Boxing News

Big show tonight at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, FL with two IBF belts up for grabs.

Colombian hard man Juan Urango, 21-2-1 (16), makes the first defense of his second reign as IBF light welter ruler when he takes on big punching veteran Randall Bailey, 39-6 (35).

It's hard to believe that Bailey is only 34 as he's been around a long, long time and this will be his fourth attempt to gain back a world title after losing the WBO 140 pound strap to Ener Julio in 2000.

Bailey is going in there to do one thing and one thing only, KO the opponent, but he'll be hard pressed to produce that result against probably the strongest light welter in the world, Juan Urango.

Urango is coming off a points loss to WBC welter titlist Andre Berto after testing the 147 pound waters in May and "Iron Twin" will have to make sure he gets to Bailey first if he wants to walk out of the Hard Rock still a world champ. More...

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Headlining a big show tonight at the Toyota Center in Houston, TX is former lightweight champion Juan Diaz's move up to light welter to face Paulie Malignaggi in a 12 rounder.

Diaz, 34-2 (17), barely broke the lightweight limit during the weigh-in yesterday and former IBF 140 pound titlist Malignaggi, 26-2 (5), hit the scales at his lightest weight since 2002.

Both fighters have only two losses and both came against top competition; Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton for Malignaggi and Juan Manuel Marquez and Nate Campbell for Diaz. More...

WBO super middle champ Karoly Balzsay makes the second defense of his title when he faces off against Robert Stieglitz at the Syma Sport Centre in Budapest, Hungary.

Hamburg based Hungarian Balzsay, 21-0 (15), won the WBO belt with a surprising unanimous decision over favored opponent Denis Inkin in January and KO'd aging but still dangerous ex-WBA middleweight champ Maselino Masoe in April.

German based Russian Stieglitz, 35-2 (21), was stopped in a rematch against Alejandro Berrio in 2007 for the vacant IBF super middle crown and suffered the same fate against Librado Andrade in an eliminator for the same title a year later.

Tonight in Budapest, southpaw Balzsay is the definite favorite to keep his WBO strap and the advantage of an adoring home crowd won't hurt either but Stieglitz has nothing to lose as this bout represents what is likely to be his last crack at a world title.

Balzsay should box his way to a unanimous decision but Stieglitz could upset the applecart if the champion suffers any defensive lapses.

© Tom Casino

It's the battle for Florida bragging rights tonight at the Gulf Coast Arena in Biloxi, MS as former world champions Roy Jones Jr and Jeff Lacy tangle for the NABO light heavyweight crown.

Neither one of these combatants are anywhere near their prime but it could be interesting as Jones, 53-5 (39), seeks to keep his career alive a full six years after his last masterful performance and Lacy, 25-2 (17), looks to regain his edge that was blunted forcefully by Joe Calzaghe in 2006.

40 year old Jones is coming off a stoppage win against Omar Sheika in March while Lacy, 32, managed a majority decision over Otis Griffin in April but Jones will likely have the advantage tonight in Biloxi. More...

IBF light fly kingpin Nonito Donaire heads up to super flyweight tonight at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas, NV, contending for the Interim WBA crown against Panama's Rafael Concepcion.

Donaire, 21-1 (14), is coming off three title defenses of the IBF strap he won by expertly dismantling Aussie bomber Vic Darchinyan two years ago and the Filipino stylist should be able to handle the challenge of Concepcion with equal dexterity.

Concepcion, 13-3 (8), won the Interim WBA super fly title by gunning down previously undefeated AJ Banal a year ago but was stopped in the ninth in his next bout during a slugfest with Mexico's Jorge Arce, losing the interim belt in the process.

The Panama City man regained his footing with an eight rounds points verdict over aging ex-WBO minimumweight boss Kermin Guardia in February but will have to pull off a career best performance if he is to overcome the higher skilled Donaire.

The chief support bout features WBO feather champ Steven Luevano, 36-1-1 (15), meeting the challenge of WBC International beltholder Bernabe Concepcion, 29-1-1 (16), in what should be a good contest.

The WBA light heavyweight strap is at stake tonight at Daulet Sports Complex in Astana, Kazakhstan as heavily-hyped local prospect Beibut Shumenov attempts to unseat newly minted champion Gabriel Campillo.

