INDIO, CALIF. (Feb. 22, 2018): Joseph “JoJo” Diaz (26-0, 14 KOs) successfully defended his NABF and NABO Featherweight Titles with a dominant third-round knockout victory against former world champion Victor “Vikingo” Terrazas (38-5-2, 21 KOs) in the main event of the Feb. 22 edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif. After dropping Terrazas twice in the first round, Diaz, Jr. continued punishing Terrazas to the head and body before finishing the fight with a left hook at 3:00 of the third round. Diaz, Jr. maintained his status as the No. 1 contender for the featherweight championship of the world with this impressive victory.

“Gary Russell, Jr.: You’re next,” said Diaz, Jr. “I’m ready to have that world title around my waist. Once I defeat him, I’m going to give the fight fans what they want to see: champions against champions. Victor Terrazas is a tremendous warrior. I thank him for the opportunity because of all the experience he brought to the ring. He’s a strong veteran and I wish him all the best.”

“I’m going to speak with my wife and kids,” said Terrazas. “After all, they’ll be the ones to inform me if I should continue my career or end it tonight. I feel like I’m at the end of my career. It may be time to enjoy my wife and kids and find luck in another profession.”

Good looking prospect Vergil Ortiz, Jr. kept his perfect stoppage streak intact with a 3rd round technical knockout over Jesus Alvarez scheduled eight-round super lightweight.

In round one, Ortiz dropped Alvarez with a right hand. In round three, Ortiz landed a heavy barrage of punches and the bout was stopped at 1:23.

Ortiz, 139.8 lbs of Dallas, Texas is 9-0 with nine knockouts. Alvarez, 145.2 lbs of Sinaloa, MEX is 15-4.

“I feel really good,” said Ortiz, Jr. “I dropped him in the first round with a right hand because he kept pulling straight back. I liked that he got up because he was able to give me more rounds. My dad was telling me to work the body. I really started doing it in the third round and it showed. Now it’s time for me to keep working hard so I can be ready to fight again in a few months.”

In the televised swing fight, Filipino standout Rey “Flash” Perez (22-10, 6 KOs) scored a tough but clear unanimous decision victory against Christian “Chimpa” Gonzalez (18-2, 15 KOs) in a lightweight fight. Perez dominated Gonzalez in every round, landing hard shots easily though Gonzalez’ guard. Perez won with scores of 79-73, 79-73, and 78-74.

“I had an excellent training camp,” said Perez. “The team did something different this time. We thank Coachella Valley Boxing and Luis Espinoza for their hospitality. I don’t know what’s next for me, but I’ll be ready for what comes.”

Genaro “El Conde” Gamez (7-0, 5 KOs) of San Diego, Calif. scored a technical knockout victory against Miguel Mendoza (23-14-2, 11 KOs) of Aguascalientes, Mexico at the end of the fourth round of a scheduled eight-round super lightweight fight.

“I had a lot of fun in there,” said Gamez. “I was just playing with him in there in the ring and wanted to get rid of him by the later rounds. I can’t wait to fight again.”

Super Featherweight prospect Hector “El Finito” Tanajara, Jr. (12-0, 5 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas scored a first-round knockout victory against the Mexican pugilist Eduardo Rivera (10-4-2, 4 KOs). Tanajara, Jr. wasted no time in landing a lead right uppercut that immediately hurt Rivera, which he followed with a flurry that ended matters at 1:58 seconds of the first round.

“I wanted to switch it up because I was throwing the right hand a lot,” said Tanajara, Jr.”So, I threw the lead uppercut and I hurt him. I had to be cautious before going for the finish because some fighters play it off, but either way I got the first-round knockout. I’m going to stay in camp and get ready for the next fight.”

Los Angeles, California’s Manny “Chato” Robles, III (15-0, 7 KOs) scored a fourth-round TKO victory against Martin Cordona (24-11, 16 KOs) of Tucson, Arizona in a featherweight fight originally scheduled for eight rounds. After Robles punished Cordona for several rounds, the fight was stopped at 2:53 by the latter’s corner.

“Even though he wouldn’t go down, I had to keep trying,” said Robles III. “I knew I had to keep working the body and get the knockout. Hopefully I can move to 10-round fights this year. After this, things will just get tougher as I move up the rankings.”

Diaz, Jr. vs. Terrazas was a 10-round fight for the NABF and NABO Featherweight Titles presented by Golden Boy Promotions. The event was sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING” and Hennessy, “Never Stop, Never Settle.” The fights took place on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and http://www.espn.com/boxing/; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @ESPN, and @ESPNBoxeo; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing; and follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing and @OscarDeLaHoya. Follow the conversation using #GBPonESPN.

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

Top Rank has signed featherweight title challenger Geneis Servania to a promotional contract, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

This is a dream come true,” Servania said of the deal. “I am very happy because Top Rank is the No. 1 promoter in the world. It is such an honor to join Top Rank, led by Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum, who began his career with ‘The Greatest’ — Muhammad Ali. I am very grateful and excited to be a part of the Top Rank/ESPN team. Especially now with the recent launch of ESPN 5 (sports network) in the Philippines, this is wonderful timing.”

“We used him previously on a show in Macau but his performance in a close but losing effort to Oscar Valdez shows you that he can rumble with anybody,” Moretti said. “Couple that with his ability to campaign at both junior featherweight and featherweight, and that makes him a valuable fighter to add to our stable.”

Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua maybe coming to the United States later this year possibly against Jarrell Miller, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Anthony Joshua would never look past Joseph Parker, but our job is to plan the future,” Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn said. “I’ve been talking to [Barclays Center CEO] Brett Yormark about bringing [Joshua] to New York, and August would be an opportunity to do that. While the unification fight [with Deontay] Wilder looks to be unlikely until [Wilder] gets realistic about the split [of the money], we feel a fight in America would be beneficial to us and, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center, Miller would be the guy, provided he get the win. So there’s a lot for Miller to fight for.

“In an ideal world, we’d like to see AJ’s U.S. debut in August or September. We have a strong relationship with the Barclays Center, and a fight with Miller — a kid from Brooklyn — would be an attractive fight. It’s a nice story.”

“Until March 31 happens, we just don’t know. AJ could lose the fight, get injured — anything can happen,” Hearn said. “But New York and America is a focus for us in 2018. It’s one of the territories we want to box in. The Wilder fight, I feel, is inevitable but it’s just a case of when it will happen. It all depends. Wilder has to beat Luis Ortiz [on March 3, also at Barclays Center], and we have Parker and then maybe Miller.

“But we are very serious about America. It’s very important to us and definitely on the agenda for 2018.”

“But anything can happen when you’re in these big unification fights,” Hearn said. “We’ll review everything on April 1.”

“We’re talking about potential U.S. broadcast partners moving forward,” Hearn said. “Showtime were the guys who backed Anthony Joshua when other people weren’t interested, so they get first opportunity as far as I’m concerned. They put the money up and invested in AJ’s career when others didn’t. Over the next few months we’ll be working and talking to different American broadcasters. This is a very important decision. It’s not just the money. It’s about picking the broadcaster who can grow AJ’s brand and make him a star in America.

“I had a meeting with Stephen Espinoza [on Tuesday] to talk about Anthony’s future. I get on very well with HBO. They’re hugely interested in signing Anthony Joshua. I’m sure everyone will want to make an offer. We’ll get the Parker fight sorted and decide what’s next for AJ’s future.”

Former middleweight champion Andy Lee announced his retirement, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“I have responsibilities now as a father. To leave my wife and daughter, it would take a big fight to get me to do that and go through all that training,” Lee said. “I took a decision to take some time off, obviously. Then we had a baby that has been the best thing, and that’s my priority right now.”

Danny Garcia scored a 9th round stoppage over Brandon Rios in a scheduled 12-round welterweight bout at The Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

It was a fan-friendly fight with Garcia dominating the action with right hands and body work in the middle of the ring.  Rios kept on coming and landed some good right hands when he was able to trap Garcia on the ropes, but those moments were few and far between.

