” said Jones Jnr. “I love fighting at York Hall and I can’t wait to get back in the ring. I always do a load of tickets there and the atmosphere is going to be amazing as usual.

“I say it all the time but I never look at my opponents, I leave that to my trainer. Dom knows that I can beat him and that’s good enough for me. I’m not taking anything away from Craig, he’s going to be no pushover. It’s going to be a tough fight but we’re going to work hard to get the win.

“When I turned pro I told Dom that I wanted to win my first title before I turned 20 and to win it in well under two years was a great achievement. 2017 is all about keeping busy and taking each fight as it comes.”

Poxton, 28, is hot on the comeback trail after losing out to Alex Townsend for the English Super-Featherweight title back in March and has previously challenged for the Southern Area title, losing on points to interim World title challenger George Jupp in 2014.

Top of the bill sees Swansea’s Jay Harris challenge Thomas Essomba for the Commonwealth Flyweight title in just his tenth fight; Harley Benn, son of former two-weight World Champion Nigel, makes his hotly-anticipated pro debut; plus Sidcup Super-Featherweight D.P Carr; Chelmsford Super-Middleweight Billy Long, Hornchurch Super-Lightweight Sanjeev Sahota, South Ockendon Super-Lightweight Charlie Driscoll, Welling Super-Fetherweight Archie Sharp, New Malden Super-Middleweight Lerrone Richards and the pro debuts of Fulham Super-Middleweight Zak Chelli and Pinewood Heavyweight Naylor Ball.

Tickets priced £40 and £60 are available from Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.co.uk and 0844 844 0444.

BoxNation, the Channel of Champions, will televise this fight on Sky (SD Ch.437 and HD Ch.490), Freeview (Ch.255), Virgin (Ch.546), TalkTalk (Ch.415), online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (iOS, Android, Amazon).

Go to www.boxnation.com to see how you can watch this fight and more live!

17 January 2017 – Bangkok, Thailand: The largest sports media property in Asian history, ONE Championship™ (ONE), held a kick-off press conference on 17 January at The Sukosol Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand to formally announced ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM which is set for the Impact Arena on 11 March 2017.

Photos of the ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM Press Conference can be downloaded here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0Bz-D_xso1M_hU0lsUjdqUHlBbjA.

In attendance was Chairman of ONE Championship, Chatri Sityodtong, and President of ONE Championship Thailand, Kamol ‘Sukie’ Sukosol Clapp. ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela “Unstoppable” Lee of Singapore and challenger Jenny Huang of Chinese Taipei sat at the head table alongside Thailand strawweight contenders Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke and Kritsada “Dream Man” Kongsrichai. Also in attendance was featherweight standout Shannon “One Shin” Wiratchai and real-life love interest Rika “The Smiling Assassin” Ishige.

Ticket information for ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM is available at www.onefc.com.

Victor Cui, CEO of ONE Championship, stated: “ONE: WARRIOR KINGDOM is going to be the biggest event in Thailand’s history. We have Asia’s biggest star in Angela Lee defending her title for the first time in Bangkok against Jenny Huang of Chinese Taipei and I just cannot begin to say how massive of a main event this will be. Also, we will have real-life couple Shannon Wiratchai and Rika Ishige – Thailand’s first female pro MMA fighter – fighting together on the same card. History will be made in Bangkok on 11 March.”

Fun88 Board of Directors, stated: “Fun88 has always been thrilled to partner with ONE Championship. Our association with world-class sports satisfies our goal in continuously levelling up our members’ excitement by taking them closer to where the action is. We strive to provide exclusive access to the biggest sports events and stars. In the hopes of providing the best in gaming, we plan on bringing our brand ambassadors into the mix catering to not only our members but ONE Championship fans worldwide as well. Certainly, there’s so much everyone should be excited about.”

“Unstoppable” Angela Lee of Waipahu, Hawaii is one of the promotion’s most promising young fighters regardless of division and weight class. Lee is of mixed Singaporean and Korean heritage and trains at Asia’s premiere mixed martial arts gym, Evolve-MMA. Lee’s beautiful combination of solid striking and grappling skills has proven to be a potent formula for success as she remains unbeaten in her MMA career. In her last bout, Lee captured the inaugural ONE Women’s Atomweight World Championship with an awe-inspiring victory over Mei Yamaguchi. Lee will now make the first defense of her title against Jenny Huang.

