Boxing News

In a blistering display of skill and power, Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao won a world title in his fourth weight class by belting out WBC Lightweight Champion David Diaz in the ninth round of a one-sided mismatch last night at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, NV.

It was clear from the start that Pacquiao was by far the better equipped fighter as the 29 year old living legend bombarded his fellow southpaw Diaz with a two handed assault that hardly wavered during the course of the bout.

Diaz began the contest by backing up Pacquiao, targeting the body of "Pac Man" but as the challenger began to find range with right hook and straight left counters, the WBC champion's resolve began to crumble.

When Diaz stopped moving forward, it became target practice for Paquiao, who landed at will against his much slower rival, zapping in a variety of shots and scoring with crushing uppercuts, hooks and crosses.

As the rounds wore on, numerous cuts developed on the face of Diaz including a nasty laceration over the right eye from an unintentional clash of heads. The cause looked lost for the champion as early as the fourth round but Diaz simply would not quit. More...

Aside from the big Pacquiao vs. Diaz card in Las Vegas, there was some good action in America this weekend starting off with the latest bout of Irish sensation John Duddy, who outpointed Charlie Howe at The Castle in Boston, MA.

Duddy, 25-0 (17), was coming off a horrific performance against Montreal based Tunisian fighter Walid Smichet in February and needed an impressive win. At 33 years of age with losses to the only name fighters that he had faced, Joey Gilbert and Cornelius Brundage, Howe, 17-5-2 (9), was handpicked for the purpose.

Not surprisingly, Duddy had little trouble practicing his arsenal against the Midwesterner, finding range to both the head and body with equal success with very little coming back in return.

Howe was hurt at times but the big hearted fighter never stopped trying against his more skilled foe, landing a few good shots here and there to keep Duddy from running roughshod over him.

After the bout ran it's ten round course, Duddy was awarded the victory on marks of 100-90 on all three scorecards. More...

There were two good cards in République française over the weekend and we start on Saturday's action at Salle L'Albanais in Rumilly where local man Sebastien Madani upset reigning French Light Middleweight Champion Alban Mothie over twelve rounds.

Madani followed up his WBC Mediterranean title winning effort in December with his 18th consecutive victory in front of a raging hometown crowd in this mountainous town in the French Alps, just 50 miles from Geneva, Switzerland.

Turning up in fantastic physical shape, Madani never let the champion into fight as he pressed Mothie and kept the Châtellerault man on the defensive for the entire bout despite Mothie's best efforts to reverse the tide.

After a cautious first round, the early part of the contest saw Madani force Mothie onto the backfoot behind a torrent of hooks and while the champion managed to slip most of the shots, there were a good many that found the mark.

The sixth frame saw Madani swarm over Mothie and hurt the champion, who had to draw upon his long experience to survive before backing off the challenger by round's end. More...

© Chris Farina - Top Rank

Ten months after a wildly controversial ending to their first fight, Ricardo Torres will defend his WBO Junior Welterweight title against No. 1 contender Kendall Holt in a rematch on a special edition of ShoBox: The New Generation on Saturday, July 5, 2008, live on Showtime at 11 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the west coast. More...

Last night at the characterful York Hall, Bethnal Green in London, England, Esham Pickering and Matthew Marsh slugged it out for the British Super Bantamweight title on a Hennessy Sports promoted fight night.

The champion Pickering was looking to win the Lonsdale Belt outright as he defended it a second time - this time to younger, less experienced opponent in the 25 year old Marsh.

On home-ground, Marsh, from West Ham, was wearing his usual claret and blue trunks. ‘Brown Sugar’ Pickering was sporting a skin-head haircut bearing a bleached blonde raised logo of "Jordan".

The contest gets off to a fast start and Marsh is keen to impress - getting straight to work on Pickering and looks to have taken the first round.

Pickering is under pressure in the opening minute of round two as Marsh unloads a number of shots backing, the champion onto the ropes. Using combinations and body-punches, Marsh looks to over-power Pickering, who sees out the end of the tough round.

Pickering leaves himself wide-open in round three, getting caught with more shots from his younger opponent. Marsh keeps focussed while adopting a ‘tight’ defence. There’s a ‘nick’ under the left eye of Pickering. More...

