11:23 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Edgar Berlanga and Steve Rolls have agreed to terms for a super middleweight fight on March 19 at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, sources told ESPN on Wednesday. The bout will be Berlanga’s first since he tore his left biceps in Round 3 of his victory over Marcelo Esteban
Boxing
3:55 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Welterweight champion Terence Crawford filed a lawsuit Wednesday against his former promoter Top Rank in Nevada, alleging racial bias on the part of the company’s chairman, Bob Arum. The suit alleges that the 90-year-old Arum “continues to make racist and bigoted statements and purposefully damage the reputations of Black boxers.”
3:37 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The investigation surrounding sexual assault accusations against lightweight boxer Rolando Romero is now closed without charges being filed, the Henderson (Nevada) Police Department told ESPN on Tuesday. Romero, 26, was scheduled to fight Gervonta Davis on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles, but he was pulled from the bout in late
8:05 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN George Kambosos Jr. crashed through the glass ceiling in 2021 with an upset victory over Teofimo Lopez in November, capturing all four of Lopez’s lightweight titles. The 28-year-old Australian wasn’t even on the radar of many in the boxing industry, and he was completely overlooked before he fought Lopez. On
2:57 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The junior welterweight bout between Jose Ramirez and Jose Pedraza won’t take place on Feb. 5 as planned because Pedraza is ill with flu-like symptoms, multiple sources told ESPN. The bout, which was set to headline on ESPN+, will be rescheduled to Friday, March 4, at the Save Mart Center
8:00 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 British Olympic bronze medalist Frazer Clarke will make his professional debut on the Amir Khan-Kell Brook undercard at Manchester Arena, England, on Feb. 19.
9:51 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 Boxing’s welterweight division has arguably become the most competitive weight class, and Conor Benn, another exciting contender, wants to take on the world’s best
1:00 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 WBA-IBF-WBO world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk’s rematch with Anthony Joshua is likely to take place in the United Kingdom in April, according to Matchroom
4:52 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Joe Smith Jr. will defend his light heavyweight title on Jan. 15 after all as unheralded fighter Steven Geffrard signed Friday to replace Callum Johnson on eight days’ notice. Johnson tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday and was forced to withdraw from the ESPN main event in Verona, New York.
2:24 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Juan Francisco Estrada and Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez are set to battle one more time. The future Hall of Famers have signed contracts for a unified 115-pound championship fight on March 5 at Pechanga Arena in San Diego, multiple sources told ESPN. Estrada-Gonzalez 3 will headline a Matchroom Boxing on DAZN