On February 6, 2009 at the Wicomico Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland, Yusaf Mack and Chris Henry will meet with the winner likely to go on and compete for one of the major titles.
Mack has already been in this position twice before, falling short against former IBF champion Alejandro Berrio and title contender Librado Andrade, and is aware that this could be the last chance to really make his mark. More...
Chicago based super middleweight prospect Andrzej “The Polish Prince” Fonfara will return to the ring on Friday, January 23 at Cicero Stadium, it was announced today by Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions.
Fonfara, 10-2-0 (3), will square off in a six round bout at "New Year's Revolution" against Fort Smith, Arkansas native Terrence “The Truth” Wilson, 5-4-0 (3). More...
Stephen Haughian believes he’s ready to start chasing down major titles in 2009. The County Armagh boxer will look to take his career to the next level when he headlines a first ever pro fight night at the Craigavon Leisure Centre in Northern Ireland on Saturday, February 7.
The Lurgan welterweight who trains out of John Breen’s Gym in Belfast is hoping to enjoy the same success in 2009 that gym mates Paul McCloskey and Martin Rogan enjoyed last year.
Both ended 2008 on a high with McCloskey claiming the British Light Welterweight title and Rogan ending any remaining world title aspirations that Audley Harrison might have had. More...
The only genuine action this past weekend took place in Asia and we crack open the first results report of 2009 with a quick trip to the Pacifico in Yokahama, Japan where there were two world title fights on Saturday night.
Yusuke Kobori put his WBA Lightweight crown at risk for the first time since winning the belt with a third round stoppage of Jose Alfaro in May, but the Tokyo man wasn't ready for what challenger Paulus Moses brought to the table.
The 30 year old Namibian earned his stripes by winning the WBA Pan African and Intercontinental titles in 2006 but truly earned his "Hitman" nickname on Saturday by generally beating the champion to the punch over twelve tough rounds.
When the dust had settled, Moses took the WBA title by scores of 119-109 and 115-113 twice, keeping his perfect record intact to climb to 24-0 (17).
Former Japanese and OPBF Super Feather kingpin Kobori saw a 15 fight no loss streak go up in flames and the 27 year old sees his record drop to 23-3-1 (12).
In other action on the bill, another Tokyo resident fared better as Toshiaki Nishioka saw his status as WBC Interim Super Bantam Champ improve to the full WBC Champion with a dramatic 12th and final round stoppage of Mexico's Genaro Garcia. More...
Frank Maloney insists he can become Britain's number one promoter this year.
The Londoner celebrates 25 years as a promoter in 2009. The rollercoaster ride has taken him from Lewisham to Las Vegas and Maloney believes his current talent stacked stable is the most exciting crop he has ever had.
Many top fight figures believe Maloney's super middleweight hope Darren Sutherland is the hottest prospect in world boxing. More...
Former IBF Cruiserweight Champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham has returned to training at the James Shuler Memorial Gym in West Philadelphia just three weeks after losing his crown by close split-decision to Tomasz ‘Goral’ Adamek.
After chatting about the fight with ‘early bird’ gym mates Gee Culmer, Darren Fallen and Marianne “Golden Girl” Marston, Cunningham went straight into a full work-out session. More...
Three thousand miles from the warm sandy beaches of San Diego, in a scene reminiscent of Marvin Hagler’s “going to war” training camps, world ranked super middleweight Jesse Brinkley has returned to Manfredo’s Gym in Pawtucket, Rhode Island to prepare for "Civil War", his long awaited grudge match with Joey Gilbert at the Reno Events Center on Saturday, February 14.
“It’s really become a ritual for me, leave my family behind, fly cross country to Rhode Island and bunker down here”, said Brinkley who spent Christmas in Yerington, Nevada with his family and friends. More...
WBC Junior Featherweight Champion and pound for pound candidate Israel “El Magnifico” Vazquez has been honored across the board by boxing writers as his epic third bout against Rafael Marquez has received numerous “2008 Fight of the Year” awards.
On March 1, 2008 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA, Vazquez won the third fight against Marquez by mounting a brilliant final round, producing a knockdown in the waning moments of their unforgettable fight. More...
Super middleweight contender Joey Gilbert has opened camp in San Diego in preparation for his “Civil War” showdown with Jesse Brinkley on Saturday, February 14 at the Reno Events Center.
“I’ve trained here numerous times, the weather and the facilities are very conducive to a great camp,” said the confident Gilbert.
Working with trainer Richie Ortiz and strength and conditioning coach Matt Pendola, Gilbert has been in serious training mode since September. More...
Yuriorkis Gamboa and Odlanier Solis are ready to shine at the season premiere of ESPN’s “Friday Night Fights” on January 9 at Terrible’s Primm Valley Casino Resorts.
The 2004 Olympic Gold Medallists had no spare time over Christmas or New Year’s but have been working hard at their training camp in Primm, Nevada. More...
British Lightweight Champion John Murray is aiming to make an early impression in 2009 and he believes he will become one of Britain’s new boxing stars this year.
The Manchester lightweight defends his British crown against Lee McAllister at the Robin Park Centre in Wigan on Saturday, January 17, 2009, in a fight that will be shown live on ITV4. More...
2008 was a tumultuous year for the sweet science with a lot of big fights, big triumphs and big let downs.
Some of the boxers who won truly big fights in our recently departed year include Manny Pacquiao, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko, Joe Calzaghe, Chad Dawson, Ricky Hatton, Paul Williams, Tomasz Adamek, Carl Froch, Vernon Forrest, David Haye, Arthur Abraham, Vic Darchinyan, Daniel Santos, Antonio Margarito, Timothy Bradley, Nate Campbell, Israel Vasquez and Celestino Caballero.
