8:00 PM ET Keyshawn Davis took several weeks to choose his path to boxing stardom after the Tokyo Olympics were postponed. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the top professional prospect on the U.S. Olympic qualification team was facing nearly a year without an amateur fight that mattered. He could wait 16 months for his shot
Boxing
8:54 AM ET Steve KimESPN Boxing isn’t a league. It is one industry, but it’s fractured and divided due to the different promotional companies. Because of this, many of the sport’s best matchups are either delayed beyond the moment when they’d make the biggest impact or simply go by the wayside. Promotional rivalries and network
12:07 PM ET Steve KimESPN Ali Salaam, the father and trainer of former WBC junior middleweight champion Tony Harrison, has died because of the coronavirus. He was 59. The Premier Boxing Champions confirmed the death of Salaam, who was a professional welterweight from 1984 to ’89 and compiled a record of 11-7 with 5 KOs.
9:04 AM ET Steve KimESPN As the boxing industry waits for fights to come back, key figures in the industry are exploring all of the options at their disposal. The prevailing thought is that, at least at the beginning, the fights that could happen would take place in a studio or other controlled environment with
12:10 PM ET Steve KimESPN Longtime boxing referee Eddie Cotton died Friday morning after being hospitalized due to the coronavirus, the International Boxing Federation announced. He was 72. According to his wife, Ruby, Cotton was hospitalized two weeks ago with pneumonia. He was then diagnosed with COVID-19 at the hospital. The resident of Paterson, New
8:54 AM ET Terence Crawford unleashes a smile as he hears another one of Errol Spence Jr.’s recent proclamations to “wash” him if the two best welterweights in the world finally face off in the ring. Crawford (36-0, 27 KOs), the WBO world titleholder, isn’t much of a talker. In a boxing world of brash
2:52 PM ET Associated Press TOLEDO, Ohio — Carmen Williamson, who in the 1940s and ’50s was a top U.S. amateur boxer and then in 1984 became the first black boxing referee and judge at the Olympic Games, has died. He was 94. Williamson died of COVID-19 complications April 8 at a hospital in Toledo,
8:57 AM ET Steve Kim 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 Terence Crawford is one of the very best boxers in the sport, a mesmerizing blend of technique, skill, athleticism and versatility. Simply
7:58 PM ET Steve KimESPN With the boxing world at a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, CEO Bob Arum and Top Rank have turned their attention to staging smaller cards that would not involve a live audience. At this point, the question is where and how. “What we’re doing is looking at facilities, including
5:53 PM ET Former heavyweight champion Andy Ruiz confirmed his interest in working under 2019 Trainer of the Year Eddy Reynoso, whose fighters include four-division title holder Canelo Alvarez, as he looks to revitalize his career. Ruiz, who pulled off a surprising knockout of Anthony Joshua in June only to lose the WBA, IBF and