In round nine, Garcia landed a booming right hand to the jaw that bent Rios over back and falling to the canvas.  Rios got to his feet, but he stumbled toward referee Kenny Bayless, and the fight was stopped at 2:25.

Garcia, 146.5 lbs of Philadelphia is now 34-1 with 20 knockouts.  Rios, 146.5 lbs of Oxnard, CA is 34-4-1.

“I felt the ring rust a little bit in the beginning,” said Garcia, who recorded the 20th knockout of his career. “He’s a good inside fighter and he was giving me some good uppercuts. I felt good, it was a good nine rounds. He came to fight. I came to box, I did that. I came to bang, and I gave the fans what they wanted – a knockout.

“I just noticed when I was getting my punches off he was standing right in front of me and I just let it go. As soon as I got the fight in the middle of the ring where I wanted I landed good shots. I was just letting my hands go and the punch landed.”

“The loss was tough. I have the mindset of a winner,” Garcia said. “I hate losing. I took it like a true champion and I bounced back like a true champion.

“I would love the rematch with Keith Thurman. It’s on him. Whenever he’s ready we’ll fight.”

“I’m mad. I don’t like going out like that,” Rios said. “I’m a warrior, I got back up and I wanted to continue. I guess they stopped it but I’m mad. I’m mad because I got up.

“I was doing good. I got lazy with the jab and he came over with the right hand and he caught me. I’m a warrior. I’m still in the game. I didn’t think he did much to hurt me. I think it was closer than what he thought it was. He just caught me with a lucky punch. I was ready to continue.”

David Benavidez retained the WBC Super Middleweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Ronald Gavril in a rematch of a fight from September, also won by Benavidez.

Benavidez landed hard and crisp shot that backed up Gavril.  Gavril was able to get in a good shot, but he wasbeing out landsed three and four to one in most occurrences. In round four, Benavidez rocked Gavril with a hard right.  In round five, Gavril began to bleed from his nose.

Benavidez had Gavril in trouble in several rounds over the second half of the fight, but Gavril showed an iron chin, and kept in trying until the final bell.

Benavidez, 167 lbs of Phoenix, AZ won by scores of 120-108 twice and 119-109 to remain perfect at 20-0.  Gavril, 167.25 lbs of Las Vegas, NV is now 18-3.

“I knew he was going to come aggressive. He’s a one-trick opponent,” Benavidez said. “I knew I could jab and box him all day. When I saw the opening I took it. I didn’t knock him out though – he’s a tough son of a gun.

“Both my hands hurt but I have that warrior’s mentality so I kept pushing.

“I want to be the best in division. So whoever they put in front of me that’s what I want to do.

“He tried to box me on the outside,” Gavril said. “It was good fight. He was the better man tonight. What can I say? I want to go back in the gym and come back stronger.”

Yordenis Ugas punched his ticket to an eventual title shot scored a 7th round stoppage over Ray Robinson in a schedule 12-round welterweight fight.

In round one, Ugas landed a hard right that dropped Robinson.  At the end of round four, Robinson dropped Ugas, but the punch came after the bell, and Robinson was deducted a point.

In round seven, Ugas landed a perfect right hand that sent Robinson to the canvas.  Robinson was shaken up, and Ugas saw that so the Cuban jumped all over Robinson by landing seven hard right hands in the corner before referee Robert Byrd stopped the bout at

Ugas, 147 lbs of Santiago, CUB is 21-3 with 10 knockouts.  Robinson, 146 lbs of Philadelphia is 24-3.

“I felt like I was the stronger fighter by far and he didn’t hurt me. He lost a point for hitting me after the bell sounded, and knocked me down, but even that didn’t hurt me. He was very awkward and his style threw off my timing.

“Luckily I was able to land body shots that I knew were hurting him. I was able to dictate the pace and we never in trouble.

“I want Errol Spence next. Everyone wants Errol.”

Victor Ortiz and Devon Alexander battle to a 12-round majority draw in a welterweight bout at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

In round two, Ortiz was cut over his right eye.

Ortiz won a card at 115-113, while two cards read even at 114-114.  Ortiz, 146.4 lbs of Garden City, KS is 33-6-3.  Alexander, 146.6 lbs of St. Louis, MO is 27-4-1.

“I absolutely thought I won the fight,” said Alexander. “The last few rounds I probably gave him, but I thought I out landed him in the 12th. I thought I did enough to win. I gave him three rounds.”

“I thought the decision was a little off and I thought I did enough to win,” said Ortiz. “The first few rounds were a little complicated. He’s a great boxer and he was timing me just right. I wasn’t leaving the line of fire.”

“The eye was tough to overcome,” said Ortiz. “I can’t really see out of it. I really had to listen to my corner. I tried to stay composed as I could, but he’s a really good fighter.”

“My game plan was to be smart,” said Alexander. “Victor always has problems with people that are faster and have more ring IQ. I wanted to put him in the state of mind that he can’t win.”

“I would love a rematch,” said Alexander. “That’s up to my team to see what’s next, but I’ll fight anybody. I’m a real fighter.”

“A rematch would be awesome,” said Ortiz. “If both teams agree and the fans want it, let’s make it happen.”

Caleb Plant won a 12-round unanimous decision over Rogelio Medina in a super middleweight elimination bout.

In round three,  Medina began to bleed from his nose.  Plant landed the superior punches and used a terrific jab to keep the hard charging Medina at bay.  Medina made an effort in the final part of the final, but Plant was never threatened, and by scores of 120-108, 119-108 and 117-111  to raise his perfect mark to 17-0.  Medina, 168.8 lbs of San Luis, MEX is 38-9.

“It was a tough fight tonight against a tough competitor who puts everything on the line,” said Plant. “I’m happy we got the job done tonight.”

“I stuck to the game plan and I did exactly what I said I was going to do,” said Plant. “I boxed his ears off for 12 rounds.”

“He never had me hurt, but I found his style very difficult,” said Medina. “He moves a lot and he’s pretty quick, so that was tough to deal with.”

“I think I felt the struggle to make weight a little bit,” said Medina. “I was a little tired in the later rounds and it probably was due to the drain to make weight. But it is what it is.”

“I want (IBF 168-pound champion) Caleb Truax,” said Plant. “He was calling me out when I was 12-0. I’m on the doorstep knocking now, let’s see if he still wants it. He can either ship me the IBF belt to my doorstep, or I’ll come take it off his waist.”

2016 U.S. Olympian remained undefeated by winning a four-round unanimous decision over Jorge Rojas in a lightweight bout.

Balderas, 133 lbs of Santa maria, CA won b y scores of 40-36 on all cards and is now 4-0.  Rojas, 132.6 lbs of Puebla, MEX is now 4-3-1.

“I felt good in there,” said Balderas. “I need to learn to relax a little bit more in the ring. I hurt him in the first round and I could have finished him quickly. My corner reminded me to slow down, but I was still throwing everything with power. I’m going to keep working on my composure in the gym. I can’t kill everyone in the first round.”

“I’m going to keep picking up my opposition this year,” said Balderas. “Rojas had a really good chin. I’m going to stay in great shape so I’m ready whenever the call comes. I’m going to keep working and aiming for that world title shot down the road.”

George Groves retained his WBA Super Middleweight title with a hard fought 12-round unanimous decision over Chris Eubank, Jr. in an entertaining bout and thus Groves advances to the final of the World Boxing Super Series.

The bout took place at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England.

In round three, Eubank was cut over the right eye.  The pace picked up as the fight went on with both guys throwing and mostly missing wild shots.  Groves deep pedigree seemed to be the difference as when the fight was fought at distance, it was Groves jab that was the difference in the fight.  Each guy landed several power shots, and the final round was extremely entertaining as both guys stood toe to toe which was much to the delight of the packed house at The Manchester Arena.

Groves won by scores of 117-112, 116-112 and 115-113 and he is now 28-3.  Eubank is 26-2.

“The better man won on the night,” said Groves. “Credit to Junior for getting through 12 rounds, I didn’t think he would. Chris didn’t lie when he said he was going to grit it out. That was a terrific fight for the fans.”

