Daniel Bermudez won a 10-round majority decision over Vanesa Taborda to capture the WBO Female Super Flyweight title at Club Atletico Alba Argentina, in Santa Fe, Argentina.

Bermudez, 114 1/2 lbs won by scores of 96-94 twice and 95-95 and is now 17-3-2. Taborda, 114 3/4 lbs is now 8-3.

Jonathan Eniz scored a sixth round stoppage over Sergio Liendo in a scheduled 6-round Lightweight bout.

Liendo dropped Eniz in round one from a right hook to the body.. In round five, Liendo was docked a point for firing his head into the face of Eniz. Eniz dropped Liendo in the final round from a body. Eniz jumped on Liendo and landed seven unanswered shots to the head that sent Liendo sprawling through the ropes and the fight was stopped at 2:47 of round six.

Eniz, 134 3/4 lbs is now 4-1 with 2 knockouts. Liendo, 134 3/4 lbs of 4-1.

Miguel Acosta and Jonathan Casaful battled to a 4-round majority draw.

Scores were 39.5-38.5 for Acosta while two cards were even at 38-38.

Acosta, 132 3/4 lbs of is now 4-2-1. Casafu, 135 3/4 lbs is 2-6-3.

Gustavo Bermudez scored a 6-round split decision over Alejandro Gomez in a Super Lightweight bout.

Bermudez, 136 3/4 lbs won by scores 59.5 – 57.5 , 59-58 and Gomez took a card 59.5-57.5.

Bermudez is now 17-13-2. Gomez is 14-26-5.

John Ryder scored a 10th round stoppage over Billi Godoy in a scheduled 12-round Middleweight bout.

Ryder dropped Godoy with a straight left in round 10 and he could not beat the count at 1:52.

Ryder, 159 lbs is now 20-1 with 12 knockouts. Godoy, 159 1/4 lbs of Argentina is now 31-4.

Tommy Martin scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Ricky Boylan in a Jr. Welterweight bout.

Martin, 137 1/4 lbs won by scores of 99-92 and 97-93 twice and is now 11-0. Boylan, 139 1/2 lbs is 12-2.

Tony Luis scored a 10-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Karl Dargan in a Lightweight bout at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

Luis dominated the actin and was in the face of Dargan all night and made it a physical fight and he controlled the fight with his aggression. In round ten, Luis sealed the fight with a knockdown of Dargan from a right hand.

Luis, 134 1/4 lbs of Cornwall, ONT, CAN won by scores of 99-90 and 97-92 twice and is now 19-2. Dargan, 135 lbs of Philadelphia is now 17-1.

Thoma Falowo scored an 8-round unanimous decision over Russell Lamour in a Middleweight bout.

Falowo, 158 1/2 lbs won by scores of 78-74 twice and 77-75 and is now 13-3. Lamour, 159 lbs is now 14-5.

Sullivan Barrera scored a 4th round stoppage over former world champion Jeff Lacy in a scheduled 8-round Light Heavyweight bout.

Barrera dropped Lacy in the first round from a hard combination that was punctuated by a right hand. Barrera was deducted a point in round four for a low blow. Later in round, Barrera ended things when he landed a hard combination in the corner and the fight was stopped at 2:05 of round four.

Barrera, 172 1/2 lbs of Cuba is now 15-0 with 10 knockouts. Lacy, 168 1/4 lbs of Tampa, FL is now 27-6.

Phoenix junior welterweight Jose Benavidez Jr., who won the WBC’s interim junior-welterweight title in a controversial decision over Mauricio Herrera on Dec. 13, plans to resume training on Monday.

His trainer and father, Jose Benavidez Sr., said he hopes his son’s next fight is in the spring. However, Top Rank, his promoter, has yet to decide on an opponent or a date.

“We still have to meet and talk about that,’’ said his father, whose unbeaten son will train at Central Boxing near downtown Phoenix.

Unbeaten Jessie Vargas, the WBA’s 140-pound champion and also a Top Rank fighter, is at the top of Benavidez’ wish list.

“If everything works out, yes, Vargas is the guy we’d like to fight,’’ the senior Benavidez said.

A rematch was speculated after Benavidez (22-0, 15 KOs) won a controversial unanimous decision over Herrera at Las Vegas’ Cosmopolitan in an HBO-televised bout. In the immediate aftermath of the bout, a frustrated Herrera (21-5, 7 KOs) said he wanted a rematch and Benavidez said he would give him one.

However, it sounds as if Herrera has changed his mind. Instead, he says he wants a shot at Adrien Broner, who faces John Molina Jr. on March 7 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand on the first card in Al Haymon’s deal with NBC.

Herrera, 34, broke into The Ring’s 140-pound ratings at No. 10, despite the loss to the 22-year-old Benavidez, who is not ranked among the top 10.

Benavidez’ father said he had no problem with the ranking.

“Mauricio is good fighter, a good guy and a good story,’’ he said. “My son learned a lot in that fight. With that experience, I think, he’d knock him out in a rematch.’’

Benavidez is the third Arizona fighter in the state’s history to win a title sanctioned by a major sanction acronym. Junior-flyweight Michael Carbajal, a Hall of Famer, held the IBF, WBC and WBO titles during the 1990s. Louie Espinoza won the WBA’s super-bantamweight title in 1987.

Promoter Cedric Kushner passed away at age 66 on Thursday from a Heart Attack in New York City.

“I got a call and I had to go to the hospital because he had a massive heart attack,” said promoter Lou DiBella, one of Kushner’s closest friends for more than 25 years. “His brain had been affected. I knew he wouldn’t have wanted to live like that. I got in the car, and by the time I got to the hospital, he had passed. Ced and I went back to my first week in boxing over 25 years ago. We have a lot of history. He was a dear friend and one of the great characters in boxing.”

“For a long time, Ced was one of the most powerful promoters in the world. You can’t even count the number of world champions and top contenders he promoted,” said DiBella, who got to know Kushner when he bought fights from him as a senior vice president at HBO during the late 1980s and 1990s. “Ced had like 10 houses and 35 cars at one time, but he made some bad business decisions and he fell off the mountaintop. But he had a lot of friends in this business, and he was a beloved figure in this sport.”

“He had this [South African] accent that sounded refined and educated, but he barely got out of grade school,” DiBella said. “He was shining shoes and cleaning the pool at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami and scalping concert tickets. And he became one of the biggest promoters in the music business. From there he got involved in boxing and was one of the biggest promoters in the world.”

Kushner promoted fighters such as Shane Mosley, Virgil Hill, Angel Manfredy, Vuyani Bungu and Welcome Ncita, but he made his name in the heavyweight division and became one of the regular promoters who worked with HBO.

Kushner’s syndicated television series, “Heavyweight Explosion,” became a breeding ground for numerous contenders and titleholders in the 1990s and 2000s. Often they would fight on “Heavyweight Explosion” before moving on to major fights, and when they would eventually lose, Kushner would return them to the series, build them back up and get them another big fight.

The heavyweights he promoted included a who’s who of the era, including Hasim Rahman, Shannon Briggs, Oleg Maskaev, Chris Byrd, the late Corrie Sanders, Ike Ibeabuchi, David Izon, Derrick Jefferson, Kirk Johnson, Jameel McCline and many others.

In 2001, Kushner was on the top of the boxing world when he counted then-heavyweight champion Rahman and welterweight champion Mosley, the pound-for-pound king at the time, as his cornerstone fighters. Mosley had upset Oscar De La Hoya in June 2000 to win the welterweight title, and in April 2001, Rahman pulled off a massive upset to win the heavyweight championship by knocking out Lennox Lewis in the fourth round. Making the crowning moment of Kushner’s career even more special was that Rahman’s championship win came in South Africa.

“His family was his boxing family,” DiBella said.

“Ced was a character but a good man,” said Top Rank matchmaker Bruce Trampler, a friend of Kushner’s for more than 30 years. “He had a great sense of humor and sly insightful way about him. His perception of the fight game was unique. He had many triumphs and a few low blows thrown at him. Recent years had been very difficult for Ced. My pleasure to have known him.”