Spanish southpaw Campillo, 18-2 (6), came into prominence in June by moving up from super middle and toppling WBA titlist Hugo Hernan Garay in his native Argentina.

Campillo had previously held the European Union 168 pound crown after losing a majority decision to Karo Murat for the full European crown a year ago.

Shumenov, 8-0 (6), couldn't ask for a better shot at winning a world title but still, the Las Vegas resident will be taking a step up in competition from what he has faced so far during his less than two year old professional career.

The 25 year old former Kazakh amateur star has seen off name opponents during his last three bouts but former light heavy champ Montell Griffin and ex-super middle champ Byron Mitchell were far and away past their best.

Campillo probably doesn't have enough of a punch to bother his aggressive rival so he will have to outbox the local hero, drawing on his greater experience and southpaw stance to take away the confidence of Shumenov.

Ex-WBO super feather champion Jorge Rodrigo Barrios makes the move up to lightweight tonight when he faces Moises Castro for the Interim WBO crown at Polideportivo Carlos Cerutti in Cordoba, Argentina.

Barrios, 47-4-1 (34), fought everyone at super feather and now wants the world's hardest puncher at any weight, WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero, but first, "La Hiena" has to take care of Panamanian foe Castro, 27-11-4 (13).

The Tigre based Argentine hero has only lost in hard fought affairs to Acelino Freitas, Joan Guzman and Rocky Juarez over the last 12 years and the 33 year old has definitely traded in much more experienced company than has Castro.

11 year pro Castro started at super flyweight and came up the hard way in Managua, battling it out up through successive divisions in relative obscurity but the tall southpaw is coming off a good performance during a 10 round loss to former WBA lightweight champ Jose Alfaro and "La Cobrita" could definitely make things difficult for Barrios or even cause an upset.

The undercard sees lightweight Israel Hector Enrique Perez, 22-2 (13), square off with Alberto Leopoldo Santillan, 15-2 (4), over ten rounds. More...

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The big fight this weekend sees Nate Campbell stepping up to light welter tonight for a crack at Timothy Bradley's WBO belt at Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage, CA.

At 37 years of age, Campbell, 33-5-1 (25), has had a long and winding career with many ups and many downs. He comes into this bout after having won the two biggest fights of his career, a thrilling split decision over Juan Diaz for the IBF, WBO and WBA lightweight belts in March, 2008 and a hard fought majority decision against big punching Ali Funeka in February for what was to have been a lightweight title fight except Campbell couldn't make weight.

Having outgrown the 135 pound division, Campbell will try his hand at light welter and challenge Bradley, 24-0 (11), who won the WBC title in May, 2008, defended it against Edner Cherry before taking Kendall Holt's WBO strap by decision in April. More...

Tonight at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT, it's a battle of the nearly men as Isaac Hlatshwayo and Delvin Rodriguez rematch for the vacant IBF welterweight title.

The two clashed last November in Hlatshwayo's homeland of South Africa in a draw and now things move to Connecticut resident Rodriguez's territory.

Both fighters have good records and have impressive achievements on their resume with Hlatshwayo having been in the bigger fights to date but of course that won't mean anything once the bell rings for this anticipated return bout.

Hlatshwayo, 28-1-1 (10), won the South African lightweight title in 2002 and made five successful defenses before winning the IBO belt in 2005 with a points verdict over future IBF champ Cassius Baloyi.

The biggest win of Hlatshwayo's career came one fight later when he won a split decision in America against future unified champion Nate Campbell in an IBO defense.

In 2006, Hlatshwayo stepped up to light welter but was canvassed three times enroute to losing on points to future world champ Kendall Holt for the NABO crown before going up another weight division to win the IBO welter trophy against Joseph Makaringe. More...

For every young fighter trying to make their ascension up the rankings ladder, there is a crafty and hard hitting veteran looking to make their name by knocking him down.

This is exactly the stage that is set for the lightweight bout tonight at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula, CA, as the highly touted Mexican prospect Marvin Quintero, 16-1 (12), attempts to take a step up that rankings ladder against the heavy handed Tyrone Harris, 23-5 (12).

Many in the boxing community have been drawing comparisons between Quintero and future Hall of Famer Marco Antonio Barrera.

