Boxing News

**With Slideshow**

© Jane Warburton / Saddo Boxing

On Sunday, at the Liquid Envy Night Club in Luton, England, PJ Rowson and Errol Johnson of First Team Promotions put on another action-packed fight card.

The show was headlined by local-man, the former British and Commonwealth lightweight champion Graham Earl, against tough veteran Karl Taylor of Birmingham.

It wasn’t an easy fight for Earl, who hasn’t fought since he lost by first round TKO to Henry Castle in October. He had success with the straight left, sometimes dipping low to target the body, but experienced Taylor scored with some left shots of his own and gave Earl a tough contest throughout.

The Luton favourite secured a 60-54 points win and improves to 26 wins (12 by KO) and 4 losses (3 by KO). More...

Darren Sutherland looks certain to become the first Olympian to challenge for a professional boxing title.

His promoter Frank Maloney has plans for the Beijing bronze medallist to challenge for the Irish super-middleweight title later this year.

Sutherland (3-0) bids to continue his impressive professional form at York Hall, Bethnal Green tomorrow (Tues 30th June) when he meets Ukraine's Gennadiy Rasalev (2-1) in a six rounder. More...

Rising Jr. Middleweight Derek “Pooh” Ennis will take on the tough and durable John Mackey in a six round bout as one of the main undercard bouts on July 10th at The Arena in Philadelphia.

The contest will be a part of a huge night of boxing that will feature two title fights and will be broadcasted across the country on ESPN 2. More...

Undefeated lightweight Gabor Veto (7-0, 6 KOs) scored a brilliant first round TKO over hometown journeyman Anton Glofak (2-79-8) on Saturday night at the City Hall in Komarno, Slovakia.

The 20-year-old Veto, a former member of Hungarian amateur national team, had to show his excellent skills against the experienced journeyman Glofak. More...

Undefeated Dwayne “Night Nurse” Lewis believes he’s the dark horse in the super middleweight division.

While Olympic medallists like James Degale, Tony Jeffries and Darren Sutherland have been grabbing the headlines for their amateur exploits, Lewis is adamant that he’s the best of the emerging 12 stone bunch. More...

Heavyweight Elijah McCall will again make history.

Elijah will appear on the August 21st card in a heavyweight fight. The only difference is that this time is his father, Oliver McCall, the current IBA Continental Heavyweight Champion, will wear the belt into the ring. More...

Jason Booth makes the maiden defense of his British super bantam title against challenger Rocky Dean tonight at York Hall, headlining a huge Frank Maloney Promotions fight card.

The Nottingham native will once again attempt to pick the pocket of a larger opponent as Booth, 32-5 (13), rides a five bout win streak into the bout with rugged former British title challenger Dean, 14-10-2 (4). More...

Heavyweight sensation Tyson Fury is hot on the trail of English Champion “Big Bad” John McDermott after the British Boxing Board of Control ordered that the bout must take place before the end of November.

Purse bids for the bout have been ordered for July 8th and Fury says he can’t wait to get his hands on McDermott. The 6 foot 9 inch Manchester heavyweight has won all 6 of his pro fights since turning pro last December and maintained a 100% KO ratio on the process. More...

In what may be his last fight at middleweight, IBF champ Arthur Abraham clashed with tough challenger Mahir Oral last night in front of 7,000 fans at Max Schmeling Halle in Berlin, Germany.

Oral, a former sparring partner of Abraham's, showed that he was well acquainted with the style of the champion in the early going, peppering Abraham with jabs and combinations that didn't seem to have much effect other than winning the rounds for Oral.

Abraham was slower than usual in warming up, perhaps conserving whatever energy he had left following his efforts to continue making 160 pounds.

But "King Arthur" awoke at the end of the fourth stanza to blitz the challenger to the floor with heavy artillery but he couldn't finish off Oral. More...

The heir apparent to the Puerto Rican boxing throne was in top form last night, headlining a big show at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City as Juan Manuel Lopez kept his WBO super bantam title against opponent Olivier Lontchi.

Lopez was the definite favorite to retain going into the clash as Montreal based Cameroon native Lontchi had yet to rise above his regional status as NABA titlist and was in over his head.

A champion who can punch like Lopez, particularly a southpaw, presents a very difficult entry test onto the world stage and Lontchi wisely chose to stick and move in the early rounds, catching the oncoming champion with jabs before escaping.

But Lopez began to close distance and force the bout to the inside and along the ropes, where his strength advantage was evident. More...

Last night at Plaza de Toros in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, Jorge Linares kept busy with a WBA super feather title defense against challenger Josafat Perez.

Southpaw Perez was coming down from lightweight, where he holds the Mexican title, but had never before traded in anything approaching world class.

That gulf in experience was evident as the 25 year old from Monclava was outboxed from the first bell.

Tokyo based Venezuelan Linares put on a clinical display of the skill that won him WBA crowns at feather and super feather, impressively airing out his arsenal against a clearly overmatched challenger. More...

In a hotly anticipated battle of light welterweights, Argentina's Marcos Rene Maidana upset top American prospect Victor Ortiz in a fiery explosion of power punches that exceeded expectations at Staples Center in Los Angeles for the Interim WBA title.

Both boxers were coming off high profile bouts with Ortiz seeming to have the momentum following his second round stoppage of highly touted Mike Arnaoutis for the NABO and USBA crowns while Maidana had narrowly missed knocking off WBA titlist Andriy Kotelnik.

The initial round was torrid as the big punchers left caution to the wind and let go with all they had. Southpaw Ortiz struck paydirt first, hammering his Argentine opponent to the floor with a perfect right hook, but Maidana beat the count and returned the favor, dropping Ortiz with a full blooded right hand.

Both men survived the first frame to go back to the tooth and nail exchanges in an equally furious second round. More...

Nathan Cleverly is confident that he can fill the void in Welsh boxing left by the retirement of Joe Calzaghe.

Cleverly, the reigning Commonwealth Light Heavyweight Champ, will look to add the British title to his resume when he clashes with Danny McIntosh in London next month. More...

World super flyweight champion Vic "Raging Bull" Darchinyan and his manager Elias Nassar

announced today, from Darchinyan's Las Vegas-based training camp,?that they will be extending their relationship with promoter Gary Shaw...for a lifetime! More...

Argentina's top boxer was in action last evening as Omar Andres Narvaez retained his WBO flyweight title for the 16th consecutive time by crushing opponent Omar Soto in the 11th round at Buenos Aires' famed Luna Park Stadium.

Mexico City man Soto had come into the bout riding a three fight win streak and the former Mexican minimumweight titlist was confident of his chances of ending the seven year reign of Narvaez but reality proved to be something much different.

It was the razor-sharp skills of "El Huracan" that separated the boxers from the first bell as the Cordoba southpaw worked like an effiecient machine behind a piston-like jab that tore big holes through the defense of Mexican visitor Soto. More...

Ex-IBF super bantam titlist Steve Molitor took one step closer to contending for his former belt by posting a split decision over seasoned Mexican campaigner Heriberto Ruiz last night at Casino Rama in Rama, Ontario.

Slick southpaw counter-puncher Molitor was spurred on by the 5,000 strong highly partisan audience but the experienced Los Mochis based visitor nearly pulled off the upset.

The early rounds were marked by a cautious approach by both fighters as each seemed to wait for the other man to take the lead. More...

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...

Prior to the boxing show tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA, the principal fighters all weighed in yesterday.

Interim Vacant WBA Super Lightweight Title, 12 rounds
Victor Ortiz: 139.75 lb
Marcos Maidana: 140 lb More...