Boxing

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 14, 2024, 12:04 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Artur Beterbiev retained his WBC, WBO and IBF light heavyweight titles with a seventh-round TKO victory over Callum Smith on Saturday night in Quebec City, Quebec. Punch Stats Punches Beterbiev Smith Total landed 182 59 Total thrown 471 366 Percent 39% 16% Jabs landed

Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff WriterJan 12, 2024, 01:01 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Francis Ngannou will have some new scenery for his next boxing camp. Dewey Cooper, one of Ngannou’s top coaches, told ESPN in a video interview Thursday that the former UFC heavyweight champion will train in Saudi Arabia for his boxing match against

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 12, 2024, 01:26 PM ET Open Extended Reactions A junior lightweight fight between Oscar Valdez and Liam Wilson is being finalized for March 29 in Glendale, Arizona, a source told ESPN. Valdez and Wilson both lost to Emanuel Navarrete last year in 130-pound title slugfests. Valdez (31-2, 23 KOs) hasn’t competed since

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 12, 2024, 07:51 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Artur Beterbiev is boxing’s only champion with a 100 percent knockout ratio, a distinction he’ll look to maintain Saturday when he defends his three light heavyweight titles against Callum Smith (10 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+). Russia’s Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KOs) is again fighting in his

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 11, 2024, 09:38 PM ET Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the son of the legendary Mexican boxer, was set to be released from jail Thursday night and entered into a residential treatment program in Los Angeles, his attorney, Guadalupe Valencia, told ESPN. He’s expected to remain in the program until his next court

Nick ParkinsonJan 10, 2024, 07:49 AM ET 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 Open Extended Reactions Not one of Artur Beterbiev‘s 19 professional opponents has lasted to hear the final bell, but Callum Smith will

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 9, 2024, 11:52 AM ET Open Extended Reactions Former welterweight champion Errol Spence said Monday that he underwent cataract surgery. The recovery timeline for cataract surgery is approximately eight weeks. The procedure comes 29 months after Spence suffered a detached retina in training that scrapped his planned August 2021 fight with Manny

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 8, 2024, 11:54 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Naoya Inoue and Luis Nery have agreed to a deal for a May fight in Tokyo for Inoue’s undisputed junior featherweight championship, sources told ESPN on Monday night. Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) claimed ESPN Fighter of the Year honors when he KOed Marlon Tapales

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 8, 2024, 08:05 PM ET Open Extended Reactions The Nevada State Athletic Commission said Monday that both contestants in Vergil Ortiz’s first-round TKO of Fredrick Lawson on Saturday “were cleared by medical experts to compete without restrictions.” The statement comes one day after referee Tony Weeks claimed in a Facebook post that

Mike Coppinger, ESPNJan 6, 2024, 11:23 PM ET Open Extended Reactions Vergil Ortiz Jr. scored a first-round TKO victory Saturday in Las Vegas in a stoppage that was vehemently disputed by his opponent, Frederick Lawson. Ortiz, in his first fight in 17 months, buckled Lawson with a jab that backed him up. With Lawson lying