Matchroom Boxing has sent an offer to Jarrell Miller to take on Anthony Joshua in June at Madison Square Garden, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Eddie has made an offer and we’ll see what happens,” Miller co-promoter Greg Cohen said. “Obviously, for every fighter, promoter and manager what’s better than fighting for the heavyweight championship of the world? We’ve been discussing it for a while but now we have an official offer.”

“There has been substantial movement on the money and we’re under a million dollars apart at his point,” said Cohen, who co-promotes Miller with Dmitry Salita.

“Fighting for the title against Joshua is everybody’s goal but the economics have to make sense,” Cohen said. “I’m hopeful we can get there. We’re not there yet. But everybody is negotiating in good faith. There has been progress, but we just have to see if we can get there. I certainly would love to see Jarrell fight for the title against Joshua. It’s Madison Square Garden. It would be in Jarrell’s hometown. What’s better than that?”

“It’s not just the economic we’re working out for this fight,” Cohen said. “There’s the rematch if Jarrell wins. When you’re an elective (defense) there are other components you have to deal with that you don’t have to deal with if you’re the mandatory. But if Joshua wants to come to America, and it’s unlikely he can get a fight with (titleholder) Deontay Wilder because it looks like he’s going to do the rematch with Tyson Fury, then I don’t think there’s another option for him other than Jarrell Miller. He’s the best option by far, especially if he’s going to fight in New York.”

“It’s either they’re going to go on April 13 at Wembley against Dillian Whyte or they’re making a deal with us for June in New York. That’s how I see it,” Cohen said. “They have the champion. I am sure Dillian Whyte has a price he’s willing to accept. If they want Jarrell they’ll go with him. We can sit back and see what happens.

“Jarrell can win this fight. There aren’t too many guys who can say that. Jarrell has always wanted this fight. He has a manager, two co-promoters and he is letting us do our job, but Jarrell wants this fight for sure. He says he’s going to smash him.”

Former super middleweight titlist, George Groves has announced his retirement, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“After taking a little time to reflect on the recent events in my career, I have decided that it is time for me to retire as a professional fighter,” Groves said in a statement.

“In 2017, I boxed in front of a home crowd in Sheffield and became the WBA super middleweight world champion,” Groves said. “After four attempts I had finally fulfilled my childhood dream, and the experience was as great as I had always imagined it would be. It was without doubt the best moment of my career.

“Some of you may think it’s odd that I’m choosing this time to retire. I’m still young, still fit and healthy, and there are still some big fights out there for me. But it’s for these reasons that I am choosing to retire now. I have a young family at home; it’s time to spend some of my better days with them. I don’t want there to be a time where I’m ‘too old’ to box on, or where an injury retires me in or out of the ring. Over the years I have seen and sadly known the dangers of the sport, and I want to respectfully bow out while I’m at the top of my game.

“I’ve learned that doesn’t always mean coming off the back of a win. I’ve boxed at the highest level, all over the world, I’ve been a champion and I’ll be leaving the sport (relatively!) intact.”

“Boxing has been good to me and I believe I have been good for boxing,” Groves said. “I hope I have entertained you all; I have always strived to be the best fighter I can be. Although we step through the ropes on our own, of course every fighter is backed by a team, and not just the ones in the corner. There are many, many people that have helped me on the way to fulfilling my boxing dreams and I would like to take this opportunity to thank as many people as I can.”

By Bart Barry-

SAN ANTONIO – Not even a threehour drive from where this was written, Saturday night at Houston’s Toyota Center Mexican super welterweight titlist Jaime Munguia decisioned Japan’s Takeshi Inoue on unanimous scorecards that were semiaccurate despite likely being filled-in over breakfast tacos. The match’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, a promise machine, promised to be back in Houston again and again, as he does in every city he visits.

I wasn’t there and through the opening credits of Saturday’s mainevent couldn’t remember why, exactly, I’d forgone the experience, especially considering December’s trip to Corpus Christi for a spectacle promising nothing much qualitatively greater. (Toyota Center, too, remains dear for being the site of a personal ringside highlight and Golden Boy Promotions’ greatest early show: Juan Manuel Marquez versus Juan Diaz, 10 years ago next month.) Then a few minutes in the opening round it came together: I did not believe a month ago, and remain no more convinced today, Munguia is a mainevent fighter.

He may be on his way like Antonio Margarito once was, but he’s not there now, and his promoter’s abundance of broadcasting opportunities more than Munguia’s abundance of talent is why Saturday’s was a headline gig for the Tijuanense. It shines through in Munguia’s hitch, more pronounced when he is moving backwards or sideways than when his aggression bends him forwards. His hands too low, his chin too high, Munguia raises his gloves drops them raises them to get each combination started, and it’s the very way Inoue ducked so many high hooks early (before Inoue decided these punches were better blocked).

It’s a large reason Munguia works best moving forward and should not move to weightclasses whose titlists do not let him move forward on them. Munguia is enormous for 154 pounds, and enormity composes most of his talent at this point. We’re told how young he is and likely to outgrow his weightclass, and that doesn’t bode well for him since adding six pounds will make him punch hardly harder but absorb abler what punches clip his chin, which is many. Because his trainer’s breakthrough professional accomplishment was befriending Joel De La Hoya Sr. decades ago, Munguia hasn’t a proper tutor to admonish his left glove upwards, upwards, and this leaves him scarywide open to rights of all shape and flavor, from dunking-overhand to piston-cross.

Limited as Inoue was in every pugilistic tool save desire he nevertheless struck a prizefighter in his third title defense with punches launched from his own hip. How he did this speaks to Munguia’s want of ring IQ. At least once every round Inoue’d bull Munguia to the ropes, where Munguia’d drop his left hand as if involuntarily. His opponent’s guard pinned at his waste for reasons Inoue found fortuitous if puzzling as the rest of us did, Inoue’d force the palm of his left glove between Munguia’s chin and collarbone then blast Munguia with a right. The first few times it happened one immediately sensed Inoue must be about more than first impressions (dominated as those were by images of Inoue’s crossing right foot behind left every time he pivoted) and onto wily stuff indeed, as he teed-up Munguia’s chin in a way more than figurative.

But no. Munguia simply didn’t have an answer for being bullied back. Sometimes Munguia returned fire, sometimes he brought Inoue to his chest and looked for the ref, and other times he began a rabbitpunch-off and looked for the ref. In this sense if no other Munguia gave the impression of a mainevent fighter, a true a-side: He expected official enforcement of favorable terms and got that quite a bit in the match’s first half from a sometimes officious ref unable to break the fighters without assigning culpability.

On to Inoue. What Japanese pressure fighters have that all pressure fighters have but few have more than the Japanese is self-possession. There are cultural origins for this, probably, or maybe it’s a selfselection sort of thing, whereby matchmakers know an entertaining test will be given their fighters if a b-side gets imported from Japan. How else does one explain Inoue’s presence on Saturday’s card in the first place? It’s not enough to say Inoue’d only once before fought outside Japan; Inoue’d only twice before fought outside Korakuen Hall.

Yet there he was, making his American debut in a mainevent at Toyota Center, home of the Rockets, and making a proper show of his opportunity, too. A little zany, a little eccentric, a little offkilter – that was Inoue during fightweek and into fightnight and right through the last bell. Those aren’t pejorative modifiers because they’re not even tangential synonyms for the pejorative modifier Munguia was after, after all: Intimidated. Inoue was not that. Even when he got near kneedropped midlate by the same basic combo Munguia bounced off him 50 times Inoue straightened and shimmied and recollected on his stool.

Something else Inoue’s self-possession revealed about Munguia: He may not hit hard as advertised. Despite doing regularly the one thing every single completely superfluous commentator demands – punching to the body – Munguia did very little to take Inoue’s legs and still less to take Inoue’s spirit. Frankly the left hooks Munguia landed to Inoue’s body took about much from Munguia as they did from Inoue, blasphemy of all blasphemies.

About the completion of boxing commentary’s superfluousness: DAZN is an innovative platform without innovative commentary. Already the Kenny Mora Leonard trio is brutedreadful for all the reasons Lampley Kellerman Jones became so; the whole enterprise is banal, salesy and most of all constant. The threeman booth means someone or -ones must be talking every instant, and since there aren’t that many ways to sell a product to a customer whose payment you’ve just confirmed and since the new media reality is that no one who might criticize a promoter or manager or programmer, much less an advertiser or sponsor, is allowed a live mic, televised boxing commentary now reduces to a childlike contest of who can say “unbelievable” the most times, where five years ago it was at least a contest of who could say it the most euphemistically.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Jaime Munguia won a 12-round unanimous decision over unheralded, but tough as nails challenger Takeshi Inoue to retain the WBO Junior Middleweight championship at The Toyota Center in Houston, Texas.

In round three, Inoue was cut over his left eye from an accidental headbutt.  That did not dissuade the challenger as he put his head down and came forward to throw and land some hard overhand rights.  That style proved to be exciting but not an effective way to evade crunching body shots from Maunguia,  as the champion pounded away at the flanks of the incoming challenger.

There were several instances of Munguia looking like he would have Inoue in trouble with vicious combination, but Japanese visitor was able to land flush right hands on the exposed face of Munguia.

