The latest boxing top stories and breaking news
Carl Frampton and Nonito Donaire came face to face in Belfast ahead of their April 21 blockbuster bout at the SSE Odyssey Arena
Carl Frampton believes he may have to produce a career-best performance to overcome Nonito Donaire in their April 21 blockbuster bout in Belfast.
There has been some talk of the possibility, no matter how small, of a fight between all-time great Manny Pacquiao and current and reigning pound-for-pound king Vasyl Lomachenko before – and there is more talk on the subject currently taking place. According to Pacquiao his team are discussing a fight between he and the current WBO 130 pound champion, and that the main obstacle to be overcome is weight, as in what weight the fight – really a modern day Dream Fight if ever there was one – would take place at.
WBO featherweight world champion ÓSCAR VALDEZ, the man who swims with a fully-grown pet alligator, will begin the third year of his championship reign by defending his title against former World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight world champion and current No. 2 world-rated featherweight contender SCOTT QUIGG. For Valdez (23-0, 19 KOs), of Nogales, Mexico, this will be his fourth title defense since winning it in 2016. Quigg (34-1-2, 25 KOs), of Lancashire, England, will be making his U.S. debut. The Valdez vs. Quigg world championship fight will take place Saturday, March 10, under the stars at StubHub Center in Carson, Calif. It will be televised live and exclusively at 10:30 p.m. EST on ESPN and ESPN Deportes and stream live on the ESPN App. Additional fights on the live telecast will be announced shortly.
WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker is the underdog going into his March 31 unification battle with WBA/IBF champ Anthony Joshua – via the betting odds and in the opinion of most fight fans – but the unbeaten New Zealander is not without his his supporters. In fact, potential rival Tyson Fury, who still holds the linear crown, is one of them.
The Heavyweight unification fight the world has been waiting for between Anthony Joshua MBE and Joseph Parker will take place at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on March 31, live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Joshua and Parker have agreed to put their IBF, WBA Super, IBO and WBO belts and unbeaten records on the line, ending a period of intense negotiation between the rival camps.
Unified Women’s Super Middleweight World Champion Claressa Shields dominated previously undefeated Tori Nelson en route to a 10-round unanimous decision in the main event of ShoBox: The New Generation Friday on SHOWTIME from Turning Stone Resort Casino. Shields controlled from opening to closing bell, sweeping 100-90 on all three judges’ scorecards in the first 10-round distance fight of her career. The 2012 and 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist out-landed Nelson 225-81 with her total punches, 186-70 in powers shots, and connected at a 44 percent clip with her power shots compared to just 20 percent for Nelson.
Fight fans got excited today, as news broke suggesting strongly how a return fight between middleweight rivals Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez was all but a done deal for May 5 – with just a few minor items to be settled (such as the venue for the bout) before the fight we all want to see (again) would be announced to the world.
By Paul “Paparazzi” Jones & Justin Jones – With Hollywood’s award season upon us, and the 2018 Golden Globe® Award winners announced this past Sunday, we kick off the New Year by unveiling our yearly boxing awards starting with the 2017 Fighter of the Year.
And the nominees are. . .
Heavyweight legend, former two-time king George Foreman today celebrates his 69th birthday. In great health, and always in great spirits, “Big George” is the elder statesman of boxing, the way the departed Muhammad Ali perhaps should have been in his later years had ill health not struck him down. Immensely popular (it’s so hard to believe how Foreman was a bad guy, a disliked fighter back in the 1970s), Foreman perhaps holds the distinction of being the greatest living heavyweight boxer.
Ghana’s Isaac ‘Royal Storm’ Dogboe put up a dominant show culminating in a round 5 stoppage of Mexican challenger, Cesar Juarez in their clash for the WBO interim world super bantamweight title in Accra on Saturday night.
Undefeated Dogboe improved his unblemished record to 18-0 courtesy the 12th knockout of his rapidly rising professional career whilst condemning Juarez to the 6th defeat of his now 26-fight career (20-6, 15 KOs).