Gonzalez Survies Castaneda on PROBOX TV Main Event

Puerto Rican Super Featherweight Orlando Gonzalez was able to move to 22-2 (12) with a plot decision over Laredo, Texan native Jorge Castaneda, who fell to 16-3 (12) via split decision. After winning the battle early, a fatigued and drained Gonzalez held on to win the war by the narrowest of margins. After a high-paced, fast round that saw each fighter land cleanly, Castaneda first with the right hand and then Gonzalez, a southpaw, with the straight left that hurt Castaneda late in the first round. Castaneda was unable to avoid the canvas in the second. The Puerto Rican connected with a right hook to set up a follow-up left hand that dropped the South Texan. Castaneda beat the count and survived the round but barely. Gonzalez rallied in the third, and it began to look like it was going to be a short night. However, Castaneda got going in the fourth and fifth, still eating shots and perhaps not winning rounds, but changing the tempo of the fight. Castaneda pushed forward and began chopping away at Gonzalez. However, in the sixth, Gonzalez had what would be his last moment and staggered his opponent with another left to temporarily halt any progress and momentum of the Texan. Castaneda seized control of the fight in the seventh as he pushed forward and scored with a vicious left uppercut throughout the remainder of the fight. Gonzalez was clearly in survival mode, using every inch of the ring to avoid Castaneda. Castaneda clearly won the final six minutes. However, it proved not to be enough as Gonzalez won on two of three cards, 96-93, 97-92, with the third judge favoring the aggression of Castaneda 95-94.

On the undercard portion, a star was born in Tarik Zaina, who boxed beautifully and picked up the biggest win of his career to move to, 13-0-1 (8), by beating down a game and rugged Marcelino Nicolas Lopez of Argentina.

Fight Week Preivew

Boxing stays hot this week with another big fight week! Following up from the past two weeks, we get three big cards again this week.

The action again kicks off with a crossroads fight in what promises to be an all-action main event on the PROBOX TV Series as Laredo, Texas, Native Jorge Castaneda, 16-2 (12), looks to make it two stoppages in a row this year and get back in the world title picture at 130 or even 126t pounds as he says he can make. he battles Orlando Gonzalez 21-2 (12) of Puerto Rico. A win puts the victor back on the title track and makes the loser irrelevant at least for the moment. Castaneda scored a vicious KO of-the-year knockout in the eighth round of his last fight with Nestor Medellin back in July. Gonzalez last fought in July as well and scored a 10-round UD over Ramiro Cesena. The undercard features fan favorite Argentine 140-pounder Marcelino Nicolas Lopez 37-3-1 (22) as he battles unbeaten prospect Tarik Zaina, who hails from Morocco.

The action then moves to the UK for a cracking contest between Mick Conlon of Ireland battles "The Thrill" Jordan Gill, 27-2-1 (8), in a 12-round 130-pound fight. Gill last fought 13 months ago and was stopped by Kiko Martinez in four rounds. Conlan, 18-2 (9), was beaten down by Featherweight IBF World champion Luis Alberto Lopez over five rounds back in May. The undercard features the surging Tyrone Mckenna, who bounced back from the Regis Prograis beatdown by dismantling Chris Jenkins over the scheduled 10 rounds. He battles unbeaten upstart Lewis Crocker, who sports a shiny record of 17-0 (10) but has no names of note on his resume outside of aged-out former world title challenger Joel Julio, whom he beat back in April in Glasgow, Scotland.

The action concludes in the Lone Star State as Ryan Garcia makes his first appearance since the Tank David loss. Garcia, of Victorville, California 23-1 (19) battles the rugged Mexican Osacr Durate 26-1-1 (21). Durate has scored back-to-back wins over touted prospects Alex Martin and D'angelo Keyes in his last two outings. The card also features hard luck loser Ismael Barroso, who suffered the "Robbery of the Year" in what happened to him in his world title bid with Rolly Romero in May, will battle British KO artist Ohara Davies, who stopped Lewis Ritson in his last outing earlier this year. Davies sports a record of 25-2 (18). A loaded Golden Boy card also features a pair of highly touted prospects from the Lone Star State both "Kid Austin" Floyd Schofield and "DFG" Darius Fulghum will be in action.

Pound 4 Pound- Rankings

1. Naoya Inoue

2. Terence Crawford

3. Oleksandr Usyk

4. Dmitry Bivol

5. Artur Beterbiev

6. Canelo

7. Devin Haney

8.Jermell Charlo

9. Juan Francisco Estrada

10 Kenshiro Teraji

Fight Week Preview

It's not a super busy weekend for the sweet science. It is an important one though. We get two massive cards, one on each side of the Atlantic.

The action kicks off in Dublin, Ireland, as Chantelle Cameron looks to play a spoiler to Katie Taylor's homecoming for the second time in six months. Cameron, 18-0 (8) Northamptonshire, UK pulled a major upset in outpointing Taylor and doing the impossible, getting a decision over the Irishwomen. She scored a majority decision in a fight she largely dominated. She will be putting her undefeated record and all of the super lightweight titles on the line against Taylor, 22-1 (6) of Ireland. If Cameron wins she has a good argument for Fighter of the Year, regardless of gender.

Also on the card is touted prospect Paddy Donovan 11-0 (8), of Limerick, Ireland, who will put his unblemished record on the line against tall, rangy Brit Danny Ball 12-1-1 (6), of West Midlands UK. Donovan last fought on the Taylor-Cameron I undercard and stopped Sam O'maison in six lopsided rounds. Ball will be the best fighter the Irishman has faced to date. Ball has won three in a row since his stoppage loss to Ekow Essuman. The Brit last fought in May and stopped Jamie Robinson in eight.

We will get another look at the upcoming prospect "The Diva" Gary Cully, 16-1 (10) of Naas, Ireland. Cully looks to bounce back from his first career loss, a third-round stoppage at the hands of Jose Felix. Cully will battle Reece Mould, 18-1 (6), who has won five in a row since his 9th-round stoppage loss to Leigh Wood in 2021.

The action moves to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the final Showtime PPV ever as David Benavidez, 27-0 (23) collides with Demetrius "Boo Boo" Andrade, 32-0 (19), in a 12-round non-title fight. Benavidez looks to make a bid for Fighter of the Year as well. He has already recorded an impressive unanimous points victory over Caleb Plant in the Spring. "Boo Boo" finally gets the big-time fight that has long escaped him. The now 35-year-old native of Providence, Rhode Island, last fought in January and pummeled Demond Nicholson at the Capital One Arena on the undercard of Tank Davis vs Hector Garcia.