Which three fighters do you think did the best job in 2008?
Send in a list of your top three to bonecrusher@fastmail.fm and we'll announce the results one week from today.
Two WBO titlists will put their belts at risk on January 10 in Magdeburg, Germany as newly minted Dennis Inkin and longtime champ Zsolt Erdei see action on the bill.
Light heavy kingpin Erdei, 29-0 (17), has held the WBO crown for almost five years now and has successfully navigated his way through ten title defenses over that span of time.
The 34 year old "Firebird" has had a rocky reign, posting a majority decision and split decision over current WBA titlist Hugo Hernan Garay in two bouts, a split decision against Tito Mendoza and was veering very close to a loss before stopping ex-WBA titlist Mehdi Sahnoune in the final round of their contest.
Erdei has also made a lot of defenses against less that top flight competition and on January 10 will continue that tradition against Ukraine based Armenian Yuri Barashian, 25-4 (17).
29 year old southpaw Barashian is coming off a loss for the vacant WBA title challenge to cagey Argentine Garay in which he was soundly outboxed and widely outpointed.
Prior to that, Barashian won the European title by knocking out Germany's Thomas Ulrich but once past that victory, the resume of wins becomes very thin. More...
On December 20, 2008, Evander Holyfield made an attempt at becoming the only man to ever hold a portion of boxing’s most coveted prize for the fifth time, the heavyweight championship of the world.
So after all the critics blasted any chance he might have at success, Holyfield stepped into the ring against the 7 foot reigning WBA champion Nicolai Valuev and proceeded to prove his skeptics wrong by outboxing the champion.
But when the scores were read after the bout, only one reaction poured out from those in attendance; boos. Anyone and everyone that night in Hallenstadion, Zurich , Switzerland witnessing the bout all felt the same way: disgusted, everyone not in the camp of Valuev, that is.
This sport is used to controversial decisions, they take place all the time, but if not for these decisions, so many rematches may not take place. But there are limits to these things. More...
"Big Time" Bernard Dunne's fight for glory is the acclaimed documentary which goes behind the scenes and features Dunne and his promoter Brian Peters as they travel the road to European title glory is now available to watch online from the RTÉ website More...
In a battle between Oscar De La Hoya, boxing’s top attraction, and Manny Pacquiao, the sport’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, Pacquiao, a 2 -1 underdog, emerged victorious on December 6, stopping De La Hoya at the end of round eight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on a pay-per-view broadcast seen by over 1.25 million viewers. Since that triumphant year-end finale, accolades from media around the world have been heaping praise on both Pacquiao and his trainer, world-famous Freddie Roach! More...
Today at the Sun Plaza Hall in Hiroshima, Japan, Thailand's Denkaosan Kaovichit shook off the world title jinx by knocking out reigning champion Takefumi Sakata in the second round to win the WBA Flyweight belt.
The 32 year old Kaovichit held the PABA crown from his first professional bout in 1996 and made an amazing 32 defenses over two reigns, losing only a WBA title contest to Eric Morel in 2002 and drawing with Sakata for the same belt a year ago.
But this time the native of Samui, Thailand took it out of the Japanese judges' hands by producing a shattering result, crushing the seasoned Tokyo based champion at 2:55 of the second.
Sakata himself came up the hard way, holding the Japanese title through two defenses before losing it to Trash Nakanuma by majority decision in 2002.
Sakata regained the crown in a rematch a year later and after two more defenses narrowly missed knocking off WBA Champ Lorenzo Parra, losing a majority decision in 2004 and again in 2005.
In 2006, Sakata was decked in the fifth before losing a split decision to Roberto Vasquez for the interim WBA crown but finally struck gold in a third bout with Parra, who couldn't make the weight and was stopped in the third, earning Sakata the elusive WBA throne. More...
It was announced today that Golden Boy Promotions prospect Victor Ortiz was named ESPN.com's Prospect of the Year. The rising star had a spectacular 2008, racking up three wins by knockout in three fights and will set his sights on a world title fight in 2009. Earlier this month, Ortiz was also named Sports Illustrated's Prospect of the Year. More...
US Olympian Ricardo Williams will make his first local appearance in five years on Saturday, January 31 in the main event of “Homecoming”, an evening of world class professional boxing at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, presented by TMAX Events and TKO Boxing Promotions. More...
John Murray has long been a favorite among the English boxing fraternity and the Manchester man delivered the goods against Lee Meager during a hard-nosed scrap in July, winning the British title. But keeping the belt could prove harder than winning it.
Just 24, Murray has racked up a 25-0 (13) record since joining the paid ranks over five years ago and saved his best performance for his most recent bout, a thrilling back and forth war against Salford's former British titlist Meager, who took too much punishment for referee Howard Foster to let continue past five rounds at Robin Park Centre in Wigan.
Murray will return to the same venue on January 17 when the Mancunian defends his belt for the first time by meeting the challenge of Scotland's "Aberdeen Assassin", Lee McAllister, trained by the famed Ingle family of Sheffield.
McAllister, 25-1 (5), doesn't have the same sterling reputation as the British champion but does bring a 20 bout win streak to Wigan, along with the WBU belts at both lightweight and light welter.
The 26 year old Scot has boxed above the welterweight limit on six occasions and will be the biggest man that Murray has ever faced as a professional. But that won't mean anything if McAllister can't nullify the edge in handspeed and footwork that Murray will likely enjoy in the pairing.
Despite losing in five rounds, Meager exposed a few weaknesses in Murray, who he found without any difficulty with bodyshots and a lead right hand but Meager's poor defense led to his downfall and McAllister must avoid the combination punching ability of Murray or he too will fail.