Munguia, 153.2 lbs of Tijuana, MEX is 32-0.  Inoue, 153.6 lbs of Tokyo is 13-1-1.

Munguia seized control in  the late rounds as he took over the 2nd half of the fight and won by (too) wide margins of 120-108 twice and 119-109.

Xu Can wrestled the WBA Featherweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Jesus Rojas.

The two traded a close-quarters for the entire fight, with Can landing hard combinations.  Rojas would continuously fire back by landing ripping combination that would snap the head back of the challenger.  The fight was non-stop punching and landing, and it was a close fight.  Definitely closer then the 118-110, 117-111 and 116-112 tallies that the three ringside officials voted on.

Can, 125.6 lbs of Kumming, CHN is 16-2-2.  Rojas, 126 lbs of Caguas, PR is 26-3-2.

Vergil Ortiz, Jr. kept his perfect stoppage streak alive by stopping Jesus Valdez after five rounds due to cuts.

Valdez suffered a cut over his right eye, and the bout was stopped.

Ortiz, 142 lbs of Dallas, TX is now 12-0 12 knockouts.  Valdez, 143.6 lbs of Huatabampo, MEX is 23-5-1.

Alex Rincon won a six-round unanimous decision over Jeremy Ramos in a junior middleweight bout.

In round six, Ramos started bleeding from his nose.

Rincon, 153.3 lbs of Dallas, TX won by scores of 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56, and is now 6-0.  Ramos, 152.8 lbs of Bayamon, PR is 10-6.

Alberto Melin stopped Edgar Ortega in the final scheduled round of their ten-round super bantamweight bout.

Melian dropped Ortego in the final frame with a perfect left hook.  Melian jumped on Ortega, and landed a huge assault of punches on the ropes, and the bout was stopped at 1:33.

Melian, 121.4 lbs of Buenos Aires, ARG is 4-0 with three knockouts.  Ortega, 122 lbs of Mexicali, MEX is 10-2-2.

George Rincon stopped Emmanuel Valadez in round one of their scheduled six-round super lightweight bout.

In round one, Rincon dropped Valadez to the canvas.   Rincon was all over Valadez, and the fight was stopped after a huge barrage of punches from Rincon at 1:36.

Rincon, 139.6 lbs of Dallas is 6-0 with three knockouts.  Valdez, 139.6 lbs of Agua Prieta, MEX is 5-7.

BROOKLYN, NY –Keith “One Time” Thurman (29-0, 22KO) returned to the ring from a 22-month hiatus and retained his WBA World Welterweight title, defeating Josesito Lopez (36-8, 19KO) by majority decision in the main event of a PBC on FOX card in front of 9,623 fans at the Barclays Center.

The fight was anything but a breeze for the 30 year-old champion, who for the first time in his career found himself in serious danger of being stopped midway through the contest.

But in the early goings, Thurman looked sharp — his movement on point, his punches accurate.  As the second round drew to a close, both fighter’s threw simultaneous left hooks. Thurman’s shorter and crisper hook, however, was the only one that reached the intended target and exploded on Lopez’s chin, sending him to the mat.

In the 4th round, the 34 year-old Lopez began finding his target a bit more, but was seemingly two Thurman punches in exchange for landing one of his own.

In the 7th, Lopez finally caught Thurman with a left hand that wobbled the champ.  For the next minute-plus, Lopez cranked up the heat. The fighter they call “Riverside Rocky” stalked a wounded Thurman and time and again snapped his head back with punches thrown from all angles.  Thurman was somehow able to weather the storm, however, and by the end of the round was landing return fire on Lopez.

Thurman regained his composure and control in the 8th, snuffing out any momentum Lopez hoped to build upon from the previous round.

Credit California’s Lopez, who round after round was willing to take some of Thurman’s best shots in order to try to land a big punch of his own.  And make no mistake, the punches Thurman were landing would have dropped and stopped the vast majority of opponents.

At the end of the championship rounds, Jimmy Lennon, Jr. read scores of 113-113 (Don Ackerman), 115-112 (Steve Weisfeld), and 117-111 (Tom Schreck), for Thurman.  The 113-113 Ackerman was controversially close. 15rounds.com scored the contest 117-110 for Thurman.

It was Thurman’s first time back between the ropes since winning the WBC middleweight title via split decision against Danny Garcia in March 2017.  Since then the 30 year-old Floridian has had his right elbow surgically repaired and also suffered a left hand injury that required months to heal. Due to inactivity, Thurman was forced to vacate his WBC strap in April 2018.

Thurman has stated that he’d like two tune-up type bouts before he rumbles with the other A-side talent in the stacked welterweight division.  Of course, the PBC also has champions Errol Spence, Jr. (IBF), Shawn Porter (WBC), and Manny Pacquiao (WBA interim and Thurman mandatory) under promotional contract.  A less realistic future opponent for Thurman is Terence Crawford (WBO), who is under contract with Top Rank.

The veteran Lopez is now 0-3 in world title fights, having come up short against Canelo Alvarez (2012) and Andre Berto (2015).  His signature win remains his against former world champion Victor Ortiz, who he retired after 9 rounds.

“He had me buzzed and shaken up in the seventh round, but I tried to stay on the outside away,” Thurman said afterward.  “I was a little off in my prediction of how long his arms were. He lunged in and was really willing to commit to the knockout.”

With regards to facing his WBA mandatory challenger, Thurman said, “I would most likely definitely take the Manny Pacquiao fight this year. I feel good. That was a beautiful fight. I’m ready to fight wherever Pacquiao wants it.”

Polish Puncher Kownacki Stops Washington In 2

Polish-born Brooklyn-based heavyweight Adam Kownacki continues to thrust himself into the mix in the heavyweight division.  Tonight, it took the 258.5 lb. man they call “Babyface” less than a round and a half to blast out former title challenger, Gerald Washington (19-3-1, 12KO).

The 29 year-old Kownacki came out firing from the opening bell willingly exchanging with his 6’6” counterpart.  About midway through the opening round, Kownacki hurt Washington with a right for the first time. He continued his onslaught, firing away for the rest of the round, but Washington managed to survive.

In the second, Washington came out recharged, and the big Californian quickly unloaded on Kownacki, who was sporting a cut over his left eye.  Once his offensive attack wish finished, however, it was Kownacki’s turn. The 6’3” Pole threw a hammer of a right hand that wobbled Washington, and he followed it up with a flurry that resulted in Washington hitting the mat hard.  Washington just barely beat referee Harvey Dock’s ten count and was able to continue, only to be met just seconds later by more Kownacki fists, prompting Dock to step in and stop the fight at the 1:09 mark of round 2.

Kownacki has now fought 6 of his last 7 fights at the Barclays Center, which has become his second home.  And as per usual, he again enjoyed enjoyed hometown support as hundreds of his Polish fans decked out in their country’s red and white, filled the arena.

“It’s amazing to have this support from the Polish fans,” Kownacki said post-fight.  “It definitely gives me extra energy.”

Further, in his last five fights, the father-to-be has defeated opponents whose combined records tally 109-6-2.  The win streak now includes victories against former title challengers Washington and Artur Szpilka, as well as former IBF Heavyweight Champion, Charles Martin, who Kownacki outpointed in September.

Washington’s only other career defeats also came via stoppage, first against WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder and later against undefeated contender Jerrell “Big Baby” Miller.

“I trained hard for this fight. I prepared for 10 hard rounds, but I’m glad I got it done and ended it as fast as I did,” Kownacki said.

He continued, “We stuck with the game plan. I’m a pressure fighter. I worked on sitting down on my punches and I proved that I have great power when I do that.”

“King Tug” One Step Closer To Title, Decisions Marrero

In just his eleventh professional fight, Tugstsgot “King Tug” Nyambayar (11-0, 9KO) inched one step closer to a championship belt, defeating veteran Dominican southpaw Claudio Marrero (23-3, 17KO) via unanimous decision in a 12-round WBC featherweight title eliminator that kicked off the nationally televised FOX portion of the card.  Scores were 114-113, 115-112, and 116-11, all for the Mongolian, Nyambayar.

It wasn’t easy and it certainly wasn’t pretty, but Nyambayar, a former 2012 Olympic silver medalist grinded and countered his way past the crafty 29 year-old Dominican, Marrero.

Nyambayar, 26, had his first major success in the third round when he hurt and momentarily wobbled the former title challenger, Marrero, with a right hand.  He followed this up with a brief flurry, but ultimately called off the attack when Marrero quickly regained composure.

As the fight progressed, there were times when Nyambayar was patient, but calculating.  Other times, especially in the middle rounds, he was passive — too passive, letting rounds slip away.

Marrero took advantage of “King Tug’s” passiveness, especially in round 5 and 9, when he aggressively came off his stool, firing away on his almost-unsuspecting opponent.

About a minute into the tenth round, referee Benjy Esteves docked Marrero a point for landing a half-hearted right hand during a break.  Shortly after, Nyambar landed a low-blow that doubled Marrero over in pain. The fight was stopped to allow Marrero time to recover and no point was deducted from Nyambayar.

