Boxing

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 29, 2024, 05:48 PM ET Open Extended Reactions MIAMI — David Benavidez sat on the ring apron at the downtown BOXR Gym and wrapped his hands — just because the Canelo Alvarez fight he’s pushed so hard to land seems farther away than ever, doesn’t mean the work stops. Alvarez has long

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 29, 2024, 07:40 AM ET Open Extended Reactions JAVON ‘WANNA’ WALTON was just 11 years old when he and his family were flown to Los Angeles for an acting audition. They figured they’d get to L.A., have time to prepare for the audition for this new HBO show called “Euphoria”

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 26, 2024, 11:05 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Canelo Alvarez, one of boxing’s top stars, and Premier Boxing Champions have mutually agreed to part ways with two fights remaining on his three-fight deal signed in June, sources told ESPN on Monday. Alvarez, ESPN’s No. 4 pound-for-pound boxer, defeated Jermell Charlo via unanimous

Nick ParkinsonFeb 26, 2024, 08:01 AM ET 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 Open Extended Reactions Wouldn’t it be great if boxing had a logical schedule where the best fought the best in a tournament

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 24, 2024, 07:08 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Junto Nakatani scored a sixth-round TKO victory over Alexandro Santiago on Saturday in Tokyo to become the WBC bantamweight champion, his third division title. Japan’s Nakatani (27-0, 20 KOs) floored Santiago with a straight left in Round 6. Moments later, a crisp right hook

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 23, 2024, 01:49 AM ET Open Extended Reactions David Benavidez will move up to light heavyweight for a June fight against Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Benavidez announced via social media Thursday. WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman said the fight would be contested for the interim light heavyweight title, which would place the winner in position

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 22, 2024, 06:59 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Gervonta Davis and Frank Martin have struck a deal to fight for Davis’ WBA lightweight title in late spring or early summer, sources told ESPN. Davis, one of boxing’s top stars, will compete for the first time since he scored a seventh-round TKO victory

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterFeb 22, 2024, 01:22 PM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Open Extended Reactions Francis Ngannou is two weeks away from his second appearance in a professional boxing ring, but he’s already considering his eventual return to mixed martial arts. Ngannou

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 21, 2024, 07:42 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia are two of the youngest stars in boxing, though they find themselves in decidedly different positions in the sport’s ecosystem. Haney is unquestionably one of boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighters (rated No. 6 by ESPN). At just 25 years old,

Associated Press Feb 18, 2024, 09:30 AM ET Open Extended Reactions LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The International Olympic Committee will not change its rules to let boxing great Manny Pacquiao compete at the Paris Games aged five years beyond the entry limit. Pacquiao, who retired in 2021, wanted to box at age 45 in the Olympic

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 17, 2024, 12:27 AM ET Open Extended Reactions O’Shaquie Foster retained his WBC junior lightweight title with a split-decision victory over Abraham Nova on Friday at New York’s Theater at Madison Square Garden. One judge scored it 114-113 for Nova but was overruled by scores of 115-112 and 116-111 for Foster. The

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 16, 2024, 07:05 PM ET Open Extended Reactions A heavyweight fight between Jared “Big Baby” Anderson and Ryad Merhy is booked for April 13 in Corpus Christi, Texas, sources told ESPN on Friday. Anderson, ESPN’s No. 8 heavyweight, last fought in August when he scored a fifth-round TKO victory over Andriy Rudenko.

Nick ParkinsonFeb 15, 2024, 09:49 AM ET 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 Open Extended Reactions Wayne Rooney was sacked from his role as Birmingham City manager last month. Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images Former England

Feb 15, 2024, 07:51 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Friday night’s card at The Theater inside Madison Square Garden in New York features a world champion defending his title in the main event and a co-main event in which a young fighter could make the jump from top prospect to title contender (ESPN/ESPN+, 9 p.m.

Feb 14, 2024, 07:48 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Since our last rankings two top fighters have won in their respective division, but while one of them got praised, the other lost some ground. Unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev shined in a seventh-round TKO victory against Callum Smith in January, and while that wasn’t

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 13, 2024, 04:28 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Josh Taylor and Jack Catterall have agreed to a junior welterweight rematch April 27 at First Direct Arena in Leeds, England, sources told ESPN. The fight will be streamed on DAZN worldwide as part of the subscription streaming service, sources said. When they met

Sid Ventura Feb 13, 2024, 12:56 PM ET Open Extended Reactions World Boxing Organization No. 1 bantamweight contender Reymart Gaballo had hoped to get in some rounds Tuesday night to boost his preparations for a possible title shot against reigning WBO 118-lb. champion Jason Moloney of Australia. Instead, he was in the ring for only

Mike Coppinger, ESPNFeb 9, 2024, 06:08 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Devin Haney and Ryan Garcia have struck a deal to fight April 20 in Las Vegas for Haney’s junior welterweight championship, sources told ESPN. Haney, ESPN’s No. 6 pound-for-pound boxer, will step into the ring for his third consecutive pay-per-view fight — his most