After a long media buildup, the eagerly anticipated lightweight debut of Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao finally takes place tonight at the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas, as the hard punching dynamo challenges reigning WBC Lightweight Champion David Diaz in a battle of southpaws, topping a quality Top Rank promoted card.

Diaz, 34-1-1 (17), will have a size advantage against Pacquiao as the Chicago native is a natural light welter who won the WBC crown with a close unanimous decision win against Erik Morales last August that sent the Mexican legend into retirement.

But size has never meant much to Pacquiao, 46-3-2 (35), who turned pro at 106 pounds in 1995 before winning world titles at flyweight, super bantam and most recently, the WBC Super Feather belt against Juan Manuel Marquez by split decision in March. More...

There were two good cards last night in Thailand and we commence proceedings with a big show in Ratchaburi, where 39 year old long-time WBO Asia Pacific Super Flyweight Champion Pramuansak "The Machine Gun" Posuwan, 43-1-1 (23), won his 14th contest on the bounce by stopping Filipino opponent Javier Malulan, 12-4 (7), in the eighth round.

Posuwan retains his crown for the seventh time during his second reign as WBO Asia Pacific titlist and hasn't lost since a failed bid to upset full WBO Champion Fernando Montiel in 2005.

On the undercard, PABA Super Fly beltholder Duangpetch Saengmorakot, 39-1-1 (15), outpointed Anthony Esmedina, 4-5-2 (0), in a non-title six rounder and veteran Samransak Singmanassak, 33-19-1 (26), won a six rounder against Albert Alcoy, 5-2-3 (2). More...

Boxing mad East London in the Eastern Cape saw a big show last night at the city's famed Orient Theatre.

In a thrilling contest, IBO Minimumweight Champion Nkosinathi Joyi had to climb off the canvas before he could stave off and then finish the spirited challenge of Mexican titlist Sammy Gutierrez in the seventh round.

The Central American import went after Joyi from the start, putting on tremendous pressure in true Mexican style. The champion dealt with the adversity well, rocking the challenger with solid countershots but was down in the fifth from a perfectly placed body punch from Gutierrez.

Joyi beat the count and took advantage of the haste shown by Gutierrez, who resorted to winging big punches that the champion easily saw coming and avoided. More...

It was a massive night of fisticuffs last night Down Under and with so much action to choose from, it's difficult to know where to start!

But start we must and that takes us to the Sydney area where at the Catholic in Campbelltown, NSW, there was a big showdown at middleweight between IBO Champion Daniel Geale and challenger Geard Ajetovic.

Geale was coming off a masterful boxing performance last December against previously undefeated slugger Daniel "The Rock" Dawson to win the vacant IBO belt and but the Mt. Annan stylist was facing a tough challenge in this one.

Ajetovic, a native Serbian who has fought his entire career in England, had completed his last six bouts without a loss following a narrow disappointment to European Champ Christopher Canclaux in a non-title bout two years ago.

When the bout started, it was clear that Geale possessed the sharper skills and ring generalmanship, but the dangerous Ajetovic closed distance and badly the champion in the fifth round. More...

© Emily Harney / Irish Ropes

In preparation for the big John Duddy vs. Charlie Howe show tonight from The Castle in Boston, MA, the principal fighters all weighed in yesterday. Irish Ropes Promotions present "Hassle In The Castle" with tickets still available at $50, $75, and $100.00 at door. Doors open at 6 PM/ET, first bout 7 PM/ET.

John Duddy: 158.5 lb
Charlie Howe: 160 lb More...

Former world title challenger Zahir Raheem feels ready and confident as he enters the final stages of his training camp for his upcoming IBF world lightweight title elimination bout in East London, South Africa against Ali Funeka.

"Zahir knows this will be one of his toughest fights and he will be ready," said Bobby Dobbs, matchmaker for promoter Tony Holden, Raheem's promoter. "Obviously, he would have preferred to fight here in the states, but that won't affect Zahir as he will be ready to fight anywhere." More...

"The Tiger" Prepares For Showdown With Heavyweight Champ Wladimir Klitschko On July 12

My funny bone is slowing going, and thinking more on breaking bones! But first. lets talk about what’s going on in camp.