Nyambayar is now in place as the mandatory challenger for Gary Russell, Jr.’s WBC Featherweight title.

“We had a really good camp so this is just me putting the pressure and pace that we worked on in camp and using it in the ring,” Nyambayar said.  “This sets me up for big fights. Whatever big fights are presented to us, we’ll take it.”

Colbert Earns Hard Fought UD Against Hernandez

Brooklyn’s Chris “Lil’ BHopp” Colbert turned away his stiffest competition to date, earning an 8 round unanimous decision against Chicago’s Josh Hernandez (8-2, 7KO) in a super featherweight contest.

Considering Hernandez’s resume, 7KOs in 8 wins, Colbert fought a smart fight early on, allowing Hernandez to be the aggressor, luring him in close, and skillfully countering.  Colbert was by no means reluctant to exchange with his 23 year-old counterpart, but he had no reason to do so.

But as the the rounds bore on, the 22 year-old Colbert began to tire, and his lateral movement slowed.  Hernandez kept the heat on and seemingly backed Colbert against the ropes or into a corner for long stretches in each of the last 4 rounds.  Hernandez would unload and Colbert would absorb. And then Colbert, who trains out of Atlas Cops & Kids in Flatbush, Brooklyn, would unload and Hernandez would absorb.  But these weren’t 50/50 exchanges and Colbert consistently bested Hernandez when the two traded blows.

In the end, all three judges scored the contest widely for Colbert, 79-73.

The result marks the second career loss for Chicago’s Hernandez, who was fighting outside of Illinois for the first time in his career.  His only other defeat came via stoppage against Gavino Gauman in April 2017, a loss he avenged just three months later.

“He put up a great fight,” Colbert said, giving Hernandez well-deserved credit.  “Today I decided not to give the crowd a boxing lesson, I decided I wanted to show them that I can stand and fight with anybody if I choose to.”

He went on, “I have very high-quality fight and I’m getting better and better as we go. I’m looking forward to getting more opportunities.”

Russell Scores TKO2 Over Almazan

2016 US Olympian Gary Antuanne Russell (8-0, 8KO) easily disposed of Mexican-American Roberto Almazan (7-9, 2KO), scoring 3 knockdowns inside 2 rounds to earn a TKO victory.

Russell, the 22 year-old younger brother of WBC World Featherweight champion Gary Russell, Jr., threw fists fast and furious from the opening bell, smothering his 20 year-old counterpart, preventing him from mounting any counter attack.

About a minute into the bout, after a brief exchange near the blue corner, Almazon took a knee. He claimed he was pushed down, but referee Shada Murdaugh disagreed and administered a ten count.

Maryland’s Russell knocked down Almazon down twice more in the 2nd, once courtesy of left-right combo, and the second via a flurry of punches that culminated with one final right that forced Almazon to a knee for the last time. Murdaugh stopped the fight at the :59 second mark of round 2.

“I listened to my corner’s directions and they told me that the hook was going to be there when he shot his left hand,” Russell said afterward. I went to my hook position and I was ready to catch and fire.”

“This is nothing new to me” he continued. “I just try to execute what I’m told and sharpen my craft. We’re going back to the drawing board and we’ll be patient.”

Booker Gifts De Angel 10th Career Defeat via UD

In the first fight of the FS1-televised portion of the card, undefeated southpaw Chordale “The Gift” Booker (14-0, 7KO) worked hard to earn a wide 8 round unanimous decision against Colombian slugger Juan De Angel (21-10-1, 18KO) in a middleweight contest.

Booker set the range early and controlled most of the action with his jab, peppering in straight lefts with precision.  As the punches added up, De Angel slowed down. Eventually in the 7th round, a Booker left uppercut dropped De Angel down to a knee.  The Colombian beat the ensuing ten count and powered through the rest of the 7th and 8th rounds to hear the final bell.

In the end, all judges scored the bout widely for the 27 year-old Stamford, CT fighter: 80-71 and 79-72.

Booker now joins the likes of Austin Trout and Caleb Plant, who’ve also secured wins against De Angel.  The result makes it 9 losses in 9 fights in America for the Colombian.

“I’m about to make a list of fighters that I want to face to propel me to the next level,” Booker said post-fight. “ I’m going to keep climbing and fighting better opponents. I thought I had a good performance today, but not great. I feel like I showed that I have a lot I can do in this sport.

Fulton Drops Olea Twice En Route To TKO5

Philadelphia’s Stephen Fulton (15-0, 7KO) improved his already perfect record, recording a 5th round TKO stoppage against Colombian Marlon Olea (14-4,12KO) in a featherweight bout slated for 8.

Fulton battered Olea from the onset and eventually broke through late in the 4th round when he dropped Olea to a knee courtesy of a beautifully thrown left hook.  The 24 year-old Fulton picked up where he left off in the 5th and again landed a crisp left on the button that brought Olea to a knee. Referee Shada Murdaugh decided that was enough punishment and called a stop the fight at the 1:39 mark of round 5.

Olea’s winless streak on US soil continues, as he drops to 0-4.  All his wins have come in his native Colombia.

Duncan TKOs Garcia-Flores In 3

Undefeated middleweight Mark Duncan (3-0, 3KO) returned to the Barclays Center for the second time in 34 days and scored a TKO3 against Daniel Garcia-Flores (0-3) in a bout scheduled for 4.

The Maryland-native Duncan, who last fought at the Barclays Center in December on the Charlo brother’s undercard, battered Garcia-Flores early and often.  Punches and damage quickly accumulated and midway through the 3rd round, the ringside physician jumped up on the apron and signaled to the referee to stop the contest.  The official time of the stoppage comes at the 1:15 mark of round 3.

Irby Counters His Way Past Figueroa

Maryland’s Tyrek Irby (6-0, 2KO) remained perfect, earning a 4 round unanimous decision over Jonathan Figueroa (2-2, 1KO) in a welterweight scrap.

It was a contrast of styles as the 27 year-old Connecticut fighter, Figueroa, charged for all twelve minutes, while the 25 year-old Maryland man, Irby, slickly countered his way to an easy decision.  Scores read 39-37×2 and 40-36 for Irby.

Deets Stuns Wilder, KOs Him In 4th

In a shocking upset, 33 year-old veteran William Deets (7-12, 3KO) came from behind to KO Marsellos Wilder (3-1, 2KO) with just :25 seconds remaining in their 4 round cruiserweight contest.

Wilder, the 29 year-old younger brother of WBC Heavyweight Champion, Deontay Wilder, was easily outpointing his rugged counterpart, having won each of the first 3 rounds. The Alabama-native Wilder first hurt Deets with a huge left near the end of the first that put Deet’s on unsteady legs, sending him stumbling back to his corner after the bell.  At various times during the next two-plus rounds it looked like Wilder could stop Deets but he never sealed the deal.

Then late in the fourth, Deets flipped the script.  The Nebraskan connected with a huge left hook — a punch he’d attempted and misfired with at least ten times during the bout — and flattened Wilder.  Wilder initially got to his feet during the referee’s ten count, but stumbled to the ropes where his legs failed to keep him steady. The official time of the KO came at the 2:35 mark of round 4.  The result marks the first professional defeat for Wilder, whose brother was on hand to witness to bout.

Time will tell if anything changes, but as of now, Wilder’s next contest is slated to take place next month in the UK on the undercard of Chris Eubanks, Jr. v. James DeGale.

Cruz Stops Florez In 2

In the second of the non-televised swing bouts, Puerto Rican welterweight Miguel Cruz (18-1, 12KO) made quick work of his Colombian counterpart, Luis E. Florez (24-12, 20KO) blitzing him out of the ring inside 2.  The official stoppage came at at the 2:21 mark of round 2. Cruz bounced back nicely from suffering his lone career defeat courtesy of Josesito Lopez last April.

Glanton Stays Perfect, TKOs Fenderson In 2

In the first of two non-televised swing bouts, Atlanta’s Brandon Glanton (8-0, 7KO) battered fellow light heavyweight Jerhed Fenderson (4-9, 2KO) en route to a second round TKO in a contest slated for 4.  The official time of the stoppage came at the 2:49 mark of round 2

Teal Opens Card With A Bang

In the first of thirteen fights from the Barclays Center, Florida super middleweight Mycheal Teal (2-0, 2KO) needed :30 seconds to dispose of winless Jacob Landin (0-3) of Texas.

The Manny Pacquiao – Adrien Broner Pay-Per-View bout from Saturday generated 400,000 buys, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

With around 400,000 units sold, that means Pacquiao-Broner grossed approximately $30 million in domestic pay-per-view revenue. The official gate for the announced crowd of 13,025 has not been made official yet by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, but it will be in the seven figures.

Former WBO Middleweight Middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders has his suspension for a failed drug test, and now a purse bid will take place for a bout woth new champion Demetrius Andrade, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

In a letter sent to Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, Andrade’s promoter, and Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions, Saunders’ promoter, the WBO gave the camps 30 days to negotiate a deal for the bout. If they cannot come to an agreement by then, a purse bid will be held. The minimum bid was set at $200,000, though the promotional rights to the fight would likely go for millions if a purse bid takes place.

