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

Let’s talk about IBF light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (pictured) and his most recent win, a technical knockout of Callum Johnson.  Congratulations-- I know you help train him-- what are your thoughts on Beterbiev’s performance? "It sure was a good fight!  Johnson sure came to fight! A lot of guys who fight Beterbiev, once they feel the power they ease off.  Johnson went down early yet this guy got back up and continued fighting.  As you saw, Johnson actually came back and dropped Beterbiev even though it looked like Artur was off balance.  At the end, though, Johnson didn’t complain about the knockdown and stoppage. He was definitely hurt against the ropes."

Eduardo Hernandez TKO2 Luis Díaz... In Mexico City, super featherweight Eduardo "Rocky" Hernandez (26-0) blasted out Colombia's Luis "Machete" Díaz (23-4-1) in two rounds at a packed Sala de Armas. In the first round, Hernandez landed thudding hooks and uppercuts with both hands, leaving Diaz badly hurt at the end of the round. In round two, Diaz was stung by a well-placed counter left hook before a left hook dropped him face forward. He beat the count but a hard right hook dropped him yet again, leading to a referee's stoppage. Hernandez is now seeking a fight with Francisco "Bandido" Vargas, likely a WBC eliminator.

Lourdes Juárez W8 Gabriela Sánchez ...In an entertaining female light flyweight contest, Lourdes Juárez (25-2) defeated Gabriela Sánchez (3-2) via unanimous decision. The younger sister of WBC champion Mariana Juarez dominated from start to finish with an accurate left jab and combinations. source for both results: wbc

11. Jeff Horn; 12. Lamont Peterson; 13. Kudratillo Abdukakhorov;

14. Egidijus Kavaliauskas; 15. Amir Khan; 16. Andre Berto; 17. Devon Alexander; 18. Jamal James; 19. Thulani Mbenge; 20. Kermin Lejarraga; 21. Luis Collazo; 22. Sergey Lipinets; 23. Jose Benavidez; 24. Joselito Lopez; 25. Chris Van Heerden.

Shakur Stevenson TKO1 Viorel Simion: Undefeated featherweight Shakur Stevenson made one helluva statement tonight by stopping Viorel Simion, 21-3 (9KO), by far his most accomplished opponent to date, in the opening round. The knockdowns began with a crushing left hand that had Simion on very shaky legs when action resumed. Stevenson, 9-0 (5KO), continued to press and scored a ho hum second knockdown when Simion's legs gave out after his gloves touched the canvas, but he closed the show in style when he landed a vicious right hook that crumpled Simion. He made it to his feet, but the referee stopped the fight as the bell rung. Stevenson got Simion in one, and former champion Scott Quigg and then-champion Lee Selby defeated Simion, but could not stop him over twelve rounds. Official time of stoppage was 3:00. Source: ESPN.

Zolani Tete W12 Mikhail Aloyan... In the World Boxing Super Series, South Africa's Zolani Tete defeated former Russian Olympian Mikhail Aloyan by unanimous decision.  Official scores were 114-111 (twice) and 114-110. Tete retains his WBO bantamweight championship and moves to the semi-finals of the eight-man tournament. The bout was held in Ekaterinberg, Russia. “It was a good fight,” said Tete. “My jab and footwork were decisive.” Tete will face the winner of Ryan Burnett vs Nonito Donaire which takes place on November 3rd in Glasgow.  source: wbss

Carlos Adames TKO2 Joshua Conley Junior middleweight Carlos Adames (15-0, 12 KOs) stopped Joshua Conley (14-3-1, 9 KOs) in two. Adames scored three knockdowns in the second round and said afterwards: “I feel very good in the 154-pound division. I trained hard for this fight, and I did what I had to do. I took out a good opponent in two rounds. I know I’m ready for bigger fights. I want to give a world title to my country. I want to face the best and represent the Dominican Republic with great pride.”

Andrew Tabiti W12 Ruslan Fayfer ... In the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament, also in Ekateriberg, Russia, Andrew Tabiti of the United States defeated Ruslan Fayfer (23-1, 16 KOs) of Russia.  The scores were 116-111, 115-112 and 114-113. After a cautious opening, Tabiti (17-0) was considerably better in middle rounds, and also in the last two rounds. Fayfer (23-1) did well in rounds eight to ten, when he bulldozed his way inside, but in the end, he did not have enough in the tank to switch the fight to his side. “The guy was really awkward, he wanted to make it dirty,” said Tabiti. “My game plan was to be relaxed at the beginning and then getting off towards the end of the fight.” Tabiti, who also holds a win over former champion Steve Cunningham, will face the winner of next Saturday’s quarter-final in Orlando between Poland’s Mateusz Masternak and Cuba’s Yunier Dorticos.  “I think Dorticos will win next week,” concluded Tabiti. source: wbss

Francesco Patera W12 Lewis Ritson...Belgium's Francesco Patera came into previously undefeated Lewis Ritson's hometown of Newcastle, England and left with the vacant European lightweight championship.  Patera achieved the road win via split decision, as the three neutral judges all scored it 116-112 , o nw voting for Ritson and two for Patera (20-3). Patera is now a two-time European champion, having split two title fights vs. Finland's Edis Tatli in 2017 before Tatli vacated the title. Ritson falls to 17-1. 

