Boxing

1:02 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN David Benavidez and David Lemieux will meet on May 21 at Footprint Arena in Phoenix, Benavidez’s hometown, sources tell ESPN, a PBC on Showtime main event. ESPN reported in December that the boxers signed contracts for the 168-pound bout that could line the winner up for a shot at a

7:56 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Gennadiy Golovkin was the main attraction, a staple of HBO Boxing for nearly a decade, but just before he entered the ring in Inglewood, California, on a May 2015 night to face Willie Monroe Jr., there was a diminutive boxer from Nicaragua who had the industry buzzing. With a second-round

9:23 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The Jermell Charlo-Brian Castano rematch for the undisputed junior middleweight championship has been rescheduled for May 14 on Showtime, sources told ESPN. The 154-pound bout for all four titles was set for March 19 in Los Angeles but was postponed after Castano (17-0-2, 12 KOs) sustained a minor right biceps

8:36 AM ET Mark KriegelESPN RIVERSIDE, California — In a sport that’s loud, mean and profane, Jose Ramirez is quiet, earnest and humble to a fault. He’s faithful and stands tirelessly for his people — the farmworkers of California’s Central Valley. COVID-19 relief? Immigration reform? Water rights? He’s all-in. Everything Ramirez does — from his

7:07 AM ET Nikita Tszyu has lived up to the hype in his professional boxing debut, dominant in a second-round stoppage of a bloodied Aaron Stahl in Brisbane. With world title hope and older brother Tim in his corner, the 24-year-old who gave away a career in architecture to pursue a dream in the ring,

12:29 AM ET Australian Tim Tszyu has locked in his much-anticipated US boxing debut, taking on American Terrell Gausha in Minnesota in late March. The unbeaten junior middleweight contender was initially scheduled to fight on the same card as Brian Castano-Jermell Charlo on Mar. 19 in Los Angeles. However, the winner-takes-all unified showdown was cancelled

10:19 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Dmitry Bivol, who was born in Kyrgyzstan but has long resided in St. Petersburg, Russia, is preparing for a fight with boxing’s top star, Canelo Alvarez, but is painfully aware of the situation at home. Bivol (19-0, 11 KOs) recently arrived in the U.S. from Russia, which invaded Ukraine on

7:52 AM ET Josh Taylor made a big statement in May, when he defeated Jose Ramirez to win all four major junior welterweight belts. Taylor had another opportunity to show the world that his victory wasn’t just a one-off this past weekend, when he faced mandatory challenger Jack Catterall. But while Taylor won a split

3:40 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Tyson Fury found himself in a familiar role on Tuesday in London. The heavyweight champion carried the promotion ahead of his trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder last year, as the challenger refused to answer questions from the media at the kick-off news conference. And now, for the second consecutive bout,

9:41 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Ryota Murata is all that stands in the way of a third fight between Canelo Alvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin. And now, there’s finally a date for the middleweight title unification between Golovkin and Murata. They’ll meet April 9 at Saitama Arena in Saitama, Japan, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. GGG-Murata

12:53 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk has joined a territorial defense battalion in Ukraine as the nation seeks to defend itself against an invasion from Russia that began Thursday. The Olympic gold medalist is the latest boxer to take up arms in Ukraine. Usyk’s longtime friend, Vasiliy Lomachenko, also joined a territorial

8:00 AM ET Timothy Bradley Jr. The result of Saturday’s undisputed junior welterweight championship fight between champion Josh Taylor and challenger Jack Catterall hasn’t sat well with me. The challenger did everything he was supposed to do to win, but the judges handed Taylor a split-decision victory. I watched the fight a second time on

6:53 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Vasiliy Lomachenko, ESPN’s No. 8 pound-for-pound boxer, has joined a territorial defense battalion in Ukraine as the country attempts to fend off an invasion from Russia. The two-time Olympic gold medalist is shown armed in military fatigues in an image posted to his Facebook page on Sunday. The 34-year-old traveled

6:01 PM 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 Lawrence Okolie successfully defended his WBO world cruiserweight title for a second time by a unanimous points decision, but was made to work for

2:34 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Chris Colbert, ESPN’s No. 2-ranked 130-pounder, was slated to challenge for his first world title on Saturday. But after the champion, Roger Gutierrez, tested positive for COVID-19, Colbert (16-1, 6 KOs) was set to stay busy against unheralded late replacement Hector Garcia. In the PBC on Showtime’s main event, Colbert,

10:39 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The four governing organizations responsible for overseeing boxing title matchups around the world — the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO — announced in a joint statement that they won’t sanction any such bouts in Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine. Currently, two Russians hold major titles. Dmitry Bivol, ESPN’s

6:29 PM 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 Josh Taylor escaped defeat and kept hold of his four world super lightweight titles thanks to a controversial split points decision victory over Jack

8:38 PM ET Mike Coppinger 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 Coming off a clear decision win over Jose Ramirez in May in which he captured the undisputed junior welterweight championship, Josh Taylor