G. Leon Scott Shaffer Stephen Edwards Benny Henderson jr. Bert Sugar Ray Campbell Darren Nichols Christian Schmidt Socrates Palmer Doveed Linder Matthew Goldstein Rob Soucy Tommy Canez Mike Walters The Nonpareli Hilario Michael Herron Cara Castronuova Alonzo Benezra Michael Gonzalez Cory Rapacz Wyatt Johnston Ramon Rodriguez Hector Linares Dontae Williams Alex Stone Tim Schluter Dan Rodkewich Tiffany Leon Jenny Nichols Rick Pineda

Press Release: The World Boxing Organization (WBO) announced the officials assigned for this Saturday, July 28th Jr. Lightweight world title clash between WBO ranked number one Christopher ‘Pitufo’ Díaz (23-0, 15 KOs), from Puerto Rico, and WBO ranked number two Masayuki Ito (23-1-1, 12 KOs), from Japan, in a scheduled 12-round match. The duel will be held at the Kissimmee Civic Center in Kissimmee, Florida, as the main event of a fight card presented by Top Rank Promotions, and All Star Boxing. Frank Gentile, from Palm Bay, Florida will be the third man in the ring. Roark Young, from Florida, Robin Taylor, from New York and Paul Wallace, from Maryland, were appointed judges of the fight. The supervisor of the fight will be Erno Labega, WBO Second Vice President.

 

Press Release: British heavyweights Nick Webb and Dave Allen will clash in a domestic title eliminator at The O2 in London this Saturday (July 28th), live on Sky Sports Box Office. [The untested] Webb (12-0) was last in action in February, defeating Ante Verunica (3-5-1). Allen (13-4-2) was stopped just a month ago by former Olympic medalist Tony Yoka of France. [The current British champ is Hughie Fury].  Webb vs. Allen replaces Eggington vs. Cook after the Englishman (Eggington, himself a late replacement for Kell Brook) suffered an injury in sparring.

UPDATE: Former WBC cruiserweight titleholder Tony Bellew wasted no time in calling out the new undisputed world 200-pound champion Oleskander Usyk. Bellew tweeted: "Usyk I was born ready!!! Let’s get this done!!" Usyk tweeted back: "I'm also ready!"... Ex-four division champ Nonito Donaire tweeted a picture of himself and his next opponent sitting down in a restaurant after learning they would be fighting each other next. Donaire tweeted about the WBA bantamweight super champion, "Ryan Burnett selected me as his pick [in the World Boxing Super Series tournament].  Its refreshing that we both agree this is a sport.  This isn't street fighting.  There's no need to trash talk and be a way that doesn't align to us.  Make no mistake inside the ropes we will both try to take each others head off." --Scott Shaffer

Marcos Villasana Jr. W12 Pablo Vicente... On his home turf at Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, Mexico, Marcos Villasana Jr.  edged previously undefeated Pablo Vicente of Cuba in a very close lightweight fight. Villasana (23-6) landed the harder of the punches and was able to use his long left jab to good effect, but he had trouble with the speed and growing confidence of Vicente (12-1) as the fight wore on. It was a split decision as two judges scored it for the Mexican, 115-112 and 114-112 with the third judge tallying 114-113 in favor of the Cuban. source: wbc

Press Release: Uprising Promotions announced it has signed junior welterweight Jamshidbek Najmiddinov (18-1, 12 KOs). The fan-friendly Najmiddinov rattled off 14 consecutive wins to start his pro career, which earned him a match-up with former WBC title holder Viktor Postol last September. The Uzbekistan native dropped Postol with a left, but Postol survived and eventually edged out a decision victory. Since then, Najmiddinov has won four consecutive bouts, including three KOs. Highly popular in his home of Uzbekistan, Najmiddinov is moving to New York and will soon fight under the Uprising Promotions banner for the first time. “We are excited to add Jamshidbek to the Uprising Promotions family,” said Ronson Frank, president of Uprising Promotions. “He is an action fighter, and he is someone who is definitely not afraid to take risks. We feel he has the ability to become a champion, and we are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with him and help guide him towards that mission.”

Jaime Munguia W12 Liam Smith... In an exciting Las Vegas fight that recalled the glory days of HBO Boxing After Dark, Mexico's Jamie Munguia showed championship offense and mediocre defense, but still retained the WBO 154-pound title with a unanimous decision over Britain's Liam Smith.  Official scores were 119-108, 119-110 and 116-111 for Munguia (30-0).  Munguia threw wild punches but was credited with a 277-198 edge in punches landed by Compubox. Smith, who seemed to be bothered by an ankle injury, drops to 26-2-1 but certainly did enough to remain a world-class fighter. 