Angela Lee, ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion, stated: “I am so excited for my first title defense! I had back to back fights leading up to the title fight, and after I won the belt I took some time off. The goal for 2017 is to be an active champion and to stay busy. I’m really looking forward to headlining the card in Bangkok, Thailand!

“I absolutely love the people and their culture. I know that the crowd is gonna go crazy on fight night! Since my last fight, I’ve been training extremely hard, improving my skill set and I can’t wait to show everyone, come March 11th.

“I’ve been watching Jenny and have seen her last few fights. I think that this is going to be a great fight and it will be exciting for the fans to see how our styles match up.”

25-year-old Jenny Huang is a female mixed martial artist representing Chinese Taipei. Unbeaten with a professional MMA record of five wins and no losses, Huang also owns three highly-impressive submission victories. In her most recent bout, Huang electrified the arena by executing an extremely rare submission, the gogoplata, overcoming a spirited performance from Filipino fighter April Osenio. In her next bout, Huang will challenge ONE Women’s Atomweight World Champion Angela Lee.

Former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong “Kru Rong” Sor Amnuaysirichoke is a three-time Lumpinee stadium Muay Thai world champion who holds a 6-1 record as a professional mixed martial artist. He is known as a technical fighter with quick hands and lightning feet. Dejdamrong employs some of the most unique and creative striking combinations and is a martial artist with over 25 years in competitive experience.

Shannon “One Shin” Wiratchai of Thailand, is a staple in exciting and memorable battles inside the ONE Championship cage. A mainstay of Bangkok Fight Lab, he trains in various martial arts disciplines at home in Bangkok including Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling and jiu jitsu. An offensive innovator, Wiratchai likes to be creative with his striking, employing a myriad of unpredictable off-angle elbows and kicks.

Rika “Smiling Assassin” Ishige is a 27-year-old female atomweight who is set to make her professional mixed martial arts debut in front of her hometown crowd of Bangkok. She is of mixed Japanese and Thai heritage, beginning her martial arts training at age nine with Aikido and Taekwondo. Heavily influenced by her late father who trained in Judo, Ishige went on to hone her skills as a martial artist, eventually taking up MMA. She is also a freelance fashion model who owns a blue belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu.

Ishige will debut against Malaysian female fighter Audreylaura Boniface who trains with Malaysian female standout Ann “Athena” Osman at Borneo Tribal Squad. She will also be making her first appearance in ONE Championship.

Strawweight contender Kritsada “Dream Man” Kongsrichai of Thailand is a professional mixed martial artist with a 4-3 win-loss record. He made his ONE Championship debut in the promotion’s first ever show in Bangkok last May 2016. Kongsrichai delighted his hometown fans with a spectacular performance, stopping opponent Kev Hemmorlor via first round technical knockout.

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 Fun88
Fun88 is the online gaming leader in Asia, offering live casino, sportsbook, in-play sports betting lottery, slot games and more. It built its credibility and trustworthiness globally through innovation and growth for over eight years in the business. Apart from its partnership with Asia’s largest sports media property, ONE Championship, Fun88 was also affiliated with top English Premier League clubs Burnley F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur and sponsors Fun88 Racing with Porsche Carrera Cup. NBA legend Steve Nash, football legend Robbie Fowler and Japanese star Rola Mizusaki are among its brand ambassadors.

About ONE Championship™
ONE Championship is the largest sports media property in Asian history. Headquartered in Singapore, the world’s most exciting mixed martial arts organization hosts the largest sports entertainment events across Asia featuring the best Asian mixed martial artists and world champions, all signed to exclusive contracts, on the largest media broadcast in Asia. ONE Championship is broadcast to over 1 billion viewers across 118+ 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.

ORANGE, Calif. (Jan. 16, 2017) – Danny Roman (20-2-1, 7 KOs) didn’t grow up with dreams of becoming a professional boxer. He was more interested in soccer and the team camaraderie that defines it. That is until a fisticuff with a classmate led to a dramatic shift in the narrative.

“Who would have known that a schoolyard fight would lead me to this point,” said Roman, 26, who meets Adam Lopez (16-0-1, 8 KOs) in a WBA title eliminator this Friday, Jan. 20, on ShoBox: The New Generation live on SHOWTIME.

Roman was eight-years-old when he discovered the sweet science, courtesy of a beat down that came at the hands of a fellow classmate.

