Boxing News

The curse of Rocky Marciano strikes again as longtime WBA featherweight champ Chris John was denied improving his record to 49-0 by South African spoiler Simpiwe Vetyeka, who took John's crown and undefeated record at The Thunderdome in Perth, Australia last night.

The pair wasted no time studying the other, going at it from the first bell. John stalked behind the jab but aside from a late round combination to the head and body of the challenger, had difficulty landing cleanly during a rough round that saw some rabbit punching in clinches from the champ.

The taller Vetyeka proved to be slippery, evading most of the champs efforts in the first round, striking back with an awkward style, landing right hands to the head but it was good work to the body which seemed to bother John the most.

John had a better first half of the next round, seeming to have the timing of Vetyeka, blocking the challenger's efforts while landing the jab and good left hooks and rights on the inside.

Then John started to load up on his efforts and that allowed Vetyeka to get back in the fight somewhat, again going to the body and also scoring with a couple of rights to the head.

The round ended in brawling fashion, which seemed to suit the challenger better. John tripped twice in the round and seems to be running a bit low on energy. Perhaps after 17 title defenses at 126 pounds, he is having difficulty still making the weight? More...

The biggest action this weekend takes place at New York's Barclays Center, with three world titles and one regional US belt up for grabs.

Headlining the event is a clash between local Brooklynites Zab Judah, 42-8 (29), and Paulie Malignaggi, 32-5 (7), who meet for the NABF title at welterweight.

Both boxers have had up and down careers and won world honors at light welter and welter. Currently, Judah is on an upswing after climbing off the canvas to give WBC/WBA light welter kingpin Danny Garcia a very hard time, quite unexpectedly, late in their fight, won by Garcia on points, this past April.

Malignaggi is also on an upswing, also after a loss, doing well against Adrien Broner, who jumped up from lightweight to take the WBA 147 pound crown from "The Magic Man" by split decision in June.

Tonight, we can probably expect Judah to wing big southpaw left hands at Malignaggi all night as Paulie doesn't have the pop in his punches required to keep Judah off.

But this approach is unlikely to produce a stoppage; Malignaggi has a solid chin, making this an almost certain 12 rounder with the winner the fighter who can mount the busier offensive campaign. More...

The top super bantamweight in the world returns to the ring tonight as WBA/WBO champion Guillermo Rigondeaux puts his titles on the line at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City when he faces the challenge of Joseph Agbeko.

This will be the fifth world title bout of Rigondeaux's career, which is amazing given the fact that he has only boxed in 12 professional fights.

The Cuban southpaw's incredible talent carried him to dizzying heights as an amateur, winning Olympic Gold medals at bantamweight in 2000 and 2004 before getting thrown off the Cuban team for an attempted defection in 2007.

The 33 year old, who now resides in Miami, Florida, suceeded in defecting in 2009 and also turned pro, winning the NABA super bantam strap later that year in just his third contest, halting Giovanni Andrade in three rounds.

Four fights later, "El Chacal" [The Jackal] won the Interim WBA belt via split decision over Ricardo Cordoba but the rush job of his pro career showed signs of strain as Rigondeaux had to climb off the canvas in the sixth frame.

In January, 2012, Rigondeaux was ready for the big dance and didn't disappoint as he lifted the full WBA crown from Rico Ramos via a sickening sixth round body shot. More...

The Championships Committee of the World Boxing Association announced the official cancellation of the Purse Bid summoned to grant the promotional rights for the fight between Bbntamweight super champion Anselmo "Chemito" Moreno and champion Koki Kameda, on Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at the WBA offices of Panama. More...

Paulie Malignaggi has compared his weekend clash with Zab Judah to the classic Rome football derby, as he eyes a possible rematch with rising megastar Adrien Broner.

‘The Magic Man’ will be hoping to cast his spell in the ring on Saturday night, live on BoxNation, as he takes on Judah in a clash which pits the two Brooklyn natives against one another in front of their local followers at the Barclays Center in New York. More...

Five-time world champion Zab Judah is adamant he will be crowned ‘King of Brooklyn’ after knocking out Paulie Malignaggi.

The pair clash this Saturday night at the Barclays Center in New York, with the Brooklyn natives putting their pride on the line as they battle to be declared the best boxer from the famed borough. More...