Smith, a former WBO 154-pound titlist who was dethroned by Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in 2016, showed early he was not intimidated by Munguia's size and reach advantage. He fared well in the first three rounds, but Munguia started to figure him out in round four. Round five was all action, with Munguia landing big punches and a smiling Smith returning fire at only a slightly less successful rate. Towards the end of round six, Munguia knocked Smith to the canvas with a left hook that landed above Smith's ear. The seventh was another good round for Munguia but Smith made a bit of a comeback in the eighth. Round nine was a thriller, but as with most rounds, Munguia's superior power generally carried the round. Munguia claimed his title just two months ago, taking the belt from Sadam Ali, a welterweight who was fortunate to gain a 154-pound title from an injured and retiring Miguel Cotto. This time, Munguia was in with a legitimate junior middleweight, but the 21 year-old still had enough power to carry the day. source: hbo

Shelly Vincent W8 Calista Silgado...Making her tenth appearance at Foxwoods, Shelly "Shelito's Way" Vincent, 126, of Providence, RI, defeated Colombia's Calista Silgado, 124, by majority decision in a rematch of their encounter from last October. source for all results: dibella entertainment

Alberto Machado W12 Rafael Mensah... Puerto Rico's Alberto Machado (20-0) retained the WBA 130-pound championship by punishing Ghana's Rafael Mensah over twelve painful rounds in Las Vegas.  Mensah (31-1) had never fought outside Ghana or beaten a legitimate contender, but his personal story made him easy to root for.  Mensah's daughter passed away from malaria last month, and he claims he never got paid for any of his prior 30 pro fights.  But it would not be his night, as Machado punished him for twelve rounds en route to a wide unanimous decision.  Machado won by three scores of 120-107 and Compubox's Punchstats favored him in punches landed by 234-90.  The smaller Mensah just could not get close enough to the longer-limbed Machado to do any real damage. Machado knocked Mensah down in the first round and hurt him badly right at the end of the fourth round. By round five, the right side of Mensah's face began to swell, indicating a possible broken jaw or cheekbone. He took a lot pf punishment to reach the final bell.  Although Machado did not press for the knockdown, Mensah deserves a lot of credit for going the distance. source: hbo

Cecilia Braekhus W10 Inna Sagaydakovskaya... Undefeated welterweight Cecilia Braekhus scored her 34th victory by defeating Inna Sagaydakovskaya via unanimous decision to retain her undisputed world championship. The bout took place at the Olympic Stadium prior to the World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) final. Braekhus appeared to have very few issues with the Russian challenger in the bout, as she gracefully boxed her way to the unanimous decision while perhaps letting up on Sagaydakovskaya (7-1) in the late rounds, where Braekhus had her hurt and reeling. source: wba

Round 1: Usyk comes out looking to establish his jab, showing good movement. Gassiev has yet to really throw a punch. Gassiev lands a nice left to the body, Usyk continues to control the center of the ring with his jab and footwork. Not a difficult round to score. Usyk 10-9 

Round 2: Gassiev getting closer, but not throwing any punches. Usyk keeps pumping the jab, Gassiev lands back to back left hooks to the body and a nice combination. Usyk not rattled goes back to his jab and superior footwork to control the action. Usyk lands nice right hook off the jab, which is working upstairs and to the body. Gassiev lands heavy left look on Usyk's glove. Usyk 10-9 (20-18)

Round 3: Gassiev closing the distance and stepping to Usky, who stays disciplined behind the jab. Usyk is landing two or three punches to Gassiev's one, but it's clear Gassiev's punches are heavier. Nice right hand to the body for Gassiev. This was Gassiev's best round of the fight, but Usyk's workrate still the difference. Usyk 10-9 (30-27)

Lamont Roach TKO7 Deivi Julio Bassa... Maryland super featherweight Lamont Roach improved to 17-0-1 by defeating Deivi Julio Bassa of Colombia via sixth-round technical knockout in Cancun last night. The 37 year-old Bassa didn’t come out for round seven, dropping his record to 20-5. source: golden boy twitter 

 

Jaron Ennis TKO3 Armando Alvarez: In a battle of undefeated welterweights in Iowa, Jaron Ennis left no doubt of his superiority, absolutely destroying Armando Alvarez in three rounds. Ennis was the sharper, faster and quicker boxer from the opening bell and his hand speed made all of the difference tonight as he was able to beat Alvarez to the punch seemingly at will. Source: Shobox

