Boxing

2:57 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The junior welterweight bout between Jose Ramirez and Jose Pedraza won’t take place on Feb. 5 as planned because Pedraza is ill with flu-like symptoms, multiple sources told ESPN. The bout, which was set to headline on ESPN+, will be rescheduled to Friday, March 4, at the Save Mart Center

9:51 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show Boxing’s welterweight division has arguably become the most competitive weight class, and Conor Benn, another exciting contender, wants to take on the world’s best

2:24 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez are set to battle one more time. The future Hall of Famers have signed contracts for a unified 115-pound championship fight on March 5 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, multiple sources told ESPN. Estrada-Gonzalez 3 will headline a Matchroom Boxing on DAZN

4:52 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Joe Smith Jr. will defend his light heavyweight title on Jan. 15 after all as unheralded fighter Steven Geffrard signed Friday to replace Callum Johnson on eight days’ notice. Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and was forced to withdraw from the ESPN main event in Verona, New York.

1:00 PM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show WBA-IBF-WBO world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Anthony Joshua is likely to take place in the United Kingdom in April, according to Matchroom

7:46 AM ET Michael Rothstein Close ESPN Staff Writer Previously covered University of Michigan for ESPN.com and AnnArbor.com Also covered Notre Dame for Fort Wayne Journal Gazette Ben Baby Close ESPN Staff Writer ESPN Staff Writer Previously a college football writer for The Dallas Morning News University of North Texas graduate Predicting what could happen

4:36 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN For the third time in the last year, Joe Smith Jr., has had a fight impacted by COVID. Smith was set to defend his light heavyweight title against Callum Johnson on Jan. 15 in Verona, New York, but that fight won’t proceed after Johnson tested positive for COVID, multiple sources

7:00 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Kiko Martinez and Josh Warrington have struck a deal for a featherweight title fight on March 26 in England, multiple sources tell ESPN. The rematch is one of two 126-pound title bouts Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn will promote on DAZN in the U.K. that month. On March 12, Leigh Wood

12:31 PM ET Tyson Fury and Francis Ngannou, the two baddest men in combat sports, have plenty of options for big fights in 2022 — but that’s not stopping them from eyeing each other. In a social media post on Thursday, Fury, the WBC’s heavyweight champion in boxing, expressed interest in fighting Ngannou, the UFC’s

6:34 PM ET Another undisputed title fight is coming to women’s boxing. Matchroom Boxing announced on Wednesday it has signed both WBC and WBO super middleweight champion Franchòn Crews-Dezurn and IBF and WBA champion Elin Cederroos to contracts and will have them fight for the undisputed title this spring. “I’ve been ready for this fight

7:53 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN We kick off 2022 waiting and wishing for the marquee fights — the ones that can make boxing the focal point of the sports world, if only for a day, and the kind of fights that were in short supply in 2021. The anticipated undisputed heavyweight championship bout between Tyson

10:26 PM ET The middleweight fight between Chris Eubank Jr. and Liam Williams as well as the latest middleweight title defense for Claressa Shields are on the move again. Shields tweeted Monday her fight against Ema Kozin will now take place on Feb. 5, a week after when it was supposed to occur on Jan.

6:40 PM ET Associated Press RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — Bob Halloran, a former sportscaster for CBS Sports who later organized major boxing events as an executive in Las Vegas, has died. He was 87. Halloran died of natural causes Sunday at his home in the desert city of Rancho Mirage located 120 miles east of

9:00 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show 2021 was another momentous year for British boxing — but what does 2022 hold? After Tyson Fury defended his WBC heavyweight title against Deontay

12:32 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Luis Ortiz survived two knockdowns to score a sixth-round stoppage of Charles Martin in a heavyweight fight Saturday night at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida. Ortiz (33-2, 28 KOs) badly buckled Martin with an overhand left that left him dazed in the corner, and then Ortiz unloaded with a

8:30 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN After 2020 significantly cut down the volume of fights and memorable moments fans are accustomed to in boxing, 2021 delivered in a major way. Looking back at the last 12 months, the year could best be described as “the year of the upset,” with several key title fights that going

7:14 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Amanda Serrano steps off the elevator at the JW Marriott hotel in Tampa. In five hours, she’ll be next door in Amalie Arena riding another elevator up to a platform, and then she’ll begin her ring walk in front of a sold-out crowd for her 44th professional fight. But

2:30 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN In boxing, 2021 was a year that produced unexpected breakthrough performances from fighters such as Oleksandr Usyk and George Kambosos Jr. But those victories came at the cost of established stars who were seemingly poised to lock down perennial spots among boxing’s pound-for-pound best. Usyk’s upset victory to capture the