After what seems like years of stops and starts, Manuel Charr has been ordered to defend his secondary WBA Heavyweight title against Fres Oquendo, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Although VADA and the WBA had reason to assume that Charr did not intend to have a representative attend the opening and testing of the B sample, Charr claims that his requests regarding the B sample testing were not acknowledged,” the WBA wrote in its resolution, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN. “Regardless of the disputes over communications and notice, Charr did not have a representative attend the B sample testing. Charr provided a third sample to VADA on Sept. 29, 2018, and the sample tested negative, according to a VADA communication of Nov. 6 2018.”

“Because of the lapse of time since the taking of the A and B samples and the communication issues alleged by Charr, the suspension is recalled,” the WBA wrote. However, the lifting of the suspension was subject to certain conditions.

“As the exclusive co-promoters of Fres Oquendo, Square Ring and Hitz Boxing intend to comply with the WBA resolution, and as we already have an agreement in place with the Charr camp and the money is already in escrow in the United States, the only thing we need to do now is set the date and the site of the fight,” Square Ring promoter John Wirt told ESPN on Monday night.

“He had a patch on his eye and was told it was a scratched cornea and they put an antibiotic ointment in his eye,” Said Pacquiao’s publicist Fred Sternburg said.

As for the Burglary, “They think it happened on fight night,” Sternburg said. “They’re gathering information and taking inventory and the police are investigating. It’s an upsetting situation. They don’t know what’s been stolen, if anything.

“(The burglars) basically went in and ransacked the senator’s bedroom. It seems like they found nothing and then they bailed,” Sean Gibbons of MP Promotions said.

Cory Sandhagen stopped previously undefeated Mario Bautista in a bantamweight contest via Armbar.

The time was 3:31 for Sandhagen, 135 1/2 lbs of Aurora, CO and is now 10-1.  Bautista, 135 lbs of Phoenix is 6-1.

Dennis Bermudez won a unanimous decision over Te Edwards in a light bout.

Bermudez, 156 lbs of Lyndenhurst, NY won by scores of 30-26 on all cards and is now 18-9.  Edwards, 155 lbs of Phoenix is 6-3.

Geoff Neal won a unanimous decision over Belal Muhammad in a welterweight fight.

In round three, Muhammad was bleeding from the nose as a result as some heavy kicks by Neal.

Neal, 170 1/2 lbs of Dallas, TX won by scores of 30-27 on all cards, and is now 11-2.  Muhammad, 170 lbs of Chicago is 14-3.

Chance Rencountre stopped Kyle Stewart in the 1st round of their welterweight bout.

The stop came via Rear-Naked Choke at 2:25

Rencountre, 170 1/2 lbs of Pohawksa, OK is now 13-3.  Stewart, 170 1/2 lbs of Gilbert, AZ is 11-2.

Kovalev was arrested on June 9 in connection with an incident in Big Bear Lake, California, in which he is accused of punching a woman in the face, according to San Bernardino County online court records. Kovalev was released on $50,000 bail, according to the court records.

He was charged with assault likely to cause great bodily injury and on Aug. 27 pleaded not guilty, according to court records.

On Friday, TMZ reported the incident in which Kovalev was said to have met a woman at a party and after she rejected his advances, allegedly punched her, which resulted in the woman suffering a broken nose, a concussion and a displaced disk in her neck.

Main Events promoter Kathy Duva, Kovalev’s longtime promoter, told ESPN on Friday night that the fight is still on.

“While every woman deserves to be heard, Sergey deserves the right to clear his name in court,” Duva said. “And that is what he will do when this goes to trial.”

NEW YORK CITY, NY — In the main event of a night of boxing broadcast on DAZN from Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, Demetrius “Boo Boo” Andrade took his scalpel and chiseled away at Artur “Wolverine” Akavov for eleven-plus rounds en route to a 12th round TKO victory, retaining his WBO world middleweight title in the process.

It was Andrade’s first defense of his WBO strap since winning it convincingly against Walter Kautondokwa in October. That contest was originally supposed to pit Andrade against Billy Joe Saunders, who was replaced by Kautondokwa after failing a drug test.

It wasn’t a particularly hard night at the office for the 30 year-old Rhode Island native. Andrade set the distance early, kept his fellow southpaw opponent at bay, all the while methodically peppering in shots clean shots round after round.

The former ‘08 US Olympian, Andrade, shifted into cruise control in the early goings and never changed gears. Akavov had no answer as to how to get inside Andrade’s reach or mount any significant offensive attack.

Eventually, Andrade broke through in the 9th round when a left hand opened a nasty cut over Akavov’s right eye that would trouble him for the remainder of the fight.

After sustaining continuous damage in the ensuing rounds, referee Arthur Mercante, Jr. decided enough was enough and stopped the contest at the 2:36 mark of round 12. Although bloody and beaten, the stoppage seemed unnecessary as only :24 seconds remained and Akavov was not in any clear danger.

The result snapped a three fight win streak for the Russian, Akavov, and also marked the second time the 33 year-old has come up short in a world title fight. He also dropped a unanimous decision to Billy Joe Saunders for the very same WBO title in 2016. His only other professional defeat also came via the cards against Oleg Lissev in 2012.

Andrade remains well positioned to score a bigger fight for a bigger payday later in 2019. Fellow middleweight title holders and DAZN fighters, Canelo Alvarez (WBC) and Daniel Jacobs (IBF), will meet in a monster unification clash set for May 4 in Las Vegas.

Cano Stuns Linares, Stops Him In 1!

Veteran Mexican fighter Pablo Cesar Cano (32-7-1, 22KO) scored the biggest win of his career and shocked the boxing world in the process, flooring former three-division world champion Jorge Linares (45-5, 28KO) three times in the opening round of a scheduled twelve en route to a first round TKO victory.

About :30 seconds into the contest, the 29 year-old Cano landed an overhand right that exploded above Linares’ left ear and sent the flashy Venezuelan thudding to the mat. Cano kept the heat on, and didn’t allow Linares to ever fully recover. Another Cano right sent Linares to the canvas again, and shortly after, Cano connected with a left hook that dropped his 33 year-old counterpart for the final time. Linares beat that ensuing ten count, but a one last Cano flurry put Linares on unsteady legs, and referee Ricky Gonzalez stepped between the two fighters to stop the contest at the 2:48 mark of round one.

The result now becomes the signature win that has seemingly eluded Cano for his entire career. Prior to tonight, each time Cano has stepped up in competition, he has come up short. Fighters who have had their hands raised against Cano include former world champions Paulie Malignaggi, Shane Mosley, and Erik Morales.

This was the second fight back for Linares since losing via stoppage to Visiliy Lomachenko in the very same venue last may. Linares bounced back from that loss with a KO win over Abner Cotto in September.

Each of Linares’ five career losses have come via stoppage.

With the knockout, Cano retained his WBC International Silver Super Lightweight Title, a belt he won against the previously unbeaten Ruslan Madiev in September.

This fight was only Linares’ second fight at 140 lbs., and first against a true junior welterweight. The classy vet, who debuted professionally in 2002, now needs to consider how to move forward and give thought as to which division suits him best.

He’s Got The Power: TJ Doherty Retains Title, Stops Takahashi in 11

TJ “The Power” Doheny (21-0, 15KO) made his first successful defense of his IBF world super bantamweight belt, stopping Japan’s Ryohei Takahashi (16-4-1, 6KO) in the 11th round.

The Irish-born Australian champion set the tone early, finding his target with crisp jabs and pistoning lefts from his southpaw stance.

About a minute into the second round, the two combatants clashed heads which produced almost identical cuts over the bridge of their noses, between the eyes.

The 32 year-old champion turned up the heat in the third and administered three lefts in rapid succession that sent an already off-balance Takahashi to the mat.

Doheny, who claimed his strap by decisioning then-champion Ryosuka Iwasa in Tokyo in August, seemed to get off first in every exchange and never let Takahashi get comfortable. Eventually, punches began to accumulate and take their toll on the challenger.

As the rounds progress, Takahashi’s offensive bursts proved less and less effective, while Doheny’s shots were still finding their home.

After landing a clean combination in the 11th round, referee Michael Ortega stepped in at the 2:18 mark and called a halt to the contest.

Doheny’s win sets up a potential bantamweight unification clash between Doheny and fellow Matchroom Sports client and WBA champion, Danny Roman (26-2-1, 10KO), who joined Doheny in the ring after the bout.

Chris Algieri Edges Daniel Gonzalez in Ten Round Clash

Chris Algieri (23-3, 8KO) scored a controversially wide unanimous decision victory against fellow New Yorker, Daniel “El Gallo” Gonzalez (17-2-1, 7KO) in a closely contested ten round junior welterweight contest.

The 34 year-old Algieri got out to a fast start, making a conscious commitment to hammer away at Gonzalez’s body. Theoretically, that should have paid dividends as the fight bore on, however, Gonzalez seemed seemed to gain momentum round after round.

By the middle rounds, it seemed that the Woodhaven, Queens native, Gonzalez, was fighting the fight he mapped out in camp. He was applying pressure, forcing Algieri to constantly be on the move, and landing shots in the process. To his credit, Huntington’s Algieri, countered slickly, and for the most part avoided eating any big blows. In the seventh round a clash of heads late produced a nasty welt and cut under Algieri’s left eye.