Thomas Mattice SD 8 Zhora Hamazaryan: Lightweight Thomas Mattice, 13-0 (10KO) was the benefactor of one of the worst decisons you'll ever see against previously unbeaten Zhora Hamazaryan, 9-1 (6KO), in tonight's Shobox main event from Iowa. Despite being decked in the second round and clearly outworked in the final three frames, the judges gifted Mattice an eight-round split decision win via scores of 76-75 (twice), overruling a 77-74 card for Hamazaryn. Boxingtalk scored it 78-73 for Hamazaryan, as did Showtime commentator Steve Farhood. Source: Shobox

Jean Pascal TKO8 Steve Bosse: Former world light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal, 33-5-1 (20),  took care of business against former hockey enforcer and MMA fighter Steve Bosse as expected. Bosse barely landed a punch in the first two rounds, as evidenced by Pascal's homage to his boxing idol Roy Jones Jr, when he looked away into the crowd while punching Bosse in the mouth. Pascal dropped Bosse with a three-punch combination in round three. Bosse, 1-1 (1KO),  made it to his feet and survived the final minute of the frame. Although it was clear he was overmatched, Bosse took a lot of heavy blows and did his best to compete, and probably did enough to win the sixth round. In round eight, Pascal backed Bosse into the ropes with a right hand, left hook combination and ended the night with a left hook that had Bosse on very shaky legs by the time he beat the count. Veteran ref Michael Griffin appropriately called the fight. This is the first time Pascal has ever scored back to back stoppages against two undefeated foes, and the first time he's posted back-to-back stoppage victories since 2006. Source: GYM Stream

Montana Love D8 Kenneth Sims Jr: Junior welterweights Montana Love (11-0-1 with 5 KOs) and Kenneth Sims (12-1-1 with 4 KOs)  started off tonight's Shobox telecast from Iowa with some hellacious opening-round action before settling in to a highly competitive boxing match. Sims appeared to outwork Love in the first few rounds, but Love responded extremely well in the fourth and fifth. Sims  appeared to finish the bout stronger as he unloaded combinations on Love as the final bell sounded, but there were several difficult rounds to score and fight could have gone either way. Boxingtalk scored it 77-75 for Sims. Official scores were 77-75 Sims, 77-75 Love and 76-76. Source: Shobox. 

Jordan Balmir TKO2 Vito Vendetta: Undefeated middleweight Jordan Balmir imrproved to 10-0 (6KO), crushing Vito Vendetta in two rounds. In the second frame Balmir landed two body shots followed by a left hook that sent Vendetta, 12-5-1 (7KO), to the canvas. He was able to beat the count, but was on shaky legs and the referee waved off the bout. Source For All Results: GYM Live Stream

Mykquan Williams 140 lbs

Matt Doherty 138 lbs

Shelly Vincent 126 lbs

Calista Silgado 124 lbs

Adrian Sosa 141 lbs

Darnell Pettis 137 lbs

Oscar Bonilla 138 lbs

Seuifullah Jihad Wise 140 lbs

Lennox Allen 171 lbs

Willis Lockett 173 lbs

Press Release: Lonnie Ali, the wife of the late heavyweight icon Muhammad Ali, will present the winner of the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight final with the Muhammad Ali Trophy, The Greatest Prize in Boxing.  Lonnie Ali will be guest of honor while watching the historic Olesandr Usyk vs. Murat Gassiev final live at the Olimpiyskiy Sports Complex and after the fight reveal and award the winner with the trophy. 20,000 spectators are expected for the final and over 250 journalists from all over the world will cover the event.

Press Release: On Saturday afternoon, July 21st, undefeated cruiserweights Oleksandr Usyk and Murat Gassiev. will battle for the four major world titles and the Muhammad Ali Trophy. Both men weighed in at 198.2 pounds. KlowdTV will air the exclusive live United States stream of the finals of The World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight championship.  The fight will be free to anyone who is already a KlowdTV subscriber. For any non-subscribers, the cost will be $9.99 and that will not only guarantee Saturday's "can't-miss" fight, but 30 days of KlowdTV.  The bout will take place in Moscow, Russia beginning at 3 PM ET. 

Undefeated heavyweight contender Jarrell 'Big Baby' Miller will be part of the Sky Sports Box Office team for the heavyweight showdown between Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker. Miller engaged in a heated confrontation with undefeated WBO/IBF/WBA/IBO champion Anthony Joshua at a press conference in New York earlier this week to formally announce Matchroom Boxing's first set of bouts with DAZN. 

Press Release: Among all the fighters that will be on the show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City on August 4th, none of them are as anxious to get into the ring more than welterweight Enriko "Gogo" Gogokhia of Georgia (7-0. 3 KOs). Gogokhia looks to get back in the groove against Ronald Montes of Colombia (18-9. 16 KOs) after nine months out of the ring due to injury. 

