British Boxer Lee Purdy fails to make weight yesterday as he weighed in against Devon Alexander of Missouri for tonights’ IBF Title Fight in Atlantic City. Purdy was still over the weight limit after two hours and has had to pay a financial penalty. Although the fight will still go ahead – Purdy cannot now win the Title.

Purdy took the fight at just four weeks’ notice when Kell Brook withdrew with an injury. More...

UK Weekend Roundup

At Wythenshawe on Friday, local man Jimmy Kilrain Kelly won the Vacant British Masters Bronze light-middleweight Title on points over William Warburton of Atherton. The Steve Wood – VIP Promotions fight-night at ‘The Forum’ featured six undercard bouts.

In Birmingham, home fighter – Dave Egan of Cannock, lost out to Mark McKray of Tottenham by fifth round knockout in their scheduled six round Welterweight Contest. The Tommy Owen Promoted fight-night at the Paragon Hotel featured four undercard bouts.

At the Spa in Scarborough on Saturday, Local man - Danny Price won his scheduled six round Cruiserweight Contest by third round knockdown against Czech boxer - Michael Bilak. Promoter Phil Jeffries. More...

The Doncaster faithful will be out in force tonight at the 7,000 capacity Keepmoat Stadium as local man Jamie McDonnell gets a crack at the vacant IBF bantamweight title against rough and tough slugger Julio Ceja.

It's a massive opportunity for British boxing as a McDonnell victory could shift the spotlight from the North West to South Yorkshire, where the lanky 27 year old McDonnell has been the star since defeating Ian Napa in 2010 for the British and Commonwealth crowns.

European champ from 2010 to 2012, McDonnell, 20-2-1 (9), has defeated the best of Britain and the Continent but now take a step up from that level onto the world stage, where he will meet 20 year old Ceja, 24-0 (22), a native of Atizapan de Zargoza, Mexico.

Heavy-handed Ceja has blasted his way through Central American competition, acquiring a raft of regional belts in the process, but, like McDonnell, has yet to meet a world class opponent.

It's interesting to speculate which fighter here, if either, are top of the line performers or just good prospects that have been effectively steered to this point.

Of the two, McDonnell is the better boxer while Ceja is the genuine slugger. That formula usually produces a boxer who will win if he can keep the slugger on the outside and vice versa. More...

This Weekend, British Boxers – Martin Murray and Gary Buckland are fighting at the Vélez Sarsfield football stadium in Beunos Aires, Argentina.

St.Helen’s Boxer – Martin Murray, will face Argentinian Sergio Martinez for the WBC Middleweight Title.
Martinez is returning to Argentina to fight for the first time in eleven years and Murray is well aware that the Argentine crowd will not be Brit-friendly (!)

But it won’t be the first time that Murray has fought outside the UK. The unbeaten 30 year-old has just one draw on his record – that was to WBA Title-holder Felix Sturm in Germany in 2011.

The closely fought battle could have gone either way on the Judge’s score cards and Murray did think he’d done enough to secure the win. But despite the draw – he was proud of his performance as were British boxing fans.

Murray’s Promoter - former two-weight World Champion Ricky Hatton, MBE – although immensely respectful of Martinez and his career – says he is confident of victory for Murray.

At today’s weigh-in, Martin Murray looked in great shape as he stepped up to the scales flanked by Ricky Hatton and trainer Oliver Harrison. Smiling and looking relaxed – he tipped the scales at 159.6 lbs. More...

Last weekend saw the return of Tyson Fury; this time he made his US debut at Madison Square Garden against Steve Cunningham. The bout was for the IBF number two spot at heavyweight and Fury saw the bout as another step closer to fighting a Klitschko brother.

Prior to the bout, Fury, as usual, had big intentions for this fight and he didn’t see Cunningham as any form of threat to him, due to the size and power advantage Fury held over Cunningham.

Fury was quite vocal and disrespectful to Cunningham in the run up to the contest and it was clear from the start of the fight that those words were still ringing in Cunningham’s head as he dropped Fury heavily in round two with a massive shot.

Fury seemed to be quite hyper in my opinion in the first couple of rounds and this was demonstrated at the end of the first frame when he went over to Cunningham and pushed him towards the ropes.

Fury no doubt is an entertainer and he was looking to get his shots out and it cost him because he kept his hands really low and he got tagged by a shot that he didn’t see coming.