“He’d hold court, and everyone would listen to his racy, raunchy stories. We had a lot of laughs. I miss those days,” DiBella said. “This is another one of those days that’s a sad day, when the sport of boxing got a little less colorful. Ced had a penchant for the dark side. He liked his women of the evening, and he would tell stories that would have everyone rolling around. Nobody was funnier to sit down with. Everyone would listen to the stories Cedric told.

“I saw him a week or two ago, and he looked terrible. But he said, ‘I’m gonna have one more big triumph in this business.’ He had nothing going on but he thought until the very end he could get to the top again and have one more big fighter. I hope wherever he is right now, he gets that one big shot.”

DiBella, who is handing the arrangements for a memorial service, said Kushner would be cremated.

“We’ll have a service soon, but we want to give Cedric’s many friends from around the world time to make plans to come,” DiBella said. “He was an international promoter and had friends all over the place. We want them to come in. It will be the kind of great party Cedric would love.”

Rafael Vazquez scored a 4th round stoppage over Joseph Rios in a scheduled 8-round Super Bantamweight bout at BB Kings in New York.

Vazquez dropped Rios twice in round two from left hooks. Vazquez dropped Rios again in round four. The fight was halted after the 4th.

Vazquez, 122 lbs of Brooklyn is 13-1 with 11 knockouts. Rios, 120 1/4 lbs of San Antonio, TX is now 13-12-2.

Luis Rosa scored a 1st round stoppage over Noel Echevarria in a scheduled 8-round Featherweight bout.

Rosa dropped Echevarria in round one from a hard flurry. Rosa hurt Echevarria again when he drilled him with a left hook and hurt him in the corner. A hard flurry dropped Echevarria for a 2nd time and the fight was stopped at 2:32.

Rosa, 123 3/4 lbs of New Haven, CT is now 18-0 with 8 knockouts. Echevarria, 122 3/4 lbs of Winston-Salem, NC is now 11-5.

Travis Peterkin remained undefeated as he scored a stoppage after one round when Julio Garcia retired on his stool in their scheduled 8-round Cruiserweight bout.

Garcia said the body shots he endured in the first round were enough.

Peterkin, 180 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 14-0 with 6 knockouts. Garcia, 182 lbs of Boston, MA is now 6-8.

Shawn Cameron remained undefeated by scoring a 6-round unanimous decision over Daniel Calzada in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

Cameron, 154 lbs of Brooklyn, NY won by scores of 58-56 on all cards and is now 8-0. Calzada, 153 1/4 lbs of Dona Ana, NM is now 10-13-2.

Chris Galeano remained undefeated with a 6-round unanimous decision over Alexander Mancera in a Middleweight bout.

Mancera’s left eye was bloody from a headbutt. Galenao was also bleeding from a headbutt.

Galeano, 155 3/4 lbs of Bronx, NY is won by scores of 59-55 twice and 58-56 and is now 6-0. Mancera, 156 lbs of Queens, NY is now 8-6-1.

Wesley Ferrer remained undefeated with a 6-round unanimous decision over Hillario Medina in a Lightweight bout.

Ferrer, 134 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY won by scores of 60-54 on all cards is now 7-0. Medina, 134 1/2 lbs of Lomgmont, CA is now 2-5.

Steed Woodall and Jas Phipps for to a 6-round majority draw in a Super Middleweight bout.

Scores were 58-56 for Phipps while two judges ruled the bout 57-57.

Woodall, 161 lbs of Miami is now 6-0-1. Phipps, 160 1/2 lbs of Kileen, TX is now 5-5-2.

Ivan Golub scored a 1st round stoppage over Rashawn McCain in round one of a scheduled 4-round Middleweight bout.

At the end of the round, Golub dropped McCain with a left and he did not beat the count at 2:58 of round one

Golub, 156 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn is now 5-0 with 4 knockouts. McCain, 155 1/2 lbs of Tucson, AZ is now 2-3.

Lennox Allen scored a 2nd round stoppage over Kojo Issah in a scheduled 6-round Light Heavyweight bout.

ALlen dropped Issah with a right to the body and Issah went down for the 10-count at 51 seconds of round two.

Allen, 173 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 18-0-1 with 11 knockouts. Issah, 173 lbs of Frederick, MD is now 14-2-1.

Ivan Baranchyk scored a one punch stoppage over Ian James in round one in a scheduled 4-round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Baranchyk landed a left hook that dropped James and the fight was immediately stopped at 1:55.

Baranchyk, 138 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn is now 4-0 with 3 knockouts. James, 138 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 3-11-1.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather held a private meeting inside of Pacquiao’s hotel suite on Tuesday night in Miami.

They met inside Pacquiao’s hotel suite and “it was very pleasant and very encouraging, and we give Floyd credit for coming over,” Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz, who was present at the meeting, told ESPN.com on Wednesday. “That’s the first time they ever sat eye to eye. I’ve met Floyd many times, but he and Manny had never had a chance to meet. They talked at halftime, but this was a longer, more serious meeting. You could tell by their body language that this was very positive. It was for a good hour or more.

“It was a business meeting, but it wasn’t a tense business meeting. I think that’s because they both have mutual respect for each other. We’ll determine what will happen over the next couple of days.”

“I told Floyd I would call [Pacquiao promoter] Bob [Arum of Top Rank] in the morning, and I did that and discussed them with Bob, and he assured us they have been worked out. I took care of it,” Koncz said. “I said to Floyd, and Manny agreed, that if those are the only two broadcasting issues, we would take care of them.”

Koncz said Pacquiao and Mayweather also discussed other issues but that the broadcasting items were “the majority of the discussion. Floyd said, ‘I want the fight to happen,’ and Manny said he does, too. If the fighters both want the fight to happen, who can stop it? They both said they want it to happen, and we’re still looking to make it happen on May 2.

“I think people are just tired of all of this. Me and Manny, and maybe Floyd, we’re tired of the fans and everybody, everywhere we go continually asking us when the fight will happen. Boxing needs this fight to happen, and it needs to happen in May.”

“I don’t want to go on a worldwide tour. We don’t think it’s necessary,” he said. “Look, we could have stopped in seven cities and not gotten the kind of publicity we got from Manny and Floyd talking at halftime of the basketball game.

“I think we could do one city, perhaps two, New York and Los Angeles, and this thing will go viral. It will sell itself. We don’t need to go spending money on private jets to go to a lot of cities. Those tours are expensive. The money could go to the fighters instead. People want this fight and have wanted it for so long. I would have liked to see it happen three or four or five years ago, but hopefully we can get it done now. It will be the biggest fight in history.”

SAN ANTONIO – Rocky Juarez spent his career being an honest prizefighter who never quite found within himself a transcendent performance when the occasion demanded one. Monday’s match was no exception, and Juarez’s retirement, announced immediately afterwards, was no surprise.

Fighting in the main event of a good card at Cowboys Dancehall, Houston’s Juarez (30-11-1, 21 KOs) dropped a lopsided and unanimous decision to Mexican featherweight Robinson Castellanos (21-10, 13 KOs) by scores of 118-106, 118-106 and 118-107.

“I wanted to announce my retirement today,” Juarez said over the PA system while still in the ring. “This will be my best time to announce that – here, in my home state, in front of my family and friends.

“I had a great run, and I tried, I tried. I love you guys. Thank you.”

After an opening pair of uneventful rounds, rounds in which the significantly shorter and older Juarez could not close distance easily as he might have in bygone years, the Houstonian began to impose himself in the third, bodying the larger Castellanos and driving him several times to the ropes, where Juarez had a few chances to score.

In round 4, Juarez’s age began to tell more than his experience, though, and with his balance compromised by older legs, Juarez began to have trouble timing his lanky opponent. Round 5 saw Juarez overcommit to a left hook, spin in a trance, and lose his footing. Juarez’s slip was incorrectly ruled a knockdown. Solace, though, came in the form of a large cut over the outside of Castellanos’ right eye.

The sixth round was an excellent one, with each man having to be shown to the doctor to verify the dangers of cuts sustained over his eyes. The seventh was more of what its predecessor comprised, with Juarez getting a close-quarters firefight, whether he wanted one or not.

In the eighth, Castellanos’ punches continued to tell, with a series of right uppercuts moving Juarez backwards involuntarily for the first time in the fight. The ninth was another brutal affair, with Castellanos’ face beginning to swell and bleed disproportionately more than Juarez’s.