“I couldn’t see out of my right eye for most of the fight but a cut’s a cut and you have to deal with it,” said Eubank Jr.

“George has got the heart of a true champion and did what he had to do. I thought I did enough in the later rounds to win it. But hopefully, we’ll get the rematch on.”

“My shoulder feels pretty sore but I wasn’t going to let anything beat me tonight.”

Ryan Walsh and Isaac Lowe battled to a 12-round split draw in a featherweight contest.

Walsh took a card 116-114, Lowe won a card 115-114 and a 3rd card read 115-115.

Walsh is 22-2-2.  Lowe is now 14-0-3.

Tommy Langford won a 12-round unanimous decision over Jack Arnfield in a middleweight bout.

Langford, 159.2 lbs of Birmingham, UK won by scores of 116-111, 116-113 and 117-111 to raise his record to 20-1. Arnfield, 159.2 lbs of Blackpool, UK is 25-3.

Zach Parker stopped Adasat Rodriguez in round two of their scheduled ten-round super middleweight bout.

Parker dropped Rodriguez in round two from a hard left hook. With just seconds remaining in the round, Parker landed a series of crunching rights that sent Rodriguez down again, and the fight was stopped at 2:59.

Parker, 168 lbs of Woodvail, UK is 15-0 with 11 knockouts. Rodriguez, 168 lbs of Santa Cruz, Spain is 16-7-2.

Luther Clay won a decision over Danny Craven in a six-round middleweight bout.

Clay, 147.7 lbs of Southhampton, UK won by a referee score of 58-57, and is now 7-1. Craven, 154.3 lbs of Warrington, UK is 3-2.

Ray Beltran won the vacant WBO Lightweight title with a tough 12-round unanimous decision over Paulus Moses at the Grand Sierra Hotel in Reno, Nevada.

It was a grueling contest that saw Moses have some success with hard rights and a nice jab that cut Beltran under both eyes.  Beltran swept the latter part of the fight, and that titlted the scores in his favor to the tune of 117-111 twice and 116-112.

Beltran, 134 1/2 lbs of Phoenix, AZ is now 35-7-2.  Moses, 134 lbs of Namibia is now 40-4.

Egis Kavaliauskas remained undefeated and stopped former interim world titlist David Avanesyan in round six of their scheduled ten round welterweight bout.

Kavaliauskas landed a hard right in round six that hurt Avanesyan.  Kavaliauskas jumped on his prey, and landed a hard flurry of power shots and the fight was stopped.

Kavaliauskas, 146 1/2 lbs of Lithuania is now 19-0 with 16 knockouts.  Avanesyan, 147 lbs of Russia is 23-3.

2016 Olympic Silver Medal winner Shakur Stevenson remained undefeated by winning an eight-round unanimous decision over Juan Tapia in a featherweight bout.

Stevenson, 125 1/2 lbs of Alexandria, VA won all cards 80-72 and is now 5-0.  Tapia, 124 1/2 lbs of Brownsville, TX is 8-2.

In a battle of undefeated lightweights, 2016 Olympic Gold Medal winner Robson Conceicao won a six-round unanimous decision over Ignacio Holguin.

Conceicao, 132 1/2 lbs of Bahia, BRA won by scores of 60-52 on two cards and 60-54 and is now 6-0.  Holguin, 132 3/4 lbs of San Antonio, TX is 4-1-1.

Sagadat Rachmankulov made a successful pro debut by stopping Noel Esqueda in round five of their scheduled six-round welterweight bout.

Rachmankulov hammered Esqueda with a hard left hook and a left to the top of the head that had Esqueda buckling, and referee Jay Nady stopped the bout at 1:51.

Rachmankulov, 148 lbs of Kazakhstan is 1-0 with 1 knockout.  Esqueda, 148 lbs of Wichita, KS is 8-5-2.

Former world title challenger Bryant Jennings dropped Akhror Muralimov four times en roue to a 3rd round stoppage in a scheduled eight-round heavyweight bout.

In round one, Jennings scored two knockdowns. In round two, Jennings dropped Muralimov with a right hand. Jennings dropped Muralimov with a hard right in round three. He finished it off with another knockdown, and the fight was stopped at 1:22.

Jennings of Philadelphia is now 22-2. Muralimov is 16-4.

ALexander Besputin stopped Wesley Tucker at 3:00 of round five of their scheduled eight-round welterweight bout.

Besputin is 9-0. Tucker is 14-2.

Willy Hutchinson won a decision over Eric Mokonzo in a six-round cruiserweight bout.

In round four, Mokonzo was deducted a point for holding. In round five, Hutchinson landed a right that was followed up by a left that sent Mokonzo to the canvas.

Hutchinson, 175.5 lbs won by a referee score of 60-52, and is now 3-0. Mokonzo, 186.1 lbs is 2-7.

Linus Udofia won a four-round unanimous decision over William Warburton in a middleweight bout.

Udofia is now 7-0. Warburton is 24-128-1.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com is reporting that a proposed lightweight title bout between Jorge Linares and Vasyl Lomachenko is not not imminent due to a proposed May 12 day not being right for Linares promoter Golden Boy Promotions.

Top Rank planned to stage the fight as the main event of an ESPN card on May 12 at Madison Square Garden in New York. However, Golden Boy said that date is unacceptable because it has an HBO event that night — the probable return of junior middleweight world titleholder Sadam Ali for his first defense since sending Miguel Cotto into retirement in December, along with the replay of the May 5 pay-per-view rematch between middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez.

According to Top Rank President Todd duBoef, he spoke to Honda and Teiken executive Akemi Irie about the date, and they settled on May 12.

“Akemi said May 12, fine, great,” duBoef said. “I said, ‘Let me know what you need for the fight. Mr. Honda came with a number; I gave him a counteroffer. Then he came back to me and said, ‘Can you do it for this number?’ And I said, ‘For you, yes, I can.’ He said give me [last weekend] to make sure we’re good. He calls me on Monday night, and he says we’re all good, please have somebody from Top Rank call Golden Boy and do the details on travel, tickets, the minutia. The first thing we resolved, before the money, was the date because of the sensitivity to Linares’ health.

“First I heard that there was a problem with May 12 was after [Top Rank vice president] Carl [Moretti] had a conversation about it with [Golden Boy president] Eric Gomez on Tuesday. Mr. Honda called me about it apologizing and very upset. He said they knew May 12 from the beginning, and he was very disappointed.”

“That’s the date held by ESPN, and I’m not going to drag over Jorge Linares,” duBoef said. “Lomachenko is fighting May 12 on ESPN, and we’d like for him to fight Linares. So would Mr. Honda and Linares.”

“Golden Boy has also been talking to us for quite a while about a live fight on May 12,” HBO Sports spokesman Ray Stallone told ESPN in a statement. “HBO has not received any offer on a Linares-Lomachenko fight yet. We look forward to receiving one — since we do have a first/last [contractual option] with Jorge Linares and have interest in the fight. We are not standing in the way of anything.”

“We told Mr. Honda no problem, try to get a deal done, but we can’t do the fight a week before the pay-per-view or the week after because we’re doing an HBO event,” Gomez said. “But I have a solution. If Arum is committed to Madison Square Garden and it has to be May 12, HBO would buy the fight. I spoke to Peter Nelson and he will absolutely buy the fight and based on the numbers Honda gave us, HBO will pay more. Now that’s a solution. We’re flexible. We can do it on HBO. If Arum is committed to ESPN then let’s pick another date.”

“It’s not in consideration for me to go on HBO,” he said. “We have an agreement with Mr. Honda and he was telling Golden Boy that we all believe the best place for this fight is on ESPN, a sports platform with the most amount of homes and the best possible viewership. Coming off nearly 2 million viewers for the Rigondeaux fight we are going to keep the momentum going regardless of if it’s Linares or the winner of Friday night’s fight.”