David Allen KO1 Samir Nebo... On the same card, immensely popular heavyweight David "the Doncaster De La Hoya" Allen stopped German-based Syrian Samir Nebo in the forst round with a body shot.  Nebo (10-3-1) took the ten count on one knee. Allen (15-4-1) is crude but powerful, and could be in line for the similarly-styled Lucas Browne. source for both results: dazn

Chris Eubank (who lost a split decision to Billy Joe Saunders in 2014) on Saunders vacating the WBO middleweight title due to a positive PED test: "So [Billy Joe Saunders] how long you been taking illegal substances for son? It’s funny how you were giving it to Canelo [Alvarez] while you were cheating with drugs yourself. Enjoy your time out & don’t worry the belt you’ve been stripped of will be in more deserving hands soon enough #Justice"

Saunders' classless response: "You will never win a world title belt your're British level tops-- steps up gets banged every time you Bum.  go play with your dads Knob"

Here are the boxers' weights from Omaha, Nebraska.  The two featured fights will air Saturday on ESPN and ESPN Deportes at 10:30 p.m. ET with undercards streaming live in the United States at 7 p.m. ET on the ESPN+ app:

Terence Crawford (pictured) 145.4 pounds vs. Jose Benavidez Jr. 145

Press Release: The World Bare Knuckle Fighting Federation (WBKFF) has announced its first event, a pay-per-view show to be headlined by a WBKFF middleweight title fight between former UFC champion Johny "Big Rigg" Hendricks and former Bellator champion "Irish" Brennan Ward. The co-feature will be Chris "The Crippler" Leben and Phil Baroni, with the show taking place Friday, November 9th at Casper Events Center in Casper, Wyoming. Newly adopted rules including holding and striking, spinning backfists and hammer fists will be used in all WBKFF fights, which will be contested in a traditional boxing ring for optimum viewing and safety. All men and women's matches will feature five (two-minute) rounds.

Press Release: Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KOs), the world middleweight champion, will make his New York City debut against the WBA's regular champion in the super middleweight division, Rocky Fielding (27-1, 15 KOs), on Dec. 15th at Madison Square Garden. Fielding is a 31-year-old native of Liverpool, England whose only loss came against Callum Smith in 2015 (Smith is now the WBA super champion). Since then, he has scored six victories in a row, including a career-best win against Tyron Zeuge to capture his WBA secondary title. Fielding will defend his title in what will be his United States debut.  “This is everything that I’ve ever dreamed of – fighting a pound-for-pound star at Madison Square Garden for my world title,” said Fielding. “I can really punch. Everyone knows that. Let’s see what happens on the night when I catch him clean. He’s [Canelo] stepping up in weight, and he’s not going to be a big super middleweight. I know how good he is, but we will come up with a plan to beat him. I know I can catch him and put him to sleep.”

The WBC will sanction a 122-pound bout between Japan's Tomoki Kameda (35-2, 20 KOs) and Abigail Medina (19-3-2, 10 KOs) a Dominican who now fights out of Spain, for the WBC interim title.  The WBC title is held by the injured Rey Vargas. It appears that Tomoki and Medina have reached a deal to fight each other in Tokyo, on November 12th. Kameda is a former WBO bantamweight champion and suffered his two defeats against Jamie McDonnell in 2015 before climbing up a division. As a super bantamweight. Medina is the European champion and has won his last ten bouts, including a big road win over England's  Martin Ward about a year ago.

Press Release: South Africa-based Ukrainian Vladyslav Sirenko (9-0) will headline in  Pretoria, South Africa on October 21st against Argentina's Rogelio Omar Rossi (20-6-1). The 23-year-old Sirenko won his last two bouts in the first round, stopping Knife Didier (6-3) and Rocky Kaleng (10-2). Rossi is best known for challenging Marco Huck for the WBO cruiserweight title in 2011.

Press Release: Mark Heffron (21-0) will challenge Jason Welborn (24-6) for the British middleweight title in Manchester, UK on December 22nd. The fight will feature on the undercard of the world title scrap between IBF featherweight champion Josh Warrington and former two-weight champion Carl Frampton, live on BT Sport Box Office.  The twenty-six-year-old Heffron will have the opportunity to win the famous Lonsdale strap, a feat he believes he has always been destined to achieve.