Press Release: Former welterweight title holder Kell Brook is reportedly injured, so England's Sam Eggington (23-4) will step in to face Canada's Brandon Cook (20-1) on the undercard of Dillian Whyte’s heavyweight clash with Joseph Parker at The O2 in London on July 28th, live on Sky Sports Box Office. A revived Eggington has made short work of his opponents since moving up to 154 pounds. He knows that a win against Canada’s Cook will rocket him into title contention at his new weight. “I’m buzzing to get back to the O2 on a massive PPV show,” said Eggington.

Press Release: Former WBA 154-pound champion Jose Antonio Rivera (41-6-1, 24 KOs) is making his returnon the August 17th pro boxing card at The Palladium in Worcester, MA. He wanted to fight on the same card as his son, A.J. Rivera, who was to become the first pro boxer who was born with Spina Bifida. A.J., who is a rising matchmaker in New England, was unable to get medically cleared and he will not be fighting Aug. 17th.

Press Release: Jaron Ennis and fellow unbeaten welterweight  Armando Alvarez both made weight on Thursday for their match-up Friday on ShoBox: The New Generation from WinnaVegas Casino in Sloan, Iowa. Here are the weights and officials for the three televised bouts:

Press Release: Michael Dutchover (9-0, 6 KOs) battles Sergio Ramirez (4-2, 4 KOs) in the lightweight main event tonight (Friday) at the Doubletree in Ontario, California The pair weighed in at Thursday's weigh in, with Dutchover reaching the contract weight limit of 133 pounds, while the challenging Ramirez was slightly under at 132.5. All fights will be live streamed on TB Presents: Path to Glory via Thompson Boxing Facebook page and ThompsonBoxing.com. 

Press Release: Former world title holders Peter Quillin and Luis Collazo were joined by WBA women's super middleweight champion Alicia Napoleon at a media luncheon in Manhattan Thursday to discuss their respective showdowns taking place Saturday, August 4th at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island, New York in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions. Note: the show will be split up among two networks, Fox and FS2. 

Real Deal Boxing announced on Twitter that featherweight Toka Kahn Clary (25-1, 17 KOs) has been offered the chance to face Kid Galahad (24-0, 15 KO) in an IBF featherweight title eliminator to determine the next mandatory challenger for the current champ, England's Josh Warrington (27-0, 6 KO). Kahn Clary is a Liberian who moved to Rhode Island. Galahad served a lengthy suspension after a positive doping test in 2015. --Scott Shaffer

Press Release: Murat Gassiev’s trainer, Abel Sanchez, has studied Oleksandr Usyk ahead of Saturday’s Ali Trophy Final in Moscow and predicts problems for the Ukrainian if he doesn’t improve from his performance in the semi-final against Mairis Briedis. “Usyk got skills, he is a very good fighter,” said Sanchez, known for creating and training world class fighters in Big Bear, California. The Russian Gassiev (pictured) is one out several champions who have been under the wings of the Mexican-American and his training methods.

Press Release: IBO cruiserweight champion Kevin Lerena (21-1) is expected to be out of the ring until February after major injury on his right shoulder last week. What was expected to be a routine operation following an arthroscopy worsened when a body camera revealed tears in Lerena’s labrum and rotator cuff, requiring major surgery. “I was fighting pain for a long time,” said Lerena on Friday.

Press Release: "Someon is going to get knocked out said Australian heavyweight Alex Leapai (31-7-4) in regards to his August 4th showdown with Roger Izonritei (12-6-1). Set for Toowoomba, Australia, it's a rematch of a 2017 technical draw and opportunity to right the wrongs. Both believe the first fight was an injustice. It all stems from their showdown on December 13th of last year. The doctor ruled Izonritei was unable to continue due to a gaping wound over his eye which was ruled to be caused by an accidental elbow.

Press Release: Tom Loeffler’s 360 Promotions has announced a night of professional boxing on Wednesday, August 8, 2018 at the Avalon in Hollywood, CA. The seven-bout event will be headlined by a six-round light heavyweight clash between Ali Akhmedov, (11-0, 8 KOs) of Kazakhstan and San Diego’s Jorge ‘El Bandido’ Escalante (9-1-1, 6 KOs) of San Diego, CA. A six-round welterweight clash matches Abraham Lopez, (9-1-1, 3 KOs) and  Gloferson Ortizo, (12-0-1, 6 KOs) in an all-Calironia battle.

Press Release: Texas junior welterweight Mario Barrios will look for his sixth consecutive knockout when he faces Jose Roman on Saturday, July 28th live on Showtime from Staples Center in Los Angeles.  Barrios (21-0, 13 KOs) made the leap from 130 pounds to 140 in December 2016 and has stayed busy with his KO streak. Here is what the 23-year-old Barrios had to say from training camp in Northern California with Virgil Hunter: