Zhilei Zhang may have to resort to “Plan C” given recent developments in the heavyweight division. The hard-hitting southpaw heavyweight from China is coming off a rousing, definitive third-round knockout of Joe Joyce last month, a rematch of their first fight in April, which Zhang also won by stoppage. After the fight, Zhang indicated that
Month: October 2023
SIX days after a 15-year-old girl was stabbed to death on her way to school, light-heavyweight boxers Joshua Buatsi and Dan Azeez appeared at Croydon’s Boxpark, just a stone’s throw from the bus stop where the life of that girl, as well as the life of the boy who killed her, tragically ended. Wearing T-shirts
DAZN are hitting us with the rare day/night doubleheader of decent quality this Saturday, as we’ll have a featherweight title fight between Leigh Wood and Josh Warrington from Sheffield, England, in the afternoon, followed by Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez vs Joe Smith Jr in a cruiserweight clash in the evening. Who wins Wood vs Warrington and
Joe Smith Jr. figured he would eventually come to grips with the worst loss of his pro career. Everything that happened in the aftermath made that far more difficult than he could ever imagine. The former WBO light heavyweight titlist was left without direction for nearly a year after he his second-round knockout defeat to
Posted on 10/05/2023 By: Sean Crose “I’m not offended that I am not the favorite,” former IBF featherweight world titlist Josh Warrington said on the eve of his Saturday fight with WBA featherweight world titlist Leigh Wood. “If anything it’s motivation. Leigh is the champion, and I’ve been given this opportunity so I am very
Nick ParkinsonOct 5, 2023, 11:24 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 Leigh Wood believes Saturday’s world title defense could be his last as making the featherweight limit is becoming increasingly difficult for him.
During a conversation with Fight Hub TV, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum fields questions about potential difficulties in making big fights with fighters on different networks, and after dismissing that notion he admits he’s fond of Oscar De La Hoya’s latest idea. Arum on the difficulty in getting Stevenson against the other biggest names around
Candidly, things got a bit too easy for Richardson Hitchins. His opponents often talked a good game but once the bell rang, they found themselves swinging at air and leaving the ring with a face full of bruises. Hitchins needed an opponent who could pull the most out of him, someone who could push him
Mike Coppinger, ESPNOct 5, 2023, 11:49 AM ET Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk are likely to fight not once, but twice, for heavyweight supremacy. The deal for the undisputed heavyweight championship fight, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, contains a two-way rematch clause that the loser of the matchup can trigger for a
LEIGH WOOD has described his training team, led by Ben Davison, as “game changers” ahead of Saturday’s fight against Josh Warrington. Nottingham’s Wood defends his WBA featherweight title against Leeds’ Warrington on neutral territory at the Sheffield Arena on Saturday (Oct 7) and at today’s final press conference the subject of punch power was raised.
Leigh Wood takes some time to chat with iFL TV about this weekend’s fight against Josh Warrington, having some fun with the festivities, and being prepared to face the best version of Warrington there is. Check out some excerpts of what Wood had to say below. Wood of making a show about arriving for media
It was “weird” for Tim Tszyu to watch the submissive version of Jermell Charlo that fought Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night. Charlo’s junior middleweight rival respects the irritable, tenacious Charlo that became boxing’s first undisputed 154-pound champion of the four-belt era. The newly crowned WBO junior middleweight champion didn’t get the sense, though, that Charlo
DEPENDING on who you ask, Anthony Joshua is either the perfect role model and ambassador for British boxing, with the body and base motivational mantras to prove it, or a wind-up toy of an athlete fine-tuned by an army of perpetually-giggling publicists to within an inch of its life. As for his achievements, meanwhile, depending
TYSON FURY and Oleksandr Usyk will fight each other at last. It’s the most important contest the sport can make. What would ordinarily be a time of celebration, however, is tempered by a fear that it might all fall apart at any moment. This is boxing, after all. We’ve been teased so many times in
Happy 34th birthday to Pablo Cesar Cano, who rallied through fatigue and a bad cut to finish off Zachary Ochoa in Round 6 of their ProBox TV main event. Cano (35-8-1, 25 KO) has been around for a while, unsuccessfully challenging Shane Mosley (Senior!) and Erik Morales over 10 years ago, and losing a world
Being a superstar isn’t something that Regis Prograis dreams of. Not normally. The 34-year-old has other thoughts running through his mind, like decapitating his opponents and wrapping his waist with championship gold. Fortune and fame don’t go hand in hand. For Prograis, winning fights, taking home sizable paychecks, grabbing titles, and being respected by his
A new month, a new pound-for-pound list! October 2023 The voters: Scott Christ, Wil Esco, John Hansen, Patrick Stumberg, and Lewis Watson Others Receiving Votes: Errol Spence Jr 7, Jaron “Boots” Ennis 6, Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez 5, Emanuel Navarrete 4, Juan Francisco Estrada 1 Scott Christ (1) Terence Crawford, (2) Naoya Inoue, (3) Oleksandr Usyk,
Leigh Wood will defend his WBA featherweight world title against Josh Warrington in a huge domestic clash on neutral ground at the Utilita Arena Sheffield on Saturday October 7th, shown live worldwide on DAZN. (photos by Mark Robinson) Nottingham favorite Wood (27-3, 16 KOs) produced a 12-round masterclass against Mexico’s hard-hitting dangerman Mauricio Lara to