The stadium erupted and it was clear that Fury was not going to be in for an easy night after all, Cunningham was starting to stamp his authority on the bout with some crisp boxing and he was hurting Fury with some good right hands.

Cunningham in the past has shown us he is more than capable of boxing his opponents and he has the ability to win rounds through sticking and moving. Cunningham was going forward though in this fight and he was landing some good shots, he knew that he had what it takes to hurt Fury so he pressed the action and made it an exciting fight.

Fury needed to start making an impact in the fight, he had a point taken off him for the use of his head and it was clear that he was trying to rough up Cunningham. He was trying to close the distance on Cunningham, landing his shots; he was using his forearms, elbows and leaning on Cunningham to get him out of his rhythm. More...

"InterBox, Lucian Bute, Jean Pascal and Groupe Yvon Michel (GYM) hereby confirm that antidoping tests are in place leading up to their fight scheduled on May 25th at the Montreal Bell Centre. All parties have agreed on all procedures and both fighters have approved the antidoping program," read a joint statement released on Tuesday.

This statement confirms the strong speculation that was hovering all week in Montreal that both fighters would be tested for performance enhancing drugs.

The upcoming fight between former light heavyweight champion, Jean Pascal and ex-super middleweight titleholder Lucian Bute has the entire city exited to see which of these fighters is the one true champion of Montreal. A bout of this magnitude needed to have some barometer to keep both fighters honest.

According to the joint press release, the testing will be administered by an undisclosed organization, which is a little troubling. Who knows how honest this organization actually is?

When questioned about this, Yvon Michel declined to comment saying that the organization that will be administering the test is very reputable.

On May 25, HBO will air a Memorial Day weekend double-header, starting with 6:30 p.m. live coverage of the super middleweight rematch between IBF super middleweight beltholder Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler, who decisioned Froch in April of 2010, from the O2 Arena in London.

In Sheffield on Saturday, Richard Poxon promoted a charity boxing event at the Ponds Forge Arena.

The fundraising show headlined the Vacant IBF Youth Middleweight Title clash between Adam Etches of Sheffield and Andrei Abramenka of Belarus. Etches secured the Title with a fourth round TKO – having put the Belarusian on the canvas in rounds one and three.

The event also featured seven undercard contests.

In Scotland, Jon Slowey of Glasgow secured a points win over Scottish-born Michael Stupart of Hayes, Middlesex, in their eight round featherweight contest. Five undercard contests also fetaured. More...

This weekend's big fight has had hardcore fans waiting in earnest ever since it was announced and tonight at New York's famed Radio City Music Hall, Nonito Donaire and Guillermo Rigondeaux will attempt to unify the WBO and WBA super bantamweight titles.

Donaire, 31-1 (20), and Rigondeaux, 11-0 (8), are polar opposites in many respects. Hailing originally from Talibon, Philippines, 30 year old California based Donaire turned pro at 18, losing his second fight, and had to wait six years until a world title shot opportunity came up.

And, the "The Filipino Flash" had to go down in weight to do so, facing the terror of the flyweight division in 2007, undefeated KO artist Vic Darchinyan for the Australian transplant's IBF and IBO belts.

Universally expected to lose, Donaire produced a shocker by not only puncturing Darchinyan's aura of invincibility but by stopping "The Raging Bull" in the fifth round.

Since then, Donaire has won all 13 of his fights, capturing world titles at bantamweight and super bantam as well as an Interim crown at super flyweight.

In contrast, 32 year old southpaw Rigondeaux came into the pro game at 28 years of age, after an amazing career on the Cuban amateur team, winning two Olympic gold medals and two Amateur World Championships. More...

Over nine years ago, Senator John McCain and Representative Peter King began a campaign for a posthumous Presidential pardon for the legendary heavyweight pugilist Jack Johnson.

During that time, the resolution, though it has gained some publicity, has not garnered the attention of either American presidents it has gone before.

Mike Tyson, along with Senator Harry Reid, are now working together in an effort to change that.

Tyson has recently launched and cosigned a petition to pardon Jack Johnson on the website Change.org and announced his efforts via Twitter. “Sign my petition to the @barackobama,” Tyson tweeted. “We can make a difference.”

