Saturday’s Special Edition of Boxing After Dark begins live at 4:00 p.m. ET/PT from Monte Carlo. The special from Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlo features a heavyweight showdown between knockout machine Luis Ortiz taking on Malik Scott.
*There will be an evening replay at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT).
Kell Brook says he won’t give up his IBF World Welterweight title and is plotting huge unification bouts for 2017.
The Sheffield star is back in the gym following a minor operation on the damaged eye socket he suffered in his epic showdown with Middleweight king Gennady Golovkin in London in September.
The 30 year old landed the IBF crown with a superb win over Shawn Porter in California in August 2014 before clinical stoppage wins in defences over Jo Jo Dan, Frankie Gavin and Kevin Bizier before stepping up two weights to take on ‘Triple G’.
Undefeated world champion Danny “Swift” Garcia and Colombia’s Samuel Vargas went face-to-face Thursday afternoon, one day before they weigh-in for their Premier Boxing Champions on Spike main event showdown taking place Saturday, November 12 from Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.
Televised coverage on Spike begins at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT and features undefeated rising star Jarrett Hurd battling former title challenger Jo Jo Dan plus former world champion Javier Fortuna taking on unbeaten Omar Douglas.
As knockout artist Curtis “The Cerebral Assassin” Stevens (28-5, 21 KOs) prepares to face James “The King” De La Rosa (23-4, 13 KOs) on the live HBO Pay-Per-View undercard of Kovalev-Ward “Pound For Pound” he once again has teamed up with world-renowned trainer, John David Jackson.
Stevens, 31 of Brownsville, Brooklyn, New York is known for his one-punch knockout power. For years he climbed through the ranks of the middleweight division with ease. Then after a couple of setbacks he reassessed his entire strategy. For his most recent bout against Patrick Teixeira on the Canelo-Khan HBO Pay-Per-View undercard he worked with former two-division world champion John David Jackson. Stevens stopped Teixeira in the second round to secure the upset victory and the WBC Continental Americas Middleweight Title. The victory over Teixeira catapulted Curtis back into the rankings of all four major sanctioning bodies. On Nov. 19 Stevens and Jackson will team up again this time to face 28-year old Mexico native James “The King” De La Rosa on the Kovalev-Ward “Pound For Pound” HBO Pay-Per-View undercard.
IBF heavyweight champ Anthony Joshua insists he is fully focused on his upcoming December 10 challenger Eric Molina, but the 17-0(17) star is also looking towards the future. Joshua makes the second defence of his belt against the dangerously determined Molina, and AJ is already planning his third and fourth defences.
As fans know, the word is that Joshua, if he’s victorious against Molina, will engage in his very first super-fight next spring against former king Wladimir Klitschko.
It seems Kell Brook will remain at welterweight, where he of course holds the IBF crown. It had been assumed by many that Brook would vacate his welterweight belt having bulked up to middleweight for his unsuccessful challenge of world champ Gennady Golovkin in September. Brook himself said many times how he felt so much stronger as a 160-pounder, having avoided “killing myself” to make 147.
But now, promoter Eddie Hearn has revealed how he has “reached out” to Top Rank head Bob Arum with regards to a possible Brook-Manny Pacquiao unification fight. Hearn, in speaking with The Daily Mail, also mentioned Brook’s mandatory challenger, Errol Spence Jnr.
In the lead up to Sergey Kovalev vs. Andre Ward “Pound For Pound”, a 12-round mega-fight for the WBO/IBF/WBA light heavyweight title on November 19 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the undercard will round out a 10-bout card filled with some of the best young boxing prospects.
Opening the card will be middleweight Meiirim “Sultan”Nursultanov of Merki, Kazakhstan, making his pro debut. Nursultanov, now residing in Oxnard, CA, is managed by Egis Klimas, and recently signed by Main Events. He will be taking on Henry Beckford (4-5, 1 KO) of Hempstead, NY, in a six-round bout.
Amir Khan says the most important fight to him right now is a return meeting with Danny Garcia. WBC welterweight champ Garcia – who faces big underdog Samuel Vargas on Saturday night in Philadelphia and is set to meet WBA welterweight champ Keith Thurman in a big unification showdown in March of next year – shocked Khan when they fought down at 140 in 2012.
Since suffering the 4th-round stoppage loss, Khan has craved a shot at revenge. Right now, even though preliminary talks between Khan and British rival Kell Brook have begun, Khan says he would put that fight on the back-burner in favor of a shot at revenge against Garcia. Khan says “Swift” is trying his best to avoid a rematch with him.
Ghana’s Duke Micah (18-0, 17 KOs) says he is ready to wrestle away the Commonwealth Bantamweight belt when he steps into the ring against UK based Zambian, Matthew Chanda (7-0, 3 KOs) come Saturday night at York Hall, Bethnal Green, London.
The countdown is almost over to fight night with the weigh-in set for Friday and the Ghanaian is in high spirits promising to etch his name in the records as the latest pugilist from the West African country to follow in the footsteps of among them Azumah Nelson, Joseph Agbeko and Richard Commey by winning the Commonwealth title.
Days before he enters the ring to fight in his hometown, undefeated world champion Danny “Swift” Garcia opened up his DSG Boxing Gym to media on Wednesday as he prepares to face Colombia’s Samuel Vargas in the main event of Premier Boxing Champions on Spike Saturday, November 12 from Temple University’s Liacouras Center in Philadelphia.
Coverage on Spike begins at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT and features undefeated rising star Jarrett Hurd battling former title challenger Jo Jo Dan plus former world champion Javier Fortuna taking on unbeaten Omar Douglas.