While that may be a bit premature, his most recent victories over Wes Ferguson, 20-4-1 (6), and Nick Casal, 19-4 (15), have shown that Quintero is maturing as a fighter and utilizing both his power and boxing abilities in the same manner that his fellow countryman did in the early stages of his career.

Quintero is riding high off of twelve straight victories since his lone defeat; however his opponent will be far and away the toughest test to date.

Although Harris was stopped in his last bout, his resume reads like a who’s who of some of division's top fighters. With bouts against names like Urbano Antillon, 26-1 (19), Damian Fuller, 30-6 (14), Koba Gogoladze, 20-3 (8), and former world titlist Stevie Johnston, 42-6 (18), Harris is far and away the more experienced fighter. More...

Huge boxing gala tonight at the Grand Mayan in Nuevo Vallarta with the WBA light flyweight and Interim WBA lightweight titles on offer.

California's big punching Giovanni Segura, 20-1-1 (16), won the Interim WBA light fly belt in March by stopping Cesar Canchilla in a rematch and will meet Filipino campaigner and three-time world title challenger Juanito Rubillar, 46-12-7 (22), for the full WBA crown.

Another California, undefeated Urbano Antillion, 26-0 (19), is in action as he gets to grips with Venezuela's Miguel Acosta, 25-3-2 (19), for the Interim WBA lightweight trophy.

Former WBC heavyweight champion Sam Peter, 30-3 (23), comes back from two straight losses to take on 38 year old journeyman Marcus McGee, 22-16 (11), in an eight rounder.

The biggest show to hit Namibia in years takes place tonight at the Country Club Resort in Windoek as WBA Lightweight Champ Paulus Moses makes the first defense of the belt he won in January.

The last two bouts of Moses, 24-0 (17), took place in Japan and the theme continues in his hometown tonight as the 31 year old "Hitman" faces Tokyo's Takehiro Shimada, 23-4-1 (16).

At 37, former Japanese lightweight titlist Shimada has had a long career but showed recently he still has the goods by lasting seven rounds with absolutely murderous punching Edwin Valero for the WBA super feather belt a year ago, following that up with a stoppage of Panama's Ameth Diaz in March.

Shimada could have difficulty coping with the younger and faster Moses however and will likely have to pull off a career best performance to unseat the 31 year old rival, who will enjoy a packed hometown venue.

Chief support for the bill is provided by a clash for the WBA Pan African welterweight title between the champ, local man Bethuel Ushona, 17-0 (6), and the very experienced South African, Welcome Ntshingila, 16-8-3 (5), who formerly held the belt.

Amir Khan hopes to put the smile back on boxing's face after a sad week when he challenges Ukrainian Andriy Kotelnik for his WBA Light Welterweight championship belt tonight at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England.

For Kotelnik, this is the third defence of the title he won from Welshman Gavin Rees in March of last year. After a disputed draw against Souleymane M'baye in 2007, he has become champion at the second time of asking.

The champion is well known to British fans not only for the fights just mentioned, but also losing a closely contested European title contest against Junior Witter on points back in 2005.

For Khan, this is not only a step up in weight but also a step up in class. After a career best performance against Marco Antonio Barrera in March, Khan attempts to win the first of what he hopes will be many world championship belts.

Last time out, many boxing fans feared for Khan, feeling he had stepped up in class too soon after the one round disaster against Breidis Prescott. These demons were exorcised in a masterful five round display before winning on cuts. More...

Former IBF champion Clinton Woods still sits atop the light heavyweight division in the UK but two up and coming young guns clash tonight at historic York Hall in London for the vacant British belt and the Commonwealth crown as well.

Welshman Nathan Cleverly, 16-0 (6), has been hailed as the "next Joe Calzaghe" due to his prowess in the ring and at just 22 years of age, could be the face of the future in the British Isles.

Standing nearly 6'4, Cleverly has surprising quickness to go along with the very long reach and since defeating the very experienced Tony Oakey for the Commonwealth title last October has defended the belt with three straight stoppages.

All of this could be bad news for English titlist Danny McIntosh, 10-0 (4), but the 29 year old from Norwich hasn't been the least bit impressed with Cleverly during the media build up to this greatly anticipated contest. More...