“We were fighting over a soccer ball,” recalled Roman, who is ranked No. 4 by the WBA, while Lopez occupies the No. 3 position. “I didn’t want to give it up. Next thing I know I’m getting hit all over. I was on the ground before I even knew what happened.”

“Later that day I went home and told my dad what happened. He told me I needed to learn how to fight, how to defend myself. That very same day he took me to the boxing gym.”

Roman was understandably nervous and non-committal. The odor and distinct sounds that are commonplace in any boxing gym felt foreign to him.

“At first, I didn’t even want to go,” he said. “I didn’t know anything about boxing. It was really intimidating. Here I am, eight-years-old trying to look tough amongst all these real boxers. I didn’t know it at the time, but they were sizing me up.”

“It took several months for me to begin liking it. When you’re kid, you usually play team sports where there’s a lot of interaction with teammates. Boxing isn’t like that. It’s a lonely place because it’s just you and your opponent. No one can help you once the bell rings. It took me awhile to really appreciate all the skill and preparation required to compete at the highest levels.”

Fast-forward to today and Roman finds himself in the toughest fight of his young career. With a win over the talented Lopez, Roman is one step closer to fulfilling his goal of becoming a world champion.

“It motivates me even more,” said the Los Angeles-based Roman, who comes in with a 13-fight win streak. “It’s a great opportunity. We both do similar things in that we can box and brawl. It’s an even fight. We’re both really good at what we do. It won’t be easy, but when we get this win, the world title is next.”

Tickets for the show, which is promoted by GH3 Promotions, Kings Promotions in association with Thompson Boxing (the main event) and Bally’s Atlantic City Hotel and Casino, are $125, $100 $75 & $50 and can be purchased at www.ticketmaster.com or calling 1-800-745-3000.

The World Heavyweight unification blockbuster between Anthony Joshua MBE and Wladimir Klitschko has broken box office records with over 80,000 tickets sold for the April 29 super fight at Wembley Stadium Connected by EE, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

The second batch of tickets for the blockbuster fight sold inside one hour when they released at lunchtime on Monday and the total tickets now sold has exceed the record set by Carl Froch’s World Super Middleweight title rematch against George Groves in 2014.

Promoter Eddie Hearn said: “The demand for tickets for Joshua vs Klitschko is phenomenal – this is unquestionably the biggest fight in British boxing history and we would have sold out Wembley twice over.

“We have put a request in to Brent Council, the Mayor’s office and TFL to increase the capacity by a further 5,000 tickets. We are confident of a positive answer and we will release further news shortly. Roll on April 29!”

Joshua MBE will face former World ruler Wladimir Klitschko for his IBF World Heavyweight title and the vacant IBO Championship as well as the WBA Super Championship on April 29, 2017 at Wembley Stadium Connected by EE, live on Sky Sports Box Office.

A limited number of coach and ticket packages remain on sale via See Tickets at http://www.seetickets.com/event/joshua-v-klitschko-ticket-and-coach-package/wembley-stadium/1057044/?src=Seesocial

LOS ANGELES (Jan. 16, 2017) – In a fight that fans have been calling for since the middle of last year, former IBF Middleweight Champion and current NABO Middleweight Champion David Lemieux (36-3, 32 KOs) will go toe-to-toe with Curtis “The Cerebral Assassin” Stevens (29-5, 21 KOs) to battle for Lemieux’s NABO title on Saturday, March 11. Scheduled for 12 rounds, though few believe it will go that, Lemieux vs. Stevens will take place at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York and will be televised live on HBO Boxing After Dark beginning at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT.

The Montreal, Canada born-and-bred Lemieux is coming off back-to-back impressive victories including a knockout over perennial contender and Freddie Roach-trained Glen “Jersey Boy” Tapia and a hard-fought unanimous decision win against the always-rugged Argentine fighter Cristian Fabian Rios.

“The time for talking is done, and after many long months of hearing Curtis yell about all the things he’s going to do in the ring, I’m really looking forward to shutting his mouth on March 11,” Lemieux said. “I’ve told everyone my goal is to once again become middleweight champion of the world. Curtis is in the way, and I’m going to go right through him.”

Stevens, who rose from Brownsville, Brooklyn to become former NABF and now Continental Americas middleweight champion has also won two straight fights, with a thunderous knockout over then-undefeated Patrick Teixeira in May of 2016 followed by a unanimous decision victory over James de la Rosa later in the year.

“The wait is finally over!” said Stevens. “No more talking. My hands will do the talking on March 11.”