With both men worn and exhausted going into the championship rounds, the pace slackened slightly in the 11th. Juarez’s short and crisp punches lost most of their snap, and Castellanos’ long and looping right hands becoming wider and wilder.

The final round was not kind to the aged warrior Juarez. Despite, or perhaps because of, a characteristically honest effort throughout, Juarez’s legs abandoned him in the 12th, dropping him on the canvas thrice – as much from exhaustion as punishment. Juarez rose all three times and rallied to fight Castellanos off him in the closing seconds, but it was little more than a moral victory for Juarez, for whom the 12th round made a points victory mathematically impossible.

Juarez’s honest fighting style and serious approach to our beloved sport set him apart and will be sorely missed.

KEANDRE GIBSON VS. NELSON LARA
Monday’s co-main event, undefeated Nevada welterweight KeAndre Gibson (12-0-1, 5 KOs) against Nicaraguan Nelson Lara (15-7-5, 8 KOs), began like a matchup all too commonplace in prizefighting today: An athlete who hates being hit against a journeyman too slow to imperil him. As the second round began, though, the athlete opened up, the journeyman began to land, and entertainment suddenly happened.

However lopsided the official scores – three tallies of 80-72 for Gibson – the evening’s co-main was an excellent fight, and a stiff test for Gibson, who earned every round he narrowly took from Lara.

The close of the third round, the match’s most competitive minute to that point, even saw the Nicaraguan land a flurry that brought a rousing cheer from the partisan-Latino, South Texas crowd.

By round 7, with both fighters winded, Gibson began to body the smaller man, wrestling him to the ropes and going to work on him from close quarters. It may have been a tactical error, though, as Lara, finally able to make contact with Gibson whenever he wished, began, by round’s end, to get the better of their exchanges.

But Gibson worked hard through the eighth and final round, winning a fair and unanimous decision.

Gibson may look the part – with a Las Vegas pedigree and statuesque physique – but the truth is, right now, he lacks the power to get guys out of fights in early rounds. And the later his fights go, the wider his mouth opens, and the more his impressive musculature begins to hinder him.

JAVIER RODRIGUEZ VS. QUINICE WESBY
Light-hitting local favorite Javier “Pitbull” Rodriguez (12-0-1, 2 KOs) brought his undefeated record to Cowboys Dancehall, a venue at which Rodriguez always sells plenty of tickets, in Monday’s swing bout against Dallas featherweight Quinice Wesby (2-8), an awkward specimen, and Rodriguez also brought a desire to change his reputation as a light-hitter.

After measuring Wesby with left hooks through the opening four rounds of the match, Rodriguez caught Wesby with a lead left hook that put his lights clean out and required no ten-count, winning by knockout at 0:49 of round 5.

Rodriguez won every round against the overmatched Wesby, whose bizarre stance and attack, his lead hand held almost as though his arm were broken, undermined his own offense more than it affected Rodriguez’s.

While Rodriguez continues to build himself as a local attraction, and ensured even more tickets will be sold with Monday’s excellent finish, one still worries what shall come to pass if and when his competition improves, and he has to fight aggressive opponents with good chins off him.

UNDERCARD
The evening’s fourth match, San Antonio lightweight Christian Santibanez (1-3) versus Austin’s Albert Romero (2-3-1), brought a loud reaction from the previously subdued crowd, as each man plied his limited wares in an aggressive manner that complemented the other. Romero prevailed by three scores of 39-37 in a fun, competitive match.

Before that, an uninspired six-round affair happened in the super featherweight division, as Texan Arturo Esquivel (9-2, 2 KOs) and Californian Jesus Sandoval (4-5-3) pawed and slapped their way to a close match official judges nevertheless saw for Sandoval, 60-54, 60-54 and 60-54.

Monday’s opening match, a lightweight showdown between two Texans, Robstown’s Robert Vela (11-0-2, 5 KOs) and San Antonio’s Ramiro Torres (4-28-1, 2 KOs), saw through most of its four rounds no way to distinguish the undefeated fighter from the one about to experience his 28th career loss. Despite the match’s unexpected competitiveness, though, the official scores for Vela were fair, going 39-37, 39-37 and 40-36.

Opening bell rang on a semi-full Cowboys Dancehall at 7:00 PM local time.

Brandon Rios scored a emphatic 3rd round stoppage over Mike Alvarado in their contest that was a scheduled 12-round Welterweight bout at the 1stBank Arena in Broomfield, Colorado.

Rios busted up Alvarado in the first round from a shots with both hands by Rios. Rios continued the assault in round two as he wobbled Alvarado with a right and then followed up with solid body work. Rios continued to drill Alvarado in round three and finally sent him to the deck with an uppercut.

After the round, Alvarado had enough and called a halt to the bout.

Rios, 146 3/4 lbs of Oxnard, CA is now 33-2-1 with 23 knockouts. Alvarado, 146 1/2 lbs of Thornton, CO is now 34-4.

Gilberto Ramirez scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Maxim Vlasov in a Light Heavyweight bout.

Ramirez, 170 1/2 lbs of Sinaloa, MX won by scores of 97-93 twice and 96-94 and is now 31-0. Vlasov, 170 lbs of Russia is now 30-2.

Kell Brook will make the 1st defense of the IBF Welterweight title against mandatory challenger Jo Jo Dan on March 28 in Sheffield, England, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

The 28-year-old Brook was supposed to make his first title defense late last year — the opponent had not been announced — but he suffered a stab wound in his leg during an incident while he was on vacation in Spain in September.

“After everything that’s happened over the last six months, it feels incredible knowing I will be defending my world title in Sheffield,” Brook said. “I want to get this mandatory out of the way and then target those megafights that are out there in the division.

“There is no chance that I will be underestimating Jo Jo Dan, though, as I know how he will be feeling, having worked so hard to get into the mandatory position just like I did, but I will be working twice as hard to keep the belt that I earned.”

“To see Kell walk out in front of a sold-out crowd in his hometown of Sheffield is going to be an emotional night,” Hearn said. “Kell has gone to America and beaten an American to win the world title; it’s a massive achievement and it shows that he is a very, very special fighter.

“Jo Jo Dan is a tough fight. There’s no way that Kell can be anything but 100 percent to beat him, and I have no doubt that he will be. There are some massive fights out there for Kell if he can take care of Jo Jo, but his focus is solely on Dan and I expect him to shine on March 28.”

Former Super Lightweight titlist Lucas Matthysse has signed a contract extension with Golden Boy Promotions according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“Lucas Matthysse is extremely happy with Golden Boy Promotions, and he wants to retire with us,” De La Hoya said. “I’m extremely happy that he’s a loyal fighter and person who understands the value of having a promoter on a long-term contract in order for us to keep building him and get him the fights he deserves.”

“Mario Arano is his manager, and we did a deal with his manager,” De La Hoya said. “Al Haymon is an adviser to Mario and Lucas. We went directly to his manager, and his manager and Lucas are loyal to us. We built Lucas Matthysse and got him the fights that have put him in this position, therefore he re-signed with us because he wants to continue on this path to the end of his career.”

Said Matthysse: “I am excited to continue to work with Oscar and Golden Boy Promotion. They are my family. They have supported me and built my career from the beginning and I’m loyal to them as they have been to me. I’m looking forward to my future and what 2015 has to offer.

“Lucas Matthysse will have a few more fights at 140 pounds and then he wants to go up to 147,” De La Hoya said. “We’ll continue to bring him the best fights possible. He is willing to fight anybody, unlike a lot of fighters.”

De La Hoya said he would talk to both HBO and Showtime — which both have televised Matthysse’s bouts — about his next fight.

“It all depends on who he fights. For instance, maybe we make a deal with Ruslan Provodnikov’s promoter (Banner Promotions) to do a fight,” De La Hoya said. “My understanding is Provodnikov has a first/last (contract position) with HBO. But we also have to keep in mind that Stephen Espinoza at Showtime has been showcasing Lucas Matthysse on his network, so it’s a very delicate situation. We’ll explore all options, but he’s definitely going to fight in March.”