Press Release: The October 18th edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN will take place at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, Calif. and will be headlined by a ten-round middleweight bout between Ireland's Jason Quigley (14-0, 11 KOs) and Freddy "El Riel" Hernandez (34-9, 22 KOs) of Mexico City. In the co-feature, Eddie "E-Boy" Gomez (21-3, 12 KOs) of the Bronx, NY will face Japan's Shoki Sakai (23-8-2, 13 KOs) in an eight-round welterweight bout. 

Press Release: Following Wednesday's media day tensions, Terence "Bud" Crawford and Jose Benavidez Jr. were a bit more civil at Thursday's press conference. The trash talk led to an extended face-off, as Crawford (33-0, 24 KOs) readies to defend his WBO welterweight  title against Benavidez (27-0, 18 KOs) Saturday at the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska (ESPN and ESPN Deportes, 10:30 p.m. ET).

1.  Adonis Stevenson (World / WBC)

2.  Eleider Alvarez (WBO)

3.  Badou Jack

4.  Dmitriy Bivol (WBA)

5.  Artur Beterbiev (IBF)

6.  Oleksandr Gvodzyk

7.  Sergey Kovalev

8.  Sullivan Barrera

9.  Jean Pascal

10. Joe Smith

11.  Karo Murat; 12. Anthony Yarde; 13. Marcus Browne; 14. Isaac Chilemba; 15. Damien Hooper; 16. Umar Salamov; 17. Edwin Rodriguez; 18. Igor Mikhalkin; 19. Callum Johnson; 20. Radivoje Kaldajdzic; Others: Dominic Boesel; Mike Lee; Felix Valera; Adam Deines; Doudou Ngumbu

Press Release: Junior welterweight Regis Prograis (22-0, 19 KOs), along with his trainer Bobby Benton, took a break from training camp in Houston to meet with the media in New Orleans. In addition to hosting a media roundtable, Prograis went through a full workout at the New Orleans Boxing Club. He will return to the UNO Lakefront Arena on Saturday, October 27th in a twelve-round showdown against former lightweight title holder Terry Flanagan (33-1, 13 KOs) of the United Kingdom, in the first round of the World Boxing Super Series Tournament, which will be broadcast by DAZN in the United States. Here is what he had to say:  

Press Release: On Saturday, Russian heavyweight Andrey Fedosov (30-3, 25 KOs) will take on Philadelphia's Joey Dawejko in a ten-round bout in Ekaterinburg, Russia. This will be Fedosov's second bout in the past four months, as he defeated Francisco Mireles in the first round on June 30th. "I have been hearing that Joey has been talking a lot on social media that he was going to knock me out, but on Saturday, he will find out that he is barking up the wrong tree," said Fedosov.

Press Release: As part of the Wolrd Boxing Super Series, the WBO bantamweight championship will be on the line when Zolani Tete defends vs. [past PED user] Mikhail Aloyan this Saturday in Ekaterinburg, Russia. The WBSS co-feature matches Ruslan Fayfer and Andrew Tabiti at cruiserweight. All four fighters were in confident moods at Thursday’s final press conference in Russia’s fourth-largest city. 

Press Release: WBO president Francisco Valcárcel commented today on Billy Joe Saunders' inability to defend his WBO middleweight title, as per contractually agreed, against Demetrius Andrade on October 20th. Saunders is unable to do so because the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission voted against granting him a boxing license following a failed doping test on August 30th. "It is unfortunate that a boxer as talented as Saunders is facing this controversy and will not be able to defend the title," said Valcarcel today. "The WBO will examine the situation with due diligence and proceed according to its 'Rules & Regulations’ decide which is the proper course of action". 

Press Release: Namibia's Walter Kautondokwa says he will shock the world and KO Demetrius Andrade (pictured)when they clash at the TD Garden in Boston on October 20th, live on DAZN. Kautondokwa (17-0 with 16 KOs) has replaced Billy Joe Saunders in the bout with the unbeaten Andrade, and "The Executioner" is full of belief that he can add to his formidable knockout record in Massachusetts having already been in camp. [Editor's Note: The WBO subsequently announced that Saunders agreed to vacate his middleweight title due to a positive PED test and that Andrade vs. Kautondokwa will be for the vacant title.]

Press Release: Tijuana, Mexico's Irais Hernandez will get an unusually quick rematch against Slovenia's Ema Kozin, a super middleweight.  The rematch comes just five weeks after they fought to a draw on September 8th in Croatia. On Sunday October 14th at the Technikum in Munich, Germany they will try to settle the score. Despite a meager record of 2-1-2, Hernandez must be considered an international level women's boxer, as she has a draw vs. Kozin (14-0-1) and another draw vs. WBC heavyweight champion Alejandra Jimenez (10-0-1). Hernandez gave the southpaw Kozin more problems than anyone else she has faced in her pro career, so it is very much to Kozin's credit that she agreed to face Hernandez again. Kozin is still only 19 years of age.