In the co-main event, we get a 10-round non-title fight featuring the return of Jermall Charlo32-0 (22), who returns from a two-and-a-half year layoff and battles former welterweight world title challenge Jose Benavidez, 28-2-1 (19) who bounced back from his thrilling loss to Danny Garcia by stopping Sladan Janjanin* in five back in August. The undercard also features two world title fights as Hector Garcia, 16 -1 (10), puts his WBA Super Featherweight title on the line against Lamont Roach, 23-1-1 (9), who has won four fights in a row since losing his first world title shot to Jamel Herring in a less than memorable but competitive 12-round decision. Rpach has been out of the ring since last July when he outpointed Angel Rodriguez over 12-rounds

Also on the card is fan favorite Puerto Rican KO artist and IBF Junior Featherweight champ Subriel Matias, 19-1 (19), who takes on undefeated Uzbekh challenge Shohjahon Ergashev, 23-0 (20). Ergashev last fought over a year ago as well and stopped Angel Martinez in five rounds.

Weekend Recap: Nathan Heaney and Diego Pacheco Shine on Saturday

On the busiest midweek of boxing that we have had in my boxing life memory, also produced a very entertaining weekend of boxing!! One exciting card in the UK and another in the US.

The action kicked off in the UK, and we got a pretty good candidate for upset of the year as 34-year-old Staffordshire, UK called Nathan Heaney upset Denzel Washington. Washington was coming off a career-best performance, a 1st round KO of Keiran Smith back in April. After a competitive first half of the fight that saw Heaney behind but very much in the fight, he really started to pick up the pace, and it caused a memorable slugfest in the eight that started getting people thinking, "Upset alert!" The high-paced action kept up. Going into the championship rounds, Heaney really started leaning in and finished with a 30-second rally that seemed to seal the deal for the Staffordshire native, and the judges concurred. Heaney took a Majority decision by scores of 117-111,116-113, and 114-114 even, on the third card. Heaney moves to 18-0 (6).

In the co-main, in a battle of the little men, Nick Ball came up big and established himself as a legitimate world title contender by outlasting former 122-pound world champ Isaac Dogboe. The fighters often looked like a mirror image. In the third round, a questionable knockdown was ruled a slip. It was a 50/50 call, which went in favor of the British Ball, who took full advantage and seized control of the fight, working and outlanding the former World champion. Dogboe had moments and was tough, but struggled to stay competitive in a fight that Ball was winning rounds wider and wider as they went on. Ball scored a knockdown of his own in the fourth, and by the final few rounds, Dogboe was fighting as hard as he could but was clearly fading as Ball began punching Dogboe and removing any questions as he rolled to a wide UD by scores of 19-0 (11) and Dogboe fell tell 24-34 (15).

In a thrilling fight between two undefeated superbantamweights, Liam Davies got up off the canvas after he and Vincenzo La Femina traded third-round knockdowns and seized control of the fight. A third and final knockdown occurred late in the fourth as Davies caught the Italian with a quick left hook. The knockdown was the writing on the wall, and the onslaught was on. The Brit drove La Femina into the ropes and unleashed a whirlwind of powerful and accurate shots that left him defenseless as the referee stepped in and stopped the fight at the 2:50 mark. Davies moved his record to 15-0 (7).

In the US, the action was just as hot as undefeated Super Middleweight prospect Diego Pacheco remained just that, an undefeated prospect as he stopped the determined and skilled Argentine contender Marcelo Coceres. Unbeaten WBO #3, IBF #5, WBC #6, WBA #8 super middleweight Diego Pacheco (20-0, 17 KOs) scored a show stopping ninth-round knockout at the Youtube Theatre in Inglewood, California. Coceres often had much resistance and had people wondering in upset was in the air through eight. However, Pacheo closed the show in the ninth. Pacheco scored with a perfect uppercut that put Coceres down. The Argentine looked up at the ref and opted not to get up. The official time was 2:53 of round number nine.

Longshot bantamweight challenger Jonathan Rodriguez,17-1-1, (7) scored a shocking first-round TKO over former world champion Kal Yafai to claim the vacant WBA Intercontinental title. Rodriguez dropped Yafai twice including once less than a minute into the opening stanza. The barrage was relentless as Yafai was defenseless. The official time came at 2:17 of the opening round.

In his first ten-rounder, unbeaten lightweight Marc Castro looked pretty good in moving to 11-0 (8). He stopped a tough-as-nails Gonzalo Fuenzalida in the scoring with a barrage of power shots that landed with varying degrees of accuracy however, it forced the referee in for the mercy stoppage at 2:31 of the seventh round.

Stevenson Wins in Snoozefest! Navarrete & Conceicao Go To War

On a Thursday on prime time, the stage was supposed to be set for a star-making performance from Newark, native 26-year-old  Shakur Stevenson, who looked to become a three-division world champion against Edwin De Los Santos of the Dominican Republic. The entire boxing elite class was in attendance. Andre Ward, Terence Crawford, and Floyd Mayweather were all there to see the New Jerseyan shine. At the end of an incredibly lackluster and unimpressive 12 rounds that saw neither fighter land double-digit punches in any round, Stevenson accomplished the goal. He eked out a 12-round unanimous decision to capture the WBO Lightweight title,  a world title in his third weight class, unanimously by scores of 116-112 x2 and 115-113. The fight was so dull, lackluster, and uneventful that it gets no further write-up. Stevenson moved his record to 21-0 (10).

We got an absolute barnburner in the co-main event and made a good case for Fight of the Year. Robson Conceicao and current WBO Super Featherweight champ Emanuel Navarrete fought to a draw. Conceicao got off to a good start and dominated the first three rounds out-boxing the champion from Mexico. However,  Navarrete dropped Conceicao in the fourth with a right hand to the side of the Brazilian head and then knocked him down again three rounds later with a right to the body. However, the combination of punching and skills carried him through all of the other rounds seemingly.  Through seven rounds the fight was 5-2 but extremely tight on the cards due to a pair of 10-8 rounds. Conceicao bounced back and outworked and outlanded his opponent in rounds 8 and 9. However, he was beginning to seriously fatigue, and the only question left was whether he could survive the final 9 minutes. Rounds 10 and 11 were all-time keepers. The Brazilian would win the rounds early and land more, but Navarette would have a moment or two where it looked like Conceicao was about to go. The former Gold Medalist saved his best for last with a ferocious three-minute rally that earned him a  draw by scores of 113-113 and 114-112 in favor of the champ. The draw moves Conceicao's record to 17-2-1 (8) and 0-2-1 in world title fights. Navarrete had his win streak snapped at 33, his record now stands at 38-1-1 (31).

In the undercard portion, that streamed live on ESPN+, Floyd Diaz, was perhaps awarded a gift decision over Max Ornelas. He scored two early knockdowns in the second and third rounds, which were clean knockdowns, but at no point did Ornelas seem hurt. Either way, they were 10-8 rounds for "Cashflow", who seemingly lost every other round but was awarded the decision by Dave Moretti, the brother of Top Rank VP Carl Moretti, who disgustingly gave just two rounds to Ornelas. Morretti is no doubt the worst judge in the sport when he wants to be. The other judges, Glen Feldmann scored it 76-74 for Ornelas, and the third and deciding judge scored it an inappropriate 77-73, that was Tim Cheetham.  Also, Brian Norman moved to 25-0 (19) with a lackluster UD victory over Quinton Randall, who dropped to 13-1-1 (3). The prospect of the Year contender Abdullah Mason scored a devastating second ko with a single right hand in the second round of Jose Cardenas of Laredo, Texas. The 19-year-old blue chipper moved his record to 11-0 (9).