After being widely rumored to be heading to Madison Square Garden, The proposed Pay-Pew-View card featuring Jeff Horn defending his WBO Welterweight title bout between Jeff Horn and Terence Crawford will be staged at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Although the fight, long in the works, has not been officially announced, Bob Arum said it is now agreed to on both sides. The site, though, will be Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas as the main event of a pay-per-view card Top Rank is putting on in conjunction with ESPN as part of their long-term deal.

“Mandalay Bay is a great venue and we’re happy to put this card on there,” Arum said. “You’ve got a lot of boxing in New York coming up, so it made sense to move the fight to Las Vegas when Mandalay Bay became available.”

Arum said that he is in the process of finalizing the co-feature between Filipino legend Manny Pacquiao, the former eight-division world champion, and former junior welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado (38-4, 26 KOs), 37, of Denver.

Arum said there would also be another world title bout on the card. It will pit junior featherweight world titleholder Jessie Magdaleno (25-0, 18 KOs), 26, of Las Vegas, in his mandatory defense against hard-hitting Isaac Dogboe (18-0, 12 KOs), 23, of Ghana.

Arum said he initially was going to make that fight the main event of his April 28 ESPN card but decided to move it to the April 14 show to beef up the pay-per-view.

“That’s going to be a really good fight,” Arum said. “It’s a 50-50 fight, I think. Both guys can really hit.”

Former lightweight beltholder Omar Figueroa was charged with Drunk Driving, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Figueroa, 28, of Weslaco, Texas, was arrested by the Indian Wells Police Department at 3:14 a.m. on Jan. 29, according to Riverside County’s online records and confirmed to ESPN by the county sheriff’s office.

Figueroa, listed at 5-foot-8, 170 pounds — 30 pounds heavier than the contract weigh for the fight — was booked into the jail at 6:28 a.m. Jan. 29 and released on his own recognizance.

His next court date for the case is scheduled for March 26 at 7:30 a.m. at the Indio Larson Justice Center in Indio, California.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, four-division world champion Adrien Broner has been charged with sexual battery in Atlanta.

According to the jail records, the incident occurred on Monday, and Broner had been released on $2,000 bail by Tuesday afternoon after a morning court appearance.

Broner, 28, of Cincinnati, was accused of groping a woman at Lenox Square, an Atlanta shopping mall, according to TMZ Sports.

“We’re very concerned about the reported behavior and will continue to monitor the situation, as well as potential repercussions for his scheduled fight,” a Showtime spokesman told ESPN in a statement.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the WBA will hold purse bids for two world title bouts.

The teams for secondary heavyweight titlist Manuel Charr and mandatory challenger Fres Oquendo have not been able to reach an agreement, and the same goes for those representing junior lightweight world titleholder Alberto Machado and mandatory challenger Rafael Mensah.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the April 14th card featuring WBO Welterweight champion Jeff Horn defending against Terence Crawford plus an appearance by Manny Pacquiao is close to fruition.

The proposed Pay-Per-View show would take place at Madison Square Garden.

Crawford, during an interview at ringside on Saturday night on ESPN’s telecast of the Gilberto Ramirez-Habib Ahmed super middleweight world title fight in Corpus Christi, Texas, said, “We’re real close. I’d say 90 percent done deal. Right now, my main focus is on Jeff Horn.”

Bob Arum said he was close but then added, “But I don’t do percentages. Close is not there. There is signed contracts. But we’re working hard to get the thing done and, hopefully, we’ll get it done pretty soon.”

Besides working to finish a deal with Crawford, Arum is also working to iron out a deal with Pacquiao. One potential opponent for Pacquiao is the long-faded former junior welterweight titlist Mike Alvarado (38-4, 26 KOs), 37, of Denver.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Saturday’s mainevent at American Bank Center was intended to be a coming-out party for undefeated Mexican super middleweight titlist “El Zurdo” Gilberto Ramirez (37-0, 25 KOs), and it succeeded as such in large part because of promoter Top Rank’s expert matchmaking.

Ghanian Habib Ahmed (25-1, 17 KOs) took his half-fight beating like a well-whiskered toughman then surrendered right on time, or his corner did anyway, at 2:31 of round 6.

“I took control of the fight real quick,” said Ramirez immediately afterwards. “And my goal now is to unify all the titles.”

Before the match Ahmed was fond of rattling away names of famous Ghanaian prizefighters to those who had the temerity to wonder who the hell he was, but during the match he fought like no Ghanaian so much as Joshua Clottey, showing little offensive imagination, fighting only when generally cornered and looking exactly the way his dossier got read during introductions – “the undefeated WBO number-four ranked challenger in the world”.

Ramirez is very good and gorgeous too, we’re told, but he makes some odd choices – such as attempting to duck counters from a man at least five inches shorter than him. Too, there’s Ramirez’s dangerous gambit of throwing uppercut leads while moving forward, rarely a good idea, even on an opponent limited as Ahmed.

“I’m telling Top Rank I want to fight in Mexico,” Ramirez added. “In my hometown of Mazatlan.”

This was a showcase match and Ramirez treated it as such, looking dominant before a national American television audience on ESPN.

JERWIN ANCAJAS VS. ISRAEL GONZALEZ

Saturday’s co-main, Filipino junior bantamweight Jerwain Ancajas (27-1-1, 19 KOs) against Mexican Israel Gonzalez (20-2, 8 KOs) featured what might best be described as a lightweight, actually junior-bantamweight, rendition of Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, with Ancajas doing his imitative best to move slightly to his left, leap and blast, and Gonzalez having neither the quickness nor pop to dissuade him.

And unlike the last time Marquez and Pacquiao swapped fists, the Filipino won impressively by round-10 TKO.

This was a match that saw Gonzalez effective so long as he was in motion and tagged everytime he wasn’t. By round 4 there was a recurrent pattern: Gonzalez would bob his way in, flinch, feint, and gradually still his hands. Then he would freeze, flatfooted, and Ancajas would leap with a lefthand lead and tag him.

In the fifth Ancajas began to take over the match, outfighting and outfoxing Gonzalez, who found limited success only when jabbing his way in and testing the Filipino’s limited counterpunching prowess.

Through the middle rounds Ancajas’ speed and Gonzalez’s counterpunching partially neutralized one another, marking somewhat dull rounds Ancajas appeared to win in succession.

Having invested in left-cross stabs to Gonzalez’s body early, Ancajas was able to weather any punches Gonzalez landed after the ninth. Able to wade through Gonzalez’s punches Ancajas got audacious, and his audacity got rewarded.

Blasting Gonzalez with straight lefts, in homage to his hero Manny Pacquiao, Ancajas felled Gonzalez twice in round 10, the last time concussively enough to get the match waved-off at 1:50.

All told, it was Saturday’s most competitive match and marked an improvement in Ancajas’ prospects for stardom.

“‘Just be yourself, be patient’,” Ancajas said Pacquiao told him in a phone conversation before the fight. “‘Don’t put pressure on yourself’.”

From here the pressure to perform for Ancajas surely grows, and a deserved acclaim possibly awaits.

JESSE HART VS. THOMAS AWIMBONO

The evening’s singular punch belonged to Philadelphia super middleweight Jesse Hart (23-1, 19 KOs) who put a proper right uppercut on the lowered chin of overweight Ghanaian Thomas Awimbono (24-8-1, 20 KOs) and dropped him hard and early.

“I looked for the uppercut with the jab,” explained Hart. “The jab is everything. My coach told me not to look for the uppercut but to wait for it. As soon as I saw it . . .”

Awimbono, who missed weight widely and forced Hart to eat his way up to a catchweight and looked nowhere fit as his shredded opponent, rose unsteadily and collected another barrage before succumbing completely at 1:28 of round 1.

“I was mentally prepared,” Hart said about his looking sharper Saturday than in his last match. “Daddy, this is for you. I want to say, ‘Happy Birthday, Mom!’”

UNDERCARD

Saturday’s fifth match saw New York lightweight Teofimo Lopez (8-0, 6 KOs) remain undefeated by outboxing light-hitting journeymen Mexican Juan Pablo Sanchez (29-15, 14 KOs) in a match whose official cards went 60-54, 60-54 and 59-55. Despite being outgunned in every minute Sanchez nevertheless managed to open an ugly gash over Lopez’s eye with what Lopez declared a headbutt:

“Yeah, that’s a headbutt,” said Lopez. “He barely fucking hit me. He didn’t even hit me.”

