Boxing News

Last night in front of a strong hometown crowd at Dublin's O2 Arena, local hero Bernard Dunne was hammered back out of his brief foray into the world class standings by Thai slugger Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym.

Having won the WBA super bantam crown in a surprising upset of Ricardo Cordoba at the O2 this past March, Dunne understandably felt confident in the first two rounds and managed to keep his much shorter challenger at the end of the jab.

But once the third bell sounded, Kratingdaenggym was done studying the Irishman and was ready to test his contention that Dunne was in possession of a less than sturdy chin.

Just like Kiko Martinez had hit the jackpot two years ago during a European title bout, Kratingdaenggym rammed home a whistling left hook that flung Dunne hard to the canvas. More...

Buoyed by a standing room only crowd at the Shipley Arena, Mark “TNT” Tucker improved his professional ledger to 12-0 (7 KO’s) after a dominant unanimous decision victory over Las Vegas’ Jim “Steel Chin” Strohl 27-8 (21 KO’s) on Friday.

Supported by chants of “TNT, TNT”, Tucker got off to a fast start to stagger Strohl in the opening round with hard 1-2 combinations. More...

At the Bell Centre in boxing mad Montreal last night, Jean Pascal put his WBC light heavyweight belt at risk for the first time and came away with victory against seasoned warhorse Silvio Branco.

A pro since 1988, ex-WBA and European champ Branco went after the much younger Pascal early on but had difficulty with the good footwork and swift reflexes of the local Montreal man, who cut the Italian in the third.

The bout was a cautious affair early on but as both began to tire and settle in, the action increased with Pascal beginning to target the body and Branco looking for the jab, right hand combination.

By the seventh, 43 year old Branco had begin to run out of steam and was dropped in what could have been largely a push or even a bid to gain a breather, although it was ruled a knockdown. More...

British middleweight champion Matthew Macklin increased the hardware in his trophy cabinet by winning the European title last night at the Velodrome in Manchester, England.

The Birmingham based slugger went right to work in the first round, swapping punches with former titlist Amin Asikainen.

The Finn was soon down from a full-blooded Macklin left hook but beat the count to continue. It wasn't long however, before Macklin slammed home a right that decked Asikainen again.

Showing great courage, Asikainen beat the count again but was judged in no condition to continue the bout at 2:34 of the first round.

Matthew Macklin gains the European middleweight title and improves to 25-2 (18), winning his eighth straight contest. More...

© Tom Hogan / Hoganphotos

Despite sitting on the sidelines the last 21 months, Floyd Mayweather Jr returned in top form tonight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to reestablish his authority as the finest boxer of his generation and in the world today.

Following up his 10 round dismantling of Ricky Hatton in December, 2007, Mayweather came back to his former stomping grounds of Vegas to shove aside the aspirations of Juan Manuel Marquez over the twelve rounder at welterweight.

Much had been made of Marquez's two highly contentious contests against arch-rival Manny Pacquiao during the media buildup leading up to tonight's clash but the masterful Mayweather aptly showed that meant nothing when stacked up against his prodigious gifts. More...

After two tours of duty as European champion and a shot at the WBA belt, Sebastian Sylvester clawed his way to a world title tonight at Jahnsportforum in Neubrandenberg, Germany.

The 29 year old local man, nicknamed "Hurrikan", started fast as expected against opponent Giovanni Lorenzo of New York but had difficulty navigating the distance Lorenzo maintained during the early rounds.

The American based visitor repeatedly picked off the German with sharp punches and seemed to be on the way to controlling the contest until Sylvester's pressure began to pay off. More...

While many within the boxing community will argue for the artistry and science of the sport as its true appeal, one must admit that sometimes, a plain old dirty brawl between two bruising heavyweights can be so much fun.

That is exactly what we got on Friday night from the Chumash Resort and Casino in Santa Ynez, California as heavyweight Tony Grano, 16-1-1 (13), shocked the well regarded Philadelphia prospect Travis Kauffman, 18-1 (15), via fourth round TKO.

While it wasn’t the prettiest of fights that we will see this year, it sure was exciting.

From the opening bell, both fighters were throwing bombs with Kauffman’s speed and technical skills appearing to be the difference. He was landing crisp hard right hands and moving well around the ring in complete control of the bout.

In the opening seconds of the fourth round, Kauffman appeared determined to end the night early and landed a series of hard shots that sent Grano stumbling towards the ropes. More...

It was a good Friday night at the fights all across Britain and we kick things off at historic York Hall in London's Bethnal Green.

Light welters Lenny Daws and Barry Morrison tangled in a rematch for the vacant British title and Daws managed to reverse his 2007 loss to the Scot.

Last time out Morrison squeaked out a split decision to lift the British crown but this time Daws took it away from the judges and knocked out his rival at 1:30 of the tenth frame to capture the vacant domestic belt.

Daws wins his fifth bout on the bounce to go to 20-1-1 (8), while Morrison drops to 17-4-1 (7), suffering the first stoppage loss of his career. More...

The main event at El Palenque de la Feria in Tepic, Mexico featured a highly competitive WBO minimumweight title defense by Donnie Nietes.

The Filipino visitor was given all he could handle by Interim WBO titlist Manuel Vargas but after twelve difficult rounds were completed, wildly diverged scores were announced.

Vargas won one of the cards 116-112 while Nietes took the others 118-110 and 116-110 to win the split decision. Nietes improves to 25-1-3 (14), while Vargas goes to 26-4-1 (11).

Light middle Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, 40-0-1 (30), annihilated American Jason LeHoullier, 21-2-1 (8), in the first round to keep the WBO Latino belt. More...

Sometimes lightning does strike twice as WBO light flyweight champ Ivan Calderon had his rematch with Rodel Mayol at Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico end early for the same reason as their first pairing in June: a head clash.

