Andre Ward (31-0, 15 KOs) dethroned previously undefeated Sergey Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the IBF, WBA and WBO light heavyweight titles on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Ward battled back from a second round knockdown to edge Kovalev by scores of 114-113 on all three scorecards and become a two-weight world champion.
Kovalev got the better of the early action, as he rocked Ward with a stiff left jab in the first round. The Russian found the…
George Groves wins one-sided decision over Eduard Gutknecht
British super middleweight contender George Groves (25-3, 18 KOs) scored a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision over former world title challenger Eduard Gutknecht (30-5-1, 13 KOs) on Friday night at Wembley Arena in London.
Groves dominated the action throughout and won by scores of 119-110, 119-109 and 119-109.
The Londoner busted up Gutknecht with hard blows from the early rounds.
Groves continued to land numerous big rights as the fight progressed, and by the 10th, the German fighter was…
Lee Haskins to defend IBF bantamweight belt against Shohei Omori in Japan
IBF bantamweight champion Lee Haskins (34-3,14 KOs) will defend his title against Shohei Omori (17-1, 12 KOs) on December 31 at the Shimazu Arena, Kyoto, Japan.
Haskins is coming off a couple of points wins in his previous world title defences against Mexican Ivan Morales in May and fellow Briton Stuart Hall in September.
Now the Bristol boxer will meet Japanese southpaw Omori, whose sole defeat came when he was stopped in two rounds by current WBO champion Marlon Tapales last December.
“At…
Danny Garcia stops Samuel Vargas and sets up unification clash with Keith Thurman
WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia (33-0, 19 KOs) halted Samuel Vargas (25-3-1. 13 KOs) in the 7th round of a non-title bout at the Liacouras Center in his hometown of Philadelphia.
Garcia dominated from the start, dropping Vargas (25-3-1 KO13) in the second with a big overhand right and he punished the overmatched Colombian with more hard shots as the fight progressed.
The American pinned Vargas against the ropes in the 7th and landed a series of powerful punches that prompted referee…
Sosa beats Smith in hard-fought battle, McDonnell wins controversial decision over Solis
WBA super featherweight champion Jason Sosa (20-1-4, 15 KOs) outpointed Stephen Smith (24-3, 14 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Salle des Étoiles in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
Both fighters battled hard but the American overpowered Smith in most of the rounds and retained his world title by scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 116-112.
Sosa took the fight to Smith from the opening bell and floored the challenger with a left in the second round and Smith was then cut in the…
Terence Crawford to meet John Molina Jr on December 10
WBC and WBO light welterweight champion Terence Crawford (29-0, 20 KOs) will defend his titles against John Molina Jr (29-6, 23 KOs) on December 10 at the CenturyLink Center in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
American Crawford vacated his WBO lightweight title in 2015 and knocked out Thomas Dulorme in the sixth round to win the vacant WBO light welterweight belt and defended it three times, including a one-sided points win over WBC titleholder Viktor Postol in July to unify two…
Joseph Parker and Andy Ruiz Jr to fight for vacant WBO heavyweight title in New Zealand
Unbeaten heavyweights Joseph Parker (21-0, 18 KOs) and Andy Ruiz Jr (29-0, 19 KOs) will fight for the vacant WBO title on December 10 at the Vector Arena in Parker’s native New Zealand.
Parker, who is the WBO’s number-one ranked heavyweight, has already fought four times this year, including outpointing Carlos Takam and knockout wins over Solomon Haumono and Alexander Dimitrenko, and he will have home advantage when he fights the 27-year-old Mexican, in the first ever heavyweight title clash…
Pacquiao easily outpoints Vargas to regain world title
Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2, 38 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over defending champion Jessie Vargas (27-2, 10 KOs) to regain the WBO welterweight title on Saturday night at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao, who returned to boxing after taking seven months off to focus on his job as a newly elected politician in the Philippine Senate, showed no signs of ring rust as he dropped and dominated Vargas on the way to winning by scores of 118-109, 118-109 and 114-113.
After a mostly…
Zeuge dethrones De Carolis with 12th round TKO
Unbeaten super middleweight Tyron Zeuge (19-0-1, 11 KOs) stopped defending WBA champion Giovanni De Carolis (24-7-1, 12 KOs) in the 12th round of their rematch on Saturday night at the MBS Arena in Potsdam, Germany.
Italian De Carolis retained his world 168lb title with a majority draw when the two met in July, but Zeuge scored a dramatic late stoppage to win their second meeting.
De Carolis pressed the action for the first nine rounds and landed hard shots to the head and body. But by the…
Ovill McKenzie retires from boxing
Former world title challenger Ovill McKenzie (25-12-1, 13 KOs) has announced his retirement from boxing after being diagnosed with a heart condition.
The 36-year-old McKenzie, a British, Commonwealth and WBA intercontinental champion, has not fought since drawing with Argentine Victor Emilio Ramirez when he challenged for the IBF cruiserweight title in Buenos Aires in October 2015.
“It is with great sadness that I announce that I am retiring from boxing. I have been diagnosed with a heart…