The last installment left off with me taking an iniquitous ass whooping from my fellow fighters (I don’t do sparring partners because you can't get better that way). They really came to work, which was not all that fun for me, but great for what we are trying to accomplish. More...

Carl Froch has now got his hard-earned shot at the vacant WBC Super Middleweight title against Jermain Taylor later this year but hopes his co-challenger doesn't bottle out of it.

Undefeated British Champion Froch has been elected to fight the American, Taylor, a former undisputed middleweight champion, for the prestigious WBC title after Joe Calzaghe vacated the belt rather than fight mandatory challenger Froch. More...

World ranked and undefeated cruiserweight BJ Flores wanted to set the record straight regarding media reports that he rejected an offer to fight CES promoted Matt Godfrey next month on ESPN2.

Speaking after a training session with former heavyweight world champion Hasim Rahman in Phoenix, Arizona, Flores said, “Let me set the record straight. CES has Aaron Williams and Matt Godfrey. Williams had wanted to fight me after my win over Darnell Wilson in February. I was fine with that at the time, but I was okay with waiting until after his fight with Jose Luis Herrera. More...

By Per Ake Persson

Sauerland Event have acted quickly to the news that WBA Heavyweight Champ Ruslan Chagaev is injured and are asking for either Chagaev to be stripped of the title or to have Valuev allowed to fight for an interim title.

This was the second postponement of the scheduled rematch between Chagaev and Valuev and considering the rumors around the champion, Sauerland are asking for an independent evalutation of Chagaev´s physical status. More...

By Mesuli Zifo

Top Australian flyweight fighter Hussein Hussein arrived at the East London airport yesterday for his IBF world title elimination clash against Moruti Mthalane at Jan Smuts Stadium on July 5.

Accompanied by his trainer/brother Billy and a sparring partner, Hussein chatted freely with reporters and described his visit to South Africa as his return home following a stint in the country 10 years ago when he was still an amateur. More...

On Friday, June 20, Adalaide Byrd, Nevada Boxing judge and wife of World Boxing Hall of Fame Referee, Robert Byrd, received a call that her youngest brother, Aaron Tyndale, 44, of Pennsylvania had been in a terrible motor vehicle accident and his condition was grave.

Tyndale had been traveling from Virginia to his home in Philadelphia when his vehicle was run off the road by a tractor-trailer on I-95 in Delaware. Eyewitnesses claim that Tyndale’s vehicle rolled over several times.

Byrd’s brother was able to speak briefly after the accident, but shortly after went into cardiac arrest and was taken to Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware. As a result of the accident, Aaron Tyndale suffered several severe head injuries and was pronounced brain dead at 4:50 AM on Saturday, June 21. More...

Two weeks ago, St. Louis native Deandre “The Bull” Latimore scored the biggest win of his career as he stopped #1 IBF Junior Middleweight Sechew Powell in the seventh round at the Hard Rock Café in New York City. The bout, broadcast on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights, is being called an early contender for upset of the year. More...

© Jim Everett / Saddo Boxing

You wouldn’t know by reading all the boxing press in the media, but there is actually another fight taking place besides the Manny Pacquiao vs. David Diaz title bout on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. With all the focus on Pacquiao, it may be easy to overlook that two heavyweights will meet for a crossroads fight that can make or break either fighter's career.

Veteran Monte Barrett, 33-6 (19), has been put in place as a tough “opponent” to prospect Tye Fields, 41-1 (37). Fields' promoter Bob Arum feels the giant could be the next great American heavyweight and is looking forward to Fields' step up in competition on Saturday, which could propel him into contender status with an impressive win.

The thirty-seven year-old Barrett doesn’t quite see it the same way as Arum and believes Fields is an “opponent” for him with an impressive victory providing him more opportunities in his future. More...

Soon after it was announced that WBA heavyweight champion Ruslan Chagaev had pulled out of his July 5 mandatory title defense against former WBA title-holder and No. 1 contender, Nikolai Valuev, due to another injury, John Ruiz, through his advisor and attorney, Tony Cardinale, contacted World Boxing Association officials demanding that, in accordance with WBA rules and regulations, the championship be vacated and negotiations ordered to begin for a title fight between Valuev and former 2-time world heavyweight champion, WBA No. 2-rated John “The Quietman” Ruiz (43-7-1, 29 KOs). More...