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
Boxing
8:43 PM ET Mikaela Mayer will defend her IBF and WBO junior lightweight titles on April 9 against Jennifer Han, a source told ESPN on Friday. The fight will be Mayer’s first since she defeated Maiva Hamadouche by unanimous decision on Nov. 5 to unify the IBF and WBO crowns. It will be Mayer’s second
1:38 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Canelo Alvarez and Dmitry Bivol have finalized a deal for a May 7 fight for Bivol’s light heavyweight title on DAZN pay-per-view, Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn announced Friday. Alvarez is the undisputed super middleweight champion but will return to 175 pounds for the fight. In his lone light heavyweight bout,
1:44 PM ET Editor’s note: This story was originally published in January. It has been updated to reflect the news that Alvarez will fight Dimitry Bivol on May 7. Canelo Alvarez will return to the ring in May to fight Dimitry Bivol for the WBA light heavyweight title. Canelo is the undisputed super middleweight champion,
2:08 AM ET Sibusiso Zingange claimed the South African Junior Lightweight belt at Africa Boxing on Feb. 24, beating four-time defending champion Phila Mpontshane by unanimous decision over 12 rounds. It wasn’t the only title bout of the night though, as South Africa’s Smangele Hadebe dominated from start to finish to beat Tanzania’s Halima Vunjabei
5:31 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, plans to take up arms to defend against Russia’s invasion, which began in the early hours Thursday. “It’s already a bloody war,” Klitschko, a Hall of Fame boxer, said Thursday on ITV’s “Good Morning Britain.” “… I don’t have
10:00 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 Jack Catterall might be the lesser-known name as he prepares to fight Scotland’s undisputed world champion Josh Taylor on Saturday, but he has shared
7:48 PM ET Terri Harper will need a new opponent for her return to the ring March 12. The former WBC junior lightweight champion made the decision to move to lightweight and was set to make her return against American veteran Heather Hardy. But Hardy posted on Twitter on Wednesday that she is going to
7:51 AM ET Timothy Bradley Jr. Josh Taylor returns home to Scotland to make his first title defense as boxing’s undisputed junior welterweight champion of the world at The SSE Hydro in Glasgow (Saturday on ESPN+, 2 p.m. ET). Taylor (18-0, 13 KOs) faces undefeated Englishman Jack Catterall (26-0, 13 KOs), who previously stepped aside
1:12 AM ET NEW YORK — Amanda Serrano is preparing for the biggest fight of her life and at the same time she has also begun to take steps for the next part of her career. Serrano is putting the finishing touches on signing her first client as a boxing manager, Nicole Ocasio, in conjunction