Powerful adviser Al Haymon announced his plans for a Friday night series on Spike TV according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

The first card will take place March 13 (9 p.m. ET/PT) at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, and be headlined by former welterweight titleholder Andre Berto (29-3, 22 KOs) against Josesito Lopez (33-6, 19 KOs). Former welterweight titleholder Shawn Porter (24-1-1, 15 KOs) and Roberto Garcia (36-3, 23 KOs) will meet in the co-feature.

“We share the vision of the ‘Premier Boxing Champions’ series to put the fighters first,” Spike TV president Kevin Kay said. “The fighters are the stars, and we will give them a platform to demonstrate why they are among greatest and most exciting athletes in the world.”

“I love that [Ali] era of boxing, and I have always felt that if somebody came along and could put together great fights and great cards and market and promote it in the right way, and do it on cable TV on a regular basis and be committed to it, that we could bring that back and kind of get boxing the comeback it deserves,” Kay said. “Boxing needs a comeback right now. Right now I think you look at boxing and it’s just a handful of guys that you know.

“I think that’s because nobody is committed to a consistent place on [basic] cable TV where you can promote, market, and develop boxers and their brands. That’s what I’m excited about. I have wanted to do it for a long time.”

“Haymon has big names. What I wasn’t hearing [from others] was that the fighters come first because I believe the fighters need to come first,” Kay said. “It’s not about the manager, the promoter — that’s what I think is actually not good for the sport. We’re not talking about any of that [with Haymon]. Al’s thing is that, and I always say, he’s like a ghost, man. His spirit is with us. But the thing that I heard was he wants to innovate and wants to change the presentation of the sport because he feels, like I feel, which is what I had wanted to hear, is that I don’t want to see a red, white and blue ring when I turn on a fight and feel like I’m still in 1975. I want to bring a presentation to this, and this is what we at the network do.

“We want to update the level of production and put a broadcast team out there that is young, diverse, that feels like the audience. We want to tell stories about fighters and build them as stars. Commit to shoulder programming for every single fight and run it a whole bunch of times on the channel so that we get to a place where the audience knows who these guys are and gets invested in them. We look at these kids today, and they are so charismatic and they have great smiles and winning personalities. Let’s tell their stories and invest the audience in them, and I think if we do that, we have something really special here.”

Berto, who has been featured for years on premium cable networks HBO and Showtime, said he believes bringing top-level fights (in which the fighters will earn similar purses) to basic cable is great for boxing.

“This series is something that the sport has been needing and yearning for,” he said. “I believe this is a huge message from Al Haymon. He has always been a man behind the scenes, but he is making huge power moves, and this right here is one where he is definitely sending out his message to everyone in general. For everyone that has been trying to find out what he really is about or who has doubted what he is able to do, this right here is a huge platform for his fighters. We are going to be in about 90 or 100 million homes. It doesn’t get any better than that. This is taking it back to the days of Sugar Ray Leonard, [Roberto] Duran and Marvin Hagler. They were stars, and now we are getting a taste of that now. It’s an exciting moment.”

“I think they just want everyone out in the world to be aware of what the talent is in boxing now,” Porter said. “It’s talent that hasn’t been seen by everyone. I think with launching this on Spike TV, and also NBC, it’s going to show people out in the world that boxing has great talent and excitement that everyone can tune in to.

“For me personally, it’s very cool because people know me from a boxing standpoint, but to cross over, touch so many more people and have them get to know you, I’m built for that. I’m excited for that and I’m ready for it. It’s very exciting for me personally and all the boxers coming to do this as well. I think we will all have something to look forward to.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr is looking to fight Andrzej Fonfara in April despite Top Rank claiming to have an exisiting contract.

“We were offered the fight and we took the fight. Both sides agreed to fight, but I can’t tell you the place, I can’t tell you the weight, I can’t tell you the number of rounds, I can’t tell you what network it is on,” said Fonfara promoter Leon Margules said. “But I think it’s a great fight between two fighters who always make good fights. Andrzej understands how important the fight is for his career and he is pretty excited about it.

Top Rank chairman Bob Arum told ESPN.com that he would do everything he could to stop the fight and have Chavez honor his agreement.

“I can tell you one thing — Leon has joined the list of defendants,” Arum said. “They’re violating our contract and we’ll take action. We’re going to take serious action.

“NBC is going to be party to (the lawsuit) also,” Arum said. “I don’t think Showtime will do the fight because they know HBO’s got rights (to Chavez).”

“We’ve offered to do our last fight. Just let us promote our last fight and then they can walk away,” Arum said. “The lawyers have talked. They weren’t getting anywhere. They may resume talking, who knows?”

The fight figures to be at a catch weight somewhere between the 175-pound light heavyweight limit and the 168-pound super middleweight division. Arum said he was told the bout is supposed to be at 172 pounds.

Michael Perez had to hold on for a 10-round unanimous decision over former Lightweight belt holder Miguel Acosta in an action packed slugfest in a Welterweight bout.

Perez started to bleed from the right eye in round four. Perez came back to rock Acosta in round five with a big left hook that cut him over the right eye.

The two waged war and buckled each other several times with Acosta rocking Perez in the last round.

Perez, 140.8 lbs of Newark, NJ won by scores of 96-93 twice and 95-94 is now 22-1. Acosta, 139.3 lbs of Miranda, VEN is now 29-8-2.

In round seven, Acosta went down from what was ruled a punch but from first glance it did not look like a punch landed.

Lamont Roach remained undefeated with a 4th round stoppage over Herbert Quartey in a scheduled 6-round Lightweight bout.

Roach dropped Quartey in round one from a right to the hook. In round four, Roach drilled Quartey with a hard right that deposited him on the seat of his pants.. A follow up flurry that was finished off by a left hook put Quartey on the canvas as referee Steve Smoger stopped the bout at 2:34

Roach, 131.5 lbs of Washington, DC is now 6-0 with 3 knockouts. Quartey, 133.4 lbs of Silver Spring, MD is now 8-11.

Gilbert Alex Sanchez scored a 6-round unanimous decision over Robert Sweeney in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

In round five, Sanchez landed a perfect left hook that put Sweeney on the canvas.

Sanchez, 153.6 lbs of Camden, NJ won by scores of 58-55 on all cards and is now 5-6-1. Sweeney, 151.4 lbs of Manassas, VA is now 3-2.

Carlos Rosario needed 1 right hand to the shoulder to take out Timothy McNair just 33 seconds into their 4-round Lightweight bout.

Rosario, 132.9 lbs of Pennsauken, NJ is now 2-1 with 1 knockout. McNair, 132.8 lbs of Snow Hill, NC is now 0-3.

IBF Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor injured his ribs and was arrested again on Monday thus postponing his February 6 title defense with Sergio Mora, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

A woman said Tuesday that Jermain Taylor threatened to fatally shoot her 5-, 3-, and 1-year-old children, and that she knocked the gun away after the cursing middleweight boxing champion put the weapon to her husband’s head in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Monday.

Toya Smith, 40, told The Associated Press that she and her family were having a good time at the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade Monday when Taylor produced his boxing belt and asked to get a photo with her son. Smith says her family had never met Taylor before and that it appeared he had been drinking.

“He bent down to give my son the belt and he almost fell over and dropped the belt, and he thought my baby dropped the belt,” Smith told The Associated Press.

“He put [the gun] up against his temple, I jumped in front of it and it went off up into the air,” injuring her husband’s ear, Smith told the AP. “He was going to shoot him, but I saw it, he was going to kill him and I had to hit the gun.”

A Little Rock police report says Taylor was arrested without incident and a gun was recovered. He is charged with five felony counts of aggravated assault, three felony counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and a misdemeanor count of drug possession after he was found to have a small bag of marijuana.

Taylor was released Tuesday from the Pulaski County jail on $50,000 bond. His attorneys did not return phone calls to The Associated Press on Tuesday.

In addition, Taylor’s title defense against Sergio Mora, which was scheduled to headline the Feb. 6 edition of ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights” at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, is off and unlikely to be rescheduled. His promoter, Lou DiBella, said Taylor suffered a broken rib in a sparring session a few days ago. DiBella said they had hoped to keep the fight together but that X-rays showed a fracture.