With both Lemieux and Stevens appearing and convincingly winning on the undercard of the Canelo Alvarez vs. Amir Khan show at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, boxing fans quickly began calling for the two contenders to get together in the ring. Both fighters were happy to oblige, engaging first in a war of words, and now in a war of jabs, hooks and uppercuts.

“We often see fighters pretend not to like each other to help draw an audience – these two guys aren’t faking it; they don’t like each other at all,” said Oscar De La Hoya, CEO and Chairman of Golden Boy Promotions. “Given the thunder each holds in both hands and their desire to make a statement in the middleweight division, I think fans are going to be in for a knockout – and a spectacular one at that.”

“This is a fight of the year candidate,” said Camille Estephan of Eye of the Tiger Management. “We feel that 2017 is David’s year to take over through all the experiences he got in the last little while. He improved by leaps and bounds, we want another world title and this is the next step. We are happy to give the fans what they want they have been asking for this fight-here it is! It is one of those that is best described by the phrase, don’t blink.”

“The fans have been asking for this fight for a while now, and it’s not hard to see why!” said Kathy Duva, CEO of Main Events, promoter for Curtis Stevens. “This fight is a perfect, throwback Boxing After Dark main event and I can’t wait to see it!”

Host of this epic event, the Oneida Nation’s Turning Stone Resort Casino, an award-winning destination resort, continues to distinguish itself as a premier venue for blockbuster boxing. The March 11th fight will mark Turning Stone’s 20th nationally-televised boxing event, who also hosted one of the first MMA events in New York this past October, cementing the resort as a mecca for televised combat sports. Additionally, boxing legend Mike Tyson selected Turning Stone as the venue for his world debut as a promoter, Muhammad Ali’s daughter Laila Ali made her boxing debut at Turning Stone and in April 2015, Turning Stone was selected to host “Fight of the Year” contender – Matthysse vs. Provodnivkov – over arenas in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Miami. Turning Stone features world-class amenities including four hotels, more than 20 signature restaurants and dining options, two luxurious spas, 125,000 square foot Las Vegas style gaming floor, a cabaret-style Showroom, a 5,000 seat arena, five golf courses, several bars, cocktail lounges and nightlife venues.

Ticket prices, on sale information and the undercard will be announced shortly.

Professional media requesting credentials for Lemieux vs. Stevens must contact Kelly Abdo, Turning Stone Resort Casino Public Relations Manager at (315) 366.9291 or
kelly.abdo@turningstone.com.

Lemieux vs. Stevens is a 12-round middleweight bout for the NABO Middleweight championship, presented by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Eye of the Tiger Management and Main Events,and sponsored by “Tecate, BORN BOLD.” The HBO Boxing After Dark telecast begins at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Videos and images are available for download by clicking here or copying and pasting the link: http://bit.ly/LemieuxVsStevens. Credit must be given to Golden Boy Promotions for any video/image use.

For more information visit www.goldenboypromotions.com, www.mainevents.com, www.hbo.com/boxing, and www.turningstone.com follow on Twitter at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @main_events, @HBOboxing @TurningStone; and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, www.facebook.com/maineventsboxing, www.facebook.com/hboboxing, and www.facebook.com/TurningStoneResort and visit us on Instagram at @GoldenBoyBoxing, @main_events and @TurningStone. Follow the conversation using #LemieuxStevens.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (January 16, 2017) – M-1 Global has announced that M-1 Challenge lightweight champion Alexander “Iron Capture” Botenkp will take on challenger Abukar Yandiev (8-1-0, M-1: 2-1-0) in the M-1 Challenge 74 co-feature on February 18, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

The previously announced main event pits undefeated M-1 Challenge light heavyweight champion Rashid Yusupov (6-0-0, M-1: 4-0-0), of Russia, defends his title against former titlist Stephan “T-800” Puetz (15-2-0, M-1: 6-1-0), of Germany.

M-1 Challenge 74 will be streamed live from St. Petersburg in high definition on www.M1Global.TV. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights and main card by logging on to register at www.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Android and Apple smart phones and tablets.

Also announced is a fight between top bantamweights Vitaly Branchuk and Moktar “Le Kabyle” Benkaci will also be in action with the winner positioning himself for a potential title shot with M-1 Challenge bantamweight champion Pavel Vitruk in the not-too-distant future.