Johan Gonzalez Outlasts Guido Schramm in Thriller

For the second straight day, boxing hardcores were blessed with a midweek card, and it was a doozy. In the main event, Johann Gonzalez escaped with a controversial decision. Gonzalez, a native of Venezuela, picked up a majority decision victory to move his record to 34-2 (3). It was actually the first decision the veteran has ever won in his 36-fight career. However, most felt it was the Argentine Guido Schramm who deserved the nod.

Gonzalez struck first with the first punch of meaning perfect left hook a minute into the second round. The Venezuelan was able to land quick, short shots on the inside, including a right uppercut midway through the stanza to take the round. Schramm did not work behind the jab, instead, he tried to slip his way in but often ate shots from long range. When the Argentine did get on the inside, he did some good work and was quite busy. Gonzalez had most of his success when he could keep his opponent at arm's length and nail him with his right hand. Schramm certainly had moments where he could slip his way onto the inside, and that's when the action picked up. Both guys landed, but Schramm landed cleaner and harder shots. It appeared the Argentine was maybe losing rounds, but appeared to be winning the war. It was Gonzalez who appeared to be wearing down as Schramm continued to make it a phone booth fight. Hernandez was still landing clean clean shots from long range but appeared to be gassing. A massive right hand from Schramm ended the seventh that really shook Gonzalez up right before the bell. The Venezuelan rallied back in the eighth round and buckled Schramm with an overhand right, and scored with some good body shots as well. With the fight up for grabs, Schramm came out quickly to start the ninth. He aggressively applied the pressure and even started jabbing and doubling up the jab. Schramm applied pressure throughout the final six minutes. He dictated the pace and outworked Gonzalez, trying to steal the fight in the final six minutes. However, a lot of his aggression was snuffed out by Gonzalez, and it was largely ineffective. The judges favored the early boxing and clean shots of Gonzalez by majority decision with scores of 96-94 & 97-93, and 95-95 even.

In the co-main event, Justin Pauldo put on a star-making performance. Pauldo, originally of Orlando, Florida, came out strong, scoring the uppercut in the left hook. The stout, stocky fighter beat up his opponent, Jerry Perez, who just went the distance with Jo Jo Diaz from the opening bell on. By the end of the second round, Perez's face was a bloody mess. Pauldo controlled the tempo and distance in the fight, walking Perez backwards and being selective with his shots. He scored with a precise left hook that rocked Perez midway through the second. The Floridian wasted no shots and picked apart his opponent. Perez tried valiantly to stay competitive and landed some clean body shots. Going to the body was clearly the game plan for Perez. However, it wouldn't slow his opponent down as Pauldo landed with a right hand and a lightning-quick left hook to end the third. At the end of round three, Perez was bleeding profusely from his nose and was taking a tremendous beating, causing the referee to wave off the bout in the corner after round three.

In a bizarre fight veteran and former world title challenger Juan Velasco was finally DQ'd in his fight with Jimmy "Kilrain" Kelly. Kelly was putting on a demo against what appeared to be an out-of-shape and unmotivated Velasco. Kelly dominated every moment of the fight till the bizarre ending. Velasco and Kelly collided heads early in the 5th, and Velasco appeared to want out of the fight. Velasco was told by the ref to go fight. He gave it one last shout and tried to jump in on Kelly. When the two clinched, Velasco began head-butting Kelly. The ref broke the two fighters. Velasco twice shoved the female referee, who waved the scrap off and DQ'd Velasco.

Also on the card was 18-year-old phenom Emiliano Moreano of Long Beach, California, who unleashed a vicious body attack and scored three knockdowns in the second round knockout to finish off his opponent Daniel Lim and got the stoppage at the 2:59 mark of the 2nd round.

Claggett, Butler, Plus a Young Blue-Chipper Score Big at the Montreal Casino

Seven loss, 34-year-old Calgary, Alberta, native Steve Claggett has got himself on the verge of fighting for a world title. The veteran can not help but be in an exciting fight. Tuesday night at the Montreal Casino, there was a pretty good scrap between Claggett and Mexican veteran Miguel Madueno 30-2 (28). A good toe to toe fight that Clagget got the best of it. A counter left hook, and a right hand buckled Madueno in the second. The pair fought at a frantic pace early on. It was Claggett landing the more attention-getting shots, and out-hustling the Mexican. Claggett scored with a big right hand with 30 seconds left in the third. Madueno was simply showing too much real estate, and the work rate of Claggett found its mark enough to carry round after round. Madueno chopped away with right hands and left hooks of his own, but he was constantly outworked and outlanded. A big right hand at the end of the sixth scored for the Canadian that buckled Madueno. Late in the fight, the only question left was, could Claggett get the stoppage? The Canadian scored with an uppercut late in the seventh that staggered Madueno with less than a minute to go in the round, and he followed up with a barrage of shots. Madueno came out aggressively in the 9th, but it was short-lived as Claggett regained control and made Madueno target practice for the remainder of the 10-round affair, picking him apart on the inside, landing hooks and right hands at will. The decision was academic, and Claggett moved his record to 37-7-2 (25) with Scores of 99-91X2 and 98-92.

In the co-main event, fan favorite Steve Butler of Montreal, Canada, moved his record to 33-4-1 (27) by picking up a ninth-round TKO of Ivan Alvarez of Mexico. The Montrealer got off to a quick start and didn’t let off the gas. Butler was able to score with several right hands in the opening round and did not start slowly like he has done so many times in the past. Butler scored with basic 1-2's, as he built up a lead on the cards early in the fight. He was clearly the quicker fighter and constantly beat Alvarez to the punch. He'd mixed in some body shots on Alverez, who had a history of not liking body shots. Butler was able to walk his man back into the ropes and fire, clean, right hands. Alvarez did not appear to be in the best condition, with his loose belly hanging over his trunks, which seemed a step too slow as Butler would drop his hands a la Pernell Whitaker and make Alvarez miss over and over again. There was some confusion at the end of the fourth round, with both guys hitting each other very late. Alverez reached around the referee to hit Butler, but somehow no points were deducted. The Canadian began showboating and antagonizing his opponent, which may have served as some motivation. Alvaro showed some life in the sixth and seventh rounds. The Mexican scored with a big uppercut in the sixth. Then in the seventh, a left hook -right hand combo scored cleanly, which hurt Butler. Alvarez delivered a big right hand midway through the seventh that again hurt Butler. With the fight perhaps tightening up on the cards and the momentum shifting. Butler got going. He scored with a nice left hook -right-hand combo early in the ninth round that backed Alverez into the corner. Butler unleashed a barrage of power shots that dropped his opponent. After the longest count in history, Alverez continued. Butler stayed heavy on the front foot and scored a big right halfway through the ninth, and another against hurt Alvarez with about a minute to go in the round, Butler dropped his man again with another whirlwind of shots, and Alvarez dropped again. He seemed more exhausted than hurt, and the fight was rightly waved off with around 30 seconds left in the round.