“We learned a few days ago that Jermain suffered a rib injury in sparring, and we were getting another opinion and seeing how Jermain felt, and then this incident happened,” DiBella told ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael on Monday. “His fight on Feb. 6 was going to be canceled due to a legitimate injury, a rib fracture, but this obviously is a shocking development no matter what the exact details are, and it leads myself and his management [Al Haymon] to be more concerned with his well being, his mental health and his future than his boxing career.

“Right now there aren’t any plans to reschedule anything or think about his future in the ring until the events surrounding his legal issues are dealt with.”

“He was pointing at the kids, so I jumped in front of him again and said, ‘Please don’t shoot my kids,'” Smith said.

“Do I have bad luck, or do I have bad luck? I am getting so used to this,” Mora told ESPN.com about having his title shot canceled. “If I didn’t have Lou and [adviser] Al Haymon scrambling for me to get another opponent, I would be panicking. But I’m in a good place. I have a good team, and they are going to take care of things.”

“But I felt the bad news coming even before what happened [Monday],” Mora said. “I was training my ass off, but this is not the first time this has happened. I’m gonna keep training like I am fighting on Feb. 6 and headlining a card on ESPN2.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, unified Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko will defend his belts against undefeated oPhiladelphian Bryant Jennings on April 25 at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

“I have all of the attributes naturally to be a champion that you can’t teach — heart and will,” Jennings told ESPN.com. “I’m psyched up. This is the level where I’m at. This is exactly what I planned to do. Whatever competition you are in, your goal should be to reach the top. This is the top, but now it’s about taking it to higher heights and winning.

“Yes, we are back at the Garden on April 25,” said Klitschko manager Bernd Boente said. “The fifth Klitschko fight there, fourth of Wladimir, and Wladimir is happy about it.”

“I do have great respect for Bryant Jennings and his achievements,” Klitschko said. “He has good movement in the ring and good technique. I know this will be a tough challenge. I am extremely happy to fight in New York again. I had my first unification fight here and a lot of great heavyweight matches have taken place at Madison Square Garden. It will definitely be a great fight night and I will do everything for it from my side.”

“Everybody has some weaknesses, and there is a blueprint to beat everybody,” Jennings said. “I will have to be at my best. This is heavyweight boxing, where it only takes one punch. Matching me up with Wladimir, there is an age difference. I’m a lot younger than he is. And while I may be shorter [6-foot-3 to 6-6], my arms are long and I am very athletic. But the most important thing is that I come to fight and I know how to win.

“They can say whatever they want about inexperience but I know how to win and in a lot of different ways. And I always have the ambition to find a way to win. I’m not a quitter. I have the heart and will to be a champion. I understand Klitschko is a beast in himself, but I know for sure I will be ready. This is what I fight for. We are not planning on losing. We are talking about bringing that belt home. Nothing against Deontay, but I figure a heavyweight champion from Philly is bigger than a heavyweight champion from Alabama.”

“The negotiations with Roc Nation were exhausting and unnecessary but now all is set,” Boente said.

LAS VEGAS – A lot was promised. Return to Glory, the ads said. The glory will have to wait. But there was a return of sorts. An American-born fighter has regained a version of the heavyweight title.

Deontay Wilder did it Saturday night with a unanimous decision, taking the World Boxing Council’s belt from a plodding Bermane Stiverne Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

“I’m so happy to bring the belt back to America, officially,’’ said Wilder, the first American-born champ since Shannon Briggs won a belt in the bout’s final second of a 2006 walk-off knockout of Sergey Liakhovich in a ring above the pitcher’s mound at the Arizona Diamondbacks home field in downtown Phoenix.

Briggs victory didn’t exactly re-conquer an old American possession. Then, the flag went up and came down in Banana Republic time. It’s hard to know whether Wilder’s victory will result in any real permanence. For now, however, it’s a foothold by a young heavyweight still learning his trade

“I want to be around for a long, long time,’’ Wilder (33-0, 32 KOs) said over the Haitian-born Stiverne 24-2-1, 21 KOs).

Translation: He wants to make history. He talked about history after the one- sided scorecards – 120-107, 118-109 and 119-108 – were announced.

Wilder dedicated his victory to Muhammad Ali, who turned 73 Saturday. He talked about civil rights leader Martin
Luther King, whose national holiday will be celebrated Monday.

“Martin Luther King, he shocked the world,’’ Wilder said. “I shook it.’’

Truth is, he only shook only Stivrne a few times, once in the fifth round and again in the seventh. It was in the seventh that it looked as if Wilder would keep his unbeaten record perfect. But another stoppage eluded him.

Wilder threw s a straight right, a deadly fastball, which knocked Stiverne on to his heels and backpedaling across the canvas. Only the ropes kept the Haitian’s 239 pounds from crushing a customer or two in the ringside seats. Those same ropes also might have kept him upright. He was dazed. But not done.

Stiverne, blood dripping from a cut above one eye, kept moving forward, yet never throwing, much less landing, more than a punch or two at a time.

“I just wasn’t ready,’’Stiverne said. “I didn’t cut off the ring the way I wanted to.’’

The biggest surprise was Wilder’s ability to go 12 rounds. He had never been beyond four. His elusiveness throughout the bout helped explain why he was a skinny 219 pounds at the weigh-in Friday. Wilder, 6-foot- 6 ½, trained to be quick. He was able to say away from Stiverne.

“Who can’t box, who can’t box?’’ Wilder yelled at press row after the final bell.

Maybe, Wilder can. But the jury is still out on that one.

In the 10th, there were scattered boos from the crowd of 8,453. If Wladimir Klitschko was watching the Showtime telecast from his home n Germany, he probably didn’t lose any sleep at what he saw.

The pace had slowed to a deadly crawl. In the end, however, Wilder had the smarts and conditioning to reach the finish line. He won a significant fight and got a belt for his efforts. But the real test, that test of time, is just a beginning.

WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion Leo Santa Cruz defended his crown for the fourth time with an eighth-round TKO of Jesus Ruiz and afterword called out fellow champions Abner Mares and Guillermo Rigondeaux in the co-feature of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.

The early rounds were close and competitive and Ruiz, a heavy underdog, seemed to be a tougher test than he looked on paper. But it was clear that Santa Cruz was landing the cleaner shaper punches. The former bantamweight world champion landed some meaningful shots and had Ruiz in trouble in the seventh and, for the first time, it appeared that he could finish Ruiz.

Santa Cruz (29-0-1, 17 KOs) came out blazing in the eighth, landed a big right cross to kick off the round and continued to tee-off on the challenger. In trouble against the ropes and not fighting back, referee Kenny Bayless jumped in and stopped the bout with Ruiz (32-6-5, 21 KOs) still on his feet at :29 of the eighth round. The champion landed 43 percent of his total punches and nearly 50 percent of his power punches, while landing an impressive 73 power shots to the body.

“Like I expected, it was a war,” Santa Cruz said. “He came prepared. We hurt him and we didn’t let the chance go away. We kept going after him and we stopped him. I hurt him with the right hand. I knew he was hurt so I went after him. I knew Kenny Bayless would stop it because he wasn’t throwing punches.

“I want the best and I want to please the fans. I want (Abner) Mares, I want (Guillermo) Rigondeaux. Hopefully our next fight is against one of the best.”

Ruiz, who only landed 22 percent of his total punches, disagreed with the stoppage.

“I want a rematch,” Ruiz said. “I don’t feel they should have stopped the fight, but I have to accept it. But I’m fine. Look at me – I’m not cut. He didn’t even drop me.”

In the opening bout of the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast, undefeated super lightweight Amir Imam floored Fidel Maldonado Jr. four times and scored a fifth-round TKO in a brawl that featured five total knockdowns.

Maldonado was the busier fighter, but Imam floored the Albuquerque resident for the fourth time in his career with a short right just a moment before the bell rang to end the second. Then, in an early candidate for Round of the Year that featured three knockdowns, Maldonado responded by knocking down Imam for the first time in his career 30 seconds into the third with a solid straight left. Imam bounced back and sent Maldonado to the canvas with a huge right with 20 seconds left in the third and then again with a straight right as part of a vicious attack with less than 10 seconds left in the round.

The action continued and Imam (16-0, 14 KOs) floored Maldonado for the fourth time in the fight with a short right followed by a left hook just seconds before the bell to close the fifth. Maldonado (19-3, 16 KOs) got up but was wobbling and referee Robert Byrd halted the contest at 2:59. Imam’s power was the difference, landing 50 percent of his power shots.