Jack Johnson was born in Texas, he was the first African-American boxing champion and held the title for seven years. He defeated many fighters that were white. The most memorable fight of Johnson's career came in 1910 against Jim Jeffries in a bout called "The Fight of the Century." Johnson retained the title and his win set off deadly race riots in 50 cities around the country.

Later on in his life, Johnson was convicted under the Mann Act of “transporting a white woman across state lines for immoral purposes,” based on the testimony of a former girlfriend of Johnson’s who worked as a prostitute.

But then and since, many have argued that prosecutors were looking for any excuse to drum up charges against Johnson, a famous, charismatic black man who publicly dated white women during the height of the Jim Crow era. More...

Paul Spadafora has cooled down "Red Hot" Robert Frankel.

It wasn't an easy fight; Frankel revolted against Spadafora's amazing defensive game. He drilled forward with flurries that could only glance the gloves of the undefeated Light Welterweight contender.

But in the end, it was a decisive victory for Spadafora on the scorecards by margins of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93. Frankel ended the bout with swelling around his cheeks and a big gash underneath his eye.

Spadafora is languishing for a title shot. After exceptional wins over Solomon Egberime, Humberto Toledo and Robert Frankel, he has earned himself a rightful position in the division's top twenty.

The fight with Frankel saw Spadafora utilizing that sharp southpaw jab and gutting left cross that earned him the IBF Lightweight crown in the earlier part of the 2000's.

Either way, it's now definitive that Paul Spadafora's comeback is no joke. He is a force to be reckoned with in the steaming hot Light Welterweight title picture. It is hoped he will be back on the national stage very soon against more stiff opposition. More...

On Friday, at the Civic Hall, Grays, Essex, local man Lee Markham won the vacant British Masters Middleweight Title by outpointing Harry Matthews of York over ten rounds.

On Saturday, at the Beach Ballroom in Aberdeen, Scotland, Lee McAllister of Aberdeen won his six round Welterweight contest against Ivan Godor of Slovakia on points.

Younger Brother – Matthew McAllister also won his six round Welterweight contest – outpointing Kevin McCauley of Brighton.

And we hear this weekend of another boxing tragedy. Michael Norgrove sadly died this weekend – nine days after suffering a bleed on the brain in his contest at Blackfriars, London. Norgrove was stopped in his fight against Tom Bowen by Referee Jeff Hinds who was not happy with how Norgrove was looking. He was taken to hospital and operated on quickly, but did not recover. Zambian-born Norgrove of Woodford Green, London, was taking part in his sixth professional contest and was aged 31.

SaddoBoxing offers its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Michael Norgrove.

This week it has been announced that Birmingham’s former British and European Middleweight champion Matthew Macklin will be looking at his third world title shot in New York City on the 29th of June if he faces the unbeaten WBA and IBO Middleweight knockout king Gennady Golovkin of Kazakhstan.

The 30 year old Macklin had his first title back shot back in June 2011 when he travelled to Germany where he lost a controversial split decision against the then “Super champion” of the aforementioned sanction body, Felix Sturm, in Cologne prior to an 11th round stoppage loss to Sergio Martinez, who is widely regarded as the best fighter in the talent rich 11 stone 6lbs division.

Sturm, who would later lose his WBA “Super” title to Australian Daniel Geale after benefiting from more generous home judging against another British Middleweight in the shape of Manchester’s Martin Murray, who coincidentally travels to Buenos Aires to face the 37 year old Argentine star Martinez.

Golovkin, who is also 30 years old, will be engaging in what will be the eighth defence of his WBA title, which he won back in 2010 after destroying the Colombian Nilson Tapia in just three rounds.

Golovkin will be making the third defence of his title in this calendar year after slicing up the durable Gabriel Rosado in seven rounds at Madison Square Garden, and more recently stopping Japanese fighter Nobuhiro Ishida in just three rounds with an powerful and extremely accurate right hand.

Ishida, who had never been stopped in his previous eight defeats, was left like a discarded doll on the bottom rung of the ropes in Monte Carlo.

If Macklin does get to challenge for Golovkin’s aforementioned titles, it will take place on HBO to help further expose Golovkin to American audiences with his well schooled big punching style that has produced a string of knockout reel victories. It should remind American fight fans of the likes of Middleweight knockout kings in the shape of Julian Jackson and Gerald McClellan from the 1990's.