A strong Ukrainian with superior wrestling skills, Butenko (42-11-2, M-1: 9-1-0) is an eight-year MMA veteran who has found a welcomed home in M-1 Challenge competition and he has taken advantage of the opportunity. Riding a six-fight win streak, the 29-year-old Butenko captured the vacant M-1 Challenge lightweight title belt last June at M-1 Challenge 67, when he took a five-round unanimous decision over Artiom Damkovsky.

In his last action, at M-1 Challenge 71 in October, Butenko won a unanimous three-round decision against Rubenilton Pereira in a non-title fight.

Butenko’s first title defense will be against one of the most popular MMA fighters in Russia, the fighting powerhouse Yandiev, who also is a strong wrestler, plus a solid Judo background. The rising lightweight star will be a certain fan favor because of his nationality as well as his style of fighting, resulting in first-round endings in all his pro fights to date.

Last June at M-1 Challenge 68, Yandiev used an armlock for a first-round submission of Tony Christodoulou, fought at a 177 ½ lbs. catchweight.

Like Butenko, Branchuk (21-6-0, M-1: 1-2-0) also fights out of Ukraine. The 25-year-old fighter is a former M-1 Challenge bantamweight title challenger, who was riding an eight-fight into his last fight, in which he lost by fourth-round submission (choke) to the aforementioned Vitruk (see accompanying picture to left). In M-1 Challenge competition, Branchuk defeated Antun Racic one year ago, by way of a three-round split decision at M-1 Challenge 64.

Benkaci (13-7-0, (M-1: 2-1-0) is a grappling specialist from France. Known and highly respected for his great conditioning and endurance, he lost a disputed three-round decision in his M-1 Challenge debut to Nikita Chistyakov 1-½ years ago, but the talented Frenchman bounced back to knockout his last two opponents, Vadim Malygin and Alexey Naumov, respectively, by knee and punch.

INFORMATION

www.M1Global.tv
www.mixfight.ru
www.wmmaa.org

Twitter & Instagram:

@M1GlobalNews
@VFinkelchtein
@M1Global

Facebook:

www.facebook.com/M-1-GlobalNews
ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premier entity for discovering and developing the world’s next-generation of superstar fighters. With its office in St Petersburg, Russia, the M-1 brand has staged more than 160 events worldwide, including M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge, M-1 Global and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the U.S. network, Showtime. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport’s top names, including legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Sergei Kharitonov, Aleksander Emelianenko, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2016 has been another sensational year of world-class competition, featuring a full calendar of Challenge events, fueled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global Champions among the greatest fighters in the sport.

ABOUT M-1GLOBAL.TV: Enjoy MMA action now in high definition brought to you by M-1Global.tv, offering only the best fights from M-1 Global and other MMA organizations. M-1Global.tv is a great platform developed specifically to bring together the most exhaustive fight video database. It also provides an easy and intuitive interface, helping everyone to start using the platform in no time while avoiding any spoilers. Besides watching the past fights on demand at any time convenient to the customer, viewers are able to enjoy the action LIVE, all available to M-1Global.tv users through a low-priced month to month digital subscription. Your world of action. Anytime!

Detroit bantamweight action hero James Gordon Smith (11-0, 6 KOs) knows what boxing fans in Detroit have come to expect from him… and he doesn’t mind one bit.

“People want to see you exciting in there; we are in the hurt business,” said Smith. “They don’t want to pay to see a guy running the whole fight. It’s not exciting that way. I fight the way fans love. You make more money that way.”

The thrill-a-minute Smith will face Kiskunfelegyhaza, Hungary’s Szilveszter Ajtai (10-3-1, 5 KOs) in the co-main event of promoter Dmitriy Salita’s special Sunday edition of his “Detroit Brawl” series on January 22, 2017, at Masonic Temple in Detroit.

Once again sponsored by the Greektown Casino Hotel, tickets for “Detroit Brawl” are priced at VIP $123, Box Seats are $80 and $60, Seating is $80, $60, $40, and $20. They are available at all Ticketmaster outlets and Ticketmaster.com
.

“I like to fight. All that boxing and trying to look pretty. It’s not for me. I’d rather get in there and go to war. It’s more exciting.”

26-year-old Smith was 110-9 as an amateur and won four national championships and two silvers and a bronze in the National Golden Gloves.

“Once I turned 21, I started realizing my fighting style was more of a pro style. I was handling guys and then they were saying I was losing on points. That’s when I realized amateur boxing wasn’t for me anymore. I talked to my coaches, Keith Jackson and Theotrice Chambers, and they told me it was time.”