“It was a tough knockdown, but champions get up and finish the fight hard and that’s what I did,” Imam said. “I just had to stay composed and do what I had to do. “I started timing him. When I hit him with that good shot he was out. I could see it. That was the rope-a-dope. I was swinging for the fences and that was it, baby.

“I’m ready for the title shot right now. I just want to fight for the title.”

Four of the five knockdowns occurred with less than 30 seconds left in each round. After the fight, Maldonado admitted that he simply failed to protect himself when the rounds were winding down.

“I just got caught with a couple of punches,” Maldonado said. “He kept his composure and he came out with the W. I just got caught. I got lazy in there and he capitalized. He was the better man tonight. I got kind of bored at the end of the rounds and I paid for it.”

In the main event of SHOWTIME BOXING on SHO EXTREME, undefeated light heavyweight prospect Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (12-0, 10 KOs) kept his perfect record intact with a thoroughly convincing TKO victory of Garrett Wilson (13-9-1, 7 KOs).

Shabranskyy kept his distance and was very effective; landing 48 percent of his power shot and threw more than 60 punches in each round. The Ukrainian prospect scored a knockdown with a right in the closing seconds of the second and another with a clean right in the final 10 seconds of the eighth, sending Wilson face first to the canvas. Wilson beat the count but was saved by the bell as Shabranskyy unloaded more than a dozen consecutive punches.

The durable Wilson took a tremendous beating in the ninth and seemingly didn’t land a punch, forcing referee Jay Nady to stop the bout after the ninth upon suggestion of the ringside physician.

In the opening bout of the SHO EXTREME telecast, heavyweight Eric Molina (23-2, 17 KOs) defeated Raphael Zumbano (32-9-1, 25 KOs) via eighth round TKO in a one-sided affair.

Molina, who landed 76 percent of his power shots and more than 50 percent of his total punches, was connecting at will when referee Russell Mora halted the contest at 1:28 of the eighth.

In a non-televised swing bout, Cesar Quinonez (1-0, 1 KO), a Las Vegas native and the first fighter to go professional from Fernando Vargas’ gym Feroz Fight Factory, made his professional debut and scored a knockout win over Chula Vista’s Joan Valenzuela (1-2) in the second round at 2:13.

Jose Zepeda remained undefeated by scoring a 2nd round stoppage over Orlando Vazquez in scheduled 8-round Welterweight bout at the Oceanview Pavilion in Port Hueneme, California.

Zepeda dropped Vazquez in round one from a combination and in round two he registered three more knockdowns all from hard combinations and the bout was stopped at 2:03 of round two.

Zepeda, 140 1/2 lbs of La Puente, CA is now 22-0 with 19 knockouts. Vazquez, 141 lbs of Bayamon, PR is now 15-6-1.

Saul Rodriguez scored a 2nd round stoppage over Carlos Rodriguez in round two of their scheduled 8-round Lightweight bout.

Saul landed a left to the head that made Carlos take two steps to the corner and go to a knee and take the ten count at 1:02 of round two.

Saul Rodriguez 132 1/2 lbs of Riverside, CA is now 16-0-1 with 13 knockouts. Carlos Rodriguez, 133 lbs of San Bonaventura, MX is now 9-2.

Luis Sedano won a 4-round unanimous decision over Ali Gonzalez in a Lightweight bout.

Sedano, 130 1/2 lbs of Durate, CA won by scores of 40-36 twice and 39-37 and is now 4-0. Gonzalez, 131 1/2 lbs of Nogales, MX is now 6-5.

Hall of Fame Light Heavyweight / cruiserweight Virgil Hill will come out of retirement to fight Rager Cantrell on February 28 in Bismarck, North Dakota according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“The fight is about North Dakota. It’s going to be my last fight. I can’t think of any other way for me to express to the people of North Dakota how honored I am,” Hill told The Associated Press. “It’s just a farewell, a goodbye.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, WBA Lightweight champion Richar Abril will defend against Englishman Derry Matthews on March 6 in Liverpool, England.

“Derry started his pro career with me and rejoined me in 2013, and I promised him then that I’d get him a world title shot and I’m delighted to now deliver his dream of fighting for a world title in his home city,” said promoter Frank Warren. “He has been a loyal servant to the sport in which he has won a multitude of [regional] titles and been involved in some fantastic fights, but the only thing missing has been the world title opportunity, so it is a pleasure to get him the [shot].”

“I’m looking forward to defending my title against Derry Mathews,” Abril said. “He is a tough, experienced fighter, but I plan on coming to the U.K., getting the KO and leaving with my belt.”

“It’s a dream come true for me to finally fight for the world title, but to have the opportunity to do it in my home city is unbelievable, and I thank Frank Warren, who promised he’d get me a crack at the world title when I rejoined him, for delivering me my chance,” Mathews said. “Whereas other fighters from the city have had to go overseas for their chances, Frank has got me mine on my own doorstep and now it’s down to me to deliver the goods on my side and win the title.

“I’m not underestimating Abril one bit. He’s the world champion, but I’m confident in my own abilities and I believe that I have the tools to end Abril’s reign and take the world title from him. He’s not a huge puncher, and I believe that it’s my time to take over.”

“I really felt for Anthony,” Mathews said. “Yes, we’re sporting rivals, but that was terrible what happened and I was truly gutted for him. I hope that he gets medically cleared and fit to box so that he can resume his career because he’s a tremendous fighter and person. He missed out on his shot at Abril because of what happened, but should I come through against Abril and win, then I will give him a shot at the world title. A third fight between us is a natural and would be a fantastic battle of Britain.”

Brandon Adams made quick work of Lekan Byfield by scoring a 2nd round stoppage in the scheduled 8-round Middleweight bout.

In round one Adams dropped Byfield with a hard right hand. Adams looks sharp as he continued to hurt Byfield and sent him to the canvas two more times in the 2nd frame and the fight was stopped at 1:58 of round two.

Adams, 160 lbs of Los Angeles is now 15-1 with 10 knocouts. Byfield, 158 lbs of Atlanta is now 6-7-2.

Greg Jackson got off the deck to score a 3rd round stoppage over Cornelius Whitlock in a scheduled 4-round Welterweight bout.

In round two, Whitlock dropped Jackson with a booming round house right. Jackson was hurt but was able to get out of the round and it was good that he did as Jackson ripped Whitlock with a hard shot in round three and wobbled him several times more before the fight was stopped at 1:27 of round three.

Jackson, 145 1/2 lbs of Philadelphia is now 4-1-1 with 2 knockouts. Whitlock, 145 lbs of Baltimore, MD is now 3-2-2.

2012 Olympic Bronze medal winner Taras Shelestyuk annihilated Antonio Chaves Fernandez in just 41 seconds of their scheduled 8-round Welterweight bout.

Shelestyuk buckled Fernandez badly with a right hook and then dropped him with follow up cpmbination and Fernandez did not get up. He was down for several minutes and a stretcher was brought out but Fernandez was able to get up and walk out of the ring on his own power.

Shelestyuk, 148 lbs of Los Angeles. CA via Sumy, Ukraine is now 10-0 with 7 knockouts/

Vitor Jones de Oliveira scored an explosive 1st round stoppage over Michael Doyle in a scheduled 6-round Jr. Lightweight bout.

De Oliveira, who is the nephew of the legendary Acelino Freitas, dropped Doyle with a hard right in the opneing seconds of the bout. De Oliveira finished things when jumped all over Doyle and the bout was stopped at 1:24 of round one.

De Oliveira, 132 lbs of Salvador, BRA is now 8-0 with 5 knockouts. Doyle, 126 lbs of Mobile, AL is now 2-14-1.

Cameron Allen scored a 4-round unanimous decision over Borngod Washington in a Light Heavyweight bout.

Allen scored a knockdown in the first round and went on to win by scores of 40-35 on all cards.

Allen, 172 lbs of Battle Creek, MI is now 6-17. Washington, 172 lbs of Queens, NY is now 3-16.

NBC and Haymon Boxing announced a new fight series on Wednesday according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

The series, titled “Premier Boxing Champions” — “PBC on NBC” as executives are calling it — will include five cards on NBC on Saturday nights, six on NBC on Saturday afternoons and the remaining nine in prime time on NBC Sports Network.

