IBF/WBA/WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) outpointed Isaac Chilemba (24-4-2, 10 KOs) on Monday night at the DIVS Palace of Sports in Ekaterinburg, Russia.
The Russian warmed up for his November 19 clash with former super middleweight world champion Andre Ward by knocking down the challenger in the seventh round and earning scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 118-109. But the bout was a lot more competitive than what was expected.
From the opening bell, Kovalev was…
Gennady Golovkin to fight Kell Brook on September 10
WBA and IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) will defend his titles against Britain’s Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KOs) on September 10 at the O2 Arena in London.
The match-up comes as a shock since KO king Golovkin was in negotiations to face Chris Eubank Jr, while IBF welterweight champion Brook looked set for a unification fight with WBO titleholder Jessie Vargas. But the negotiations seemingly stalled.
Instead Brook, 30, will jump two divisions to take on 34-year-old Golovkin,…
Gilberto Ramirez pulls out of title defence due to hand injury
WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez (34-0, 26 KOs) has pulled out of his title defence against Dominik Britsch (32-2-1, 11 KOs) on the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol undercard due to a hand injury.
Mexican Ramirez, who won the WBO belt with a one-sided points win over Arthur Abraham in April, injured his right hand during sparring on Tuesday night.
“Gilberto Ramirez sustained an injury to the third knuckle of his right hand after a punch to the head of his sparring partner,” said…
Terry Flanagan’s title defence rescheduled to July 16
Terry Flanagan (30-0, 12 KOs) will now defend his WBO lightweight title against Mzonke Fana (38-9, 16 KOs) on July 16 at the Ice Arena in Cardiff, Wales.
The Mancunian fighter had been scheduled to face South African Fana on the undercard of WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury’s rematch with Wladimir Klitschko on July 9 at the Manchester Arena. But that fight was postponed because Fury suffered a sprained ankle. So Flanagan will make his third world title defence seven days later in…
Thurman outpoints Porter in thriller
Keith Thurman (27-0, 22 KOs) outpointed fellow American Shawn Porter (26-2-1, 16 KOs) to retain his WBA welterweight title on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
In a fight of the year candidate, Thurman used his boxing skills and landed the cleaner shots as all three judges awarded him a unanimous decision by scores of 115-113.
The fight began with both fighters on the offensive. Thurman landed a clean right midway through the first round. Porter pinned Thurman…
Joshua batters Breazeale to retain IBF title
IBF heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua (17-0, 17 KOs) knocked out previously unbeaten Dominic Breazeale (17-1, 15 KOs) to retain his title on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London.
In his first world title defence, Joshua finished Breazeale with two knockdowns from big blows in the seventh round.
Joshua was landing several combinations from the start and staggered Breazeale in the second round with more hard shots.
Breazeale survived but in the third his right eye was almost swollen shut…
Canelo to challenge Liam Smith on September 17
Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) will fight WBO light middleweight champion Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) on September 17 in the USA at a venue to be determined.
Canelo, 25, won the WBC middleweight title when he outpointed Miguel Cotto last November, although he has never fought above 155 pounds and will only be dropping a pound to challenge unbeaten Briton Smith, who will be making his third title defence but steps up in the level of opposition.
“I am very pleased to announce my next…
Tyson Fury postpones rematch with Wladimir Klitschko
WBA and WBO heavyweight champion Tyson Fury has pulled out of his rematch with Wladimir Klitschko next month, due to a ankle injury.
The unbeaten British heavyweight dethroned Klitschko, ending the Ukrainian’s 11-year unbeaten streak, winning a unanimous decision in Germany last November.
And Fury was scheduled to defend his heavyweight belts against Klitschko on July 9 at the Manchester arena, but has now announced that the fight is being called off.
“Hey guys, I got a little bit of bad news…
Andre Ward to battle Alexander Brand, before Sergey Kovalev clash
Former super middleweight world champion Andre Ward (29-0, 15 KOs) will fight Alexander Brand (25-1, 19 KOs) on August 6 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California.
Ward has already signed to challenge IBF, WBA, and WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev on November 19. However, both have fights to come through. Russia’s Kovalev is scheduled to defend his belts against Isaac Chilemba on July 11.
The unbeaten American fights for the second time at 175 pounds when he takes on Colombian…
Adonis Stevenson to make title defence against Thomas Williams Jr
WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson (27-1, 22 KOs) will defend his title against American contender Thomas Williams Jr (20-1, 14 KOs) on July 29 at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City, Canada.
Stevenson, a native of Haiti, now residing in Quebec, will be making his seventh world title defence. He won the belt in 2013 when he knocked out Chad Dawson in the first round.
The 38-year-old Stevenson last fought in September, beating Tommy Karpency by a third round TKO in a huge…