Boxing

Mike Coppinger, ESPNAug 9, 2023, 05:30 PM ET David Benavidez and Demetrius Andrade are finalizing a deal for a super middleweight fight this fall in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN. The battle of former champions will be a pay-per-view event, sources said. Benavidez (27-0, 23 KOs) scored a career-best win in March, a unanimous-decision victory

Brett Okamoto, ESPN Staff WriterAug 9, 2023, 10:39 AM ET Close MMA columnist for ESPN.com Analyst for “MMA Live” Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun Claressa Shields, widely considered the No. 1 pound-for-pound female boxer on the planet, is going back to MMA in 2024. Shields, 28, has signed a new multiyear deal to compete

Mike Coppinger, ESPNAug 9, 2023, 07:47 AM ET In what promises to be an all-out slugfest, ESPN’s top two junior lightweights Emanuel Navarrete and Oscar Valdez will clash in Glendale, Arizona for Navarrete’s WBO junior lightweight world title (10 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+). The pair of Mexican brawlers were slated to meet in February before a

Aug 9, 2023, 07:46 AM ET LONDON — World Boxing, a new body seeking recognition from the International Olympic Committee, announced its first six official members Wednesday with the United States among federations from three continents. The others approved as full members were New Zealand Boxing, Boxing Australia, England Boxing and the Dutch Boxing Federation.

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterAug 8, 2023, 01:39 PM ET Logan Paul’s opponent in his return to boxing is set. Paul, who has parlayed his YouTube fame into a lucrative career in combat sports, will face Dillon Danis in a boxing match Oct. 14 in Manchester, England, it was announced Tuesday. It’s unclear whether it

Mike Coppinger, ESPNAug 8, 2023, 10:53 AM ET Artur Beterbiev’s unified light heavyweight championship defense vs. Callum Smith has been rescheduled for Jan. 13 in Quebec City, promoter Top Rank announced on Tuesday. Beterbiev, 38, was set to put his WBC, WBO and IBF 175-pound titles on the line vs. Smith on Aug. 19. However,

Aug 8, 2023, 06:53 AM ET Finnish heavyweight Robert Helenius has stepped in at short notice to fight former world champion Anthony Joshua in London on Saturday after Dillian Whyte was ruled out for failing a drugs test test. Promoters Matchroom said on Tuesday the 39-year-old ‘Nordic Nightmare’, who fought in Finland at the weekend,

Sean Malcolm Aug 7, 2023, 08:00 AM ET Editor’s note: In honor of hip-hop turning 50, ESPN tapped the culture’s top voices to write about their favorite athlete name-drops in hip-hop history. “Some fool asked why I ran away/ I said, ‘A good run is better than a bad stand any day’/ My career is

Marc Raimondi Michael Rothstein Close Michael Rothstein ESPN Staff Writer Michael Rothstein is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Rothstein covers the Atlanta Falcons. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein. Aug 6, 2023, 02:40 AM ET The Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz rivalry isn’t over. That much was clear following Paul’s unanimous decision

Michael Rothstein, ESPN Staff WriterAug 6, 2023, 12:42 AM ET Close Michael Rothstein is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Rothstein covers the Atlanta Falcons. You can follow him via Twitter @MikeRothstein. Amanda Serrano stuck her tongue out after the final bell, looking right at her old friend and sparring partner, Heather Hardy. Serrano

Brianna Williams, ESPNAug 6, 2023, 12:26 AM ET Logan Paul’s Saturday evening started with a victory over Ricochet in WWE SummerSlam at Detroit’s Ford Field. It ended alongside his younger brother Jake Paul at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The 28-year-old rising WWE superstar immediately hopped on a private jet after his win to walk

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterAug 5, 2023, 07:57 PM ET Jake Paul takes on former UFC star Nate Diaz in a 10-round cruiserweight bout (catchweight of 185 pounds) at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday (ESPN+ PPV, 8 p.m. ET). Paul (6-1, 4 KOs), 26, suffered a split-decision loss to Tommy Fury in his

Aug 5, 2023, 08:08 AM ET Next Saturday’s fight between British heavyweights Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte has been cancelled after Whyte failed a pre-fight drugs test, promoters Matchroom announced on Saturday. The bout, Joshua’s latest fight as he charts his comeback to the top of the heavyweight division, was meant to take place at

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterAug 4, 2023, 08:04 AM ET Logan Paul and fellow wrestler Ricochet were on either side of a ladder, which was standing in the ring at WWE’s Money in the Bank on July 1 at The O2 in London. Another wrestler in the match, LA Knight, pushed the ladder over with

Mike Coppinger, ESPNAug 4, 2023, 12:19 PM ET Jack Catterall, ESPN’s No. 1 junior welterweight, will fight former four-division champion Jorge Linares on Oct. 21 in Liverpool, England, Matchroom Boxing announced Friday. Catterall, a 30-year-old Englishman, dropped a controversial split decision to Josh Taylor last February in a bid for the undisputed 140-pound championship. Following

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterAug 3, 2023, 05:12 PM ET DALLAS — Things got physical on stage Thursday at the Jake Paul vs. Nate Diaz news conference, after the two main-event fighters did their traditional faceoff. Both camps’ security teams got into a shoving match with punches thrown after things became heated between Paul, Diaz

Mike Coppinger, ESPNAug 3, 2023, 07:34 PM ET The IBF on Thursday ordered an Aug. 15 purse bid for a junior welterweight title fight between its champion, Subriel Matias, and mandatory challenger Shohjahon Ergashev, according to a letter obtained by ESPN. The typical purse split for IBF title fights is 85-15 in favor of the

Aug 3, 2023, 07:51 AM ET Heather Hardy wanted one more shot at gold. A last chance at a championship. One final attempt at the type of payday the 41-year-old long had wanted but never received. Hardy, a former champion with only two losses over a pro career lasting more than a decade, made that