Boxing

1:33 AM ET Jamel Herring waited months and battled through COVID-19 to show he was ready for a major fight as a world titleholder. After his performance on Saturday night in a title defense against Jonathan Oquendo, that status is very much uncertain. Inside the Top Rank bubble at the MGM Grand Convention Center in

1:18 AM ET Steve KimESPN Jamel Herring retained his WBO junior lightweight title by disqualification against Jonathan Oquendo on Saturday. The fight inside the Top Rank bubble at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas was stopped after the eighth round because of an intentional head-butt. Oquendo led with his head in the fifth

6:09 PM ET Steve KimESPN Despite suffering two cuts near his left eye, Steven Nelson dominated De’Andre Ware in a sixth-round TKO victory on the Jamel Herring-Jonathan Oquendo undercard at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on Saturday. Nelson slowly built up momentum in the early rounds, walking down Ware and then closing

6:09 PM ET Steve KimESPN After testing positive twice for COVID-19, Jamel Herring will finally get in the ring to face Jonathan Oquendo in the main event of a Top Rank card at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on Saturday. Herring (21-2, 10 KOs) will defend his WBO junior lightweight title against

7:42 PM ET DeAndre Ware isn’t just a fighter. He’s an EMT and firefighter from Ohio who put his skills to work outside the ring ahead of Saturday’s bout in Las Vegas. Inside the MGM Grand Conference Center a half-hour before weigh-ins for his fight against Steven Nelson, Ware jumped into action when Pete Susens,

7:50 AM ET Jamel Herring looked across the ring to the opposite corner and immediately realized what was missing from his own. At the time, in 2017, Herring watched as the trio of trainers led by Brian McIntyre worked together and gave instructions in unison to Terence “Bud” Crawford during a sparring session in Omaha,

5:18 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show On Saturday, Isaac Chamberlain will prepare for his second fight in two weeks following an extended break of no boxing in nearly two years.

6:32 PM ET If Oscar De La Hoya follows through on his desire to return to the ring, fellow boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez would be more than ready to face him in an exhibition that would put the final touch on the Mexican champion’s long, storied career. “It would be the last exhibition I

6:50 PM ET Steve KimESPN Unified heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua will face mandatory IBF world title challenger Kubrat Pulev on Dec. 12 at the O2 Arena in London if everything goes according to plan, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said Thursday. “We’re still looking at alternative options with team Pulev,” Hearn told ESPN, “but we

7:40 AM ET Steve KimESPN For the second consecutive week, the boxing schedule is highlighted by a fight that took three attempts to launch. But another long-awaited title fight will finally happen — knock on wood — this Saturday night inside the Top Rank bubble at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas (ESPN+,

5:34 PM ET Steve KimESPN Former two-time world champion Jose Pedraza will face Javier Molina in a 10-round junior welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on Sept. 19. The bout originally was scheduled for May 9 in Fresno, California, on the Jose Ramirez-Viktor Postol undercard, but that event was canceled

11:35 AM ET Nick Parkinson Close •Reports on boxing for ESPN.co.uk, as well as several national newspapers•Has been reporting on British boxing for over 15 years•Appears on BoxNation’s Boxing Matters show WBA-IBF world super lightweight champion Josh Taylor has called on boxing governing bodies and promoters to ensure he faces Jose Ramirez to unify all

2:52 PM ET Steve KimESPN Naoya Inoue’s Top Rank debut is set. The unified bantamweight titlist and ESPN’s No. 4 pound-for-pound fighter is scheduled to face Jason Moloney (21-1, 18 KOs) at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas this fall, according to Moloney’s manager, Tony Tolj. “We’re still in talks and finalizing the

8:00 AM ET Multiple Contributors Terence Crawford could return to the ring later this year, but don’t expect to see the WBO welterweight world titlist against fellow titleholder Errol Spence Jr. or Manny Pacquiao just yet. Crawford and his promoter Top Rank are in talks with Matchroom to face Kell Brook in November. Brook, a

5:21 PM ET Steve KimESPN The WBO has ordered Jose Ramirez, just days removed from a title defense over Viktor Postol this past weekend, to begin negotiations with mandatory challenger Jack Catterall. Gustavo Olivieri, the in-house counsel for the WBO, confirmed to ESPN that both parties have 20 days to reach an agreement before the

2:50 AM ET Steve KimESPN Unified lightweight champion Vasiliy Lomachenko has arrived in the United States in preparation for his highly anticipated unification fight against IBF titlist Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs) on Oct. 17 at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas. “Mr. Lomachenko is in the house,” Egis Klimas, Lomachenko’s manager, confirmed

12:44 AM ET Steve KimESPN Jose Ramirez retained the WBC and WBO junior welterweight world titles in a close battle against Viktor Postol on Saturday night. Postol’s tactical boxing style made Ramirez strategically uncomfortable throughout the fight, and neither man ever truly took control of the action. However, it was Ramirez who ultimately got the

1:47 AM ET Steve KimESPN Two title fights have been added to the ESPN schedule for the fall months. Former junior featherweight world titlist Emanuel Navarrete will face Ruben Villa for the vacant WBO featherweight title on Oct. 9. The belt was recently vacated by Shakur Stevenson, who moved up to the junior lightweight division.