© Tom Casino / Showtime Boxing

Showtime Sports and six of the best super middleweight boxers in the world converged in New York City on Monday to announce an unprecedented new boxing tournament to be presented by Showtime in the United States and throughout the world on various television networks.

The inaugural "Super Six World Boxing Classic" is a round-robin, six-fighter tournament featuring the class of the Super Middleweight division from home and abroad.

The world renowned fighters have a staggering combined record of 161-4-1 with 117 knockouts. There are four undefeated fighters, two current world champions, two young, unbeaten, world-ranked contenders and one former undisputed world titleholder. More...

IBF featherweight titlist Cristobal Cruz squares off with challenger Jorge Solis tonight at Palenque de Gallos in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, Mexico.

The resurgent Cruz, 38-11-1 (23), has won four straight since losing to Zahir Raheem two years ago and during that time picked up the IBF crown against Orlando Salido as well as defending the strap against Cyril Thomas in France this past February.

But Solis, 37-1-2 (27), already holds a victory over Cruz in 2003 and is likely the best opponent that the IBF titlist has ever fought.

Sharpshooter Solis has only come up short against the great Filipino Manny Pacquiao and since his KO loss to Pac Man in 2007 has won four straight including title eliminators for the IBF featherweight and WBA super feather belts.

Also at stake tonight is bragging rights to the featherweight division in Mexico and that alone should make for one magnificent clash when these two veterans go at it tonight in Chiapas.

Tonight at Nuerburgring race track, in Nuerburg, Germany, WBA middleweight champ Felix Sturm puts his belt at risk for the 7th time when he meets former IBF title challenger Khoren Gevor.

Sturm, 32-2-1 (14), is coming off a seventh round stoppage over Japan's Koji Sato in April and this contest against Gevor fits the reoccurring pattern of Sturm's defenses against respectable but not top of the line opposition.

Stocky southpaw Gevor, 30-3 (16), shook off two early losses to Lukas Konecny seven years ago to capture regional title belts before getting KO'd in 11 by IBF champion Arthur Abraham in 2007.

Sturm should win this on points but is mercurial enough in his bouts that he could be in for a tough time of it from the seasoned Gevor.

The undercard features a vacant Interim WBC middleweight title clash between undefeated WBO Intercontinental belt holder Sebastian Zbik, 26-0 (10), and WBC International titlist Domenico Spada, 29-1 (14).

The Interim WBA light welter strap is up for grabs tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles as native son Victor Ortiz is in the spotlight against Marcos Renee Maidana.

Both guys can bang and aren't used to losing so the contest should be a superb fight for as long as it lasts.

Southpaw Ortiz, 24-1-1 (19), has rubbed out eight opponents in a row including former world champ Carlos Maussa and highly regarded contender Mike Arnaoutis, proving his power and abilities at a very high level.

Committed body puncher Maidana, 25-1 (24), pounded his way out of Argentina to land in Germany where he has been based for the last two years.

Maidana took a big leap in competition to contend for the WBA title in February but Ukrainian stylist Andriy Kotelnik turned him back. The 25 year old from Santa Fe now gets to once again go for the WBA bauble tonight. More...

Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City sees a WBO super bantam title contest between reigning champ Juan Manuel Lopez and challenger Olivier Lontchi.

Over the last three years, no one has lasted the distance against hammer-fisted Puerto Rican southpaw Lopez, 25-0 (23), who has stopped his last 13 opponents during that time.

And Lopez's resume boasts some pretty respectable names such as Gerry Penalosa, Daniel Ponce de Leon and Hugo Dianzo.

Lontchi, on the other hand, has climbed the rankings behind some good boxing skills and gotten past the likes of Cecilio Santos and Cruz Carbajal but will be at a definite experience disadvantage against Lopez. More...

Saturday night's alright for fightin' this evening south of the border as there are two WBA title clashes taking place.

WBA super feather champ Jorge Linares is in action at the Plaza de Toros in Nuevo Laredo, meeting the challenge of unheralded opponent Josafat Perez.

Linares, 26-0 (17), a former WBC featherweight titlist from Venezuela, will be making the first defense of the crown he won last November with a stoppage of Whyber Garcia in the fifth.

The lanky 23 year old will be making just his second appearance in Mexico, having fought most of his contests in his adopted homeland of Japan. More...