Should Golovkin be victorious against a world level challenger in the shape of Macklin, he could potentially enjoy a breakout year in a talent rich division and it would certainly him propel into the mythical pound for pound list. More...

On yet another edition of Lou Dibella's Broadway Boxing series on Thursday from the Roseland Ballroom in New York City, many fighters showed their unique styles, skill and endurance that makes them world class boxers.

In the most conclusive bout of the evening, Yuri Foreman (30-2-0 8 KO's) put on an absolute domination of Gundrick King (18-10-0 11 KO's) over ten one-sided rounds. All judges scored the bout 60-54 for the returning Foreman.

King absorbed Foreman's precise jab throughout, as the shorter man he was always on the back foot. Foreman staggered King with his stinging right hand throughout, but with his defensive techniques and "jogging" style, his shots weren't the most effective against the untactful Alabama born "Sho-gun".

Foreman, 32, is confident that with Lou Dibella by his side, big things are ahead.

In another supporting battle, Ionut "Jo Jo" Dan Ion (31-2-0 17 KO's) made his second consecutive appearance on "Broadway Boxing" with an impressive decision victory over Mexican-born Damian Farias (19-7-0 10 KO's).

The never stopped Farias perpetually held his ground against Dan. He tightened the gap in the early rounds but as the fight progressed, Dan's relentless body punching and power assaults put the dauntless Farias on the retreat.

Farias evaded a knockout on multiple occasions to leave the bout defeated in what may have been the fight of the night.

Luis Orlando Del Valle (17-1-0 12 KO's) is back, and better than ever. This Puerto Rican sensation managed to pick apart a game but overmatched Andre Wilson (13-6-1 11 KO's) over five short rounds. More...

Known for his sharp jab and exceptional boxing ability - Paul Spadafora boasts a 47-0 record, including a four year Lightweight title run. The belt was controversially stripped from his waist in 2004.

Earlier in the 37 year old Spadafora's career, he scored some head-jolting wins; Roman "Rocky" Martinez, Angel Manfredy, Billy Irwin, and Rodney Jones.

In recent years, Spadafora has been shelved due to a stirring 2005 prison sentence after he allegedly shot his then-girlfriend in the stomach.

Afterword personal distress and a parole violation held him from serious competition until 2007 when he went 6-0 prior to hanging up the gloves - now he is back, and ready to catch some new blood.

In recent interviews, Spadafora he has acknowledged the infamy sourced around him in recent years, but he wants a fresh start.

Coming off back to back wins against Humberto Toledo and Solomon Egberime - we know he means business. Opponent, ring expert Robert Frankel, has been around the block a few times, and will not take a knee.

A win for Spadafora will finally see his comeback exalted in the way he feels is proper. But holding enthralling victories over Ricardo Dominguez, Bobby Pacquiao, Ramon Montano and Raul Carrillo, Frankel will refuse to exit the ring without a career reinstating "W". A war is in the cards. More...

One of the most respected boxing promoters, Lou Dibella of Dibella Entertainment, is set to provide yet another extravagant bill through his serial "Broadway Boxing" series.

Some of Lou's top international competitors including Yuri Foreman (29-2-0 8 KO's), Luis Orlando Del Valle (16-1-0 11 KO's), Ionut "Jo Jo" Dan (30-2-0 17 KO's), and Gabriel Bracero (21-1-0 4 KO's) take center stage against hearty opposition.

In what is being labeled as the main event, Del Valle will attempt to rebound from a dispiriting defeat to Armenian KO king Vic Darchinyan in an eight round Junior Featherweight bout. His dancing partner will be tricky veteran southpaw Andre Wilson (13-5-0 11 KO's).

The co-featured attraction between Ionut "Jo Jo" Dan Ion and Damian Frias (19-6-1 10 KO's) is also an important bout, eight rounds at Welterweight.

No remorse can be left as these two fringe contenders put it all on the line for a much-yearned world title shot. The loser's career will come screeching to a frantic halt - which means these men will put all they have in the ring come Thursday.

Also gaining interest on the card, rising Puerto Rican sensation Gabriel Bracero will continue his impressive return against one of his toughest opponents yet in the always-game Pavel Miranda (17-9-1 8 KO's).

Bracero is one of the top prospects out of the boxing gloaming island, his career is set to erupt, and a big victory over Miranda would be the final step in doing such. It is set for eight rounds in the Light Welterweight division. More...