[+] EnlargeDanny Garcia
Rich Kane/Hoganphotos/Golden Boy
NBC is scheduled to broadcast a junior welterweight title unification match between Danny Garcia (pictured) and Lamont Peterson on April 11.
The first two cards are high-level fights on par with the best bouts put on by premium cable networks HBO and Showtime, where most of boxing’s most significant matches have taken place for decades.

The series will kick off March 7 (9 p.m. ET) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with interim welterweight titlist Keith Thurman (24-0, 21 KOs) facing former two-division titleholder Robert Guerrero (32-2-1, 18 KOs) and former three-division titleholder Adrien Broner (29-1, 22 KOs) facing John Molina (27-5, 22 KOs) in the junior welterweight co-feature.

The second card, slated for April 11 at a site to be determined, is one of the most anticipated bouts in boxing — a junior welterweight title unification match between Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson.

“I’m excited, man. It’s a dream come true for me,” Garcia said of fighting on network television. “Words can’t explain the feeling. I’m just so excited for the sport of boxing. I love it. Now it’s just finally getting the exposure it deserves.”

“We know the responsibility that comes with being in prime time on NBC,” PBC chief operations officer Ryan Caldwell said.

Said Lamont Jones, vice president of operations for the series: “When the customer goes to the grocery store and sees USDA on the steak and wants to buy it, we want it to be the same for fans seeing PBC on the telecast and knowing it’s high quality and competitive matchups.

“I think the guiding principle and guiding vision of this series is presenting compelling and high-quality matchups to the fans. … Al Haymon has more than 150 fighters, and we are just trying to make the best fights for the fans. And if that requires making matchups with fighters we don’t manage, then that is certainly possible.”

“We are looking forward to presenting the PBC on NBC to develop a new and exciting platform, which will be embraced by the millions of boxing fans across the country,” said Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC and NBCSN.

“It’s bringing the world back into boxing,” Broner said. “Right now, boxing only reaches out to certain people. That’s why certain people, when I walk around, don’t know me. They might know me from certain antics I do, but they don’t know me from boxing. With NBC coming back, it’s people that don’t follow boxing that can come back into boxing. This is definitely great for the sport, and they want me to be the LeBron of boxing.

“… This is what they needed. They needed me, and I needed NBC. It’s ‘AB’ on NBC. I’m definitely ready to put on a great show for NBC. It’s my time. Think about it, Showtime had [approximately] 21 million [subscribers] and NBC got 115 million. It’s the biggest outlet.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the long awaited much anticipated mega battle between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather could be closer to happening as reportedly Pacquiao agreed to all terms of a proposed contract.

Pacquiao and Top Rank, his promoter, have agreed to terms for a May 2 bout, Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti told ESPN.com on Tuesday night, although Mayweather has not yet agreed to terms and it remains to be seen if he will.

“Top Rank and Manny have agreed to the terms on our side. I don’t know about the other side,” Moretti said.

According to a source involved in the negotiations, Pacquiao has agreed to a 40 percent cut of the revenue, leaving Mayweather with the remaining 60 percent of a fight most believe will shatter every boxing box office record, including the all-time pay-per-view buy record of 2.4 million (Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya), the pay-per-view revenue record of $150 million (Mayweather-Canelo Alvarez) and the all-time gate record of $20 million (Mayweather-Alvarez).

If the fight is finalized, it would take place May 2 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Moretti said. Mayweather has had his past 10 fights there, and Pacquiao has had five of his past seven bouts there.

However, Moretti said Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs), 36, who has subjected himself (and his opponents) to random testing by the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association for his recent bouts, has gone so far as to agree to use the United States Anti-Doping Agency, which has randomly tested Mayweather (and his opponents) for years.

“I think that Manny agreed to USADA testing shows you his eagerness to make this fight,” Moretti said.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Interim WBA Heavyweight champion Luis Ortiz was suspended for 8-months and fined $8.000 for failing a post fight drug test following his September 11 first round stoppage over Lateef Kayode in Las Vegas.

In addition, Ortiz, a Cuban defector living in Miami, will be required to perform 15 hours of community service aimed toward children with an anti-bullying message.

He will also be requited to produce a clean test before his next fight and the commission reserved the right to randomly drug test him for the remainder of the year at his expense.

Gilberto Mendoza Jr. of the WBA, which sanctions Ortiz’s interim title, told ESPN.com on Monday evening that once it receives the paperwork from Nevada, Ortiz will be stripped of the belt, a move that likely will cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions.

“There is no reason why he tested positive for Nandrolone. He apologizes, he is remorseful and he is embarrassed. He has never used drugs,” Bonds told the commission before he blamed the positive test on Ortiz’s consumption of horse meat, which he said often is contaminated with Nandrolone and not uncommon for Cubans to eat.

“I came to America five years ago to accomplish my dream of becoming a world champion,” Ortiz said. “I don’t even know what this substance is. I’ve always trained very hard to accomplish my dream. I leave it all in your hands. I have faith and trust in you (the commission).”

“The only thing I know how to do is fight,” Ortiz said.

“It’s a positive test and it deserves our attention with a punishment similar to others who have some credible, and some not credible, explanations for their positive test,” commissioner Raymond “Skip” Avansino Jr. said.

Undefeated Heavyweight sensation Anthony Joshua was diganosed with a stress fracture in his back which will postpone his January 31 bout with former world title challenger Kevin Johnson, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

“I trained so hard over Christmas and the press conference with Johnson was so lively that I was really looking forward to putting in a great performance,” Joshua said. “It’s bad news for myself and for the fans that have bought tickets. I hope to be able to put on a fan zone at the weigh-in and the fight itself to meet the fans. I will be competing many times this year, but this injury is something that I need to get sorted as soon as possible.”

“It’s disappointing to lose Anthony from this great card, but after receiving news from the [MRI] scan, he was left with no option but to rest his back,” Hearn said. “He picked up a niggle in the Sprott camp and had a good month rest after, but it hasn’t been 100 percent in camp and the results gave him no option. He hopes to resume punching in early February and come back with a bang in Newcastle on April 4.”

Thomas Hoover has replaced Melvina Lathan as chairperson of the New York State Athletic Commission, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.

Hoover, who will turn 74 later this month, is a former professional basketball player, having played in the NBA for the New York Knicks and the St. Louis Hawks from 1963 to 1967 as well as for the Denver Rockets, Houston Mavericks, Minnesota Pipers and New York Nets in the now-defunct ABA.

Lathan’s seven years at the helm have not been without controversies. Lathan, a former boxing judge who worked dozens of world title bouts and is known as a supporter of legalizing mixed martial arts in New York, was in charge when heavyweight Magomed Abdusalamov suffered a serious brain injury as a result of a fight at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 2, 2013.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Golden Boy Promotions settled their lawsuit with former CEO Richard Schaefer.

As part of the settlement, Schaefer, whom Golden Boy claimed was still under an employment contract through March 2018, will be barred from promoting for an unspecified length of time, according to one of the sources. It is between one and two years, according to the source.

The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not permitted to speak publicly due to the terms of the settlement.

Schaefer also owns about 8 percent of Golden Boy stock and it would be likely that he would have to give that up as part of any settlement.

In addition to settling with Schaefer, the sources also said that De La Hoya severed ties with most of the Haymon fighters that Golden Boy had been promoting on a fight-by-fight basis in return for what one of the sources said was “substantial financial compensation” from Haymon.

“Oscar is still looking forward to the fight next week,” one of the sources said. “Yes, Golden Boy is losing some top fighters as part of this, no doubt about it. That is hard, but this is a long-term plan. Oscar is happy and comfortable with the decision, and this is the next step. He could have continued to go on like this and continued to work with Haymon but that doesn’t benefit anyone if there is no long-term plan.

“With this decision, there is a very good feeling around the office. Golden Boy still has some horses and will just do what it has proven it can do, which is to develop the younger guys it promotes.”

The sources said Golden Boy will continue to promote a handful of fighters aligned with Haymon, who still have promotional contracts with the company, including Amir Khan, Leo Santa Cruz, Lucas Matthysse and Paulie Malignaggi.