One again Calderon was cut badly after a difficult test against the Filipino hard man but this time instead of the technical draw in June, the Guaynabo southpaw came away with a technical decision, winning two scorecards 68-65 while Mayol was awarded the third by the same margin.

Could a third clash between these two be on offer? Calderon has now seen his last three contests end early for the same reason.

Calderon retains the WBO belt for the fifth time and keeps an undefeated career mark of 33-0-1 (6), while Mayol drops to 25-4-1 (19). More...

Click for larger image © Tom Casino (left) & Winfried Mausolf (right)

They did it 5,600 miles apart, but Andre Ward and Mikkel Kessler both took care of business in similar fashion in front of their fans and television viewers on a special split-site doubleheader ShoBox: The New Generation on Showtime Saturday night.

Ward (20-0, 13 KOs) remained undefeated, stopping Shelby Pudwill (22-4-1, 9 KOs ) at 2:!6 of the third round from the Pechanga Resort and Casino. More...

Controversy erupted last night at the Brentwood Centre in Essex, England after Tyson Fury was declared the winner in his bout against English heavyweight titlist John McDermott following ten rounds of combat.

With only seven professional bouts under his belt, Fury at times looked well out of his depth against the smaller, quicker champion and only the towering heavyweight's hard jab kept him competitive during the contest.

After absorbing a verbal onslaught from Fury during the pre-fight media buildup, McDermott went on the offensive from the first bell and put his challenger into the unaccustomed position of having to fight off the back foot. More...

“Machine Gun” Mike Oliver won a hard-fought decision to capture the vacant New England and Eastern Boxing Association junior featherweight titles tonight on the “A Night To Remember” pro boxing cared, presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment and Sports, Inc., at historic Plymouth Memorial Hall. More...

Last night at the Colosseum in Watford, England, welterweight Tom Glover's unexpected run through the UK standings came to an end, halted forcefully by Commonwealth champion John O'Donnell.

After seeing off the quartet of Jon Thaxton, Nadeem Siddique, Chas Symonds and Scott Woolford over the last ten months, Glover just couldn't compete against the much sharper O'Donnell.

Using his five inch height advantage to perfection, the six foot tall O'Donnell kept the oncoming Glover at the perfect distance, dissecting the aggressive striver with a two-fisted scalpel.

Try as he might to get O'Donnell into the trenches, Glover simply couldn't cut off the ring and was hammered by the precise Londoner.

After handing out a punishing lesson for five rounds, O'Donnell forced a stoppage at 2:43 of the sixth. More...

Big card last night at Arena Roberto Duran in Panama City, Panama with a few big names in action.

Local flyweight Luis Concepcion, 18-1 (13), won his 15th straight contest, picking up the Interim WBA crown in the process, by dramatically stopping Mexico's Omar Salado, 21-2-2 (12), at 0:39 of the 12th round.

With the victory, Concepcion is now firmly entrenched in the top five of the division and could meet the winner of the upcoming Denkaosan Kaovichit vs. Daiki Kameda WBA title contest.

Hard punching ex-WBO super bantam champ Daniel Ponce de Leon, 37-2 (31), was the highlight of the support bill, defeating hard-nosed former world title challenger Roinet Caballero, 27-9-1 (19), by wide margins after 12 rounds to win a WBA featherweight title eliminator. More...

There was a good fight card north of the border last night with a WBO title belt on the line as well as the continuing comeback of Canada's top boxer, Steve Molitor, at his home base of Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario.

Longtime flyweight contender Jose Lopez of Puerto Rico finally hit the jackpot in March of this year, outpointing Thailand's Pramuansak Posuwan to capture the vacant WBO super fly crown.

But making his first defense last night, the 37 year old from Trujilo Alto ran into trouble against WBO Oriental beltholder Marvin Sonsona.

The Filipino southpaw proved just too quick for the Puerto Rican vet and walked off with the WBO super fly trophy via a 114-111, 115-110 and 116-109 unanimous decision victory. More...

Eastern Boxing association super middleweight champion “Irish” Joey McCreedy retained his title and captured the vacant New England belt tonight with a first-round technical knockout win against Eddie “Thunder” Caminero at Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

McCreedy-Caminero headlined “School’s In,” presented by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Sports and Entertainment, Inc. (CES), in association with Twin River. More...

Demetrius Andrade promised to put on a spectacular performance in front of his hometown fans on Friday night, and he did not disappoint.

Fighting in the co-feature bout of the evening at the Twin River Event Center in Lincoln, RI, the Providence native Andrade improved his record to (7-0, 6KO), completely dominated previously undefeated John Williams (3-1-1, 2KO) stopping him in the final round of their scheduled six round jr. middleweight contest. More...

Super middleweight contender Joey Gilbert got back in the win column on Saturday night with an outstanding performance against Pomona, California’s Ivan Stovall, earning a fifth round stoppage in front of a crowd of over 2,000 fight fans at the Churchill County Fairgrounds in Fallon, NV.

Controlling the action from the opening bell, Gilbert was able to drop Stovall in the fourth, before referee Vic Drakulich called a halt to the action at the 1:05 mark of the fifth round of the scheduled eight rounder. More...

At The Arena in Mexicali, Mexico last night, Celestino Caballero took out local borderlands man Francisco Leal in the eighth round of their IBF/WBA super bantam title fight.

Mexicali grafter Leal was the very picture of a Cinderella story going into his first title challenge as the four year pro hadn't come anywhere close to world class prior to this surprising opportunity.

Still, Leal had proven his meddle on the highly competitive Mexican scene since a young age and could count on the Mexicali crowd to cheer him on once the bell rang.

That certainly did happen and the vociferous audience support probably helped Leal survive as long as he did against towering 5'11 tall double champion Caballero. More...