Also on the undercard was touted prospect 18-year-old Wilkens Mathieu, from Quebec, Canada, and the youngster impressed. Nathieu showed off skills, ring IQ, and combination punching in dominating a rugged and game opponent in Grzegorz Mardyla. Taking a 60-54 x3 decision, scoring a shout-out on all three cards in the scheduled six-round super middleweight affair.

Fight Week Preview: 11/13-19

After what amounted to a no-show week for the sweet science fight-hardcore will be rewarded with a non-stop week of boxing. With Cards on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all in North America, and then two Saturday cards with one on each side of the Atlantic.

The action starts in Canada on a Tuesday at the Montreal Casino, as Steve Claggett, 36-7-2 (25), steps in with Mexican contender Miguel Madueno 30-1 (28). Claggett is having a resurgence in 2023, with three wins already this calendar year, stopping Rafael Guzman Lugo and Alberto Mercado and outclassing and unboxing Carlos Sanchez in September. It will be another quick turnaround as he battles Madueno, who has won three in a row and all by stoppage since his 2022 loss to former world title holder Jezzrel Corrales. He last fought in July and stopped an 11-34-3 (1) named Edgar Daniel Ahumada. The card also features Canadian fan favorite Steve Butler 32-4-1, (26), who was stopped by Zhanibek Alimkhanuly for the WBO Super Middleweight strap in his last outing in May. He will take a tune-up with Ivan Alvarez 32-14-4 (21), who beat Damon Sosa in his last fight in April.

The action moved to Florida for the Return of PROBOX TV, and Guido Schramm, 16-1-2 (9), is looking to come back from his draw with Paul Kroll in August and will battle with the dangerous and experienced Johan Gonzalez 33-2 (33). Gonzalez has knocked out every opponent he has faced, including in his most recent bout against Ricardo Ruben Villalba in August, also on PROBOX. The undercard features Justin Pauldo, 16-1 (7), who last fought and outpointed Eduardo Estela also on PROBOX, and takes on Jerry Perez, 14-3-1 (11), who gave a valiant effort against former world champ JoJo Diaz in San Antonio this summer. There's also an intriguing matchup of a rugged veteran as Kilrain Kelly of Ireland, 27-3 (10), battles Juan Jose Velasco in a 10-round middleweight affair. Velasco has been stopped by world champions Mario Barrios and Regis Prograis at 140.

We get the week's biggest card on Thursday for the vacant WBO Middleweight title as Shakur Stevenson, a former feather and super featherweight title holder, looks to become a three-division world champion as he puts his perfect 20-0 (10) record on the line against rugged Dominican contender Edwin De Los Santos, 16-1 (14), De Los Santos has won three in a row since losing to William Foster III in early 2022. He most recently fought Joseph Adorno and dominated Adorno over ten lopsided rounds in July in Atlantic City. The co-main event is another thrilling fight between WBO Super Featherweight title holder Emanuel Navarette, 38-1 (31), who is coming off a career-best performance against Oscar Valdez in August and takes on former Olympic Gold Medalist Robson Conceicao of Brazil. Conceciao won a gold medal in 2016. He lost to Shakur Stevenson in 2022 and had to settle for a No Contest with Nicholas Polanco at Madison Square Garden this summer. The card also features touted prospects Brian Norman, Floyd Diaz, and Abdullah Mason in step-up fights.

The weekend action kicks off on Saturday in the UK as Denzel Bentley returns fresh off his KO victory over Kieran Smith to battle unbeaten prospect Nathan Heaney, 17-0 (6), at the Manchester Arena. Heaney has scored back-to-back victories over Jack Flatley in late 2022 and 2023. Bentley sports a record of 18-2-1 (15) and has had an up-and-down career that usually ends in a knockout. He was stopped by Felix Cash in three rounds and has scored a KO in 15 of his 18 wins. The chief support Vincenzo La Femina of Italy puts his 13-0 (7) against Liam Davies 14-0 (6) in a battle of unbeaten. The Italian last fought in June and stopped Geram Eloyan in 8-rounds. Davies scored the best win of his career stopping Jason Cunningham in the first round in July. Also, two little men will bang it out in what promises to be a thrilling fight as Nick Ball, 18-0 (11), battles former 122-pound world champ Isaac Dogboe, 24-3 (15), in a 12-round featherweight.

In the final card, Diego Pacheco, 19-0 (16), battles Marcelo Coceres, 32-5-1 (18) of Argentina in the 10-round main event at the YouTube Theatre in Inglewood, California. Pacheco last fought in Mexico in July and stopped Manuel Gallegos in four. Coceres last fought in his home nation and stopped Leonel Eduardo Avila in the second round back in May. The card also features former world super flyweight champion Kal Yafai, 27-1 (15), battles Jonathan Rodriguez, 16-1-1 (6), who is coming off a sensational win over Marvin Solano via UD back in August. Also on the card is all-world prospect Marc Castro, 10-0 (7), who will step up and take his first 10-round fight and battle Gonzalo Fuenzalida 12-2 (3), who is best known for being stopped by Claudio Marrero in the Alamodome earlier this year.

Fighter of the Week (10/30-11/5): Adrian Curiel

Eddie Heard has put many of his top young fighters in the ring with rugged young Mexican and Mexican-American fighters without a perfect record. Rugged opponents he thought would present a challenge but ultimately get outboxed. He has not had good results with this method to say the least. Saturday in Monte Carlo was no exception. Adrian Curiel walked into the ring with four losses and a draw at just 24 years old. He walked out without a KO of the year candidate, his 24th win, his fifth KO, a name no one will forget, Sivenathi Nontshinga's IBF Light Flyweight title, and our Fighter of the Week award.

If this fight didn't look like much on paper, you could sense it was going to be something special as soon as the opening bell rang. Nothing began giving ground to the front foot-heavy Curiel. Clearly not a fan of Curiel's power. He was looking to walk the Mexican onto his hard power shots. Curiel was able to close the distance. The Champion was able to get onto the inside and dig with bodywork, however, it ended up playing into the hands of Curiel who was happy to engage with the South African Champion. With both men wanting the fight on the inside, the drama was building in the second round, and the ending came abruptly. Nontshinga threw out a lazy jab that Curiel saw from a mile away and fired off the biggest right hand of his life. The right hand put Nontshinga out before he hit the floor. The official time of the shocking upset was 1:09 of round two.

Curiel has made himself a recognizable name with his stunning knockout of the year candidate and is now a candidate for Upset of the Year, as well. The Mexican Light Flyweight will clearly have plenty of doors open to him now. A match-up with unified WBA/WBC Champ Kenshiro in Japan would certainly be the most profitable opponent. A unification bout with WBO Champ Jonathan Gonzalez would be an intriguing chapter of the Puerto Rico vs Mexico rivalry. The other option would be to jump up to 112, a division he has competed at before, and take on the winner of Bam Rodriguez vs Sunny Edwards showdown next month.