Highly considered Top Rank super featherweight Gabe Flores (6-0, 5 KOs) made an impressive showing against Mexican Alex Solorio (4-3, 1 KO) in the evening’s penultimate undercard bout, stopping Solorio at 2:31 of the first round.

“Of all the young fighters Top Rank has,” said Flores afterwards. “I’m the best.”

The evening’s third match was a mismatch, as Australian super middleweight Rohan Murdock (22-1, 16 KOs) went right through Virginia’s Frank Filippone (23-7-1, 8 KOs), causing Filippone’s corner to stop the match after five rounds. Murdock looked solid if not particularly accurate, and Filippone was out of his depth from the opening round.

Before that Phoenix welterweight Jose Benavidez (26-0, 17 KOs) returned from a 20-month sabbatical to beatdown North Carolinian Matthew Strode (24-6, 9 KOs) and stop him at 2:21 of round 8. Benavidez, who was shot in the leg and told by a doctor he would need two years even to walk, looked nearly quick as fans remembered him, if not quite so sharp. The fight was a good one, Strode was awkward for a comeback opponent and took a punch well, and Benavidez knockedoff some of the rust he’ll need scrub in totality if he is to make a run at world champion Terence “Bud” Crawford, who watched from ringside.

Told Crawford was unimpressed by his showing, Benavidez said:

“(Crawford) needs to sit his ass down. I’ll fight him whenever, wherever.”

Saturday’s card began with a victorious four-round professional debut for 17-year-old Israeli super welterweight David Kaminsky (1-0) against a local no-hoper Texan named Rafael Munoz (1-3-1). For all the talk preceding Kaminsky’s debut, there was more noise than effective aggressiveness – and after a very quick start Kaminsky mostly raised questions about his own power through the match’s remaining 3 1/2 rounds of frustration.

Opening bell sounded on a sparsely filled American Bank Center at 6:08 PM local time.

Junior Lightweight champion Miguel Berchelt is now on his 3rd opponent for his February 10th title defense. Now in is Maxwell Awuku, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“We are ready for whoever,” Berchelt said. “I have prepared myself at the top. It’s good that the African is coming to create an upset and wants to offer a great fight to my audience. My emotions grow knowing that I will be fulfilling my dream (to defend his title at home) on Feb. 10.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, talks have began for a possible showdown between junior lightweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko and Jorge Linares.

“I’ve been talking to Mr. Honda for a month about the possibility of Linares-Lomachenko,” Lomachenko promoter Bob

Arum said. “But I had to wait for Linares to fight on Saturday night and see how things turned out. Well, the kid won. Now we can discuss terms for the fight. I’m waiting to hear back from Honda.

“Knowing Honda, he’ll probably ask for the terms he wants and we’ll work that out, and then he would have me contact Golden Boy for the provision of services contract and to work out the other stuff, like tickets, travel, those details. So far in my conversations with Honda, everything is proceeding nicely, so we’ll see.”

Arum said, according to Honda, it is a fight Linares is very interested in — and the same goes for Lomachenko and his manager, Egis Klimas.

“It’s being worked on for the next fight,” Arum said. “We want to make sure that Linares is OK and ready to go. He had a little cut [against Gesta] and he hurt his hand a little bit, so we need to make sure he’s fine. Depending on how he feels, the fight will be either April 28 or May 12. Linares is a tremendous fighter. He’s a guy with an excellent résumé and a good name.

“I’ve been communicating with Lomachenko through Egis and they are both very enthusiastic to do that fight, as is Lomachenko’s father [trainer Anatoly Lomachenko]. I haven’t talked to Golden Boy yet, but I have talked to Honda and Honda doesn’t mess around. His kid wants the fight and we want the fight.”

“We’re ready,” Linares promoter Oscar De La Hoya said. “Lomachenko versus Linares is the fight to make, so we have to make it. For 2018, our goal is to always make the best fights and that’s actually one of them out of many, so Bob Arum, give me a call.”

De La Hoya reiterated his view on Monday, telling ESPN, “I want Linares to fight Lomachenko next and if Bob Arum is serious about making the fight, then I’ll wait for his offer and see what it is. But that’s the fight we want next for Linares. That’s the fight the fans want to watch and I’m all for it.”

“Golden Boy will not stand in the way of any fight,” De La Hoya said. “For my fighters, I’m going to try to make the most money for them. If Bob Arum is going to come with an offer and I feel I can beat it, he should give me an opportunity to do so whether the fight is on HBO or ESPN. But I want to make the most money for my fighters. We are not going to get in the way of this fight being made.”

Lucas Matthysse stopped Tewa Kiram to win the WBA Welterweight title at the Forum in Inglewood, California.

Matthysse suffered an abrasion over his left eye in round five of a fight that lacked action over the first seven rounds.

In round eight, Matthysse dropped Kiram with a hard left hand,  It was another left hand that sent Kiram on his back for a second and final time and the bout was stopped at 1:21.

Matthysse, 147 lbs of Chubut, ARG is now 39-4 with 36 knockouts.  Kiram, 146.4 lbs of Buriram, THA is now 37-1.

“I’m really happy,” said Lucas Matthysse. “He [Kiram] moved really well, and he was really big. That’s why it was hard to cut the distance. I didn’t feel his power, but he felt mine, so that’s why I was able to find him later and stop him. I’m here for the best and biggest names. I want the rematch with Danny Garcia or Manny Pacquiao. Those are the big fights I want, though of course that will be up to Mario Arano and Golden Boy Promotions to figure that out.”

Jorge Linares retained the WBA Lightweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over Mercito Gesta.

In round eight, Linares was cut over his right eye.

Linares outlanded Gesta 171-120.

Linares, 135 lbs of Barinas, VEN won by scores of 118-110 twice and 117-111, and is now 44-3.  Gesta, 134.8 lbs of San Diego is now 31-2-2.

“I didn’t really feel his [Gesta’s] power, though I hurt my hand in the fourth or fifth round,” said Jorge Linares. “I threw my right hand without really putting too much power into it. I was just touching him. There wasn’t a knockout because he was well prepared. Like I said to Oscar De La Hoya, I don’t want to mention names for my next opponent. You know what’s nice? That people mention my name [as a possible opponent]. That’s fine that they mention my name, but let’s get them in the ring. Let them get in the ring with me.”

“I fought against a world champion, and that was a great privilege,” said Mercito Gesta. “He [Linares] adjusted well to my style after the first couple of rounds. Overall, I am proud of myself for taking this tough fight, and I know me and coach Freddie Roach came in with the best game plan. We just fell a little short.”

Jacare Souza stopped Derrick Brunson in the first round of the middleweight rematch at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Souza landed a booming head kick that sent Brunson sprawling down.  Souza landed three left hands and the fight was stopped by referee Dan Mergliota at 3:50.

Souza, 186 lbs of Rio di Janeiro, BRA is 25-5-1.  Brunson, 185 lbs of Wilmington, NC is 18-6.

Andre Fili won a split decision over Dennis Bermudez in a featherweight bout.

Fili, 146 lbs of Sacramento, CA won two cards 29-28, while Bermudez took a card 30-27.

Fili is now 18-5.  Bermudez, 145 lbs of Lindenhurst, NY is 16-8.

Gregor Gillespe stopped Jordan Rinaldi in the 1st round of their lightweight bout.

Gillespe mounted Rinaldi and got him on a back mount where he landed a barrage of punches, and the fight was stopped at 4:46.

Gillespe, 155 lbs of Long Island, NY is 11-0.  Rinaldi, 155 lbs of Charlotte, NC is 13-6.

In a bloody battle, Drew Dober won a unanimous decision over Frank Camacho in a welterweight bout.

