8:30 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN After 2020 significantly cut down the volume of fights and memorable moments fans are accustomed to in boxing, 2021 delivered in a major way. Looking back at the last 12 months, the year could best be described as “the year of the upset,” with several key title fights that going
Boxing
7:14 AM ET TAMPA, Fla. — Amanda Serrano steps off the elevator at the JW Marriott hotel in Tampa. In five hours, she’ll be next door in Amalie Arena riding another elevator up to a platform, and then she’ll begin her ring walk in front of a sold-out crowd for her 44th professional fight. But
2:30 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN In boxing, 2021 was a year that produced unexpected breakthrough performances from fighters such as Oleksandr Usyk and George Kambosos Jr. But those victories came at the cost of established stars who were seemingly poised to lock down perennial spots among boxing’s pound-for-pound best. Usyk’s upset victory to capture the
7:17 AM ET Mike CoppingerESPN The boxing industry came to a screeching halt in 2020. Without the possibility of capacity crowds, the biggest fights were tossed to the side, along with the millions in gate revenue that would have accompanied them. But beginning in May with Canelo Alvarez’s victory over Billy Joe Saunders in Arlington,
7:48 AM ET Katie Taylor, Claressa Shields and Amanda Serrano continue to lead the way in the ESPN women’s pound-for-pound rankings. But now we have a new order. Serrano (42-1-1, 30 KOs), dominated a game Miriam Gutierrez on Dec. 18 to set up a potential megafight against undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor next year, in
8:55 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Daniel Jacobs and John Ryder have struck a deal for a super middleweight fight that will headline a DAZN event Feb. 12 in London, sources told ESPN Monday night, confirming an earlier report. Jacobs, who will be 35 on fight night, will be competing at 168 pounds for the third
4:35 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Michael McKinson have agreed to a fight that will headline a DAZN event in early 2022, sources told ESPN on Monday. Ortiz, ESPN’s No. 4 welterweight, is one of boxing’s fastest-rising stars. In his toughest test yet, Ortiz encountered some early rocky moments before scoring an
Dec 20, 2021 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 Trying to separate the outstanding successes of Tyson Fury and Josh Taylor is desperately hard — and inevitably invites debate — but ESPN’s British
1:30 PM ET Mike CoppingerESPN Yordenis Ugas will receive his shot at Errol Spence Jr. after all. Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs) protested when the WBA mandated that he next defend his welterweight title against Eimantas Stanionis, but the latter has now agreed to step aside, WBA president Gilberto Mendoza told ESPN on Sunday, paving the
Dec 19, 2021 TAMPA, Fla. — Amanda Serrano’s latest win hadn’t been over for a few hours yet, and already she was thinking about what was coming next — the fight that has been, in some ways, years in the making. Serrano easily bested Miriam Gutierrez on Saturday night inside Amalie Arena, setting up what