At the end of ten the judges scorecards of 98-92, 97-93, and 96-94 for Algieri were met with boos upon reading.

Tonight marked Algieri’s second fight back in the ring since taking time off after getting TKO’d by Errol Spence, Jr. in 2016. The former Manny Pacquiao foe decisioned Angel Hernandez in November.

Gonzalez only other career defeat came via TKO courtesy of Danny O’Connor in 2017.

Put Her In The Books! Serrano Captures Title In 7th Weight Division

Amanda “The Real Deal” Serrano (36-1-1, 27KO) once again made history, needing just :35 seconds to defeat Eva Voraberger (24-6, 11KO) to capture the WBO world female super flyweight championship in her record breaking seventh weight division.

Serrano was simply in another league, throwing punches fast and furious from the onset, overwhelming Voraberger. Serrano landed a beautiful combination that culminated with a vicious left that landed right under Voraberger’s rib cage, forcing her down to a knee where she was counted out by referee Sparkle Lee.

Serrano last fought in September when she won the WBO world female super lightweight title against Yamila Esther Reynosa in Brooklyn. That fight took place at 140 lbs. In an unprecedented move, Serrano cut 25 lbs. and dropped six weight divisions for tonight’s fight where she went on to earn her seventh weight world title, this time in the 115 lb. division.

Serrano’s lone blemish remains a 2012 unanimous decision loss against Frida Walberg in 2012 in Sweden.

Tonight’s win makes it 21 straight for Serrano. The fight also marks the first of a three-fight deal for Serrano with DAZN, which, if all goes according to plan, will culminate with a female super-fight pitting her against the WBO female lightweight champion and former Irish gold medal Olympian, Katie Taylor.

Reshat “The Albanian Bear” Roars Past Borteye

Reshat “The Albanian Bear” Mati (3-0, 2KO) manhandled Benjamin Borteye (4-4 4KO), knocking him down and finishing him off in the first of their scheduled 4 round welterweight scrap. The 20 year-old Albanian-American, Mati, overwhelmed his gun-shy and awkward counterpart from the bell. Mati, who like Sosa, also trains at Atlas Cops & Kids, dropped Borteye midway through the round with a huge right hand, and kept his foot on the gas, landing one final blow that knocked Borteye off balance and back into the ropes, which held him upright. The referee stopped the contest then and there, resulting in the first round TKO for Mati.

Julian Sosa Runs Record to 13-0-1, Stops Nzau in 4

Welterweight Julian Sosa (13-0-1, 5KO) made it two for two for Brooklyn boxers on the night by TKO’ing Congo’s Dieumerci Nzau (11-7, 8KO) in a contest originally slated for 6 rounds. Sosa, who fights out of Atlas Cops & Kids and is trained by Aureliano Sosa, used nifty footwork to create angles to cleanly land on Nzau. Lead lefts hooks were arguably Sosa’s best punches, but it was a right hand that dropped his 30 year-old counterpart in the third round. Nzau never answered the bell for round 4 and the contest was halted. The official time of the stoppage was 2:59 of round 4.

Solomon Bounces Back, Notches First Career Win

Brooklyn heavyweight Nkosi Solomon (1-1) rebounded nicely from suffering a shocking defeat in his pro debut by earning a unanimous decision victory against former two-time Georgia Golden Gloves champion, Rodriguez Cade (2-4, 2KO). The 24 year-old Solomon, who was once the #1 ranked US amateur in the super-heavyweight division, won definitively, but not pretty. Cade’s game plan was pretty simple — try to land a big shot and knock Solomon out. Not the worst idea considering Solomon was put down twice in his pro debut back in October. Tonight, however, Solmon’s defense was a bit more buttoned up and he was able to avoid his 29 year-old counterpart’s biggest punches.

Solomon’s best round was undoubtedly the third, in which he floord Cade with a huge overhand right. At the end of four, all judges scored it a shutout for Solomon, 40-35.

Golden Boy Prospect Hines Stays Perfect

Golden Boy Promotions welterweight prospect, Cornell Hines (4-0, 2KO) shook off some ring rust and survived a tough challenge from Farhad Fatulla (1-3) en route to a four round majority decision victory. The 25 year-old DC native, Hines, who fought only once last year struggled to get into any sort of offensive rhythm, but did enough to eke out a win on the judges’ cards. Scores were 38-38, and 39-37 twice for Hines. The match kicked off a night of fights broadcast live on DAZN from the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City that will culminate with Demetrius Andrade defending his WBO middleweight title against Artur Akavov.

Oscar Rivas pulled off the biggest win of his career by stopping Bryant Jennings in the final round of their 12-round heavyweight at The Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.

Rivas was the more active fighter and in round 12, he turned up the heat and stepped on the gas with a hard combination on Jennings against the ropes until he put Jennings on the canvas. With Jennings hurt, Rivas jumped on Jennings as he landed some major power punches on the ropes that snapped the head of Jennings back, and the bout was stopped at 54 seconds.

Rivas, 234 lbs of Montreal is 26-0 with 18 knockouts. Jennings, 223 1/4 lbs of Philadelphia is 24-3.

“I worked hard for this fight, and this is the result we were looking for,” Rivas said. “Before the beginning of the last round, my coach reminded me how hard we had worked, and that motivated me to leave everything in the last round. I saw that the combination of a hook and straight right hand was landing, and I kept throwing it until I knocked him down.

“I demonstrated that I’m unbeaten for a reason. Now after this triumph, the boxing world will know my name. This victory puts me closer to being among the elites of the division. I want to write my name in the history of Colombian boxing.

Said Jennings: “It is what it is.”

Shakur Stevenson remained undefeated with a 4th round stoppage over Jessie Cris Rosales in a scheduled 10-round featherweight contest.

Stevenson dumped Rosales with a hard left, and Rosales was flat on his back, and the fight was called at 1:17 of round four.

Stevenson is now 10-0 with six knockouts. Rosales is 22-2-1.

“I want Warrington. I want to go England and fight in front of the fans over there. That would be a great fight,” Stevenson said. “I know that I’m ready for a title shot. At the same time, I am still growing and improving. I have a great team behind me.”

Robson Conceicao won an eight-round unanimous decision over Hector Ambriz in a super featherweight bout.

Conceicao, 130 1/2 lbs of Bahia, BRA won by shutout scores of 80-72 on all cards, and is now 11-0. Ambriz, 130 1/2 lbs of Ensenada, MEX is 12-9-2.

Jason Sosa survived an early to knockdown to comeback and take a 10-round unanimous decision over Moises Delgadillo in a junior lightweight contest.

In round one, Sosa was cut on the bridge of the nose. In round two, Delgadillo sent Sosa down with a clipping left hook. In round three, Delgadillo started to bleed around his left eye.

In round seven, Sosa turned the tide by knocking Delgadillo down with a body punch.

Sosa, 131 lbs of Camden, NJ won by scores of 97-91 twice and 96-92 to raise his mark to 22-3-4. Delagadillo, 133 lbs of Guadalajara, MEX is 17-19-2.

“I came from behind in this fight. He surprised me and knocked me down with a good punch, but I recovered and then I managed to knock him down and take control of the fight,” Sosa said. “I did not have any amateur fights, so I’m still learning a lot with each fight.”

I want {WBC super featherweight champion Miguel} Berchelt. I want that title that he has. It would be another great war between Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Two-time Indian Olympian Vikas Krishan made a successful pro debut with a 2nd round stoppage over Steven Andrade in a scheduled six-round junior middleweight bout.

Krishan pressured Andrade from the opening bell, and in round two, a hard flurry put Andrade on the canvas. A follow up flurry had referee Benjy Esteves to stop the bout.

Krishan, 152 lbs is 1-0 with one knockout. Andrade, 151 3/4 lbs of Cartersville, GA is 3-4.

“I want to thank my team for helping me have a successful professional debut,” Krishan said. “This is only the start of my professional journey. ‘The Indian Tank’ is coming.”

Fazliddin Gaibnazarov remained undefeated by stopping Ricardo Garcia after round four of their scheduled eight-round junior welterweight bout.

In round three, Gaibnazarov dropped Garcia with a right hook.

Gaibnazarov, 141 1/2 lbs of Berobod, UZB is 7-0 with four knockouts. Garcia, 142 lbs of Reading, PA is 14-5-1.

“I want to step up my level of competition now,” Gaibnazarov said. “I am ready for the top fighters at 140 pounds. My time is coming.”

Carlos Adames remained undefeated by stopping Juan Ruiz in round three in a schedueled eight-round junior middleweight bout.

Adames dropped Ruiz with a right to the body for the 10-count at 1:57.

Adames, 156 lbs of Santiago, DR is now 16-0 with 13 knockouts. Ruiz, 155 1/2 lbs of Tijuana, MEX is 21-4.

“This is the new era of ‘El Caballo Bronco,'” Adames said. “I want to battle against the best. I already want to face a world champion. Anyone who does not want to face me, get out of the way because I’m coming for all the super welterweight world titles.”

LAS VEGAS –Cameron Krael stopped Michael Ogundo in the 1st round of their scheduled ten round welterweight fight that kicked off Pacquiao – Broner fight weekend at The MGM Grand.