Dober, 170 lbs of Denver, CO won by scores of 30-27 and 29-28 twice to raise his mark to 19-8-1.  Camacho, 169 lbs of Sapan, Marien Islands is now 21-6.

Oleksandr Gvozdyk will meet Mehdi Amar for the Interim WBC Light Heavyweight title on March 17th at the Theater at Madison Square Garden and televised on ESPN, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“We are trading paperwork with Amar’s management, but the fight is agreed to,” Carl Moretti, vice president of Gvozdyk promoter Top Rank, told ESPN on Thursday. “Gvozdyk relishes the opportunity to fight for the interim belt and he’s more locked in than a CPA on April 14.”

“I can’t explain my excitement of how happy I am seeing some bright light at the end of tunnel,” he said. “It means I am getting one more step to a world title shot. Fighting for the interim title and mandatory position in the WBC will bring me in position to fight the champion, whoever it will be at that time. I would like to thank the WBC for giving me this opportunity, my promoter Top Rank, my manager, Egis Klimas, all my team who is working hard to get me in this position.

My dream is slowly coming true. I also am excited to fight in Madison Square Garden, New York, the mecca of boxing. As far as my opponent, I don’t know much about him, but I’ll be ready to find out on March 17th at MSG.”

Said Klimas, the 2016 and 2017 Boxing Writers Association of America manager of the year: “I’m very happy for Oleksandr, getting him into this WBC interim/mandatory position and getting in position in the next fight [after March 17] to fight a champion and to become one. He is a hard-working and smart boxer and he deserves to be where he is now.”

“This guy [Amar] has experience and he fought Stieglitz in a good fight,” Moretti said. “If Gvozdyk takes care of business, which we expect him to, he’ll fight the winner of a sensational fight between Adonis Stevenson and Badou Jack, which is a true 50-50 fight. We look forward to making that fight.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Michael Conlan will move his training camp from California where he was trained by Manny Robles to train closer to home in London to train with Adam Booth.

“I have another baby on the way, so it is better for me and my family to be closer to home with me being active in my boxing career and being in camp basically all year round,” Conlan told ESPN. “I felt it was smarter for us as a family to move to back to the U.K. to be closer to our families. It will be better and a lot more comfortable to have that helping hand from grandmothers and sisters. We need to have a better support team around us. In Los Angeles, it was just us, so I needed to move back for my family’s sake.”

“I felt I was doing great with Manny and I have to thank him for everything he’s done for me,” Conlan said. “He didn’t do anything wrong. Always friends with him. He understood family is first and that’s what I’ve done. No ill feelings. He’s a great coach.”

“He doesn’t have that big of a stable of guys so with Adam I know I will get that one-on-one time I need,” Conlan said. “It’s very intense training and very enjoyable.” Conlan (5-0, 4 KOs), 26, won a bronze medal in the 2012 Olympics and then was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympics in highly controversial fashion. He will next fight on March 17 — St. Patrick’s Day — at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on Top Rank’s ESPN card headlined by the vacant junior welterweight world title bout between Jose Ramirez and Amir Imam.

“Adam is one of the best coaches in the world,” Conlan said. “I think his coaching style fits my boxing style.”

“Michael was open with us and he said he needed to make the change mainly for family reasons,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said, noting that Top Rank plans to put on a Conlan fight in Belfast this year. “He’s working with a top professional trainer in Adam Booth, so you can’t fault him. All respect to Manny Robles. He did a great job. It was a family thing that Michael had to take care of.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Junior Lightweight champion Miguel Berchelt will face Carlo Magali on February 10th in Cancyn, Mexico.

“I’m ready for whoever,” Berchelt said. “I’m ready to make my second defense before my people, fulfilling my dream. I know that my challenger will come out with everything, like every Filipino, ready to die on the ring. But I’ll be ready for whatever he brings. The important thing is to win and provide a great show.”

“It’s a dream opportunity, which I could not turn down,” Magali said of landing the title shot. “Fortunately, I’m always in the gym, and I know who Berchelt is. He’s very good for my style, and we’re going to bring the world title back to the Philippines.”

Fresh off his stoppage win over Lamont Peterson this past Saturday night, IBF Welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr has been ordered to face Carlos Ocampo next, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

The IBF ordered Tom Brown and Ocampo promoter Zanfer Promotions to begin negotiations immediately. If the sides do not make a deal by Feb. 22, a purse bid will be ordered to determine promotional control of the bout.

In the event of a purse bid, Spence would be entitled to 85 percent of the winning bid, and Ocampo would get the remaining 15 percent, a smaller figure than had he fought an eliminator to become No. 1 or No. 2.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, The Contender reality series will return this Fall on Epix.

The show ran from 2005-2008 on NBC, ESPN and Versus.

The new season of the series will have a similar format to the previous seasons. Sixteen fighters will participate in an elimination competition. The fighters will be divided into two teams to train, “each overseen by a renowned boxing coach who will act as mentor,” according to the announcement.

The trainers and fighters have not yet been announced, but Jeff Wald, the co-creator of the series and a co-executive producer, told ESPN that the middleweight division will be featured. He said the season will be filmed in the Los Angeles area and that production will begin in April.

During the season, the boxers will live together, train together and fight each other, with boxers being eliminated along the way until the last two meet for “The Contender” title and an undisclosed six-figure purse.

Unlike in past seasons, where each episode culminated with a heavily edited version of that week’s elimination fight, Wald told ESPN that the new season will show each scheduled five-round fight in its entirety without the editing many boxing fans were so critical of.

“Boxing belongs on premium pay television, and there is no better home for ‘The Contender’ than Epix,” said producer Mark Burnett. “We will tell stories of the fighters, the families and their difficult journeys in the emotionally compelling Contender style, so that viewers get to vicariously ‘walk a mile’ in the boxers’ shoes.”

“‘The Contender’ has launched the careers of many fighters, with some contenders taking world titles — but this new iteration of the series will also showcase the heart, spirit and dramatic personal stories of these fighters as they fight in and out of the ring to realize their dreams,” Epix president Michael Wright said.

“This is not only real boxing, but real, raw human storytelling from the best unscripted television production team in the world.”

Middleweight champion Ryota Murata will defend his title against Emanuele Felice Blandamura on April 15 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“I’ll devote all of myself to the first defense and concentrate on this fight,” Murata said, not wanting to get too far ahead of himself.

“Today is the happiest day of my life. I’m happy to fight Murata for the world championship,” Blandamura said.

If Murata comes through he would defend his title against fellow Olympian Esquiva Falcao.

“If all goes well with their upcoming fights we’ve discussed a July date between the Olympians, probably in Las Vegas,” Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN. “Murata against Falcao is a fight with great international flavor. There are a lot of Japanese in Brazil and both fighters are known in each other’s country, but we want to do it here (in the United States) because we want to build Murata and Falcao in the United States. The winner of that fight comes out pretty big.”

BROOKLYN, NY – Errol Spence Jr. (23-0, 20 KO) successfully made the first defense of his IBF welterweight title by battering former two-division world champion Lamont Peterson (35-4-1, 17 KO) en route to a seventh-round stoppage victory in front of 12,107 fight fans at the Barclay’s Center.

It was as impressive of a title defense one could expect from the Desoto, TX native, who, except for a brief stretch in the third round, controlled the fight from the opening bell to it’s commencement.

In the early rounds, the 28-year old Spence was both patient and aggressive.  The former US Olympian used his jab to head and body establish distance between he and his counterpart.  Spence, a former 2012 US Olympian, would wait for a small opening, and then explode into Peterson before quickly retreating out of range.

In the third round, the 33 year-old Peterson began to engage more and midway through the frame landed a straight right the face of Spence, sandwiched between two thumping left hooks that landed behind the champion’s right ear.  Although Peterson showed signs of life, the round ultimately still belonged to Spence, who regained control and landed his shots before quickly retreating out of range.

In the fifth, Spence’s punches began to regularly penetrate Peterson’s guard.  After landing a sharp right hook, Spence unleashed a vicious left hook around Peterson’s defense that landed flush on Peterson’s temple, sending him crashing back to the mat.  Peterson beat referee Harvey Dock’s ten count, but was clearly still dazed.  Smelling blood in the water, the Derrick James-trained Spence stepped on the gas and continued to batter Peterson around the ring until the bell mercifully sounded.