Fight Week Preview

Fight Week Preview

After an absolute clown show stole the boxing headlines and overshadowed the Round of the Year and potentially the Fight of the Year. We get three cards this week, with Two in the US and one in Monaco. Two-weekend cards and another midweek card.

The action kicks off on Wednesday in Plant City, Florida as the PROBOX TV series resumes. Janelson Bocachica looks to get back in the win column after a two-fight slide. Bocachica, of Detroit, Michigan, is coming off a lopsided loss to Romain Villa and, before that, a draw with Shinard Bunch. He will battle Alberto Palmetta of Argentina in the main event. Palmetto, 18-2 (13), also looks to get back in the win column after a points loss to Jamal James in February. Also, in action is former Super Bantamweight world champion Angelo Leo. He looks to move his win streak to two as he battles slick Dominican contender Nicholas Polanco, 20-4-1 (11). Polanco has dropped three consecutive contests to Jaime Arboleda, Albert Bell, and Oscar Alvarez. Dropping decisions to all three. Leo sports a 21-1 (9) record. Also on the card is undefeated Puerto Rican Super Middleweight contender Luis Rodriguez, who will put his 12-0 (11) record on the line against Sanny Duversonne, 12-5-2 (9), a veteran who has been in the ring with the likes of Alex Rincon, Nikita Ababiy, Brandon Adams and Lorenzo Simpson. He ended his five-fight losing streak by stopping Saul Almeida in four rounds in April.

The weekend action begins in Monte Carlo, Monaco as IBF Super Featherweight champ Joe Cordina of Cardiff Wales puts his strap and perfect 16-0, (9)record on the line against surging prospect Edward Vazquez of Fort Worth, Texas. Edwards dropped a 10-round decision to Raymond Ford in 2022, which was the "Robbery of the Year '' this is the lone blemish on Vazquez's resume. He has run off four victories in a row since, including his last victory a thrilling 10-round points decision over Brayan De Gracaia in July in Frisco, Texas to run his record to 15-1 (3). Cordina is technically a two-time IBF 130-pound champ. He initially won the strap in June 2022.by stopping Kenichi Ogawa in the second round. He came back and took a competitive decision over Shavkat Dzhon

Rakhimov won the strap back when he was forced to vacate the belt due to an Injury. The undercard features undefeated IBF Light Flyweight champ Sivenathi Nontshinga, 12-0 (9) of South Africa against Adrian Curiel. Plus Frenchmen Souleymane Cissokho, 16-0 (9) against Mexican Pressure fighter Isaias Lucero 16-1 (10).

The action concludes in Lake Tahoe as heavyweight contender Efe Ajagba, 18-1 (13), battles Joseph Goodall in a 10-round attraction. The card also features 18-0 (15), Raymond Muratalla returning to the ring for the first time since his sensational second-round TKO of Jeremia Nakathila. He squares up with fellow 18-0 fighter Diego Torres of Mexico. In another intriguing bout, 18-0 (10), Henry Lebron battles undefeated William Foster Jr 16-0 (10), who is coming off of a 9th-round TKO of Misael Lopez less than two months ago.

Fight Week Preview 10/16-10/22

Boxing bounces back this week with a quality week of fights. Nothing, spectacular but three solid cards to entertain the boxing head. A midweek card from a familiar series and two Saturday cards. One on each side of the pond.

The action kicks off in Plant City, Florida, as the PROBOX TV Series gives the fight fans their Wednesday night fix! In the main event, "Bulletproof" Brandon Glanton looks to get back in the Cruiserweight world title picture. Glanton, 17-2 (14), of Atlanta, Georgia, took close and very controversial losses in his last two fights to David Light and Soslan Asbarov. He will battle little-known Cuban puncher Carlos Formenta 12-1 (7), who has won 12 in a row since dropping his professional debut.

A very intriguing undercard features promising blue chippers Najee Lopez, and Darrelle Valsaint. In another intriguing scrap, Cesar Mateo Tapia, an undefeated Mexican who fights out of Australia, puts his 15-0 (9), record on the line against Eric Robles, 9-2 (8), in a super middleweight fight.

The action then moves to the UK as Jack Catterall, 27-1 (14), battles former multi-divisional world champion Jorge Linares. Linares, 47-8 (29), originally from Venezuela, now fights out of Japan and lost three fights in a row, all to world-class competition, Devin Haney in 2021 and Zaur Abdullaev and Zhora Hamazaryan in 2022. He has not won a fight since 2020 when he blasted out Carlos Morales before the pandemic. Catterall will look to continue to bounce back after losing to Josh Taylor, in a very controversial decision back in February of 2022. After a 15-month layoff, he outclassed Darragh Foley in May and took a lopsided decision.

The undercard features a big step-up bout, for undefeated prospects Aqib Fiaz and Reece Bilotti. Fiaz, 12-0 (1), needs to prove his power or lack thereof will continue to translate at the highest level. His best win to date is Costin Ion, In May, where he found himself on the canvas and had to rally to get the points victory. Reece Bellotti, 6-5 (3), is a domestic-level fighter, a good one that falls just short at the highest levels. He fell short to Freanceso Grandelli, Raymond Ford, and Jordan Gill but picked up wins in his last two fights against Dean Dodge and Youssef Khoumari. Also on the card is a high-level showdown between undefeated little men as 7-0 (5), Peter McGrail puts his undefeated record on the line against Colombian Fran Mendoza, 17-0 (7), who fights out of Spain.

The weekend concludes back in the US in a must-win Welterweight fight for both men. The WBO's top-ranked welterweight Alexis Rocha, 23-1 (15) battles Giovanni Santillian, 31-0(16) in a California affair that no doubt has world title iplications. Rocha, who hails from Irvine, has won seven in a row since his lone defeat to Rashidi Ellis, including his most recent win against Anthony Young in May. He battles the undefeated Santillian of San Diego, who last fought in July and soundly defeated veteran Erick Bone.

The undercard features a couple of intriguing bouts as Scrappy Ramirez battles Ronal Batista in a 12-round super flyweight affair. Also, fan favorite JoJo Diaz, 33-4-1 (15), looks to get back into the world title picture as he takes on San Antonio-based prospect "El Castigo" Ricky Medina, 15-1 (8). Medina is considered by his Alamo City peers as the next San Antonian to win a world title, he can take a major step in that direction with a win over Diaz.

Armando Casamonica Captures IBF Youth Title in Rome

There is a star in the making in Rome, Italy. Unbeaten 140-pound Italian prospect Armando "La Furia del Quadraro" Casamonica picked up the biggest win of his career on Friday in Rome at the Teatro Italia as well as the IBF Youth strap by stopping Patrizio Santini in six lopsided rounds. La Furia del Quadraro pushed the pace in the first round with flurries. Quick, sharp combinations got him onto the inside, where he would shoe-shine and score with accuracy. Casamonica continued to pump the double jab and get on to the inside. He demonstrated a level of quickness and athleticism that Santini had no hope of matching. Midway through the third the Roman landed a left hand from the southpaw stance that buzzed his opponent. Casamonica slammed on the gas and unleashed a prolonged combination with Santini up against the ropes, which had the ref looking in closely. Casamonica kept up the high work rate, and with combination punching, he switched seamlessly between the southpaw and conventional stance, keeping Santini uncomfortable. In round six, again in the southpaw stance, he staggered Santini with a left and trapped him in the corner. Casamonica went for broke and was awarded a knockdown. Santini continued, but Casamonica unleashed a whirlwind of punches and overwhelmed Santini, bringing in the referee to call a halt to the bout, with roughly a minute to go in the sixth. Casamonica improved to 12-0 (3), and Santini fell to 10-2 (3).