Smith, who is hopeful of making his national television debut in the near future, says he’s been fine tuning his style, while leaving all the thrills in place.

“We’ve been working on defense and not getting hit as much and on putting punches together. I’ll be trying to average 100 to120 punches a round. I would love to fight on ShoBox this year. Dmitriy Salita is looking for a date for me in mid-March. I just want to fight on TV. With my style and the way I fight, all it would take is for fans to see me fight one time and they’ll see what I can do. All I need is the right opponent. It’ll be beautiful. It will be like Micky Ward against Gatti.”

Smith also says he’s not worried about competing in his first eight-round fight.

“It’s a good fight for my first eight-rounder. He’s a good fighter. I’ve seen him a couple times. He looked decent on YouTube. He’s got good hand speed. When he’s in shape, he lets his hands go and has good boxing skills, but I’m always in great shape, so I don’t really worry about the rounds. I get in as good of shape as you can be in and then I throw punches the whole fight, no matter how many rounds. Plus, it’s very exciting to fight in front of my friends and family. It gives me the extra motivation to work even harder. You never want to look bad at home.”

In the night’s eight-round main event, Detroit’s perennial welterweight gate keeper and fan favorite Lanardo “Pain Server” Tyner (30-10-2, 19 KOs) will face Nagykanizsa, Hungary’s Istvan Dernanecz (10-4, 7 KOs).

In one of the main supporting bouts, cruiserweight Alexey Zubov (13-1, 8 KOs), from Magnitogorsk, Russia, will face Budapest, Hungary’s Andras Csomor (18-14-1, 14 KOs).

Also seeing action will be former cruiserweight world title challenger “Hurricane” Junior Wright (15-2-1, 12 KOs) from Evanston, Illinois, making his heavyweight debut against Detroit’s Damon McCreary (15-6, 11 KOs) in a six-rounder.

In a bantamweight six-rounder, undefeated bantamweight Ja’Rico “Great Lakes King” O’Quinn (4-0, 3 KOs) will take on Chicago’s Angel Carvajal (2-5).

In a super lightweight four, Detroit’s rejuvenated “Lightning” Larry Ventus (7-11-1, 3 KOs) will face Florida’s iron-jawed Jesus Lule (9-20-1, 1 KO).

Popular and undefeated super welterweight Ardreal Holmes (4-0, 2 KOs) of Flint, Michigan, is scheduled to fight Macon, Georgia’s Bryan Goldsby (3-1).

Undefeated Alabama super featherweight Dwayne Zeigler (5-0-1, 5 KOs) will face Aaron Hollis (3-3, 2 KOs) of Cincinnati in a four-round super featherweight fight.

Kronk welterweight Jacob Bonas (2-0-1, 1 KO), Toledo super middleweight DeAndre Ware (8-0, 6 KOs) and undefeated Detroit heavyweight Marcus Carter (1-0, 1 KO) will face opponents that are yet to be announced.

On fight night, doors open at 4:00 pm and the fights begin at 5:00 pm. The Masonic Temple is located at 500 Temple Street in Detroit.

###

For more information on the “Detroit Brawl” or Salita Promotions, visit www.salitapromotions.com. Facebook and Twitter: @DetroitBrawl

About Salita Promotions
Salita Promotions was founded in 2010 by Dmitriy Salita, a professional boxer and world-title challenger who saw the need for a promotional entity to feature boxing’s best young prospects and established contenders in North America and around the world. Viewers watching fighters on worldwide television networks including Showtime, ESPN, Spike TV, Universal Sports Network and MSG have enjoyed Salita Promotions fight action in recent years. We pride ourselves on offering our fighters opportunities inside and outside the ring. Salita Promotions looks forward to continuing to grow and serve the needs of fight fans around the globe.

About Greektown Casino Hotel
Your downtown playground, Greektown Casino Hotel is consistently voted Detroit’s Best Casino. Located right in the hub of the historic Greektown district it’s impossible to be any closer to the action. No matter what you want to play, Greektown Casino Hotel has your non-stop gaming action. From the newest slots and table games to live poker, Greektown Casino Hotel has 100,000 square feet of exciting, action-packed choices and so many thrilling ways to win!