In the sixth, “The Truth” picked up right where he left off in the fifth and immediately unloaded on Peterson, delivering a calculated and thorough beat-down for the round’s duration.

After the seventh round, a round that very much mirrored the two before, referee Harvey Dock, acting on advice from Barry Hunter and Peterson’s corner, called a halt to the contest.

It was Spence’s tenth straight win inside the distance and his first time in the ring since capturing his title via stoppage against Kell Brook last May.

The loss marked only the second time in Peterson’s career he was stopped.  The other TKO loss came courtesy of Lucas Matthysse in 2013.

Spence spoke after the fight, saying, “My coach came with a great game plan and I just followed through with it.  Keep my range, keep my composure.”

He continued, “I didn’t know I would dominate like that. I expected to get the knockout, but this was a great performance. We were facing a great fighter like Lamont Peterson and we did well in there.”

As for what’s next for Spence, the champion made his intentions clear.  “I want Keith Thurman. He has two of the belts and we both have big names. It’s an easy fight to make and I want it.”

Peterson also spoke afterward regarding his corners decision to stop the fight, stating, ““I always respect Barry’s decision. If he asks me to fight a million people, I will. If he asks me to stop. I will stop. I will never question his decision. I know he has my best interests at heart.”

Hunter echoed that sentiment, saying, ““It was really hard [to stop the fight], but if you know Lamont, you know he was not going to give up. So I had to stop it. At the end of the day this is my son right here. And there’s nothing more valuable than he’s well-being. If it comes to him or winning, I pick him. I care about him.”

As for Peterson’s next step, the 33-year old DC native, with over 280 professional bouts under his belt, admitted that retirement might be something for him to consider in the coming weeks.

Easter Scores Controversial Split Decision Win Over Fortuna

IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. (21-0, 14 KO) earned a controversial split decision victory over crafty veteran southpaw, Javier Fortuna (33-2-1, 23 KO), in a twelve round bout that saw both fighters have their fair share of success.

Originally, the contest was slated to be for Easter’s IBF lightweight title, but Fortuna tipped the scales at 136.4 lbs. at Friday’s weigh-in — a pound and a half over the lightweight maximum – and was ruled ineligible to challenge for the belt.

Easter, who had a 5-inch height and 7.5-inch reach advantage, failed to box on the outside.  Rather, the Ohio native willingly walked forward to engage the much smaller Fortuna.  This played into Fortuna hands, who knew his best chance at landing anything significant would likely come via counterpunch.  If he were to score with any big left hands, he would need the 26-year old Easter to be a willing participant, and forego his reach advantage and engage.

And engage Easter did.  Time and time again, the 26-year old champion came forward and exchanged with his Dominican foe, willing to eat a left hand in order to deliver his own punches.

The 28-year old Fortuna had his best success in round seven as it drew to a close.  With his back against the ropes, uncorked a left cross that buzzed Easter and sent him in retreat.  The southpaw quickly followed up and landed another clean left before the bell sounded to end the round.

Easter did his best work when the fight was fought in the center of the ring, which wasn’t often.  Once he followed Fortuna to the ropes and the proximity between fighters got closer, both fighters had their share of success.  But when Easter could sneak shots in in the center of the ring, he scored.

At the end of twelve, judge John McKaie scored the contest 114-113, Fortuna.  Glenn Feldman and Kevin Morgan saw it the other way, scoring the bout 14-113 and 115-112 for Easter.

In the second round, Fortuna was deducted a point in the second round by referee Ricky Gonzalez after he repeatedly rabbit punched Easter behind the head.

For Easter, although he picked up the win, it was the second straight contest where he failed to impress and his second straight controversial decision.  In June 2017, Easter scored a unanimous decision over Denis Shafikov in a fight that many believed Shafikov to have won.

With the split decision ruling, the Sampson Lewkowicz-managed Fortuna suffered his second career loss.  The other came via eleventh-round TKO against Jason Sosa.

“It was a tough fight, he’s a former world champion for a reason,” Easter said afterward. “We made it tough trying to counter punch. He wasn’t throwing much and it made it difficult for me to chase this guy around.”

He continued, “I couldn’t get the knockout but we got the win and that’s all that matter. I knew he was going to run once he felt my power. He just wanted to grab and hold the whole fight.

Fortuna also spoke after the fight, saying, “The public knows what happened here. They booed because they know that I won this fight.

“If he’s a man let’s fight again at 135-pounds. I will definitely make the weight. I didn’t give myself enough time to train.”

Browne Blasts Ntetu, Destroys Him In One

Light heavyweight Marcus Browne (21-5, 16 KO) is beginning to make a habit of winning via early knockout.  Fresh off his two-round demolition of Seanie Monaghan last April, Browne picked up where he left off and destroyed Francy Ntetu (17-2, 4 KO) in just 2:15.

Midway through the first of a scheduled ten rounds, the ex-US Olympian Browne landed a clean one-two, right-hook, straight-left combo, that collapsed the 35 year-old Ntetu’s legs and sent him face forward to the padded mat.  Knowing he had wounded prey in front of him, Browne was relentless for the remainder of the fight.  The former 3-time New York Golden Gloves champion unleashed hell on Ntetu, who was unable to survive his southpaw counterpart’s onslaught.  After 27 year-old Browne put together one final string of unopposed punches, referee Arthur Mercante Jr. jumped between the two boxers to stop the bout at the 2:15 mark of the first round.

The fight marked the Quebec-native Ntetu’s second career loss, the other coming courtesy of unbeaten lightweight champion David Benavidez in 2016.

“I did not expect him to be that explosive,” Ntetu said. “He got me with his right hook and a straight left.

He continued, giving credit to his opponent.  “[Browne] is very explosive, congrats to him. He’s explosive, he’s fast, he’s smart.”

Browne also spoke after the match.  “We worked for this win. He walked into a sure shot and I made him pay,” he said afterward.  “The overhand left caught him and that was the beginning of the end for him. I knew he was hurt.”

As for what’s next for Browne?  “I need a world title shot. I’m ready to take on any of the champions. I don’t have any preferences.”

Blood, Guts, and Thunder:  Kownacki Stops Kiladze Inside 6

In an all-action slugfest that brought the Barclay’s Center crowd to their feet round after round, Polish-born Brooklyn heavyweight, Adam “Baby Face” Kownacki (17-0, 14 KO) sent Iago Kiladze (26-2, 18 KO) to the mat twice en route to a sixth round TKO win.

It was bombs away from the opening bell, which saw Kownacki charge forward and bullrush his fellow Brooklyn transplant.  The two fighters engaged immediately and seemingly didn’t stop until the final blow landed.

After weathering the initial Kownacki offensive, Kiladze was able to mount his own offense and opened a cut over Kownacki’s left eye midway through the first that immediately drew blood.

The second and third rounds played out much like the opening frame, with Kownacki letting his shots fly, and the Georgian-born Kiladze standing his ground, picking spots to fire back with his own fully-loaded punches.

But as the fight progressed, it was the 28 year-old heavyweight they call “Baby Face” who started getting the better of his opponent.  Perhaps sparked by adrenaline born from having hundreds of enthusiastic Polish fans chanting his name, or by the fact doctors were closely monitoring the state of his increasingly swelling eye, Kownacki fought each round with a sense of urgency — with a burning need to close the show in style.

In the fourth round, a straight right connected and put Kildaze on the mat.  Two rounds later, after raining down a barrage of heavy-handed shots, Kownacki unloaded a straight right that sent a dazed Kildaze stumbling backwards and to the canvas for the second and final time.  Although he beat referee Shada Murdaugh’s ten count, Murdaugh deemed that Kildaze was in no state to continue and called a stop to the fight at the 2:08 mark of the round 6.

Tonight’s fight was the first time Kownacki was back in action since scoring the biggest win of his career, a fourth round TKO of fellow Pole and former heavyweight title challenger, Artur Szpilka.