Krael dropped Ogundo three times before the fight was halted.

Krael is now 15-13-3 with four knockouts. Ogundo is 15-11.

Layla McCarter was penalized one point, but she still got most of the posits from the judges, who gave the Vegas welterweight a unanimous decision over Yamila Reynoso Thursday night on a Floyd Mayweather-promoted card at the MGM Grand.

McCarter (43-12-5, 11 KOs) appeared to land the heavier shots throughout most of the 10-round semi-main event against Reynoso (11-6-3, 8 KOs), of Johnstown, Pa.

Best of the Undercard

Brooklyn super-lightweight Richardson Hitchins combined long arms and sudden0-strike quickness to stay unbeaten (7-0, 3 KOs), scoring a unanimous decision over Tre’Sean Wiggins (10-4, 6 KOs) of Johnstown, Pa.

The Rest

Mexican bantamweight Antonio Rodriguez (15-23-2, 6 KOs) scored a first-round knockdown, which proved enough to be enough for a split decision over Dylan Price (7-1, 5 KOs) of Sicklerville, NJ.

Las Vegas super-featherweight Andres Cortez (10-0, 6 KOs) punished Mexican Eder Fajardo (9-7, 4 KOs) throughout three rounds, winning a TKO when Fajardo’s corner threw in the towel before the fourth.

Baltimore super-middleweight Travis Reeves (17-3-2, 7 KOs) threw two big right hands for two knockdowns, one in the first and again in the fourth, for a unanimous decision over Lanell Bellows (18-4-2, 1 KOs) of Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS – Canelo Alvarez and Danny Jacobs will fight on May 4 for three pieces of the middleweight title, according to Alvarez and his promoter Oscar De La Hoya.

Alvarez broke the news Thursday on his twitter account, saying that the fight was official. The site has yet to be determined. However, T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas is believed to be the leading possibility.

In a subsequent news release from DAZN, Alvarez said:

“I will unify my middleweight titles against Daniel Jacobs on one of the two most important dates that belong to me. I have no doubt that I will be victorious and that I’ll be one step away from becoming the undisputed middleweight world champion.”

Jacobs also was quoted in the statement from DAZN, a streaming service which signed Canelo (50-1-2, 34 KOs), the WBC and WBA champion, to a landmark deal after his rematch decision over Gennady Golovkin last September.

“This is the opportunity I have been waiting for,’’ said Jacobs (35-2, 29 KOs), who holds the IBF title. “The opportunity to achieve greatness inside the ring. I have always believed I can beat Canelo, and … I will get my chance to play it out. It’s been nearly four years since Canelo has faced an American challenger. It’s going to be a huge event where I believe I will cement myself as the best middleweight in the division.”

De La Hoya said the Jacobs’ fight is a significant step in Canelo’s relationship with DAZN.

“Canelo Alvarez wants the best fights and the biggest challenges,” De La Hoya said in a statement on news that broke Thursday during the undercard news conference for the Manny Pacquiao-Adrien Broner pay-per-view bout Saturday at the MGM Grand. “That’s what he did as the 154-pound champion, and that’s what he’s doing now as the king of the middleweight division.

“We are also proud to demonstrate to boxing fans that this new partnership with DAZN means that fans will get pay-per-view level fights without the cost of pay-per-view. Golden Boy Promotions is continuing its promise to make the sport as accessible as possible by putting this champion-vs.-champion fight on the platform.”

The WBC has ordered an immediate rematch between Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Consistent with the WBC board of governors voting regarding the direct rematch between WBC champion Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury, the WBC is hereby notifying both camps that the free negotiation period is opened,” the WBC, which sanctions the title belt that Wilder holds, said in a statement.

Shelly Finkel, one of Wilder’s managers, told ESPN on Wednesday that their side is ready to make a deal.

“We’ve been talking about it but now things will get serious,” Finkel said.

He said he had no issue with Fury getting 40 percent if the fight goes to a purse bid because “he deserves it.”

Finkel said he hopes that the fight will take place “sometime in late May. I could be June but I would hope May.”

A rematch would likely take place in the United States. Frank Warren, Fury’s promoter, told ESPN late last week that they remain interested in the rematch and acknowledged that it would likely be in the U.S. after at first talking about the prospect of the fight being in the United Kingdom.

“We’re trying to make that fight at the moment, everyone wants the fight and most importantly the fighters want it,” Warren said. “The venue is looking like the U.S. That’s where the money is. … Tyson is already in the gym working hard, ticking over, and I think we would get it (the fight) before June.”

WBA Light Heaveight champion Dmitry Bivol will defend his title against Joe Smith, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Smith was originally ticketed to face IBF champion Artur Beterbiev, but Beterbiev looks like he will be making a deal with TOP Rank and moving to the ESPN platforms.

Caleb Plant won the IBF Super Middleweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Jose Uzcategui in Los Angeles.

In round two, Plant dropped Uzcategui with a left hook. Two rounds later, it was a similar punch that put Uzcategui down for a 2nd time. The fight was grueling and plant showed the war scars as he was cut around his right eye in round six.

Plant, 166.8 lbs of Nashville, TN won by scores of 116-110 twice and 115-111 and is now 18-0. Uzcategui, 165.2 lbs of El Vigia, VEN is 28-3.

Joey Spencer remained undefeated with a 2nd round stoppage over Brandon Harder in a scheduled four-round super welterweight bout,

In round one, Spencer dropped Harder with a straight right to the head. In round two, it was another right that sent Harder down again. Moments later, Harder went down again, and the bout was stopped.

Spencer, 155.8 lbs of Linden, MI is 6-0 with six knockouts. Harder, 153 lbs of Southaven, MS is 2-2.

Brandon Figueroa stopped Moises Flores in round three of a their scheduled 12-round super bantamweight bout.

Figueroa dropped Flores with a huge left hook, and finished him off later in round three with a barrage of punches that sent Flores down for a 2nd time, and the bout was stopped at 1:35.

Figueroa, 121.4 lbs of Welasco, TX is 18-0 with 13 knockouts. Flores, 121 lbs of Guadalajara, MEX is 25-2.

Former world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux stopped Giovanni Delgado in the 1st round of their scheduled 10 round super bantamweight bout.

Rigondeaux dropped Delgado at the end of the 1st round with a hard overhand left for the 10 count. The time of the finish was 3:00.

Rigondeaux, 122.2 lbs of Santiago, CUB is 18-1 with 12 knockouts. Delgado, 128.6 lbs of Tacubuyla, MEX is 16-9.

Lindolfo Delgado stopped Sergio Lopez in round three of a scheduled eight-round super lightweight bout.

Delgado dropped Lopez with a left to the body for the 10-count at 2:48.

Delgado, 140.4 lbs of Linares, MX is 8-0 with eight knockouts. Lopez, 137.2 lbs of West Covina, CA is 22-13-1.

Ahmed Elbiali stopped faded Allan Green in round three of their scheduled eight-round light heavyweight bout.

In round one, Elbiali dropped Green with a right-left combination on the ropes. In round two, Elbiali dropped Green with a big left hook. In round three, Elbiali dropped Green with hard right hand, and the bout was stopped at 1:16.

Elbiali, 175 lbs of Cairo, EGY is now 18-1 with 15 knockouts. Green, 178.6 lbs of Tulsa, OK is 33-6.

On March 23rd, 130-lb world champion Miguel Berchelt will take on Francisco Vargas in a rematch of an entertaining fight from 2017, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

The fight will be seen live on ESPN, and will take place at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

“It’s great to work with Golden Boy again putting together what should be a continuation a terrific first fight, and being at The Forum is a natural home for this match,” Top Rank’s Todd duBoef said.

“Their first fight was a good one, but it was stopped because of the cuts. Berchelt has gotten better, and so now we will see where Vargas is,” Golden Boy Promotions president Eric Gomez told ESPN. “Vargas is tough, and he is always game. He wanted this fight. and we’ll see if he can overthrow Berchelt and regain the title.”

Gomez said that Juan Carlos Torres of Berchelt co-promoter Zanfer Promotions reached out to him to see what their interest was in the rematch. Golden Boy and Zanfer co-promote junior middleweight titlist Jaime Munguia, and Gomez said he and Torres were able to work it out.

“Juan Carlos asked me if we were still interested in the rematch, which we had talked about a few times before,” Gomez said. “Vargas wanted it, so we did the deal. I spoke to [Top Rank vice president] Carl Moretti a little bit, and we made it happen. It will be another good fight.”

“Berchelt has shown interest in fighting Loma, and I think the winner of this fight is in contention to fight him later in the year,” duBoef said

Terence Crawford will defend his welterweight title against Amir Khan on April 20th, after a press release was sent out by Top Rank stating the fight will be announced Tuesday at a press conference in London.

The fight is expected to be the first pay-per-view event distributed by ESPN, and will either take place in New York or Las Vegas.

Jon Jones returned to the Octagon by winning the UFC Light Heavyweight championship with a 3rd round stoppage over Alexander Gustafsson at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

Jones was proficient with his leg kicks over the first two rounds. In round two, Gustafsson started to swell under his left eye. In round three, Jones was able to take Gustafsson down. Jones got Gustafsson on his back and began to pound away at a prone foe until the bout was stopped at 2:02.

