Boxing

1:02 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN A weigh-in fracas on Friday led to the New York State Athletic Commission barring Jose Zepeda’s brother Rene from his corner. As it turns out, Zepeda never had the opportunity to go back to his corner anyway. Zepeda eviscerated Josue Vargas, a 23-year-old prospect, with a first-round TKO on Saturday

Find out why professionals are using BoxBandz 2:15 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Jaron “Boots” Ennis is a can’t-miss fighter, and Saturday’s performance was the best proof yet. The Philly welterweight needed less than two minutes to dispatch veteran gatekeeper Thomas Dulorme by knockout in the first round Saturday in Las Vegas, a PBC on Showtime co-feature.

10:58 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Rolando Romero is on the verge of being pulled from his Dec. 5 fight with Gervonta Davis, multiple sources told ESPN on Saturday. On Thursday, a woman posted on Twitter accusing Romero, 26, of sexual assault. She did not say when the alleged incident occurred, but tweeted Friday that she

11:39 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Jose Ramirez and Jose Pedraza have agreed to terms for a 140-pound bout on Feb. 5 that will headline Top Rank Boxing on an ESPN platform, multiple sources have told ESPN. The fight pitting top-10 junior welterweights will be held at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, California, Ramirez’s hometown.

1:01 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The IBF middleweight title eliminator between Esquiva Falcao and Patrice Volny will serve as chief support for the Terence Crawford-Shawn Porter welterweight title bout Nov. 20 on ESPN+ pay-per-view, sources tell ESPN. Janibek Alimkhanuly, ESPN’s No. 8 middleweight, will fight former titleholder Hassan N’Dam in another undercard bout in Las

3:16 PM ET One of the knocks on Jake Paul has been that he has not fought a “real boxer.” That criticism will be mostly addressed at the end of this year. Paul, the YouTube-star-turned-prizefighter, will fight fellow undefeated boxer Tommy Fury on Dec. 18 in Tampa, Florida, it was officially announced Friday. The bout

11:21 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Claressa Shields has suffered the first defeat of her professional fighting career. In her second MMA bout, Shields was outpointed by Abigail Montes via split decision on Wednesday at Hard Rock Live. One judge scored the bout for Shields, 29-28, overruled by two 29-28 tallies for Montes.

2:27 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Jose Uzcategui tested positive for the banned substance rEPO, multiple sources told ESPN, and he’s been pulled from his Nov. 13 fight with David Benavidez. Benavidez, ESPN’s No. 2 super middleweight, will face a new opponent in the Showtime main event on Nov. 13 in Phoenix, Arizona, sources said. Recombinant

7:49 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN When COVID took hold of the world in March 2020, it also greatly hampered sports, but perhaps none more so than boxing. After all, the fight game hinges on major live gates to deliver its truly marquee events. While the other major sports leagues experienced plenty of pauses and cancellations,

3:04 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Gennadiy Golovkin and Ryota Murata have agreed to a deal for a Dec. 29 middleweight title unification bout at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, multiple sources told ESPN. A formal announcement is expected next week. The fight will take place just outside Murata’s hometown, Tokyo. The Olympic gold medalist

7:18 AM ET Associated Press LONDON — British heavyweight Dillian Whyte wants his next fight to be against Tyson Fury for the world title instead of rescheduling his canceled bout with Otto Wallin. Whyte last week pulled out of his scheduled fight with Wallin for this Saturday, citing a shoulder injury. Whyte holds the WBC

3:19 PM ET ESPN’s divisional boxing rankings highlight the best in the sport at every weight class. They will change often based on recent results and performances. Rankings are based on what a fighter has accomplished in the weight division in which he is ranked. A fighter who has announced he is moving up or

8:35 PM ET Associated Press PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo’s boxing federation on Sunday said Serbia had stopped its team entering the country to take part in the amateur world championships. Kosovo had planned to send three competitors to the Oct. 24-Nov. 6 AIBA championships. The boxers tried to cross the border with Serbia on Saturday

1:02 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN ATLANTA — Shakur Stevenson has heard the criticism loud and clear: not entertaining enough, not aggressive enough, not mean enough. So Stevenson peeked his head through the ropes at perhaps his loudest skeptic, former champion Timothy Bradley, with the knowledge the narrative can now be laid to rest for good.

Find out why professionals are using BoxBandz 1:41 AM ET Shakur Stevenson talked up his intentions for weeks ahead of his title opportunity against Jamel Herring. He spoke about his goals to showcase his ability to be aggressive and do more than offer a second consecutive lackluster performance. On Saturday night, Stevenson backed up all of

7:00 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Jamel Herring and Shakur Stevenson will meet in the main event of a Top Rank card on Saturday at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta (ESPN, ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET, with undercard fights at 7:25 p.m. ET on ESPN+). Herring (23-2, 11 KOs), 35, will defend his WBO junior lightweight

11:31 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Oscar Rivas defeated Ryan Rozicki on Friday in Montreal to become the inaugural WBC bridgerweight champion. Rivas, 222 1/4 pounds, dished out punishment on the undersized Rozicki over 12 rounds en route to the unanimous decision victory via scores of 116-111, 115-112 and 115-112. Rozicki, 203 pounds, applied pressure and

2:58 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Dillian Whyte, ESPN’s No. 6 heavyweight, has withdrawn from an Oct. 30 fight with Otto Wallin in London after suffering a shoulder injury, multiple sources told ESPN on Wednesday. Whyte, the WBC’s interim champion and longtime No. 1 contender, is expected to push for an immediate title shot against Tyson