In the co-main event Francesco Russo, of Rome, Italy, bounced back from his fourth-round KO loss to Christian Mazzon back in March and picked up a one-punch body shot KO of Carlos Sandoval. With 18 ticks left in the opening stanza, the Italian landed a left hook to the liver of Sandoval that put him down, and was unable to beat the count. Russo, improved to 13-3 (11).

In a prelim bout, Italian middleweight Francesco Faraoni improved to 4-0 (1) in a really impressive six-round points victory over Milan Delic of Serbia. A long, rangy 160-pounder who is defensively responsible worked patiently and accurately behind a high guard and a quick jab. By round three, he began pouring in the right hands & the left hooks to the body. Faraoni put the first two rounds in the bank, and by the third, he picked up the pace and started hurting his Serbian opponent. Sitting down and committing to his power shots. He scored with right hands from a litany of angels. The fourth saw more of the same, and Delic was getting hurt and in retreat. The only question remained was if the bout would reach the final bell. The Italian decided to play it safe and not push for the KO. Faraoni continued putting on a boxing clinic, scored with clean one-twos ran out the clock, and secured a clear-cut decision.

Bazinyan + Two Prospect Shine in Montreal

Montreal Canda hosted a crossroads fight between undefeated prospect Erik Bazinyan, a 28-year-old Candain who is ranked #2 by the WBA at the 168-pound division, and long-time contender Ronald Ellis of Lynn, Massachusettes. Both fighters desperately need a win to show they should be mentioned at the elite level. The fight started off a bit slow and a battle of the jabs it was tit for tat type of affair where the Armanian-born Canadian seemed to eek out round after round for the first five rounds. With the fight perhaps slipping away, the American tried to pick up the pace and bring the fight to Bazinyan in the sixth. For his increased effort, Ellis ate a massive right hand that put him on the seat of his pants at the midway point of the stanza. A courageous and determined Ellis got to his feet by the time referee Alain Villeneuve got to eight, but his legs were clearly not fully underneath him, and Villeneuve waved off the bout at the 1:44 mark of round number six. Bazinyan improved his record to 31-0 (22), and Ellis fell to 18-4-2 (12).

The card also featured a pair of highly impressive prospects that put the boxing world on notice. Mexican-born and Canadian-based Christopher Guerrero moved to 9-0 (5) with a one-sided beatdown of veteran Jose Lopez who fell to 30-9 (16). Also, a star was born Jhon Orobio of Colombia but on an impressive display of athleticism and power. Orobio put together quick and powerful combinations that landed on the button. The former Colombian soccer player dazzled Jesus Solis Reyes and scored a fourth-round TKO. The Colombian prospect has scored five stoppages in his five professional bouts.

Fight Week Preview

It's a busy but not spectacular week of boxing with four fights in three separate countries. Two decent mid-week fights and two big-time cards on Saturday.

The action kicks off in New York City on a Tuesday as the Hebrew Hammer returns from a nearly two-year layoff to battle with Patrick Okine at the Sony Hall in the main event of the Boxing Insider card. Seldin, 26-1 (22), last fought William Silva at the Garden and scored a seventh-round KO in October 2021. Okine, 21-5-2 (18) of Accra, Ghana, is best known for being stopped by Lee Selby in 2021 in a 126-pound fight. This battle will be contested at the 140-pound limit.

The mid-week action moves north of the border on Wednesday with a big-time fight for highly touted Canadian Prospect Erik Bazinyan, who puts his 30-1 (21) record on the line against skilled contender Ronald Ellis, 18-3-2 (12), in Montreal. Canada. Ellis, a world-class fighter from Lynn, Massachusetts, is coming off back-to-back losses to David Benavidez and Christian Mbilli in 2021. In February, Bazinyan had the best victory of his career in outpointing Alantez Fox in a very close and controversial decision. The Canadian came back four months later and outpointed Jose de Jesus Macias.

The weekend action Kicks off in Roseberg, Texas as a major unification headlines a low key very loaded card. WBO middleweight champion Zhanibek Alimkhanuly 14-0 (9), of Kazakhstan, will look to defend his version of the middleweight crown and add Vincenzo Gualtieri's IBF strap. Gualtieri is largely unknown to even hardcore. He hails from Germany 21-0-1(7) and won his strap by outpointing Esquiva Falco in July. Alimkhanuly, a massive betting favorite, last fought in May and blew out Steve Butler in two rounds. A prospect-loaded undercard features Olympians Keyshawn Davis, 2021 Prospect of the Year Duke Reagan, and Ricardo Torrez in step-up fights.

The weekend action concludes in Australia as Tim Tszyu puts his WBO Jr Middleweight strap on the line in a really intriguing bout with Brain Mendoza. Mendoza,22-2 (16), is coming off of a KO of the year performance of Sebastian Fundora in April. Tszyu, 23-0 (17) of Australia, is likely the leader in the clubhouse for Fighter of the Year. He has stoppage victories over Tony Harrison (TKO-9) and Carlos Ocampo (KO 1). In the co-main event, undefeated super bantamweight prospect Sam Goodman, 15-0 (7), who eked out a decision victory over Ra'eese Aleem in June, is back to take on fan-favorite pressure fighter Miguel Flores of Houston, Texas. Flores, 25-4-1 (12), is coming off a draw with future Hall of Famer Abner Mares last September and has been inactive for the last 13 months.

Fight Week Preview

Following up on the mega fight from last week we get a pretty intriguing week of boxing. A mid-week card and two cards to fill up our Saturday.

The action kicks off in a familiar site, the Whitesands Event Center in Plant City, Florida as the PROBOX TV Series continues on. In the main event former world title challenger Pablo Cesar Cano, 34-8-1 (24), who has shared the ring with Paulie Mlaignaggi, and Shane Mosley and has wins over Ashley Rheophane and Mauricio Herrera and has a first-round KO of Jorge Linares returns to the ring and battles Brooklyn, NY native Zachary Ochoa, 21-3 (7) in a ten round main event. Ochoa is looking to bounce back from a two-fight losing streak. In his last two outings, he dropped a close decision to world title challenger Juan Jose Velasco and then was stopped by Brandun Lee last April on the undercard of Spence-Ugas.

Also on the card are undefeated prospects Omar Salcido of Mexico who puts his shiny 17-0 (12) record on the line against Jose Nunez, 15-0-2 (7) in a battle of unbeaten Super Featherweight.