The fight, which changed it’s venue from the T-Mobile Arena to The Forum, was fought under a cloud of controversy as a PED test from Jones came back with traces of a banned substance, but it was not enough in the eyes of the California commission to postpone the fight.

Jones is now 17-1-1. Gustafsson of Sweden suffered his 2nd defeat to Jones, is now 18-5.

Amanda Nunes cemented herself as the best female fighter in the world as she annihilated Cris Cyborg in 51 seconds to capture the UFC Featherweight title.

Nunes landed crushing shot after crushing shot that sent Cyborg to the canvas on four occasions. The final time came from a wicked overhand right that dumped Cyborg face first, and the bout was stopped.

In what was a battle of Brazilians, Nunes ups her mark to 17-4. Cyborg is 20-2-1.

Nunes owns a 48 second knockout over Ronda Rousey.

Former light heavyweight champion, Adonis Stevnson has awaken from a medically induced coma due to head injuries he suffered in his December 1st fight with Olkesandr Govozdyk, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Despite recent reports being leaked to media, I wanted to clarify that Adonis is awake,” Simone “Sisi” God, Stevenson’s girlfriend and the mother of his daughter, said in a statement on Saturday. “He is healing from his injury in the private company of his family and his dedicated medical team. Adonis is a world champion in the ring and is exhibiting that same grit, strength and determination in his recovery.”

On behalf of Adonis and our family, I wanted to take a minute to thank everyone who has taken the time to reach out, send prayers and post about Adonis’ injury,” God said. “We are so grateful for the outpour of messages, gifts and support that have come our way.

“‘Superman’ is a world champion and has demonstrated his strength in facing every obstacle he has ever faced. He is a legend in the eyes of his fans and a man that demonstrates to his family daily that inner strength and love can change and redeem even the greatest of hardships.”

“Adonis and our family are so thankful to you all for your love and support and respectfully ask to continue to grant Adonis and our family privacy as he heals from this accident,” she said. “With the holidays here, Adonis is spending time enjoying music and spending time with [daughter] Adonia and his family and sends his love and appreciation to you all.

“While our Superman Adonis recovers, I’ll be stepping in to deal with all business related to Adonis as the Superwoman he always tells me I am. We are truly blessed by God and all of you for your support.”

Josh Warrington won a 12-round unanimous decision over former world champion Carl Frampton to retain the IBF Featherweight title at The Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

Warrington came out like gangbisters and he threw and landed punches with reckless abandon.  Warrington dominated the first half of the fight with sheer volume.  Frampton showed a champions class as he fought his way back in the fight, and made it very tight on the scorecards bt landing right counters over the combinations of Warrington.

Warrington built up too much of a lead, and held on by scores of 116-113 and 116-112.

Warrington, 125.9 lbs of Leeds, UK is 28-0.  Frampton, 125.9 lbs of Belfast, IRE is 26-2

Liam Williams stopped previously undefeated Mark Heffron in round 10 of a scheduled 12 round middleweight fight.

In round two, Williams was cut over the right eye from a clash of heads.  Williams dominated the action as he will able to land his right hand at will.

In round two, Williams landed a big shot that drove Heffron into the ropes, which was ruled a knockdown.  Williams followed that up with an onslaught of punches, and the fight was stopped at 1:55

Williams, 159.9 lbs of Wales is 19-2-1 with 14 knockouts.  Heffron, 157.9 ls 21-1.

Hassan N’Dam won a 12-round majority decision over Martin Murray in a middleweight contest.

At the end of round four, Murray landed an overhand right that sent N’Dam down in the corner.  But N’Dam was able to survive that and box and move his way to a points victory by scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 114-114.

N’Dam, 157.9 lbs of France is now 37-3.  Murray, 159.9 lbs of England is 37-5-1.

Michael Conlan remained undefeated with a 10-round unanimous decision over Jason Cunningham in a featherweight bout.

In round six, Conlan was deducted a point for a low blow, but Conlan dominated the action, and won by scores of 98-92 and 97-92 twice

Conlan, 125.9 lbs of Ireland is 10-0.  Cunningham, 124.9 lbs of England is 24-6.

On his performance against Cunningham

“I made some mistakes in there, but it was a learning experience. It was the first time I went 10 rounds. I felt comfortable in there going the distance, and I got the job done.”

“At the end of the day, it’s another win in the bank. I’m very happy.”

On almost finishing Cunningham in the 10th round

“I thought I had him going, but I couldn’t get him out of there. He did very well to survive. I hit him with some good shots, but he’s a smart fighter and he knew how to survive. If I had a couple more rounds, I think I could have had him out of there.”

On his 2018 campaign

“I’ve progressed. I’ve gone from prospect to contender. I still have a few questions to answer, but I’m happy with the way things are going.”

On what’s next

“I’m going to be back at Madison Square Garden on March 17 for St. Patrick’s Day. Then, we want to come back to Belfast in the summer with a fight in between. I’m not sure who is next, but I want to keep stepping up.”

Nathan Gorman remained undefeated with a 12-round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Razvan Cojanu in a heavyweight bout.

Gorman, 238.1 lbs won by scores of 120-108 and 119-109 twice, and is now 15-0.  Cojanu, 273.1 lbs of Burbank, CA is now 16-5.

Tyson Fury’s brother, Tommy Fury made a successful pro debut with a decision win over trial horse Jevgenis Andrejevs.

Fury, 178.8 lbs won by  a 40-36 scores and is 1-0.  Andrejevs of Lativa is 10-103-3.

Undefeated lightweight Teofimo Lopez will take on former world title challenger Diego Magdaleno on February 2nd as part of the Eleider Alvarez – Sergey Kovalev card in Frisco, Texas, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Teofimo wanted to fight a southpaw. He says find me a southpaw if he’s going to fight Lomachenko eventually, so we started looking for a southpaw,” Top Rank Vice-President Carl Moretti said. “It’s rare when somebody asks to fight a southpaw.”

“Diego is a former world title challenger and he knows how to box very well,” Moretti said. “We expect good competitive rounds in this fight, which is what Teofimo needs. Teofimo wants to fight all styles and southpaw being a style he wants to fight. He’s thinking Lomachenko down the road, but for now it’s Diego Magdaleno.”

Diego isn’t the biggest puncher, but between who he has sparred with and who he’s been in the ring with I’m really interested to see how Teofimo handles him — or doesn’t,” Moretti said.

Former super middleweight champion David Benavidez will be back in action on March 16th underneath the Errol Spence – Mikey Garcia card in Arlington, Texas, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“We’re looking for a top contender for David to fight,” said Benavidez promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz said. “He doesn’t need a tune-up. He fits perfectly on this card. People are interested in how he is coming back. People are curious.”

“David is training in Washington State. He is very happy and he would like to fight tomorrow,” Lewkowicz said. “He’s ready to come and forget the past. He is ready to look to the future.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the nominees for the BWAA Awards for 2018 have been set.

The nominees for the organization’s most prestigious award, the Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year award, are:

• Undisputed cruiserweight world champion Oleksandr Usyk (16-0, 12 KOs), who won the eight-man World Boxing Super Series tournament in July and became only the fourth undisputed champion of the four-belt era and the first in cruiserweight division history. He also won all three of his 2018 bouts on the road.

• Pound-for-pound king and unified lightweight world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KOs), the 2017 winner, who moved up to lightweight and knocked out Jorge Linares in the 10th round to win a title in a third weight division in May before winning a lopsided decision over Jose Pedraza to unify 135-pound belts on Dec. 8.

• Junior welterweight titlist Maurice Hooker (25-0-3, 17 KOs), who traveled to Terry Flanagan’s hometown of Manchester, England, in June and won a split decision to claim a vacant belt, followed by a seventh-round knockout of Alex Saucedo in Saucedo’s hometown of Oklahoma City in a November defense.

• Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs), who outpointed Sergey Lipinets in February to win a junior welterweight world title to become a four-division titleholder before returning to the lightweight division to outpoint Robert Easter Jr. in a title unification bout in July.

• Welterweight titlist Terence Crawford (34-0, 25 KOs), the 2014 winner, who vacated the undisputed junior welterweight title to move up in weight for a one-sided, ninth-round knockout of Jeff Horn in June to win a world title in a third weight class, followed by a one-sided, 12th-round knockout of Jose Benavidez Jr. in his first defense in October.

Full members of the BWAA will vote on the awards over the next month and winners will be announced in early 2019. The winners will be honored at the 94th annual BWAA awards dinner in the spring at a site to be determined.

Nominees for the Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier Fight of the Year award are heavyweight titleholder Deontay Wilder’s exciting 10th-round knockout of Luis “King Kong” Ortiz in March; Jarrett Hurd’s split-decision win against Erislandy Lara to unify junior middleweight titles in an all-out slugfest in April; Lomachenko’s 10th-round knockout of Linares to win a lightweight world title in May; junior welterweight Saucedo’s seventh-round stoppage of Lenny Zappavigna in a back-and-forth bloodbath in June; and Canelo Alvarez’s narrow majority-decision win over Gennady Golovkin to claim the middleweight title in their action-packed rematch in September.