The principal fighters on tonight's Paulie Malignaggi vs. Zab Judah card at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY all hit the scales yesterday.

NABF Welterweight Championship, 12 rounds
Paulie Malignaggi: 147 lb
Zab Judah: 146 lb More...

Gary Shaw Productions presented another edition of the popular series titled "Central Coast Championships" Friday evening at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California.

In the main event, local fan favorite Francisco Santana scored a 10-round unanimous decision over Joachim Alcine. Santana dominated the bout from the opening round, throwing hard punches to the head and body that kept Alcine on the retreat. More...

One of the biggest events of 2013 just got even bigger with the announcement of the full undercard that leads up to the Showtime televised quadrupleheader at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, on Saturday, Dec. 7, an event headlined by the "Battle Oof Brooklyn" between Zab "Super" Judah and Paulie "The Magic Man" Malignaggi for the NABF welterweight title, which will be televised live on Showtime.

Featured on this stacked card will be a 10-round super welterweight clash between unbeaten Philadelphian Julian "J-Rock" Williams and Mexico's Orlando "Latigo" Lora, a 10-round welterweight bout pitting 2008 U.S. Olympian Sadam "World Kid" Ali of Brooklyn against Arizona prospect Jesus "Chino" Selig. More...

Boxing star Amir Khan believes the clash between Paulie Malignaggi and Zab Judah will come down to who can handle the pressure best when the Brooklyn natives battle for local bragging rights live on BoxNation.

The hometown heroes both descend from the famed borough in New York and will share the ring this Saturday night at the Barclays Center, which lies in the heart of the Brooklyn area. More...

The World Boxing Association announces that the fight between Eleider Álvarez from Colombia and Thomas Oosthuizen from South Africa is not sanctioned by this organization.

The fight scheduled to take place in Canada on January 18, 2014 in the light heavyweight division has not been sanctioned by the WBA Championships Committee, so no WBA title will be at stake. More...

An explosive new sports biography by journalist Rónán Mac Con Iomaire, Rocky Ros Muc: Seán Ó Mainnín (Cló Iar-Chonnacht, €15), tells the story of one of the greatest boxers ever to come out of Ireland.

Raised in Ros Muc in the heart of Connemara, Seán Ó Mainnín’s boxing talents would bring him to the dizzying heights of Madison Square Garden in New York. More...

Big time boxing comes Down Under on Friday night as Indonesian national hero and WBA featherweight "super" champion Chris John puts his crown at risk against South Africa's Simpiwe Vetyeka at the Thunderdome in Perth.

John, 48-0-3 (22), has held the WBA title since 2004, retaining it 17 consecutive times and this occasion marks the third time he's come to Australia with the black and gold belt on offer.

Facing "The Dragon" in Perth will be South Africa's Vetyeka, 25-2 (15), 32 years old from Duncan Village on the Eastern Cape, who may have provided John with extra incentive this past May.

That's when Vetyeka came to Jakarta and dramatically halted Indonesia's second most popular boxer, Daud Cino Yordan, in the 12th round for the IBO strap on the undercard of John's most recent fight.

This could be an interesting clash as Vetyeka is no stranger to big fights, having made eight defenses of the South African bantam title and produced wins in bouts for the IBO bantam title and a WBC super bantam final eliminator.

The pinnacle of the career of "V12" however, was a competitive but failed 2007 attempt to knock off WBC bantam king Hozumi Hasegawa in Japan. This is balanced against the surprising loss last year to former domestic bantam champ Klaas Mboyane. More...

The ninth annual Connecticut Boxing Hall of Fame (CBHOF) Gala Induction Dinner, held November 9 at the Uncas Ballroom in Mohegan Sun, was a major success. More...

Beibut Shumenov is a former amateur standout in Europe and represented Kazakhstan in the 2004 Olympic Games. The WBA Super Light Heavyweight Champion, he became the fighter with the fewest professional fights to win a 175-pound world title when he captured the crown in his tenth start.

On Saturday, Dec. 14, Shumenov (13-1, 8 KO's) will make his Golden Boy Promotions debut and his fifth title defense when he faces unbeaten Tamas Kovacs (23-0, 14 KO's) of Slovakia, in the opening bout of a Showtime Championship Boxing quadrupleheader live on Showtime at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. More...