Lightweight Canadian KO artist Trevor Thonson, who has 8 KO's in 8 pro fights, also returns and will battle Williw Shaw, 14-5 (10) who has been the distance with prospects like Omar Juarez and Joseue Vargas.

The action then moves to the UK on Saturday as we have a fan-friendly can't-miss scrap between "Leigh-That" Leigh Wood, 27-3 (16), who battles Josh Warrington, 31-2-1 (8), for Wood's WBA Super Featherweight world title. Wood won the belt in his rematch with Mauricio Lara in May after being stopped by Lara in February. Warrington held the IBF featherweight title from 2018-19 and in 2022. He lost his belt to Luis Alberto Lopez in late 2022 in a very close and competitive Fight of the Year type scrap. He has not fought since. The undercard features Hopet Price, 11-0 (4), in a battle of unbeatable prospects as he battles Connor Coghill, 14-0 (1), in a fight, that is almost certainly going the distance. Also, Kieron Conway19-3-1(4), bounced back nicely from his points loss to Austin Williams by outpointing Jorge Silva on the Wood-Lara I undercard. He will battle Linus Udofia 18-1 (9) in a 12-round affair. Udofia dropped a hotly contested split decision to Denzel Bentley for the British Middleweight belt in May.

On the evening's final card, we got an intriguing fan-friendly slugfest between two former light heavyweight world champions as former WBO Light Heavyweight champ Joe Smith Jr, 28-4 (22) battles Gilberto Ramirez, 44-1 (30) meet-up at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas in a cruiserweight fight. Each combatant looks to rebound from an L in their previous fight. Ramirez dropped a decision to Dmitri Bviol in Abu Dhabi last year before barely missing weight and having his only fight thus far in 2023 canceled. Smith Jr. of Mastic, New York, was destroyed by Artur Beterbiev at the Mecca of Boxing last June. The co-main event is an intriguing middleweight fight between Bektemir Melikuziev, 12-1 (9), against Alantez Fox, 28-4-1 (13), who looks to bounce back from a controversial loss to Canadian Erik Bazinyan. Melikuziev has won five in a row since his stunning KO loss to Gabe Rosado in 2021, including his last win, a UD victory over Rosado in April. The card also features prospect Rajon Chance of New Jersey, Tristian Kalkreuth, and Darius Fulghum.

Fight Weekend Recap: Canelo, Opetaia defend Straps! Barrios Shines, Ramos Robbed!

Canelo and Opetaia defend titles Barrios Shines Ramos Robbed!

In the evening's biggest fight, Mexican Legend and undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez remained just that as he easily outpointed Houston, Texas native Jermell Charlo who was the undisputed junior middleweight champion.

Charlo refused to engage with the legend for most of the fight and seemed content with losing a decision. Trainer Derrick James pleaded with him to get going, but Charlo would not oblige. Alvarez floored the Texan in Round 7 with a perfectly placed right hand. The taste of Canelo's power seemed to scare Charlo straight, and he refused to engage. Charlo mustered up a bit of offense in rounds five and six and may have won a round or two in there, but his success was few and far between as Alvarez rook a clear and obvious lopsided unanimous decision by scores of 118-109x2 with the third judge scoring 119-108.

In the other major title fight, IBF Cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia made extraordinarily easy work of 6'6 British Challenger Jordan Thompson. Opetaia, a southpaw from Australia, dominated the opening two stanzas and busted open the nose of Thompson in the second. The Australian switched up between conventional and southpaw stances and could not miss with his pinpoint power shots. He dropped Thompson in the third. Following round three, the Brit was warned by his corner they were going to stop the fight. It did little to flip the script as Opetaia dropped his man for a second time and finished the job in 20 seconds of the fourth round to move his record 23-0 (18), and made his first defense of his world title, a successful one.

Barrios, a former 140-pound world champion, walked into the ring a 3-1 underdog against former welterweight champion and Cuban native Yordenis Ugas. It was the second fight for Barrios with trainer Bob Santos, and Barrios made it his second highly-impressive performance.

Barrios showed patience and a more disciplined jab after shaking off a nice body shot. Barrios stayed the course, and that jab scored in the second round and put Ugas down. The 37-year-old Ugas fought back valiantly and scored a right hand that hurt Barrios in the 3rd and landed another big right that affected the Texan. Ugas followed up with a flurry. The fighter seemed even through the midway point. It seemed the fight was up for grabs going into the second half of the fight. El Azteca certainly seized control and dominated the second half of the fight. A right uppercut in the 8th stunned Ugas. Barrios couldn't miss with the right hand as Ugas's eye began swelling. The ringside physician was called in by the referee, who appeared like he wanted to stop the fight, in each of the last three rounds. A fight that likely should have been stopped, by someone, continued into the 12th and final round. The Texan scored another knockdown with a picture-perfect left hook in the 12th. Ugas fired back and had some moments with the right hand. However, Barrios continued to get the best of scoring with some right hands of his own. Ugas was deducted a point for spitting his mouthpiece out. Barrios rolled to a wide unanimous points victory by scores of 117-108 and 118-107x2. The Texan, who picks up the WBC Interim title, which will eventually make him the mandatory for the WBC champion, which is currently Jermell Charlo, out-landed the Cuban 193 of 810 to Ugas's 86 of 277. The Alamo City native improved his record to 2802 (18).

Jesus Ramos, Jr. Middleweight from Casa Grande, Arizona, has been touted as one of the guys who is the future of the sport, and he did just that. Ramos dominated the majority of the fight with Lubin. Ramos started stepping on the gas in the second round, chopping down the body and working on combinations on the inside. Ramos appeared to be putting money in the bank and racking up the rounds before letting off the gas down the stretch. His corner told him he was up and to apply pressure "intelligently," After, a somewhat quiet final stanza, it appeared Ramos won somewhere between 8 and 10 rounds. However, the judges all disagreed, scoring unanimously for Lubin by scores of 115-113, 116-112, 117-111. This will definitely be in the conversation for "Robbery of the Year".

Fight Week Preview

It's finally here! The first mega fight in two months! Canelo Alvarez and Jermell Charlo square off. For the first time in the four-belt era, two undisputed world champions will square off. There are also great appetizers on the menu as well that take place in the UK!

The action kicks off in the UK as one of the sport's most underrated fighters, Jai Opetaia,22-0 (17) of New South Wales, Australia, puts his undefeated record and his IBF cruiserweight title on the line against undefeated British KO artist Jordan Thompson, 15-0 (12). Opetaia pulled off a massive upset of Mairis Briedis 15 months ago to shock the world and capture the IBF crown He has been inactive since. Thompson scored the biggest win of his career by stopping Luke Watkins for the IBF European title last April in Cardiff, Wales. The undercard features a series of intriguing women's bouts.IBF Super bantamweight Ellie Scotney puts her title on the line against Laura Soledad Griffin. Also on the card is undefeated upstart Cheavon Clarke and Rhiannon Dixon, who will compete for regional belts.