The nominees for the Eddie Futch Trainer of the Year award are Anatoly Lomachenko (the 2017 winner), Jay Deas, Robert Garcia, and Derrick James.

Nominees for the Cus D’Amato Manager of the Year award went to Keith Connolly, 2016 and 2017 winner Egis Klimas, Chepo Reynoso, and Sam Katkovski.

The Sam Taub broadcast award nominees are Showtime Sports president Stephen Espinoza; HBO analyst Roy Jones Jr., Showtime Sports executive producer David Dinkins, HBO senior producer Dave Harmon, and Showtime Sports broadcaster Jim Gray.

The nominees for the Bill Crawford award for courage in overcoming adversity are the late Sen. John McCain, Main Events promoter Kathy Duva, lineal heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, trainer Jose Santa Cruz, and Showtime broadcaster Brian Custer.

The Barney Nagler Long and Meritorious Service award nominees are Hall of Fame broadcaster Jim Lampley of HBO, CompuBox founder Bob Canobbio, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti, MGM Resorts International public relations executive director Scott Ghertner, and former middleweight and light heavyweight world champion Bernard Hopkins.

Nominees for the Marvin Kohn Good Guy award include publicist Steve Brener, the president of Brener Zwikel & Associates; Ray Stallone of HBO Sports media relations; four-division world titleholder Nonito Donaire; and two-division world titlist Badou Jack.

On Monday, unified women’s middleweight world titlist Claressa Shields (8-0, 2 KOs) was named winner of the Christy Martin award for 2018 female fighter of the year in a unanimous vote of the BWAA women’s boxing committee.

The Nat Fleischer award for career excellence in boxing journalism, which is voted on only by past winners, will be announced in the next few weeks.

NEW YORK–Canelo Alvarez thrilled over 20,000 fans in his Madison Square Garden debut as he stopped Ricky Fielding in three painful rounds to win the WBA Super Middleweight title.

It was an action packed fight as Fielding came to fight, but that was his undoing as he got drilled by thudding body shots for which two put him down one time in each of the first two frames.  Alvarez closed the show for his adoring fans by dropping Fielding for a 3rd time in round three, this time from a wicked right to the head.  Canelo ended things with another engulfing body punch that put Fielding down in a knee, and referee Ricky Gonzalez did the right thing by ending the fight at 2:38.

Alvarez is a three-division champion and now boasts a record of 51-1-1 with 35 knockouts.  Fielding, 167.4 lbs of Liverpool, UK i 27-2.

Tevin Farmer retained the IBF Super Featherweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Francisco Fonseca.

Farmer boxed well, as he featured some nice uppercuts to the body and slapping left hands.  Fonseca was cut around the right eye in round six.

Farmer, 130 lbs of Philadelphia won by scores of 117-111 on all cards and is now 28-4-1.  Fonseca, 129.4 lbs of San Ramon, CRI is 22-2-1.

In a battle between former world champions, Sadam Ali won a 10-round unanimous decision over Mauricio Herrera in a welterweight bout.

Ali, 147 lbs of Brooklyn won by scores 100-90, 99-91 and 98-92 to raise his mark to 27-2.  Herrera, 146 lbs of Riverside, CA is 24-8.

Sadam Ali:

“Honestly, I didn’t look good in there. I felt like I won sloppy. Herrera made me look terrible in there. He’s a rugged fighter. And I fell in there that last moment of the fight the same way I fell when I fought Miguel Cotto. I felt like the cards were a lot closer than what the judges said they were.”

Mauricio Herrera:

“It was an ok fight. I had to shake a lot of the rust off, but it was a good pace. Overall, I thought I won the fight. I had him missing a lot in there, and I wasn’t that tired.

Ryan Garcia thrilled the crowd by stopping Braulio Rodriguez in round five of a scheduled ten-round lightweight bout.

In round one, Garcia landed hard right that drove Rodriguez to the canvas.  In round three, Rodriguez, who was being more theatrical then forceful, was deducted a point for a low blow.

In round five, Garcia drilled Rodriguez with a left hook that rocked Rodriguez to the ropes.  Garcia followed up with a left hook that sent Rodriguez to the canvas, and the fight was halted at 1:14.

Garcia, 134.8 lbs of Victorville, CA is 17-0 with 14 knockouts.  Rodriguez, 133.2 lbs of Lo Romana, DR is 19-4.

“I wasn’t looking for the knockout because a lot of people say, if this kid can fight, I just see skills on Instagram. I wanted to show them that I can fight and I am for real.”

“That was the main thing coming in. We knew from the weigh-ins when [Rodriguez] pushed me that he would try to intimidate me, I think that’s what he was trying to do, but I came in here and I was like, that’s not going to happen.”

On training with the Reynosos: “Man, I can’t thank them enough. They took me in like family. They took care of me good. I don’t speak Spanish but they took care of me. I don’t speak Spanish, but I got the Mexican blood in me. Viva Mexico!”

On who he wants to fight next: “When I was first coming up, I made the mistake thinking when I was knocking everyone out that I can conquer the world. I know it’s a process and I’m going to trust everyone and trust my team. I’m not scared of nobody.”

Katie Taylor remained undefeated by winning a 10-round unanimous decision over Eva Wahlstrom in a IBF/WBA Lightweight title.

Taylor dominated with her superior handspeed and combination punching.

Wahlstrom was cut on her forehead in round nine, and around her left eye in the 10th frame.

Taylor, 134.2 lbs of Bray, IRE won by scores of 100-90 on all cards, and is now 12-0.  Wahlstrom, 133.4 lbs of Helsinki, FIN is 22-1-1.

Who she wants to fight next: “The goal is to be the undisputed lightweight champion of the world. Obviously one of the biggest fighters out there is Amanda Serrano, and that’s a huge, huge fight.”

On what she wants to say to Amanda Serrano: “Let’s get it on.”

 On out-landing Eva almost two to one: “I thought it was a very good performance. She’s obviously a fantastic champion and a great, great fighter. I knew it was going to be a great showcase for women’s boxing. It was such a privilege to fight here in Madison Square Garden in front of so many Irish people, so thank you so much for the support.”

On her hand speed being compared to Sugar Ray Leonard’s: “That’s probably the biggest compliment I can get to get, being compared to Sugar Ray Leonard. He’s one of my favorite fighters, I’ve watched a lot of his videos, and my goal is to be as good as him.”

Lamont Roach Jr. remained undefeated with a 10-round unanimous decision over Alberto Mercado in a junior lightweight bout.

Roach, 129.4 lbs of Washington, DC won by scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93, and is 18-0-1.  Mercado, 129.2 lbs of Humacao, PR is 15-2-1.

“I controlled most of the fight, and felt like I hurt him in almost every round. I am proud of the fight that I had tonight – most fighters don’t take the type of fights I say yes to. I’ll do what it takes to make it to the top and that means fighting skilled fighters.”

I feel good, but it’s a bummer going 10 when I know can end it earlier and go less. Other than that, the fight was tough. I dominated in everyone and I hurt him in everyone.

I know who the WBO and WBA champions are. [Masayuki] Ito and Alberto Machado.  I’ll fight any of them. But I’m in line to fight for the WBO Title, so I really hope that happens next.

Yves Ulysse Jr. dropped Maximilliano twice en-route twice en-route to an eight-round unanimous decision in a super lightweight bout.

In round six, Ulysse dropped Becerra with a hard right hand.  A round later, a left to the face sent Becera down for a 2nd time.

Ulysse, 139 lbs of of Montreal won by scores of 79-71 and 78-72 twice, and is now 17-1.  Becerra, 139 lbs of Santa Ana, CA is 16-3-2.

“It was truly a dream coming true to fight at the Madison Square Garden. All the best fighters have fought here and the atmosphere is really unique. I felt like home in the ring. I’m happy about my performance: I’ve stick to the game plan, was patient to get the openings and hurt him. “

Bilal Akkawy stopped Victor Fonseca in round seven of a scheduled eight-round auper middleweight bout.

Akkawy landed a huge flurry on the ropes, and referee Steve Willis stopped the bout at 2:53.

Akkawy, 167.4 lbs of Sydney, AUS is 19-0-1 with 15 knockouts. Fonseca, 1662. lsb of Tijuan, MEX is 17-9-1.

“There is a lot of room for improvement. I wasn’t myself in there, but I’ll be working on that when I get back to the gym. It’s an honor to have fought here [Madison Square Garden]. The plan now is to enjoy the holiday and then head to Mexico so I can get ready for my next fight.”

Hamzah Sheeraz won a six-round decision over Jodean Gannum in a super welterweight fight.

Sheeraz, 156 lbs of London won on the referee card of 60-54, and is now 6-0. Grannum, 158 lbs of London is 4-43-1.

Ryan Garner stopped Jose Aguilar in round three of a scheduled six-round featherweight bout.

Garner dominated the action, and the bout was stopped at 1:44 after a flurry on the ropes.

Garner, 127 lbs of Southhampton, UK is 8-0 with six knockouts. Aguilar, 125 lbs of Managua, NIC is 16-54-4.