3:48 PM ET Middleweight contender Esquiva Falcao will fight Ainiwaer Yilixiati in a 10-round bout that will serve as the co-feature of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN card on Feb. 1 (ESPN, 10 p.m. ET), Top Rank announced on Thursday. Falcao (25-0, 17 KOs), a 30-year-old southpaw and 2012 Olympic silver medalist, and Ainiwaer
Boxing
10:05 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 promoter Frank Warren has dismissed Anthony Joshua’s claim he has held talks with rival world heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder about a fight
10:57 AM ET In an unusual decision, the WBO has ordered two elimination bouts, after which the winners will be ordered to meet each other, in order to fill the light heavyweight world title that Canelo Alvarez vacated in mid-December. The WBO on Monday sent letters via email to the representatives of all four boxers,
10:10 PM ET Unified heavyweight world titlist Anthony Joshua likely will face Kubrat Pulev, one of his mandatory challengers, after a deadline to make a deal was extended. The IBF, which ranks Pulev as No. 1 contender, has given Joshua promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing and Pulev co-promoters Top Rank and Epic Sports an
8:12 AM ET Steve KimESPN What does Danny Garcia’s current career résumé tell us about how good he really is? His staunchest supporters, led by his boisterous father, Angel, will tell you that he is among the elite fighters in the sport. His detractors say that he’s vastly overrated. The truth is probably somewhere in
11:43 AM ET PHILADELPHIA — The junior middleweight division is as fun, interesting and unpredictable as any in boxing. This time it was unheralded Dominican Jeison Rosario who turned the 154-pound weight class on its head with his wholly unexpected fifth-round knockout of Julian “J Rock” Williams in what had been a very competitive action
12:24 AM ET Dan Rafael Close ESPN Senior Writer 2013 BWAA Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism ESPN.com boxing writer since 2005 Five years at USA Today Steve Kim Jeison Rosario, a 25-to-1 underdog, stopped Julian “J Rock” Williams in the fifth round in a major upset on Saturday night at the
12:27 AM ET Steve KimESPN A relatively tame and forgettable bout came to an explosive finish as light heavyweight Eleider Alvarez scored a seventh-round knockout of Michael Seals at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, New York. The finish came near the end the round, with both men throwing right hands simultaneously, but
10:51 PM ET PHILADELPHIA — Jeison Rosario’s only defeat came against an opponent Julian “J Rock” Williams had beaten easily, but that meant nothing when they met each other. In a major upset, Rosario stopped Williams in the fifth round of Williams’ homecoming fight to take his unified junior middleweight world title in the Premier
8:15 PM ET Tyson Fury is just a month away from one of the biggest fights of the year in boxing — a rematch with Deontay Wilder on Feb. 22. But for one night, at least, his attention was turned to mixed martial arts and Conor McGregor. Fury was a guest on Ariel Helwani’s MMA