Greektown Casino Hotel features a 30-story hotel with 400 stunning guestrooms and suites devoted to your comfort. And for your culinary needs, you can savor eclectic cuisine at one of their outstanding restaurants: Prism, Bistro 555 and The Market District.

For your special event or corporate gathering, Greektown Casino Hotel offers impeccable service in addition to a variety of exceptional spaces to help make your event an unforgettable experience.

For more information, visit them online at greektowncasino.com. Twitter:
@GreektownCasino.

Joe Louzon won a unanimous decision over Marcin Held in a featherweight fight.

Louzon, 155 lbs of Bridgewater, MA won by scores of 29-28 on two cards, while Held took a card 30-27.

Louzon is 27-13. Held, 156 lbs of Tychy, POL is 22-6.

Ben Saunders won a unanimous decision over Court McGee in a welterweight bout.

Saunder, 170 lbs of Orlando, FL won on all cards and is now 21-7-2.  McGee, 170 lbs of Orem, UT is 19-6.

Sergio Pettis won a unanimous decision over John Morraga in a flyweight bout.

Pettis, 125 lbs of Milwaukee, WI won by scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice and is now 15-2. Morraga, 126 lbs of Phoenix, AZ is 16-6.

Badou Jack and James DeGale fought to a thrilling draw in front of 10, 128 enthusiastic fans at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York in a IBF/WBC Super Middleweight unification bout.

DeGale dropped Jack in the 1st round from a pushing straight left hand.  DeGale out boxed Jack over the 1st half of the fight as he landed quick combinations, where Jack was loading up and landing an occasional big shot on the ropes.  The effects of those punches started to show on DeGale as his face started to mark up around the 8th round.

Behind on the cards, Jack went after DeGale and landed a huge counter right hand that sent DeGale to the canvas.  DeGale was clearly hurt and it was in doubt the he would see the final bell.  Jack landed a huge combination that hurt a now very bloody DeGale.  DeGale did wise to hold on and even land a big left at the bell.

When the scores were read, it became clear that Jack needed that late knockdown as DeGale took a card 114-112, while 2 cards were even at 113-113.

Jack, 167.2 lbs of Stockholm, SWE is 20-1-3.  DeGale, 166.5 lbs of Harlesdon, UK is 23-1-1.

BADOU JACK

“He was doing a lot of running, he was throwing a lot of shit at my guard.  I thought I won the fight. I finished stronger.  His knockdown was a flash knockdown. I won the fight.

“Let’s do it again at light heavyweight. It’s time to move to light heavyweight. 

JAMES DEGALE

“I’ve got huge respect for this man, but I thought I won that.  I landed the cleanest shots.  

“Let’s do it again.  Let’s do it again in London. 

“He hit me (in the 12^th), but I was more off balance.  I respect him.  He’s a good, round fighter.  Let’s go again.”

FLOYD MAYWEATHER

“Badou Jack has got too big for 168 pounds.  We had plans after this fight to move up to light heavyweight. This is the second time in a row Badou has gotten a bad decision.  James DeGale is a hell of a fighter, but tonight he didn’t win.  At the end of the day, I don’t know what the judges are looking at.”

Gervonta Davis won the IBF Junior Lightweight championship with a 7th round stoppage over Jose Pedraza.

Davis came out landing quick and hard shots.  He mixed up between single and hard combinations that had Pedraza’s nose bleeding by the 3rd round.

Pedraza made a brief comeback in round 4 s he landed a heavy combination to the head.  That was short lived as Davis started to turn back the tide in round five.  In round six, he started landing more heavy shots to the point that Pedraza was thoroughly examined by ringside doctors before the 7th frame.  It did not last long after that as a hard body shot doubled over Pedraza, which left him oipen for a wicked uppercut that was followed by a left that dumped the champion on his backside.  Pedraza gamely got to his feet, but the bout was stopped at 2:36.

Davis, 129 lbs of Baltimore, MD is now 17-0 with 16 knockouts.  Pedraza, 129.5 lbs of Caguas, PR is 22-1.\

Amanda Serrano won a 10-round unanimous decision over Yazmin Rivas to retain the WBO Junior Featherweight championship.

Serrano, 1208 lbs of Brooklyn, NY won by scores of 97-93, 98-92  and 99-91  and is now 31-1-1.  Rivas, 121.5 lb so Torreon, MX is 35-10-1.

Immanuwel Aleem scored a stunning 6th round stoppage over Ievgen Khytrov in a scheduled 10-round middleweight bout.

