Everyone has a fighting chance
Unbeaten Takashi Uchiyama (22-0-1, 18 KOs) scored his ninth successful defence of his WBA super-featherweight belt defeating challenger Israel Perez (27-3-1, 16 KOs) in nine rounds on Wednesday at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
The skillful champ made good use of accurate and effective jabs against his free-swinging opponent, and weakened him with accurate body bombardments as the contest progressed. Japan’s Uchiyama accelerated his attack in round nine, when he pinned…
WBO/WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KOs) battled back from two knockdowns to defeat Hisashi Amagasa (28-5-2, 19 KOs) and retain his titles by eleventh round stoppage on Wednesday night at the Bodymaker Colosseum in Osaka, Japan.
The double Olympic champion from Cuba, who defected and now lives in Miami, looked to be in control for the first six rounds in Osaka but he was stunned by a fine shot to the chin that sent him to the canvas in the seventh and he went…
Chris Eubank Jr will face Russia’s Dmitry Chudinov on the Tyson Fury undercard at the O2 Arena in London on February 28.
Eubank Jr’s challenge against Interim WBA middleweight champion Chudinov will be the chief support for Fury’s defence of his WBO International heavyweight belt against Christian Hammer.
The Brighton fighter is coming off his first career loss against bitter rival Billy Joe Saunders in November but victory over Chudinov could put him on the road to a rematch, with Saunders…
Britain’s Paul Butler (17-0, 8 KOs) will challenge IBF super-flyweight champion Zolani Tete (19-3, 16 KOs) on March 6 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool.
The 26-year-old was due to face the South African in October but southpaw Tete, 26, broke his hand in training and he went on to instead beat Ismael Garnica on points, also at the Echo Arena.
Butler won the IBF bantamweight title by split decision against countryman Stuart Hall in June. But he vacated the strap in July to return to the 115-pound…
Japan’s Naoya Inoue (8-0, 7 KOs) scored a stunning quick knockout over Omar Narvaez (43-2-2, 23 KOs) in the second round to capture the WBO super-flyweight title on Tuesday at Metropolitan Gym in Tokyo, Japan.
The unbeaten Inoue, 21, who had moved up two weights for the fight after claiming the WBC light-flyweight crown in April, was in control from the start of the bout, putting the 39-year-old Argentine to the canvas three times before finishing the contest with a powerful left-hand…
British heavyweight Tyson Fury (23-0, 17 KOs) will face Christian Hammer (17-3, 10 KOs) on February 28 at the O2 Arena in London.
Fury defeated Dereck Chisora in stopping his countryman after 10 one-sided rounds in their rematch last month to win the British and European titles and in addition become Wladimir Klitschko’s mandatory challenger.
However, any possible showdown with the Ukrainian is not due to take place until the summer, with the IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO champion Klitschko likely to defend…
WBC light heavyweight champion Adonis “Superman” Stevenson (25-1, 21 KOs) stopped challenger Dmitry “The Hunter” Sukhotskiy (22-3, 16 KOs) in the fifth round on Friday night at the Pepsi Coliseum in Quebec City, Canada.
Stevenson dropped Sukhotsky four times in the fight. It was the first time Sukhotsky has been stopped.
Stevenson, a native of Haiti, who now resides in Quebec, dominated from start to finish, flooring Sukhotsky with a big left hand in the second round.
Sukhotsky hardly threw…
IBF super-bantamweight champion Carl Frampton (19-0, 13 KOs) will defend his world title against Chris Avalos (25-2, 19 KOs) on February 28 at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast.
The 27-year-old is back on home territory for the first defence of the belt he won when he beat Kiko Martinez by unanimous decision in the city’s Titanic Quarter in September.
Avalos, 25, has won six fights in a row and was in a mandatory position to challenge either Frampton for his belt or unified champion Guillermo…
British contender Anthony Crolla suffered a serious head injury and a broken ankle following an altercation with two burglars on Tuesday night.
The Manchester lightweight, who was due to fight for a world title in January, suffered a fractured skull and broke his ankle in two places when he was hit with a concrete slab.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed Crolla had been pursuing intruders who ran through his garden after leaving his next-door neighbours’ house in Chadderton.
He was taken to…
WBC heavyweight champion Bermane Stiverne will make his first defense against unbeaten Deontay Wilder on January 17 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas.
The first Haitian-born heavyweight Stiverne won the belt that Vitali Klitschko vacated upon his retirement in December 2013, when he stopped Chris Arreola in six rounds in May. He has now racked up 21 knockouts with only one defeat in his 26-fight career.
However, Wilder has recorded 32 consecutive knockouts but this is a big step…