Showtime really seems committed to propping up the worst of its upcoming main events with strong undercards. Mike Coppinger, Julius Julianis, and Espabox all report that unbeaten Dominican lightweight Michel Rivera will face Spanish finisher Jon Fernandez as part of the July 3rd Chris Colbert vs Yuriorkis Gamboa undercard. Both men saw marquee fights fall
Fighting
A prospect vs prospect matchup has been added to the undercard of Vasyl Lomachenko’s June 26 return against Masayoshi Nakatani. Once-beaten amateur standout Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (9-1, 5 KO) of Uzbekistan takes on undefeated Quinton Randall (8-0, 2 KO) in a welterweight showdown. The 29-year-old Gaibnazarov is coming off a stellar amateur career that included silver
During Brian Custer’s latest installment of the Last Stand Podcast, former junior middleweight titleholder Julian Williams talks about his split with longtime trainer Stephen ‘Breadman’ Edwards, looking towards a big fight against Jermell Charlo, and why he believes Jaron Ennis is good enough to take out some of the best welterweights out there. Check out
Looks like we’re already getting answers about Josh Taylor’s next steps. Bob Arum tells Lance Pugmire that Taylor intends to face WBO mandatory challenger Jack Catterall in July, then “pursue a big fight” with either Terence Crawford or Teofimo Lopez by the end of 2021. As Scott points out in that first link, Catterall (26-0,
Saturday’s DAZN card doesn’t just have the main event between Devin Haney and Jorge Linares, as there is also — among other fights — an IBF junior lightweight eliminator between Martin J. Ward and Azinga Fuzile scheduled for the show. Ward (24-1-2, 11 KO) and Fuzile (14-1, 8 KO) come into the bout with different
Josh Taylor joined a short list of four-belt undisputed world champions on Saturday, beating Jose Ramirez to become the fully unified man at 140 lbs. Taylor (18-0, 13 KO) spoke with media at the post-fight press conference about his performance and what could be next. On setting a precedent for other fighters “I don’t know.
Three-division boxing champion Claressa Shields is set to make her MMA debut on Thursday, June 10, when she faces Brittney Elkin in a PFL fight from Atlantic City, which will air on ESPN+ and ESPN2. Shields (11-0, 2 KO in boxing) should be the favorite here, at least on paper. While it’s Claressa’s MMA debut
Josh Taylor is now one of five or six men — depending on your interpretation of the Teofimo Lopez situation — to become undisputed champion of a division in the four-belt era, beating Jose Ramirez by decision on Saturday night to become the one true king at 140 lbs. Even with small sample size, undisputed
Tyson Fury has announced that he’s signed his contract to face Deontay Wilder for a third time, expected to go down on July 24, hitting the set during tonight’s Ramirez-Taylor show on ESPN. “I just signed the Deontay Wilder contract,” Fury announced as he basically stormed the broadcast desk between fights. “Bitch, you’re getting knocked
Devin Haney continues to express respect and even a level of admiration for upcoming opponent Jorge Linares. After having recently said that he believes Linares is “by far the biggest step up” he’s faced to date, Haney expanded on what he respects about the veteran ex-champ. “I am expecting a firefight and I can’t wait,”
Jose Ramirez and Josh Taylor weighed in Friday afternoon, both coming in under the weight limit at 139.6 pounds each. The fight is now officially set, with Jose Ramirez’ WBC and WBO and Josh Taylor’s IBF and WBA belts at stake (Saturday, May 22, 8 pm ET, ESPN and ESPN+). There were no major fireworks
Showtime will be bringing back a glimpse of boxing’s heyday with a four-part documentary series on the legendary rivalry between all-time welterweight greats, Roberto Duran, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas ‘The Hitman’ Hearns, and Sugar Ray Leonard. The series will be entitled ‘THE KINGS’ and will debut on Sunday, June 6 at 8 p.m. ET. You
The third fight between Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder looks just about official, though it’s not quite official. ESPN reports that the two sides have agreed to terms for a July 24 fight in Las Vegas, with a venue to be announced. We do know that Top Rank have reserved a date at Allegiant Stadium,
As WBA titleholder Mario Barrios gets prepared to take on Gervonta Davis next month in Atlanta in a Showtime PPV set for June 26, Barrios showed up to today’s press conference to tell the world that he’ll be well prepared for Davis and isn’t taking him lightly as Davis jumps two weight classes to meet
Former European super welterweight champion Sergio Garcia has officially vacated his title ahead of a planned summer clash with Sebastian Fundora, and as a result, the EBU has ordered fellow Spaniard Kerman Lejarraga to face unbeaten Frenchman Dylan Charrat for the belt. The pair have until June 9th to negotiate. Lejarraga (32-2, 25 KO) has
Boxing is known as the theater of the unexpected, yes, but I didn’t see this one coming. ESPN is reporting that Jake Paul is now set to sign a deal with Showtime, the premium cable platform which had been regarded as something of an old guard stalwart. It’s a rather surprising move away from younger,
After winning titles at super featherweight and lightweight, Gervonta Davis is officially set to challenge WBA “world” super lightweight champion Mario Barrios on June 26th in the main event of a four-fight Showtime pay-per-view. Davis (24-0, 23 KO) took the IBF super featherweight title from Jose Pedraza in 2017 and defended it with a three-round
During the latest installment of Brian Custer’s the Last Stand Podcast, former junior middleweight titleholder Jarrett Hurd talks about his upcoming bout against Luis Arias, losing his father to COVID, and still looking towards some big junior middleweight fights before making a permanent move to 160. Hurd on why he’s fighting at 160 on June