“Oscar has deals with a number of Haymon’s fighters and those will continue,” one of the sources said. “The idea is they finish their contracts and then they go somewhere else.”

“It’s no way to do business. We were totally hamstrung,” one of the sources said. “Every time there was a fight Oscar wanted to make the question was would Haymon’s guy fight him? That’s how you end up with Rod Salka [as the opponent for Garcia in one of 2014’s most egregious mismatches] and the weak guys Leo Santa Cruz has fought. We couldn’t make the fights we wanted to. What’s the point of having fighters in the stable if they don’t fight anyone?

“Oscar has been clear as a bell with what he wants to do. He wants to make the best fights possible for the fans. He has said it time and again and he means it. Oscar came to the conclusion that he couldn’t make the fights he wanted to make by continuing to do business like this. There was so much drama surrounding everything. Everyone at Golden Boy had to operate in a box. Now everyone is free.”

Darleys Perez won a 12-round unanimous decision over Jonathan Maicelo to retain the WBA Interim Lightweight title at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California.

Perez scored a knockdown in round 11 and went on to win by scores of 120-107, 118-109 and 118-108.

Perez, 133 3/4 lbs of Colombia is now 32-1. Maicelo, 135 lbs of Peru is 21-2.

Francisco Santana scored an explosive 1st round stoppage over Kendal Mena in a scheduled 10-round Welterweight bout.

Santana dropped Mena with a hard left hook to the head. Moments later it was deja vu as another left hook drilled Mena in the head and he was knocked flat on his back and the fight was stopped at 1:43.

Santana, 145 3/4 lbs is now 22-3-1 with 11 knockouts. Mena, 147 lbs of the Dominican Republic is 20-1.

Jarrell Miller scored a 6-round unanimous decision over Aaron Kinch in a Heavyweight bout.

Miller, 281 3/4 lbs won by scores of 60-54 on all cards ans is now 11-0-1. Kinch, 253 lbs is 5-4-2.

Taureano Johnson scored stoppage 1 second into round six in his scheduled 10-round Middleweight bout with Alex Theran.

Johnson roughed up Theran over the first couple of rounds by crowding his opponent. In round three, Johnson unleashed a couple of hard over hand right hands. In round four, Johnson landed a right hand that sent Theran to his knees. Johnson came out strong in round five and blasted Theran twice with right hands in the first minute of the frame. Moments later, he landed another right that backed Theran into the ropes that set up a solid flurry of punches. Later in the round, Johnson landed a body shot that sent Theran down for a second time.

Just before round six, Theran was worked on in the corner and the fight was stopped after Theran claimed an ankle injury.

Johnson, 160 lbs of Miami, FL is now 17-1 with 12 knockouts. Theran, 158.2 lbs of Barranquilla, COL is now 17-2.

“I’m ready to fight Gennady Golovkin, Miguel Cotto, Jermain Taylor or any other champion out there,” said Tureano Johnson. These are the type of fights I would like to pursue. David Lemieux is also on my hit list. I’m here to take over the division. Everyone knows I should be undefeated so I’m going to leave no doubt about it every time I step in the ring. I can’t afford to be robbed again. With Gary Shaw putting me in a great position, I’m going to make the most of every opportunity. My goal in 2015 is to become a world champion.”

“Tureano Johnson is marching up the rankings and should be applauded for his fighting style.” said Gary Shaw. “He’s the type of fighter everyone wants to see. I’m going to push hard to get him back on TV, hopefully against a guy like Gennady Golovkin. Johnson is a force in the middleweight division and you will see him in some big fights coming up.”
Johnson landed 102 of 319 punches while Theran landed 57-160. All but one of Johnson;s connects were power shots.

Jerry Odom took a hard luck disqualification loss when it was ruled he hit Adam Hernandez twice after a knockdown at 30 seconds of round three in a 8-round battle of undefeated Super Middleweights.

Hernandez, 169.4 lbs of Phoenix, AZ is now 8-0-1. Odom, 168.2 lbs of Bowie, MD is now 12-1.

Kenneth Sims scored a 6-round unanimous decision over Christian Steele in a Welterweights.

Sims., 140.4 lbs of Chicago, IL won by scores of 60-54 on all cards and is now 5-0. Steele, 140 lbs of Staunton, VA is now 4-12-2.

“I’m enjoying my journey as a professional,” said Kenneth Sims Jr. “I feel I’m getting better every time I step in the ring. There is always room for improvement and I’m going to continue working hard in the gym. Gary Shaw has said there will be many opportunities for me to take my career to the next level in 2015 and I want take full advantage of everything that comes my way. I’m hoping to make a quick return back to the ring.”

“Sims Jr. is progressing nicely as a professional prize fighter,” Gary Shaw said. “I think he’ll graduate to 8-round bouts after one more fight. He seems to be making the 140 lbs weight limit with ease so we’ll keep him at Jr. Welterweight. He’s got the height and reach attributes to give anyone in the division problems. I see him having a big 2015.”
Chris Van Heerden scored a tough split decision over Cecil McCalla in a 10-round Welterweight bout.

Both guys took turns being in the lead. Van Heerden was much more active early but suffered a cut over his right eye but held on for the 97-93, 96-94 win on two cards while McCalla took a card 99-91.

Van Heerden, 145.4 lbs of Gauteng, South Africa is now 22-1-1. McCalla, 149.6 lbs of Randallatown, MD is now 20-1.

Eduardo Martinez scored a 4-round unanimous decision over Rigoberto Miranda in a Featherweight but.

Miranda was bleeding from the left eye in round four.

Martinez, 125.4 lbs of Chicago, IL is now 5-0. Miranda, 125.6 lbs of Troy, NY is now 0-3-2.

Wellington Romero needed just 84 seconds to dispatch of Leo Kreischer in a scheduled 4-round Jr. Welterweight bout.

Romero landed a big left hook that sent Kreischer down for several minutes.

Romero, 141.8 lbs of Newburgh, NY is now 5-0-1 with 3 knockouts. Kreischer, 140.8 lbs of Cleveland, OH is now 3-7-1.

Dustin Fleischer made a successful pro debut with a 2nd round stoppage over Frank Jordan in a scheduled 4-round Welterweight bout.

The bout was stopped after a hard flurry for Fleischer, 142.4 lbs of Monmouth Beach, NJ. Jordan, 137.4 lbs of Elizabeth, NJ is now 0-3.

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, Super Middleweight champion Andre Ward became the first big name fighter to sign with new boxing promoter Roc Nation.

Details of how the split with Goossen Promotions came about after years of legal battling were not disclosed, but Tom Brown of Goossen Promotions clearly was not happy with the result.

“That chapter is closed. I’ve moved on,” Brown told ESPN.com.

“We have signed Andre Ward and it’s something we’re very excited about,” David Itskowitch, chief operating officer of Roc Nation Sports’ boxing division, told ESPN.com. “It’s just the beginning for us but it’s a game-changer. He’s one of the best fighters in the world. Everything is coming together for us. On the same day we are having our first event, at Madison Square Garden, we are announcing our first really huge signing.”

“I wholeheartedly believe in Roc Nation Sports and I just believe that they have the vision and the power and resources to carry their vision out,” Ward told ESPN.com.

“I followed his lead on the whole situation and at the right time we talked about it and he asked how did I feel about (making the move) and he went through the steps to get to this point,” Ward said. “I felt it was the best move for me at this stage of my career.”

“We’re going to sit down and talk about when he will specifically fight and the level of opponent he will fight,” Itskowitch said. “He’s been out of the ring for a while. We’ll come up with names and come up with a date but we’re excited to give him the opportunity to show he’s one of the best in the world.”

“I kept myself in shape and I’ve stayed motivated and hungry,” Ward said. “But there’s nothing concrete now. I want to get back in the groove and consistently fight and get back on track. I don’t see what the rush is to push me to a higher weight class. I am not far off my fighting weight and I am super middleweight champion of the world and I want to defend my title.”

“I’m just excited about moving forward. It’s been a grueling two years but I can see what’s ahead in the future,” Ward said. “No regrets. Unfortunately, these things happen in the sport but it truly made me stronger as an individual and as a fighter.

“I embraced the whole process through the good and the bad and now I am on the other side of it. It can either make you, so to speak, or break you and I think it made me a stronger person.”