Aleem dropped Khytrov in round’s three and six with powerful left hooks, and then finished him off with hard flurry on the ropes.

Aleem, 158.5 lbs of Richmond, VA is 17-0-1 with 10 knockouts.  Khytrov, 159.5 lbs of Brooklyn is 14-1.

Thomas Dulorme stopped Brian Jones in the 6th round of their scheduled 8-round welterweight bout.

Dulorme, 145.8 lbs of Carolina, PR is now 24-2 with 16 knockouts.  Jones, 144.5 lbs of Los Angeles is now 13-7.

Adam Kownacki stopped Joshua Tufte in the 2nd round of their scheduled 8-round heavyweight bout.

Kownacki, 257.8 lbs of New York, NU is 15-0 with 12 knockouts.  Tufte, 265.8 lbs of Kernerville, NC is 19-2.

Noel Murphy remained perfect with a 6-round unanimous decision over Maxito Sainvil in a welterweight bout.

Murphy, 146.4 lbs of Woodlawn. NY won by scores of 60-54 twice and 59-55 and is now 8-0.  Sainvil, 148.8 lbs of Nyack, NY is 4-1-1.

Kenny Robles made a successful pro debut with a 4-round unanimous decision over Latorie Woodberry in a welterweight bout.

Robles, 144 lbs of Staten Island, NY won by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 twice and is now 1-0.  Woodberry, 141.6 lbs of Roanoke, VA 1-3-1.

Follow all the action as Badou Jack takes on James DeGale in a super middleweight unification bout.  The action begins at 9:30 PM ET / 6:30 PT with a IBF Junior Lightweight title bout between Jose Pedraza and Gervonta Davis.

NO BROWSER REFRESH NEEDED

Round 1 Degale trying to push the pace…STRAIGHT LEFT AND DOWN GOES JACK..

Round 2 Right from Jack..Right..Combination from DeGale

Round 3 Right hook from DeGale…Jack jabs to body..Right..Good right…Combination from DeGale..Left and right from Jack..Combination inside from DeGale..

Round 4 Hard uppercut from DeGale..Combination..Combination…Jack sneaks in a right..Right hook from DeGale

Round 5 Pushing left from DeGale..Right from Jack followed by a combination..Left from, DeGale and n uppercut..good right hook..Left from Jack his referee Arthur Mercante

Round 6 Body shot from DeGale..Jack landed hard shots on the ropes..Jab…Hard combination from DeGale

Round 7 Jack buckles DeGale with a right..Right hook from DeGale…Left from DeGale…

Round 8 Hard right rocks DeGale..right…DeGale face bleeding..Body shots from Jack,..left inside..DeGale trying to fight back…Uppercut from DeGale..

Round 9 Right hook from DeGale..uppercut..Right from Jack..Right hook from DeGale..Right from Jack..Hard combination from Jack..

Round 10 Body combination from DeGale..Head combination on ropes from Jack..Trading in middle of ring..Good 4 punch combination from Degale..2 rights from Jack…

Round 11 Hard long right from Jack..Right from DeGale..Body work from Jack..DeGale comes back with a combination….another quick combination..

Round 12 Right hook from DeGale..Body shot from Jack…HARD COUNTER RIGHT AND DOWN GOES DEGALE…Jack all over DeGale…DeGale bleeding bad from his right eye,,Big shots from Jack..Hard right from DeGale at the bell

114-112 DeGale…113-113 on 2 cards,,,,,MAJORITY DRAW

Round 1 Davis jabs to the body..Overhand left…Hard combination…Hard right hook…Pedraza taking it well..Right hook..

Round 2 Pedraza trying to jab…Body shot and combination from Davis

Round 3 Quick right hook from Davis..Left over the top..Popping jab…Straight left..Jab from Pedraza…Pedraza bleeding from the nose

Round 4 Body shot from Pedraza..Ripping body shot from Davis..Left over the top..Good body shot from Pedraza

Round 5 Hard combination from Pedraza..Body shots..5 punch combiantion..Davis talking trash..he lands a combination of his own

Round 6 Pedraza lands a left…hard left from Davis…Body shot hurts Pedraza..Thundding left..4 massive head shots from Davis..

Round 7 Doctor checking Pedraza…Right hook from Davis..Back left hurts Pedraza..Vicious uppercut and LEFT AND DOWN GOES PEDRAZA…HE GETS UP AND THE FIGHT IS STOPPED