Then the action moves to the mega fight as Undisputed super middleweight champ Canelo Alvarez, 59-2-2 (39), puts all the belts on the line against Houston, Texas native and undisputed Junior Middleweight champ Jermell Charlo, 35-1-1 (19) in Las Vegas. Charlo bounced back from the one-sided loss to Bivol and the lackluster performance against GGG fairly nicely taking a lopsided decision against John Ryder in May. For Charlo, he has battled injuries and has not been in the ring for well over a year. He last fought in May of 2022 when he stopped Brian Castano to pick up the WBO 154-pound strap and the undisputed champ in that division. Also on the card is a highly intriguing crossroads welterweight fight between "El Azteca '' Mario Barrios, 27-2 (18) from San Antonio, Texas. Barrios bounced back nicely from consecutive losses to Tank Davis and Keith Thurman to stop Jovanie Santiago at the Alamodome in his home city with his new trainer, Bob Santos. He will step in with former WBA welterweight champ and aging Cuban legend Yordenis Ugas, the 37-year-old from Santiago de Cuba, who sports a 27-5 (12) record. He held the WBA world title up until his last bout when he was stopped by Errol Spence at AT&T Stadium. in April of 2022. Also on the card is rising Junior Middleweight Jesus Ramos of Casa Grande, Arizona, the undefeated Ramos, 20-0 (16), outs his undefeated record on the line against highly touted contender Erickson Lubin, 25-2 (18), who bounced back nicely from his stoppage loss to Sebastian Fundora by destroying Luis Arias on the undercard of Carlos Adames vs Julian Williams.

Fight Weekend Preview

It's not a super-busy weekend of prizefighting, but it's a sneaky good weekend for fight fans who get two highly intriguing cards on each side of the Atlantic.

The action starts in the UK with Joe Joyce looking to exact revenge on the man who took his "0" as he rematches with Zhilei Zhang. Zhang, 25-1-1(20), stopped Joyce in the sixth round back in April. It was the biggest win of Zhang's career and the first loss of Joyce's. The Brit ran off 15 straight wins before being stopped by Zhang. Also on the card is hot-shot 140-pound prospect Piece O'leary, 12-0 (7) of Ireland. The Irishman will take a big step up bout and battle Kane Gardner, whose win over Conah Walker in the Spring now looks spectacular. O'leary last fought in May on the undercard of Lopez-Conlan and destroyed Alin Florin Ciorceri in one round.

Also on the card is undefeated lightweight prospect Sam Nokes, 11-0 (11). He will look to continue his knockout streak against Carlos Perez. We will also get to see the return of Zach Parker, who has been out of the ring since he quit against John Ryder and suffered his first loss last November.

We move to the US for a really compelling 140-pound match-up as Richardson Hitchens, 16-0 (7), battles Jose Zepeda 37-3 (28). Zepeda is now 34 years old and has come up close and fought competitively in world title fights against Regis Prograis, Jose Carlos Ramirez, and Turbo Flanagan. This is likely his last chance to get himself into the title picture; a loss would likely end that. Hitchins last fought at Madison Square Garden and outpointed John Bauza in February. A win would likely propel the 25-year-old to a title shot at one of the four majors. The co-main event is for all three of the four belts at the 147-pound woman's division as Jessica McCaskill defends her belts against Sandy Ryan, 6-1 (2) from Derbyshire, United Kingdom. Ryan last fought in April on the Cordina-Rakhimov card and upset the undefeated Marie Pier Houle.

The card also features Austin "Ammo" Williams and the return of Conor Benn.

Fight Weekend Preview

Boxing returns in a big way in Texas on Friday with two big-time cards and then moves west to California on Saturday. 

The action starts on the SHOWTIME SHOBOX series at the Tech Port Arena in San Antonio as hometown hero "Dinamita" Ramon Cardenas, 22-1 (11) takes on the tall and rangy undefeated Panamanian contender Rafael Pedroza. In a must-win fight for each man, the winner takes a massive step forward as the loser falls out of the world title picture. Cardenas fought in the Alamo City in his last two fights scoring an impressive UD victory over Michel Banquez on the undercard of Ray Vargas vs. Mark Magsayo at the Alamodome last July. He returned home in May, and on short notice, blowing away Rodrigo Guerrero in two rounds. Pedroza has not yet fought in the US or on a major card but has wins over Hugo Berrio and Yerny Betancourt this year. His most recent fight was the lopsided UD victory over Betancourt in May. Also on the card is another intriguing fight between undefeated featherweights as "El Tiburon" Rudy Garcia 13-0-1 (2) and he takes on Argentine KO artist Mirko Cuello in the 10-round co-main event. The 22-year-old Cuello, 12-0 (11) has fought twice in the US on Christy Martin Cards back in 2020 and scored KOs and went 2-0 (2) with a pair of first KOs he last fought Antonio Guzman and scored a first-round KO. Garcia has a 2021 draw with fellow unbeaten prospect Victor Morales in late 2021. He fought once in 2022 and outpointed rugged veteran  Diuhl Olguin on a Golden Boy live card. Also on the card is an intriguing bout between once-beaten Saul Bustos, 15-1-1 (8), and Freudis Rojas 11-0 (11),  Rojas stopped Diego Santiago Sanchez in seven rounds on the undercard of Frank Martin-Artem Harutyunyan.  Bustos is best known for a  2020 points victory over Luis Lopez on a Thompsons card. He last fought Alan Sanchez and dropped a 10-round majority decision last November.

The action stays in Texas but heads south on I-37 to Sparkle City, Corpus Christi, and Lois Alberto Lopez makes his second title defense against Joet Gonzales in what will be a thrilling fan-friendly affair. Lopez won his world title in late 2022 by outpointing Josh Warrington. Lopez made his first defense of the belt in May and destroyed Irish Mick Conlan. Joet Gonzalez has had two prior world title opportunities. He was outclassed by Shakur Stevenson in 2019 and lost a thrilling decision to Emanuel Navarette in 2021. He last fought in April and scored a 10-round decision over Enrique Vivas in Oklahoma. The co-main event is an intriguing showdown between PROBOX TV's "Last Chance" winner Antonio Moran, who stopped Kendo Castaneda in the finals of that tournament, battles Jamaine Ortiz who outpointed former world champion Jamel Herring and dropped a close and somewhat controversial decision to future first ballot hall of famer Vasyl Lomachenko last October. The card also features a host of undefeated prospects such as Corpus Christi native John Rincon as well as Xander Zayas, Delante Johnson, and Emiliano Vargas. 

Saturday night the action moves to California as William Zepeda, 28-0 (24), takes on hard-hitting and all-action fan favorite Mercito "No Mercy"  Gesta, 34-3-3 (17). Gesta last fought in March and scored a career-changing decision over JoJo Diaz. Arebolda scored a career-challenging victory over Hector Tanajara that put him on the map in 2021 and  last fought in April and destroyed Jaime Arboleda in two rounds. Also on the card was Victor Morales who scored a career chaning victory that night over Diego De La Hoya. Tommorrow night Morales will battle  Edwin Palomares. The card also features undefeated light heavyweight Darius Fulghum 6-0 (6).