“I think I made the fight a lot harder than I should have,” Kownacki said after the fight.  “It’s another learning experience and I got the win. That’s all that matters.”

In his post-fight remarks, Kownacki also acknowledged his Polish supporters, stating, “I’m so thankful to all my Polish fans who come out and give me that extra support. I’m going to keep fighting for the fans and give everyone a great show.”

One Round Beatdown:  Price Destroys Ramos, Stays Unbeaten

Mayweather Promotions bantamweight prospect Dylan Price (5-0, 5 KO) displayed a full arsenal of weapons during his one round beatdown of Nestor Ramos (7-8-3, 3 KO).  Price, a Slickerville, NJ native showcased lightning-quick hand speed, launching fists at his Mexican counterpart from all kinds of crazy angles, smothering Ramos with gloved fists for what seemed like the entirety of the first round.  As it turned out, that would be the fight’s only round, as referee Shada Murdaugh, acting on advice from Ramos’ corner, stopped the contest between rounds.

The win makes it 5 stoppage wins in 5 fights for “The Real Dyl”, who is trained by his father, Dave Price.  The loss makes it six in a row for Ramos, who hasn’t earned a win since October 2014.

Anthony Peterson Cruises To Ten Round UD Victory

In just his second fight in the last twenty-seven months, Anthony Peterson (38-1, 24 KO) earned a ten round unanimous decision victory over fellow veteran junior welterweight, Luis Eduardo Florez (23-9, 19 KO).

Peterson, the younger brother of the night’s co-headliner, Lamont Peterson, was the non-stop aggressor, pressing the action all fight, walking forward, letting his hands fly, and battering his Colombian counterpart in the process.  To his credit, the hard-nosed Florez hung in to the best of his ability, and at times was able to sneak in clean counterpunches that momentarily halted Peterson’s momentum.  Florez’s small victories were few and far between, however, and the fight belonged to Peterson, who easily won every round.

After ten, all three judges cards scored a shutout for the DC native Peterson, 100-89 and 100-90, twice.

Peterson’s lone blemish remains a disqualification loss to Brandon Rios in 2010.

Golub Bounces Back From Defeat, Stops Munoz In 3

Ivan Golub (13-1, 12 KO) bounced back from his sole defeat last June and scored a third round TKO win over veteran Fidel Monterrosa Munoz (38-15-1, 30 KO) in a welterweight contest slated for 8.  After a second round that saw Golub on the mat, albeit never hurt, the Ukranian-born Brooklyn transplant came roaring back to put Munoz on the canvas twice in the same round.  In the third round, Munoz found himself on the mat four more times, only twice officially, and never from punches of serious consequence.  The Colombian was fighting on unsteady legs, and was unable to stand toe-to-toe with the eager southpaw.  After Munoz dropped to his knees his fourth time on the ground in a matter of minutes, referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the contest midway through the round.

Gonzalez Makes Easy Work Of Serna

Ridgewood, NY native Matthew Gonzalez (3-0, 2 KO) bruised and battered fellow middleweight Alexander Serna (1-2, 1 KO) en route to a four round unanimous decision victory.  Gonzalez looked sharp and used his superior skill-set to have his way with Serna over the course of their twelve minute scrap.  In the end, all judges scored the obvious 40-36 shutout in favor of Gonzalez.

Williams and Okoth Fight To Draw

Welterweights Keyshawn Williams (1-0-1, 1 KO) and Denis Okoth (1-0-1, 1 KO) battled to a four round split draw in the first fight of a nine bout card from the Barclay’s Center that will commence when undefeated IBF welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr. defends his title against rugged veteran, Lamont Peterson.

After four hard fought rounds, Judge Larry Hazzard Jr. scored the night’s opening contest 39-37 for the 24 year old Kenyan, Okoth. Robin Taylor saw it the other way, 39-37 for the 20 year old DC native, Williams.  Carlos Ortiz Jr. cemented the split draw result by scoring the bout even, 38-38, a score 15rounds.com agreed with.

Kenichi Ogawa tested positive for a banned substance in his IBF Junior Lightweight title winning effort against Tevin Farmer’; which will be changed to a no-contest, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

In a urine test conducted a few days before the fight — but whose results were not returned until after the fight — Ogawa was positive for two forms of androstanediol (synthetic testosterone) and he was suspended on Thursday at the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s first meeting of 2018, the first time details of his positive test were made public.

Ogawa’s postfight drug test was negative, but the A sample and B sample of his prefight test days earlier were both positive. Ogawa will have the opportunity for a hearing at the Feb. 14 commission meeting, although if his attorney, Joseph Brown, is not ready to proceed with the case, commission executive director Bob Bennett told ESPN that the commission would move the hearing to March “as a courtesy.”

“You want to talk about a roller-coaster ride,” Farrmer’s promoter LouDiBella told ESPN after he was informed of Ogawa’s positive test. “I’m sort of stunned by this. I thought Tevin Farmer won that fight. Ogawa put out a great effort in the fight. He was like an Energizer bunny. He was aggressive but not effectively aggressive and he took a lot of peppering from Tevin, and now to find out he tested positive is remarkable. It looks like Tevin Farmer is going to get the opportunity to win that title again after all.”

“I’m always disappointed to have it re-emphasized how big of a problem we have but I think there should be zero tolerance,” DiBella said. “It’s extremely prevalent and it’s dangerous. That being said, there’s a relief. After everything this guy (Farmer) went through, and to have that tainted loss that I didn’t think was a loss at all — now I will call Tevin Farmer and say, ‘Guess what, buddy? Looks like you probably didn’t lose.'”

Ray Beltran and Paulus Moses will vie for the WBO Lightweight title on February 16th in Reno, Nevada and televised on ESPN, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Beltran will also be fighting for a Green card to stay in the United States.

“I believe God has plans for everybody. I believe this is it for me and my team, to become a world champion at this point, not just for me but for all the hard-working people, especially immigrants, who come to this great nation to make their dreams come true, working hard and never giving up,” Beltran said. “I hope my story and my struggle can inspire others to achieve their dreams and to motivate them to never give up.

“I respect my opponents always, but this is my destiny, and no man will get in the way of that. I’m ready to prove to everyone that I am the most dangerous lightweight in the world.”

“I’m coming Feb. 16 to take what was mine in Scotland, and when I leave Reno, I am leaving as the WBO champion,” said Beltran, who spent years as the main sparring partner for Manny Pacquiao.

“I’m excited about this fight for many reasons,” Beltran said. “I’m fighting for myself — for 18 years I have worked to become a world champion. I am fighting for my family, my wife and for my children to be proud of me.

“When you’re a champion, you are a champion forever. I am fighting for my team, the people who have been with me from the start. It’s easy when you are on your way up to have fans, but my true fans have been with me at my lowest and stayed through my highs in life. This fight means everything to me. A victory will also seal my green card. For me to be world champion, and a citizen of this country, this is my dream. ”

“I just hope he comes through,” Arum said. “The other guy, Moses, is a good fighter, and sometimes Ray has great performances, and sometimes he has mediocre performances. But if he could win a world title and I could be there to see it, I would have a lot of pride in the achievement.

“But this is the kind of fight we want to do on our ESPN shows, because it’s a fight where you don’t know who’s going to win. These guys are both good, contending fighters in an even match, and that’s what people want to see. It’s a very tough fight that I think can go either way.”

Due to a hand injury, Sergey Lipinets will not be able to defend his IBF Junior Welterweight title against Mikey Garcia on February 10th, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

The fight will be pushed back.

“We need to find out the extent of the injury, but it seems like it’s nothing too serious so I think the fight will probably just be pushed back a few weeks,” promoter Richard Schaefer said. “We have to coordinate with the Alamodome and see what dates are available and I need to talk to Showtime. So that’s what we are working on today.

“The injury is not that serious from what I’ve been told [by Lipinets’ team]. They think it’s a sprain in the hand, but definitely nothing is broken or anything that would cause the fight to have to be pushed back by an extended period of time.”