Boxing

2:27 PM ET Unified light heavyweight world champion Artur Beterbiev, boxing’s only current titleholder with a perfect knockout percentage, will make a mandatory defense against Meng Fanlong on March 28, Top Rank announced on Friday. The fight will headline a Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card (ESPN and ESPN Deportes, 10 p.m. ET with preliminary

11:05 PM ET Popular 1990s Samoan heavyweight contender Jimmy Thunder died on Wednesday in his hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, due to complications from a brain tumor. He was 54. Thunder, who was born Ti’a James Senio Peau and went by Jimmy Peau before adopting his boxing stage name, had recently undergone surgery in Auckland

7:09 PM ET Steve KimESPN The California State Athletic Commission says it has determined the contents of a squeezable bottle in Jermell Charlo’s corner during his 11th-round knockout of Tony Harrison in December to be water and that no rules were broken. The CSAC, in a statement released to ESPN on Thursday, said it came

4:45 PM ET Super middleweight titleholder Callum Smith, the No. 1-rated 168-pounder in the world, has turned down an offer to defend his belt against Canelo Alvarez on May 2. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Alvarez, and Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing, who promotes Smith, both told ESPN on Thursday

7:55 AM ET There are a handful of unforgettable moments that are seared forever into the minds of boxing fans. There is a discombobulated Mike Tyson on all fours grasping for his mouthpiece and trying to shove it back in before he is counted out in his monumental upset loss to Buster Douglas. There is

4:54 PM ET Middleweight world titlist Gennadiy Golovkin’s mandatory defense against Kamil Szeremeta remains unsettled and likely will move into at least April, Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn told ESPN on Wednesday. Initially, the plan was for Golovkin to defend against Szeremeta on Feb. 29, probably at Wintrust Arena in Chicago, but that was backed

9:04 AM ET For as long as six-year pro and super middleweight world titleholder Caleb Plant can remember, he dreamed of having a world title fight in his hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. “It’s something I have wanted, really, since I was a little kid,” said Plant, who grew up outside of Nashville in Ashland City,

10:54 AM ET Featherweight world titleholder Josh Warrington has signed with Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing after parting ways with Hearn rival Frank Warren of Queensberry Promotions. Warren said in a statement issued on Wednesday that they had ended their relationship at the conclusion of his Warrington’s promotional agreement. “I am happy to say that

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 Tyson Fury’s journey to his Feb. 22 heavyweight rematch with Deontay Wilder has been a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs. Fury (29-0-1, 20

7:34 PM ET Manny Pacquiao has signed with Paradigm Sports Management, the company announced on Tuesday. In its announcement, the agency said he signed because he is looking to “solidify the final years of his boxing legacy.” According to the announcement, Pacquiao, a reigning welterweight world titleholder, the only fighter to win world titles in